Archaeologists search for clues to Jersey's Ice Age past

  • Katya Fowler has this report


Archaeologists have been trying to uncover more secrets from Jersey's neanderthal past in a dig on the island's south coast.

ITV News has been given exclusive access to the team examining the cliffs at La Cotte de St Brelade, who are working with engineers to make the excavations possible.

The site has been a focus for archaeologists since it was discovered in 1881. Investigations took place across long periods of the 20th century - including a visit from the Prince of Wales in 1968 - until work came to a halt in 1982.

It means this is the first extensive excavation to take place at the site in four decades.

The work can often be precarious and the team have to abseil in each day to access the rock face, which contain clues to the way our ancestors might have lived.

Despite their best efforts, some areas of the site are still not accessible.

Dr Matt Pope, who is leading the dig, says: "We know that we have many hundreds and thousands of artefacts across 13 different stratographic levels still preserved back there.

"They're not going anywhere for now and that's a good job because accessing the north ravine is very dangerous at the moment. There's no rock netting protecting us from dropping rocks, so that that will be a challenge for the future."