The Neolithic in Jersey

This second volume in Jersey’s Archaeological Research Framework offers a detailed study of the island’s Neolithic period, its links to the Channel Islands and NW France, and outlines key research questions. It provides a foundation for future studies and heritage protection efforts.

This volume is the second in a series commissioned by Jersey Heritage as part of an overarching Archaeological Research Framework for the island. It is a comprehensive, up-to-date study of the Neolithic of Jersey in the context of the other Channel Islands and their relationship with north-west France. After a brief reference to the preceding Mesolithic period, and a discussion of the Neolithisation of Jersey, the volume summarises our current state of knowledge and proposes key outstanding research questions for the Early Neolithic (c. 4900-4700 BC), the Middle Neolithic I (c. 4700/4600-4300 BC), the Middle Neolithic II (4300-3400 BC) and the Late – Final Neolithic and Chalcolithic (c. 3400 – 2300 BC). It offers an academic framework for future investigations in Jersey and aims to inform the actions of those responsible for the care and protection of Jersey’s artefacts, archaeological deposits and monuments.

Preface

Chapter 1. General introduction and overview

Chapter 2. Before the Neolithic: A glimpse into the Mesolithic of the Channel Islands

Chapter 3. The Neolithisation of Jersey and the other Channel Islands, and the Early Neolithic, c. 4900-4700 BC

Chapter 4. The Middle Neolithic I (c. 4700/4600-4300 BC): development of an Insular Neolithic, while remaining connected - just - to the neighbouring mainland

Chapter 5. The Middle Neolithic II (4300-3400 BC): the 'golden age' of megalithic (and drystone) funerary monument construction in Jersey (c. 4300-3900 BC), followed by a period (c. 3900-3400 BC) characterised by the near-absence of evidence

Chapter 6. The Late-Final Neolithic (and Chalcolithic), a long (c. 3400-2300 BC) and poorly-understood period

Chapter 7. Conclusions

Acknowledgements

Bibliography

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Preface

Chapter 1. General introduction and overview

Chapter 2. Before the Neolithic: A glimpse into the Mesolithic of the Channel Islands

Chapter 3. The Neolithisation of Jersey and the other Channel Islands, and the Early Neolithic, c. 4900–4700 BC

Chapter 4. The Middle Neolithic I (c. 4700/4600–4300 BC): development of an Insular Neolithic, while remaining connected – just – to the neighbouring mainland

Chapter 5. The Middle Neolithic II (4300–3400 BC): the ‘golden age’ of megalithic (and drystone) funerary monument construction in Jersey (c. 4300–3900 BC), followed by a period (c. 3900–3400 BC) characterised by the near-absence of evidence

Chapter 6. The Late-Final Neolithic (and Chalcolithic), a long (c. 3400–2300 BC) and poorly-understood period

Chapter 7. Conclusions

Acknowledgements

Bibliography

Alison Sheridan is a Research Associate and former Principal Curator of Early Prehistory in the Department of Scottish History and Archaeology, National Museums Scotland. As the UK, Isle of Man and Channel Islands co-ordinator of the French-led research project, Projet JADE, she has investigated the axeheads and other artefacts made from jadeitite and other Alpine rocks that have been found in the Channel Islands. She has also worked with the late Ian Kinnes on the dating of the funerary monument of Les Fouaillages on Guernsey. Emmanuel Ghesquiere is in charge of archaeological prospection and excavations at the Institut National de Recherches Archeologiques Preventives (INRAP), Grand-Ouest, in Bourgebus, and a permanent member of the Centre de Recherche en Archeologie, Archeosciences, Histoire, Rennes (CReAAH). A specialist in the prehistory of Normandy and of the west of France more generally from the Mesolithic to the Bronze Age, he has directed excavations at the Neolithic cemetery of Fleury-sur-Orne since 2014. Cyril Marcigny is the Deputy Director (Scientific and Technical) of INRAP, Grand-Ouest, in Bourgebus, and is a Faculty Member (and former Director of CReAAH) at the Universite Rennes-I and II. He also teaches at the Ecole du Louvre and is a member of the Pre- and Protohistory Section of the Comite des travaux historiques et scientifiques at the Ecole nationale des Chartres. He brings his encyclopaedic knowledge of the Neolithic in Normandy, and in western France more generally, to bear on interpreting Jersey’s Neolithic. Helene Pioffet is Conservatrice du Patrimoine (Curator of Heritage) in charge of the departement of Morbihan, based at the Service regional de l’Archeologie in Rennes, and a permanent member of CReAAH. She is a specialist in Neolithic pottery, not only of France and the Channel Islands (having produced the definitive report on the assemblage from Les Fouaillages, for example) but also of Britain and Ireland. Her work on Channel Islands Neolithic pottery has clarified its development and its relationship with French ceramic traditions.

• By (author) Alison Sheridan
• By (author) Emmanuel Ghesquière
• By (author) Cyril Marcigny
• Contributions by Hélène Pioffet