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La Hougue Bie

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La Hougue Bie
Map
Coordinates49°12′02″N2°03′50″W/ 49.2006°N 2.0638°W/49.2006; -2.0638
Public transit accessBus route 13[1]
Nearest car parkOn site (no charge)
Websitewww.jerseyheritage.org/places-to-visit/la-hougue-bie-museum

La Hougue Bieis a historic site, with museum, in theJerseyparish ofGrouville.La Hougue Bie is depicted on the 2010 issueJersey 1 pound note.

Toponymy[edit]

Hougueis aJèrriais/Cotentinvariant form of the more common Norman formHogue.It means "heap", "how", "mound"and comes from theOld Norsewordhaugr[2]meaning about the same thing.[3]Bieis of uncertain origin. The legend of La Hougue Bie connects it with the Seigneur of Hambye in the Cotentin; an Old Norse origin may connect it to-bytoponyms in Great Britain;or it may be connected to the Jèrriais wordbié(variant spelling forbiz"leat").[4]There are several hamlets calledLa Biein Normandy (Ex La Bie, or La By(e),Grumesnil), that is never confused withLe Bié(Ex: Le Vieux-Bié,Les planters du Viez Bié,1263,Gournay-en-Bray). La Hougue Bie refers probably to "a building on the earth mound".

Passage grave[edit]

The site consists of an 18.6 metre long passage chamber covered by a 12.2 metre highearth mound.The site was first excavated in 1925 by theSociété Jersiaise.Fragments of twenty vase supports were found along with the scattered remains of at least eight individuals.[5]Gravegoods,mostly pottery, were also present. At some time in the past, the site had evidently been entered and ransacked. On top of the mound were built two Medieval chapels. TheChannel Islandshave fivepassage graveswith side chambers (La Hougue Bie,La Pouquelaye de FaldouetandGrantezin Jersey,La VardeandLe DéhusinGuernsey).

La Hougue Bie is aNeolithicritual site which was in use around 4000-3500 BC.[6]InWestern Europe,it is one of the largest and best preservedpassage gravesand the most impressive and best preserved monument of Armorican Passage Grave group. Although they are termed "passage graves", they were ceremonial sites, whose function was more similar tochurchesorcathedrals,where burials were incidental. Since the excavations and restoration of the original entrance of the passage observations from inside the tomb at sunrise on theMarch equinox(spring equinox) and theSeptember equinox(autumn equinox) have revealed that the orientation of the passage, probably fortuitously,[7]allows the sun's rays to shine through to the chamber entering the back recess of the terminal cell. Although many passage graves showed evidence of continued activity into theLate Neolithicperiod, La Hougue Bie was abandoned before that time.[8][9][10]

Chapels and Prince's Tower[edit]

The entrance to the bunker can be seen in the foreground

Atop the mound are two medieval chapels, one from the 12th Century and the other from the 16th Century. This building complex has been altered a great deal through its history – including being engulfed for a period by thePrince’s Tower.Construction of this tower was started in 1792 byPhilippe d'Auvergne,who justified the work by erecting a signal station on the tower as the hub of an island-wide communication system. The building was demolished in 1924.[11]

Second World War[edit]

During theSecond World War,it was used as a key lookout point, and an underground command bunker was built in the mound and adjacent. This structure is open to the public, and houses an exhibition commemorating the workers from across Europe forced to build defences in Jersey during the German occupation.

Museum[edit]

The site, which is managed byJersey Heritage,also houses the island's brand new archeology exhibit about theGrouville Hoard–Unearthing Le Câtillon II – the world's largest Celtic coin hoard.You can explore what might have led people to bury a hoard of 70,000 coins and jewellery in Jersey 2,000 years ago.[12]

Notable people[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^wave."Liberty Bus -".libertybus.je.Retrieved30 July2018.
  2. ^"haugr - Wiktionary".en.wiktionary.org.Retrieved20 February2021.
  3. ^"Old Norse Words in the Norman Dialect".viking.no.21 June 2015.Retrieved30 July2018.
  4. ^Jersey Place Names,Jersey, 1986,ISBN0-901897-17-5
  5. ^Percival, Jeremy."La Hougue Bie".prehistoricjersey.net.Retrieved30 July2018.
  6. ^"Arches - Resource Report".
  7. ^Le Conte, David (2008). Orientations of Channel Islands Megalithic Tombs - Further observations, La Société Guernesiaise Report and Transactions, Vol XXVI, Part III, pp414-417
  8. ^Mark Patton (1993).Statements in Stone: Monuments and Society in Neolithic Europe.Routledge (UK).ISBN0415067294.
  9. ^John G. Evans (2003).Environmental Archaeology and the Social Order.Routledge (UK).ISBN0415304032.
  10. ^Hundreds expected at burial siteBBC News,(19 March 2005).
  11. ^"The Prince's Tower – La Tour d'Auvergne"(PDF).Retrieved17 August2020.
  12. ^"Le Câtillon II".5 March 2021.

Further reading[edit]

  • Nash, G.H. 1997. Experiencing Space and Symmetry: The Use, Destruction and Abandonment of La Hougue Bie Neolithic Passage Grave, Jersey in G.H. Nash (ed.)Semiotics and Landscape: The Archaeology of Mind.Oxford: BAR International Series 661. 105–118.
  • Nash, G.H. 1998. Fourth interim report on the facade area of La Hougue Bie Passage Grave, Jersey.Société Jersiaise Journal.Vol. 27. pt. 2. 317–330.
  • Nash, G.H. 1999. Fifth interim report on the facade and entrance areas of La Hougue Bie Passage Grave, Jersey.Société Jersiaise Journal.Vol. 28, pt. 3. 491–509.
  • The Archaeology of the Channel Islands. Vol. 2: The Bailiwick of Jerseyby Jacquetta Hawkes (1939)
  • The Prehistoric Foundations of Europe to the Mycenean Age,1940, C. F. C. Hawkes
  • The Archaeology and Early History of the Channel Islands,Heather Sebire, 2005.
  • Dolmens of Jersey: A Guide,James Hibbs (1988).
  • A Guide to The Dolmens of Jersey, Peter Hunt,Société Jersiaise, 1998.
  • La Hougue Bie, Jersey – A Study of the Neolithic Tomb, Medieval Chapel and Prince's Tower, Including an Account of the 1991–94 Excavations.,Mark Patton,Warwick Rodwell,Olga Finch, 1999.ISBN978-0-901897-29-9.
  • The Channel Islands, An Archaeological Guide,David Johnston, 1981
  • The Archaeology of the Channel Islands,Peter Johnston, 1986

External links[edit]

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