Time Team S06E04 Cooper'sHope,.Cheddar.Gorge

[@certuv]

I am 83 and now living on my own and not seeing any of the series when first broadcast now working my way through them nightly such a pleasure. Thank you for posting.

[@centrifugedestroyer2579]

That's lovely to hear! I also only discoverd Time Team a few years ago. I never had the chance to watch it while it aired, because I'm only in my 20s and because I'm from Germany. But while I was living in Finland, I had some Canadian colleagues in their early 50s, who did actually watch it back then. It is so amazing how Time Team connects and educates people of all ages all across the world 😊

[@MrSOLOPIANIST]

I watched the first 100 episodes a few years back. Never endingly wonderful and heart warming

[@virginiajayhudgins8277]

⁠An 82 year old doing the very same thing. And so enjoying it, too.

[@LaProfondeurDuCiel]

Cavers are brave souls, just watching them squeeze through underground is triggering my claustrophobia!

[@erinobrien8408]

Larry and the Cavers - great name for a 90's rock band!! 🤘

[@tanakability]

There is nothing more wholesome in this world than Phil Harding having fun :)

[@00BillyTorontoBill]

Raksha is usually terminably in Good spirits.

[@aarontighe553]

It's almost like baby laughter LOL it just makes you feel good

[@samikirk05]

He looks perfectly at home hunkered down in the cave entrance 😊

[@Monica_Baja]

He's the best!

[@blaggercoyote]

I used to live near Lord Bath`s Longleat estate; he`s a great guy, very down to earth, if a tad eccentric deep down! ;-)

[@chrisbwhittle]

I used to cave with Malcolm Cotter, we were members of the same caving club. I would often spend Friday nights digging having just driven down from Hertfordshire. He did find the cave system he was looking for, it’s amazing, not in the gorge but in a valley leading into the gorge.

[@udalimb384]

If you binge watch Time Team episodes and enjoy the humor--Does that mean you're a nerd? I believe so. Nerds are cool.

[@georgenewickstrand4434]

I must be a nerd then. COOL! 😎 I'm 72, btw. 😂

[@ruthj9354]

My hat's off to them, I'm feeling claustrophobic just watching them crawling to the bottom of that hole.

[@lisakilmer2667]

Ugh, what a horribly difficult dig! Hats off to the brave ones who went into dark, cramped, soggy places to dig. Isn't Andy Currant a delight! He's so quirky and enthusiastic.

[@adamsjerome1839]

In the last few months I discovered this series. To not offend others I will only say this. F---' g amazing!!

[@MrSOLOPIANIST]

That sir is an understatement

[@erinobrien8408]

Indeed! F---'ing big understatement!😂

[@tango6nf477]

My idea of a great evening would be sitting in a pub with a roaring fire, that serves really good beer, with these people. I can only imagine the fun and enjoyment resulting in so many intelligent yet down to earth fun loving people. Ah well its nice to dream.

[@spikemcnock8310]

Crikey my anxiety was high by seeing the diggers in the depths of our mother earth. 😮

[@erinobrien8408]

Is your avatar Father Jack Hackett from 'Father Yed'? If so, I love it!!!

[@skivvy3565]

What an eccentric fellow who owns the caves... he has the hair and facial hair and hat and even monocle of different periods and goes by Lord... it’s like he really is trying to emulate a mix bag of what he considers lords of different periods

[@SphericPixels]

"Plungy plungy, death death." Haha, best explanation.

[@romelnegut2005]

+Not MyName Indeed.That's the best explanation he could've give in short terms.

[@rickmcgibbon6290]

I teach history and after stumbling onto this educational show I have introduced it to my students, they love it and wanted to know if we might go out and dig up some cool stuff like Time Team. Lets go,..... Thanks TT !

[@schradeya]

Oh my goodness!! Milord is brilliant! That hair! The _monocle_!! I think I love him! And is it just me, or is he a posh half and half of Phil and Mick?

[@lindasue8719]

Yeah, I rather liked him until I learned more about him and that only took about 30 seconds. *ick*

[@OUigot]

@alanrtment porter - So how's Brexit working out, guess it was a good thing after all and not the end of the earth like the Nutty fruitcakes said it would be?

[@jimmycakes7158]

@alanrtment porter He was a lib dem, I agree they are nutters. As nutty as the twats trying to hand over more power to EU commissioners.

[@littledikkins2]

@alanrtment porter Quite the lad was he, not sure he was mentally ill but he certainly put the E (plus several other letters) in eccentric. I sat and giggled when I read he had painted murals out of the kama sutra at Longleat. A colorful character felled by the current plague.

[@user-xn2hf9re8r]

Love Tony's directness and cutting through verbal digressions

[@nordiskkatt]

I really enjoy how Carenza saved the day - as usual!

[@RKHageman]

So do I - that’s why it is on my faves list. She’s awesome.

[@MyBohemianDreams]

The tool that Phil made is very similar to one used by the rope maker on the show Secrets of the Castle to hold the strands of the rope together while they were twisted to make a braid. That would explain both the spiral grooves worn into the hole by years of use and the fact the the rope fit through it so perfectly. Just my guess.

[@efretheim]

The moment I saw that tool, I felt I was looking at an arrow straightener tool. It looks exactly like one. Paleolithic is too early for arrows, but spear / javelin makers might use the same tool.

[@richtravis9562]

@@efretheim I hadn't thought of that, interesting. I was certain it was a rope making tool.

[@MissLizzy882]

22:28 that mud splatter!! Very difficult dig conditions!! Absolutely terrifying in cave 1. Good old Carenza being amazing as usual!!

[@patrickwentz8413]

Spelunking. The old German word for screaming in a cave because you do not like being closed in with a million tons of earth and rock above you.....

[@ELCADAROSA]

Watching this episode, and thinking back to Jean Auel's books, "Clan of the Cave Bear" and "The Shelters of Stone".

[@jazzyb4656]

That is a great series of books. I couldn't put them down when I read them.

[@ELCADAROSA]

@@jazzyb4656, I agree! Except for the last book. I wasn't impressed with "The Land of Painted Caves" as I was the others. It just seemed thrown together. I read about half of it, then stopped.

[@spacewater7]

Thanks for reminding me, I must read those books one day. Might I also recommend Seven Arrows and the LOTR trilogy

[@sm3296]

Love those books and I learned so much from them too.

[@elenavaccaro339]

Check the website Don's Maps. A resource on much of Auel's material, peer reviewed papers it was based on and other Paleolithic finds.

[@debbiehenri7170]

They may have had to work very, very hard for their archaeological evidence - but an episode filled with characters and funny moments. I've not laughed so much at an episode of TT as this one.

[@SandraNelson063]

Dr. Lee Berger, a paleoanthropologist working in South Africa, has put together the first professional group of caving fossil hunters. They are a group of small women ( involved in anthropology, and with some knowledge of caving) that he brought together to be trained to work in very tight and risky caving situations. They are responsible for the successful Rising Star discoveries. Once they completed the first expedition, they returned for more training and for more exploration into the Rising Star cave system. This is the kind of work they would tackle. England needs a professional caving fossil hunter team.

[@uw1955]

That Lord would have been someone I wanted to have some drinks with. But nevertheless - hard job to dig a cave like that! I have been out on an excavation of a paleolithic station site (digging in a silted sea) . . . We had water from above (rain and snow), water from the sides (water coming in from the channel beneath) and water comig through the ground. And that in winte of course. Congrats on TimeTeam doing that short excavation.

[@deborahbaker4770]

This one is so funny and the horse did a great job 👏🏻 👍🏻💯💯🤣🤣💖💖

[@winkerdude]

God I miss Time Team.

[@makrsk09]

I don't think I have seen an episode where they worked so hard for so little! Go team!

[@Jaqueli9er]

Andy Currant was so funny, wished he appeared more on the show (also, i wonder if after this they tried to date the bone found by testing the carbon-14)

[@sambarton5379]

Been down iton Cheddar Gorge back in the 80’s Brilliant place They have a Glass blowing shop over the road and have been to Wookey hole aswell good times love to go back👌

[@yoandrew4886]

Ive always enjoyed Time Team, here in US we don't have the recorded or as diverse history, but we have our own history. The lady shaking the wrinkles from the map, the prelude, always has set the stage. Those levis. We all have our favorite shows. What a great series, thank you.

[@mikeradford5630]

US history shows "white man" moving in to rob the native American Indian of lands that they had lived on for hundreds of years.. they conned them with phony land rites and pushed them off to "reservations" which were the poorest locations in America.. America doesn't have history because it's a sordid tail of robbery and has been swept under the carpet !!!

[@lindasue8719]

You’re not following the right history.

[@mamavswild]

All American history is Stone Age, except for the great empires to the south. In North America and Canada, walking in Michigan as a kid, I would find old arrow heads all the time. But that stuff gets a tad old. Any post Stone Age archeology can only go back to mostly the 18th century with some tiny areas of 17th. Bummer.

[@dalekundtz760]

I like Sir Anthony. Laugh when he says we have to dig. Wonder how many years it has been since he really got his hands dirty. Looking forward to the 2022 explorations.

[@maeve4686]

Andy & Phil are the scientific versions of Cheech & Chong. But with Ale ! They're the most adorable, cheerful, joyful & humorous people ! I laughed so loud I awoke my dog !

[@lindasue8719]

Wish we had seen lots more of Andy! What fun! :)

[@RKHageman]

He was in the Surrey one, too- hunting for vole teeth.

[@debrah7548]

Yes! I recall that one.

[@Blisterdude123]

I love that Lord Bath looks exactly like the kind of eccentric and wacky Hogwarts teacher you'd imagine him to be.

[@seanpaula8924]

He does seem to be a hoot 😁👍

[@angelitabecerra]

The cavers in Tunnel 1 put in one helluva effort

[@Greenpoloboy3]

1:30 That music just grabs me and takes me back milleniums..... I love that feeling it gives me. Plus this scene is hilarious 41:59

[@jwnagy]

"Plungy plungy, death death." Someone's been watching too much Monty Python.😀😀

[@lizzy66125]

brilliant episode despite the few finds,so much hard work!

[@erichicks2978]

Are those STONE AGE TIRES? Must be Bridgestones....

[@donnal.oglesby4806]

I can't see with all three days of gigging though muck and myre to get a few bones, from Carenza's site but NOTHING in what is now the car park, and NOTHING in the other tunnel... but Phil had a blast!

[@knightbane3752]

actually been to Cheddar Gorge, lovely place

[@littledikkins2]

Isn't that where the famous Cheddar Man was found. Frankly, all those caves need to be scheduled.

[@annpartoon5300]

do not forget the cider

[@boatfaceslim9005]

@@annpartoon5300 Or the cheese!

[@rolo8542]

Of course Phil is a flint knapper. 😂 Love him

[@Songbirdstress]

Epic, hats of to everyone involved. Puts cave men's life into perspective also.

[@markanixon77]

33:21 ‘Larry and The Cavers’ ?... Sounds like a great rock band name!!! 😂😂😂🙊🙈🙉

[@markanixon77]

alanrtment porter just listened to them. 👍 they were good. 👍

[@Fangs4DaMemories]

"Plungy, plungy, death, death" *lol* How very British. :D

[@RebeccaRhymer]

When granny died...chop, chop, chop. Love Andy!

[@NinaHansen2008]

There isn’t money enough in the world to pay me to crawl into that hole!

[@Rincypoopoo]

I loved the bone tool. It worked very well on the rope. It struck me that it would also lock onto a conical wood or bone shaft and add a lot of leverage to an awl or drill. I would have liked to see them test that.

[@ladyluckapologies6077]

My head goes it looks like a corn stripper, getting kernels off the cob.

[@patriciadonnelly6252]

Phil's tool looks like it was used for rope making but it's also very similar to an antler piece that is part of a Sami lasso used to catch reindeer.

[@CompetitiveAudio]

While Kate and Larry "The Archaeological Police" were real wankers with their egos and controlling tactics..Palaeontoligst Andy Currant was a real treat. This guy was obviously having FUN. @ 41:29 - 42:29 where he played the palaeolithic horse more than made up for Kate and Larry's stubbornness...

[@aimeebrass5266]

Yeah, Kate and Larry did annoy me. Those 2 should have done the silting, instead of stopping the team from digging. And Time Team knows how to record archaeological sites....

[@elizam2119]

No, they are good archaeologists.

[@elizam2119]

Oh and doing this in THREE DAYS is not good science.

[@DaPikaGTM]

Time Team was a sort expeditionary force of archaeologists which was mostly made up of volunteers and scholars who were there to verify if anything was there so the longer term archaeological digs knew where to dig. The shows were recorded over the weekends as the people who worked on these sites had other jobs and obligations during the week. It is good science on the basis that they were just the ones checking to see what was there so that they can be refugee by larger more serious excavations and they did it in a much more careful and methodical manner than most of the antiquarian and other archaeologists of old did decades or even over a century ago.

[@monkey_s331]

Couldn't agree more, that Kate Robinson Brown is a complete an utter useless academic twat and should have been sent off to do something useful like retrieve a sky-hook!

[@gregedmand9939]

I've forced myself to watch the Beno Cam YT channel, to watch him and his friends explore caves and old mines. Force I say, because of the claustrophobic response they trigger. Crawling underground through tight passages would not be my personal idea of fun. But I've learned to appreciate those who do.

[@wagoneer81]

I never thought I'd have an episode of Time Team 'damage my calm'... Ohh.... But there are many reasons I'm not a Spelunker...

[@niklar55]

This takes me back, to my caving and potholing days, in the same area.

[@MrAlumni72]

If the "Archaeological Police" are holding things up because they want to analyze everything - and they know the team only has 3 days, and that their efforts are meant to HELP the A.P. - why don't they lend a hand and get some of their own crew on-site to help analyze things a bit faster?

[@HotelPapa100]

MrAlumni72 There's the thing with lending a hand. But, even given the restrictions of producing a TV show. If the result of the time constraint is destroying invaluable evidence, keep the cameras the fuck out and give the work the time it needs.

[@aussiebloke609]

+HotelPapa100 Only problem is, the site isn't scheduled yet, and there's no formal dig going on other than TT - so if they don't find something because of time constraints, then it won't be protected - and anything that may be there is pretty much guaranteed to be destroyed after that, as people continue to spelunk the cave.Remember, TT wasn't there to find all the answers - just to find any evidence that would qualify it for scheduling. And 20th century flood debris isn't going to be a convincing argument.

[@kevingee4294]

aussiebloke609 Since the site is not protected yet, why do the archaeologist have a veto on methods used?

[@billie-jobenway8658]

Because they are all professionals, on both sides. They are basically colleagues. Besides every site Time Team digs is pre-arranged, plans made and permissions acquired. Whether it's a homeowner, business, English Heritage, whoever, there is always someone in charge of the land they dig on. They are, therefore, not the boss on the site sometimes. This is one of those times.

[@Jigger2361]

...I dunno, sure, give the recent flooded material a cursory look... been there done that, bought the muddy T shirt

[@warrendavis9262]

Just goes to show, persistence pays off...imagine the folks who had to live there way back when...

[@Danogil]

14:39 if you ask my daughter the 1970's were the stone age.

[@ndotgw]

The bloke in the beginning in the green caving suit sounds so much like Wallace, I expect Gromit to show up, though Cheddar Gorge is a bit far from Wensleydale in North Yorkshire.

[@karmayt8956]

Paleo Pony and Phil was so funny. Thanks for the laugh.

[@spacewater7]

Watching the introduction to this the thought struck me - out of ALL the people watching this - a shocking number of us had an ancestor who lived here in ancient times. I myself am descended from a person from Ust-Ushim Siberia just as almost all Celtic descendants. A cousin of mine was Clovis man, though he may have had no descendants living now.

[@littledikkins2]

We all did, or we wouldn't be here.

[@marilynmunro5838]

I can't help feeling sad that weather and obstacles kept them from the archaeology.

[@1101millie97]

I'm not surprised -I knew Carenza would come through in the end. She always does...

[@haplessasshole9615]

When she takes on a task, you know it's going to be completed.

[@APIEngineering]

Carenza is so brave, I love her

[@scarletfluerr]

Because she's smart, skilled and capable. And she makes dumbasses like you seeth in jealousy.

[@APIEngineering]

@FESERFACE No, It's supposed to be a 💗

[@stephan1752]

Carenza delivers again! She's the best!

[@nickrich56]

one of the; if not THE dirtiest, muddiest time team episodes. I loved it. Carenza was hot ! Archeaology at its best !

[@cooperlistul7599]

Don't judge my hole

[@t.j.payeur739]

I've seen those batons described as tools for straightening spear and arrow shafts after they've been heated in the fire, I figured they'd try that, too...

[@jimloth6091]

I thought exactly the same thing. I had a series of "Britain's Story Told in Pictures" books when I was a kid and that's exactly how they were explained in those books.

[@Invictus13666]

Yeah! Funny how actual experts who’ve devoted decades to science never thought of it. If only you’d been there to set us all straight. Turnip.

[@romelnegut2005]

Such a beautiful place.

[@spawnofrazorclaw]

Lord Bath is quite a character.

[@ianjlilly]

72 "wifelets" according to Wikipedia! :-)

[@cogidubnus1953]

@@ianjlilly Alas Covid-19 at the age of 87 saw him off where the wifelets failed...RIP

[@XlrationMedia]

Reading about his flamboyance and safari parkin getting some Tiger King vibes...

[@vlakieste]

antler artifact was a arrow/spear straightener?

[@0623kaboom]

that asking stick reminds me of a rope walk twist tool ... yes by hand

[@2l84t]

The baton with the addition of a short piece of leather strip with a knotted end can be used as a spear thrower with the leather "shoestring " wrapped around the shaft . Used correctly you have a spinning (rifled} dart with a much reduced arm motion that doesn't require fletchings. Designed perhaps to hunt in forest undergrowth due to limited swing space.

[@ianscott9396]

When Mick is talking about the hunter gathers ambushing dinner, I thought of an Armstrong and Miller episode.

[@BoredCertified]

NOPE! I can't do this episode! I'm having a panic attack just watching them climb into the cave!

[@sethfulton4615]

Lord Bath examines the artifacts from the gorge he owns with his monocle. This CANNOT be real lol!

[@littledikkins2]

Google him, he was quite a character.

[@NotEnoughBooks]

@@littledikkins2I just did, good LORD he was a busy fella between the sheets

[@mermeridian2041]

Seems like that one lady just wanted to find something she lost during "the floods" instead of anything prehistoric.

[@jcortese3300]

I think that bone was just a wrench of some kind -- if you had to twist something off something else, you jammed that over top of whatever was sticking out, and twisted.

[@erinobrien8408]

So, an extractor of some kind. Good idea 💡

[@bbrauer5]

when granny died - chop chop chop LOL

[@nachtschadedoggerbank1089]

A while ago I saw once a documentary about an indian tribe in the Amazonas. When a member of the family died, he got cremated and the ashes were taken with them. And at some time some kind of soup was made and the ashes got thrown in and then it was eaten by the members. It was a kind of ceremonial in which the remains of the dead went inside the living and stayed this way with them.

[@richardbruder7050]

That thing Phil made looks likes like a tent stake or maybe something they would jam in to the cave wall to hang something from

[@HannibalFan52]

Not one of my favorite episodes, but so important to show that even the smallest finds can have great historical importance. It's on a par with the episode on Llygadwy on the importance of careful archaeology and not taking things at face value.

[@maeve4686]

Have you seen the episode of a northern school of archaeology run by 2 blokes? I believe they created the site to promote their school. Not the same sort of finds, but IMO , equally sketchy. Sorry, couldn't remember the season, etc. Stay safe!

[@HannibalFan52]

@@maeve4686 That doesn't sound familiar. Perhaps you could check the list of TT episodes on Wikipedia and figure out which one it is. Depending on the age of the students, creating a 'dig site' with planted 'finds' so students can practice their techniques is fine. If they try to pass the site off as genuine, then it becomes a problem.

[@marcblack1]

I know this is going to sound far fetched as a possibility, but what if those antlers with the holes cut out were meant for rope climbing anchors to climbing down and up,, a wooden mallet and hand span rope, or would this idea be to far advanced?

[@ELCADAROSA]

At this point, almost anything plausible is possible. Since there are no written records from the time the cave was inhabited - unless they come across some stone age paintings or engravings - we may never know the true use, or uses, of the object.

[@angelitabecerra]

Surprised Malcolm remembered as much as he did given he found the items 40 years prior to this dig. Wish he had kept everything he had originally found. But hopefully, people now know own to take things to their local archeologist, no matter how insignificant it might seem

[@Exiledk]

Logic tells me that no people would ever have gone down that chute of a cave to live. The bones down there were washed down there or thrown down there by any inhabitants who lived at the mouth of the cave.

[@ColdironArts]

All 'rounder antler wrench... for bending or straightening shafts, pelt softener, and seed stripper...when one pulls wild seed cuttings through

[@willjones7132]

41:22 All the scenes with these 3 together are great.

[@Greenpoloboy3]

I agree

[@only-vans]

Lord Bath, what a character! The epitome of English eccentrics

[@johnlord8337]

The bone antler is a Stone Age tent/tarp stake!

[@originaluddite]

Or a bottle opener? ;)

[@ouchymytoe]

Actually, it's an arrow wrench for straightening arrows and darts. I surprised they didn't know that. It's pretty common in North America.

[@LynxSouth]

@alanrtment porter Evidence for most of these tools was really common in North America because the American Indians were using said tools when Europeans arrived. There wasn't any guesswork involved in figuring out the tools' purposes.

[@Locahaskatexu]

would have been a right laugh if Tony'd said "Our team of cave diggers has turned up" and Thorin oakenshield and his band of Dwarves would have hoved into view, making ready to get into the cave :P with strains of misty mountains cold being hummed by Balinn, Dvalinn and the likes :P

[@talamioros]

A team of Terry Pratchett dwarves singing about gold, gold, gold would've been more appropriate to the mood XD

[@sarahday8186]

not convinced by the antler tool explanation, the usual view is that its for straightening spears, but having used one, I'm not sure it really helped, because it seemed to bruise the wood.... hmmm

[@zoltanz288]

I think the spiral thing is key here. It was obviously used to twist something or something like that.

[@asakurad]

@@zoltanz288 I'm a woodworker, and that's immediately what I thought, too. Would love to try one out and see how it works on green wood.

[@1stPCFerret]

@@asakurad We have them over here in USA. They're used to smooth arrow shafts, not spear shafts.

[@paulbriody297]

Tight spaces are not my cup of tea at all, hats off to them.

[@hellspite]

Bet they had the best Cheddar Cheese and Cider in the world for the after dig celebration.

[@adamsjerome1839]

I would gladly give up one of kidneys to be on that dig.

[@trollmeistergeneral3467]

Not one of Time Team’s better efforts. They did not achieve what they set out to do. Robinson’s sense of frustration in this episode was is almost palpable.

[@littledikkins2]

What they set out to do is find evidence of human inhabitation in the cave so it could be scheduled. And given the archaeology that has been found in Cheddar Gorge, I doubt if it took much more than that single bone with the marks of a stone knife on it.

[@talamioros]

Aye, I mean, how in the world did you interpret their joy and celebration over the bone with cut marks on it as failure?

[@formerdwellerofthebasements]

Big boy has some decent hops lol

[@scooby6742]

That tool is a 12,000 year old bottle opener! 😂😅😊

[@erinobrien8408]

😂😅 One must have priorities!😅

[@stannousflouride8372]

Shadows on the satellite image hide the cave mouth on Google Earth but it's visible on Google Street View: 51.282853N, -2.763654W

[@mikesthoughtsonplants.9857]

Your baton is a spear/attle straightener.

[@dl7596]

Oct 8, 2022. Title says, "S06E04 Cooper's *Hope* , but description says, " invited by the Marquess of Bath, owner of one side of the gorge, to investigate Cooper's *Hole* ".

[@Lurker1979]

I would hate to dig out a cave like that. So wet and muddy.

[@calhoun1968]

Oh for God's sake people..., it's for straightening saplings which have been cut for spears. They're still used today by some tribes on multiple continents.

[@Chubachus]

those damn reckless cavers