The dig

Old-fashioned detective work
The dig gets off to a slow start as the Team struggles to locate the site of the original excavation. It's not helped by the fact that there are no accurate records locating the exact site; the ground is unsuitable for good-quality geophysics survey work; and the plastic water pipe (which wouldn't show up on the geophysics) runs alongside an older metal one (which plays havoc with the survey results). Heavy autumn rain during what is Time Team's last dig of 2001 threatens to dull the spirits still further.

The Isle of Wight Archaeology Unit, however, is undaunted and has mobilised a small army of local enthusiasts to carry out detailed fieldwalking and metal-detecting surveys of the entire field. The scatter of pottery sherds and other finds reveals a distinct concentration in a particular area, while coinage found by the walkers, minted during Vespasian's reign and showing relatively little sign of wear, suggests a tentative date for the origins of the site around the early second century AD.

While the fieldwalking continues, old-fashioned archaeological detective work by Stewart Ainsworth beats the geophysics and global satellite positioning technology and locates the site of the original excavation. Using a photograph taken by the diggers at the time, he accurately locates where the photographer must have been standing and from there interprets the position of the trenches.

Any old iron
The geophysics team is far from redundant, though, and away from the water-pipe trench and up on the higher ground where the topsoil is shallower their results are a lot clearer – even if they don't always identify quite what the archaeologists are hoping for. Trench Three, for example, is opened over a geophysics anomaly by Jenny Butterworth: after a spot of wet and muddy excavation, a large piece of modern iron is discovered.

By late afternoon on the first day, though, the finds are starting to come in. As well as pottery and coins, there is a fine copper alloy bracelet – the first of many copper alloy jewellery finds in a small area covered by Phil's trench (Trench One). The finds range from early to late Roman, but where are the buildings? Day Two should have the answers.

A jewellery workshop
During the morning of Day Two, Phil's trench uncovers the remnants of a cobbled surface. Some recycled Roman glass is also discovered, indicating that enamelling of jewellery may well have taken place here. The site becomes more intriguing as Anglo-Saxon pottery begins to turn up, while another period comes to light as Carenza finds Iron-Age post holes, pottery and a ditch in Trench Two.

Phil continues to find copper alloy jewellery fragments – all within a small area. He thinks that this area, together with the cobbled surface, could represent the back of a building. It's decided to extend the trench in an attempt to discover more. By late afternoon, he has managed to uncover an area containing a building of about eight metres by five metres in size. The increasing amount of material found here indicates that it was almost certainly a jewellery workshop in use towards the later part of the Roman period.

Stewart Ainsworth's research has revealed that this part of the Isle of Wight was actually cut off from the main island during Roman times, making it a small islet. It is even thought that the water may have been deep enough for ships to moor nearby. Could the jewellery workshop have been trading with these ships?

A surprise at the end
Day Three sees the Team looking at the field next door. Stewart thinks that some earthworks could represent the location of settlement terraces, which may help to put the story of the landscape into some sort of context. Further geophysics survey work shows up what turns out to be a huge Iron-Age ditch, with a possible barrow on the highest ground. Meanwhile, Phil's extended trench has uncovered some large post holes, which have been dated to the Anglo-Saxon period. Could this be another structure?

By the end of the day, a picture is starting to come together of an Iron-Age settlement, which included a large ditch, later being taken over by the Romans and being used as the location of a Roman jewellery workshop, possibly associated with the estate of Brading Roman villa (situated a mile away). After the end of Roman rule, an Anglo-Saxon settlement grew up in the area, which flourished for several hundred years.

The dig has one final surprise. On the afternoon of the third day, human remains are discovered in the upper layers of the Iron-Age ditch fill. These are subsequently dated to the Late Iron Age, or just before the Roman occupation. Lying in a crouched position with the hands under the head, and not in a proper grave, the speculative final suggestion by Tony Robinson is that these could be the remains of a Late-Iron-Age settler who was put to death and dumped in the ditch by the invading Romans.