Good morning, this time on The Thirty-One Days of the Time Team learn about Romans recycling.  The run time for this episode is 46:59.

Over the years metal detectorists have discovered a variety of metal artifacts from the Roman, Iron Age, and Saxon periods in a field that is between two villages.  The finds are in Lincolnshire and the locals believe there was a posh building in the area.  Lincoln was a great center for Roman Britain, however, there are no records of Wickenby being a center of Roman occupation.  So why are there so many finds?  The Time Team has three days to find out.

The initial geophysics results that there is a great deal of archelogy even though there are no records of a Roman settlement nearby.  What was really happening in these fields during Roman times?  Francis Pryor believes they are sitting on a major series of Roman settlements.  John Gater wants to do more geophysics on the site.  Tony Robinson has his suspicions.  Phil Harding talks about the geophysics showing that there was settlement going on and that by digging they are furthering the story.

Trench One goes in, over an area where a large concentration of finds was discovered.  It does not take long before the first finds emerge.  Geophysics work on the site as well.  So why does Wickenby hosts so many Roman finds, especially medal finds?  It was not on the road to Lincoln and its location would have been more appropriate for a farmstead.  However, the finds give a hint that the settlement was wealthy and active.  Tony goes around town and talks about the different columns that were found in the area.  The locals believe that these belonged to a posh house.

Phil shows off the initial finds that were found in the first trench.  He believes that this hints that there was a settlement at Wickenby.  However, there was molten lead found on the site which would hint that there was something being melted on the site.  This is the opposite of a farm settlement.  John Gater seems to have discovered a large anomaly also known as a blob that hints at the industrial nature of the site.  Guy de la Bedoyere then talks about the Roman industry of metalworking and recycling.

Trench two goes in over the blob.  Guy and Helen look over the brooch finds.  Helen disagrees that it was a metal scrap metal center.  There were plenty of brooches discovered over the site.  Helen points out to the brooches were finished and were not manufactured on the site.  It is only Day One and there is already a disagreement on the team.  As trench two goes in, Phil makes a find in the trench.  There is evidence of a ditch and charcoal.  The evidence of burning seems to hint that Guy is right about this site being for metal recycling.  In fact, in a previous dig, there was a metal bowl found on the site.

In the village, the evidence gathering continues.  Are the columns that were found in the village part of a Roman building on site?  The answer may surprise you.

Back at the first trench, more Roman evidence emerges as well as evidence of an earlier settlement.  Francis believes that this evidence points to an Iron Age Settlement.  Trench one is shut down and a third trench is put in based on John Gater’s geophysics results.  He found evidence of a circular building, perhaps it was an Iron Age roundhouse.  What John is showing, goes beyond a typical Roman Britain farmstead.

On Day Two the Time Team will investigate a spring and a potential roundhouse.  Tony catches up with Guy and Francis to talk about the site and its potential.  What will the Time Team learn about this site?  Is this site the home of something industrial?  Why were there so many brooches found at the site?  What about the evidence of the Iron Age Settlement?  Tune into the rest of this episode to find out more!

The artifacts that were found at the site were very intriguing, especially since there were so many of them.  It was also interesting to hear the Time Team talk about what the site was.  This would be a good episode for a history class and for independent study students.

Good morning, we are going to continue with our Thirty-One days of the Time Team for October, and let us throw it back to an episode from series 13 and the history of the Industrial Revolution in Manchester.  The run time for this episode is 48:47.

Underneath a car park in Manchester lies the remains of a mill.  Manchester was a powerhouse in the cotton industry and it was a city that had a lot of mills.  In 1780, the first cotton mill in Manchester was built and was built by Richard Arkwright.  It housed the first steam engines.  It is now buried under a car park.  The Time Team has three days to discover and recover one of Britain’s most important historic sites.  Will the Time Team find the mill?

Tony catches up with Francis Pryor, Phil Harding, and a local historian.  There was a layer of cobblestones found on the site and these stones come from a layer that would have been the mill yard.  There was plenty of documentation and maps that show the mill, however, they are unreliable.  Mike Nevell, the local historians talk about how the site developed and that there may be multiple buildings on the site.  These different buildings would demonstrate the different phases of development.  Mike is optimistic about finding the mill.  Phil is thrilled with the dig, Tony points out that Phil likes prehistory.  Phil replies that this site is the prehistory of the Industrial Revolution.

Trench One goes in and it is hoped that at least one side of the mill.  A mill built in the Victorian Era was destroyed during the Blitz and the site has not been rebuilt.  As the asphalt is removed, Phil discovers a wall.  The trench is expanded and more of the wall is revealed.  Tony catches up with Mike and talks about the history of Manchester while looking at a map from the 1700s.

The Mill would have had an impact on the country.  The mill would have been a boom for Manchester and would have shocked the people who saw it.  People across the country came to Manchester to see the mill as if it was a tourist attraction.  This mill was the start of the Industrial Revolution.  Richard Arkwright, who built the man, was the father of the factory system in Britain.  He was a socially awkward man but grew wealthy through business.

Back at the car park, Phil strongly believes that he has found a mill wall.  Francis is skeptical that what was found is a wall.  Phil says he will find the proof that he found the wall of the mill.  Trench two goes in over the middle of the mill.  The Time Team is going to find where the mill was powered.  However, as they dig, they are finding fire-scarred bricks.  The mills were vulnerable to fire.  Additionally, there were broken clay pipes found on the site.  The workers would have been puffing on those pipes while they worked.  There were plenty of fires that happened in the mills at Manchester.  These mills would have burned down and would have been rebuilt.

The mills caused the population in Manchester to explode.  This population explosion leads to horrible living conditions in Manchester.  Karl Marx would have visited his mate Fredrich Engels in Manchester.  Here they would discuss the working and living conditions for the workers.  Tony catches up with Helen Geake about Marx’s writing.  Stewart is on the job as well, working on a survey on the site.  He is working with Helen to look into the living conditions of the workers.

The Time Team starts recording their findings.  They have discovered a door and a wall from the original mill that was built by Arkwright.  Additionally there are sites for the mill engine.  Will Phil prove that he is right about the wall?  What else will the Time Team find out about the mill?  Tune into this episode to find out more.

This was an interesting Time Team.  The archaeology was fantastic for the site and it gave a glimpse into the history of the Industrial Revolution.  This would be a second good episode to show while teaching the history of the Industrial Revolution.