Archaeologists hoping to unearth Jersey's Ice Age past

A group of archaeologists are hoping to uncover the secrets of Jersey's prehistoric past.

The team are excavating at La Cotte at Ouaisné, one of only a handful of neanderthal Ice Age sites in the world. It is hoped that the project will give clues as to how our biological ancestors lived.

The site includes a remote area known as 'the bluff', which has not been excavated since 1981 due to safety concerns. Over the past year, sea walls and mesh have been manually installed to stabilise the cliffs and allow excavators safe access to the site.

One of the archaeologists leading the research has praised Jersey Heritage for the work that has been undertaken.

Excavation work has taken place at La Cotte since 30 neanderthal teeth were discovered there in 1910. It is now known to be the largest site of its kind in Europe and in 1968, Prince Charles joined the excavations as a student at Cambridge University.

Jersey Heritage and the Société Jersiaise have also launched a fundraising campaign to make sure that work to conserve the site can continue into the future.