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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

It's great to have you all involved in exploring Alderney's archaeology, but not everyone is on hand to help roll boulders - and we have a big one to roll. Do we have any supporters out there who are comfortable with website design on Wordpress? Dig Alderney has a website but we've not 1/

Three people rolling a huge boulder in a trench during archaeological excavation.

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Post excavation work is now underway on May's project. Here's a scale sketch of the standing stone; detailed study must await future investigation. #Alderney #StandingStone

A sketch of a standing stone with a height line on left and descriptive annotations on right.

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

The 2026 excavations are complete, and the post-excavation work has only just begun. We'd like to thank our whole team of volunteer diggers, pot-washers and finds specialists (only about half are in this photo). We are grateful to the landowners and tenants of the sites, the States of ... 1/3

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

A bit late posting... Dr Phil de Jersey winds up at Whitegates. Intense prehistoric activity and a possible burial mound. #Alderney #Archaeology

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Alderney excavation 2026, days 18-21

YouTube video by Guernsey Archaeology

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

Day 15 at Whitegates, where the trench runs parallel to the railway line. A piece of bronze indicates the age of the levels we're digging. #Alderney #Archaeology

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Alderney excavation 2026, day 15

YouTube video by Guernsey Archaeology

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Day 14 and we've extended trenches at Whitegates and opened Trenches 3 and 4. Prehistoric tools continue to be found, plus an intriguing new feature. #Alderney #Archaeology

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Alderney excavation 2026, day 14

YouTube video by Guernsey Archaeology

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Day 12 at Whitegates and we struggled with gales and driving rain. Phil shows us the prehistoric layer being investigated. #Alderney #Archaeology

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Alderney excavation 2026, day 12

YouTube video by Guernsey Archaeology

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

With the test trenches in the Paddock complete, here are some of our more unusual finds. Details in the captions. #Alderney #Archaeology

Roman pot sherd scratched with a graffito VIv.

Bearing stone from a bow drill or fire lighting kit. From Roman layers but possibly prehistoric.

Samian pottery sherd from Central Gaul. Of the short lived bowl firm 30 made around 100AD.

Sherd of possibly 6th century Merovingian Frankish make from the abandonment layers above the Roman site.

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Archaeology isn't just about digging. A host of operations are going on as part of the project. Here John washes finds, Kevin examines the pottery, Jim checks the site daily with his metal detector and Jason and Nich survey trenches in the Paddock.

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

The 11th and final day putting test trenches in the Paddock turned up something unexpected - and enigmatic. What appears to be a standing stone is over a metre tall, with an unknown portion still buried beneath the water table. Does it have a carved face? 1/2 #Alderney #Archaeology #LongisMenhir

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Day 9 began with rain driving us to an early teabreak. The Paddock was thankfully shielded from the strong cold NE wind and our team found a trampled Roman surface in Trench 7.6 next to scattered stones and patches of clay from the remains of a structure. It was covered in 'black earth'... 1/2

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Day 8 in the Paddock, and we open a new test trench 7.6 to investigate the northern margins of the site. In the distance are Trench 7.1 near the gate and 7.2 is behind the spoil heap - both are filled back in. The orange fence marks Trench 7.4. ... 1/2 #Alderney #RomanArchaeology

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Contrasting finds. Our first decent crop of Roman shards from around the Roman wall in the Paddock. And from 20th century levels at Whitegates came a broken shaving bowl made for the SS by Allach Porcelain of Bohemia. #Alderney #Archaeology

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Day 6 in the Paddock and after two day's hard digging we reach a Roman wall (and ground water) in test trench 7.4. In the top image, the wall stands in water by the scale. The trench section shows a later ploughsoil (black band) has been cut through by an even later pit (yellowish sand on right).

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

With heavy rain forecast, we aimed to just do surveying this morning. When the sun came out instead, we made a start on Trench 7.4. This is in the busiest area predicted by GPR and we decided to skip Trench 7.3 in its favour. #Alderney #RomanArchaeology #LongisBay

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

DAY 3. Trenches 7.1 and 7.2 in the Paddock come to an end. Under the ploughsoil is another layer of windblown sand. Below that is what seems to be a Roman ground surface, but a water table at 1.1m below ground frustrates further investigation. #Alderney #RomanArchaeology

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Alderney excavation Day 1 Video by Phil de Jersey We're back up in Alderney to work on two sites this year: a return to the Paddock Field, where we dug in 2018-19, and a bit further away up the hill at Whitegates, where there are antiquarian records of prehistoric settlement and burials... 1/2

youtu.be

Alderney excavation 2026, day 1

YouTube video by Guernsey Archaeology

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Busy day in the Paddock, moving heaps of sand. Both our trenches have come down to an intriguing black layer which could be a relic soil. Scratch marks in its surface could be due to ploughing. #Alderney #RomanArchaeology

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

And we're off! Our advance party flew in today and was joined by our Alderney contingent, allowing us to make a good start on two test trenches in the Paddock. #Alderney #RomanArchaeology #LongisBay

Four people working in two trenches in a field. Houses in the background.

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

How much has it rained this winter? The question is crucial to the success of the test-trenching exercise commencing on Longis Common this weekend. Small trenches are proposed to be placed at intervals along the red line overlaid on the Ground Penetrating Radar diagram. 1/2 #Alderney #Archaeology

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

Now Whitegates is no more, it becomes the target of this year's excavation. We'll be investigating the site from 2 to 23 May as intriguing finds of several periods were found in this area during the nineteenth century. #Alderney #Archaeology

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

Something only apparent when a fully surveyed modern plan of the Nunnery is complete is that the tower is offset about a metre to seaward. This suggests the tower was built first, then the Romans didn't have enough space to fit the fort walls in on the east side so 1/2 #Alderney #RomanFort

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

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

Drawing to scale of the wall of a Roman firt with a Roman soldier on the rampart.

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

Dr Jason Monaghan is giving an online lecture to the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society at 2pm today. Link in comments. Join Zoom Meeting us02web.zoom.us/j/8156210756... Meeting ID: 815 6210 7563 Passcode: 425916

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

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

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

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.

Aerial shot of the Roman small fort of Alderney. The walls are roman stone construction with an 18th century English building inside it.

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

Day 17-18 and it's a wrap! The excavation at Les Huguettes is concluded, the main structure has been protected with plastic and the site will be backfilled with the kind assistance of States Works. The final video from the site is here 1/2 youtu.be/AtHgb3nLzn4?...

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Les Huguettes, Alderney, excavation 2025: days 17-18

YouTube video by Guernsey Archaeology

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

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). 1/2

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

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. 1/2

A person wearing a hat washing finds from an archaeological excavation. Standing at a table with a light blue washing up bowl.

Wooden boxes with archaeological finds stacked up against a wall.

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

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.

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

Day 11. Advance notice that Dr Phil de Jersey will be giving a talk at the Island Hall on Thursday 22nd May at 6pm. Admission free, run in conjunction with the @alderney society. 1/2 #Alderney #IronAge

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

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 1/2

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

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. 1/2

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

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?...

Iron Age stone roundhouse with burnt area of the hearth in the middle.

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

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?...

Man standing in trench recording tone structure. Other diggers in background. Wheelbarrows around the site.

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Dig Alderney @digalderney.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

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?...

A wooden box of mixed pottery sherds and bones.

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