Sam Newton's Lost Soundscape: The Archaeology of Music (Patreon)

When it comes to music, it's often said that all you need is three chords and the truth. Typically associated with rock 'n' roll or country music, it turns out this adage has deep roots, stretching back thousands of years to the earliest folk music of distant prehistory. For centuries, storytellers and bards have regaled audiences with epic tales set to music.

While archaeology helps us to recover lost details from the past, how can we bring the sounds back to life, too? Thankfully, we have Dr Sam Newton - armed with both his boundless enthusiasm and the "Fender Stratocaster of the seventh century" - to attempt just that!

We caught up with Sam during Time Team's recent dig in Norfolk for a fascinating and wide-ranging masterclass covering everything from tuning up the Sutton Hoo lyre to Venerable Bede's stories of late night singalongs in the local pub!

Using a combination of archaeological evidence, fragmentary references and hints from illustrated manuscripts, it's surprising how much of the lost soundscape of Anglo-Saxon Britain can be regained.