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La Cotte de St Brelade

Archaeological sites in JerseyCaves of JerseyHistory of JerseyNeanderthal sitesSt Brelade
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La Cotte dé Saint Brélade
La Cotte dé Saint Brélade

La Cotte de St Brelade is an archaeological site preserving a rich record of Middle Palaeolithic activity and Ice Age faunal remains. It is located in the parish of Saint Brélade, Jersey on the south west corner of the island. The place-name element Cotte means "cave" in Jèrriais, though the site may once have been known as La Grotte à la Fée (The Cave of the Fairies). The site was discovered in 1881 and has been investigated as part of several phases of excavation between 1910 and the present day. It is one of the richest Middle Palaeolithic sites in Europe and represents the most extensive sequence of Middle to Late Pleistocene Palaeolithic activity in north-west Europe. It is important for preserving a long history of repeated use of the site as a home base, two enigmatic Neanderthal bone structures and Pleistocene human fossils, which are extremely rare in this region. It occupies a granite headland containing two deep ravines which are part of collapsed sea cave system. It originally preserved over 40m of deposits preserving as many as 13 separate episodes of occupation by Neanderthal groups. These deposits may extend as far back as 250,000 years ago and also preserve Middle Palaeolithic archaeology younger than 48,000 years ago. This time span includes two previous global warm stages (inter-glacials) as well as two long cold stages; consequently the site provides a record for many different phases of environmental change from the fully temperate to extremely cold. For much of this time sea level was lower than it is now and the site would have sat within part of wider La Mancheland encompassing the other Channel Islands and with complete connection to present day France and La Cotte would have been a prominent landmark. During each warm stage, including the current Holocene one, sea level rise would have flooded the landscape, separating first Guernsey and the other Channel Islands, then Jersey and finally the Écréhous from the mainland. The site is owned by the Société Jersiaise. It is managed by Jersey Heritage who, since 2014, have led a programme of engineering works and associated archaeological excavations aimed at preserving, stabilising and investigating the site. In 2022 the then Prince Charles, who had excavated at La Cotte de St Brelade as a student in 1968, became patron of the project to protect the site.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article La Cotte de St Brelade (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

La Cotte de St Brelade
Mont du Ouaisné, St Brelade Ouaisne (La Vingtaine de Noirmont)

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N 49.175555555556 ° E -2.1883333333333 °
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Lé Creux ès Faïes

Mont du Ouaisné
JE3 8BZ St Brelade, Ouaisne (La Vingtaine de Noirmont)
Jersey
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La Cotte dé Saint Brélade
La Cotte dé Saint Brélade
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