A team of archaeologists, students and Bermuda National Trust summer campers uncovered the untold story of the old State House this week.

The privy of the Old State House in St. George?s has already produced several archaeological gems, including a fragment of 300-year-old pottery, a toe bone which may be human, and an entire jaw bone believed to be from a pig.

The privy is another name for an outhouse, or toilet, and from the moment he saw the three seated wooden covering, Senior Archaeologist Paul Bedford said he knew he had to uncover the privy and discover what was down there.

Senior archaeologist of the digging school, Paul Belford said that the town of St. George?s was a ?fossilised urban landscape?.

?Once the capital moved to Hamilton, there was no new development in St. George?s,? he said.

?The early 19th Century landscape was preserved as there was no new construction. This means the archaeology of the 17th and the 18th Centuries still survives intact under the ground.

?In 2002 another team of the University of Bristol did an excavation at the car park of the Bank of Bermuda on Water Street and they found 17th Century artefacts,? he said.

?The story of St. George?s has been told by historical sources, documents, folklore and myth. But archaeology tells the stories of everyday lives, of ordinary people, slaves, workers and women. People who do not appear in the history books.?

Mr. Bedford, who works at the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site in Shropshire England, is working on his PhD thesis this summer in Bermuda.

?The dig will help encourage the people of St. George?s to have a more active role in their history. When they see things coming out of the ground, it gives people something they can relate to,? he said.

?This is an important site as it is not only the earliest stone building in Bermuda it is one of the earliest stone buildings in the English-speaking New World.?

Mr. Bedford and his digging comrades are helped by summer campers from the National Trust. This week eight students were outside the Old State House, sifting through trenches.

While on the scene, one girl, found what she thought was a ?marble?, but it was soon identified as an old musket ball.

Six students from the UK, New Zealand and the USA are here for three weeks to work on the excavation.

The field school is also working with local archaeologists and volunteers from the BNT, and involving children from the Trust?s archaeology summer camp this week.

Built in 1621 by Governor Nathaniel Butler, the State House was home to Bermuda?s first parliament and court until January 23, 1815 when they moved to the new capital of Hamilton.

In 1816 the Governor granted the building to the Mayor and the Alderman of the Town of St. George to be used by the Masonic Lodge St. George No. 200 of the Grand Lodge of Scotland with an annual rent of one peppercorn. The rent has stayed the same ever since.

Richard Lowry, of the National Trust said that the only image of the original State House was Captain John Smith?s 1624 engraving.

When the front of the State House was rebuilt in 1969, it was Smith?s engraving that was used as a model.

The excavations will continue until the end of July.

Anyone wishing to take part is invited to come to the State House on Thursdays and Saturdays between 10 a.m. and 12 noon. No experience is necessary.

Mr. Lowry and Mr. Belford will also be giving a lunchtime lecture on the excavations at the Bermuda National Gallery on Wednesday, July 28 at 12:30pm.