The skull of a dog believed to date back 2,000 years has been discovered in Long Melford.

Nicknamed Terence by the archaeological excavation team at Long Melford Heritage Centre, the skull was found during a recent archaeological dig in the village.

'Terence' was judged to have been a terrier-like breed by a local vet. The artefact was recovered from the foundations of a rare iron age building, alongside some Gallo Belgic pottery.

Leader of the excavation, Kenneth Dodd said: “As dogs held a special place in the ritual and iconography of Iron Age and Roman Britain, its placement could be of special significance."

The dig was carried out by the heritage trust in collaboration with the Stour Valley Community Archaeology Group during July at the Long Melford Football Ground.

It follows a community archaeological project that took place in 2011 - when Cambridge Archaeologist Dr Carenza Lewis identified what was thought to be an ancient building in a test pit at the football ground.

The project was documented on Michael Wood's BBC series, The Great British Story - A People's History.

As part of this year's month-long project, 77 children from the Long Melford Church of England Primary School visited the site.

Head of School, Matthew Vale-Smith said: “I have spoken to many of the children who were inspired by both the centre and dig, and have continued to independently learn more about what they saw.

"The people who spoke to the children were both knowledgeable and patient. We are very lucky to have such a great resource on our doorstep and we are keen to establish regular visits.”

Year five pupil Jacob said: “Thank you for letting us visit your dig. My favourite part was visiting the site because we got to look at the teeth of different animals and we got to use a sieve!”