Alderney Iron Age finds to go on display there

EXAMPLES of Iron Age craftsmanship found in Alderney last year are to be given a permanent home in the island’s museum from next month.

This Iron Age bowl, which was found in a dig at Longis last summer will go on permanent display in Alderney Museum later this month. (Picture courtesy of Guernsey Museums)

They were discovered during a dig on the side of Rue des Mielles, Longis, after electricity company workers found a human skull in a trench they had dug.

Archaeologists from Guernsey Museum excavated some Roman pot and tile pieces and possible traces of buildings.

The most exciting finds were from a late Iron Age cemetery, which date from 1,100 BC to 100 AD.

Rue des Mielles stands between the Roman fortlet at the Nunnery and an Iron Age site on the golf course.

Dr Jason Monaghan, head of heritage services, led the excavation. Some of the finds will now be DNA analysed by the National History Museum.

‘At least a dozen stone burial cists, plus one cremation jar, were clipped by the electric trench. The bones inside it have been carbon dated to the second to mid-first century BC,’ said Dr Monaghan.

‘Other objects we found also date to the first or second century BC. This is the period immediately before the Romans arrived in the region around 56 BC and possibly extending to the first years the islands were part of the Empire.

‘We hope to get another carbon date from one of the skulls, which is also going to be sampled for DNA evidence by the Natural History Museum as part of a Europe-wide study of ancient populations.’

The team is set to explore land on the opposite side of Rue des Mielles, next to Longis Common, this summer.

‘The finds from the cemetery are surprisingly exotic for such a small island which is why we are keen to return to discover more of what was happening in Alderney at that time,’ he said.

‘Preliminary survey work was undertaken on Longis Common earlier this month to identify areas of possible interest based on the discoveries made in the electric trench in 2017.

‘With kind permission of the landowners and tenants, currently we are planning a dig for July to investigate the more promising areas. A further excavation will also take place at the Nunnery at the same time.’