Archaeologists have been digging on Chapelle dom Hue for the last three weeks, and uncovered what they believe are the ruins of a religious retreat.
But the strangest discovery was made in the final few days of the dig, at the northern end of a trench.
States archaeologist Phil de Jersey said they had believed there was a grave cut, due to a change in the soil. As they reached the medieval layer, however, it was not a human body they found.
Instead, the skull of a sea creature was uncovered, followed by the rest of the skeleton.
Dr de Jersey said they believed it was a juvenile porpoise.
‘If we were in a church and we found something like this, based on the shape, we would think it was a grave cut,’ he said.
‘That is what puzzles me. If they had eaten it or killed it for the blubber, why take the trouble to bury it?’
Dr de Jersey said they estimated it was buried in the 13th or 14th century.
The bones were removed last week and will be studied by a marine expert to confirm the identification of the animal.
‘It has been a most unexpected finish to the dig.
‘The way the burial has been treated is totally bizarre. I have never come across anything like this before,’ Dr de Jersey said.
