The site of Ned Kelly’s last stand, where more than 40 people including hostages and the bushranger’s gang took refuge, is now emerging from the dust at Glenrowan,

Archeologist and team leader of the month-long dig Adam Ford says it is one of the major points to emerge from their work.

Charred wooden posts that had fallen when the five-room inn was torched to end the siege have been uncovered for the first time in 128 years.

Molten glass, another remnant of the arson, also litters the site.

“The outline of the inn is contained within the confines of the brick foundations of a wine shanty that was built on the site much later,” Mr Ford said.

“To think so many people would have been inside.

“It is said that they were laying on top of each other as the hail of bullets crashed through the walls.

“It would have been terrifying.”

Mr Ford said progress had slowed in the past week.

“We have worked through five periods of occupation to get where we are,” he said.

“It is quite complex and now that we have reached this level we need to be meticulous, it is slow going, almost tedious.

“But this is our only chance to do this, we need to squeeze the life out of it, get as much information as possible —it is unlikely this will ever be done again.”

The team of about 20, including archaeologists and university students, is expected to move up to 400 tonnes of dirt in the dig that winds up tomorrow week.

Last week two Martini-Henry shell cases, almost certainly fired in the battle, were uncovered.