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The Thames Valley is incredibly rich in archaeological material and the fertile soils have drawn settlers for thousands of years. Though littered with earthworks, the valley also has a great deal hidden away under ploughed agricultural land and areas of floodplain and hill wash.
At Wittenham, near Didcot, two prominent hills known locally as the Clumps overlook the valley from fantastic viewpoints. One of these, called Castle Hill, is an Iron-Age hillfort currently under excavation by Oxford Archaeology. Time Team's job was to investigate the surrounding landscape and see if it could find any trace of activity that could be associated with the Clumps.
Geophysics dreamland
Using their ingenious double magnetometers, the prospecting crew covered a remarkable seven hectares (the equivalent of about ten football pitches) over the three days. Their results highlighted a mass of underlying archaeology, including enclosure ditches, pits, possible buildings and other clusters of anomalies. These results were extensive and quite outstanding.
Roman and Iron-Age evidence
Not being ones to hang around, the diggers quickly got to work on the first trenches to make sense of the geophysics results. First port of call was what looked like a large rectilinear enclosure. Excavation within revealed the remains of a Romano-British house with tesserae (mosaic) floors and painted wall plaster. The area also contained an Iron-Age cobbled floor, together with post holes that could have related to a structure.
Further investigations found Iron-Age rubbish pits distributed all over the valley (geophysics picked up more than 300 such pits altogether), suggesting widespread settlement throughout the period. Pottery finds indicated that most activity took place in the earlier and later phases of the period, with a quieter occupation phase in the middle.
Even more to discover
By the end of the three days, the Team had discovered a wealth of archaeological remains showing how important the area was throughout the Iron Age and Roman periods. But the geophysics crew wasn't done yet.
After walking for miles across the landscape they decided to venture south of the main road that cuts across the valley. There they discovered even more suspected Iron-Age enclosures and also what appeared to be a Roman road, which would have been associated with our enclosure. Not bad for three days' work.
Ritual offerings
Part of the prehistoric evidence found in the vicinity of Wittenham includes Bronze-Age ritual water offerings of weapons and metalwork. Bronze-Age expert and regular Time Team specialist, Francis Pryor, has a theory about why people made offerings in this way.
'You have to remember that before Iron-Age mirrors, and their more widespread use after the Romans arrived, most people had little idea of what they actually looked like. Water was the only natural resource that reflected an image,' says Francis.
'Water was incredibly significant to the people of the time – it represented life. It was a physical material that you could see yourself in, yet you could also put your hand right through it. The surface and air above it was alive. Under the surface was like death – another world.'
Another world
Francis believes that for Bronze-Age peoples offering items into the water represented a link or portal through to this other world.
'I don't think it was anything like today, when people toss pocket change into a fountain at their local shopping centre. This was much more important,' he says. 'Imagine passing something of very high value into the water. Submerging it and letting it go. You then withdraw your hand back to your world. This would have been a highly significant thing to do.'
Rubber thumbprints
After some early Iron-Age pottery was discovered, conservator Dana Goodburn-Brown was called in to try to identify its markings.
'They looked like they were made by applying a thumb to the pottery before it was fired,' she says. 'To confirm that this was the case I used a rubber compound that's normally used by dentists for taking moulds of teeth, and applied it over the surface of the pottery, pushing it into the impressions.
'After it had dried I removed the cast and you can clearly see that it's most probably a thumb. You can see the top of the fingernail and the rounded part of the tip of the finger. It's an early Iron-Age person's thumbprint. Quite cool really.'
You can visit Dana Goodburn-Brown's website at www.amtecco-op.com
Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of third-party sites.
Secret weapon
With the massive landscape of an Iron-Age hillfort and associated settlements to survey, you might imagine that the geophysics team would have had its work cut out. The truth is that Wittenham provided the team with some ideal conditions and a chance to use its secret weapon.
'These have been fantastic conditions for us,' said Geophysics boss John Gater. 'The underlying geology, which is chalk around here with a bit of gravel at the top of the clump, is just perfect for magnetometry. We've covered some large areas and have obtained some really good results. The definition is very clear with wall foundations, ditches and pits all showing up really clearly.'
Special system
Geophysicist Ben Urmston used the special double magnetometer system that the team first tried out at Bath in the 2003 series. Following the initial development and trial, several changes were made, resulting in a new mobile and lightweight system.
'This new design is really useful,' says Ben. 'It's basically just two magnetometers joined together so we can record information twice as fast. But whereas the first system needed to be calibrated at regular intervals and consisted of two normal "mags" on a frame, this new design is specially made and is really easy to use. It only needs to be calibrated once a day and is very lightweight.'
Walking 15 miles a day
So with 'perfect' geology and super new equipment, could the 'geofizz' be any better? 'Well, the results have been good but we still have to walk about 15 miles a day,' says Ben with a smile.
Important landscape
One of the 'clumps' at Wittenham is known as Castle Hill. It's a classic Iron-Age hillfort with huge earthworks creating defensive banks and ditches.
'You'd need all day to discuss what hillforts actually are and unravel their purpose,' says Mick Aston. 'This would certainly have been an important landscape – that goes without saying.'
Boundary site
The Castle Hill site sits right on the boundary of three major Iron-Age tribal territories belonging to the Catuvellauni, Atrebates and Dobunni peoples. Whatever role the hillfort played at the time, it must have been influential and important simply because of its position.
'The problem is that there are hardly any sites in Britain that really show you what one of these places would have looked like back in the Iron Age,' continues Mick. 'We have some very impressive examples of earthworks, but no modern reconstructions that fully illustrate the sheer scale of what the ramparts, and things like timber palisades, would have looked like. There are some in France that have been very well done, but not here.'
Ridgeway
To the south of the site runs the Ridgeway, a prehistoric track and economic lifeline for the south of Britain. 'This really is a great landscape,' enthuses Mick. 'It has so much archaeology. I've done a lot of work in this Thames basin and feel quite close to it.'
Some of the most prolific finds at Wittenham are the masses of Roman roof tile that have been discovered. The Time Team site supervisor, Kerry Ely, was pulling fragments of terracotta tiles out of his trench all day.
'There's loads of it here,' he said. 'Both teglia (main roof tile) and imbrex (curved ridging tile) have been found in large amounts. There's a definite layer that's packed with it.'
The sheer volume of tile discovered here indicates that the structures on the site may have been fairly substantial. This is supported by the geophysics results, indicating that large Roman buildings became a part of this important landscape when the Iron Age gave way to the Roman period some 2,000 years ago.
Revealing the buried past: Geophysics for archaeologists by Chris Gaffney and John Gater (Tempus, 2003) paperback £17.99
Written by two of the foremost experts in the field, this book draws the reader into the world of geophysics. Aimed at the seasoned archaeologist, student, amateur and those who have seen the 'geofizz' techniques used and want to learn a little more, the book is well written, clearly presented and has lots of illustrations and explanatory diagrams. An introduction to the history of geophysics is followed by a lucid discussion of the different techniques available, the methods and equipment used, survey logistics and post-survey analysis. Drawing on their work with Time Team, Gaffney and Gater present a series of case studies from different periods. In conclusion, they consider the future for prospecting for the past and how this powerful surveying tool may be transformed in years to come. Foreword by Mick Aston.
The Iron Age Hillforts of England by Geoffrey Williams (Images, 1993) hardback £8.20
This book provides a 'visitor's guide' to Iron-Age hillforts, looking at such questions as why they were built and by whom, what they were used for, and why they were abandoned. The second half of the book contains an extensive gazetteer, containing histories and descriptions of sixty sites around England.
Farmers in Prehistoric Britain by Francis Pryor (Tempus, 1998) hardback £18.99
Wearing both his hats as archaeologist and farmer, Pryor has produced an empathic work on the life and methods of prehistoric farmers. Often what survives is just a few cropmarks, but this work brings what is now obscure into vivid reality.
Prehistoric Britain by Timothy Darvill (Routledge, 1987) paperback £22.99
Timothy Darvill examines the development of human societies in Britain from the earliest times down to the Roman Conquest, as revealed by available archaeological evidence. Special attention is given to six themes which are traced through all phases of prehistory: subsistence, technology, ritual, trade, society and population.
Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of third-party sites.
Oxford Archaeology: the archaeology of Castle Hill
www.oxfordarch.co.uk/wittenham_clumps
Diary and summary report on the excavations at Castle Hill, Wittenham, carried out by Oxford Archaeology from 13 July to 5 September 2003.
Surviving the Iron Age
www.bbc.co.uk/history/
programmes/surviving_ironage
Website to accompany the BBC series, Surviving the Iron Age, in which 17 volunteers, including three children, spent seven weeks experiencing life as it might have been in an Iron-Age hillfort in West Wales.
British Museum/Compass
www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass
Compass is an online database featuring around 5,000 objects chosen by the curators to reflect the extraordinary range of the British Museum's collections. The system features a wealth of links, background information and maps. There are online tours on a variety of subjects, including the Iron Age. Each object featured is illustrated with high-quality images that you can enlarge and study in detail. The information has been written with the general visitor in mind, and technical terms are explained in glossary links. Try starting with a search on the words 'Iron Age' and enjoy a virtual visit to one of the world's best museums.
The Landscape of Wittenham Clumps
www.blake1.force9.co.uk/wittenham
Short series of striking images of Wittenham Clumps, taken by local photographer Martin Beek.