Archaeologists Dig Up The Best Preserved Medieval Village In Britain | Time Team | Chronicle

The distinctive grass-covered remains of the deserted medieval village of Ulnaby are a landmark in the Durham countryside, and although they've been photographed, surveyed and written about, they've never been dug. Tony Robinson and the team have been invited to physically unearth the secrets of one of the best-preserved archaeological sites in Britain.
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[@nancyhammons3594]

One of the things that I really like about Time Team videos is that everyone truly loves what they do, the young lady with the cattle vertebra says " Another really nice piece is part of a cattle vertebra". To someone who isn't an archeologist that looks like a small rock, but to her it was a nice find. I think loving what you do for a living is important.

[@thomasbell7033]

Yes, you've hit upon a major part of the show's charm -- they all clearly love what they do, and it transfers to the viewer.

[@nomadpi1]

But hundreds of these specialties don't pay a nickle in salary.

[@ginmar8134]

​@@nomadpi1if you love it, they don't care.

[@Sammythat_B]

Oh man! My ultimate dream job would be a Marine archeologist. If I didn't have kids. I'd move to Florida right now& pursue it.

[@lynnb834]

and Phil with that plow... "that's brilliant, that is!!!" LOVE IT!

[@L_MD_]

RIP Mick, you are still shining just as bright as you did in life through these episodes ❤

[@joy-to7dx]

He died when?

[@DNBon.an808]

@@joy-to7dx 10 years ago

[@AshleyMartin-f3x]

Did this host die

[@billweston-vq8oy]

​@@AshleyMartin-f3xWhat are you talking about?

[@georgenewickstrand4434]

No, he's still around. ​@@AshleyMartin-f3x

[@colleens1107]

Phil’s smug enjoyment in proving Stuart wrong is my favorite part of this episode.

[@Monaghan]

What accent does Phil have out of curiosity? Where in England?

[@thomasbell7033]

​@@MonaghanI believe Phil is from Wiltshire.

[@animerlon]

And John. He really milked the bit about not finding stone, because John said there wouldn't be any.

[@rimmersbryggeri]

@@thomasbell7033 But actually every day is just Talk Like A Pirate day to him.🤣

[@captainzeppos]

I can picture these fine gentlemen surveying in the field ending their day of hard work in the nearest pub, being content with the day's findings and having 7 pints of local brew. Each.

[@rimmersbryggeri]

Only 7?

[@slappy8941]

The last time I was this early to a Time Team video, Ulnaby was still inhabited.

[@Redgolf2]

😂

[@glauvie]

And the whole Time Team was alive.

[@iahelcathartesaura3887]

Ditto! 😅

[@ReidHenderson]

😂😜

[@lecolintube]

🤣🤣🤣

[@peggyw172]

Stuart’s hat, fingerless mits and sweater/jumper are colorful and pretty!

[@cindyrissal3628]

I think you should petition the land owner to do a complete dig. I'm sure there'd be some fascinating stuff uncovered...

[@annazaman9657]

It's an expensive undertaking

[@giuseppe4909]

I like all the Time Team stuff, but the combination of Tony, Mick and Phil just can’t be beat 👍

[@fsinjin60]

I know it labels me a dim American, but it took listening to this episode for me to realize Tony Robinson was Baldrick.

[@StevenWilliams0302]

Nice! I think I've missed this episode in my binge a few months ago!

[@beast4661]

I love how these guys are all professionals in their own right but they give each other hell. 😂 That’s a dig I’d like to be on.

[@JohannesVanDerStuyvebode]

Insufferable middle aged geezers

[@marciaspiegel5280]

I love the banter between the archeologists and the finds. Excellent entertainment.

[@lindahughes2289]

Phil the happy, Mick the calm and the energizer bunny Tony are my favorites !!!

[@fsinjin60]

I know it labels me a dim American, but it took listening to this episode for me to realize Tony was Baldrick.

[@georgenewickstrand4434]

Tony is not among my favorites. Phil and Mick, definitely YES!

[@TheSonicdruid72]

Phil getting fired up about Stewart putting him in a Barren Trench is so funny. Never seen him like that before

[@gloriagiffords8839]

nothing like this ever happened in Western Kansas....

[@Polisciandfries]

Poor Stewart 😭

[@terryfoyfoy7926]

He spits the dummy if he doesn't get his own way

[@deborahparr3451]

I thoroughly enjoyed this lovely documentary. I learned so much. For example, coulter being the cutting part of the plow, and Scots cootyre being a safe place for cows. Colter being a horse herder. AND hollow way/holloway being a sunken lane, caused by travel over it compressing the soil. Holloway was my mother-in-law's maiden name, a milliner born in 1899.

[@pedenmk]

Ahh my favorite grop of blokes are back. I love this program. Put Tony to work will you?

[@GaryYork-tk2ow]

Favourite.

[@TheSonicdruid72]

And the Sheila’s mate! Haha

[@TheCount01]

@@GaryYork-tk2owto you, yes. To us, it’s favorite. Deal with it. 😂

[@GaryYork-tk2ow]

@@TheCount01 😭😭😭🤣🤣

[@rebeccacamacho-sobczak4282]

The folks here are actually having a good time! It's good to see professionals enjoy their jobs!

[@anjajordalen]

Neurodivergence ftw

[@Stephanie-hr9mk]

@@anjajordalennormal people with normal jobs not everything has to be your special little brand of rêtǎrdǎtîôn

[@charlesdavis9937]

I would have loved to be an archeologist. I love history, from ancient to the Renaissance. My family said I should have been a history teacher.

[@0006trance]

Same

[@carolinereynolds2032]

It's never too late. Amateurs with professionals are digging up dinosaur bones in Queensland Australia right now. And since it seems to me archaeology is almost everywhere in the UK there must be somewhere interested people could have a go.

[@carylhalfwassen8555]

You can do that outside of a better paying job.

[@katielilie12]

@@carolinereynolds2032 archeology is the study of human activity through the analysis of material remains. Dinosaur bones is paleontology.

[@thomasbell7033]

​@@carolinereynolds2032At least one of the army veterans we met on the Operation Nightingale dig later went to university and became an archeologist.

[@WesternReloader]

“I’m sure you’ll manage”. I love the nuance of Johns sarcasm towards Phil 😂

[@marlenaamalfitano1558]

Thank you for these videos, I am absolutely fascinated.

[@timothydockery534]

I bet these guy's and gal's were such a blast to work around and go to the pub with.

[@flamingogirl57]

This channel has become my latest addiction ! 😊 I love these video's and watching the past come to life so to speak !! Bravo !

[@MrScipio72]

I miss Mick and his colourful jumpers. Thanks for re-upping this one.

[@wabisabi6875]

Is there a compilation of Victor's illustrations? This would be a real treasure.

[@Maddoktor2]

If there's a hardbound edition out there, I want it!

[@TechGorilla1987]

There are many, many works done by Victor Ambrus (both writing and illustration) and most are readily available on line.

[@wabisabi6875]

Thanks@@TechGorilla1987

[@smd2768]

I could listen to Phil talk all day. His accent sounds historic to me. Similar to what the early British colonists to North America may have sounded.

[@LaurieLeeAnnie]

I’m SO happy that Time Team is doing new digs!

[@jrjubach]

Though this was uploaded to this channel a mere two weeks ago, this episode was filmed back in 2009.

[@voyaristika5673]

Thank you! Love these shows.

[@ditzygypsy]

The aerial view looks like a kid tried to cover up the legos he didn’t clean up with a giant green rug! 😂

[@YvonneEmmert]

You can see the plots in the ground where the houses were and the people lived . . . Amazing🥳

[@R.J._Lewis]

And, ladies and gentlemen, I now present to you the difference between an archaeologists and me, or 'why I'll never be an academic': Them: "and here we have the lip of some pottery." Me: "funny shaped rock." T: "this rock wall isn't a part of a house, but the superstructure guarding the house." M: "rocks." T: "now, this shiny glazd means the pottery isn't from our target time, but actually the 18th century." M: "shiny rocks."

[@mrdanforth3744]

*picks up lump the size of a postage stamp* This is part of a dinner plate 11 inches in diameter, made of red lead glazed pottery in 1327 by a potter named Nine Fingers Aelfred in York. On Coppergate Street.

[@R.J._Lewis]

@mrdanforth3744 "He was wearing a shirt for the fourth day in a row, judging by the obfuscation in the ceramic layers. He always hated that particular shirt, if memory serves."

[@Loupdelou-ly1ve]

This show is my very very happy place 🥰

[@wiretamer5710]

This gradual decline in the 17th century, overlooks the generations stolen by the civil war conscription, Naval press gangs, and the early industrial revolution. It's not hard to imagine every able bodied man disappearing from these villages overnight, never to be seen again.

[@73honda350]

Those were the good old days, eh?

[@mrbrightside4278]

Naval press gangs in the county of Durham...hardly!

[@Oh-hardy-har-har]

More like jnfantry and cavalry, but the country-side had well-fed strapping men, as compared to those press-ganged from the city folk 'poor'@@mrbrightside4278

[@Mercmad]

@@mrbrightside4278 becareful to not feed the WOKE trolls. I'm surprised no mention was made of colonisation and convict transportation.

[@Swaggerlot]

You rather mix up a number of changes that actually took place over near 150 years or more.

[@bethbartlett5692]

"Bridget always gets the Save!" ☀️ I dont always agree with Mick, but I always love him, and Stewart, Helen, Phil ......... and I know Mick soars with the Stars. ✨💛🌙.

[@NobAkimoto]

Ah, the good old days before Tony was a Knight Bachelor and was still a commoner like you and I.

[@murphychurch8251]

😂👍 Yeah, Baldrick wouldn't have dared to imagine that his "descendant" would be a knight. 😆

[@deborahparham3783]

Just a part of his cunning plan. Sneaky little weasel that he is.

[@RBS.23]

I seem to recall Mr S. Baldrick, MP was appointed to the House of Lords by the Prince Regent.

[@elaborat6421]

Great video but the canadian inside me was laughing at "bitter cold" .Minus 50 c is bitter cold 😂 I would be wearing no jacket lol...

[@davidstorm4911]

a cheeky surprise at 12:19 .. smile and enjoy life

[@jenniferlyons4150]

I like that guys hat and gloves!

[@giuseppe4909]

“ And just when we thought we had some medieval evidence, over in trench 7, Phil has uncovered a Roman mosaic….”

[@Celtic_Amy]

If I were able to live in the UK i'd be out in my backyard looking for stuff. So much history in your backyard.

[@Allannah_Of_Rome]

Uncle Phils laugh gets me!! 😂

[@alisong2328]

Phil looks like an extra who wandered in off the set of an 18th century period drama. I love his accent!

[@fionaanderson5796]

I do love Dr Worzel Gummidge.

[@dreamway9]

I think this show would be more satisfying if they had more than a couple days to work

[@RKHageman]

They couldn’t. One, Ch 4 wasn’t going to fund expeditions longer than that; two, the archaeologists weren’t just hanging about at loose ends - they’re professionals and/or academics from different areas in the UK who have regular jobs to go to Monday mornings. That’s why TT episodes were filmed over the weekend, Friday morning to Sunday evening. And finally, Mick Aston planned the show that way. They’re not intending to completely excavate a site entirely; their goal is site evaluation- finding out the nature of a site and whether it warranted further exploration by local archaeology councils.

[@dreamway9]

Still, my perfect show would be a few days longer 😁@@RKHageman

[@carylhalfwassen8555]

@PaulKinley54Those particular fields would be low yielding because of the stone debris close to the surface. Drought and fertility for nutrients would be concerns even if used as animal forage.

[@jerrieellis3996]

​@PaulKinley54😅

[@sunnymeb]

Why did you only have 3 days? Wonderful and educational! Thank you

[@melissapyles4750]

The medieval language on your document was fascinating

[@ozdigg9254]

Brilliant, thank you all.

[@LewisKlint]

Probably a coincidence, but swedish town/village names usually end with -by as well, since that means ''Village'' in swedish. So at first I thought it was an old viking colony. Ulna Village

[@bohdaicitta]

really interesting site, loved this one

[@Scraggledust]

9:30 the best laugh ever❤

[@audreywilhelmsen773]

I need to know if that guy knitted that glorious messy hat himself. And the jumper. And gloves. I really hope he did. 😆

[@rayray6548]

these are "Burgage Plot" and you can upgrade them to level 2 by selecting the building an clicking on the circular house icon" in Manor's lord.

[@Kat-V]

Phil is such a character:D

[@RKHageman]

21:25 Hey, there’s Naomi! 🙂

[@Munguy-i8j]

No village? And the team only had four days to argue.😂😂😂❤❤❤😅

[@jhosk]

Three days to tell the story of an entire village?

[@klow12370]

I love this series!

[@smarcis2]

Three days?!! You guys should have three months!! Or even three years!! 😀

[@sandyferreira9800]

I love these videos im a sucker on old history

[@elizasimmons9039]

For anyone interested in Medieval Britain (especially warfare), I warmly recommend Schwerpunkt

[@aramisortsbottcher8201]

What is that? A channel, a book? Also as a German I wonder why it is called "Schwerpunkt", is this a loanword?

[@stevethomas9320]

I find it interesting that they built over older houses. There has been some talk of that happening from the earliest human settlements.

[@ubute]

Layers of civilisation.

[@harrybond1485]

Good way of assuring a well drained site for the new structure.

[@MsAnpassad]

By doesn't mean farmstead, it means village and Ulna is a common name here in Scandinavia, it comes from the sun god Ull. So Ulnaby means Ull's village.

[@LuzMaria95]

*that* makes way more sense than what that lady was saying!

[@MsAnpassad]

@@LuzMaria95 She probably got it mixed up with bo, that means dwelling/home/nest. But at that time, it was more common to use the end "tuna" (example Eskilstuna) for a farmstead, but that actually describes the fenced in area. Tun are the word for the courtyard between houses and are still in use today, even if it's not super common anymore.

[@abrogard142]

So I come from a place in yorkshire, england, called 'anlaby'. has that got a meaning via scandinavian roots?

[@MsAnpassad]

@@abrogard142 I had to dive deep into my books and the only source I found, was from a runestone in Katrineholm. It says the following: "inka : raisti : stain : þansi : at : ulai](f) : sin : [a…k] : han : austarla : arþi : barþi : auk : o : lakbarþilanti : [anlaþis" (Inga raised this stone after Olov, her heir. He plowed east with the bow and in the land of the lombards, he died.) Anlaþis means to end your life/die. But take that possible translation with a grain of salt. The name can have changed a lot if the people living there couldn't pronounce the Norse word anymore.

[@MsAnpassad]

@@abrogard142 I dove deeper and checked out your village. The name have changed over time and it's the village of Óláfr. So yes, it's a norse village. Olof (as we spell it today), is a name.

[@CecilSaxon]

Another great show!

[@Patrick_Cooper]

The Greystokes. I wonder of Tarzan's relatives ever lived there.

[@primodyson9992]

You beat me to it 😄

[@peterwennstrom1254]

Ulna by in old norse means Village of Ull ,a norse god ,so this is a viking village.

[@Fairyviewroad]

Fascinating!

[@elliewinn8364]

I have never seen so many ads in a video I have watched.

[@ashhole984]

I'm American, my siblings and I used to play foot wrestling as kids. That's really interesting.

[@EmilyBoltz]

I love this show

[@robertfoerster566]

I'm curious, how does a village like that get covered up? Is it simply run off over the centuries and a build up of soil, or did some later farmer/etc cover it all in and use the land on top etc?

[@justdoingitjim7095]

A combination of those things, plus vegetation dying, decomposing and turning into soil. Every year dead vegetation adds another thin layer and over time that could be several inches or several feet.

[@susanbodlak6769]

I am part of a modern farm family which farms land where homes once stood. Every once in a while, a sink hole develops where a basement used to be, and a tractor falls in...the past eating the present.

[@MXedits_1]

These answers you are getting are absolutely insane.

[@annazaman9657]

It's turf that covers up the buildings

[@harrybond1485]

Tony is an excellant commentator. He knows just how to push enough to receive a proper answer.

[@levioptionallastname6749]

TONY ROBINSON IS THE BEST, TONY ROBINSON IS THE BEST, TONY ROBINSON IS THE BEST, TONY ROBINSON IS THE BEST!

[@jeanpeuplu5570]

You're feeling OK? The nurses are gentle with you?

[@SindreGaaserod]

What if the name Ulnaby is inspired by the old norse god Ull/Ullr? Ul/Ull/Ulle-names are very common in south-eastern Norway and east and mid-Sweden, and it is seen as a part of Swedish early-mid iron age expansion. "By" is most definitely from the iron age, perhaps later, and means "city in both Norwegian and Swedish.

[@juliettelynne5861]

Here in America, I get so excited when I hear of a discovery dated here of 1780 or so. Ha! That’s nothing compared to the British!

[@fiddleback1568]

We have places that date to the 15th Century.

[@juliettelynne5861]

@@fiddleback1568 Wonderful!!

[@1982kinger]

I'm currently excavating a site from 1975

[@ericbrown1101]

St Augustine and other sites in Florida date to the 16th century, which is fascinating, but I agree. Visiting England and seeing buildings over 1000 years old still standing is pretty incredible.

[@cluckieschickens]

​​@@1982kingerI have my key chain collection from when I was a kid in the 70s and 80s I look at every few years...

[@queuecont4191]

I clicked on for the documentary, but that's Tony Robinson, aka Baldrick! I always knew he had a cunning plan.

[@janmcleod8198]

Thank you. 🇦🇺 😊 45:10

[@kelliv2995]

❤❤❤

[@elenchus]

SIR Tony Robinson might actually have had a pretty good life in that era lol

[@TomLeg]

I'd like to see an epidsode where Tony is subjected to a "viva" examination (UK PhD oral examination) . He's had twenty years in the field, he should be able to handle it. Doing it as his "speech" at a graduation would make it double the fun!

[@plhebel1]

Rite,, I have learned a bit of contempt for his stance on everything,, I know it's made to be "funny" but it's annoying. Watching the earliest time teams Tony is a quiet, respectful, out of place person .

[@fsinjin60]

@@plhebel1but it goes with Tony having been Baldrick in Blackadder. He’s the professional spokesmodel in the team with laughs rather than looks

[@TomLeg]

The village consists of a manor house, a road leading to a green, and a number of tenants' strips of land, extending perhaps a hundred yards from the road. So what is beyond that hundred yards? It's a long way t the next village .. is it all dragons and turtles all the way down?

[@mrdanforth3744]

Arable land and pasture land. The farm laborers lived in the village and went out to the fields to work. Plowing and planting, and tending flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. Droves of hogs were taken to the woods to feed in the day time. At harvest time the whole village would turn out to bring in the peas, beans, oats, wheat, barley, and rye. The woods supplied timber and fire wood. Only the lord of the manor was permitted to hunt the game animals that lived in the woods.

[@elaine2048]

Oh boy, I wish I could add to their geophys, this is such an old way of doing it. Geophys can outline items the size of tanks now with pucks the size of soccer balls that you set out for a week prior to work.

[@austinnevels7447]

What a surprise! My namesake!

[@jmmt1968]

Every now and again, I have trouble with the vision my favorite archaeologists are trying to show me. Try as I might, I see rubble , not walls. I see the village better on the geophys than in the ground, sadly.

[@deborahbaker4770]

I can’t see what they are talking about either I guess you have to have a certain type of mind a eye’s to picture what they see‼️

[@murphychurch8251]

To be fair, it can sometimes be difficult to spot in the field even for archaeologists, especially when there's a lot going on in the trench. I once dug the site of a medieval farm. We could only dig it in three trenches next to each other, one after the other (because we had no space for the soil). So we couldn't see the whole thing at once. We had many big pits, ca. 0.8-1.0 metres in diameter. But it was only when our surveying technician showed me the plan (with a grin) that I could fully see what was going on. It was jawdropping...the pits were huge post holes so on the plan the shape of a very big house (half-timbered, hence the posts) popped up right in front of our eyes. 😳😆 It can sometimes be very surprising to see the stuff on the plans, really, because it's hard to see the forest for the trees. 😂

[@clobberella]

not a spoon, it is a weaving implement

[@asahallberg-vonde2029]

Ull means Wool. Byen in Norway, actually means the City nowadays. In Sweden, is en by, a village.

[@FenceThis]

yes, but more to the point: in Danish by is simply a generic denomination for dwelling, anything from farmstead or village to city

[@asahallberg-vonde2029]

@@FenceThis farmsteds aktuell build a village=by. By in English ist från in Swedish, i think fran i Denmark and Norway.

[@FenceThis]

@@asahallberg-vonde2029 I don’t know why you’re talking about by in English, and no: there’s no such word as fran in neither Norwegian nor Danish

[@asahallberg-vonde2029]

@@FenceThis fra thats it. Thats the same in Denmark, and Norway. I live in Germany, come from Sweden, and my lokal Dialekt do have lots of words from Norwigian, accualy a Part of Norway thouse days. So från in Sweden=fra in Norway and Denmark, von in Germany

[@asahallberg-vonde2029]

By in English schöne Grüße, hälsningar Åsa Gunborg Hallberg-Vonde ❤️

[@Ikrell-Laires]

ahhh .-) as a Norwegian I knew the moment I saw the name of the village that it was of Norse origin .-) cool .-)

[@noeraldinkabam]

When you draw something like a plough you want to show all the working parts Iimagine. They didn’t use the books as a ‘how to make it’ manual rather as a ‘this was us’, social media of a sort.

[@feralbluee]

38:02 love the peasant hat :) i wonder if it’s shape had to do with warmth as well as style. it also probably was good at keeping the cowl or hood up on the head and around the ears. (although wouldn’t a drawstring hood be easier and warmer? it seems even peasants had some sort of style to their clothing. women did not wear these hats! i wonder how far back the the difference in male and female modes of dress go (besides the obvious physical needs and differences go). when and why did men start to wear breaches? because of horseback riding in war?

[@joebombero1]

Remember the Medieval period was also the time of the Little Ice Age where the Thames river would freeze over and market festivals would occur routinely on the ice.

[@augustopinto2859]

Since I can understand a bit of Latin is been pleasurable to try to make sense of those documents.

[@2serveand2protect]

Fantastic work, Mr. Robinson.

[@dalefischer4654]

Are there chances of field boundary walls?

[@fionaanderson5796]

That's what I was expecting. Not sure if they put a trench over any of them.

[@MichaelCWBell]

I haven’t finished the video yet, but approximately how many metres has this village sunk?

[@wiretamer5710]

30 years of Time Team and still no serious tents and portable shelters for the diggers!

[@NUMMEHARBEN]

There were one big tent.

[@danehardinge8801]

it would be nice to know the year/months each recording was made

[@ellendemarie3776]

What language is the documents regarding the landowners? Is that Gaelic?

[@XlrationMedia]

The timeless art of english foot wrestling

[@joebaughman5231]

What season and episode was this one?

[@freedomspromise8519]

How very interesting! Makes me feel rather inconsequential.

[@bustedkeaton]

They cooked John to death over that stone wall hahahaha

[@nicodranasien]

3 days…. I really will never understand why the 3 day time limit. I mean as an archaeologist it seems an impossible task to excavate anything in 3 days unless you have 1000’s of workers and machinery which is always difficult wil how delicate archaeology can be

[@victoria139]

Usually digs have permits especially since this is on someone’s private land and they try to have them in between school terms cause otherwise professors and students would be in classes and also money wise they need food and housing or transportation depending on how far they live from the dig

[@gordonclark7632]

All of the Chronicle videos I have watched show that they only have three days. Why is it always three days for the investigation?

[@urbanurchin5930]

This is a question only asked by those unfamiliar with the Time Team program. Read an explanation of the three day process on the Wikipedia page.

[@IkeaScrabble]

Are we forgetting about the 17th century wave of the Black Death in England? Like maybe there wasn't a gradual decline, but, rather, the bookend to the (suspected) 14th century wipeout. Just a thought.

[@Knards]

has to be a cemetery around there

[@alneal100]

The guy with the fedora hat sounds like Benny Hill.