Prehistoric Fougou | FULL EPISODE | Time Team

Season 3 Episode 1: The Team investigate a 2000-year-old underground chamber - a Fougou - in Cornwall. Join the Time Team for another dig into Britain's history.
#TimeTeam #FullEpisode #Prehistoric
The Time Team travels to Boleigh, Cornwall so as to investigate an underground structure known as a Fougou. Cornwall and other Celtic cultural areas have many examples of these caves, but to date no one has figured out what they were for.
Time Team is a British TV series following specialists who dig deep to uncover as much as they can about Britain's archaeology and history.

[@stinkoadam]

Phil Harding is the best thing on tv since sliced bread. And I’ve only discovered this show two weeks ago. 🍻

[@michaelmarrone5768]

You simply have to love Phil

[@yooper6161]

I wish Phil was American. I would nominate him for president.

[@sgrannie9938]

🙄😂

[@MikeWhiskyTango]

I did well drilling in Australia and owners of the property always relied on dowsers and we'd end up drilling where the owners wanted us to drill, (at the location the dowser said there was water) and from my experience, 99% of the time we drilled dust. If the farmer (or even some coal mines, believe it or not) listened to the geo's and not wasted time listening to the dowsers they would have saved themselves alot of money, and time.

[@Jaqueli9er]

Comparing the earlier season and the last ones, you can actually see how much geophys evolved. Wow.

[@MossyMozart]

@Jaque line - And comparing those later episodes with the equipment available in today's new episodes is also exciting!

[@silmarian]

I love how Mick and Carenza barely changed over the course of the series, while everyone else aged around them.

[@DillonRust]

My favorite part of this show is always when Phil gets back to his roots with ancient Celtic “experiments”

[@ColtGColtG]

22:18 and here we see a bit of interesting cultural archeology from the pre modern internet age. Someone graciously accepting they were wrong and his detractors being civil to them and even comforting them to a degree rather than belittling them and trying to make them feel horrible.

[@juhonieminen4219]

Well said. Cultural archeology indeed. Like a distant, more civilized galaxy. Like the old Star Trek crew.

[@jennymay4720]

@@juhonieminen4219 Kind people. But I'm sure that dowser was onto something, it doesn't lie, and is still in use all over the world to find things apart from just water.

[@ivanlagrossemoule]

The good old days when we used to be civil towards scammers.

[@th-pw8pn]

@@jennymay4720 I used to use it when doing surveys to find amenities like water pipes and ground run power cables. I was a skeptic at first, but it's surprisingly useful and accurate. :-)

[@wendellwhite5797]

@@th-pw8pn I have never believed it until I tried it, and darn it, it works. Sometimes.

[@QuakerLady]

Mick was so gracious with the dowser.

[@lauralake7430]

I noticed that. We all already knew he was very skeptical. But with the man in person he was interested and gracious. The sign of a fine mind, that he was always interested and friendly.

[@mikereilly7629]

I can only imagine having Phil as a teacher. Would be a privilege. He's a man who does not suffer fools lightly. But ,damn... What you could learn!

[@PatrickPoet]

They say it's too much work for anything short of spiritual matters, but I know a guy that opened up the bottom of a closet, dug a tunnel down and then out under the yard lined with cinder blocks, and with ventilation and electricity! I think his secret effort single handed effort was as much as the effort of building this fougou. He did it just to have a secret place to hangout. Don't underestimate the willingness of people to work for something they think will be great!

[@Invictus13666]

Except they were built all over. God you people.

[@RatelHBadger]

Have you been watching Colin Furze?

[@RatelHBadger]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/iHevop9-e9R8aa8

[@marthas8108]

Watching them make tin was fascinating. So much labor, when each of us tosses far more useful material into our trash cans without a second thought.

[@MossyMozart]

@Martha S - Here in the USA, we are far more likely to recycle cans than throw them in the trash.

[@lauralake7430]

These older episodes are so charming. All the archeologists are so young and fit and Mick so well. What a treasure to get to watch these!

[@jennymay4720]

Thank you Time Team for these funny and interesting videos, that have made my lockdown bearable. Particulary enjoy the way Tony Robinson strides around presenting, and the Cornish accent of Mick. Addicted to the artist...and all the rest of the team are wonderful. Thank you thank you!

[@Bowie_E]

John's sweater is as 90s fantastic as Tony's hair 💜

[@heyimkira5332]

Seeing all the members of time team so young compared to later episodes is so jarring and honestly good to see how they still have their youthful personalities in their older age. :)

[@skivvy3565]

Much respect to mick, I wouldn’t be able to keep a straight face or be kind to someone who charges money for dowsing and is sitting there defending how it’s not a scam

[@Invictus13666]

Water pipe. The finest geophysical equipment and people found an unused water pipe. Shove your clucking up your ass.

[@MossyMozart]

@Skivvy - I cannot believe that this show gave dowsing any kind of credence at all! Wikipedia's lede calls it "...a type of divination..." - and that's right. It's as relevant as a walking Ouija board.

[@amandajstar]

'Robin having a crafty smoke' -- heh heh!

[@MariVictorius]

“Robin having a crafty smoke.”🤣 I imagine it’s GOT to be a pipe, and a really cool one, too. 😁

[@lonegrimo6098]

I felt sorry for him in case he wasn't suppose to be smoking and his wife found out he was.

[@nicolawebb6025]

Nope, he was a cigarette bloke

[@krisalutius5177]

We do understand the forces in cars. Ignite something flammable in a tube and hot air expands. Dousing is just a lot of hot air.

[@Invictus13666]

Except when it works.

[@snazzypazzy]

Yeah, I'm glad Mick is a sceptic scientist. Makes me like him more. It's been put to the test and never proven to work.

[@PublicBudgeting]

Never heard of a fogou despite having hiked over 100 miles in Cornwall. Fascinating!

[@erikandreassen6531]

It's amazing how long he has been with the show, hair glasses haven't slowed him down. It is awesome to watch the time team do what they do through the ages, I really like a certain persons commentary. It's like growing up with an (icon, at least one that has a strange view on things) love his presentation. He's at the heart of things with an awesome team (sometimes they know more that he does) but so entertaining and a valuable addition too history despite his comments about geophysics (don't know how to spell it) they do give an indication of where to go. It's amazing what they do find and in 3 days (wonder who did that time limit). How long has he been doing this, must have accumulated a lot of real facts. Gone from hair to monks top. Love being able to follow this though time, that's precious. Gee Tony you are the character that is the glue for the team. Bout respect and admiration for a long and entertaining series (enjoy every local, your will know what I mean) will keep chasing your time line.

[@philaypeephilippotter6532]

The archæologists were all professionally employed as archæologists elsewhere, 3 days is quite common for exploratory excavations and the programme was otherwise very expensive. After the dig they usually stopped, recorded everything and shut it all down. In some cases the investigation was carried on by others, either amateur or professional, in others that is planned and in a few cases they found pretty well all there was to be found. They _always_ wrote a full report and that can usually be found easily in pdf for free (look at www.wessexarch.co.uk or local archæological society websites). Most finds were given to local museums for study. Skeletons were studied and then reburied in consecrated ground unless there was a _very_ pressing reason not to (and that would need government permission).

[@Fox1nDen]

wonderful, Phil is wearing a vest made of roughly worked skins like the prehistoric people wore and some people treasure today. Over here we love our soft deerskin jackets withe fringes like the tribes often wore. Very comfortable. His looks like it may be skin from an ox, much thicker. Looks handmade.

[@SubscribedToLife]

I love 25:35 when he says micatious (?) and they all literally can't help themselves but dive in with the curiosity... and when Mick opens the floodgates. WHOOOOOSH

[@losttribe3001]

Micaceous is the word. :)

[@nikiTricoteuse]

As to the fougou being too well built just for storage, in Italy they built "caves" of stone covered with earth that were so well insulated they could store snow all year round. Also, surely if tin was so time consuming to produce it must have been valuable and so a well built store for it makes sense. Who can guess how much was collected before it was traded.

[@suwaidajalal]

I agree. Successful storage must have been essential and deserving of such effort. It's not unbelievable that it could have multiple uses at once or even over the centuries.

[@cyandiaz1800]

cousin k agrees💛

[@Taylor101310]

Does anyone know more about the “caves” in Italy that Niki references? Just a name would be great.

[@nikiTricoteuse]

@@Taylor101310 l've looked for some more info but, I can't find any photos of the very early cave ones. I guess they haven't been considered historically interesting enough to photograph. I have found a couple of links that have some good photos of the various types of built ones. They range from pretty much just a covered place to store snow (neviera) up to some incredibly well designed and elaborate ice houses (ghiacciaie). The couple of articles l found in English didn't have much info but, If you copy the text from the Italian ones you should be able to do a Google translate. That can be a bit hit and miss sometimes but, if you get stuck on anything you can't guess, l should be able to help. 😁 It's incredibly old technology (possibly Persian or Arabic) and they were in use all over Europe as well so there's lots of information out there from other countries too. www.edilportale.com/news/2018/11/ambiente/dall-antica-roma-a-oggi-gli-ingegnosi-frigoriferi-dell-antichita_67198_52.html www.wikiwand.com/it/Ghiacciaia

[@nicolawebb6025]

@@Taylor101310 ice caves were common in England by the middle ages too. Ludlow castle has one for example. It's very different to these

[@a.azazagoth5413]

I wish I had a history professor like Robin in my school days. He is always a consummate professional.

[@MTreatVO]

I keep waiting for New Videos to be posted by you. Thank you for doing this. I miss this show.

[@0623kaboom]

all of the episodes are online on youtube ... including the specials ...

[@alexsfamily4166]

and they are whit more easy name.. more easy to search.. and you can find compleate playlist ;)

[@diwi1942]

There are 215 episodes on KZbin. You don't need to wait. The last episodes without Mick and some of the regulars aren't very good.

[@heithdotysadventures7824]

I do miss Mick as well . .😔 let's toast to Mick . . Drinks up , 🍷 R.I.P man .

[@FrostyBalls01]

Same here. Love this show

[@georgeb.wolffsohn30]

It looks like Phill carries an Opinel pocket knife. Classic and functional.

[@jilllogan1288]

What an amazing and exciting find! There is much evidence of when and how this area was possibly used hopefully more can be done to further discover about Fougous where use.

[@brucesims3228]

There are two clear lines of thought that keep coming up in Archeology. For those who investigate pre-Roman sites for mass consumption there is a clear penchant for metaphysical explanations. For those who investigate with an eye towards scholarship the explanations tend to be societal. Since these broadcasts are intended for public consumption, I'm not surprised that attributions are to motives such as metaphysics and other New Age nose-scratching.BTW : Since the survival of an agrarian community depends on the next season's planting, I would make a case for a protective environment....a cache of sorts..... that would shelter grain from pests, vermin, theft, climate and over-consumption. Those who died during winter stressors could be kept until more Clement temperatures. Just a thought.

[@LukeWarm05]

I've gotten so used to Tony's later Phil Collins coif, this long hair seems so strange.

[@ghendar]

I agree. So odd seeing him with that mop of hair

[@RatelHBadger]

Still a little Baldrick

[@chiron14pl]

I think an interesting example of a similar sort in American southwest is the kiva. It is a partly underground chamber where rituals took place. It is still used by Pueblan peoples today. The Hopi had a particular significance to the emergence from the kiva by a ladder, the sippapu, where the people came on to the new Earth. Also chthonic, or underground, themes are nearly universal so using caves (natural) or creating them (fogou, kiva) is a way of connecting the great polarities of light and dark, life and death.

[@philaypeephilippotter6532]

In *Time Team America* a _kiva_ was explained. I suspect the purposes of a _kiva_ and a _fougou_ are fundamentally different.

[@chiron14pl]

@@philaypeephilippotter6532 I'm very familiar with kivas, having explored several ruined ones and one restored as a state park. I think what might be shared with a fougou is the journey from the underworld to this one. There are spiritual parallels from the basic structure of the metaphor of descent and return

[@philaypeephilippotter6532]

@@chiron14pl I'm familiar with neither _kivas_ nor _fougous_ so my opinion has little justification and no authority! You may well be right. I certainly have trouble conceiving of any other connection. But there is no way to know about _fougous._ With _kivas_ it's different as modern *American Indians* still use similar structures.

[@Invictus13666]

@@chiron14pl you are completely incorrect.

[@MoggiesTen]

I'm also interested in the gypsy caravan in the back garden.

[@philipross2013]

Bugger the lead , I want that caravan .

[@MossyMozart]

@Moggies Ten - I third that!

[@Brinta3]

14:52 “If I hold them like that I can’t possibly turn them.” Actually, you can very easily with the slightest movement of your wrist. It’s called ideomotor response.

[@MossyMozart]

@Brinter - Just like a ouija board. Horsefeathers.

[@HabarudoD]

Love the comments on these episodes. Half of it is (rightfully) love for Phil Harding. The other half is from americans that are sad they don't have: 1) This type of archeology in the US 2) Phil Harding

[@ripvanwinkle2002]

we have Paleontology instead and a phil harding of dinosaurs right down to the hat. so its not like we are that bad off..

[@BuyAvonFromDonna]

Thank you for making these wonderful programs! I love watching them, not only for the archeological information, but also for the opportunity to see Tony Robinson again!

[@Invictus13666]

Yeah. Tony has simply vanished. Too bad he doesn’t have 5000 shows and 2 youtube channels.

[@BuyAvonFromDonna]

@@Invictus13666 , ??? Was that sarcasm necessary????????

[@Invictus13666]

@@BuyAvonFromDonna since you felt your stupidity was necessary, my reaction was as well. Also, my reaction wasn’t sarcasm-it was truth. And ten question marks? Were they on sale at Walmart?

[@BuyAvonFromDonna]

I'm not going to waste my energy sparring with an unarmed opponent. I never said that Tony vanished, only that I was happy to find his "5000 shows and 2 youtube channels" (I believe he has more than 2, btw). And if you think that's a sign of stupidity, then we will obviously never find common ground. Which means we'll never have a decent converation. So, bye!

[@Invictus13666]

@@BuyAvonFromDonna that’s actually not anything like what you said though.

[@melissasueh.]

This is the second time I have watched this episode and I enjoyed it even more than the first time. Time Team must have been quite popular in Britain when it was a regular broadcast show. BTW, fougou is also a Japanese word for the sushi made from puffer fish. If it is not prepared exactly right, it can contain a deadly toxin. It is a sort of Russian Roulette in Japanese cuisine.

[@MossyMozart]

@Melissa Sue H. - Since people actually die in Japan from eating amateurishly prepared fugu (no "o" in the spelling), it can only be legally prepared by specially trained and licensed sushi chefs. But this has nothing to do with the video.

[@lh3540]

Tony was so chill about that douser 😂

[@AdamBechtol]

lol

[@hyserbomb]

When he tried it and the rods turned all I could think was maybe it is pointing to a giant turnip 😀

[@philaypeephilippotter6532]

The landowner wanted the dowser.

[@MossyMozart]

@@philaypeephilippotter6532 - Maybe it was a cousin or a guy he owed money to. ^_^

[@giboron]

I love the videos I can't help but waiting all that I can

[@davekinghorn9567]

Over here in USA we call these fougous 'Root Cellars' and we store garden vegetables year-round. And wait out the tornadoes.

[@JamesBiggar]

"Well I don't understand what happened" - WOO, Tony. That's what happened. He said his concentration was 'off'. 'Nuff said for most sane people lol.

[@heithdotysadventures7824]

Sure would be cool for these ppl and Time team to come back to redo this site with today's technology. ✔✔🖒🖒

[@Schmorgus]

Wouldn't be the same without Mick tho. What we don't see is that after they left, archeologies took over (as with every site) and kept going.

[@MossyMozart]

@@Schmorgus - Did that happen in every case or just a few? After all, the number of investigators and funding stretches only so far.

[@rknowling]

Thankyou for a fascinating episode!

[@sawillie1680]

Love Cornwall, ancestral home😍

[@barryeva9186]

Mine too In the 1600,s

[@ByronLina]

Jeez, this one is a blast from the past!

[@mariancroome1478]

I love Phil to bits, too! 😘

[@CaptainAMAZINGGG]

We all do ;) And he's an absolute snack tbh lol 💜💜💜

[@SindreGaaserod]

Another great episode

[@lorenesinclair456]

I think she does it to watch the water from above. My cat Mittens used to do that too. Ladybug is a lovely, smart and curious kitty who will be loved dearly when she is adopted. Xo

[@georgeb.wolffsohn30]

when the dowser began his walk his hands tilted the rods UP about three degrees. tha's when the rods moved .I can't believe he didn't notice that.

[@annk.8750]

At about 14:00 when the dowser first appeared, the rods swung as his hand tilted... of course! That's why they have a long arm, to provide weight so they'll swing whenever the hand grip is off the vertical, and it would be nearly impossible to keep one's grip completely vertical while walking. Some put the short end of the rod into something like a coke bottle, which would be even more sensitive since it would be nearly frictionless.

[@Dovietail]

Oh joy! Another garden to dig up!

[@deborahivey5009]

Every time I hear fougou I hear "fish", Fugu is a type of fish in Japan

[@CaptainAMAZINGGG]

Phil's a right snack tbh :3 💜💜💜

[@InLawsAttic]

I’d love to see a time team update on this property! Great excavation!

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

Thank you.

[@ByronLina]

5:49 loving John Gater's skiing sweater

[@RatelHBadger]

Look at "young" Tony... When this episode first aired I must have been just a wee lad. How does time pass, especially in relation to archaeology.

[@pickybitch2707]

I’ve got my money on it being for provision storage. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@robinandrews5478]

Like a root cellar

[@barryeva9186]

What about entrance to a Cornish tube station

[@MossyMozart]

@Picky Bitch - Without excavation of the floor for discarded items, we won't know for sure.

[@nicolawebb6025]

I think it's hilarious how many people are wading in to say it's food storage when trained archaeologists who have studied lots of these can't come to this as a firm conclusion

[@thievinggoats4806]

Wow this is a prehistoric episode! The guys lookyoung!

[@neilscott807]

Thanks!

[@Schmorgus]

That Carl Thorpe fellow (25:25) sure was one of a kind at the time xD

[@nfiles]

I bet they were used for cheese making. What's more important to a human's spirit than cheese, after all

[@MossyMozart]

@nfiles - As good a theory as any.

[@gwadja]

Episode 10 (Season 3, Episode 1) Prehistoric Fougou, Aired: January 7, 1996

[@Invictus13666]

We know.

[@CaptainAMAZINGGG]

@@Invictus13666 I didn't catch the year etc and I did want to know. So her comment was actually very helpful to me, like she wrote it just for me without knowing ;) so magical :p

[@whatanitemare]

I'm in Canada and was hooked on Time Team the first time I saw it on TV. Unfortunately, that was for very few episodes. Searching for more led me to the internet where I found full play lists of all the seasons only to find that because I wasn't in the UK, I wasn't allowed to view them! Then, out of the blue, another episode was aired in Canada. I elatedly tuned in to find that the episode was the "New" Time Team and that it had been dumbed down to the level of 4th graders that had never heard of archaeology. Even worse, it was presented by a bicycle riding host(ess) that looked and acted more like she should have been spinning letters on a game show or doing the weekend weather on a 1980's news program. (You can probably tell I'm still miffed) Now, the powers that be, seem to have finally decided that there was money to be made by allowing the viewing public to watch the original episodes and what do they do? They start a new KZbin channel and make it as user unfriendly as they possibly can. The season and episode numbers are only available if you open each individual video and those full episodes are interspersed among a number of clips. If that's a pain in the butt now, imagine what it will be like once a few dozen episodes have been loaded! Is there some reason that the episodes can't be loaded in the order they were meant to be seen and what good are preview clips if you can't find the episodes they came from? After spending 20 minutes dutifully opening each video to try and find the beginning, I've come to the conclusion that they're being loaded completely at random and that just maybe, that bicycle riding hostess has gotten a promotion and is now running this KZbin channel.

[@kendrad9933]

kzbin.info/aero/PLavnuQTJWv_6i3HrZ0HYX7rndEgKwAxyY

[@Judith_Remkes]

@@kendrad9933 I love you!

[@harbourdogNL]

The "bicycle riding host(ess)", whom you dismissively and offensively refer to, is an archeologist with considerable pedigree and education. Apparently you think that a woman who is pretty can't be anything other than a bimbo or letter-turner on a game show. Attitudes like yours are archaic, and offensive, you out-of-date, out-of-touch old codger. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary-Ann_Ochota

[@Jigger2361]

@@harbourdogNL ... but she did ruin the show lol why she signed on not thinking ahead is beyond me

[@philaypeephilippotter6532]

@@Jigger2361 She signed because she believed that she would not be _dumbed-down_ anything like so much. She left when her contract ended.

[@007vsMagua]

What was the weather like 2,000 years ago in this region? Maybe the Fougou's were used as ice houses for food preservation.

[@harbourdogNL]

I'm sure it served a number of purposes: a big root cellar, shelter in winter, barn for livestock in the freezing winter...

[@Schmorgus]

Or, as we've done in Scandinavia since before vikingage, keep food fresh in colder temperatures, just like a fridge today.

[@cyandiaz1800]

i was watching these one after another it took me a few episodes to figure it out

[@philaypeephilippotter6532]

You'll have a lot of fun!

[@bonnibobb1628]

I don't know about the "too well built for storage" bit. I live in the southeastern US. Granted, our weather is quite different, but one of those in my neck of the woods would make me think storage (such as a cellar) or, more likely, shelter from the tornadoes we get here. Either way, you'd want a well-built area. If it were ritual-related, wouldn't there be some sort of religious relics hanging around at least one of the fogous?

[@MossyMozart]

A fougu is new to me, too. It makes a lot of sense that it would be for storage AND for hiding from marauding meanies, like the Vikings or from excessively bad weather, like hurricanes or blizzards. If it was used for safety, then they would also have stores kept within in case they were there for a while. It seems to me, though, that spilled grain or broken pots would be found in the floor soil as well as other items of daily life - combs, pins, discarded bird drumstick bones, that sort of small item that could be dropped and easily lost in the dark. There could also be hearth areas and signs of farm animals herded within for safety. Has anyone been able to investigate the floor material for such items?

[@alexsfamily4166]

the trousers of the guy at 25:31 .. so lol

[@maamold]

32:50 I found out what he traveled to the site with and he is staying at during the dig.

[@DarkZtorm]

He has his own style for sure.

[@loricarter2394]

I think fougou’s were used for food storage since it’s a lot cooler underground that it is above ground. Just a thought tho lol

[@workingguy6666]

That's my belief as well. Though perhaps they were places to relax/sleep during brutal summer heat?

[@PatrickPoet]

like a root cellar

[@nicolawebb6025]

@@workingguy6666 that's hilarious, brutal summer heat!!! Have you ever been to Cornwall?

[@workingguy6666]

@@nicolawebb6025 No... but I've been to Nevada... about the same? :-) I have a feeling that I wrote that during the summer here.

[@nicolawebb6025]

@@workingguy6666 Cornwall is probably warmer than the rest of Britain, in theory. But as it's coastal it's also quite wet and windy. No where near the temperatures of Nevada. And it would be a terrible place to shelter from rain, it would fill up with water!

[@bongfuhrer]

There was only one thing wrong with TT: they should have done whole weeks instead of 3 days..

[@dwightehowell8179]

The didn't have the money and the staff had other jobs they had to work on during the week. The permits under which they work was only to do a test dig at a given site though I think they did do the odd longer dig during what would have been the crews off time from their main jobs.

[@Jigger2361]

..it's called "testing"

[@Schmorgus]

@@Jigger2361 Actually, "test dig", that, if enough evidence, would start a proper archeological investigation that takes years.

[@Jigger2361]

@@Schmorgus yes I am an archaeologist

[@Schmorgus]

@@Jigger2361 If that's true, I envy you.

[@JETWTF]

Dousing for water in great Britain... I am sure they are 100% accurate considering how much it rains in the region. You could have a blindfolded blind man toss a ball in the air and where it lands would be OK to put a well lol.

[@philaypeephilippotter6532]

It was dry here in 🇬🇧 on the 23rd of July last year.

[@JETWTF]

@@philaypeephilippotter6532 It was dry here from February to October last year.

[@philaypeephilippotter6532]

@@JETWTF But the joys of 🇬🇧 are manifold - greenery, crops, trees, archæology, buildings, history and rain.

[@Invictus13666]

Dowsing isn’t just for water.

[@krisH-ph5of]

Everyone arguing wether it's for a pratical purpose or a religous one etc. Pour que no los dos? I mean there's clearly room for more than one use.

[@Invictus13666]

Not really. You don’t store your eggs and butter in church. It’s not hard.

[@krisH-ph5of]

@@Invictus13666 That’s because I’ve got a fridge mate 👍 if I didn’t, and the only place to store my food for winter was a church, I Would. My coco pops would be protected by a deity as well then. 😁

[@Invictus13666]

@@krisH-ph5of people in the Neolithic and Bronze Age. No one gives a shit about you and your coco puffs.

[@Invictus13666]

@@krisH-ph5of I’m not your buddy, clown.

[@MossyMozart]

@kris H. - All all that effort to build the darn thing, they would have been stupid NOT to multi-task the earthwork!

[@DuckReach432]

Baffled by the fougou. Whether its purpose was storage or refuge, it would have had the same problem thousands of years ago that it has now. That is, the accrual of water on the floor - it's basically a big drain with no outlet.

[@ripvanwinkle2002]

lower water table then than now..

[@MrShriven]

would have had plenty of time if they ignored the dousers

[@Invictus13666]

The downer took half an hour. Seriously, eat shit.

[@benediktmorak4409]

nice to see the - old -and early episodes, when Sir Tony Robinson still had long hair..

[@hansdampf1975]

It's actually Fogou - as in the episode itself, and not Fougou (as in the description), which - according to wikipedia - seems to be the name of a town in Guinea.

[@CaptainAMAZINGGG]

We all know. All through the episode, in the video, it was spelled accurately. If not in error, I suppose it could have been written as it is in the title, simply for pronunciations-sake. I mean really.

[@MossyMozart]

@Hans Dampf - I did not know about Guinea. Interesting!

[@CMyBigHarryBLLS]

I'll say this about dousing rods they do not work but if I had a guess they were used to explain something that an expert knew like if someone knew there had to be a spring in the ground but didn't want people to call them a witch or demon they used dousing rods so they wouldn't get killed for knowing something was under the ground and not possibly known to any normal person

[@philaypeephilippotter6532]

It was simpler than that - the landowner wanted the dowser.

[@Invictus13666]

No.

[@theostickle2604]

Wait, how do you know the wall around the house area even had a gate? Maybe the fougou was the accessway under the wall and that's why it was so well built. Like a gatehouse almost. It would be much easier to defend, limiting how many enemies can come at you, they would be single file, and as the bodies pile up it would be more difficult to get through. Just a thought.

[@jennymay4720]

That is an interesting thought.

[@Invictus13666]

@@jennymay4720 don’t encourage stupidity.

[@jerryodell1168]

When are you going to get beyond the ritual/religious. (with some frustration cursing here) Some of us would like to know more about our ancestors' daily life. How did they live, work, their homes, marketing and trading, food they ate, education, how their children played or how the children worked (chores), and-so-forth....... -a spiritual connection comment.....

[@zweispurmopped]

Tin would still have been a valuable good back then. Wouldn't one store such valuables somewhere safe? In a basement with only one small entrance, for example? What if the Fougous started as small tin mines that then got strong walls around them? I'm all with you. I also get the impression that whoever tries to interpret such structures rather blames it on the elders instead of sitting back, having a cup of tea and thinking twice about these finds.

[@whatanitemare]

Well. since this is an episode produced when Tony still had hair and the program has long been off air, I suspect not any time soon.

[@ivanolsen7966]

in the cold and dark of winter ..... 4 thousand years ago or today ..... you need somewhere for the cow and hay and ducks to be out of bad weather or wind ..... and a hidey hole if the roof blew off your round house in a storm

[@duanewhite3184]

Take a metal detector in it and search the walls for gold or regular coins

[@Jigger2361]

...love regular coins

[@MossyMozart]

Duane White Did the rural villagers of England have any use for coins in the Bronze Age or Iron Age?

[@copperpot5462]

Carenza and Stewart

[@cs_fl5048]

we're still making bronze today.

[@fernalicious]

I worked on Arky crews in the late 90s and one of the old-timers was a dowser. It worked when I tried it but only if I kinda knew where the foundation was ahead of time. It was trippy though.

[@weaselrippedmyflesh]

Well it looks like they found some stones.

[@maximhollandnederlandthene7640]

Fougou = Storage underground (cooling) And hiding place for fighters and robbers. 🤗

[@Eionful]

If you don't think there is a need for an underground refuge, perhaps you need to study up on Solar Novas.., or even very cold weather leading up to an Ice Age..! Thanks all the same..!

[@badgerpa9]

It rather looks like an ice house still used by some like the Amish.

[@cac2670]

My grandfather could witch a well. Used two limbs from a peach tree. He did several for people and one in our backyard in Dallas Texas. We used it to water our yard. It was terribly exciting. As kids we tried witching all over the neighborhood to no avail. Lol. He was born and raised in Arkansas and had Irish ancestors.

[@MossyMozart]

@Cac - PT Barnum was fun, too!

[@path5171]

Carrrrrensza.

[@carolinebarnes6832]

Comparing these earlier episodes with the later ones I couldn't help noticing that Phil's accent is a lot less pronounced in the earlier ones. Seems like he hammed it up a bit later on, exaggerating both his accent and personality. I don't,mean this as a criticism, just an observation. it's interesting.

[@JonFrumTheFirst]

Phil sounds exactly like the yokels in the audio versions of M.R. James ghost stories. Many authors used locals and their mangled diction for comic relief.

[@Fox1nDen]

It being the place and time of the settlement, the main reason to build a fougou would be a refuge when attacked, much like people's bomb shelters are used today. It was large enough for the people to hide in, and would not be easy to find for the raiders, and would be easy to defend at the narrow entrance.. Cold food storage is another practical use if it had adequate ventilation. That Tony thinks it is a kind of church is kind of precious.

[@Ijusthopeitsquick]

The last thing you want to do if raiders attack is confine yourself in a small stone structure with no exit. Would you feel safe if your house was full of enemies and you were locked inside your bathroom?

[@Fox1nDen]

@@Ijusthopeitsquick no but if the bathroom was hidden I would feel safe. the fougou and its entrance were well-kept secrets. they would have felt secure. also, with weapons, they could strike anyone who tried to enter one by one. American soldiers hid in tunnels no one knew about in Viet Nam. As vets, they still build them now but they keep them secret. I would feel very safe in a huge secret tunnel with a narrow entrance hidden from passers by,

[@Ijusthopeitsquick]

@@Fox1nDen A well-kept secret? The whole enclosure was less than 30 metres in diameter and, according to the artist's impression, the fougou itself was covered with a mound. As mentioned in the video, fougous were common in the Celtic Fringe culture so a fougou is probably the first thing a robber or attacker would look for. Incidentally, the tunnel systems in Vietnam were built and used by the Viet Cong and the NVA. US troops would smoke their occupants out or just toss grenades inside.

[@Fox1nDen]

@@Ijusthopeitsquick so you do not think the fougou was used for hiding. I have it from vets themselves how they hid in viet Nam, using tunnels they built themselves, not using the tunnels left by others. why argue with that? I don't make this up. The mounds were not necessarily on top when the fougou was built. The top may have looked like undisturbed forest understory. We don't have to agree about this. What evidence is there for it being a ritual space? There is none. A ritual space would have evidence of it.

[@Ijusthopeitsquick]

@@Fox1nDen I believe you when you say you have friends who dug tunnels in Vietnam, not that it proves anything. I don't know what the fougous were used for - no one does. I doubt the ritual theory, but who knows? My guess would be food storage, since they would be cool in summer.

[@Missangie827]

the hair and the sweaters-

[@chrismandros3087]

to the tune of “won’t someone buy me a bow-wow“: Won’t someone find me a fougou won’t someone find me a fougou I have a little pit and I’m very fond of it but I haven’t found a fougougou!

[@danielmorris3687]

This episode begins with Tony the Hobbit coming out of his warren. 😁

[@seanmcguire7974]

Why wouldnt they start digging at the end of the tunnel. From the top down to see where it exactly ends?

[@philaypeephilippotter6532]

They were officially restricted - they couldn't do that legally.

[@MelissaThompson432]

First of all, I want a snake necklace like Hamish the dowser man is wearing.

[@MelissaThompson432]

I'm going with underground swimming pool.

[@MonkeyspankO]

Look like merch from the old Ultima games

[@MelissaThompson432]

@@MonkeyspankO I didn't find it by googling Ultima, but I did find some nice snake pendants on etsy. I'm probably going to be spending money....

[@MonkeyspankO]

etsy is good bet to find an actual one being made today. I was just commenting on how it looked like the snake icon from those games, then again, a snake image like that must be common. chicken and egg

[@MelissaThompson432]

@@MonkeyspankO yes, it's a very familiar image. I just thought his was particularly well-made. :)

[@thephidias]

I don't envy British archeologists. It's always cold and grey and wet.

[@captntorthenaer-do-wellcad3191]

I'm with Mick! Har ar ar

[@richardsanchez9190]

6:40 sneaky sneaky