Archaeological excavations have taken place in Clare over the last couple of weeks (April and March 2011). Upwards of 200 people from a wide cross-section of the community have been involved with the project in one way or another.
The project started with the pupils at Clare Middle School taking time away from their studies to help the people of Clare explore the history of the town. Teams of teachers and students investigated what lay beneath the gardens of Clare, digging a total of 15 test pits. Everyone had a huge amount of fun whilst digging the test pits and the experts were on hand to help and advise.
Many people generously allowed the school's teams to dig up their gardens where they were unable to do so themselves. The teams were in search of artefacts left behind by previous residents of the town. Their finds showed evidence of occupation stretching back over thousands of years.
The following weekend, the general public continued test pitting across more gardens in the town. Another 17 test pits were dug over the weekend by couples, families, extended families, old friends and new friends alike.
Everyone had a great deal of fun and worked extremely hard to get everything finished in time for the closing discussions at the end of the last day. We found lots of interesting things during the project and will be publishing a final report on the website as soon as it's available. A final report will be produced early next year along with a talk given to Clare Archaeological and Historical Society by Carenza Lewis. Preliminary reports are available from the Access Cambridge Archaeology website.
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