A child's tooth and 18th and 19th Century ceramic bottles were recovered by the Bermuda National Trust at a dig at Long House, Penno's Drive in St. George's this weekend.

The building's owner, Meyer Agencies Ltd. and the architect, T. J. Bowers, asked the National Trusts' Archaeological Research Committee if they would be interested in conducting an archaeological excavation of the ground floor and garden before renovations are carried out to the northern half of the building in the next couple of months.

The Grade 1 Listed building, consisting of a top floor residence and a ground floor store-room and kitchen, was built around 1794 by Bailey's Bay merchant John Paynter. After 1800, it was then split between two brothers, John and James Musson of Flatts.

The dig will enable archaeologists to find out additional information on the use and history of the building and will help reconstruct what daily life in 19th Century St. George's was like.

Archaeological research committee chairman, Richard Lowry said "When an historic building or site is renovated without having an archaeological dig an important part of Bermuda's cultural history is lost.

"It is great to be asked to investigate such an interesting old building and I thank Mr. Hayward of Meyer Agencies Ltd. and Mr. Bowers for this opportunity.

"We are not always given the chance to dig before an historic site is developed or renovated but the word is getting out.

"We have a good relationship with the St. George's Corporation, who allowed us to excavate an archaeological deposit that was discovered last year during trenching work in One Gun Alley and it is encouraging that we are now being contacted by others.

"As a World Heritage Site St. George's gets special protection so sometimes a dig is required, although this is not the case with Long House, but there are plenty of other sites and ruins in the rest of the island that could benefit from the same attention."

The Archaeological Research Committee and their volunteers began work on Saturday excavating the original kitchen of the northern half of the building.

The Committee dug two small trenches and investigated the original bread-oven.

Artefacts recovered included 19th and early 20th century pottery and glassware as well as animal bones.

They also included a child's milk tooth, an incisor, which had fallen between the floor boards. These will be taken back to the Archaeology Lab at Reeve Court for conservation and cataloguing and will help in the analysis of the site.

The Committee will return to the site later this month for an archaeological assessment of the back garden, where the outhouse and possibly the stables were located.