A TINY village which is at the centre of a £98,000 lottery funded archaeological dig is set to hold an Excavation Week to investigate potential finds.

Thornton Le Street, near Northallerton, which has a thriving history group, was chosen by the Heritage Lottery to be the centre of the Roads to the Past project. This involves an extensive archaeological dig which because of previous discoveries they're hoping will reveal more about the communities potential Roman origins.

It's known to be close to important medieval and Roman roads,

Work on test pitting so far has discovered fragments of medieval pottery and what appears to be a stone packed floor close to the line of the medieval road.

Between August 27 and September 1 the Excavation week will be held when volunteers will be trained on site to set out and explore trenches and test pits, and process and record the findings.

One of the major finds in the past at Thornton Le Street was an 800 year old jug which was found fully intact 35 years ago. As well as the excavations which have been carried out, work is also being done on researching documents, a website will be created to set out the findings of the project which is due to carry on until June next year.

For information contact Peter MacNamara on 07776 243 565 or www.thorntonlestreetbigdig.com