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... and our friends in Alderney. Until next year! #Alderney #Archaeology

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... Alderney, The Alderney Society and staff of the Alderney Museum. The continuing support of Guernsey Museums and the Alderney Wildlife Trust is invaluable. Not a spade full of sand would be moved without financial support from individual donors, the resources of our team... 2/3

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

Alderney excavation 2026, days 18-21

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

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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

Alderney excavation 2026, day 15

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

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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

Alderney excavation 2026, day 14

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

Alderney excavation 2026, day 12

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Bowl of a silver spoon from Roman levels near the top of the standing stone illustrated previously.

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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 · 12/05/2026

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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Did the people who erected it select this stone as it looks like it has a face? Or is it a trick of the light and human imagination? 2/2

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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

... typical of abandoned Roman sites. An unexpected discovery was a vertical stone poking through from earlier levels. This will be investigated further. 2/2 #Alderney #RomanArchaeology

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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

All have found Roman deposits round about the same level as the current water table. We're checking whether that is still a problem higher up the slope. 2/2

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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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...and a nearby Bronze Age hoard. Just getting started today but there should be some good archaeology coming up very soon. 2/2

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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

Alderney excavation 2026, day 1

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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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