以收藏於博物館的樂器為歷史之佐證，一直是西方音樂史學研究的重要材料之一，而此方法在臺灣音樂史研究學界卻極為生疏。其因可歸咎於現存少量具歷史價值的實物，和視文字為主要史料的態度。借鏡於西方音樂史學家對博物館之樂器收藏，及人類學家對博物館民族誌的研究視角，本研究以英國牛津大學 Pitt Rivers博物館中所收藏之 26件臺灣原住民樂器為研究中心，探索這批樂器成為此博物館收藏及展示品的原由及其歷史背景，再者，本文亦將論及這批臺灣原住民樂器的歷史脈絡及其時代意義。本文的例子，除了將有助我們進一步從文字以外的史料，來重新佐證或詮釋臺灣音樂（與樂器）的往昔；此類研究可能對臺灣音樂史研究工作提供另一種視角與解讀，這些收藏於博物館的樂器的研究價值，也是「文字書寫」材料所無法取代的。

In the study of historical musicology it is common to use museum collections as research resources and historical evidence. Such approaches, however, are rarely adopted by scholars dealing with Taiwan’s musical past. This may be due to the fact that valuable historical collections are little known to scholars in Taiwan, or perhaps due to a more general preference for the written text as the main historical source. Drawing upon the attention paid to historical instruments and museum collections by musicologists and anthropologists, this paper focuses on 26 examples of Taiwanese aboriginal musical instruments that are either displayed or held by the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford, exploring their historical backgrounds and further contextual information. The paper demonstrates how a museum’s instrument collection can be used to contribute to historical research along with written sources. I argue that the unique and irreplaceable evidence of past musical practice contained in museum instruments may provide alternative angles and/or interpretations that will aid development of historical research on the music of Taiwan.