A range of fascinating objects associated with craftworking, food production and social activities will be featured in the exhibition.
Cared for by Leicestershire County Council’s museums service and loaned for the exhibition, the finds offer visitors glimpses of hillfort life over 2,000 years ago.
The exhibition Life at an Iron Age Hillfort: Investigating Breedon Hill & Burrough Hill, opens on Friday 17 January and brings together items discovered during excavations at Breedon Hill and Burrough Hill hillforts in Leicestershire.
At the centre of the display sits a rare and spectacular collection of decorated fittings from an Iron Age chariot and horse harness which shows that some hillfort residents were wealthy – possibly nobles or warriors – and well-connected with other areas of Iron Age Britain.
The fittings, along with a group of iron tools, had been gathered together as a hoard and deliberately buried in a container as a religious offering at the bottom of a deep pit at Burrough Hill and were discovered during excavations in 2013.
Christine Radford, cabinet member for adults and communities at Leicestershire County Council said: “It is wonderful to be able to share these archaeological discoveries from our collection further afield by collaborating with our colleagues in the wider East Midlands. We thank the University of Nottingham Museum for the opportunity and continue our close working relationship with University of Leicester Archaeological Services.”
Deputy Director of the University of Leicester Archaeological Service, John Thomas, who is also Co-Director of the Burrough Hill excavations and curator of the new exhibition, said: “The discovery of the Burrough Hill Hoard was one of the highlights of the excavations we carried out at the hillfort. It was amazing to see these objects coming out of the ground in such good condition after they had been buried for so long.”
Dr Clare Pickersgill, Keeper of the University of Nottingham Museum, said: “This is the first dedicated Iron Age exhibition at the University of Nottingham Museum, and I am delighted that we can display these exciting regional finds. I am grateful to the University of Leicester Archaeological Service and Leicestershire County Council Museums for this wonderful opportunity.”
The exhibition runs from Friday 17 January 2025 to Sunday 13 July 2025 at the University of Nottingham Museum, Lakeside Arts Centre, NG7 2RD and admission is free.