The community-led Caistor Roman Project involves volunteers and experts excavating trenches at Caistor St Edmund – in part of the town the Romans knew as Venta Icenorum.
But the dig is not taking place in the walled area most people think of as the town, but within the grounds of the Caistor Hall Hotel.
That is in an area which would have been part of the much bigger, 86-acre town site, which was surrounded not by the later walls, but by a huge circuit of ditches dating back to the 1st century AD.
The excavations have been taking place in two areas – one within the Roman town area – and one on the other side of the ditch.
Within the town area, evidence of burned pottery has been discovered, which could suggest a commercial kiln was in operation during the time of Roman occupation.
But, on the other side of the ditch evidence has been found of, earlier, Iron Age occupation – potentially in wooden buildings.
Prof Will Bowden, project director and professor of Roman archaeology at the University of Nottingham, said the investigations were helping to build up a picture of the earlier stages of occupation of the area – which led to the founding of the town.
He said: “A lot of the material which is coming out is late Iron Age and early Roman. And we have got pits and post-holes, which seem to suggest wooden structures.
“This is in an area close to the temple where we excavated a few years ago, so it seems to reinforce the theory that the temple was founded first and the town came later.”
As well as volunteers from the Caistor Roman Project, students from the University of East Anglia and University of Nottingham, a group of military veterans have also been helping with the excavation.
Among them is former Royal Engineer Chris Ellis, from Gorleston. Mr Ellis said he had found out about the excavations through his membership of the Royal Engineers Association in Lowestoft.
He said: “It takes a lot of the stress off of me. It’s been fantastic. It’s been a team effort, nobody is telling you how you have to do things and it has been really interesting.”
Prof Bowden said: “I think the way archaeology can help with wellbeing is being recognised now.
“You see people come here, whether digging in the pits, or sieving material and any baggage they might have just falls away.”
It will take many months for all of the material to be investigated and recorded.
But eye-catching finds include a glass dolphin which would have been one of two handles of a vessel and part of a flagon, which could date to 175AD, used to store wine or water.
And a nail cleaner demonstrates that people from centuries ago were fastidious about their appearance.
As Prof Bowden said: “There is a lot of cleaning and preening and that sort of thing going on.”
Mike Pinner, chairman of Caistor Roman Project, said: “We’re delighted that our team, drawn from the community and advised by professionals, has been working together on further extending our knowledge of the town and its environs.”
Interest in Venta Icenorum was initially triggered more than 90 years ago after a series of aerial photographs were taken by the RAF during a hot summer.
Those photographs of the parched field, published in the Times, revealed the Roman town’s layout of streets and buildings and prompted excavations in the 1930s.
In recent years, the University of Nottingham has carried out excavations, supported by the community-led Caistor Roman Project.
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