Nicholas Hadnutt
I am the Archaeology curator in the Cultures and Histories Program, responsible for researching, curating and sharing the Queensland Museum’s archaeology collections. I joined the Museum’s Cultures and Histories program as a volunteer and became a fulltime Assistant Collection Manager in 2008, after completing a Bachelor of Arts (Archaeology double major) with the University of Queensland. After completing my Honours degree, I worked for a number of years as the Collection Manager before joining the Archaeology program as a Curator in 2015. During my 10 years with the Museum, I have experienced a broad range of work opportunities including exhibition development and delivery, large-scale gallery and storage refurbishments, iternational exhibition installations and public programming.
My research specialisation is historical archaeology and my interests include the changing role of museums since their inception, 19th and 20th century material culture and how it reflects Queensland’s changing cultural landscape and museum collection development. I am currently investigating and documenting the development of the Museum’s historical archaeology collection. In addition, I have recently spent multiple field seasons excavating and analysing finds from a central Queensland gold mining town in order to better understand the choices people made when living in frontier town at the turn of the 20th century.
Projects
- Archaeological assessment of the Burke and Wills Plant Camp - Research project to investigate claims that a remote, western Central Queensland archaeological site is Burke and Wills Camp 46R, the 'Plant Camp'.
- Burnett River Rock Engravings repatriation project
- Ravenswood Mining Landscape and Chinese Settlement Area Historical Archaeology project
Exhibitions
Major Touring Exhibitions
Monkeys! A Primate Story (2018) – National Museum of Scotland
Egyptian Mummies: Exploring Ancient Lives (2018) – British Museum
Gladiators: Heroes of the Colosseum (2017) - Expona
Hadron Collider: step inside the world’s greatest experiment (2016) – Science Museum, London
Medieval Power: Symbols and Splendour (2016) – British Museum
Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures (2014)– Kabul Museum
Mummy: Secrets of the Tomb (2012) – British Museum
Queensland Museum Exhibition
The Last Days of Burke and Wills – Queensland Museum, South Bank
Awakenings: Torres Strait Island – Queensland Museum, South Bank
Bouncing Back – Queensland Museum, South Bank
Mummy’ – Queensland Museum, South Bank
Gwen Gilliam – Queensland Museum, South Bank
Collectomania – Queensland Museum, South Bank