The first day of week 2, and our 1st school visit as Aldeburgh Primary pour on to the site - what an enthusiastic, well behaved and bright group of young people! We had 29 volunteers today, so at times it all got very busy, but everyone followed orders, obeyed the marker tapes, and took no notice of the rather poor weather. By arranging the children into groups they were all able to have a go at the different archaeological tasks in areas prepared for them, and also get a look a the work going on in the graves and trenches.

That work continued all day and produced some remarkable developments. The trenches cut to explore the enclosure ditches reached epic proportions, and (maybe) have reached the bottom. 'Georgina' is being painstakingly exposed, but as a star attraction for the visitors, couldn't be worked on for the central part of the afternoon. In the new graves area 3 are being reduced; the child's grave has produced a startling development, with very clear evidence of 2 trepanning holes in the top of the skull. Next to it a large grave has produced the largest fragment of pottery so far, some more large iron objects, probably nails, and an animal jaw bone (probably horse). The third has a human leg bone, but so far nothing else. At least one more grave seems visible in this area, and there are suspicions that the large central one may prove to be two run into each other.

With the weather forecast very poor for tomorrow there may be a frustrating delay before much more progress is made.

Caron Hill and Steven Manthorpe are our two celebrities featured today. Caron, pictured here giving her shovel a rest, lives locally and works in the local hospital. She took part in the last dig at Barbers Point in 2010, and particularly enjoyed the excitement of being involved with finding 'George'. Being able to return in 2013 to uncover more of that mystery, and to see it evolve into a younger 'Georgina' has been the highlight so far.

Steven Manthorpe has worked for Suffolk Archaeology for about 8 years, and is our site expert on flint objects. One of his favourite recent projects was the excavation at Cranfields Mill in Ipswich docks. They were exposing the late Saxon foreshore, where substantial timbers were remarkably preserved in foul, smelly black mud. Certainly a contrast to his previous job as a chef at the Lighthouse restaurant in Aldeburgh.

Well, the rain didn't arrive until late in the day, which was nice, and it was really good to see Duncan Allan on a visit. He was the education officer on previous digs, and everyone wishes him a full recovery from his current illness.

There was an excellent turnout of volunteers despite the forecast, and the impending wet weather seemed to add a note of urgency to the digging. The area containing the suspected graves was enlarged and then cleaned before the actual excavation began. It looks like there may be 4 new ones, all on the regular east / west Christian alignment. By the end of the day the first human remains were found in what looks like it may be a child's grave. In the main open grave, 'George' was fully exposed, revealing good and largely unworn teeth plus lighter arm bones - the pelvic area is missing so gender remains uncertain, but the feeling now is that 'Georgina' may have been a young woman.

Elsewhere the hard slog of cutting deep trenches to explore the alignment and relationship of the various ditches that delineated the settlement(s)  continues. We already had clear evidence of  two, but it now seems there may have been three, or perhaps the refurbishment of an earlier one. The Roman and Saxon inhabitants must have relished digging as much as one of our current team... The purpose of enclosure ditches around settlements becomes a big question when you stand next to a slot cut in one, and realise just what an enormous effort must have gone into the entire complex - keeping livestock in or out will have been a prime reason, but here at near sea level perhaps drainage was important. The presence of so many burials may have added to the pressure to 'defend' the site from high tide, or to delineate the area as somewhere special. 

The day ended in the rain with much careful measurement and plotting, plus setting out the site for the first school visit on Monday. In the lunch hour seminar Jezz the rain-maker did his best to drill the crew with the site overview so we could give the children a uniform story.

Our featured biopics from now on will include some of the professional archaeologists working on the dig, starting with Preston Boyles. He's paired with 1st day newcomer Robert Beavis, seen on the left. Robert is doing an archaeology BA at Bristol Uni and has his sight on a PhD in something early ecclesiastical. He is a local lad from Pettaugh, near Stowmarket, and has a distinct advantage over Miles, having appeared on TV as a shoulder on 'Bargain Hunt' whilst ringing a 9 1/2 ton bell called Great George in Bristol.

Preston, seen here puzzling over the ditch alignment, worked with several other professional archaeology services before joining Suffolk County, including Essex County and the private sector outfit Wessex Archaeology. His real interest is in the Mesolithic period, but is happy to make do with our mix at Barbers Point. The highlight of his recent career was to fall down a well at a dig in Bury St Edmunds, which makes a nice link to Robert and 'ding dong bell'.... Luckily it can't have been a very deep well, because he got out on his own before anyone saw, and he's been keeping quiet about it ever since.

Probably the hottest day so far saw about 19 volunteers on site today, and their spirited determination was rewarded with substantial progress all across the site. The picture left shows an excellent example of the huge oyster shell deposits found all over the dig - remember how in medieval times apprentices rioted about being fed too many oysters and too much salmon. Did Roman & Saxon youth at Barbers Point ever get equally upset, longing to get down river on the trading ships heading to beer and sausages on the Rhine?

The one open grave was worked all day, and 'George's' teeth and toes have appeared along with arm bones that help to establish he was buried properly, the right way up. Other very promising dark shadows are emerging where the last dig suggested there could be further graves, and trenches exploring the location of the various ditches have gone well. The electric fence installed last night by Tony and helpers successfully deterred grave robbers and the pesky sheep; we also got a high tech delivery by John Bradley as preparations were made for the school visits on Monday.

Overall, Jezz was once again highly pleased with the achievements, and relieved that most of the audience for his tool box seminar on site documentation stayed awake. His repeated prayers for rain are likely to be amply rewarded tomorrow.

Our featured 2 volunteers today are Nina O'Hare and Jack Cade. Nina, seen here happily seated with her very own post hole, is another of the 2nd year Cambridge archaeology & anthropology students, this time from Newnham College. It's her 5th dig, and she's kind enough to say she prefers community digs like ours. Coolest find so far at Barbers Point is a pottery rim with a thumb print from the maker - tingling feeling of connection to an ancient potter, maybe not far from here.

Jack Cade has already featured in the photo gallery on day 1, swinging a delicate mattock. So today we concentrate on his personal yellow bucket and tiny trowel. Jack is just completing an MA in archaeology & heritage studies at Leicester Uni with a dissertation on coastal land and submerged archaeological sites. He's a chartered engineer who worked in telecoms and IT (hence the mighty mattock swinging) and has been an amateur archaeologist for 5 years.

28 volunteers poured onto the site today, no doubt encouraged by the endless sunshine and the promise of a visit from BBC Look East. A huge amount of scraping, watering and spoil moving must have greatly impressed the film crew, but the highlight of the day came later, after they had gone. Cameron the human mole was turned loose on the spot where 3 years ago at the end of our last dig Richard Newman was obliged to leave a grave containing 'George' only half excavated. By the close of play Cameron, matched every inch of the way by Maggie, had got George exposed from hips to toes. Tomorrow will show how much of the torso is still intact, and perhaps answer the intriguing late suggestion that the body may have been buried in the prone position - face down.

The dolphin find at the start of the dig has produced some interesting information. Dolphins feature widely in ancient mythology; for the Romans they were often depicted as the messengers of Neptune, and in many situations as helping humans in distress. However, it also seems that  some Roman fishermen may have used trained dolphins to 'herd' fish into nets, a practice that still happens today off the coast of Brazil. Perhaps the long boring hours of boiling salt water at the Barbers Point salt pans were relieved by a little dolphin training.

Today's two featured volunteers are Lynette Parkinson and Miles Macallister, seen here playing on the swing sieve. Lynette hails from Blackpool, and heard about the dig (it's her second) through Cambridge Uni, where she is a second year undergrad at St John's reading archaeology & anthropology. Miles is a local lad from Knodishall, currently recovering from taking a BSc in Government & History at the LSE by doing an MPhil in Early Modern History at Wolfson College, Cambridge. Sensitive to modern media demands, he recently appeared as an elbow in the East Anglian Daily Times photo of our first day dig, and may have a walk-on part today with Look East.

Another dazzling day on the marsh at Barber's Point, and another long slog getting through the hard packed sandy soil to the natural layers below. When the breeze picked up, the relief from the heat was tempered by the dust blowing over the site in the opposite direction to yesterday.

The star event of the day has to be Anna's find of a fragment from a Saxon claw beaker - the yellow glass closely matches the colour tone of yesterday's piece, and of 3 more found today. These elaborate, pointed beakers were probably imported from the Rhine area, and are usually associated with feasting and ceremonial events. What might this one have been used for in an early Christian Saxon settlement?

Jezz's prayers for rain were partly answered by the late arrival of the water bowser, so towards the end of the day sections could be wetted to help reveal features in the parched dry soil. It also meant that finds washing could at last get under way. Pottery finds included the 'normal' Roman Samian and grey ware, further small pieces of Saxon pots, and one very small fragment of medieval green glazed pottery. Several iron nails came out of one square, raising hopes of a grave in that area. Some worked flint finds (with conchoidal fractures giving the classic wave formation on the surface) suggest there was also Neolithic activity around the site.

There were no visitors to the site today, but we are promised a TV crew from Look East tomorrow, following up on the excellent double page spread in today's East Anglian Daily Times (see www.eadt.co.uk )

During the course of the next 3 weeks we hope to introduce you to most of the team, and today we start with two of the bright young people enlivening our days.

Martha Craven (seated, centre of the finds labelling seminar) is starting her 2nd year at Trinity Hall, Cambridge reading archaeology & anthropology. She lives in Wells, Somerset and has been on about 8 previous digs. She hopes to make a career in the science side of archaeology, and is becoming known in our team as an expert in the lick test.

Cameron Bate, posing with a piece of unusual, possibly locally fired, pottery is at 6th form college in Ipswich, studying archaeology, ancient history, forensic science and IT. He plans to read archaeology at university, and his human dynamo performance on this - his 3rd - dig has seen him adopted into Jezz's own team.

On a brilliant, sunny morning a full team gathered on site for Jezz Meredith's first briefing. This year we are lucky to have some enthusiastic young archaeology students to add welcome muscle and knowledge to the volunteers. The weather stayed hot all day, and the brisk breeze proved a mixed blessing - cooling the labourers but blowing the fine sand briskly across the site.
With the site marked out into precise 2 metre squares, teams dug through the hard top surface down to the first  'natural' level, carefully sieving all the spoil. Finds so far have closely mirrored the pattern of previous digs - pottery (mostly Roman, but a little Saxon), brick fragments, a lot of oyster shells, some Neolithic flint tools, and one small fragment of yellow glass. 3 years ago one piece of Roman glass was identified, so hopes are high that this too will prove to be ancient.

During the day John Grant of the East Anglian Daily Times came to see the work and interview Tony Bone and Richard Newman about the project for a piece in tomorrow's edition. He was accompanied by Kate Osborne from the Touching the Tide project (generous sponsors of the dig) and Audrey Boyle from Suffolk Wildlife Trust (owners of the site who have kindly given permission for this latest excavation).

By the end of the day Jezz pronounced himself well pleased with progress "more than I expected".

At 0830 Jezz Meredith and Richard Newman were on site on the most beautiful day, together with Simon the GPS man. Simon's job is to measure exactly where the trenches should go. His GPS machine is accurate to within 5 cm but unfortunately it was playing up!  The area to be dug was determined and John arrived with his digger. John is amazing. He handles his giant machine with such precision.  He took of about 30cm of topsoil down to the level where oyster shell can be seen.  His work was finished by mid afternoon and Jezz could start the job of dividing the site into 2 metre squares.  Richard meanwhile was looking for finds with his metal detector.  He found a metal dolphin, a coin, and some pottery, all Roman.  The coin is from the emperor Domitian who ruled from 81 to 96AD. We think it was dropped about AD120. You can see photos in the photo gallery and of course we will be doing a daily video. Have a look at he first one here.  So we are nearly ready. The toilet has arrived but not the office or the bowser. Hopefully they will arrive on Friday. Not long now till Monday. Looking forward to seeing lots of you then.