5,000-year-old mysteries from Neolithic Rothley go on display at Charnwood Museum

A new display of archaeological finds from Rothley - dating back almost 5,000 years - can now be seen at Charnwood Museum in Loughborough.

The selection of finds displayed reveal a spectacular later Neolithic material culture from the time when Stonehenge was first being built.

Leicestershire County Council Museums recently received the archaeological archive from the University of Leicester Archaeological Services excavations at Rothley Lodge Farm.

The rarest object to be found was the Rothley ‘Face’ plaque, which is a unique example of Neolithic abstract art.

Other features found at the site, dating back to 2,900 BC, were a large, shallow pit possibly the remains of a sunken hut, which shows signs of communal feasting. The area was filled with smashed pottery, hundreds of pieces of worked flint including arrowheads, knives and scrapers and charred remains of barley.

Another pit contained broken and burnt objects such as decorated pottery, roe deer bones, deliberately polished stone axes and a curious ‘fertility symbol.’

The display is permanent, and entry is free. For more information, including opening times, visit the Charnwood Museum website.