Pottery find overlooked by Victorians, could help to unearth secrets
TINY pieces of pottery, overlooked by Victorian archaeologists, could help modern enthusiasts uncover the secrets of a dolmen site.
Clifton Antiquarian Club from Bristol spent six days on L’Ancresse Common, to see if they could find a twin to the La Platte Mare dolmen.
Donovan Hawley from the club led the dig and said it had been a success.
There is little of the structure left, as many of the stones seem to have been carted away for use elsewhere.
But the team did uncover two large stones about half a metre down, which had not been found before. There was also evidence of where other stones had been, which will help the team determine what the structure could have looked like.
One of the most exciting finds were five fragments of charcoal. Dr Hawley said they needed to be cautious, as carbon-dating was expensive and they did not want to accidentally date the remains of a Victorian fire.
But two of the pieces look promising as being prehistoric.
They will be sent off for testing.
The original Victorian dig, led by Frederick Lukis, made meticulous records, but stated that nothing had been found on this site.
But the Bristol archaeologists found some small pieces of pottery – about a centimetre square.
‘They are small fragments, so they [the Victorian dig] may have put them back in the hole,’ Dr Hawley said.
‘They may not have been interesting to them, but it is interesting to us, as we can look at what it is made of and date it.’
A fragment of the dish or container rim was found, and the specialists can now see if they can determine what the item would have looked like.
There were also some flint fragments, which had clearly been worked by humans.
Overall, Dr Hawley said the team was really pleased with how the dig had gone. The team expects to draw up an interim report within a month, with a full report, which will be published in the transactions, produced within a year.
The team thanked the Vale Commons Council and the Royal Guernsey Golf Club for their support. Dr Hawley said he and his colleagues were already looking at possible sites for next year’s dig.
