For eight weeks this summer, three archaeologists and a team of volunteers dug through several feet of dirt next to Dills Tavern in Dillsburg searching for the foundation of Matthew Dill’s original tavern that stood on the site as early as 1750.

They didn’t find it, but their work turned up between 35,000 to 40,000 objects, many dating back to the Colonial days.

Among their finds were 21 British copper coins, two Spanish silver coins, a religious medal, many pieces of pottery, plaster, pieces of window glass and iron nails. The artifacts are being catalogued by archaeologist Steve Warfel, who was in charge of the excavation.

He said after all the items are placed in a database he can look for a pattern to see if there is any change in the way an area of the site was being used.

The team found and followed a wall line next to the tavern’s kitchen that appeared to be the foundation of a summer kitchen from the early 1800s.

Warfel’s team painstakingly sifted through layers of earth to get to the bottom of the history of the tavern operated as a living museum by the Northern York County Historical and Preservation Society.

One of the more interesting findings during this dig was the discovery of what Warfel described as a relatively large number of copper coins, about two dozen, from the 1740s to 1770s.

Copper coins in circulation in the 1790s were British, with the image of the king of England on them.

When the revolution started “those coppers were relatively worthless. ... They weren’t being accepted by vendors as fair trade.”

Warfel said nothing found by the team appears to give any clue to the location of the original tavern site, but finding the summer kitchen eliminates an area where it might have been.

He said he hopes to have a finished report from the dig to the historical society by March.

“To me what makes this site really special is that their emphasis is on not only restoring the structure but then using it as a place where people can learn more about the past,” Warfel said.