A tomb on the common, originally uncovered by Lukis in 1840. (0852688)
ARCHAEOLOGISTS spent most of September investigating tomb sites in Herm and have come up with some interesting discoveries.
This was the second year of a three-year dig and most of the work followed on from last year’s findings.
The team is led by Professor Chris Scarre and is made up of students from Durham University and volunteers from La Societe Guernesiaise.
They focused on known tomb sites on Grand Monceau, Petit Monceau, Robert’s Cross and the Common.
The team was interested in digging deeper and finding out what the sand had protected below the surface.
The most significant discovery was that of a menhir, or standing stone, near to the cross.
‘It was well hidden and covered with brambles,’ said Chris. ‘But we kept going and we found the base over a metre below the current ground level. This just goes to show how much ground has built up over the last 2,000 years or so.’
The large stone was lying at an angle, as though it had fallen over a long time ago but had since settled again.
Around this stone, about halfway up its height, were various fragments of Roman pottery. This was buried in sandy soil, which comes in slowly over the years, collecting organic material along the way. Above this is white sand, which has accumulated over the last 600 years or so.
Last year the use of geophysics quite close by, in the area south of Petit Monceau, showed linear features below the ground.
‘We think this is probably the site of a roman settlement or farm with a field system,’ said Chris.
‘It is interesting because we have found no Roman evidence north of Robert’s Cross. Everything on that side is neolithic.’
This is backed up by an excavation of 10 years ago, which uncovered Roman pottery by the coast near Monku.
Last year the team discovered a circular stone structure on the common, which was believed to be neolithic. Further investigation has revealed that the circular area dates from around 800BC. Interestingly, it is connected to a wall which dates from 1500BC, showing that the area was altered and added to over a large period of time. This structure has been made more permanently visible to visitors with the help of island gardener James Cordingley.
Also on the common was a tomb originally excavated by Frederick Lukis in 1840.
‘There was an empty chamber there,’ said Chris. ‘We excavated around it and found the original cap stones. It was clear that the tomb had been disturbed many years before the quarrymen or Lukis and his team dug there as long ago as 2,000 or 3,000 years.’
It would be easy to write pages and pages of fascinating facts surrounding the work so far, but that would take up far too much column space. There are, however, several other interesting items worth a mention.
One Herm myth dating back to the 1960s has been laid to rest. The story was that there was a tomb near to Oyster Point, but further investigation with the use of boreholes has revealed that this isn’t the case.
The other possible tomb, however, which is near the obelisk, probably does exist, as this area would have been a hill in the neolithic landscape. Also, it seems the nearby sand pit was the site of a neolithic settlement.
The investigative work will continue throughout the year, until the archaeologists return in 2010, no doubt to tease us with more fascinating discoveries lying just beneath the island’s surface.
Article posted on 9th October, 2009 - 10.00am
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