Places Offered At Archaeology Summer School

Keen amateur historians will have the rare chance to join experts in an international research project at a summer school in Jersey.

Local and international students will be able to help with studies of Jersey's prehistoric sites, including the ancient burial mound La Hougue De Vinde near Noirmont, which is a Site of Strategic Interest (SSI).

‘The Archaeological Map of Jersey’ is being organised by the Jersey International Centre of Advanced Studies (JICAS) for islanders aged 18-years-old and above.

It will be led by Dr Matt Pope, Dr Helen Dawson and Dr Hervé Duval.

Successful applicants will be able to help in the efforts to preserve the remains of the ancient burial site and learn about who built it around 5,500 years ago.

Dr Sean Dettman, Director of Jersey International Centre of Advanced Studies, says this work also helps us to better understand the island’s archaeology, culture, history and heritage.

"It's a really good opportunity to internationalise the fantastic and - sometimes, dare I say -underappreciated archaeology and history that we have here on the island.

People from across the world search high and wide for these types examples, and sometimes we tend to take advantage of it because it's on our doorstep."

The plan is to teach people about how Jersey acted as an intricate river system when it was still attached to Europe and how the Neanderthals interacted with the landscape.

Secondly, the students will learn about how ancient people used Jersey as an island, including Neolithic dolmans and how to become 'guardians' of Jersey's heritage.

It will include classroom lessons, training in field methods and field trips.

In 2019, La Hougue De Vinde was damaged by someone digging holes at the Grade One listed site.

No qualifications are necessary to to join the school but there is a fee of £799 for islanders and £3,000 for international students.

A £500 bursary is available.

JICAS got a £10,000 government grant for the research programme, to pay for leading archaeologists to teach successful candidates about Jersey's history.

The summer school is a partnership involving Jersey Heritage, Société Jersiaise, and the University of Exeter.