I’m a postgrad archaeology student doing an essay on how TV has influenced your view and opinions of archaeology. I’d like to ask you to answer a few questions:

How many of the above TV programmes/films have you seen?

What is your opinion of them?

Has the TV changed your opinion of archaeology? In what way?

Archaeology, whats that?
Like digging tin cans up and stuff.
I can't even say it, never mind spell it.



PS I ticked 4 of the boxes. The Timeteam team, have made the subject really interesting to normal mortals like yourselves.

Have a good dig (but not at me) :thumbsup:

I have a lay interest in archaeology and so tend to watch stuff that's about the period I'm interested in - mainly Neolithic tiems in Northern Europe.

But I like Indiana Jones. :)

My view and opinion of archaeology was, I guess, set before watching much TV on the subject. I do thnk a lot of these programs 'dumb down' things, though, or over-sensationalise.

Joe

Brilliant programs generally, but time team stands out. Just waiting for another repeat to start on Discovery.:)

I have always been interested in this type of stuff since digging at Rockingham Pottery for a school project in the 60s. God am I that old!

I'm interested in history stuff rather than the technical details of archaeology, so I like the way these programmes attempt to relate the finds to what life was like at the time, what the social climate was, etc.

I can see bugger all on the geophysics stuff that Time Team use. And when they say things like "And here's the ditch here and it was obviously backfilled from over there," I can't see nothing but mud!

And the guy on Meet the Ancestors seems obsessed with finding a grisly reason why some skeleton's head is bashed in; it's always a murder, or even better, a ritualistic murder! Maybe the person just fell off their horse or a ladder or something!

I used to think that archaeology was a lot more scientific than it appears on these tv programmes. There's a lot more guesswork involved than I expected and often they seem to dig really small trenches then make a sweeping conclusion about the whole area.

HTH

Pussycat.
You said you can see nothing but mud, this might be why you are not an Archaeologist.

Joe, the neolithic period is one of the most interesting times.

I just adore Time Team. Tony Robinson is the perfect presenter.

It's difficult to imagine a better format, really. The only irritating aspect is the limited timeframe the team have to work in. It would be nice to see seven-day digs, but that's format, so who am I to argue?

I'd like to see an archaeology programme with more of a social history leaning. Time Team doesn't really address it in sufficient detail, but it's obviously difficult when they're excavating, for example, dark age sites.

I only used to have any real interest in dark age and medieval history, but Time Team has managed to broaden my interest significantly. I'm finding myself increasingly reading Edwardian/Victorian history books, and currently a whopping great textbook on World War II.

Baldrick has a lot to answer for.

EDIT: "Other. State in post"
Just noticed that. "Blood of the British", presented by (I think) Catherine Hill. And Michael Wood's excellent series on the Domesday book.

Originally posted by viking
Pussycat.
You said you can see nothing but mud, this might be why you are not an Archaeologist.


Possibly true, but I've never tried being an archaeologist, so I might have been good at it if someone told me what to look for! :D

Shouldn't it be made a bit more accessible to non-archaeologists? Even if the soil does look different colours, I'd like them to explain why, or how they can tell that it's a post hole, or a ditch or whatever.

I must admit I could never see the differences in soil colour etc when I saw archaeology on screen, practical experience has taught me what to look for and that changes in soil etc are often more felt than seen.
They did initally do explanations of things like cropmarks, postholes, geophysics (sometimes I can't see what they're on about either!!!!) in the initial few series of Timeteam but they seem to assume now that you've watched it for the last 10 years and know what they are on about.

I find Time Team incredibkly dull, mainly because they are in this country and I can't get excited about a bit of a wall or a flint spear tip, if they moved to South America or Egypt or somewhere it might be more watchable.

"What the Victorians/Romans did for us" is very good though.

Why do most archaeologists have beards and very bad dress sense ?

You don't find Sutton Hoo inspiring?

Originally posted by Ant
You don't find Sutton Hoo inspiring?

Not realy no (I'm guessing it's a few standing stones or a small hill/ditch combo)

Slightly side-stepping the topic... there was a rumour/threat that Julian Cope was doing a TV programme of his Modern Antiquarian book. Did he actually get round to it?

Me and some friends went walking past surprise view. We had some Kinder eggs so we built the little figures then grew very bored, as they didn't do anything. When we got to the top of this hill we all sat down and buried our kinder egg surprises in thier plastic shells, in the dirt so that future Time Team (lead by Tony Robinson, cos he never gets old) will dig them up and wonder what they are and what they are used for!

Shamelessly bumping this one back to the top.... :D

Adam Hart Davies is the guy for me, he opens up all sorts of historical and archaelogical stuff without ever making it sound boring and longwinded.
I even joined the bbc's website and posted mail to him thanking him for keeping not just myself but my kids interested in ancient history too.
Love the way he gets his new sidekicks to do all the heavy/dirty gruntwork on his shows :thumbsup:

Originally posted by nick2
I find Time Team incredibkly dull, mainly because they are in this country and I can't get excited about a bit of a wall or a flint spear tip, if they moved to South America or Egypt or somewhere it might be more watchable.


As a child I watched a documentary about Egyptian mummies in the Manchester Museum, and was fascinated from then on by archaeology in Egypt and the Near/Middle East.

For years afterwards I wanted to become an archaeologist, and even got to the stage of investigating various university archaeology courses. Perhaps fortunately, though, I then went on an archaeological dig, and decided I didn't like the hard physical work involved! :D

I'm still really interested in ancient history though - but I confess that like Nick2, I find British archaeology very dull! Give me Indiana Jones any day :thumbsup:

StarSparkle

I watch time team and think its great. Tony Robinson is the right mix between ignorant viewer and technical expert. He knows enough to explain it a level we can all understand.

I do sometimes laugh though when they find a 1cm square bit of pot and then draw a full scale of model of it..... I know they have other examples from the period to make educated guesses - but come on.... there is a hell of a lot of poetic licence involved !!

I too echo other sentiments on previous posts that I would like more programmes on how people would have lived, the social side of history.

When I was a kid, I remember a TV progamme where a group of people lived and worked in a mock bronze age village - it was brilliant, you saw them using the pots and tools, living in the mud huts etc,, it reallu brought the whole thing to life. Can anyone else remember this programme?

Like Starsparkle, my interest is more in Egyptian archaeology and I have vast amounts of books and DVDs on the subject.
Indiana Jones certainly glorified the subject and the harsh reality of a dig in a hot country, or any country is rarely satisfactory.
It doesn't put me off and I would love to be more involved. Maybe one day....

I think it's an interpretive art more than a science. It uses technology as an adjunct.

The meticulousness with which everything is recorded is awe inspiring, and clear inferences can be drawn in many cases, particularly where aggregated information conforms to other known patterns.

In terms of revealing information about preliteral societies I think that whilst archaelogy is in many ways the only real link we have with that period, the tendency on these TV programs is to make inferences that really are unsupportable. This applies mainly to aspects of daily life and ritual, religion etc etc.

Time team just winds me up(!)

An archaelogical dig in 3 days? That's an archaelogists definition of loot and pilllage IMO.

Adam H-Davies is the business although his recent programs actually rather lack focus. His 'Local Heroes' was best by far.

Indiana Jones is a looter.

Meet the ancestors indulges in rampant inferences about neolithic times IIRC.

I think modern forensic methods are proving really valuable to archaeology, and the overarching discipline of interpreting all these different sources of information is a very challenging one.

Historians, at least, have a text.

After I retired I did a certificate in archaeology at the Institute for Lifelong Learning at the Uni, mostly inspired I must admit by Time Team. Since then I'm hooked on archaeology. You can keep Greece, Egypt etc' now when I go out into the Peak District I see a whole new landscape. You don't have to dig, but it helps understand exactly what you're seeing, be it 'humps and bumps', or interpreting a church etc. The Peak District is one of the great unspoiled historical landscapes in Britain, if you know what you're looking at.

We need less tv progs on archieologists and more on doctors.
There are too many, and not enough.

Maybe we should encourage future generations that doctors are cool.

I know a guy who studied archaeology who would routinely go into the crash position at the very sound of the time team theme tune. He was trained to spend hours removing the dirt with a tiny brush so no precious artifacts were lost, missed, trampled on ... and the Time Teamers wheel out a JCB!

:clap: love em all!

2 men in a trench were a refreshing change but seen so many reruns now NEED A NEW SERIES! :D please!

Originally posted by algy
After I retired I did a certificate in archaeology at the Institute for Lifelong Learning at the Uni, mostly inspired I must admit by Time Team. Since then I'm hooked on archaeology. You can keep Greece, Egypt etc' now when I go out into the Peak District I see a whole new landscape. You don't have to dig, but it helps understand exactly what you're seeing, be it 'humps and bumps', or interpreting a church etc. The Peak District is one of the great unspoiled historical landscapes in Britain, if you know what you're looking at.

Well said, I go every weekend in the summer.
It does help when you can read the landscape.

I mentioned before i stay on a working dairy farm on the A515, which is an old roman road.

Further to my last posting THIS (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v689/viking99/forums/Copy2ofA515ROMANROADATPOMEROY.jpg) is the A515 at Pomeroy, have a look how straight the Romans built the road.

And THIS (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v689/viking99/forums/Copy2ofploughartefact2.bmp) is something i dug up adjacent to the A515, could anyone tell me what it could be?

Looks agricultural.

Must admit it's addictive sometimes and of course there is always the chance they might find something interesting (sadly not usually the case with time team anymore...)

I guess what I'm wanting out of the programme is to learn something about the past and of course with Indi I'm expecting a good ol' beat the Germans to the loot - far fetched but sometimes it's nice to take the brain out and enjoy the ride :)

If I had the time, I'd like to really get into it [literally]. I am fascinated by subjects like anthropology, sociology, ethnology and population genetics in relation to the British people. I would love to be able to dig up some Anglian settlement, find grave goods, and bones which could be tested re DNA. I would love to take part in

-SORRY, PRESSED WRONG BUTTON. I would love to take part in a project which looked at the Anglo-Saxon contribution to the general population, similar to the one re Vikings recently. Alongside looking at blood samples, it would involve archaeology. When I win the lottery, I will start one.

I love archaeology - although most of my views of it were formed before any of the above programmes. I had a friend studying it and he took me for a week's dig at West Heslerton (between York and Scarborough) which was an amazing experience, especially between the group of people who got paid something like £30 per week plus food, and lived in tents, sometimes for over a year, just so they could be involved.

My sister subsequently studied archaeology, specialising in the beaker people.

Funnily enough (or perhaps not, given the wages), neither my sister nor my friend ended up pursuing it as a career though: she went on to front an organisation promoting science in schools (her job included getting Johnny Ball to turn up at school science days, I am so jealous!) and he ended up as head of IT at 10 Downing Street (also meeting celebs, but infinitely more boring than Johnny Ball).

Time Team and What the (insert name of ancient civilisation here) Did for Us are the programmes for me, I've not heard of half of the others. I don't go out of my way to watch either of them, but if they're on then they pass the time most agreeably. And Adam Hart-Davis is the biz! (And he's shacked up with my old University tutor (http://www.susanblackmore.co.uk/) .)

Ah, Adam Hart-Davies and Susan Blackmore. Both heroes in my book. I'm suprised Susan Blackmore doesn't present more tv programmes, she's a natural.

Adam Hart-Davis is a legend.

Originally posted by Ant
I'm suprised Susan Blackmore doesn't present more tv programmes, she's a natural.
She's great, and also the best teacher I ever encountered throughout my school, college and University career. It's not an exaggeration to say that she changed my way of thinking and my life completely. The enthusiasm, logic, and sheer open-mindedness with which she approaches a subject (she is always willing to be proved wrong, which makes her arguments all the more convincing) are an inspiration.

Hmm, my dad was an archaeologist for years, did his degree in it. (There's a lot of them in Sheffield because the university department's very highly rated). He always scoffs at Time Team because of the rush, and thinks it's just a waste and digs should be weeks long.

I used to be an archaeologist and I loved it! The thing i liked about it was the unknown quality..how everyone's theories were just as valid. A bit more of that on tv and people would like it more I think.

Not that fussed on timeteam myself as it is a very MTV version of digging...usually it takes a lot longer! I prefer losing myself in the Discovery Channels or a book!

Archaeology was a great job but there was a feeling you weren't doing anything truly useful although it was extremely interesting. I'm a tarot reader now and strangely it feels far more useful to society!

When I was digging we were digging at Doncaster where a mine was. Manager tells us that if we don't find anything they can dump coal on the field and keep people in jobs for another six months..if we do find something they close the mine that week. Faced with that would you find anything? We all agreed that unless we found a Roman fort (or something that'd raise tourism) we'd say we found nothing. Doesn't send you home feeling like your job is important at the end of the day!

Coley x

I watch most of the programs listed. I've not heard of briton AD. I think Time team is tired and past it's sell by date and it is another program ruined by the bloody music they play over the top of anybody speaking.
Adam Hart Davis is from Sheffield I've been told. I recently watch What the romans did for us and it's excelent.
Time flyers annoys me, i dont like the presenter and the format and again the sodding music they play at any given point.
One series I would love to see again and cannot for the life of me remember what it is called recreated ancient macines using traditional tools and materials. They built a roman bridge building machine, waterwheels and pumps.

There's a program coming soon on Channel 5 in which they are going to reconstruct Stonehenge (full size). Could be interesting....

Of those mentioned above "Two men in a trench" would have to be my favourite.

Under the "Other" bracket, I'd have to mention anything by Michael Wood, I realise he's more a historian, but I have found all his series very interesting.

Originally posted by foo_fighter
Under the "Other" bracket, I'd have to mention anything by Michael Wood, I realise he's more a historian, but I have found all his series very interesting.

Oh yes, Michael Wood's a great presenter. I loved his series "In Search of the Trojan War" - really brought archaeology to life. I've still got the book that went with the series. :thumbsup:

StarSparkle

Foo and Starsparkle, you are both endowed with good taste. I would name Michael Wood's In Search of the Dark Ages as a Desert Island choice. What a wonderful, gripping introduction to a relatively neglected period of history [in terms of teaching emphasis in schools] that book is! Wood is an engaging presenter too, with style, charm and panache.

Originally posted by Cols
There's a program coming soon on Channel 5 in which they are going to reconstruct Stonehenge (full size). Could be interesting....

In polystyrene according to Francis Pryor... :suspect:

Originally posted by em3978
In polystyrene according to Francis Pryor... :suspect:
haha, I once played a gig at a party where they had a polystyrene Stonehenge. Straight outta Spinal Tap! The party was on Hanger Lane in London and it was called.... Hanger Henge! (A few months later they moved it to another house in Kew and held Henge Revenge)

When I was last at Stone Henge, I met one of the Hod Carriers.

He was always moaning about his "Bad back", cannot understand why.

Mind you I suppose they are a bit heavy them old lumps of concrete.