ARCHAEOLOGISTS are digging up new clues about Beverley's past along the route of the town's planned new bypass.
A team is carrying out digs along sections of the 1.8-mile relief road to record evidence of the town's history before the £22m new road is built.
Iron Age and Roman finds have been unearthed along the bypass route, across the southern outskirts of the town.
Experts will spend the rest of the month excavating parts of the route identified in geophysical surveys as possible historic hotspots.
Archaeology Manager Dave Evans, at Humber Archaeology Partnership, revealed evidence of three Iron Age roundhouses has already been found, together with Roman relics and pottery.
Mr Evans said: "There is evidence of quite extensive Iron Age and Roman activity all around that area.
"We had a geophysical survey done and some trial trenches were dug which confirmed what we could see on the survey.
"An open area excavation has now started and they have stripped an area of about 1,000m along the course of the road."
The excavation team, from York's AOC Archaeology Group, has found evidence of hand-made pottery typical of the late Iron Age up to 200AD, as well as Roman relics.
There is also extensive evidence of metal-working and iron production, suggesting it was historically an area of light industry.
Mr Evans, who is monitoring the dig on behalf of East Riding Council, said: "St John of Beverley came around 700 when a settlement started to develop. But Beverley didn't really start to begin to look like a town until the Norman Conquest.
"I don't think we are going to uncover the equivalent of Richard III in a car park but in terms of putting flesh on the bones of Beverley's history, it will be quite interesting."
Historic finds from the dig are likely to go on display in the town at a later date.
Work on the new bypass started this month, following a ground-breaking ceremony carried out by East Riding Council leader Councillor Stephen Parnaby.
The bypass, which is expected to be completed by January 2015, will link the A164 at the Morrisons roundabout to the A1174 Hull Road.
The long-awaited relief road is designed to steer heavy through-traffic away from the town centre and Beverley Minster.
