Eight years of excavations in Ivystill Lane, off Les Varines, have unearthed stone implements, preserved animal bone, pits, hearths, paved areas and early artwork in the form of engraved stones.
The team of experts from the UK and local archaeologists have been led by Dr Matt Pope, a senior fellow of the Institute of Archaeology at University College London. They have established that the site was a camp for hunter-gatherers 14,500 years ago, when Jersey was still connected to France and giant Ice Age animals, such as mammoth and rhinoceros, would have roamed the surrounding plains.
The Ivystill Lane excavation is part of the Ice Age Island project with Jersey Heritage to explore the Island’s prehistoric past, which also includes investigations at La Cotte de St Brelade at Ouaisné and at Petit Port, the small beach behind Mont Orgueil.
‘It is an exciting time for Jersey Heritage and the Ice Age Island team,’ Jersey Heritage director Jon Carter said. ‘If we can secure funding for excavation work at La Cotte, it could give us a wealth of knowledge about Jersey’s hidden Ice Age history.
‘In the meantime, work resumes at Les Varines, another very important site, and one that has been the source of thousands of archaeological treasures.’
Excavations are taking place at Les Varines up to 8 August. The site is open to the public throughout that time, apart from Saturdays. There is no parking available but there is a free shuttle bus from La Hougue Bie.
