Student archaeologists hoping to restore little-known Neolithic site

Wednesday 12 April 2023

A team of archaeologists, including students and amateurs, will this summer be working to peel back the undergrowth and conserve a little-known Neolithic site, which is so well hidden that mountain bikers sometimes use it as a jump.

La Hougue De Vinde, which will be excavated this summer as part of the Jersey International Centre of Advanced Studies' annual field school, is one of Jersey's least understood ancient sites.

Nestled in the woodland on Noirmont Common, the site was first partially excavated by a group of amateur archeologists in 1881, and then again in 1914 by the Société Jersiaise. 

Dr Sean Dettmann, Director of Jersey International Centre of Advanced Studies, said: "The site has had very little attention in the last 100 years.

"The site is overgrown, it's misused. Mountain bikers use it as a jump. If you didn't know it was there already, you just wouldn't know what it is, it looks like an overgrown hill."

Pictured: A photo of La Hougue De Vinde from the 1914 excavation.  

It consists if a partially buried ring of stones, with a potential outer rubble wall buried beneath the remains of a circular mound. 

As to the size, Dr Dettman said: "If you stood in the middle and swung a cat, you would hit each stone." 

The site is most likely a Neolithic Barrow, meaning it could be up to 12,000 years old.  

However, what the site was actually used for is still up for debate.

"To be honest, we don't know. We know that some of the better preserved neolithic sights like La Hougue Bie, the one near St. Andrew's Park the one near Haute De La Garenne, are sites of ritual and burial. But with La Houge De la Viande there has been such limited excavation work that we don't know," Dr Dettman said.

"There is a path straight down to the sea, so it could be a site of some of boat-making. The name would suggest that there was some kind of practice of this here. We simply don't know how it fits into the network of dolmens in Jersey." 

Pictured: La Hougue De Vinde as it appears today.

As a result, the team at JICAS are planning to undertake a limited excavation of the site over the next three years, for two week days each summer. The excavations will aim to determine the exact extent of the site, clarify where the previous excavations took place and determine what remains of the site to be studied and presented to the public. 

The work will also look at conserving the site. Dr Dettman said: "We want to start peeling back the flora, the leaves, trees, dirt, peeling back the overgrowth, the fauna as well as digging our test pits. We want to start putting some signage up so people can enjoy it like the other sites on the island." 

Run in partnership with Jersey Heritage, Société Jersiaise and the University of Exeter’s International Summer School, the field school aims to give students the opportunity to get hands on archeological experience. While the field school is primarily attended by university students, JICAS is also offering up places to anyone who might be interested in understand more about Jersey's past. 

The summer school will take place from 3 to 16 July and anyone with an interest in archeology is invited to sign up. No prerequisite knowledge is required. For more information, click HERE.