archaeology laboratory for the Bermuda National Trust.

The new lab, at Reeve Court in St. George's, will enable the Trust to effectively study items found in digs and provide better storage for them.

Kelly Ladd and Emily Williams of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Virginia are using their knowledge of preservation to organise the Trust's 500,000-piece collection of artifacts.

The collection had been moved about several times before arriving at Reeve Court.

"The National Trust's main concern was to get the whole collection together and organised,'' Ms Ladd said.

"The Trust wants to get this good foundation, then they will take the next step and dig more.'' And she said site excavations are very difficult without a laboratory facility.

"There have been so many digs since 1980 and so many different people involved.

The archaeologists were also charged with inspection of the artifacts and have kept their eyes open for pieces of interest.

Trust Archaeology Committee chairman Stephen Copeland said: "The items in our collection tell a story of how Bermuda and Bermudians came to be the way they are today.'' The collection includes metal objects, many types of ceramics, glass and leather.

"Some of these artifacts are 300 years old and now that we've found them we want them to last through time. We're transferring these items into specialised storage materials to prevent them from deteriorating.'' "And understanding what these historical items mean is every bit as important as finding and preserving them. It will be wonderful to have a specially designed place to work,'' he said.

Amongst the archaeological digs the Trust has conducted are those at Tucker House and Stewart Hall in St. George's and Springfield in Somerset.

The lab will be open to the public and researchers interested in Bermuda history will be able to find artifacts and learn about them.

Archaeology Committee member Linda Abend noted: "It will be a good opportunity to show people the archaeology work the Trust is doing.

"That may help us to not only raise interest in the committee's work, but also recruit new volunteers to help us.

"Visitors to the Island were also very interested in our digs as we were conducting them and this is one more way to contribute to cultural tourism.'' The equipment for the lab and the experience of the Williamsburg team were made possible by a generous donation -- the amount of which was not disclosed -- from the Christian Humann Foundation.

Renovations to Reeve Court were carried out with the help of a generous gift from XL Capital. XL made a pledge of $100,000 -- to be paid over five years -- to the Trust's capital campaign Trust For All in 1993 for the purpose of restoration.

Sorting it out: Kelly Ladd, (left) and Emily Williams have been helping the National Trust to set up an archeological laboratory.