diff --git a/src/entities.rs b/src/entities.rs
index 79f3eb52..09b8249a 100644
--- a/src/entities.rs
+++ b/src/entities.rs
@@ -548,9 +548,13 @@ impl EntityMeta {
     };
 }
 
+/// Where an entity is currently stored
 #[derive(Copy, Clone)]
-pub(crate) struct Location {
+pub struct Location {
+    /// Index of the enclosing archetype in [`World::archetypes`](crate::World::archetypes)
     pub archetype: u32,
+    /// Index of the entity's components in [`Archetype::get`](crate::Archetype::get) on the
+    /// associated [`Archetype`](crate::Archetype)
     pub index: u32,
 }
 
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index f4095d13..a55bc0e2 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ pub use archetype::{Archetype, ArchetypeColumn, ArchetypeColumnMut};
 pub use batch::{BatchIncomplete, BatchWriter, ColumnBatch, ColumnBatchBuilder, ColumnBatchType};
 pub use bundle::{Bundle, DynamicBundle, DynamicBundleClone, MissingComponent};
 pub use command_buffer::CommandBuffer;
-pub use entities::{Entity, NoSuchEntity};
+pub use entities::{Entity, Location, NoSuchEntity};
 pub use entity_builder::{BuiltEntity, BuiltEntityClone, EntityBuilder, EntityBuilderClone};
 pub use entity_ref::{ComponentRef, ComponentRefShared, EntityRef, Ref, RefMut};
 pub use query::{
diff --git a/src/query.rs b/src/query.rs
index 0521d600..dddb7148 100644
--- a/src/query.rs
+++ b/src/query.rs
@@ -1081,11 +1081,12 @@ impl<Q: Query> PreparedQuery<Q> {
 
         let state = world
             .archetypes()
+            .iter()
             .enumerate()
             .filter_map(|(idx, x)| Q::Fetch::prepare(x).map(|state| (idx, state)))
             .collect();
 
-        let fetch = world.archetypes().map(|_| None).collect();
+        let fetch = world.archetypes().iter().map(|_| None).collect();
 
         Self { memo, state, fetch }
     }
@@ -1100,7 +1101,7 @@ impl<Q: Query> PreparedQuery<Q> {
         }
 
         let meta = world.entities_meta();
-        let archetypes = world.archetypes_inner();
+        let archetypes = world.archetypes();
 
         PreparedQueryBorrow::new(meta, archetypes, &self.state, &mut self.fetch)
     }
@@ -1116,7 +1117,7 @@ impl<Q: Query> PreparedQuery<Q> {
         }
 
         let meta = world.entities_meta();
-        let archetypes = world.archetypes_inner();
+        let archetypes = world.archetypes();
 
         let state: &'q [(usize, <Q::Fetch as Fetch>::State)] =
             unsafe { mem::transmute(&*self.state) };
@@ -1133,7 +1134,7 @@ impl<Q: Query> PreparedQuery<Q> {
         }
 
         let meta = world.entities_meta();
-        let archetypes = world.archetypes_inner();
+        let archetypes = world.archetypes();
 
         let state: &'q [(usize, <Q::Fetch as Fetch>::State)] =
             unsafe { mem::transmute(&*self.state) };
diff --git a/src/serialize/column.rs b/src/serialize/column.rs
index de0728bc..1e8f0504 100644
--- a/src/serialize/column.rs
+++ b/src/serialize/column.rs
@@ -291,8 +291,9 @@ where
     }
 
     let predicate = |x: &&Archetype| -> bool { !x.is_empty() && x.satisfies::<Q>() };
-    let mut seq = serializer.serialize_seq(Some(world.archetypes().filter(predicate).count()))?;
-    for archetype in world.archetypes().filter(predicate) {
+    let mut seq =
+        serializer.serialize_seq(Some(world.archetypes().iter().filter(predicate).count()))?;
+    for archetype in world.archetypes().iter().filter(predicate) {
         seq.serialize_element(&SerializeArchetype {
             world,
             archetype,
diff --git a/src/serialize/row.rs b/src/serialize/row.rs
index e3c6b06a..5b44fa88 100644
--- a/src/serialize/row.rs
+++ b/src/serialize/row.rs
@@ -117,6 +117,7 @@ where
 {
     let entity_count = world
         .archetypes()
+        .iter()
         .filter(|a| a.satisfies::<Q>())
         .map(|a| a.len() as usize)
         .sum();
diff --git a/src/world.rs b/src/world.rs
index 6352f601..5936358e 100644
--- a/src/world.rs
+++ b/src/world.rs
@@ -416,7 +416,11 @@ impl World {
         &self.entities.meta
     }
 
-    pub(crate) fn archetypes_inner(&self) -> &[Archetype] {
+    /// Inspect the archetypes that entities are organized into
+    ///
+    /// Useful for dynamically scheduling concurrent queries by checking borrows in advance, and for
+    /// efficient serialization.
+    pub fn archetypes(&self) -> &[Archetype] {
         &self.archetypes.archetypes
     }
 
@@ -500,6 +504,15 @@ impl World {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Storage location of `entity`
+    ///
+    /// Useful in combination with [`archetypes`](Self::archetypes). May be invalidated when
+    /// [`archetypes_generation`](Self::archetypes_generation) changes.
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn location_of(&self, entity: Entity) -> Result<Location, NoSuchEntity> {
+        self.entities.get(entity)
+    }
+
     /// Given an id obtained from [`Entity::id`], reconstruct the still-live [`Entity`].
     ///
     /// # Safety
@@ -818,14 +831,6 @@ impl World {
             .flush(|id, location| location.index = unsafe { arch.allocate(id) });
     }
 
-    /// Inspect the archetypes that entities are organized into
-    ///
-    /// Useful for dynamically scheduling concurrent queries by checking borrows in advance, and for
-    /// efficient serialization.
-    pub fn archetypes(&self) -> impl ExactSizeIterator<Item = &'_ Archetype> + '_ {
-        self.archetypes_inner().iter()
-    }
-
     /// Despawn `entity`, yielding a [`DynamicBundle`] of its components
     ///
     /// Useful for moving entities between worlds.
diff --git a/tests/tests.rs b/tests/tests.rs
index 122da18d..17780637 100644
--- a/tests/tests.rs
+++ b/tests/tests.rs
@@ -858,7 +858,7 @@ fn columnar_access() {
     let e = world.spawn(("abc", 123));
     let f = world.spawn(("def", 456, true));
     let g = world.spawn(("ghi", 789, false));
-    let mut archetypes = world.archetypes();
+    let mut archetypes = world.archetypes().iter();
     let _empty = archetypes.next().unwrap();
     let a = archetypes.next().unwrap();
     assert_eq!(a.ids(), &[e.id()]);