The dig

Day One
An early start to Day One sees the team engrossed in field-walking a ploughed area within the enclosure at Gear. Time Team digger Jenni Butterworth also gets an early start with a trench across the perimeter earthworks, while over at Caer Vallack, Carenza Lewis and her team open their first trench, also on an earthwork bank.

Geophysics results from the Gear field indicate that there could be the remains of a prehistoric roundhouse within the enclosure. Having got clearance from English Heritage inspector Ian Morrison, who is on hand because this is a scheduled ancient monument, Time Team digger Katie Hirst and Phil Harding open a trench over the anomaly. Just 25 centimetres down and the first archaeology is discovered: some fragments of Iron-Age pottery. The trench is extended. Over at Caer Vallack the geophysics results also indicate the presence of structures. Carenza opens her second trench over a potentially fruitful site identified by the plotted geophysics results.

The field walkers at Gear collect some good finds, including Neolithic and Bronze-Age flints. 'This proves that people were using this land long before the Iron Age,' says Phil. Meanwhile, more geophysics results have come in indicating that the higher ground within the enclosure at Gear contains even more features. By the end of the day Carenza has also discovered Iron-Age pottery at Caer Vallack. This means that the team has located evidence for activity during this period at both sites.

Day Two
Day Two and with the mass of geophysics results from Gear a meeting is called to sort out a work strategy. It's decided to survey the whole area so that trenches can be plotted with more certainty. Jenni is getting on well with her trench, where she has found evidence for a rampart and ditch. Phil's trench has revealed the circular ditch of a roundhouse and evidence for a kiln. Over on the other hill, Carenza has found a rampart and rock cut ditch similar to Jenni's, but there is little evidence for settlement. A new trench is opened in an outer enclosure where survey results look promising. By the end of the day Carenza has uncovered the top of what looks like a large storage or rubbish pit.

Day Three
Day Three sees the team moving up a gear (someone had to say it) as time is running out and geophysics anomalies are mounting. Mick Aston decides to place the final trench within the Gear enclosure over another suspected roundhouse. After excavating the pit at Caer Vallack, Carenza has discovered that it was probably a rubbish tip. It contains masses of Iron-Age pottery, which is decorated with groove patterns. Time is running out on this site and there is little hope of further excavation, but the team has discovered what it set out to find: that this site is of Iron Age date. The second roundhouse at Gear contains very fine Iron-Age pottery and the structure itself is well defined by the features in the ground.

Conclusions
The end of the excavation sees the experts honing their theories. Evidence from the ditches of both sites suggests that the occupation of the area started as early as the Bronze Age. It appears that a phase of expansion occurred during the Iron Age and that Gear developed into a large settlement, which would have been a social and economic centre covering a large area. The suggestion that Caer Vallack could have been a site for the higher echelons of society is also put forward. The end result is that Time Team achieved what it set out to do: it proved that both sites were definitely in use during the Iron Age.