One wonders if the builders or those soldiers who manned the small German strongpoint at Le Rozel on the west Cotentin coast were aware of the amazing history which lay beneath their feet.
This site is the location of one of the most remarkable archaeological finds ever discovered, Neanderthal footprints preserved as fossils in sandy mud dating back over 80,000 years!
They’re a recent discovery too, with 257 footprints – 88 of them complete – excavated between 2012 and 2017. Remarkable, many of the print were made by children with an estimated 10 to 14 different individuals leaving their mark in the soft material to be preserved forever.
The site – which is still undergoing excavation - can be viewed from the top of the cliff. Directly below are the remains of three WW2-era German bunkers.
On the beach you can see a collapsed shelter building which looks to have slipped down the soft cliff near to where the footprints were found.
A set of steps which take you up to a cliff edge path also gets you close to two high-level observation and machine gun positions – one with two embrasures to cover the extensive beach and sea and one with a single embrasure looking out over the sea.
Both stand on the cliff edge and are difficult to access safely.