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One of my favourite television shows is Time Team, where they find a place of interest and quickly excavate it. Many times they also have a bit of reenacting or living history to illustrate something-or-other relative to what they are excavating.
Here's my question: I have never watched or participated in any real archaeological dig, and I've always wondered how real professionals view the show. The time issue always bugged me a bit, because they do the dig so fast I wonder if corners are cut. So for those of you who are real archaeologists, or who have participated in real digs,what do you think of the show?
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David.
There are those who have said that when they put away their JCB they might just become archaeologists, but then that appears to be part of excavation that makes many including myself cringe.
Brian Stobbs
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Well...I'm afraid I'd call it treasure huntng not archaeology in my worst moments... It is the only time I have actually thrown my dinner at the TV screen. Sir (God help us!!) Tony Robinson walking across a perfectly trowelled site without any understanding of what he was doing. He improved with time, but my God it is painful.. The words "high status" and "ritual significance " will never be the same again.
BUT
The good news is that the sites are excavated and recorded properly and managed by Wessex Archaeology in the UK. Reports are produced on the finds and the archive lodged with the appropriate museum.
Moi Watson
Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Merlot in one hand, Cigar in the other; body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, what a ride!
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I think one can just about get a knighthood out of a cornflakes packet these days.
Brian Stobbs
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Moi Watson
Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Merlot in one hand, Cigar in the other; body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, what a ride!
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Quote:I've always wondered how real professionals view the show.
If nothing else, they showed JCB drivers how to excavate a trench properly, rather than dig a deep hole. Couldn't help with the 'bananas', though...
Mike Bishop
You know my method. It is founded upon the observance of trifles
Blogging, tweeting, and mapping Hadrian\'s Wall... because it\'s there
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Thanks, everybody. Well, at least the show isn't entirely driven by television and commercial considerations, and reports of the excavations are filed with museums.
Quote:Sir (God help us!!) Tony Robinson walking across a perfectly trowelled site without any understanding of what he was doing.
I wondered if they wanted the host to be clueless. He played the part of someone completely out of his element, and the archaeologists were always explaining things to him. This would be a way for the viewers to learn what was going on. However, if he was damaging the sites because he didn't know better, that would be a problem.
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Quote:I wondered if they wanted the host to be clueless. He played the part of someone completely out of his element, and the archaeologists were always explaining things to him. This would be a way for the viewers to learn what was going on. However, if he was damaging the sites because he didn't know better, that would be a problem.
You hit the nail on the head. He studied archaeology in the Extramural Dept at Bristol, which was where he met Mick Aston. Walking over a trowelled site isn't damaging it irrevocably (I used to do it, but then I was the director) as you can just clean it again (in fact you can't plan it without walking on it; I was a planner too). Newspapers forever insist on the stock photo of you 'trowelling' a piece of already-cleaned surface, grinning inanely (I do that anyway). It was artifice, a device to engage the viewer by making him look more stupid than he really was... ish. ;-)
Mike Bishop
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Blogging, tweeting, and mapping Hadrian\'s Wall... because it\'s there
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Tony Robinson only jumped on trenches a couple of times before he got a severe warning one time, after that he always asked!
I liked it, I d rather have TT on than 95% of what is produced for TV. It wasnt sexy, it wasnt fast paced it wasnt driven by some reality game show gimmick, it didnt jump on bandwagons, it didnt patronise the audience. And it was archaeology for an hour, every week.
Thats my kind of TV.
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Quote:The good news is that the sites are excavated and recorded properly and managed by Wessex Archaeology in the UK. Reports are produced on the finds and the archive lodged with the appropriate museum.
And published (in under a decade, which is good going for site reports) online:-
http://www.wessexarch.co.uk/timeteam/reports
It lost its way in the last couple of series but last year's series saw a return to form by dumping the 'dumbed down' presentation style and the 'making Phil and Matt dress up in silly clothes' bits in favour of more archaeology.
Too late though, especially after Mick Aston's very public condemnation of the series.
My other half was a trench supervisor at the harbourside Caerleon dig a couple of years ago, which TT worked at for 3 days (odd one for them, stepping into someone elses site for three days of a summer-long excavation).
We used to joke about the fact that stuff that was discovered off camera must have been re-buried so that it could be 'discovered' again at an opportune moment. We don't joke about it any more.
The JCB operators are incredibly skillfull and can literally take the skin off a rice pudding with the digger bucket (or a coin out of the palm of your hand) so I've never really understood why there's an issue with them taking off three inches of disturbed, ploughed up top soil. It's all gone over with detectors afterwards and, as it doesn't destroy context, it's not an issue.
Robinson got his knighthood for his many, many years of service to political and charitable causes, not for being a 'tiny tit in a beard'.
He's still a bugger for standing on the edges of trenches though.
"Medicus" Matt Bunker
[size=150:1m4mc8o1]WURSTWASSER![/size]
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As a person who had to keep re-trowelling bits of surface for TV presenters (but never site Directors; and if they did, they usually asked first!) yes, it isn't lasting damage, but it shows a lack of care which does translate into other things.
But then, I'm just a digger (and a planner, and a surveyor)...who used to work for Wessex Archaeology and deal with the TT finds.
Moi Watson
Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Merlot in one hand, Cigar in the other; body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, what a ride!
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Quote:And published (in under a decade, which is good going for site reports) online:-
http://www.wessexarch.co.uk/timeteam/reports
Oh, what have you done? Now every time I catch a Time Team repeat, I'm going to go to that site and waste a couple of hours reading the report!
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Mick Aston passed away yesterday: http://www.romanarmytalk.com/26-dis-mani...aston.html
Now they'll never get back together. 
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