Time Team general FAQs

Ever wondered what the law says about digging up the dead? Or how to get involved in archaeology? Or where Mick Aston gets those stripey jumpers?

The Time Team general FAQs and programme FAQs provide the answers to these and many other frequently asked questions. For Time Team Live 2001, viewers had a chance to put their questions direct to Time Team regulars and experts.

The Team attempted to answer as many questions as possible, either on the forum or in the Time Team Live 2001 FAQs.

Time Team Live 2001 FAQs

Why isn’t this year’s Time Team Live being screened ‘live’?
Why is the Live being held midweek?
Why can’t we have more than the three scheduled programmes?
Why aren’t you announcing the exact location of the Live?
Would you have preferred Live 2001 to be on the same lines as last year's, with TT fans and members of the general public allowed access?
What was already known about the site and what especially attracted TT to it?
Why is the 'situla' (bucket) so important a find?
If the site is so important, and has been damaged by irresponsible metal detector use, why film it for the Live, which is bound to attract attention?
Why go to the trouble of importing a bucket from Byzantium in the sixth century?
Were trading links between the Byzantines and early Saxon England widespread?
How long does it take you to prepare for a live dig and is it harder to do than a normal recording of a programme?
Would the Bronze-Age flints found in association with the barrow have been mined locally?
Why does Phil get so upset when Tony asks if it's okay to step in his trench?
Who were the Jutes, who Robin Bush spoke about as having inhabited the area of south Hampshire close to the Live?
Now you have had a chance to check out the site, has it been as badly damaged by metal detectorists as you feared?
Do you ever worry that the surge in the popularity of archaeology, thanks to programmes such as Time Team, may cause more harm than good with enthusiastic, but untrained, amateurs inadvertently causing damage to finds and sites?
How rare are Anglo-Saxon double burials?
Did those buried meet violent deaths? Could this have been a battlefield?
Could the double burials reflect a form of suttee – the suicide or ritual killing of a wife on the death of a husband?
Could they have been victims of disease or plague?
Does the Team know why this particular site was used?
What happened with the large circle that showed up on the geophysics survey?
What were Phil and other members of the Team shown scattering across the field at the end of the final day?
What will happen to the site and the finds after Time Team has gone?
Will there be another Live next year?

Why isn’t this year’s Time Team Live being screened ‘live’?

Because the Live is being held midweek, programmes have to be screened in the evening in order to reach an audience that may be at work during the day. Each evening’s programme is being filmed ‘as live’ at around 6-6.30pm. This means that although it is not screened until a couple of hours later, the programme you see comes exactly as it was filmed – warts and all – with no opportunity for editing or retakes.

Why is the Live being held midweek?

The previous Live events have taken place over the August bank holiday weekend. In 2000, however, the vagaries of cricket (in combination with the British weather) wreaked havoc with the scheduling and Time Team’s time on air was reduced drastically. Given that it is impossible to predict either the weather or the course of a cricket match with any degree of precision, it was decided that fixed midweek programme times were a safer bet.

Why can’t we have more than the three scheduled programmes?

Much as we’d love to have Time Team on TV even more often, competition for the peak-time evening schedules is intense. There was, however, a special 90-minute programme on the Live, in addition to the three midweek slots, screened at 5pm on Sunday 2 September.

Why aren’t you announcing the exact location of the Live?

Unlike the previous Live events at York and Canterbury, where it was possible to cope with large numbers of visitors and open up the digs to the public, 2001’s event is a small site on private land. Even a small number of visitors could overwhelm the capacity of this rural location. There is also a serious issue of irresponsible metal-detectorist activity, which has already damaged the archaeology on this site.

Would you have preferred Live 2001 to be on the same lines as last year's, with TT fans and members of the general public allowed access?

Tony Robinson replies:

One of the fun parts of Time Team is that things are always changing. One week we're diving off a rock in the north of Scotland with no one around for miles, and the next we're in the middle of a city centre with hundreds of fans coming to see us as we dig. It's the constant variety that's so challenging and keeps Time Team fresh.

This year, for instance, the Live is totally different to what we've done in the past few years. We're not in a town or city, we're in the middle of a field, and the site is very small – smaller even than most ordinary Time Team digs. This was a deliberate move to try to bring the show back closer to its roots – basically it's about digging a few holes and seeing what we can find. Having said that, next year we'll probably find ourselves digging in New York!

What was already known about the site and what especially attracted TT to it?

Metal detectorist Steve Bolger found the bucket – or 'situla', to give it its Latin name – two years ago. He reported his find under the Portable Antiquities Scheme to the local portable antiquities officer, Sally Worrell. In response to this discovery – the 'situla' is one of only two or three that have ever been found in Britain (there are only about 10 others known worldwide) – Berkshire Archaeological Services conducted some test excavations. They found four inhumation burials in the immediate area of the bucket, suggesting that the site is an early Anglo-Saxon cemetery. Other finds, discovered in the test excavations and through metal detecting, included Frankish weights, shield bosses and brooches. Time Team's interest, then, was sparked by these discoveries – and by the urgent need to investigate the site fully before it is destroyed by irresponsible metal-detecting activity.

Why is the 'situla' (bucket) so important a find?

The 'situla' is one of only two or three that have ever been found in Britain (there are only about 10 others known worldwide). Of these, only four have been found in an archaeological context. So this discovery offers the chance of finding out more about the background to the situla’s ownership and use, and possibly how it came to southern England from what is modern-day Turkey.

If the site is so important, and has been damaged by irresponsible metal-detector use, why film it for the Live, which is bound to attract attention?

One of the reasons for choosing this site was to investigate it properly before further damage occurred. The Live event enables the Team to devote additional resources, including diggers and archaeological specialists, to the excavation.

Why go to the trouble of importing a bucket from Byzantium in the sixth century?

The 'situla' (bucket) would have been a very valuable, prestigious item. It could have been a gift to an important person, specially commissioned with that purpose in mind, or it may have reached Britain in a series of small steps, being traded by one person to another along the way.

Were trading links between the Byzantines and early Saxon England widespread?

Large quantities of post-Roman pottery from Syria and Asia Minor have been found in western Britain and Ireland, and it is now well-established that Byzantine traders – principally Syrians and Jews – operated throughout the Mediterranean, and from there round the Iberian peninsula to Britain. There were also inland trading routes, though these can be identified with less certainty. Direct evidence for Byzantine/Anglo-Saxon trade links is limited, but it is not impossible that some at least of the traders serving western Britain had contact with the Anglo-Saxons to the east. Certainly, trade was being conducted over very long distances throughout this period; and for especially valuable or prestigious items, such as the situla, there is no reason why they should not have travelled long distances between their production and eventual owners.

How long does it take you to prepare for a live dig and is it harder to do than a normal recording of a programme?

Live 2001 is a scaled-down event in comparison with the big events held in previous years at York and Canterbury. Even so, it is a huge operation involving more than 150 people. And as well as all the sound and camera crews, outside broadcast unit and so on required for each day's programme (and Sunday 2 September's 90-minute special), there is another film crew working at the same time on a documentary to be screened next year. The pressures of a Live make it much harder than normal Time Team programmes, with no room for re-takes or editing afterwards. The background research for the Live is carried out several months in advance but Time Team's interest in this particular site originated with the discovery of the 'situla' (bucket) two years ago.

Would the Bronze-Age flints found in association with the barrow have been mined locally?

They wouldn't have been mined at all. There is plenty of flint readily available in the area. The Live site itself stands on a large bed of river gravel, which contains flint, and the chalk uplands of southern England are rich in flint.

Why does Phil get so upset when Tony asks if it's okay to step in his trench?

Phil says: 'When you've just spent hours, or even days, carefully digging and cleaning a trench, the last thing you want is someone to come and plonk their dirty big boots all over it. You might have spent a long time preparing the surface of the trench and there might also be archaeology in there that could be damaged by people treading on it.'

Who were the Jutes, who Robin Bush spoke about as having inhabited the area of south Hampshire close to the Live?

See 'Who were the Jutes?'.

Now you have had a chance to check out the site, has it been as badly damaged by metal detectorists as you feared?

It's difficult to tell what artefacts have already been lost because obviously they have not been reported. What is certain is that Time Team's excavation has revealed a great deal that would have been at risk from the irresponsible metal-detectorist activity that had been taking place here right up to the Live itself.

Do you ever worry that the surge in the popularity of archaeology, thanks to programmes such as Time Team, may cause more harm than good with enthusiastic, but untrained, amateurs inadvertently causing damage to finds and sites?

As well as helping to popularise archaeology, Time Team tries hard to educate its audience in basic archaeological principles – the importance of the context in which finds are made, the need for careful excavation and handling, the information that can be obtained from material that may have no other value, the need to work closely with experts, and so on. The belief is that when people understand how archaeology works they will treat archaeological remains with greater respect. By encouraging enthusiasts to join local archaeological societies, the Team hopes to channel the growing popularity of the subject in a positive direction.

How rare are Anglo-Saxon double burials?

Extremely rare. Anglo-Saxon expert Andrew Reynolds says you can usually expect to find no more than one or two at a typical Anglo-Saxon cemetery excavation. Andrew knows of nowhere with a comparable concentration.

Did those buried meet violent deaths? Could this have been a battlefield?

There is no indication of any of the people buried on this site having met a violent end. This doesn't mean that they didn't, especially since the remains are in such poor and incomplete condition, so it's impossible to tell for certain. But other factors – the absence of mass graves, no hurried burials, the preponderance of double burials (rather than single warriors) – make a battle seem unlikely. A raid, with some members of the community surviving to bury the dead, is more of a possibility, but there is still no evidence for it.

Could the double burials reflect a form of suttee – the suicide or ritual killing of a wife on the death of a husband?

Anglo-Saxon expert Andrew Reynolds knows of no references to this having taken place among Anglo-Saxons, although examples are known among the Vikings.

Could they have been victims of disease or plague?

Very possible. It's worth noting here that the great plagues that swept Europe (and Britain, at least twice) between 541–547 arrived via the Byzantine empire's trade routes with the Middle East and Africa. These plague dates fit roughly with the likely dates of the burials ('early sixth century' is the best estimate so far). Could plague have been brought with the bucket?

Does the Team know why this particular site was used?

We don't know the detailed reasons for the use of this site for the burials, but the Anglo-Saxons commonly reused ancient barrows (or, in this case, what may have been a natural mound that looked like a barrow) for their own burials. Stewart Ainsworth's research shows that at the time the burials took place, they would have stood on a spur of land around which the river flowed. It would have been clearly visible to anyone approaching from the north or south, so it would have represented a good location for high-status burials.

What happened with the large circle that showed up on the geophysics survey?

Time Team didn't have the time or resources to excavate the circle that showed up on the 'geofizz' , or to dig more than a test trench on the site of the smaller circles located nearby. As to what these represent, the jury is still out and a definitive judgement will have to await a full excavation at some time in the future.

What were Phil and other members of the Team shown scattering across the field at the end of the final day?

The excavation site was scattered with small metal discs with the intention of deterring irresponsible metal-detectorist activity. The discs themselves are easily recognisable for what they are and shouldn't cause any confusion in future digs. This is an increasingly common practice on vulnerable archaeological sites, but of course it does have its downside in that it will make any future surveys of the site more problematic. A case of choosing very much the lesser of two evils.

What will happen to the site and the finds after Time Team has gone?

Time Team never digs a site unless it's in partnership with the local archaeological unit. They will take responsibility for its conservation and protection. Further investigation of the site will depend upon the availability of funding – never the easiest thing to obtain in archaeology. The finds will need a lot of conservation work doing on them, but when this is complete they will be put on display (along with the original Byzantine situla/bucket and the replica made for the Live) at Winchester and other museums in Hampshire. The bones will be subject to further study before any decision is taken on what happens to them eventually. See the main FAQs for further information on what happens to human remains in archaeological excavations.

Will there be another Live next year?

Give us a chance, we haven't recovered from this one yet!