Dig Alderney
@digalderney.bsky.social
Registered charity devoted to the #archaeology of the Channel Island of #Alderney.
#RomanArchaeology #IronAge #Prehistory
#RomanArchaeology #IronAge #Prehistory
After several years' work by members of our team, the draft manuscript of 'A Late #RomanFort on #Alderney' is off to the publisher. Next comes 'peer review'; we will then address the comments before the final text is agreed. Hopefully BAR Publishing will publish the book in mid-2026.
#Archaeology
#Archaeology
November 19, 2025 at 12:12 PM
After several years' work by members of our team, the draft manuscript of 'A Late #RomanFort on #Alderney' is off to the publisher. Next comes 'peer review'; we will then address the comments before the final text is agreed. Hopefully BAR Publishing will publish the book in mid-2026.
#Archaeology
#Archaeology
Spreading the word. Dr Jason Monaghan gave a talk to 40 members of the East Riding Archaeological Society at Hull University. The fort at the Nunnery has close parallels to four forts on the Yorkshire coast but is much better preserved, so should help in the interpretation of those sites.
#Alderney
#Alderney
October 22, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Spreading the word. Dr Jason Monaghan gave a talk to 40 members of the East Riding Archaeological Society at Hull University. The fort at the Nunnery has close parallels to four forts on the Yorkshire coast but is much better preserved, so should help in the interpretation of those sites.
#Alderney
#Alderney
We're quietly working on the #Nunnery monograph. This month's task is to complete the list of diagrams and photographs. Colleagues are pitching in to take new pictures of the site we need for the publication. Alan Perks took this great drone shot showing the whole east wall.
July 22, 2025 at 4:59 PM
We're quietly working on the #Nunnery monograph. This month's task is to complete the list of diagrams and photographs. Colleagues are pitching in to take new pictures of the site we need for the publication. Alan Perks took this great drone shot showing the whole east wall.
Day 16 and we're almost done. Dr Phil de Jersey will be giving a lecture on the dig at the Island Hall at 1800 tonight (Thursday).
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May 22, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Day 16 and we're almost done. Dr Phil de Jersey will be giving a lecture on the dig at the Island Hall at 1800 tonight (Thursday).
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Days 12 to 14. The dig is approaching its end, with the last features being explored. Meanwhile the essential post-excavation work is taking place at the Nunnery. In the picture John is gently cleaning the finds and then setting them out in the sun to dry.
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May 20, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Days 12 to 14. The dig is approaching its end, with the last features being explored. Meanwhile the essential post-excavation work is taking place at the Nunnery. In the picture John is gently cleaning the finds and then setting them out in the sun to dry.
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Day 12. One of the team took this snap out of the window of an Aurigny. Longis bay is at the top, with the Nunnery at its head. The Iron Age site is the teardrop shape at bottom of the image. No video today.
May 17, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Day 12. One of the team took this snap out of the window of an Aurigny. Longis bay is at the top, with the Nunnery at its head. The Iron Age site is the teardrop shape at bottom of the image. No video today.
Day 10. Dr Matthew Adeleye of Cambridge University visited the site today and took samples from the hearth area. These will be analysed for evidence of the local environment in the Iron Age.
#Alderney #IronAge #Archaeology
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#Alderney #IronAge #Archaeology
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May 15, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Day 10. Dr Matthew Adeleye of Cambridge University visited the site today and took samples from the hearth area. These will be analysed for evidence of the local environment in the Iron Age.
#Alderney #IronAge #Archaeology
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#Alderney #IronAge #Archaeology
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Day 9 and the extensions to the trench are being cleared. Photo from shows the curvilinear structure around the hearth at the bottom of the site. The German trench has almost been dug out. In the foreground a later structure is being revealed. It is clay bonded and may have a rectangular plan.
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May 14, 2025 at 6:22 AM
Day 9 and the extensions to the trench are being cleared. Photo from shows the curvilinear structure around the hearth at the bottom of the site. The German trench has almost been dug out. In the foreground a later structure is being revealed. It is clay bonded and may have a rectangular plan.
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Day 8. A little overnight rain brings out the colours in the site. Photo shows the hearth at the centre of the curving structure.
#Alderney #IronAge #Archaeology Today's video update here youtu.be/ZBfjmV-WfCw?...
#Alderney #IronAge #Archaeology Today's video update here youtu.be/ZBfjmV-WfCw?...
May 13, 2025 at 6:11 AM
Day 8. A little overnight rain brings out the colours in the site. Photo shows the hearth at the centre of the curving structure.
#Alderney #IronAge #Archaeology Today's video update here youtu.be/ZBfjmV-WfCw?...
#Alderney #IronAge #Archaeology Today's video update here youtu.be/ZBfjmV-WfCw?...
Day 7 at Les Huguettes, #Alderney. We're clearing and planning the #IronAge structure but also turning attention to structures emerging at the top of the site.
See today's video youtu.be/DAbvHPKh53k?...
See today's video youtu.be/DAbvHPKh53k?...
May 12, 2025 at 6:31 AM
Day 7 at Les Huguettes, #Alderney. We're clearing and planning the #IronAge structure but also turning attention to structures emerging at the top of the site.
See today's video youtu.be/DAbvHPKh53k?...
See today's video youtu.be/DAbvHPKh53k?...
Day 6 and we're cleaning up the building after removing the central baulk. A nice haul of Iron Age potsherds from one area of the site today. #Alderney #IronAge
Watch the video here youtu.be/KkOcKbGgnJQ?...
Watch the video here youtu.be/KkOcKbGgnJQ?...
May 10, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Day 6 and we're cleaning up the building after removing the central baulk. A nice haul of Iron Age potsherds from one area of the site today. #Alderney #IronAge
Watch the video here youtu.be/KkOcKbGgnJQ?...
Watch the video here youtu.be/KkOcKbGgnJQ?...
Day 5 on HUG25. We are making progress clearing the area around the building and are removing the central baulk. Today's video is here.
youtu.be/NdFZ_yqA6mM?...
youtu.be/NdFZ_yqA6mM?...
May 8, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Day 5 on HUG25. We are making progress clearing the area around the building and are removing the central baulk. Today's video is here.
youtu.be/NdFZ_yqA6mM?...
youtu.be/NdFZ_yqA6mM?...
Day 4. In the shot you can see the German trench snaking up the site has now been cleared. We are working to clean up parts of the Iron Age roundhouse ( left and under blue plastic) and tackling a large limpet midden ( top right). Today's video is here youtu.be/0fRYON_ISCM?...
May 8, 2025 at 7:25 AM
Day 4. In the shot you can see the German trench snaking up the site has now been cleared. We are working to clean up parts of the Iron Age roundhouse ( left and under blue plastic) and tackling a large limpet midden ( top right). Today's video is here youtu.be/0fRYON_ISCM?...
Day 3 and we've opened up a second section of the trench, cleared a German feature and started to investigate what looks like a hearth. See today's video (some wind noise)
youtu.be/HYEUqJ-icHE?...
#Alderney #DigAlderney #IronAge settlement
youtu.be/HYEUqJ-icHE?...
#Alderney #DigAlderney #IronAge settlement
May 7, 2025 at 6:56 AM
Day 3 and we've opened up a second section of the trench, cleared a German feature and started to investigate what looks like a hearth. See today's video (some wind noise)
youtu.be/HYEUqJ-icHE?...
#Alderney #DigAlderney #IronAge settlement
youtu.be/HYEUqJ-icHE?...
#Alderney #DigAlderney #IronAge settlement
Day 2 and there are now nine of us on site. The rain mostly stayed away and by afternoon mattocks had given way to trowels as features begin to emerge.
See Phil's video m.youtube.com/watch?v=nXxg...
#Alderney #DigAlderney #IronAge
See Phil's video m.youtube.com/watch?v=nXxg...
#Alderney #DigAlderney #IronAge
May 6, 2025 at 7:02 AM
Day 2 and there are now nine of us on site. The rain mostly stayed away and by afternoon mattocks had given way to trowels as features begin to emerge.
See Phil's video m.youtube.com/watch?v=nXxg...
#Alderney #DigAlderney #IronAge
See Phil's video m.youtube.com/watch?v=nXxg...
#Alderney #DigAlderney #IronAge
Day one at Les Huguettes, site HUG25. Our six diggers cleared 30 square metres of topsoil thick with roots. We found plenty of golf balls that went well astray of the greens, and by the end of the afternoon the first hints of the Iron Age settlement we're looking for.
May 4, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Day one at Les Huguettes, site HUG25. Our six diggers cleared 30 square metres of topsoil thick with roots. We found plenty of golf balls that went well astray of the greens, and by the end of the afternoon the first hints of the Iron Age settlement we're looking for.
And we're off! Our advance party beat the travel Gremlins to arrive in Alderney. The tools have been assembled, with thanks to the Alderney Society, the ground cleared by the Alderney Wildlife Trust. The first trench of the 2025 excavation has been laid out and digging begins today!
May 4, 2025 at 12:48 PM
And we're off! Our advance party beat the travel Gremlins to arrive in Alderney. The tools have been assembled, with thanks to the Alderney Society, the ground cleared by the Alderney Wildlife Trust. The first trench of the 2025 excavation has been laid out and digging begins today!
Dr Jason Monaghan will be giving a lecture on 'A Late Roman Building on Longis Common' at the Frossard Theatre, Guernsey, on Tuesday 25th March at 7.30pm. Admission free.
March 20, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Dr Jason Monaghan will be giving a lecture on 'A Late Roman Building on Longis Common' at the Frossard Theatre, Guernsey, on Tuesday 25th March at 7.30pm. Admission free.
September 11, 2024 at 8:22 PM
...end of Room 3 and on the adjacent pavement. A hearth was made over the ruined Roman floor and other evidence of cooking included discarded bones. It is not known whether the buildings still had a roof at this stage or whether the activity was taking place within a ruin. Evidence from this ...
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August 10, 2024 at 8:25 PM
...end of Room 3 and on the adjacent pavement. A hearth was made over the ruined Roman floor and other evidence of cooking included discarded bones. It is not known whether the buildings still had a roof at this stage or whether the activity was taking place within a ruin. Evidence from this ...
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A final phase of ancient activity on the Les Mielles site appears to have taken place in the post-Roman period. Merovigian Frankish pottery and glass (6/7th century) were found in Room 3 in 2019. This year we found further ceramics that appear to be post-Roman in a dark layer at the SE ...
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August 10, 2024 at 8:21 PM
A final phase of ancient activity on the Les Mielles site appears to have taken place in the post-Roman period. Merovigian Frankish pottery and glass (6/7th century) were found in Room 3 in 2019. This year we found further ceramics that appear to be post-Roman in a dark layer at the SE ...
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Here's a marked-up drone shot of the Roman building with SW at the top. Most of the parts revealed in the 2018 and 2019 digs are buried under this year's spoil heaps which show up in white. Roman features are shown in red. We still don't know the full extent of Room 1,
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August 6, 2024 at 6:00 PM
Here's a marked-up drone shot of the Roman building with SW at the top. Most of the parts revealed in the 2018 and 2019 digs are buried under this year's spoil heaps which show up in white. Roman features are shown in red. We still don't know the full extent of Room 1,
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We are now in the process of organising the next Alderney excavation scheduled for May 2025. This will focus on the Iron Age settlement found in the last days of this year's dig. Anyone interested in taking part should contact Dr Phil de Jersey [email protected].
July 30, 2024 at 9:10 AM
We are now in the process of organising the next Alderney excavation scheduled for May 2025. This will focus on the Iron Age settlement found in the last days of this year's dig. Anyone interested in taking part should contact Dr Phil de Jersey [email protected].
A view of the lower trench. The diggers are inside Room 3 & its exterior SE wall stands behind the scale. The later wall 3515 can be clearly seen on the right.
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July 30, 2024 at 8:54 AM
A view of the lower trench. The diggers are inside Room 3 & its exterior SE wall stands behind the scale. The later wall 3515 can be clearly seen on the right.
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