In this final Thirty-One days of Time Team, we will be throwing it back to an older episode of the series.  Tony Robinson has long hair!  Today, the Time Team is hunting for a Mammoth. 
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Time Team is a landfill and underneath all the rubbish there is a village where Stone Age Britons lived.  There have been remains of Mammoths in the ground.  Will the Time Team find the remains of mammoths?  What will the remains of the mammoths tell the Time Team about Stone Age Britain?  The Time Team is in a gravel pit and will try to find out more about the history of Oxford.

Phil Harding talks about how the gravel pit is typical of paleolithic sites and talks about how the gravel pit was formed.  A channel was carved into the Oxford landscape.  However, nobody discovered the channel edges.  Intact surfaces from the prehistoric environment are rare and so the Time Team will use geophysics to distinguish the natural environment.  This is the first time geophysics will be used this way.

John Gater talks about the challenges of working in those conditions.  Gater hopes that the rain will hold off.  If it rains, geophysics may not work in this landscape.  The Time Team is hopeful that geophysics will work.  An air tent is set up in the field to help house the technology used.

A trench goes in and immediately they find bones.  Excavating in the gravel pits has been a challenge because of the bones.  It takes three days to excavate proper bones.  This will cause some delays for the Time Team.  Keeping Phil Harding on track will be a challenge.  In trench one, they are discovering the remains of a tree.  This may be where the river bank was.

On the south end of the pit, the Time Team is looking for the channel and where the river cut a channel.  Christine Buckingham is in charge of the site.  She believes that the river moved over decades.  Will the Time Team be able to find the edges of the river?

Mick Ashton gets in on the dig and discovers a mammoth tooth on the site.  It shows that the mammoth was eating lush green vegetation.  The animal was about 30 years old and would have stood to 10 feet tall.  It even adapted to the British environment.  The mammoth is a distraction from finding the river.  Mick talks about the challenges of trying to save archeology and trying to determine the environment.  Is destroying some known finds provide additional information worth it?  So will archeology be destroyed to determine the environment?

Mick and Tony go up in the air to see the landscape from above.  Mick talks with Tony about the history of the area and why the Time Team is focusing on the geology of the area.  Did the landscape support human habitation?  If it did, how many people live in the area?

The next day, a large trench will be dug.  It will go over the mammoth tusks.  Unfortunately, the weather has changed.  It has rained for five hours and turned the sand into the mud.  One trench will be covered and a second one will be dug.  Unfortunately for geophysics will face an uphill challenge trying to discover the edges of the channel.  In the second trench, another channel was discovered.  Is this a hint of a series of river channels?  Tune into Time Team to find out!

This particular episode of the Time Team would be excellent for a geology class and good for a history class.  Hunting for Mammoths is unusual because the Time Team focused more on geology.

Good morning, Thirty-One Days of the Time Team continues with the Birthplace of the Confessor.  This time, the pressure is on the Time Team, as the whole village gets in on the dig.  Town pride and Time Team clash in this episode.
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Islip has a claim to fame.  It is said that it was the birthplace of Edward the Confessor.  The Time Team needs to find the chapel that was built in his honor as well as the palace where he grew up.  The problem is that the town has never been dug before.  It will be a tall order for the Time Team and they have three days to solve this mystery.  Is Islip the birthplace of Edward the Confessor?

Edward the Confessor is famous for keeping the country safe during his reign and for Westminster Abbey.  He gained the name “Confessor” after his death.  In the meantime, Mick Ashton is talking with the villagers who invited the Time Team to dig in their village.  Tony is skeptical because there were no Saxon finds in the village.  This is the first time there was a dig in the village. 

Stewart Ainsworth and Helen Geake are working together to figure out where the chapel was built.  Ainsworth talks about the challenges map makers had back in the back day.  Mapmaking was not a precise science because the makers and surveyors were relying on local knowledge.  John Gater works on the chapel site.   The chapel area was not an easy area to survey or use geophysics.  The chapel site is in a lumber yard so there will be delays.  The Time Team helps unload some wood.

The chapel could be anywhere.  It could even be in the yard of the pub or a local garden.  The owner permits the Time Team to dig some test pits.  The house may hold a clue as to where the chapel was.  The house was called Confessor’s gate.  The wall is less than 100 years old, however, there was a head stuck into the wall.  Did the locals recycle something found and stuck it in the wall?  It is just another mystery that Time Team will need to solve.

The Confessor’s gate site may hold some better clues for the Time Team.  The plans of the land show something akin to a chapel.  One of the test pits will be extended to see if there is something to the house plans.  Time Team will have two possible chapel sites to examine.  Day one has mixed results.  The site in the lumber yard is proving to be disappointing.  A new map discovery is providing the Time Team with new guidance on where to dig for the chapel.  One site is in a church graveyard, so they will need some special permission to dig in the graveyard.

Tony explores more of the history of Edward the Confessor.  Edward the Confessor left no heirs which lead to the Conquest.  In 1161 he was made a saint.  When he died he left the palace in Islip to a monastery.  The monastery then built the chapel to recognize the birth site of Edward the Confessor.  Is there anything that remains of the chapel or the Saxon palace? 

Will the Time Team find the chapel of Edward the Confessor?  Will the Time Team find Saxon pottery to keep the villagers happy?  Tune in to the episode to find out more.

This was an enjoyable episode to watch throughout.  It was interesting to learn more about Edward the Confessor.  Islip was proud to be part of Edward the Confessor’s story.  Additionally, the Time Team brought in a variety of sources to determine the location of the chapel.  This would be a good episode to show when English history is discussed.

Two more days and then Thirty-One Days of the Time Team will be done.  It makes me sad to be winding down with the Thirty-One Days of the Time Team.  IT was a nice little challenge to do for March and I’m glad that the Time Team came back to YouTube.  In today’s episode, we will learn about King George III and his lost palace.
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Kew Gardens is the setting for the Time Team.  This was the site of the home of King George III called the white house palace.  It was a favorite of King George III.  The White House Palace was where King George III spent his later, made years locked up.  What did it look like?  Where was it located in the gardens?  Time Team has three days to find out more about the palace.

The White House palace was a spectacular home for King George.  A sundial seems to mark the spot where the palace was.  However, it does not tell the Time Team what it looked like.  Was it a house that had a façade or was it built from scratch?  Geophysics works on the site.  However, the results are confusing.  There seems to be a four-meter wide wall.  That does not sound right to the Time Team.  So why was there a four-meter-wide feature on the geophysics results?

Trench one goes in.  The Time Team carefully takes the top layers of turf off the lawn.  There was a Tudor Mansion on the site.  Was it knocked down to build a new home?  Or did the architect just put a new face on the house?  So far, all Phil is finding is gravel.

Stewart is looking at the records for the old palace.  There was a survey done that revealed a plan of the palace.  The plans highlight the location of the rooms.   “Geophysics seems to be doing fine without the plan,” Tony quips.  A second trench is put in the ground.  Time Team is hoping that they end up in the White House.  Phil Works with a turf cutter to help remove the turf.

The White House was where King George III stayed during his fits of madness.  It was a time of change for Britain.  England stood alone against France.  The Industrial Revolution was occurring.  Great Britain was growing wealthy. 

Phil is excavating trench one.  There is plenty of gravel but no archeology.  Nick the site manager wants to close out the trench and move Phil on to another Trench.  Phil insists on staying.  However, everyone is growing worried.  Was the building completely rubbed out of the landscape when it was taken down?  Trench Two puts those fears to rest when there is brickwork is discovered.  Back at trench one, there is evidence of a cellar, and Phil’s instincts are proven right.

Going into day two, things are going well for the Time Team.  However, while John Gater reviews the geophysics results alongside the blueprints of the palace.  None of it is making sense to John.  Another trench will be needed to find the back of the palace.  There is a problem: there is a gas pipe running through the lawn.  This will prevent the Time Team from digging where they need to to find the back of the palace.

Trench one is yielding some more brick as well as a glass stem for a wine glass from the Georgian period.  What else will Time Team find out about the White House?  What will this dig tell us about King George III?  Tune into this episode to find out more.

This episode would be a good episode to show while learning about King George III.  This was the place where George III spent his last years.

Good morning!  We are going to continue with the Thirty-One Days of Time Team.  This time we are on the Island of Loee in Cornwall exploring a Hermit Island. 
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Monks, ghosts, treasure maps, shipwrecks, and dramatic coasts are the highlights of Cornwall.  However, it was off the Cornish coast where the first rumblings of Christianity in Britain were heard.  The Time Team will face a new challenge with this dig.  The tides only allow the team to spend five hours digging on the island.  They are on the search for two chapels, one on the island and one built into the hilltop.

Legend has it, Joseph of Arimathea brought Jesus to the island and while he was doing business with Cornish tin miners, Jesus would play on the coast.  This legend would have brought pilgrimages to the island.  Early archeologists believed the site to come from the Celtic period.  Mick disagrees with that assessment so the Time Team will have to find dating evidence for the chapels. 

Geophysics works on the site alongside Stewart Ainsworth.  Even on the surface, there seem to be indications of a building.  Phil puts in the first trench before the geophysics team is done. The first chapel on the site is dedicated to St. Michael.  Tony does some investigating into the history of the Chapel and why it would be dedicated to St. Michael.  This Chapel was tied to the Glastonbury Abbey.

Time Team is also investigating a site on the mainland.  They are looking for a second chapel.  An archeologist in the 1930’s had done some investigating before.  However, World War II cut short his excavation.  There were a few theories about mainland sight.  Did the monks at Glastonbury add to an existing chapel?  Or did they build a new one from scratch?  The Time Team will pick up from where this earlier archeologist left behind.

The archeology for both sites will be a bit complicated.  Chapel sites normally do not leave behind the dating evidence normally found on household sites.  The Time Team has found a burial on the island site.  The individual was quite big.  When Glastonbury Abbey purchased the island there was an existing chapel on the site.  After the site was purchased, two monks were sent over to start a new pilgrimage site.

These two monks would have faced a challenge.  The island is often buffeted by winds that could cut the island off from the mainland.  A couple of Time Team members volunteered to stay on the island to continue the dig.  The tides are going out, and so the other Time Team members will have to leave the island.  The volunteers continue with the dig.

In the meantime, the dig continues on the mainland.  The Time Team is finding stairs, walls, and floor.  The builders seemed to have deliberately terraced the chapel and it made it at the same level as the chapel on the island.  The Time Team wants to find the Nave and wants to discover if a chancel was built later.  Some features indicate that there was an earlier structure on the site.  There seem to be post holes in the ground for an earlier, wooden chapel.  Time Team is still searching for dating evidence.

The logistics of the site provided an interesting challenge for the Time Team.  The tides limited the amount of time the Time Team could spend on the island.  Even the Royal Navy got involved with this dig looking for rocks and wrecks.  The story of the chapel was fascinating and furthered the story of Cornwall.  This would be an episode for independent study students and a filler for a substitute teacher.

Good morning!  We are doing a throwback for today’s Time Team.  Today the Time Team are exploring a manmade island in the middle of a lake.  This episode is older and from an early season.  They are still working out the kinks.  Tony Robinson has hair in this episode!

A king wanted to demonstrate his power and he built an island in the middle of the lake.  Then he put a palace on the island.  The Time Team puts together a game plan to explore the island.  The island had been excavated before and so the team has a good head start on the excavation.  The Time Team will also be creating a replica of a log boat that was found.

This island was the first of its type discovered outside of Scotland and Ireland.  One of the locals wrote a letter to Time Team wanting to know more about the island.  The island and the surrounding area are going to be examined by geophysics.  Tony and Robin talk about the island and wonder who would have made the island.  Robin explains that these types of manmade islands are typical to Ireland, but not to Wales.  Robin further explains more about the island as well as what it was used for.

The Time Team starts with a small trench near the riding school.  Mick and Tony go up in a helicopter to examine the landscape from the air.  Mick discusses what they are looking at it and why it would be a good place to examine it.  Tony questions him about what they would find.  Mick replies answers they would be looking for defense structures and if they are lucky they will find structures.

Mick and Tony then fly over the island.  Tony was surprised to see that it was so small.  Mick suggests that the island was bigger.  He also talks about different scales would be too different people.  Where right now, the Island seems small, but back in the Dark Ages the island would have been impressive.  Phil and a team of recreators start working on a boat.  They use a large log to recreate the boat.  The team will work together in shifts to finish the boat in time.  They are using modern tools to help speed up the process.

Victor Ambrus, the illustrator uses the remains of the palisades to create an illustration of what the palisades would have looked like.  The timber is well preserved.  The Time Team will have to do a silt search around the island.  The field the geophysics team examined is showing no evidence of settlement.  It is not a very good start for Time Team.  They will then examine the other field.  Mick had seen some interesting crop marks in the field.

Tony kicks off the next day discussing the Dark Ages.  He talks about the history of the island why there is nothing the remains of the palisade.  One version says it all hinges on the assassination of an abbot.  Alfred the Great’s daughter sent troops to avenge the death.  Other versions say that Alfred the Great’s daughter wanted to dominate the Welsh Kingdom and sent in troops anyway.  The Time Team then goes and examines the land around the lake.  The Lake was bigger in the past. 

Mick and Carenza walk the field and pick up artifacts to examine.  They find one piece of flint.  It shows evidence of activity and settlement in the region.  Will the Time Team find additional evidence of settlement?  Will the boat that they made float?  Or will is it sink like the Titanic?  You can continue to learn more by watching this episode on YouTube.

This episode would be a good episode to show an independent study student.

Good Morning and our 31-Days of Time Team continues!  In this episode, the Time Team is investigating a mill that was listed in the Doomsday Book.  They are in for a challenge because there are few records about the mill.

A local landowner has been investigating the site before and found a reference to this flour mill in the Doomsday book.  She also found a 11700’s map where there was a picture of the mill.  Mick is skeptical that the mill existed and that it was a large mill because the area was not known for cereals growing.

Phil surveys the area with the geophysics team.  The area will be challenging because of the concrete.  The Time Team first clear the area of brambles.  Immediately they find metal brackets on the site.  Is this the first hint of a mill?  Phil seems to think the brackets are lightweight.  Guessing what the parts are is a brain teaser for the group.

Mick discusses the history of the watermill and how it was a huge impact on the area.  Watermills were a step up from muscle power because they harnessed the power of water.

With very few paper records in regards to the mill, the team will have to rely on archeology to tell the mill’s story.  They dig where the wheel was.  As they dig, Phil finds a metal water wheel.  It is a surprising find.  It seems that the wheel comes from the 19th Century and it was the last wheel from where the mill was in use.

The Time Team spends time learning that the site is larger than what initially thought.  They are also finding more pieces from the wheel.  Another group is looking at where the miller’s house was.  They discover a very posh floor in the house.  With the archaeology, Mick is suspecting that the mill’s history goes deeper.  The landscape archeologist created a replica of the mill site to demonstrate how the landscape was changed to support a mill.  Additionally, the archeologists are discovering that the locals used the site as a dump pit.  The site is not making any sense to the team.

Stewart and Mick eventually go walk a field and figure that the original mill was not where the stone works are.  They are convinced that the original mill is 300 meters to the west.  They are putting their reputations on the line.  So the team shifts the work to the other site.  Tony remains unconvinced.  However, geophysics is showing that there may be something to their theory. 

Now they are shifting the clay for wood bits to try to date the site.  In the meantime, Phil continues to dig the wheel site.  Now they are discovering that the wheel was an overshot wheel, therefore more efficient.  It shows that the site of the mill is older and grander than originally thought.  However, it was an average-sized mill, but still an important building in the land.  Now they are diving into documents in regards to the owners of the land.  A will was discovered that the milliner left the mill, therefore the business to his wife.  They trace the line of the family that owned the mill.

To continue to learn more about the Doomsday Mill, continue to watch this episode.

This episode is a thoroughly enjoyable conundrum for the Time Team.  Tony shows his humor with Mick and Stewart’s theory about where the original mill was.  Even the diggers are skeptical about the theory.  This would be a good episode to show in both a history and science classroom as there is a demonstration of the scientific method at work.

In this Time Team special the team tries to find the 1066 battlefield.  Willam the Conqueror invaded England in 1066 changing the course of English history.  Where this history took place is a mystery.  No archeological evidence of the 1066 battlefield has been found.  The Battle of Hastings at 1066 was one of the most ferocious battles in English history.  It was brutal and bloody.  So where is the battlefield?  Time Team has been given unprecedented access to the official 1066 battlefield.   

Tony Robinson starts by discussing the history of 1066.  1066 had a seismic impact on English history.  The aristocracy was removed and replaced with foreigners.  Castles appeared in the English landscape for the first time.  The battle was the thought of William, Duke of Normandy.  He was the cousin of the English king.  When the English King died, another man seized the throne.  William then made his way over to England and won the English throne.

Later in English history, an abbey was built on the site of the battlefield.  The Normans built an altar where Harold, the noble who attempted to take the throne, died.  Unfortunately, there was no evidence of a battle that took place at the site.  No bones, no weapons were found.  Both sides had about 7,000 men each.  Harold had lost a lot of men defeating a Viking army.  It was a challenge to cobble together an army.  William had taken Hastings and was ready to fast Harold.

Several English historians finally started to challenge the real story about the location of the battle.  They looked to the chronicles.  The chronicles said that the battle was fought on the high ground and not on level ground.  The monks built the abbey four years after the battle and built it on a flat piece of the ground after getting advice from the locals. 

Time Team starts investigating the official battlefield and then the Hill where the historians believe that the 1066 battle took place.  Immediately, they run into problems because there are historical reenactments that take place on the official battlefield.  They will have to strip a layer of ground off the site because of the modern debris in the soil.  They will have to be careful when they remove the top layer.  900-year-old remains will be fragile, so they take care in removing the top ground layer.

Phil talks with one of the reenactors about what items would be dropped.  The reenactors talk about dropping teeth and bits and pieces off his uniform.  Weapons, even broken weapons, would be taken off the battlefield.  Anything that could be repaired was taken.  Scavengers would take care of the rest.  Tony looks at the Bayeux Tapestry.  It was a record of the Battle of Hastings.  It was created in Canterbury.  William the Conqueror’s half brother commissioned the tapestry.  Although it is an excellent piece of work, it demonstrates how little is known about the Battle of Hastings
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The Time Team goes over the plowed area with metal detectors.  They find metal nails and some archeology.  The dig continues.  It is a risk for English Heritage because the dig could find evidence that the battle did not take place where legend says it did.

This is an excellent Time Team episode.  It is so intriguing with its different angles as to the true location of the Battle of Hastings.  Tony Robinson narrates this episode very well and with a great deal of humor.  This would be one episode I would show to a history classroom or a science classroom because of all the theories and tests that are shown in this episode.  So does Time Team find the actual location of the Battle of Hastings, continue to watch to find out!

One summer treat is ice cream, so why not do a Time Team about the Ice Cream Villa?  The Time Team examines a site near an ice cream factory.  Tony Robinson introduces the ice cream-making amateur archeologists who believe they discovered a Roman villa in a nearby field.  Lloyd Wix, one of the ice cream scientists, talks about what they are finding in the field.  Tony jokes that they have a week to explore the field, in reality, it is three days.

Over the years, there have been plenty of Roman Era finds.  The aerial photographs are showing something in the ground.  This site was producing Roman finds for decades.  There was something present on the site.  The geophysics team goes out on the site. 

Typically, Roman villas were built in a U-shape.  The main house was in the middle of the U was flanked by side rooms.  The foundations of the Ice Cream Villa should give the geophysics team something to find.  Unfortunately, the building that should be found easily is proving to be a challenge.  The results are showing a bunch of noise in the ground.  Stewart Ainsworth, a landscape archeologist, questions why a villa would be built where it was.

In the meantime, Tony examines the finds that have come out of the field.  They have found over a ton of Roman material.  Helen Geake and Philipa Walton are examining the artifacts that were discovered.  There were pieces of jewelry and a lot of coins found.  It was the largest discovery of Roman coins in the countryside.

Phil Harding digs out a test pit.  Geophysics is proving to be a challenge for everyone.  The results are confusing.  Tony discusses how closely the field was examined.  So Time Team had no option but to dig a test trench.  They are making quite a few discoveries in the trench.  They open up a second trench to look for a ditch.  Then a third trench is opened.  The first day is proving to be a disappointment.  Tony, Lloyd, and a geophysicist go over the map that Lloyd created of the field.

With Lloyd’s map, they extend trench three.  It was the spot where Lloyd and his team found a high amount of archelogy.  They are finding more archeology in the trench.  Stewart looks for the roads that would have connected the villa to the main roads.  He eventually finds the road that connected the villa to the main road.  They add a fourth trench based on what the local archeologists discussed.  Everything has gone wrong with this dig.  The Time Team is not finding a building. 

To continue to learn more about the mysterious Ice Cream Villa, continue to watch the episode.

This is a humorous episode.  It almost seemed it was anarchy on the field.  There were parts of it you could hear Tony’s exasperated voice.  At the start, the archeologists and geophysics team are frustrated with the results they are getting.  Almost everything was exclaimed with “you haven’t found the villa.”  Everyone was convinced that there was a villa in the field.  However, they could not find a building on the field.  They found evidence of life, but not the house that the life was lived at.

This episode can be shown in both history and science classrooms.  For a science classroom, it could prompt discussion on why the scientific method fails or why the tools could fail.  Everything could go wrong with this dig, went wrong with this dig.  It would be a good example of why things fail, despite overwhelming evidence.  The evidence the Time Team was finding was confusing.

You can access the YouTube Video here.

Good morning!  Today I will feature Time Team: An Incredible Discovery in Turkdean.  Tony Robinson starts the episode in the field explaining that there was something large in the field.  During a dry period, a farmer saw the outlines of something massive in the ground.  It was so massive that he decided to draw out what he saw.  Another amateur archeologist spotted lines from a helicopter.  The lines follow the plan for a Roman Villa.  The Team has three days to find out what is in the ground.  Tony believes that three days will not be enough for the team.

Photos from the site show clear lines in the ground.  Tony wonders why they are seeing clear lines.  Mick explains that it is from dead grass on top of the wall.  He demonstrates this idea by walking the field.  The wall underneath the grass is killing it.  However, the Time Team still needs to plan where they are going to put their trenches.  They sent out the geophysics team and go over the site.  The field is mapped and geophysics results are good.  It convinces everyone that there is a large villa in the field.  Then the team puts in two trenches.  They barely take off the turf before they discover walls. 

In the meantime, they also plan on exploring the history of the Villa.  The geophysics hint that there is a large villa underground.  The team goes over the plans for previous villas discovered in England.  Historians compare the villa site to other known Roman Villas.  What they conclude surprises Tony: the team is excavating the biggest villa discovered in England.

The villa was built in the 4th Century.  Whoever built it was rich.  It could have been a local farmer.  It could have been a wealthy Roman immigrant.  Was the villa built piecemeal or was it built over a month?  The team concludes that the site was well selected.  There were springs nearby and the Roman road was not that far either.  It was built in the heart of Roman Britain. 

Mick and Tony go up in a helicopter and take in the field.  Mick narrates what they are seeing.  There are clear white lines in the grass.  It also looks like there are additional buildings on the site.  The villa is looking like a complex.  Both Mick and Tony are surprised at what they are seeing from the sky.

In the meantime, Phil Harding is helping train an archeological apprentice.  He also helps a blacksmith cast a pewter bowl.  England was a source of materials for pewter for the Romans.  The first step in casting a pewter bowl is to make a cast.

Carenza, a second archeologist, continues with the dig.  The Time Team is finding the remains of walls and rooms.  They are finding roof tiles as well.  There is a dog’s footprint in one of the tiles.  Just when they think they have control over the archeology, the geophysics team comes back.  The geophysics is showing that the villa is bigger than what they thought.  There is a second courtyard.

To continue to learn about this villa, watch the episode.  This is one episode I would show in the classroom.  If you do not have time to show it in a classroom, then make it an extra credit assignment.  If a student is studying Ancient Rome for their independent study, then recommend this episode.  This episode builds up as the dig progresses.  It is not a “dreadful” build-up either.  There is a sense of excitement in this episode.  This episode of Time Team is worth sharing in a classroom.

You can access the YouTube Video here.

Time Team is a British archeology series hosted by Tony Robinson.  It aired from 1994 until 2014.  Tony Robinson provides series narration.  Mick Aston or Francis Pryor lead the site archeologists and provide context for the site.  Phil Harding is the lead field archeologist.  Over 20 series the team is joined by a variety of experts who help provide context for the period.  Each expert is appropriate to the site and period.  

Tony Robinson introduces the newest dig.  It is in a field next to a Nuclear Power Plant.  It is intriguing, according to the ariel maps of the site.  The line shows something big in the ground.  What is it?  It may have been a Roman Fort.  It may have been a Roman villa.  Tony has high hopes for the site, fingers crossed.  Or as he says “may the gods be with us.”

In the shadow of a power plant, the team starts their work.  In the 1960s, a Ph.D. student started to work on the site.  Farmers were plowing up Roman remains.  He wanted to know why and he found a Roman wall.  He did not know what it is.  All he found was a building and a mosaic, unfortunately, he did not know what the building was.  The Time Team is going to continue this man’s work.  The man left behind a good record of what he had found.  He seems to have hinted that the building was a villa.

The first step was to figure out where he put his original trenches.  So the geophysics team runs radar and magnetometry around the site to figure out where these trenches were put.  Where the mystery building was located was set in a good farming landscape.  

The magnetometry results are generated and the team examines them carefully.  They may have found the edge of the building.  They thought they found a building, unfortunately, it is not the case.  There is only one clear line that they can see and the rest is just jumbled-up debris.  The results are inconclusive so they start digging.

Once they start digging the first trench, they immediately find a section of mosaic.  Tony is hopeful that they will find more.  They bring out the finds from the original discovery and talk about what these finds could mean. 

In the meantime, tension rises as the first trench is dug.  They find a lot of burning going on in the spot.  It shows that something burned down here.  Was it the building that burned down?  The radar results are getting finalized and it is even worse than the magnetometer results.  This will not be an easy dig.  It will not give anyone a good idea of where to put the next trenches. 

The second trench reveals mortar and then three stones.  They find a Roman wall.  It is good news for the team.  Are these the same walls that the 1960s expedition found?  They will have to investigate. 

There are tantalizing hints that the building in the field was a Roman Villa.  That guess seems impossible because a majority of Roman villas were found in Italy.  The site is revealing that this is not the case.  Is the Roman Mosaic under Phil’s toolbox?  Continue to watch to find out.

Time Team is a fantastic series to show in the classroom.  There are a variety of shows that cover a variety of topics.  Teachers should be able to find something to show in the classroom.  Tony is a humourous narrator who will keep the students engaged with the material.  Phil is also fun to watch as he digs.

You can find this episode of Time Team on YouTube here.