Ogier helps Jersey Heritage celebrate prehistory at La Hougue Bie

Jersey Heritage is celebrating all things "prehistory" with a week full of activities for the local community to enjoy, beginning on Monday 25 April.

The prehistory programme, kindly sponsored by Ogier, involves site visits by schoolchildren, teacher training and lectures, and will end with a two day family event at La Hougue Bie.

"Prehistory Weekend – Loving Your History", which takes place from 30 April to 1 May, will give visitors to the ancient site an opportunity to step back in time and watch skills from thousands of years ago in action, including flint knapping and Neolithic jewellery making.

Visiting experimental archaeologist Dr James Dilley and Emma Jones of AncientCraft will be at the centre of the week's activities. Together, they will hold the first full living history display at the award-winning replica Neolithic Longhouse.

Kate Kirk, Director of Marketing at Ogier, said: "Ogier is committed to supporting education projects and we're continuing our work with Jersey Heritage this year by sponsoring this exciting week of events for schools and Islanders to enjoy. Prehistory is an important part of the curriculum in Jersey and we are proud that a project we are involved in will provide new learning resources for the benefit of teachers and schoolchildren."

Throughout the week, James and Emma will provide training for teachers to support the prehistory units in the Jersey school curriculum, and will share their knowledge and skills with Jersey Heritage's team of volunteers who maintain the Longhouse and give tours and demonstrations to visitors.

The duo will also help create new learning resources for Jersey's schoolchildren, heading off to various locations in the Island across the week as Jersey Heritage create a number of short films about the skills needed during the Neolithic period.

Children's author Penny Byrne will also make a guest appearance at La Hougue Bie during the week, as she launches her new book Charlie and Spud in the Stone Age. As part of the celebrations, Penny will give a reading to children from Springfield Primary School. Penny has written her new book in conjunction with the Government of Jersey as part of the Island Identity Project.

As part of "Prehistory Weekend – Loving Your History", visitors will be able to take in the sights, sounds, and smells of life thousands of years ago, before being able to touch replica objects and talk to James and Emma about their lives as "prehistoric people". In addition to the flint knapping and jewellery making demonstrations, they will also carry out a number of tasks that would have been a familiar part of daily life thousands of years ago, such as fire lighting, axe making, wood working, and bone and antler carving. Visitors of all ages will be able to try their hand at some of these crafts.

Helen Otterwell, Jersey Heritage's Learning and Engagement Manager, said: "La Hougue Bie is the perfect setting to bring to life this special part of Jersey's heritage and we are excited to be able to share the living history demonstrations and James and Emma's expertise with so many different parts of the community. As well as providing fantastic experiences for the public, our prehistory week will have a long-term impact through the teacher training and the creation of new teaching resources, helping to share and promote this significant time from Jersey's past."