Archaeological dig could unearth dolmen secrets
A NEOLITHIC burial chamber could be examined by archaeologists for the first time in two centuries this spring.
Le Trepied Dolmen, above Le Catioroc in St Saviour's, was last examined by Frederick Lukis in the early 19th century.
But this May the Clifton Antiquarian Club is set to dig half a dozen trenches on the 5,000-year-old site in a bid to discover whether it was ever a covered grave.
States archaeologist Dr Phil de Jersey said extensive excavations were carried out in about the 1830s, and some burial urns were uncovered, which are now kept in the Guernsey Museum collection.
But there are hopes there is more to find because only what were considered valuable finds at the time were taken away.
'Hopefully there will be still be some finds like flint and pottery, where which were thrown away then,' Dr de Jersey said.
'But we can learn a lot with them now.'
A planning application for the dig at the protected monument has been submitted to the Planning Service for consideration.
If that is approved, it is planned that the 10-day dig will take place in May.
