Special Ultimate
TIME TEAM Guide:
LOOKING UNDERGROUND
PROGRAMME LENGTH
1 hour
SCREENING DETAILS
Monday November 9th at 9.30am EST/ NZ
As the title suggests this program is a spin-off from the well-known Time Team series.
After some twenty years of digging things up this is an endeavour to acknowledge and
explain the increasing use of technology in archaeology.
By “doing things in reverse”, burying materials on a site, they have set up an
experiment to see whether “geophys” expert John Gater can demonstrate and explain
how the various technologies and machines that he has used over the years actually
“work”.
In the process of conducting this experiment the program provides its own ‘history’ of
the use of non-invasive scientific means of investigating archaeological sites. The
techniques demonstrated include metal detection, electrical resistivity, ground
penetrating radar (GPR) and magnetometery. The inevitable tension between
traditional archaeological excavation and these new scientific methods is obvious
throughout.
This demonstration of the use of John Gater’s “electronic tea-leaves” to diagnose this
site could be an interesting variation on your normal introduction to modern scientific
archaeological techniques. The program can be viewed in ‘sections’ and is accessible
to a wide range of students. There are some fascinating sites used to illustrate the
techniques being demonstrated, each could be an archaeological case study itself.
Dr Denis Mootz
STAYING FOCUSED.
This is the data collection stage of the activity.
The detailed questioning is designed to ensure that students decode the visual and aural materials
presented to them in the video.
The video programs can be stopped at the end of each section. This will allow students to share and
discuss answers.
Introduction.
Note the activities of the Time Team.
How long have they been digging?
What have they found?
Note the reference to the “dark art” of geophys. Implications?
Act 1.
Note what is buried on this site. Why?
Note the challenge set for John Gater.
How did early archaeologists diagnose a site? Result?
What was the original use of “geophysics”?
When was it first used for archaeology? Where? Result?
Note details of the Time team dig at Athelney in 1993.
What role did geophysics play? Result?
What indicated “high resistance” and “low resistance”? Result? Implications?
Note the result of the ‘return’ to Athelney in 2003.
What geophysics was used on this occasion?
What did radar (GPR) offer to reveal? Result? Implications?
Note the use of a ‘specialist’ metal detector. Result?
Note the role of the ‘illustrator’. Result?
Note the use of a magnet. Result?
What is hammer scale?
What role does existing knowledge of past technology and of the life of people in the past play?
Why does John Gater start with the magnetometer?
What does it measure?
What does it usually best reveal?
What can affect magnetometer results?
Note what the magnetometer should identify on this ‘site’.
Act 2.
Note the results of the magnetometer scan.
Note the problem encountered at Normanton in 2001.
How had the site been discovered?
What can geophysics reveal in this situation? Implications?
Why is this likely to be difficult?
What did the first scan reveal? Implications? Result?
What caused the problem?
What was eventually discovered?
Note the role of existing historical knowledge of Romans and Saxons in the diagnosis.
Why was this cemetery of special interest?
Note the full extent of the town revealed by the magnetometer.
How does the resistivity meter work?
What causes “high resistance” and “low resistance”?
What is the main problem with its use? Implications? Result?
Which objects is he confident of identifying? Why?
Act 3.
Why are stone buildings a dream for geophysics?
Note details of the dig at Turkdean in 1997.
How was the site first ‘spotted’?
What are “parch marks”?
Note the results of the resistivity scan. Implications?
Why might the results have been so clear on this occasion?
Why were there questions about the site?
What did the continuing geophysical scans reveal? Result?
What attracted the Time Team to the Friar’s Wash site in 2009? Implications?
Why were Francis Pryor and Phil Harding confident on this occasion?
What were the initial geophysics results? Implications?
Note what was found by excavation? Implications?
What did the resistance scan suggest?
Note the role of Stewart Ainsworth’s landscape analysis. Result?
What had caused this problem?
What was now revealed?
Note the discussion about this scan. Implications?
Note the role of existing historical knowledge of Roman religion in this case.
What did excavation reveal? Implications?
Note the extent and significance of what this site eventually revealed.
Note the ‘tension’ between traditional and ‘scientific’ archaeologists. Implications? Result?
Act 4.
Why isn’t radar used on every dig?
What can ground penetrating radar (GPR) reveal?
Note how GPR works.
What image does GPR provide?
What is problematic for GPR?
Note the use of GPR at Binchester in 2008.
How did the geophysics scan begin? Result?
Note the role of Roman expert Guy de la Bedoyere. Result?
What did the GPR scan suggest? Result?
Note what was eventually revealed by excavation. Implications?
Note the role of computer generated imagery (cgi). Result?
What has the John Gater’s GPR scan found at the ‘experimental site?
Why isn’t John confident about the metal responses?
How does he sort these out? Result?
How serious are the ‘mistakes’ of his geophysical surveys? Implications?
What was not revealed on the site? Implications?
Note Tony Robinson’s final remarks.
EXTENSIONS.
Useful, interesting, challenging, books, sources and websites will provide materials to supplement and
complement the History presented in the video program.
The data collected here should be used in the notemaking below.
Some useful Internet sites:
Archaeology: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geophysical_survey_(archaeology)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_sensing_(archaeology)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeological_theory
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/research/tags/archaeologicaltheory
http://www.eolss.net/sample-chapters/c04/e6-21-01-02.pdf
Resistivity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_resistivity_tomography
https://www.ipfw.edu/centers/archaeology/Geophysics/resistivity.html
http://www.pastperfect.org.uk/archaeology/resistivity.html
ftp://geom.geometrics.com/pub/mag/literature/M-TR5.pdf
http://www.sussexarch.org.uk/geophys/georesistivity.html
http://www.ashadocs.org/aha/06/06_04_Ranson.pdf
http://www.archaeological-surveys.co.uk/subpage2/index.html
Magnetometry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetometer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_survey_(archaeology)
http://www.pastperfect.org.uk/archaeology/magneto.html
http://www.archaeological-surveys.co.uk/subpage1/index.html
http://www.faculty.umb.edu/stephen_silliman/Articles/Magnetometer%20prospecting.pdf
http://www.gemsys.ca/applications/archaeological-applications/
GPR…ground penetrating radar: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground-penetrating_radar
http://www.archaeologyexpert.co.uk/groundpenetratingradarinarchaeology.html
http://www.lcoastpress.com/book.php?id=415
http://www.archaeological-surveys.co.uk/ground-penetrating-radar/index.html
LiDAR: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidar
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jun/20/lidar-radar-archaeology-central-america
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120827-the-laser-archaeologists
Athelney: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athelney
http://www.466ad.co.uk/athelney.html
http://www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1019099
Turkdean: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkdean
http://www.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk/content/uploads/2011/07/Turkdean.pdf
http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/179966/
Binchester: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinovia
http://www.wessexarch.co.uk/files/65302_Binchester%20report.pdf
http://binchester.blogspot.com.au
Friar’s Wash: http://www.scribd.com/doc/14675199/Friars-Wash-Redbourn
http://www.hertsad.co.uk/news/tv_team_uncover_four_roman_temples_near_st_albans_1_290605
http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-7201/dissemination/pdf/gsbprosp1-72338_1.pdf
Normanton:
https://www.le.ac.uk/ulas/publications/documents/28lincas_000.pdf
http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-10451/dissemination/pdf/1305_WatermainsreplacementNormantonPhaseIIAncaster_Ancaster.pdf
NOTEMAKING.
This is the collation stage of the activity. Students need to organise the field of information and begin to
explore its context.
Directions and /or Inquiry questions are provided for notemaking / summary exercises that
will follow the viewing of the video.
The materials / data for the summaries have been collected above.
The activity could be done in teams, groups, or by individuals, or as a class with teacher direction.
1. Draw up a timeline / chronological chart of the events described and discussed in this program.
2. Note details of the development of the practices of archaeology.
3. Note details of magnetometery.
4. Note details of resistivity.
5. Note details of ground penetrating radar.
6. Note details of other developments in archaeological research.
7. Note details of the site at Athelney.
8. Note details of the site at Binchester.
9. Note details of the site at Friar’s Wash.
10. Note details of the site at Normanton.
11. Note details of the site at Turkdean.
ISSUES & INQUIRY.
Key issues and inquiry questions that have been raised by the video are addressed at this stage for
discussion and research.
1. Should there be tension between traditional and modern archaeology?
Will “geophys” put the “diggers” out of a job?
2. What are the latest scientific techniques and processes being applied in archaeology?
PROBLEMS of EVIDENCE.
Questions of reliability and validity of the perspectives, evidence and sources presented in the video
program need to be considered, tested and researched.
1. What role does existing historical knowledge play in archaeology?
2. What problems can prior expectation and poor site diagnosis cause on an archaeological dig?
COMMUNICATING.
The key issues and inquiry questions are potential topics for debate, essay writing, reports, historical
recount and explanation.
1. Write a REPORT on geophysics.
2. Prepare notes (both sides) for a DEBATE of the proposition that
Without existing historical knowledge archaeology would be just a puzzle without a solution.
3. How has the use of modern ‘scientific’ processes changed archaeological practice?