The Dig

Season 3 episode 2 investigated old river channels where the Thames flowed 200,000 years ago. It was opaque. They need to do a much better job of explaining the archeology. And, really, not much came out of this one.

Season 3 episode 3 visits Templecombe, Somerset, location of a 12th century Knights Templar complex. I wouldn’t say much was revealed in this show either. But it did have an interesting occurrence that sort of verifies the “making it up as they go along” aspect of the show.

The main goal, as stated, is to find the boundaries of the complex (a priory, which contained all kinds of support building for making beer, etc.) They dig a couple trenches and find no boundary wall. Later we learn that Mick had blown off the advice of Robin Bush to consult an old map that showed lands that were tithe-free (which the priory would have been). Also, had they simply spent 15 minute walking around the place they would have found (as they did late in the episode) one of the original walls that was standing there in all its glory.

We didn’t really get the backstory on this cock-up. Much of the information presented is opaque. I suspect there’s a little bit of ivory tower mentality going on, although Tony does his best to try to explain what is going on and why. Even the beer-making demonstration is all but passed over. We see the start of the process but no more until they are drinking the finished stuff. How does it taste? We never find out.

At the end of the day, we learned about zero about the site or the Knights Templar’s time there. Granted, archeology is a lengthy process so expectations of what can be achieved in three days should be restrained. Even so, this was a pretty rough program.

Season 3 episode 4 takes us to Teignmouth, Devon, to explore a shipwreck from 300 years ago. Someone earlier had found some cool brass cannons. But otherwise, there was no knowledge of a wreck. Speculation is that it wrecked at night with the loss of all hands. This episode at least shows the difficulty of underwater excavation. But they do eventually find a piece of the wreck underneath 4 or 5 feet of sand.

Robin Bush tries to pin down the origin of the ship from the crests shown on the two cannon that were recovered previously by locals (the wreck is in shallow water near the shore). He declares it a Dutch ship and then later in the program un-declares it, explaining that the 2-by-2 grid of crest icons on one of the cannon could, in fact, be a conglomeration of different marks by contributors to the funding of the cannon. So we never do learn where the ship came from or where it was going. Still, the underwater sequences were a nice departure for the show. Even Tony suited up and got in on the action.

It’s clear the team is doing something tangible. And although there are a lot of explanations, I don’t always feel like I’m being kept inside the loop. The strong part of this show is Tony who will look down into a trench that the archeologists are all excited about and say something like “All I see is undistinguished dirt.” That’s a segue for the archeologists to then explain themselves, with Tony acting on behalf of the viewer. But it rarely happens. It feels more like the camera is following sort of a “clubby” discussion between professionals.

Season one and two were clearly stronger with season 3 taking a bit of a nose dive. But I’ll stay with it because you do get a certain amount of history with it.

It was indeed a violent age. And The Last Kingdom was a popular book and series on Netflix. I think a lot of people would like either.

But unlike, say, Follet’s The Pillars of the Earth (which had some violence), there is no one in The Last Kingdom to root for. Like I said, they can take this pukey little kid and hang him for all I care. An Anglo-Saxon Huck Finn he is not, although that is clearly the attempt.

One reader said the author is “preoccupied with rape and sex.” It does seem that way. And there is no principled argument against that because that age (combined with war) certainly had that. But maybe it’s okay to tone it down a little and have the central characters sketched out in a way where the violence is a backdrop not the main event?

Oh....I didn't realize this was the same guy who did Sharpe's. Well, likely these Vikings-plunder-Mercia books have more to offer if you just stay with them. But to me they had zero heart and soul. They were cold and lifeless.

I think that is a false impression. After I retired in 2010 I took the opportunity to take some post grad classes one of which was field techniques in modern archeology. The class spent two weeks in western Oklahoma on a mound builder dig. The professor was George Sabo III who is now director of the Archeological Survey at the U of A. He used his students, including the F-ing Old Guy, (FOG) as manual labor. I dug until my knees gave out and then helped sort artifacts. Professor Sabo used GPR all over the site, and backhoes when necessary, and once down to the artifact layer, in one case about 20 feet it was trowels and brushes. One student remarked that the professor could dig straight down to China with only a two inch brush. 

Time Team first aired in the 90s when GPR was a relatively new field. And I believe the Tony and the boys had doubts about its efficacy, not only then but even when the series ended. I believe GPR was an American invention designed to detect land mines for the army and marines. So, typical British reluctance to use American technology can't be ignored. 

Like you, I find that the amount of history uncovered by Time Team is actually small, but the mission of the show is first entertainment and second archeology. And by modern standards 3 days is hardly enough time to properly evaluate any dig. Time Team merely starts a process that will no doubt continue for years at the sites they open. 

It must be difficult for Mick and Phil as professionals to accelerate the pace of a dig to fit the demands of a TV show. They actually order Tony to get out of their trench several times before he starts asking permission to enter. There have been a few times when I thought Phil would actually come to blows with some obnoxious bureaucrat. 

The Time Team story in Maryland dates from 1997 if that makes any difference. They certainly gave the impression that geophysic devices were something new to America. It could also be that the dig in Maryland was not funded for the use of such devices. Either way, the viewer was left in the dark.

But they weren’t (as yet) using Ground Penetrating Radar. The Time Team geophysics consisted of one device that measured ground resistance. And a newer device (brought in for the Maryland segment or the one just previous) took magnetic readings. But no radar, as such, as far as I can see.



What an amazing adventure…soar knees and all.



I think their forthrightness and honesty in the Maryland dig made total sense in this regard. You get the idea that this (presumably) well-funded TV team can help kickstart things here and there, filling in gaps regarding sites that are too small or risky for “professionals.”



Yeah, there was one segment so far where they more or less ordered Tony out of the trench. And indeed it must be a challenge to both maintain professional standards while trying to (presumably) do something substantial in just three days. I assume there are some extra days involved (by someone) in regards to doing both prep work and filling in the trenches (where applicable).

I do think Phil (my favorite of the two) and Mick maintain an air of professionalism. I obviously love the archivist, Robin Bush (who isn’t given enough screen time). And the sort of token chick, Carenza Lewis, I’m sure is a very fine archeologist. But she’s superfluous in this. Too many cooks in the kitchen. It leads to too much jabbering, not enough sideshows (such as recreating artifacts) or just explaining in a thoughtful way what they are doing. Although they may think it’s great television for the archeologists to (for the camera, plainly) bandy-about their opinions and speculation, it just usually serves to muddle the picture. Sure, show a little bit of their strategic thinking. But they go way too far.

I think Tony tries his best to be an advocate for the viewer and try to bring some coherency to the cacophony-of-dialogue coming from the archeologists. But it’s clear there’s only so much he can do.

In season 4, episode 3, Time Team investigates an old leper hospital. Not much happens.

In season4, episode 4, things get a little more interesting when the Time Team goes to Soho, Birmingham, to excavate the remains of a mint, the largest factory in the world at the time.

This “industrial archeology” is a welcome diversion and a completely pointless one. They know the factory was there. They have detailed descriptions and plans of it. There’s no real point in what they are doing. Still, it was fun to see how easily people relent to having the tiles of their patio removed and their backyards dug up, all to get on telly.

This is the first use of ground penetrating radar. And it was used more or less successfully to find an old well. The highlight of the show was when they visited the world’s only working old-style industrial steam engine of its type. What a monster. There was no side-adventure about the details of minting coins as there should have been. It was a totally gratuitous “let’s rip up people’s backyards to find what we already know is there” kind of adventure. More or less it was interesting, but generally lacking a point.

I had always assumed that a program such as this would have a rather shoestring budget. If they are paying out money to people to dig on their property and use it in a television show, it would be interesting to find out how much.

I had assumed the prestige-factor (Whoopee! I’m on TV) would have meant no payment was required.

Don't forget this is the BBC so they don't have many restrictions on how they spend money. Think NPR on steroids. Money doesn't matter when you're riding a hit show.