Time Team Day 7 - Lords of the Isles

Good morning, we are continuing with the Fall Edition of Thirty-One Days of Time Team with Lords of the Isles.  This is the first episode of season two of the Time Team.  Tony still has his hair, and Phil was in danger of losing his hat!

There was a set of ruins that dominated a kingdom in Scotland for decades.  The Time Team will brave the rain to explore a Scottish Island.  The National Museum of Scotland has partnered with the Time Team to excavate the site.  The Time Team needs to help with this dig because the National Museum will run out of money to fund the dig.  Once the money runs out, there will be no more digs.  What will the Time Team learn about the Lords of the Isles?

Work has immediately started on the dig.  The site contains the mainland, a larger island, and a smaller isle.  The Time Team will look on the island, around the island, and on the mainland.  The Time Team will also look at a mound on the mainland.  This mound is noticeable in the landscape.  Was mound something ceremonial to the Lords of the Isles?  Were their chieftains’ declared chieftains on this mound?

Tony catches up with the National Museum archeologists on site.  There were four years of excavations and have produced hundreds of finds.  The objects found help illustrate how the Lords of the Isles lived.  Scuba divers are looking at the waters around the isles.  They are having a challenge with the peat in the water.  Despite this, the visibility is good for the underwater team.

Next, Tony catches up with Robin to learn more about the phrase “the Lords of Isles.”  Robin tells the story of a petty king who looked at an Island.  He drove the Vikings out of the Island established a kingdom.  They were never called the Lords of the Isles until the 14th Century.  Even then the title was assumed out of the blue.

The waterlogged soil is proving to be a challenge; however, this does not deter Phil from digging.  The Time Team is looking at the guardhouse and the cemetery.  As part of the excavation, the Time Team will reconstruct linen armor.

Mick checks up on Phil in the guardhouse trench.  He walked with Donald MacFayden who is in charge of the MacFayden Trust.  Phil discusses the excavation.  There was a nicely preserved building on the site.  Eventually, the Time Team comes together and does a catch-up of what they are finding.  There have not been many finds and the rain is not helping them.  A second trench goes in at the top of the mound.  Immediately there are finds at the top of the mound.  Does this signify an ancient site?

Day two kicks off at the second trench.  It is windy but some good finds are being discovered.  The site may have been a Mesolithic site.  The second trench will be extended further.  The geophysics team and Stewart Ainsworth work to map out the area.  Was this mound originally an Island?  All is working well.  The newest finds are found in an ancient rubbish dump.  Mick was supposed to help with the underwater archeology, but Tony suits up and participates in the dig.

Mick and Tony go up in a helicopter and look at the landscape.  Mick talks about the beach and the jetties that are in the landscape.  They talk about how well-used the landscape was and how a king or a prince would feel like the landscape would legitimize his rule.
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What will the Time Team continue to discover about the Lords of the Isles?  Will the weather change?  Tune into this episode to find out more.  This would be a good episode to show for a fun Friday history class.