The Jersey Plaquettes

In 2010, 15,000 years after the first pioneer hunter-gatherers arrived in Jersey, archaeologists came to the area of Les Varines to the south-east of the Island, where stone artefacts had been discovered after the fields were ploughed. Excavations took place over the next eight years. They revealed hearths, paving stones of a camp and thousands of flint tools left behind by the hunters. Ten fragile fragments of engraved stone were also discovered, each marked with abstract designs. This display tells the story of the pioneer people, and investigates the meaning of these mysterious stones, which have been described as the earliest art forms to have yet been discovered in the British Isles.