Major archaeological discovery solves 2,000-year-old mystery | UK | News

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

Several artifacts have been discovered in the area, indicating the possibility of the location of an Iron Age farmstead.

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

“It’s really useful for children and for education because we’ll know a lot more about the past and what was happening here at the same time than the coin hoard.”

Since the excavation began earlier this month, the team has discovered pottery fragments dating from the 4th to the 1st century B.C., as well as a clay spindle, offering clues to daily activities at the site.

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

Additionally, animal bones have been found preserved among the limpet shells.

Dr Duval-Gatignol added: “We still have to correctly identify the bones, we think there are cows that would probably have been raised on site.”

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

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

The objects need to be examined in more detail and the excavation site needs to be restored to its original condition.

Dr. Duval-Gatignol concludes: “In a few weeks, a month, you will no longer see anything and it will be as if we had never been there.”