She was appointed as a lecturer in Cambridge in 1977 in the Department of Archaeology.[3] Previous to that she was a Field Officer for Norfolk Archaeological Unit.[4] Hills was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1978.[5] She was a Fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge.[6]
Hills was closely associated with the excavation of the early Anglo-Saxon cremation cemetery at Spong Hill, North Elmham, Norfolk, where she directed excavations from 1974 until the completion of excavations in 1981.[4][7] Hills' post-excavation analyses of this major site led to substantial contributions in the fields of early Anglo-Saxon archaeology, particularly regarding burial and migration,[8] and more recently the chronology of the 5th century.[7]
^ abHills, Catherine (1977). The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Spong Hill, North Elmham. Part I: Catalogue of cremations, nos. 20-64 and 1000-1690. Gressenhall: Norfolk Archaeological Unit.