Three-year project into ancient land begins

Work to discover more about land surrounding a 6,000-year-old passage grave in Jersey has begun.

Archaeologists from England, Wales, Sweden and Denmark were to work in the field opposite the entrance of the La Hougue Bie chamber in Grouville - one the oldest Neolithic sites in the world - over the next two weeks, project leaders said.

Their dig was part of a three-year project being carried out in partnership with Jersey Heritage and La Société Jersiaise and they hoped to uncover how the landscape was used thousands of years ago, they added.

Olga Finch, Jersey Heritage's curator of archaeology, said it marked the beginning of "an exciting new chapter of archaeological discovery for Jersey".

She said archaeologists hoped to learn "what the deep buried records of Ice Age sediment beneath the field can reveal about climate change and ancient people, including Neanderthals, during the last quarter of a million years".

Dr Matt Pope, from the University College London Institute of Archaeology, added the project would "help to unlock Jersey's full story" while exploring the neighbourhood of "one of Europe's most spectacular prehistoric monuments, La Hougue Bie".

The dig is due to run until Thursday 6 August and resume over the next two summers.

Visitors would be able to see the dig in action, with a free open day due to be held in the field on Sunday 2 August from 10:00 BST until 14:30, project leaders said.

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