Does This Field Hide A Lost Neolithic Religious Site? | Time Team | Odyssey

The Time Team is invited to a huge circular crop mark near Peterborough, referred to as a causewayed enclosure by archaeologists. Huge ditches mark the area, which date the site at around 6,000 years old. Some believe the ditches to be evidence of farming, others that they are of religious origin. Francis Pryor and Ben Robinson join the team to get to the bottom of the mystery in just three days.
Odyssey is your journey into the world of Ancient History; from the dawn of Mesopotamia to the fall of Rome. We'll be bringing you only the best documentaries that journey into the mysteries and ruins of worlds long lost.
Subsribe so you don't miss out!
It's like Netflix for History: the world's finest documentary streaming service -- use the code 'Odyssey' to get 50% off your History Hit subscription!
👉 bit.ly/3cX9hGo
Follow us on Facebook: / odysseyancienthistory
Odyssey is part of the History Hit Network. For any queries, please contact [e-mail]

[@ingerfaber3411]

Many years ago I thought I would like to be an archaeologist and I was allowed to join a museum digging stone age for 1 week. It felt very abstract with arrow heads and so on - and then I found a pottery shard with the half-moon shape of a nail imprinted - and this made it feel so close and relevant - the thought that a person thousands of years ago had made this clay-item and just pressed their nail into it. I am still happy I didn't become an archaeologist, but the time-team series reminds me of the fascination I felt 40 years ago look at that nail mark - thank you guys !

[@giuseppe4909]

I would really have loved studying archaeology in the field under Phil and Francis.

[@NomadicCreator]

And under Stewart! 🥰

[@patraic5241]

I've always enjoyed this show. I would have LOVED for them to take at least one site and take three weeks or even three months to study it.

[@larryzigler6812]

no

[@m.asquino7403]

@@larryzigler6812 who are you?

[@badbiker666]

As much as I agree, the problem is that would make for very bad television. Yes, they could do the groundwork, film everything, and edit into a fascinating TV special. But Time Team came out every week and was based on the suggestion by Mick Aston that you could learn almost everything you need to know about a site in only three days. This was based on his vast field experience and he meant that even on sites where he did spend months digging, they didn't learn anything new in the last 80% than they already figured out in the first 20%. I have seen many Time Team episodes where even Mick said he would love to spend more time, but by the end of the three day time limit they had already learned what they wanted to know. I find this format very exciting, especially when they go into a site with one set of expectations and the evidence turns that completely around. But I DO agree that I, for one, would love to see a TV show where they do spend more time on one site. I am almost always filled with more questions at the end of the show!

[@thatwiseoldbitchchannel]

I agree

[@larryzigler6812]

@@thatwiseoldbitchchannel Thanks for your support .

[@Agaeki]

In a thousand years time, archaeologists will dig up Francis Prior and conclude that he was likely used for religious or ritual purposes.

[@lindak8664]

He’d probably love that! 😋

[@raeperonneau4941]

😂

[@mcburcke]

Time Team is absolutely epic television that will be watched for decades to come...well done, everyone!

[@spymaine89]

yes

[@Allannah_Of_Rome]

I really love Phil, he's like everyones fave uncle and he's still going strong all these years later!!

[@kiefergrossest4636]

I remember when I was younger me and my dad would sit and watch this together every week. We would also watch any of the history documentaries on World War Two. He took us too a place in South Shields where some Viking museum type place where they have done a dig and found loads of things on the plot tou visit I can’t remember the places name I was young but it was amazing

[@catherinedavis1690]

When finding circles close together like these five could it be that when a daughter marries they set up a household near the family? Life seems so different and difficult back in Neolithic Era that having many family members would make things much easier. I am not knowledgeable in archeology but I find it fascinating!!! I love these programs they are so very well done.

[@maxb4074]

Matt is not just a digger when he works. He is a "finder". Seems to have a very keen eye and usually finds something significant that advances the research of the site.

[@Jean-yn6ef]

💚🏜️ yes, this is an awesome show, I would love a longer exploration of some of the sites, maybe a three episode series.

[@mikereilly7629]

My Scottish grandmother used to call the small stone points I found as a kid, they were elf shot, firmly in her belief. Even today,tho I know better now,I still enjoy indulging in that mystery realm

[@feloniousbutterfly]

And she was right

[@spymaine89]

nothing is more fantastic than what we learn to be true.

[@anetteharnebrandt373]

Maybe she knew better ;)

[@kennethw8384]

Baldrick has educated himself; Edmund would be green with envy. I was just watching history vids and all of a sudden realized it was Baldrick expanding my mind and it was then mind blown.

[@NicolaiParsons]

If you want another wild ride, watch Baldrick tell children's stories in Fat Tulip's Garden.

[@hehted]

The amazing powers you get by ingesting turnips. Imagine Baldrick as Superhero called Cunning Plan!

[@dbbrown1949]

Thank you Time Team,you have helped me get through Covid...so far.

[@mjc11a]

Another enjoyable TT episode but I must have missed something. The title refers to a buried cathedral but I certainly didn't see any signs of that.

[@Purged_Existence]

I just live watching people doing what they love on a Weekend

[@joannamallory2823]

I love that they disagree so agreeably about what might be found. 🙂

[@mattiwarsaw]

That's the beauty of English language and culture for you ❤️

[@alexwarren565]

they should have had Tony on hand for the exhumation of Richard the 3rd, "Oh dear, Richard the 3rd"

[@Cybrludite]

"Really, Baldrick? A carpark? That was your clever plan?"

[@chrisosh9574]

I would be surprised if there was any significant degree of separation between the spiritual and practical sides of existence, in many cultures much of the every day world has been viewed as inseparable from it's spiritual aspects. This constant insistence on every large structure automatically being mainly or solely for ritual is ridiculous when you consider the most effort expended would have been to survive and thrive then thank the gods when you have done what is necessary.

[@dianesmigelski5804]

This was a great episode. I do enjoy the bickering between professionals on their opinions! I also wish there was more time for better excavation. But 3 days does give it excitement. Plenty to do in a very short time.

[@penguinista]

My friend calls staring into the campfire 'caveman TV channel one'. Looking at light on the water is channel two.

[@hehted]

And drinking cloudy apple juice that's been around a while then lying on your back watching the sky is Imax. And don't forget the little pointy mushrooms instead of popcorn.

[@barbarapatterson4132]

Wish they would finish their digs instead of only three days. They leave soooo much hanging. I would like to see the digs completely finished.

[@amazinggrace5692]

All the people have regular jobs and coy do this on weekends. Also, there are sites everywhere in thUK and it is enough at times to identify a site that someone else can take. Further.

[@larryzigler6812]

Please don't ever mention that again !!!!

[@lorrainearmstrong7587]

On occasion, they spend more time. It is 2 shows worth, so about a week?

[@annarboriter]

I agree although there are so many TT groupies who insist that actors are the same as authorities, preferring contrived drama and the thrill of treasure hunting to the reality of the stooped tedium and the mundane finds that make up the bulk of archaeological digs .

[@larryzigler6812]

@@annarboriter no

[@wd2862]

The same districts are in the territory of Poland and present-day Germany. They are dated around 6000+ BC.

[@ronalderb9692]

I'm still waiting for the "Buried Cathedral" segment of this video.

[@DJMarcO138]

Phil and his jorts, I love it!

[@jonathaneffemey944]

Thanks so much for posting

[@ThatGayWolf]

What if these neolithic groups were using these monuments as sort of nomadic gathering sites to share in knowledge and resources? I've always been curious about the early interactions of smaller tribes and how knowledge would have been shared as community sizes increased - agriculture, mythology, craftsmanship, hunting, etc.

[@sirrathersplendid4825]

Not just a gathering site, more a market place, perhaps?

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Somewhere between hunter gatherer and full agriculture?

[@user-po8ke5vh2e]

these circles or coils r all around the world...great job guys! baldrick is amazing character)))even here) he is so funny and charming))

[@Heronjim]

Fascinating, thank you!

[@benjaminrush4443]

Great Stuff. Thanks.

[@SaltyMinorcan]

Love these videos.

[@csipawpaw7921]

I would like to put forth the idea that the outer ring of ditches were dug and the inner ring of ditches filled in to enlarge the enclosure as the community grew and needed more space. It may also indicate it is the oldest of the rings. But there would be a practical limit to how large a Neolithic community and the use of its surrounding land could grow and still support its people. So, the other rings were then later dug a reasonable distance away from each other in order to better distribute and expand the use of the land and natural recourses in the area as the population increased. I would also like to suggest that the rings were located not to be seen from the river, but to look down towards the river to oversee the grazing livestock and to spot wild game and possible threats from predators that tend to follow and hunt along the river.

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

Thank you.

[@rodney1818]

Every single time I see Francis Pryor I don't even have to think about it I know he's going to try and make it a religious site is there any place this guy's gone he hasn't deemed a religious site

[@philipr1567]

Francis Pryor - the thinking person's drinking game. Take a drink every time he says "ritual", "ceremonial", "worship" or "ancestors".

[@grahamfisher5436]

yes 1! he deemed that one, a site of significant ritual ceremonial worship activities

[@barbarapatterson4132]

As much as I want to watch these programs, there is no way I will have anything to do with Netflix.

[@NMranchhand]

I give a hearty second! It’s part of the degradation of our culture and morals.

[@LilA-zl6tf]

Well, there is always the KZbin....

[@egverlander]

I agree. Dropped my subscription two years ago. Degradation is an understatement.

[@sharimullinax3206]

I watch on you tube.

[@lizzy66125]

I dont understand the referencing to Netflix? this is YT?🤷‍♀️

[@jessepollard7132]

really good music choices for the background.

[@benholman8860]

Phil making weed jokes about the tree stump. I love it.

[@neurorn477]

.I have often wondered as they argue back-and-forth about whether it is ritual or something else, if it is even possible for us with our 21st century brains and everything that’s in them to not overthink what they were doing .we don’t know what they had in terms of language the depth and scope of it and language is so linked to behavior right? One of these days I hope to come across the episode where they actually explain what they all believe about mounds and ditches because sometimes I look at those mounds “and they say there’s usually a burial in the middle of it I’m thinking lots of times they find that person in a fetal position ……is that mound just a pregnant belly ?are they rebuilding the mothers abdomen and placing the person back in it

[@moniyakimantizionist]

Very interesting

[@bigbasil1908]

The thing is with Aurochs, you wouldn't capture an adult and take it to your 'farm', you would capture the young aurochs and take them to the farm and then they would get tamed and somewhat domesticated

[@peterjerchel4603]

Listening to them reminds me of a great ‘ 60’s comedy, Hard to take them serious 🤣

[@donaldhoult7713]

I have enjoyed this dig; thankyou. Am I donating to the fundraiser? Not on your nelly!

[@SuperOverlord666]

“But on this side you can see it...”doesn’t skip a beat 🤣🤣🤣 9:46

[@SuperOverlord666]

Just keep tapping that blue time stamp 🤣🤣😂🤣😂🤣🤣

[@Katiesarabians]

"Dig through the dirches and burn through the witches..." Anyone else get that going through their head?

[@nikolailucyk]

Young Matt!

[@johnisaaco8795]

Are there any time team episodes that are not already on you tube?

[@mussnasir8587]

Imagine given more time on each of these sights🙏😎🇦🇺👍

[@karenklnck1377]

While we'd enjoy it, they'd lose most of their audience, because most viewers have to be constantly stimulated, or they lose interest. Frankly, I'm amazed they managed an hour's show.

[@olsim1730]

So..where did "Cathedral" come into it?

[@garypeterson4483]

it occurs to me that your ditches could be the forerunners of the moats used for protection in later times. Would it be ubsurd to think more primitive people could make their ditches for the same purpose, yet less impressive due to their needs

[@harbourdogNL]

21:43 When they go to fill in the trenches they need to pitch those curtains in there too...christ, who in their right mind saw that fabric and thought "Ooh, these look nice!" 😱😱😱

[@lynne1461]

It was their way of saying 'Thank You'

[@bigbasil1908]

The half fired pot could be explained away as there being torrential rain at the time they wanted to fire it

[@neilhoganwa]

Puts a new meaning to super bowl. Sitting around making your food bowls for eating.

[@jesterninety4442]

16 min in thats pretty cool they found an ancient water filter.

[@andreajones8995]

Phils nails scare me 😂 great ep tho

[@moniyakimantizionist]

מעניין

[@ravenbarsrepairs5594]

Phil's reinventing the wheel trying to figure out how to make a bowl from that burl. Just look up how wood carvers make bowls from burl to this day. I'd suggest the ancients burned the center out, then used a adze like stone tool to clean up trhe interior.

[@peggylindenthaler6169]

Three days isn't NEARLY enough time for all you need to do. It's ridiculous!

[@enekervis]

"No bevy I suppose?" :-)

[@The_Light_Knight]

There seems to be an easy compromise. They were pulling in large numbers of animals for sacrifice and ceremony.

[@jeffaltier5582]

Sights I can't unsee. Phil in shorts.

[@youtubewanks]

The lowest salary paid to any (they have national CEOs) UNICEF CEO was US380K plus bonuses in 2020. Charity is a racket.

[@willbruce3]

Am I the only one who can't find time team on history hit?

[@domenicozagari2443]

You should have dug out the roman boat, all you had to do is dig and pump the water out wit a sludge pump.

[@philipr1567]

Digging out the boat would have been possible, but the cost of preservation (time, facilities, and money) was presumably not available.

[@domenicozagari2443]

@@philipr1567 Its easy to preserve timber. just soak it with leen seed oil.

[@philipr1567]

​@@domenicozagari2443 Wood that has been buried or submerged for over 1500 years can't just be treated with linseed oil, it needs to be soaked to remove bacteria and pollutants, then dried very slowly to prevent damage, then soaked in a preserving solution. This is not a quick and simple process.

[@georgedorn1022]

Sometimes the best way to preserve an important artefact is to leave it exactly where it is.

[@barbarab.8613]

Anyone else think that Francis hasn't got a clue what's gone on with the ditches - or the whole site really!

[@craigtetens3095]

It was the tribal trading place. The burial rings are for offerings back to mother Earth and for marking the location of the site.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Understandable that the people of the time were focused on boundaries. With agriculture comes a big time investment onto one place. Leaving that place means all that time and work was wasted. Going around and taking the crops from other people's farms was a very easy way without having to do the farming. So land ownership became a thing. And you would want to protect your land.

[@balderii7340]

The ditches were dug against water. In Frisia (Netherlands) farms were built on man made hills: “terp”. Just like this site in ancient times, Frisia had many bodies of water, marshes and was always in danger of floods from sea. Artefacts were not put at the bottom for any higher reason, than that they were accidentally dropped and lost.

[@newto4361]

Good very entertaining video,however what was the logic in cutting down an entire tree when the section sought could have been easily taken off alone?,silly,destructive stuff,the neoliths would be turning in their graves.

[@leong108]

why does Baldrick keep saying that he has only three days ? Does his boss tell him he will be shot if he isn't done in three days ? Is he told he has only three days to ensure he comes up with a cunning plan ?

[@tgbluewolf]

Crop marks: exist Archaeologists: neolithic structures! History channel: A L I E N S

[@neilputland9407]

it is quiet funny how they are opening the ditches and they have water in them. is this why they dug them. so as to have a stable water supply. allbeit from the water table or from rain fall. remember that they surounded the village, so every one had access close to them. as a by product they may have found them to be a good defence

[@TWN-nw4jd]

Why do they only ever have three days? Not sure i've heard an explanation

[@RareInTheHistory]

My best guess is that filming slows/disrupts actual dig sites too much, so they get a limited amount of time to film this show and then the team who's actually in charge of the site takes over.

[@geofflewis8599]

..Fens were also full of food..

[@josephhewes3923]

What about them making the ditches to form a trap to catch those large animals? Perhaps they lured them into the circle, and killed them there?

[@larryzigler6812]

Thanks Einstein

[@m.asquino7403]

@@larryzigler6812 Another stupid comment, what's the problem now?

[@josephhewes3923]

@@larryzigler6812 You're welcome.

[@larryzigler6812]

@@josephhewes3923 Brontosaurs burger is my favorite !!!!

[@josephhewes3923]

@@larryzigler6812 It has been my experience in the past, when experts haven't figured it out, I am forced to figure it out myself. You can thank me later when they confirm my hypothesis.

[@Raycheetah]

Not a ditch at all, but a ring of pits, which in and of themselves were of a ritual significance. Who better to defend a settlement than one's revered ancestors, and what better way to invoke them than a series of consecrated pits, perhaps each assigned to a different family or group (or to a seasonal orientation of the Sun, for example)? The scholarly tendency to declare for "ritual vs. domestic," each to the exclusion of the other, fails to acknowledge human nature. We have churches and temples, yes, but do we not also keep religious icons and mementoes of our departed loved ones in our homes? =^[.]^=

[@cbriangilbert1978]

We are either way newer than thought or way older...

[@bartadams2431]

The buried cathedral hidden underneath pe good shows

[@paulagrunwell7050]

Still Balbrick!

[@andrewmoore7416]

Also a massive fan, but never understood why they don't get local metal detectorist to go over the sight first,...time team is coming to dig up one of your fields in a few weeks, calling all metal detectors, hit that field before we get there....simples

[@juliaforsyth8332]

Neolithic sites wouldn't produce much if any metal, plus theyr'e only interested in this time period, so it would be a waste of their precious time.

[@christianfreedom-seeker934]

What? 6,000 years? Are you talking about a Neolithic monument?

[@007vsMagua]

Ditches help drain wetlands making the surrounding land more useful.

[@NMranchhand]

I want to see a vid showing how that terrific artist created his drawings.

[@kuzzbillington6392]

As shown in many episodes, he sits somewhere nearby, paper and pencil in hand, and... draws. They educate him on the details of how things looked when unclear, and he fills in the rest.

[@NMranchhand]

@@kuzzbillington6392 What a great gig!

[@shelaghmckenna2667]

Victor Ambrus was very talented, but the people probably didn't look like that at all. He was filling in gaps with familiar ideas.

[@karenklnck1377]

There is one on You Tube somewhere. Look him up.

[@sharonmontgomery4408]

Archaeologists go to the same dig sights season after season for years. How can a three day limit be believable and workable. What other research and work goes on behind the scenes? I would be interested in that.

[@cdwhitlatch]

I’d like to see a sample in the thumbnail preview not a add.

[@micheleploeser7720]

LIDAR GUYS LIDAR

[@georgebrill6549]

I love this kind of stuff, but. all of these archaeological clips, have one thing in common, when ever they find a building or whatever, it must be a religious or culture center. Thats there goto response, when they don't have a clue.

[@sallyreno6296]

"head of the family" ? Isn't the presumption of hierarchy a rather tall assumption?

[@Fush1234]

If it was any good and popular, you would not have to compare the History channel with Netflix mate

[@Exiledk]

Cathedral? That's a stretch for a pile of earth....

[@Horseyperson12]

Whole lot of fantasizing going on here. I'm a little skeptical. I love the shows but I feel they do lot of imaging with not much proof.

[@lizzy66125]

no mention of hazelnuts🌰🌰

[@MarkDibley]

S12 E5 - "A Neolithic Cathedral?", 30 January 2005

[@DragonFae16]

Every time the question 'is it a ritual site or a domestic site' came up, I said 'bet it's both'. We really know very little about belief systems and worship in the Neolithic. Perhaps they surrounded the place they kept their livestock (a vital part of their lives) with offerings to the spirit world and the ancestors to ask those ancestors to protect the livestock. I do wonder how they got the livestock into the centre of the ring, considering the reconstructions don't seem to show any causeway or driveway large enough for livestock to get through even single file. I doubt they'd have let their cattle trample their ditches, so I wonder how they did it.

[@tgbluewolf]

That's pretty much what I was thinking, as well. Feasts have (and still are) always been an important component of religious rituals, so mightn't they have brought the livestock to the site to be sacrifices? Even if the remains were treated like regular meals (tossed aside rather than respectfully buried), could the acts of killing and eating, themselves, still have been a religious ritual? Sort of like, for example, holiday meals nowadays: the preparation and eating of the meals is special, but the food is still disposed of like a regular, everyday meal (leftovers the next day and/or thrown in the trash).

[@elisabethbennenbroek8382]

Why every time just 3 days to see what is in the ground?

[@rick5793]

I've never got an answer to my question " why only 3 days"??

[@lizzy66125]

only 3 days ,because they all had day jobs.these were digs done on friday-sunday.

[@rick5793]

So their not "professional archaeologist"? It would seem to me some of these sights are important and should be done over at least a week, but I'm not an archaeologist but am quite interested in it.

[@lizzy66125]

yes they are all professional archeologists and some,like Mick are professors.

[@keleidoscope]

So like, what country is this? I'm ten minutes in and I don't think they have said yet. England?

[@jamieparker5079]

Peterborough, England.

[@davidclifton4394]

why are UK folks so COOL.!

[@7812Stefan]

Clearly a waste dump where they burned their waste. Not everything you cannot explain have to be a ritual site 😄

[@oobeeman]

the ditch lords

[@khumbaaba]

Maybe these are great catching pens for their herds. Perhaps they run them like they do the sheep in Iceland.