Time Team Day 22 - Hunt for the Lost Irish Palace

Thirty-One Days of the Time Team continues but it is winding down for the end of the month!  Did you ever think we would get through another thirty-one episodes of the Time Team?  This time I am taking an episode off the Absolute History channel.  This episode is a throwback to season three where Tony had a lot of hair.
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In the Hunt for the Lost Irish Palace, the Time Team is looking for King Connor’s lost palace.  King Connor built three palaces, the remains of two were discovered and now the Time Team is looking for the third.  There was archeology done on two hills of the lost palace site and there were remains of settlements found.  The Irish Chronicles and ariel photos hint at something.  Could this be King Connor’s lost palace?  Time Team has three days to investigate.

Mick and Tony catch up with Chris Lynn, who is in charge of the monuments.  They talk about the landscape and how it impacts archeology.  Trench one goes in over the markings that the aerial photographs showed.  Tony talks with Robin Bush about the Irish legends and King Connor.  The Irish Stories show the background of the people who lived in the area.  Did King Connor really exist in history? Or was he a substitute for a different King in the area?

Phil Harding discovered a Neolithic Axe in the trench and lets Mick and Carenza know.  The Time Team is excited about the find because it is something that is not normally found.  However, the period is one thousand years earlier than the palace.  Tony looks to clarify the Irish Chronicles in light of this discovery.  The Time Team breaks for lunch and they talk about the Tain, the Irish Chronicles they were working from.  The Tain could be considered something akin to Homer and his works. 

After lunch, Tony takes a tour of the local museum.  There have been findings made over the years that hint at the importance of the site.  This museum shows that there may have been three large roundhouses on the site.  At the end of day one, the war room comes together to look at the site to determine where the dig should continue. 

At the start of Day Two, Mick and Tony take a look at the geophysics results.  The geophysics reveal evidence of a ditch running parallel to the site.  This ditch could be protecting something, like a third palace Tony excitedly points out.  Tony wants to know where a second trench could go on the site.  The decision is made, and so the Time Team has to get the farmer’s permission to dig that ditch.  The farmer gives them permission to dig.  Geophysics brings out some different equipment to help determine where the second trench will go.

Part of this dig includes some experimental archeology.  A blacksmith will create a disk using iron age methods.  However, this blacksmith insists on speaking Gaelic to Phil as he talks about the experiment.  They work together to heat up the metal to form the disk.  The blacksmith will beat the piece of metal to size in preparation for adding the decoration.

A second trench goes in and there have been interesting finds made in that trench.  Eventually, trench one is starting to produce some finds including pieces of pottery.  What is the pottery the sign of?  What will the geophysics reveal of the site?  What were the ditches protecting?  Continue to watch this episode to find out more about this Lost Irish Palace.

This episode would be a good one to show just for fun to both a middle school and high school history class.