EXPERTS on archaeology will be holding a third summer dig near the Hospital of St Cross in Winchester.

Members of WARG, the city archaeology group, are focusing on the humps and bumps in St Cross Park near the historic attraction.

Work started at the beginning of the month, and they will be on site until Saturday, August 15.

They are also holding an open weekend on Saturday, August 8 and Sunday, August 9, for residents to view what they have found so far.

One target for the 2009 dig will be the site of several missing dwellings that were demolished in the 1700s.

Dick Selwood, who chairs WARG, said they would also be looking for artefacts in one of the most unlikely places.

He said: “Where we are putting the trench includes where one of the privies emptied into the Lockburn, the stream that carried away the waste.

“Often things were dropped down the privy by accident, so we may find something of interest.”

Other trenches will look at where the rubble from the demolition was found last year, and what could be an ancient boundary ditch.

There are still some spaces left for volunteers to join the dig. Visit www.WARG.org.uk to find out more.