Time Team S11-E06 Green.Island,.Poole,.Dorset

Today Poole Harbour's beaches and islands make it a tranquil haven for weekend sailors, walkers and swimmers. But in the Iron Age it was a thriving port - perhaps the most important in the country, trading all sorts of goods with the continent.
But was it also an industrial heartland? Tony Robinson takes the boat to Green Island in the centre of the harbour to investigate what might have been a site of early mass production.
The finds come thick and fast and the Team need every minute of their three days to come up with an answer.

[@Michelle-oh5ws]

Eileen is so beautifully soft spoken❤ The way she speaks, draws you in and makes you listen.

[@englishmaninfrance661]

I was working my ass off when a lot of these episodes aired at the middle of my career , so it's great to catch up on the ones I missed

[@debbiehenri7170]

Rarely has television been as interesting, educating and entertaining as Time Team - ideas like this should be as well preserved as the archaeology they unearth.

[@scottcraig939]

Funny to see a post just now as I was thinking much the same. Discovered this a couple weeks ago and watch at least 2 episodes a night. Reminds me of how much I wanted to be an archaeologist when I was young. But yes! Really enjoy this also!

[@Knards]

I would also mention the British All Creatures Great and Small

[@christrinder1255]

We lived on Furzey Island in the 1950’s and my father Alan Bromby was the first person to recognise archeological remains on Green Island which we visited many times a year in those days and it was although a privately owned island, it was uninhabited then, he later informed Bournemouth University Archeological Dept of his finds which included iron smelting, and shale. So I guess in some terms this edition which I love, is down to my dad! At 11.35 my dad is there in the white hat as an onlooker 😊

[@annk.8750]

You might be just the person to ask, then! I looked this up on Google Earth, and off the east side of green island (but apparently under a little bit of water) there are a number of largish circles that seem to be cut into the sand or mud Under shallow water. It almost looks like a huge coil of razor wire, looping along in a big scroll, with some separate circles, all of them quite round. Any ideas what they might be?

[@johnrogers2826]

That's awesome. Cherish this episode, as it is obviously extremely special to you!

[@annk.8750]

Thanks, Chris, but no, what I was seeing were big circular loops, perhaps caused by some sort of fishing technique...and I confess my complete ignorance of professional fishing! They might well be drag marks that have scraped away the underwater green seaweed. I can't post a photo here, but they're visible on Google Earth, sort of at the southeast edge of Green island. I'm sure it must be good to see a show with a place you know from your childhood. Thanks for responding!

[@perimele6]

I love when people pop by with personal anecdotes

[@captainjamesmartin]

perimele6 and with different surnames

[@heatherdickau5335]

This show is so comforting. I watch in the evenings to relax.

[@dorothyblankenship5897]

"it was a different world......but there would have still been ticks"......hahahah I love Tony

[@janielaurel]

Tony: "It would have been a whole different world, but there still would have been ticks" ... :D

[@paulgarrett3055]

I really enjoy watching these Time Team episodes.

[@nancylarson8421]

Ticks are big blood suckers!!! Good job with the finds and making the shale bracelet.

[@lindahedman3115]

Opossum and guinea hens would dine well on those ticks! I watch all Time Team adventures with fascinated interest! Thank you.

[@margomoore4527]

Excellent idea! The owners should start to keep some guinea fowl. They look distracting, sort of vulture-like as they roost in trees, but they would definitely reduce the tick and bug population in the area around the house and gardens. Can you imagine how often they must be checking their little fellow for ticks?

[@jehansanzterre3956]

Thanks so very much for sharing all of these wonderful episodes!Many of us who live outside Britain have no other way to see them!Cheers!

[@schradeya]

Ohhhh, Tony's good. That little, whispered, "_God I love you_" after he'd persuaded her to let them dig up the lawn was JUST what I think she needed to hear! She really didn't want them doing it! If that were my island, I'd permanently hire archaeologists to be digging there all the time! But I care about history and very little about lawn aesthetics, so that's just me!

[@christosvoskresye]

+schradeya See, this is the kind of thing Tony was good at. It would be easy to have a program like this with a totally useless celebrity who just got in the way, and I'm sure it sometimes felt to the archaeologists like that is what he was doing. But he was good at asking the sort of questions the viewers would be thinking, and at drawing out the personalities of the archaeologists, and at this kind of diplomacy. But I'm with you. I'd be out digging test pits in my back yard before Time Team got there!

[@schradeya]

christosvoskresye Hehe, yes he was, as demonstrated in the later series with the "pretty face" hosts who were just not as good and who lost the show ratings! It was a stroke of genius getting Tony to host Time Team. He of Black Adder fame, plus he was not an archaeologist but was also NOT a boring host nor a stupid person. He asked intelligent questions, and he learned and grew with the program over the years, just as the audience did. As he understood more over the years, so did the audience, so he was always asking the right questions and explaining things to the us at our level. He also seemed to have quite a knack for archaeology and for history, too, at least more than some random buxom blonde with a full blouse and an empty head of gleaming day-glow white teeth would... :) You see in American television how insulting and unsuccessful hiring a stupid person (or simply having the impossibly pretty host dumb things down or follow a script written by hollywood types with an obvious disdain for their audience) really is, and this show's great and enduring success proves that television can be smart and educational and still be entertaining, still get ratings. They tried a Time Team-like show, but it never really took off, and I don't think it's because Americans aren't intelligent or interested in history (the History Channel is HUGE... or _was_, before it became the Ancient Aliens channel), but instead because the show itself was not intelligent! It was - from what I've seen of it - dumbed down spectacle, rather than interesting education, and that is insulting, especially to the kind of audience that watches Time Team. Well... that, and American archaeology is conducted differently to British and European archaeology. It's fairly tedious and even boring in juxtaposition, because there is comparatively little in the ground and much of it is comparatively new, so EVERY artefact is treasured, whereas the British largely ignore the spoil heaps and go for the big buildings and much older features deep in the ground. Still, I think my point stands, though, since Americans treasure every little artefact anyway! Whoops... I went off a bit there! And man I'd give anything for just one cool thing buried in my yard! There's no chance where I am, though. :(

[@christosvoskresye]

+schradeya ??!! I've never seen an episode of Time Team with a host other than Tony. You're not talking about Time Team America, are you? I have watched a few episodes of that, and I suspect part of the reason it never really went anywhere was the absence of a character like Tony.

[@schradeya]

christosvoskresye Oh no no, they never replaced Tony or removed him (and in fact, I cannot remember even one single Time Team that didn't have Tony!), but in the last 2 or 3 series, they did _add_ a couple of new hosts, I think to try to appeal to a younger audience. I think one of them was even a model, and people didn't really like her much; she was just nowhere near as good. Her name was Ochoa, or Ochota, I believe. I _was_ talking about the US Time Team in the second paragraph up there, because US TV doesn't like smart or interesting hosts but instead prefer stupid pretty faces, and it just never works out as well.

[@christosvoskresye]

schradeya I would like to disagree with you, but I can't. The contrast really shows in some of the nature documentaries jointly produced by the BBC and the Discovery Channel. In the "English Edition", the narrator is David Attenborough, and the narration actually adds nicely to the footage. In the "American Edition", though, the narrator is some woman who seems to be speaking to kindergarteners; she makes the "American Edition" almost unwatchable for me. And I have to add Neil deGrasse Tyson to the list. He seems to be popular in some circles, but he always talks like he is a character on Sesame Street. Always: a colleague of mine who is both an astronomer and an atheist (and so might be expected to be more positively aligned with Tyson) attended an astronomy conference in which Tyson gave the keynote speech. It was badly received, because although Tyson is these days mostly just a popularizer of science and his audience was made up of fellow Ph.D.'s who are still involved in research, he still used the same "I'll use small words so you little idiots can understand me" tone of voice.

[@BMiobW]

Thank you very much for uploading all these episodes, I am enjoying them very much!

[@jonathaneffemey944]

Thanks for posting

[@susanhuntley9262]

The picnic! Never dreamed there would be a camera! Haha. The rich girls never change

[@gwendolynfish2102]

Ohhhhh, I hate ticks! Another fascinating episode!

[@angelitabecerra]

That shale work is so beautiful, especially the bracelets. I'd love one

[@purplemadness1200]

i love this... it either makes me help fall asleep or makes me watch Black Adder again...

[@barbmcconnaughey3070]

Purple Madness When I watch Black Adder, I keep expecting Baldrick to say “...and we only have three days...”😃

[@maxdecphoenix]

my god matt looked 11 years old here... I was certain this was a late 90s episode, but was stunned to see a filming date of 2003.

[@JustJ.]

@ 8:57 They are saying that they have never seen such a thing as this bridge. Have them take a look at the Old Chain Of Rocks Bridge crossing! Not much remains now, the current is too swift. It crosses the Mississippi Rivers 1 mile width to connect St. Louis Missouri to E. St. Louis Illinois, and the natives, followed by the rest of the world, basically dropped rocks into the river until they had a passable bridge. So said my history book! I’m out of touch with the area, but in the early 1970’s you could still see that unnaturally straight line of stones on the riverbed, which I found very cool! 😎

[@bilgeratjim]

Eileen looks like Cyndi Lauper. Girls just want have finds!

[@kleinevans8016]

This is so cool I live in hamworthy and this island is right across from me I go there on my kayak all the time

[@keetonpark]

Will you marry me

[@jdemo7167]

I have to wonder what a shale coal bracelet would do to your skin. Must be harmless or they would not have kept wearing them? Phil says; this is not just a pile of stones Tony. Of course Phil has never found "just a pile of stones" in a trench...lol. Love this show thanks for uploading.

[@schradeya]

I was wondering the same thing! I wonder, maybe did they bake them or perhaps something like that before they called them finished? Who knows...

[@yvonnethompson844]

J Demo the shale has its oil locked away so that it isnt anything but a shiny coloring.

[@jdemo7167]

Very interesting. Thank you for sharing...knowledge is good.

[@schradeya]

Yvonne Thompson Oooh, I didn't realize that. Thank you! I don't think I've ever handled shale myself, at least not that I knew about, so I had no clue. The way they went on about it (I'm pretty sure they showed somebody saying shale is oily at least twice this ep) the stuff is just _dripping_ with it. ;)

[@gregb6469]

I wonder if they can frack those pieces of shale!

[@BryonLape]

Imagine if in a few thousands years, there is an archeologist trying to convince the new owner of the island to dig where Jo's house used to be.

[@Bonesiethecat]

Good God, where is Francis Pryor? He would have LOVED to be in on this dig.

[@angelitabecerra]

Maybe off supervising/digging on another site? They're all tope in their field and have important sites they're overseeing for their various universities and museums. Not to mention teaching/lecturing like Professor Mick Aston once did.

[@sherryelliott4795]

Poor Tony and the ticks!

[@tripleransom4349]

Ew! Nature! Get it off me. I hate ticks, too.

[@dinx556]

Yet another excellent programme.

[@wanttopreach]

I am a four century American who is interested in time team because both sides of my ancestors are spread from Ireland to Scotland and if we could get DNA tests I am sure some of them will go back to duggerland. From my Mayne line up to the 13 centuey, and the rest from the 17 to 18 centuries,

[@MissCattitude63]

You should've seen him in series 1! Hair everywhere!

[@gbe6348]

First time I have seen Raksha.

[@jessepollard7132]

Some of those "incomplete bracelets/shale cores" look more like drop spindle weights for making thread.

[@SusanPetty73]

Another thing to consider is given the rate of sea level rise in this part of Great Britain were Green Island and Furzey Island tied together and to the mainland in the past? The look like the remains of a meander in the river which is a drowned estuary.

[@stannousflouride8372]

The meadow is here: Green Island 50.679224ºN, 1.992873ºW

[@davidwilkins3328]

Coordinates are off.

[@stannousflouride8372]

They're from their wiki page. Please correct them if you have better information.

[@juliechi6166]

You can buy TT shirts on Ebay!

[@qthelost]

Raksha is in this one! I wonder if it's her first appearance in the show. I don't remember seeing her before this one.

[@schradeya]

Maybe I'm crazy, but I thought I had seen her in some of the earlier seasons...? Or maybe that's because I saw some of the older ones first and then went back and started at the beginning. I really do feel like I've seen her in at least one or two before this, but I can't say for sure. So... yeah I'm just wasting your time with this comment, aren't I? LOL Sorry bout that!!

[@Chubachus]

I've been watching the show in order since the beginning and also believe this is her first episode.

[@sizemorej]

I saw her as a student I the one where the hound the bronze age walkway. Where the built a model. She did not talk but was in the group.

[@sizemorej]

Qthelost season 5 episode 2 bronze age trackway she is a digger. She did not talk though.

[@k-matsu]

I think she was around as early as Season 6. Not as regular in appearance but you can see her in an episode or two.

[@outdoorsy01]

She has a fantastic opportunity, more than most to find out the history of the place only she and her family enjoys and she doesn’t seem the slightest bit interested

[@a.westenholz4032]

The owner, it was said, had made it her objective to preserve the natural state of the island as much as possible. While I'm not sure what that had to do with a very unnatural lawn, I think she had gotten into a frame of mind of simple "no change" to what was already there, including the lawn. It really should have been the reverse, that she should have fussed the least over the lawn and allowing them to dig there, if preserving the natural state of the island was her main concern. But there are plenty of other episodes with other homeowners with the exact same concerns when it comes to their lawns, even when they knew TT were going to be there.

[@janielaurel]

@@a.westenholz4032 It's the classic British non-committal "well, I suppose it would be okay; just don't ruin my lawn" ... it's one of the endearing things of the British side of my family that I adore. That reticent, "yawning" (as in feigning boredom) thing ... gorgeous moment between Jo and Tony: Jo: "well I suppose so" (as they promise it'll only be a metre-wide trench) Tony: "I love you" (she, giggling...)

[@Bugsy-gc6ii]

I'm not absolutely certain, but it looks like young Delia to me ! Tee hee, ! Or was it a piece off bone ? Barn, much love from Portugal.

[@southerneruk]

2000 years plus ago, more likely this was all connected to the mainland right out to Brownsea island, the port is more likely to found on Brownsea, the rising sea levels due to climate change would of made areas a bit boggy to cross when the tide was in, so you would build a causeway, that gap could of been once high bit of ground or the cause way could of been wash away, if you look at the back of the goat horn the same thing is happening there, higher sea levels the ground is wet on high spring tides.

[@berniemccann8935]

I think it sad that the island's owner showed little interest in the original inhabitants of her island, especially as there appeared to be many children in the family who (IMO) would have been very interested in the story. Let's hope that they have seen the video.

[@scarletfluerr]

I think it's sadder when somebody sees about 2 minutes of someone and makes a judgment call on them and what they do or do not value.

[@philaypeephilippotter6532]

@@scarletfluerr Agreed. The sensible thing for _her_ was to let the archæologists do their work and keep her informed - which is what she must have done.

[@jimpreston7427]

Looks like she's had a few more biscuits since the last episode.

[@trentgay3437]

I wonder if there was boats acting as a floating bridge between the Jetty's 🤔

[@samanthacrawford4451]

Tilda Swinton does Time Team.

[@DragonFae16]

As I've been watching this, I've been tracking when each team member who would later be well known made their first appearance, and this episode is the first time Raksha appeared on screen.

[@k-matsu]

Dont be silly. Raksha was a regular feature in shows as early as S6 or S7.

[@danehart2783]

tin trade with Greece was active . the temple of Solon in Bath is a prove Greeks held contact .a friend of Christ who gave him the tome he was put in , was a tin trader to England . small light trade goods are perfect

[@granskare]

Is this the Poole Harbour the Japanese attacked ? (I got that from UK comedian Milton Jones on the Mock the 'week show :)

[@brendawilliams4256]

granskare wwhitewell metropolitan church Belfast ireland

[@lauravalancy2521]

🙄🙄🙄🙄

[@nickrich56]

... Phil seemed pissed off a few times, even havin a pint

[@Shojikitsune1]

Ticks and mosquitoes. 'nuff said.

[@margomoore4527]

Why is it that we never see the dig sites including ant hills? The indignity of being driven away from a promising dig by thousands of nasty little insects is not to be thought of, but it must have happened sometime. So how do they cope? Insecticide? 30% vinegar? Boiling oil? I’d like to know.

[@joe18750]

It seems to me LIDAR would of have been a much better choice. Get below the canopy and allow Stuart to do his magic.

[@maxdecphoenix]

can't imagine an aerial-platformed LIDAR scanner would have been cheap in 2003. i feel like it would have been an unjustifiable cost, even for a show which could show off its utility. I know of another episode where they were given an aerial lidar scan of a valley, but I don't think the show had access to one. Which now that you make me think about it, seems stunning that they couldn't work out a sponsorship deal. I mean the show would have had a large budget as is. Way above a typical sitcom.

[@joe18750]

@@maxdecphoenix your reply is a thoughtful one. so, I'll add this. when you take on a project, you use the tools available to you or you don't take on the project at all! at times, the ineptness of the producers is painfully glaring.

[@BlackIjs]

Would be a bit more dangerous to dig there today with all the ticks and Lyme disease.

[@cheetahdolcini2526]

Not in the long grass . . . stay away from the long grass.

[@cheetahdolcini2526]

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[@SandraNelson063]

If you want to manage ticks, turn the chickens loose!

[@sid280]

Tony has a bit more hair back then!

[@johnjohnon8767]

Ticks..........Noooooooooooo

[@angelitabecerra]

I wonder what wildlife exists on the island that the ticks are subsisting on?

[@ancilodon]

Rabbits, most likely. Rats and mice too

[@kristianstipe]

And birds.

[@rocksandoil2241]

John calls it a magnetometer but it is differential magnetometer right?

[@georgedorn1022]

I think they used Geoscan and Bartington fluxgate gradiometers.

[@johnrogers2826]

Oh come on Eileen, (see what I did there?) ever heard of Lyme disease?

[@SauronsLeftNut]

looks like Miles is rackshaw(or however you spell her name) boss.. in later TT they would have talked to her not someone else.

[@TeresaTrimm]

First aired February 8, 2004.

[@MissCattitude63]

LOL @ snot. But you're absolutely right. However, the story is that landowners (even if they own just a square inch cesspit) want money to even let historical researchers on their land to take a look. It's called "squeezing your ancestors". This woman looks particularly tight arsed. Who sits in the middle of their lawn reading a magazine while people are working? Answer: she's there to keep an eye on things, just in case they do something she didn't get paid for. BLUURRGGHHH!

[@endrightwinglunacy]

They should have sued the old bag for giving them ticks! Totally agree (although I think that little lawn skit was staged), PLUS it looks like she sold her island for a fortune after it was featured on TT. After she left, the house burnt down! Someone posted the article above.

[@jedtattum9996]

hengistbury head is nowhere near 25 miles from green island.

[@scarletfluerr]

I love how people in the comments passed judgment on the owner because they saw a grand total of her for about 2 minutes and now know all about her. I'm not sure if I would want people swarming all over my property with cameras and mics and television Crews digging holes all over the place either

[@Iamnotaserialkiller_]

I did a quick Google search and she had it has a holiday home for disabled people. Many years later the Island was sold off.

[@cogidubnus1953]

"God I love you" says it all....creepy old Tony!

[@mysterioussquirrel4456]

Islands in estuaries or natural harbours were useful because it was easy to monitor what was coming in and out on board boats. This enabled tax collection. By forcing everything to go through one point, the tax collector missed nothing!

[@highonimmi]

squirrel, I love you so much...my nick name is squirrelled....adhd I am afraid....dig the bogart clothes:)

[@mysterioussquirrel4456]

highonimmi I'll tell you, it was a bugger to get that squirrel to wear the hat while I took its photo.

[@highonimmi]

Mysterious Squirrel I bet....total boss, dough

[@romanpomroy7626]

I live in Poole who eales does?

[@rodritchison1995]

What, in God's name, are the ticks feeding on? Rabbits? Birds?

[@kristianstipe]

Yes, and mice, rats etc.

[@davldmorand8125]

Of course in three days it WILL NOT be thoroughly excavated.

[@Jaqueli9er]

imagine owning an island but being incapable of throwing your garbage (glass bottles) in the actual garbage.

[@Fangs4DaMemories]

With all the ticks, are they not worried about Lyme disease or is that only in North America??

[@mysterioussquirrel4456]

+Fangs4DaMemories There are risks of Lyme disease in the UK from ticks. 3000 reported cases in England and Wales each year with the numbers having quadrupled between 2000 - 2011. There may be many more that have been misdiagnosed as ME.

[@mysterioussquirrel4456]

Leopararouen I don't know if you can get shots against ticks and the subsequent pathogens they pass on. What I do know is, as a child growing up in the 60s and 70s, we spent all of our time playing in long grass, heather and bushes and we never heard of anyone picking up a tick.

[@gregb6469]

Surely they covered themselves in tick repellent!

[@juttamaier2111]

Sure they were. But take some preventative mesures, and you won 't get bitten by ticks. I worked in a study to collect infested ticks, and WE were the bait!

[@tphvictims5101]

Modern Man has very few skills. The ancients were VERY resourceful.

[@juttamaier2111]

Furzey island? Seriously??? They don't speak at hint of German there, do they?

[@markcopsey2198]

Funny how the cameras are rolling just as an important find is uncovered.

[@BMiobW]

How about they have the cameras rolling all the time but only show the most interesting footage?

[@Philrc]

they re-enact the find.

[@schradeya]

kha sab Oh yeah, it's pretty obvious that they do re-enact some of them. Though they have loads of cameras rolling all day, too, and lots of those finds it's obvious they *aren't* re-enacting. I'm SURE they re-enact (and even maybe rehearse) some of the diggers telling Tony about the finds, too. It's all so flawlessly delivered and sometimes, especially with the newer/less usual diggers, they sound like they're doing the pre-flight instructions, lol. I love how Tony always walks over with his camera and sound crew just as soon as somebody uncovers something awesome, every time! Some of them I'm sure are spur of the moment, but definitely some are rehearsed. Personally, I don't care at all, though, when it's this fascinating and entertaining and educational! :D Archaeology is my JAM, and so is the history of England, so I'm in heaven watching this show!!

[@philaypeephilippotter6532]

@@Philrc Often but not always.

[@wanttopreach]

From what I have seen so far the new timeteam will be a collocal failure because of the way it is presented. If they want to save it they need to go back to the adversarial method that Knight Tony did. I wish he would come to the USA and help rebuild Timeteam USA.

[@ryandavis7593]

I got spammed right out of the gate with an inappropriate alcoholic beverage commercial! Boycott KZbin premium apps and boycott KZbin advertisers. Tell Susan Wojcicki that we hate what she has done to KZbin as a platform.

[@maeve4686]

How much of this is scriptd? Hands up...she just happened to be seated in a lawn chair within Tony's love of running, and "just act a little perturbed " "Tony your line is..."...these shows are somewhat scripted. That's the producer that Tony refers to. I'm not complaining. I love this show, but there are retakes. Just look closer at the occurrences. A show like this has to have them, less Phil get that red hair up.(I'm a natural red head too) and to quote a Nixon era phrase, " Expletives deleted..."

[@philaypeephilippotter6532]

*Maeve Scott* Very little was scripted, the scenes you refer to as _retakes_ were events that occurred _off camera_ that were recreated quickly _for_ the camera.

[@ricktimmons458]

why not use young people currently on public dole?

[@Shojikitsune1]

Give them a shovel and they lean on it rather than dig.

[@Invictus13666]

Because untrained people on an archaeological site are a nightmare.

[@barrymccall2095]

Im sorry but this is boring, I like history , but this is too much 'Look a rock!' is it a anglo saxon rock or a roman rock? We will never know.

[@ndotgw]

If this is what you get out of watching this excellent and highly-respected series, then, you must not be paying close attention.

[@deemariedubois4916]

E! Carroll You are so right! I find the series fascinating and learn something in each of them even when they don't find what they thought might be there.

[@kirkkaanoranssi2359]

Funnily enough if no-one this, you would have considerably less of your history.

[@sizemorej]

You do not get a complete story out of an episode. You get a snap shot of a point in time. But over the twenty years you get a really great photo album. In the end the details come through and we learn with lasting knowlege.