Archaeology breakthrough as new discovery solves 2,000-year-old mystery on Channel Islands

An archaeological excavation in a field near Mont Cochon, Jersey, has shed light on life on the island over 2,000 years ago.

Several artefacts have been discovered in the area indicating the possibility of the site of an Iron Age farmstead.

Dr Hervé Duval-Gatignol, Société Jersiaise’s archaeologist, who led the team told the BBC: “This is an incredibly promising site.

“It's really useful for children and education because we will know so much more of the past and what was going on here during the same period as the coin hoards”.

Since the excavation began earlier this month, the team has discovered pottery fragments dating from the 4th to 1st centuries BC, along with a clay spindle whorl, offering clues about daily activities at the site.

The team also unearthed a significant number of limpet shells, indicating household waste from the period and shedding light on the islanders' diet.

Additionally, animal bones were found preserved among the limpet shells.

Dr Duval-Gatignol added: “We still need to get a proper identification of the bones, we think there are some cows that would have probably been raised on site.”

The excavation effort has been supported by local volunteers, as well as students from the UK and the University of Rennes in France.

Emilia McCammon, a UCL archaeology student said: “I had absolutely no expectations really, I didn't know what we were going to find here.”

The artefacts are to be examined further and the excavation site is due to be returned to its former state.

Dr Duval-Gatignol concluded: “In a couple of weeks, a month - you'll see nothing and it's like we were never here.”