Time Team Day 28 - The Mortar Wreck

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening depending on when you are reading this!  The Thirty-One Days of the Time Team is winding down and this time I am going to do a newer episode from the Time Team expedition crew.  The Time Team Expedition Crew is going to be exploring a Medieval shipwreck.  The run time for this episode is 25:44 and because this is a shorter episode, I will be doing a shorter blog review.  It is called the Mortar Wreck.

A shipwreck was discovered off the south coast of England off Poole Quay.  It was laden with fascinating cargo and is one of the best-preserved wrecks off the British Coast.  Derek Pittman and Lawrence Shaw spend the day with a dive team to learn more about the shipwreck.  Who were the crew?  How did it meet its watery grave?  What was it carrying?  This expedition crew looks to learn more about the ship.

The wreck site is off what is known as the Jurassic Coast, an area rich in fossils.  The team approaches the wreck site and prepares to make the dive.  The wreck is one of the oldest wrecks in the channel and it is incredibly well-preserved.  It dates back to the mid-thirteenth century.  Impressive castles were being built at this time.  England was ruled by King Henry III.  The ship would have been carrying stone.  The Isle of Purbeck, a nearby island, was famous for its marble.  The Haysom family runs a quarrying and have recently identified some medieval stone.  In the Medieval period, the marble would have been hand-harvested.

So where would this ship be heading with its cargo of Purbeck Marble?  Many cathedrals in Britain are made from this stone.  However, it could have made its way to the continent as well.  When Edward I’s wife died, he erected fourteen stone crosses in her memory.  So what type of cargo was this ship carrying?  Trevor Small was a ship captain who discovered the wreck.  He asked Bournemouth University to take a look at the site. 

The dive proceeds and the team from Bournemouth University.  The wreck is scanned and examined carefully to map it out.  The 3d Model of the site is very well done.  On the bottom, there are a variety of carved stones found.  One of those stones was an altar stone.  Artifacts are eventually brought up from the site.  To learn more about the more about Mortar wreck continue to watch the episode.

I still do not know how I really feel about this expedition crew.  I feel like a smaller crew going back to examine an area of a previous expedition over two days is much better.  Or the episode could have been longer.  As far as showing this episode to a history class or a science class, I would give this one a skip.  It is just way too short for the class to learn more about history or how to apply the scientific method.  If this was longer, I may have changed my mind.