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Next up is landscape archaeologist Stewart Ainsworth, who makes the case for a site from his neck of the woods – 'Up north!'

The label 'native Roman' is a loose term, used here to describe local settlements that existing during the Roman period. However, as Stewart notes, they may well have been occupied at various points in prehistory through to the early Medieval period. Indeed, a key part of Stewart's question concerns shedding further light on the chronology.

It's another tantalising site – but what do you make of it?

Files

PTN-site wrestle1-Stewart.m4v

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Comments

Irene Daly

Being a Northener, I’m all for exploring the rugged north. Is there a way members can ask questions about their own finds? I’d hate to throw mine away without the team’s permission!

Mark Cooke

I’m sure we could work out the sticking points .

Phelim McIntyre

I like, I like - a lot! I agree that this is almost a "Dig Village" in scope but knowing how little is known of these "native Roman" villages this has HUGE potential. As a pottery nerd involved with experimental archaeology I would be interested in knowing the Romanisation of such a community, especially with the ongoing use of roundhouses as well as what the environmental archaeology can tell us about life at the time. With the right questions we could bump this site from 7 to at least 8.

Dave Storetec

Sounds great to me, anything Roman is good.

Bob Pockney

Sounds good to me. With some targeted excavation a lot could be learned. Having invested so much community effort into the Lidar it would be great to further this.

Jon Colcord

Watching all of these “site wrestles” has me now paying far too much attention to everybody’s room decor! Tim has a lovely little sun room there, and he always has something growing, and some fresh citrus! I also love Helen’s cluttered office space. It reminds me of Phil Harding’s. On the left is a rather odd painting of faces. Some kind of Taylor Swift nightmare perhaps? Carenza has an interesting painting as well, which at first glance, and especially given the lovely frame, appears to be a work from around the turn of the 20th century, until you realize there are modern automobiles in the image. Then there’s John with his collection of stoneware jars, and a little shout out to Time Team on the shelf there. Can we send someone out to help Stewart with some interior design? 😉

Paul Middleton

Sounds like a good one ticks a lot of boxes in that its a wonderful chance for a community to find out about the transitional aspect from different times.

Joel Ward

I am really curious about the extent of cultural change over time that might be shown by digging this site. Transitioning from whatever the earliest date is through the Roman plus. Especially because as they say over and over very little is known about this area at that time.

Super Alex Luis

When all these videos are releases can you please just release it as the whole phone call, instead of us having to click to the next clip. I hook my iPad up to the tv to watch this and it’s annoying getting up each time. I’d rather wait the week and see it one run. Thanks guys. 🇺🇸

Eric Greenwald

Contrasting this Site Wrestle with Site Wrestle 2 and I think this location is underrated. They don’t want to do “just another Roman Villa” so this site is everything but the Roman villa. Just point out the most difficult thing to sort and let Time Team do their thing.

John Matthew IV

Interesting site with lots of potential but perhaps too much to discover in just three days.

Rachelle Gates

Interesting site I think it would be nice to find out more about the everyday people not just about grand villas.

Martha Berryman

To find an undisturbed site area, from plow or earlier digging, with a long chronology of settlement from prehistory to middle ages is miraculous. Paetron Joe Ward is quite right. Given local community interest & lore, there is rich biographical possibilities. What would the material culture and building finds suggest about changes in settlement LIFE? What changes in the community's developing technologies and occupations are reflected in the site(s)? In America, eg. tracking just some 300 year settlements, when railroads or steamboats on rivers began to branch into the continent, some small communities would literally pick up their substantial buildings, place then on logs, and with oxen teams, roll them down to a site near the new transportation connections. Really. Even their short history indicates collective psychologies about a settlement's sense of "self and place". Some communities thrived, others failed in the disruption of the move--the studies suggested correlation with whether the Cemeteries were moved WITH the town. Yes, really. Now Stuart's site in NE UK has too long a chronology to completely untangle in TT3 days, but what might the ORIGINALES TEAM learn in Radar or Lidar, etc. combined with a limited focused excavation? What "finds" could illuminate the LIVED LIVES of that landscape? What would the locals learn about their legacies over long-view history? What will UK gain in the interpretation & implications of material & earthworks & psychological ideas--especially impacting "the story" of UK & Brit's history?

Michael Tulley

Looking forward to this. I actually find Stewart's landscape analysis just as interesting as the digs if not more!

Philip Stack

Well there are some fairly modest point awards there! I was at 9.5 after Stewart had spoken. I find these more peripheral Roman sites (that is away from the villas/forts/towns) increasingly interesting in order to gain a deeper understanding of Roman Britain - how did places like this fit in? There was a TT dig that went to a Roman workshop etc site situated some way outside an East Anglian town which was fascinating, a bit like peering backstage at the theatre to see how it all works. Just sometimes the question can get a bit too complex - just 'what's there' would maybe be valid here.

sigterm

This is ma favorite of alle the presented sites so far. And ... beeing a german, who never was in brtain, I'me a little bit proud, because I think I was abel to pinpont the location of the site. Well ... I won't post it here, beacuse I don't want to get the treasure hunters on the site. Just to do a suggestion: Will it be possible to do a community-poll here on patreon about the possible sites?

Susie Stockton-Link

This is my favourite Wrestle this far. I always found TT's archaeology in [several] someone's back gardens to be very powerful. This gives Stuart's site an edge, for me - all HIS reasons, and the fact that this site WAS someone's back gardens / homes / businesses for - probably, hundreds of years. I'm very much in favour of focussing on the North, too. ( I did once wonder if anyone on the Team'd done a British Isles map , with a red spot for every site investigated. I suspect that Britannia Secunda and Valentia wouldn't show much red! )

Stephanie Mahl

Such a map with every site marked wold be very interesting! I've often heard the same Place names over the long run. But I'm in Germany and don't have that landscape in my brain so that i could really combine 2 or more TT sites in one earea. Google maps usualy don't help, be cause there are no landscape names...

Stephanie Mahl

The everyday live of people over a couple of 100 years extracting out of undisturbed archeology with even having got a LiDAR already - that sounds super interesting for me!!

Beth Dixon

This one is a 10 from me! (my favourite so far)

Doug Mackey

I would have though a higher score, but I’d be thrilled with any of the proposed sites!

Tanis Sugden

Gosh! This site sounds the best yet. Community involvement, no plowing, the transition over multiple periods, and a place of 'ordinary' Britons. I would have thought with targetted small pits that a great deal could be gleaned in 3 days. It goes to show what I know.

Nancy D Del Bon

Enjoyed the conversation! Husband and I are on the 2nd round of TT. Are there prior videos such as this one, where the team is reviewing and ranking potential future digs?

TimeTeamOfficial

Hi Nancy, this is our first round of 'Site Wrestles' looking at specific locations. Click on the 'Site Wrestle' tab at the very top of the page in the posts section to see all six conversations posted so far. There's more to come too!

Nancy D Del Bon

Thank you for your response. I'll check them out! I like the 'Site Wrestle' videos.

Robert Boudreau

With the potential for this to answer so many questions on how "the rest of Britain" adapted to, lived through, and changed after the Roman occupation, I would give this one a 10. While it would be difficult to condense that down to a Time Team schedule, I'm confident Stewart could (if he hasn't already) pick a site from those known that has the highest possibility of answering some of those questions.

Carole Cox

I agree with Robert Boudreau. I was thinking quite the same thing. In many time Time Team projects, the finds would be sorted into trays or piles representing points in time. This would be interpreted as activity during a strata. I particularly am interested in what happened to these communities when the military presence was removed.

Carole Cox

Any sign of the Picts?

David Thorndike

I like this idea. A site covering a range of social history together with Stuart's roaming eye and John' scientific magic would make, for me, fascinating watching.

Peter Hobson

This one sounds even better that the Long Barrow on the first site wrestle. Wish i could be there to dig it! 10 from me!

Michael Schneider

I like this one quite a bit - I find the idea of various time periods as always enticing. The community involvement is also a plus and I’m sure we’ll get some stunning visuals from the North.

Dorothy Smith

Sounds really interesting! A strong "9" from me!

Eggs Ackley

I like this one very much so would rate it a nine, maybe a 10 if there are any good pubs nearby.🍺🍺🍺

Rita Baker

I remember him talking about that project during the Lindisfarne Celebrations - very interesting:-) plus being in the North I'd love that ...

David Boon

I have followed this project and Stewart’s work with LIDAR. I think the focus on occupation over time is an interesting one and the use of new technology would make this a worthwhile site. While this project is bigger than Time Team I believe that they could explore at least some of the puzzle pieces to get the puzzle started. A great video of a presentation by Stewart which includes details on the community LIDAR project. https://youtu.be/rlKmrTpZGMw

Rebekah U

I'd have to agree with many other comments. This site has a special feel about it, and the passion Stewart has for it is evident. The community element is a definite plus, and I am sure that Time Team can craft a worthy set of research questions to do the community and the site justice.

David de Groot

Definitely sounds interesting from Stewart's description.

Karl Griffiths

Definitely worth a good look 9 out of 10 for me

Anne

I think that this would be an interesting site to look at, mainly because of the possible timeline from prehistory to early medieval. The obvious community involvement is also a plus. I give it 8.

Mark Lund

Sounds good. I struggle with Stewarts conservatism with scores! Obviously dead keem, involved in its discovery, brought it to the table, keen on bigging it up, and gives it a 7.5(?) I'd love to see the lidar. That technique is so revealing.

Pippa Reid

Liking the community involvement, lack of ploughing and associated damage but also the length of time the site was occupied for and what they were up to during times we know were hugely transitional/lots of upheaval. Lots of stuff to be doing and finding.

Kaz

This one sounds so interesting; I'd love to see what's discovered.

heith Doty

Could be a great start for others to proceed. I'd rate this a 8. And suggest this site for the summer.

David Hazel

Another obvious question is: how much actual Roman influence was there on the people who lived on this site? Were they in fact Iron Age people living in the Roman period, or was there a greater degree of Roman influence on their way of life?

Alex Schultz

Watching this feels like watching some of my best meetings at work. You all seem just so thoughtful and compelling and Tim Taylor chairs the meeting excellently. This is really exciting, I love the targeted question Stewart explained too. This feels like it would be valuable.

William F. Campbell

Excellent ideas! How about sending John and Stewart out on their own three day project with the product being a T.T. segment documenting the site(s) and presenting their (hopefully) agreement on a site to dig supported by their science and analyses. No actual digging but a lot insight into what they do, how they do the science, and how to leading into actual digging based on facts in hand.

Mr David J Cable

I vote for this site purely because Stewart proposed it!

Elissa Taylor

Same. Stewart is always correct.

Richard Moss

Always a fan of digging in the North. Sounds great, and views should be spectacular.

Mika

I listened to Stewart talk (and show some pictures) about the lidar project on some YouTube video and it was really, really impressive. Having Time Team dig on this site would be just great

Justin Freeman

The more of these I watch, the more I find I’m agreeing with Helen! Strange, as a Northern bloke, I ought to more naturally side with Stewart and John... The quality of these also make me wonder, what on earth would elicit a consistent 9 or 10 from the group?!

Kay Theriault

Sounds like a fascinating summer project.

Patti McCarthy

Sounds like an incredibly rich site. Would be very interested to understand the "time depth" here as Stewart suggests and get a better grasp on the paradigmatic levels (build on top of) of inhabitation at this site.

Jill Hobbs

That would certainly be interesting to find out.

william monteith

A virgin area of possible historical importance as to the activity in the area and its relevance.....too good a chance to pass by and a massive incentive for the community to further research on all future digs hopefully.....a great potential dig. Great find Stewart and Co.

Kristna Evans

Why are these wrestles so short? It seems clear Tim is trying to make sure they stay short (and on-point, though I enjoy their joking as that's part of feeling like a community and friends I know well). But I would like to hear more questions, a more organized process that gives us more of a perspective of the layers going into these decisions. Not just a bunch of off-the-top-of-the-head responses.

Mel Blunt

Looking at all the site wrestles again in order to vote, I am impressed by this one due to the possible different time periods, it’s place in the landscape and the capacity to hone it down to a specific question. I must admit I am also easily swayed by Stewart.

jilly Davies

Stewart pedlling off on his bike and giving everything a new perspective, my favourite !

Mark Lund

Having watched this again, and in view of voting, I like it, though normally go for the pre-history ones. A targeted TT 3 dayer, but as a definite preamble for further work/digging/investigation.

Larissa Spiker

First, I would follow Stewart's instincts anywhere. :) Second, learning more about the Roman settlements in the north is fascinating.

Jennifer L Bryan

They've located the fort at St. Mary City. I can't tell from the article if it's where Stuart predicted (I'm betting it is!)