A huge circular crop mark lies in the fens near Peterborough and archaeologists believe it is Neolithic. Is it a farming settlement or a crucial religious site? Time Team investigate.
Love love love Time Team. Classics and new. Miss Mick, Victor, but all the rest are still there. And new people as well! Thank you all for making sure the episodes will live on through the internet.
I enjoy Phil Harding so much ! He's represents an accomplished modern archaeologist and yet with his grasp on prehistoric lore could fit in easily with those times !
When I started watching this show on YT years ago, I was doing it because it fed my brain's yen for archaeology. Classic Studies BA! But I also discovered it worked like a tranquilizer on my insomnia. Thank God. Bless them all.
I use it as not only a way to vicariously get my rockhounding kicks in (people digging in the dirt for one thing is much like people digging in the dirt for another), they are very soothing - works well as treatment for anxiety.
Phil is the man. I like the fact that he digs in dirt professionally, looks it AND pulls it off handsomely. Who could dislike Phil ever? Although, in some episodes, I've wondered if people whom he was near were leaning away from him b/c they were trying to steer clear of his hair... Phil is half the show! Although I love the teams' bantering - their chemistry
Phil's ability to pick up the rudiments of all sorts of skills in a few hours is very impressive. I'd like to know how he manages to maintain exactly the same degree of scarecrow dishevellment for decades, though.
So, not being an archaeologist myself, I cant help but wonder if the people making these double ring enclosures didn't do it as a kind of farm enclosure for the animals they used as food. If you put an animal inside an area with interwoven ditches around them, more than likely (unless they are scared) they will not try to cross them. Sort of like a modern day cattle grate at the entrance to a field. The animal would see the ditch maybe move to a "Causeway" but there is another ditch in front of it, so it doesn't try to leave the field. If it does manage to get past the first ring, there is another set of rings to try keeping the animals penned in.
Francis, knows more than a lot of you who complain about him! Good show it makes you think, than go read study and see if you are so smart. Years of learning to get where he is😁 Phil he is great!! Every one I see on show Old It Is Now 2018..VERY SMART PEOPLE ,(Thank you for showing the show)
What people don't realize that there is no written record of Fancis' area of expertise. A lot of it is speculation and changes as more is discovered. Leave Francis alone!. He is a very sweet kind man.
@@sheilaghbrosky Francis is the atypical hopeless romantic I love the guy and I got mad respect for what he knows and what he has accomplished. His work on flag fan rewrote the textbooks
I always get a little exasperated about the whole ritual vs. domestic argument. Why can't it be both? Think about it, even today when a building is put up quite often there is a small ceremony and a deposit in a cornerstone that is then sealed up and then pretty much ignored until the building comes down again. Which sounds, to me, suspiciously similar to the "ritual deposit". A second thought that occurs to me is that the whole area was fen land (swamp), now drained, that those segmented ditches that are quite deep would help keep the center dry by draining water away from the center. Would make it difficult for anyone to sneak in at night and steal your cattle while not restricting access to your people who are intimately familiar with the layout. And ask anyone who has lived in one place for years you can navigate it with your eyes closed and half asleep if necessary while an intruder if an alarm was raised would be at a disadvantage in unfamiliar territory and possibly have their night vision ruined by torches or fires with the inhabitants having light at their back and not shining in their eyes.
I can't believe that I've been watching one or more *Time Team* episodes almost daily for the past two and a half months, and that tidbit of info has never cropped up! I'll bet their home is crammed full of books and dig memorabilia. I'd give a pretty to visit and enjoy a pint or two with them. And Phil. If we're gonna drink beer, Phil should be there.
I can understand why. Not knowing let’s her expertise and knowledge stand on its own merits. Having worked in Academia for many years and saw couples who worked in the same field, often the woman would keep her maiden name, or do something to make sure she was viewed as an individual not an extension of her spouse.
Angelita Becerra one of his earliest digs (early 70’s) was at Grimes Graves which is a very large Neolithic flint mining complex so it is a technology that he learnt his trade investigating
In the TT American program (Jamestown), he fashions a piece of flint for an old flint lock rifle and then gets to fire it. He is delirious with excitement:o)
Actually in this case it makes more sense that it was ritualistic as Francis argued rather than a farm or a place to put natural resources as the other guy was trying to argue. Those ditches were hardly any good as a form of defense. Nor are they a sensible form keeping cattle penned inside, considering the cattle could either get out on all those causeways or hurt themselves in all those small ditches. Nor does his argument that people then wouldn't want cattle "pooping in a church" stand since it presumes that neolithic people thought the same way about these things as we do. Instead I would assume by the evidence of their size and layout that the ditches have no practical function, but are instead ritual in function, and the finds in them seem to bear that out. It becomes more of a question just what that ritual was. Further it would seem that feasting was part of it. By the huge amount of bones found, and the evidence that the animals were likely slaughtered on site and cooked over an open fire. Over a long period of time the soil would show a high level phosphorous from all the animals, including those who weren't slaughtered but might just have been there as draft animals taking the family back and forth.
One thing I don't understand, if the phosphate showed up clearly enough to show evidence of the path animals used in towards the center of the ringditch, one would think it would show up over the general area even more so if they were actually kept there for any length of time as farm animals. The fact that the phosphate evidence only shows the trackway they used for herding animals towards the site, would seem to indicate that they weren't being kept there but actually may have been regularly used as part of doing rituals even if only the later feast.
@ bobby george : Some day in the future the remains of a baked bean factory will be found and the archeologists will argue over whether the site was a religious center, or a scientific research center.
Yep, the "ritual pot" could simply have been something happened and the meal cooking burned so they chucked it, crappy pot and all, into the ditch. 6,000+ years later one glance says its ritual.
The circle is visible as huge crop marks centered around this point: 52.662008°N 0.291830°W It's hard to be exactly certain given Stewart's vague "about 11 kilometers southwest" description but this is about there and there are numerous circular crop marks to the east and west: 52.521846, -0.552557
26:42 I just can't watch this kind of thing anymore without having David Mitchell playing in the background of my mind. "And it was here, in these skies, that the luftwaffe was defeated"
I am so glad they had the bone expert,who explained and could back up his theories with evidence in stark contrast to Francis 's unsupported ramblings about ancestors and offerings of burnt grain.
People, especially farmers, have had rites and ceremonies to bless their lands and houses, so any rituals could be small ones to bless the facility. When I first saw the crop circle I thought it was an enclosure was to hold stock inside it. Thus it would make sense the people are living close on the outside of the enclosure with a refuse ditch behind their residence, whatever it is. Most likely the stock was brought in for winter.
Not as good an episode as one would wish, but they did a good job trying to make it as interesting as possible. I'm glad they added common-sense Ben Robinson to balance Dr. Pryor, who (as others have said) can be annoying with his fanciful interpretations. When he calms down, Francis makes a lot more sense - his little lecture from 30:56-32:24 however, was Dr. P at his best. When Tony says at 32:55 that "we know the inner ditch was earlier" there is no evidence presented for that statement - after all, there was Bronze Age beaker ware in that ditch.
What if it was a major sacrificial area, like a temple? You would have animals for sacrifice brought to the site and stored there before being sacrificed.
Throughout the series they repeat that the ditch end on either side of the entrance to an enclosure is where people deposited items ritually. But at the end of this episode, Francis claims that the auroch bone smack dab in the middle of a ditch - away from the ends - proves that it was deliberately deposited there. Can't have it both ways. But he tries anyway. I see no reason why that bone could't have been thrown over someone's shoulder into that ditch randomly. Francis is a good story-teller, and a bad scientist.
I am surprised that no one suggested defense purpose. After that agriculture had been introduced, the population grew 20-50 times within a hundred years or so, and sooner or later conflicts between groups were bound to happen. Enclosures could be with defense purpose and/or to keep cattle and/or sheep under control.
i am wondering about those broken ditches... if these enclosures were situated on/near wetlands, couldn't these broken ditches have been dug to drain water into for evaporative drying of the land? this would then have the effect of creating a firmer foundation for structures and perhaps allow for some different types of "crops" such as grasses, berries, etc for feeding livestock or the people living there. i don't have any hard evidence to back this up. it's merely a bit of speculation on my part.
Just a few points. 1. The circle is very unlikely to be an animal pen, because people who have learned to value domestic animals are not going to gather and protect them behind a barrier that is full of gaps. I also doubt it would be possible to walk into an enclosure full of animals with a short history of domestication, and start butchering some of them without the rest of the animals panicking, and either injuring or killing the people. And there is no evidence in the circle for pens to separate the animals. Also, there is no evidence of storage for food or fresh water in the circle. 2. The circle is not a trap for hunting wild animals, because the animals' bones that show signs of being butchered and eaten are domesticated. There is ONE wild auroch bone, which was "placed", not tossed, in a ditch. 3. The circle is not a fortification, because again, no one is going to depend for their defense on a barrier full of gaps. 4.The circle is not a place of residence, because there is no evidence of any kind of shelter on the site, and again, there is no sign of storage for food or fresh water. 5. This circle, and the other circles, might have been used for different groups to meet, a kind of neutral ground where conflicts could be temporarily be set aside. Maybe they were trading, or conducting marriages between groups. But there seems to be no evidence for trade goods. Maybe they drove in one auroch to take on warriors in a pre-historical bullfight? But that sounds a bit ritual. 6. The fact that the "poop evidence" is concentrated more on the paths leading in, and not in the circle, seems to indicate that animals were not kept in the circle in large numbers; but that some were driven in and butchered (sure sounds like ritual feasting to me). The proof is in the poop! 7. Whatever the circle is, there are at least two items which were "placed", not "tossed" in ditches, exactly as was predicted based on examination of other circles. One was an auroch bone, from a large and dangerous wild animal; and the other was a badly made pot full of burnt grain, which was "placed" in a ditch, not "chucked in the trash" as one commenter said below. Both of these items were identified as ritual, because of their context, because of experience from other sites, and because of education and training. None of the archaeologists who preferred to see the circle as an animal pen disputed that the items were ritual. None of the other scientists involved disputed that the items were ritual. Not even Tony, in his role as Devil's advocate, disputed that the items were ritual.
Not really, I don't think. The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition period was relatively short and pottery is present at many Early Neolithic sites. There has even been pottery found at a few late Mesolithic sites which suggests a degree of cultural exchange prior to the adoption of agriculture or, perhaps more likely based on recent DNA analyses, the replacement of the Mesolithic hunter-gatherer population by Neolithic farmers from Europe. Interestingly, there are regions of Britain that were aceramic during the post-Roman period. Whether this was due to lack of pottery-making skills and/or access to raw materials, or due to the cultural traditions of a specific group of immigrants I am unsure.
Neolithic cattle ranch. Inner rings were water source for cattle and used as fences. Rituals because they were all about rituals. Probably prayers to their Gods to get through the winter. Not sure why it has to be 1 or the other. They took their 'churches' with them.
Why are people cracking on poor Francis? He has more empathy and understanding of Neolithic folks than ninety percent of us. We don’t have the right to feel superior to our ancestors. After all, don’t we attend churches and ask for answers and offer financial support (sacrifice) to our own gods? We live in an age where eclipses and dire illnesses are explained. Can you imagine their terror during a solar eclipse? Or a hurricane? Hell yeah, we’d be sacrificing a cow or two to appease the deity that sent those things. Some have pointed out that Neos spent most of their time securing food and just surviving. I agree. It means they had to be much more in touch with their surroundings, unlike today’s people who go to work, come home and shut the door. They looked for explanations, created rituals, and we still do today. They built henges, we build mega-churches.
Now maybe I missed a few details but, what about this possibility... What if they made this double-ring of ditches as an animal trap? During the dry months, they could have stampeded wild cattle into the middle of it, and since it's surrounded by muddy, mucky, gravelly ditches, some of them would have gotten bogged down and stuck, then they could just run up and spear them, shott them with arrows, etc. Then, during the wet months, the water levels rise enough for sturgeon (and maybe other fish) to swim up in there to spawn, then they could have trapped the fishes and speared / caught them as well. As for the people buried around it's borders, that could be the poor bloke who went up to a wild auroch, trapped in the mire, to club it in the head, but got gored by it's horns. Maybe? I dunno, just a crazy thought I had. It's probably as full of holes as Swiss cheese, but it would be easier to let the food come to you, rather than the other way round. I mean, they did find some cattle bones in there, and signs nearby of pretty big fires (like from a massive barbecue).
It's worth bearing in mind that nearly all causewayed enclosures were built on raised ground (if not a steep hill), thus making it impossible for fish to swim into their ditches.
They stated the outer ring was put in later than the inner ring ; perhaps the pen was no longer big enough so they just enlarged it . The inner ring may have needed fixing after years of use and it was easier to make a new one that keep bodging up the smaller one .
It’s just a place to keep cattle.Of course if it was they would’ve found high concentrations of P in the center of the circle they didn’t really answer that question
I'm from Texas. Our history sucks! But i love English history. You guys are lucky to be able to see it in a whatever hour drive. God bless mother land England
I know next to nothing about archaeology & don't presume to have any knowledge that these expert's don't, but aren't these earthworks very similar to the anti-cavalry ditches employed for centuries? Couldn't it be that these rings allowed them to build safe enclosures away from herds of stampeding aurochs? Just a possible correlation I hadn't seen mentioned...
I lost the best job I ever had because they closed the bookstore I had worked at 14 years. This find almost made up for it. Anyone else think Phil is awesome? What's with those long nails though? At first I thought he might play guitar or banjo, but I think both hands have the long nails? Lol
@@gardentreasures7319 Yes I was pleased my detective work was correct. I caught it on that amazing episode in Jamestown! He was enjoying himself a lot.
THANK YOU for pointing out phil's nails lmao. I love phil but those nails kinda creep me out. even as a girl I keep my nails extremely short ("man" length) so seeing phil's long nails digging around all that dirt always makes me cringe. 😂
Can't make up a written language, but can create deities for spiritual reasons.....hmmm Two million years? Not really Fish ponds. We have back fill. No shit, it's level now.
In other words, and quite simply, what they found was a working 'temple' site. Why they have to think of it in terms of a 'church' or a 'farm' is beyond me. Blood, guts, bones, utensils, feasting, herds, humans, commerce, meetings, rites, rituals, ritualists, burials, business, both daily and on special occasions. A going concern, then, for more than one family - and nothing like Periclean Athens or Solomonic Jerusalem but every bit as much 'set aside' to mark-out or convey a sense of worth transcending one man's lifetime aka: wor(th)ship .. ;o)
Why are they assuming the cultural/practical is separate from the religious? Religion as something separate is a modern idea and practice. Both are wrong and obviously don't understand pre-modern religion.
Everything is ritual/religious with Francis, it gets tired after a while. He just can't fathom that Ancient Peoples did things for practical reasons alone.
The student surpasses his master. Dr. Pryor plays the foil in this story of an archeological dig team who advance the scientific understanding of neolithic settlements.
Yea, sadly a lot of the other people commenting here don't realize this is a television show, obviously not a real archeological dig. I mean come on; 3 day time constraint? lols.
Neolithic people made pottery by firing the pots on a campfire rather than a kiln. A half fired pot getting damaged would be expected to happen every now and again. Then burnt grain found at a campfire? Not unexpected to put the burnt grain into the half fired pot and chuck it into the ditch as pure trash.
francis suggested that the world of the ancestors "obviously" doesn't exist.. but that it did in the minds of the ancients... perhaps they were right.. what is his evidence that the other side of this life "obviously" doesn't exist??
CS_FL there is no evidence that is does. In science you don’t assume something is there until you prove it’s not, you assume it’s not until you prove it exists. You can hypothesize it may exist, but until it’s proven it doesn’t.
Those things look like bull rings. Maybe they played with their food ? Imagine the betting when Smelly Steve says that he will take on an Auroch ... There were many bull cults in the ancient world. Spain holds one of the remnants. The first thing I thought when I saw the crop mark was a bull ring.
Francis’ obsession with religion and ritual unfortunately colours his perception and challenges his credibility. Fortunately, he seems usually capable of (however reluctantly) of acknowledging lack of evidence.
