A WIRRAL archaeologist has had to acknowledge a debt to a colony of rabbits for unearthing a 'goldmine' at Land’s End where tales of King Arthur abound.
Dean Paton, who runs the Big Heritage business, was invited to Cornwall to investigate a recent discovery that shed light on the earliest human settlements.
While there he learned about the exploits of the floppy-eared family who had been tagged "archaeo bunnies."
Dean, who studied archaeology at the University of Chester, explained: "Land's End staff member Eddie Williams had affectionately 'adopted' a family of wild rabbits who had created a network of burrows near the site’s Greeb Farm attraction.
"But he soon noticed it wasn’t just soil being unearthed by the rabbits, but a series of curious flint objects which he decided to collect.
"Big Heritage was invited to the site to investigate further, and we found that Eddie's finds were a collection of flint scrapers and arrowheads dating back at least 5,000 years."
A thorough archaeological investigation of the land uncovered an Iron Age hill fort, a Bronze Age barrow cemetery, a Neolithic passage grave and a series of Iron Age field-systems - all evidence of humans being attracted to Land’s End for thousands of years.
Dean, aged 30 and from Bromborough said: "It's amazing how a family of rabbits have set in motion an incredible journey of discovery.
"Within the immediate vicinity of Land's End we were able to see a visible time-line of Britain, stretching deep into pre-history."
Big Heritage is now working closely with Land's End to create a series of attractions, new interpretation boards and school activities.
They include an 'archaeo-bunnies' trail to inspire budding young archaeologists to discover the past.
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