A search for the ruins of a monastery on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne will be launched in June. The priory ruins on the island date from the early 12th century but the original monastery was founded in 635. Archaeologists are now launching a crowdfunded excavation to find the original ruins. The first monastery was founded by the Irish monk St Aidan in AD 635 but was sacked by the Vikings 160 years later. David Petts, a lecturer at Durham University and an expert on the history of Lindisfarne, who will lead the excavation, told The Guardian: “Most of Aidan’s monastery probably lies under the modern village, and we’re not going to be able to knock that down – but we have had some encouraging geophysics results indicating structures under some areas of open ground which we will be able to get at.” He added: “Surprisingly little is known about the early monastery, and very little has been found from it – mainly a few scraps of broken masonry with poor records of where exactly they were recovered.” Reflecting on what they hoped to discover, Dr Petts said: “The monks led a simple lifestyle, and their buildings were probably timber, so we’re not looking for treasure. We might find evidence of buildings burned down and rebuilt, bones from the kitchen, traces of metalworking; even, if we are fantastically lucky, some writing implements.” The money for the dig has been raised through a crowdfunding project known as Dig Ventures, set up by three archaeologists. Much of the labour will be done by members of the public who have to pay a fee of £525 a week in order to participate.