Excavation of prehistoric tomb delayed due to rain

An archaeological excavation of a prehistoric tomb in Alderney has been delayed until Wednesday, Guernsey Ports has said.

The site, known as Houguette de la Taille, is located outside the current perimeter of Alderney Airport.

It is one of three historic sites which has been identified by planners as part a wider refurbishment of the airport, which was granted in May.

One of the conditions of that planning approval was written documentation of an investigation into any archaeological remains before any construction work started.

The tomb is believed to be a prehistoric barrow dating back to about 2,000 BC, according to Dr Philip de Jersey, a States archaeologist.

He said: "If the airport runway extension goes ahead, then this site will be destroyed. So, one of the conditions on the planning approval was that we excavate it first.

"We are planning to be there for about 10 or 11 days to do this, with a small team from Guernsey and Alderney."

Dr de Jersey said weather conditions had delayed his team from starting on Monday and work would now begin on Wednesday.

He said the team would working until the end of the following week and were losing "about a day-and-a-half", adding that working in the rain was "not ideal".

“We will have to work a bit harder and faster. But it will all be done by the end of next week," he said.

Guernsey Ports confirmed the other two sites were the Lager Sylt, which was a concentration camp, and the Windmuhlenberg strongpoint.

A spokesperson said the remains of the Lager Sylt camp were largely outside the airport perimeter.

Staff said it was believed a small part of the compound was within the current airfield.

For the Windmuhlenberg strongpoint, no further surveys had been proposed ahead of construction, but a watching brief would be maintained throughout, and a record made of any findings as the project progressed, they added.

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