Time Team S12-E12 South Shields,.Tyneside

South Shields is well known for its Roman fort at the end of Hadrian's Wall but today the team are there in an attempt to uncover the large Roman military cemetery that must be nearby.

[@sharonfarris1282]

Phil's comment, " you're sitting on the fence" The look Phil gave the guy. Funny 😄

[@Fox1nDen]

Reminds me of a joke my uncle Ed told me: An elderly man wants to put in his tomato garden but needs his son's help to prepare the soil. He calls the son. The son replies he cannot get away just then but tells the father not to worry, he can't plant the tomatoes there anyway, because that's where the bodies are buried. In a few days the police come over to dig looking for the bodies, but find none. After they leave, the son calls the father and says, "Go ahead and put your tomatoes in now, Dad, that's the best I could do from here." Looks like the people living in the apartments wanted a larger garden.

[@OurHumbleLife]

Haha :)

[@eboracum2012]

Good one but I'd want to know who told the police and/or how long my phone's been bugged.

[@Acala123]

@@eboracum2012the son was in prison. At least in the version of the joke I read some time ago.

[@eboracum2012]

@@Acala123 Just got some notifications for this sub. It is glaringly obvious that the man's locked up somewhere. I am getting old.

[@Acala123]

@@eboracum2012 you and me both. Didn't check the timestamp of your comment 😁

[@angelapiccolella1491]

How have I not seen this episode? I've watched them all. The whole Matt thing made my day.

[@deviwolf3365]

Naked Matt at 19:10! Excellent!

[@SandraNelson063]

The main question WAS answered, eventually. But what a first for Phil, a mechanic's inspection pit! And I love to see the neighborhood get involved, getting folks off the couch, and getting them digging. The kids especially.

[@stephanieruggles7783]

I sorely miss Mick Aston in this episode.

[@artglass00]

a disaster! but Matt is always such a good sport - a sweetheart!

[@tracewilliams616]

This particular dig was a disaster and Tony sounded pretty down trodden in his closing statement. Sadly, modern Archaeology is at the mercy of remaining small undeveloped ground often clogged with gas, electricity and water pipes where it’s at best as crap shoot with terrible odds. This would have been the perfect episode to point this out so I have.

[@MeAbroad2004]

I had worked here a few months before with the late Roger Orum, and uncovered a couple of badly degraded mini (cremation) mounds but not much else. TT did not do their homework by reading his report since they opened trenches directly adjacent to our site. Further, there is an established system of marking finds here - but TT in their wisdom decided to use a different system - post-ex was a challenge so my former colleagues tell me

[@ohkaygoplay]

Came for the archaeology, stayed for the archaeology.... and the unexpected (but not unwelcome) Matt. An archaeologist undergoing ancient Roman military training. Whelp, nice knowing you, Matt. I bet he'll be very happy to get back to digging in the trenches after this.

[@endrightwinglunacy]

The one where we realise how easy Mick Aston makes field management look.

[@haplessasshole9615]

I love how this Tim Allen guy speaks swiftly and authoritatively in his posh accent, gestures and nods vehemently, and what he's really saying is, "Well, my first idea was rubbish, so let's do it the usual way like y'all wanted to in the first place." Well okay, he wouldn't say "y'all." But you get my drift. It's as though the American Tim (Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor from *Home Improvement*) Allen was shifted into an entirely different cultural context.

[@michiec9615]

Just would like to thank Matt for this episode. I thought that through hours of binge-watching this show I had watched them all...then I find this little gem (the gem being Matt's bum). Ahhhhh the reward of my hard work. :-D

[@lisakaz35]

Hubba hubba. That was enjoyable. (I like to look but can't be bothered otherwise.)

[@colinp2238]

The Roman drill commands sounded like spells gfrom Harry Potter. Maybe Phil could be Hagrid and Tony Dobby?

[@barbmcconnaughey3070]

colin Paterson Mick would be Dumbledore.

[@eboracum2012]

That was a bit of a shocker, a tiny hinie🤯

[@haplessasshole9615]

@@colinp2238 I started watching *Time Team* a couple of months ago, and I love it. It's giving my brain something substantial to chew on during the Age of COVID. Then a couple of weeks ago, I reread the Harry Potter books, and I'll be danged if Robbie Coltrane's voice hadn't been replaced by Phil Harding's! Right funny, innit? Cor stone the crows.

[@BirdieRumia]

I love the bit around 24:00 -- apparently the Rhinelanders were noted for their cheap knockoff pottery! Interesting and hilarious-- I guess that in any era, there will be people who realize that making cheap imitations of more expensive things is a pretty good business!

[@CologneCarter]

China? ;)

[@joshschneider9766]

Was not just ceramics or Roman era for sure. Facon de Denise glass was faux Venetian glass in the same era 1500 years later in the very same Rhineland

[@bobbyhood101]

Irony is that reputation of the German engineering is wasted on the pottery Barn

[@brianvittachi6869]

Every time the children of the neighbourhood get involved I find myself rooting for them to find something interesting. From among them will come the U.K's future historians and archaeologists.

[@Philrc]

and criminals and psychopaths

[@Tocsin-Bang]

@@Philrc What kind of idiot are you? My bet is a total idiot!

[@neonskyline1]

Doubtful from there, those people will only be paying stealth tax for the better off who get to go to Uni

[@randomname766]

@@Tocsin-Bang That's a good bet. Rather, look inward. He has a point.... I always volunteered for these sort of things, and though I'm not a convicted criminal I'm definitively the ladder.

[@johnsimpsonkirkpatrickhist1372]

It was great to see Tony Robinson and the Time Team in South Shields. The hard work of Alex Croom and the staff of South Shields Museum Service have turned Arbeia Fort into a top class attaction. Congratulations to all concerned.

[@BoredCertified]

I like the ancient vehicle inspection pit.

[@msvixen1981]

I love how they get the kids involved!!!

[@speerchucker64]

The amazing sound of straws being clutched at the end 🤣

[@Concetta20]

Matt's so cute with his helmet all askew. He's reminding me of Jerry Lewis-esque comedy.

[@MontyCantsin5]

Helmet askew? I thought we only got a glimpse of him naked from behind.

[@miekekuppen9275]

@@MontyCantsin5Not that I minded that :-D

[@silviac221]

@@miekekuppen9275 neither did I ;D

[@sgrannie9938]

Poor Matt, he does go through it in quite a few episodes. What a trooper (no pun intended 🙂)

[@jenamyallen]

I absolutely love incorporating the children!!! way to go time team!!!!

[@johnrinehart2074]

Alice and Margaret! After a long drought without them, here they are back again. Hooray!

[@davekinghorn9567]

Alice has her own archaeology show now.

[@darrylwithrow293]

Gotta love Phil!

[@colinp2238]

Oh arr!

[@TravisBrady-wn8fr]

Whats a really good episode to check out. Really enjoyed all the ones i've seen so far

[@salcuti6421]

My husband is from Sicily and near his town is a 50ad town high up on a mountain…Solunto I love going there….one time we went and when I got home I had some pebbles in my runner….I shook them out….liked the color of some of them and as I love rocks and shells I took it home as a memory of that day. Well, shocker, when I saw Phil finding Sarmien wear pottery I almost dropped…that’s what I found…it has a rim, beautiful zigzag decoration on the pot….love this show…Phil I would love to show it to you…Patricia Canada 🇨🇦

[@rosamcdonald1221]

Poor Matt, he always gets stuck with the reconstruction!

[@MrGaryRoberton]

Those poor people, that looks like the most depressing place I've ever seen in the U.K. their M.P. should get some funding for a few trees.

[@mistakay9019]

speak for yourself mate. That was 13 years ago.

[@tommyfred6180]

@x D3G3N3R8 NATION x mate I did a environmental drilling job just down the way and you are quite right is a nice place and compared to so ware like Croydon (I lived there for five years) its paradise.

[@mistakay9019]

@x D3G3N3R8 NATION x well said lad.

[@cathjj840]

It's just too bad that someone, or many people, thought it was a good idea to replace Victorianwith that 'modern architecture'. If the former was worth well over a hundred yrs, this lot will probably come down in only a few more, unless the whole country goes bust.

[@wbrewer5352]

@@cathjj840 A lot of 50/60's urban redevelopment in Britain was on sites bombed in WW2. S. Shields was bombed so that may be why part of the Victorian development was rebuilt. We're lucky they didn't build over the fort.

[@robertwbraiden]

Tony seemed quite disappointed with this one. Well, some you win some you lose.

[@jonathaneffemey944]

Thanks for posting

[@cg256y9]

Here in the US people would freak out about their homes being built on top of cemeteries. As old as Europe is however I would imagine it's hard not to. There's probably unknown unmarked graves almost everywhere and from all time periods.

[@flitsertheo]

A local supermarket was once a meadow and before that a cemetery.

[@angelitabecerra]

My childhood friends had to figure out where to move their grandfather when the cemetery he was in was converted to a strip mall. Not to mention quite a few American cities have been built on Native American burial sites. So no, we don't really care unless it affects us personally then everyone freaks out

[@flitsertheo]

@@angelitabecerra That wouldn't be possible here. First, most graves (except concessions) are cleared after a number of years, eg one cemetery sent me a letter about a 30-year old grave either to be cleared or if I wanted to pay for a longer "stay". The remaining graves would be relocated to another cemetery by the muncipality. Not that anyone would be allowed to build a mall on top of a cemetery these days. The case mentioned in my first comment evolved over hundreds of years.

[@JETWTF]

Thank all the gods there ever was that Francis wasn't at this dig. He would've spent 5 minutes explaining the ritual vehicle inspection pit.

[@Go-Dawgs]

Exactly how I feel when Carenza Corrects everyone 😒🤨. So Argumentative she has to give Her Theory to Guy & Tony about why no Prostitutes were there....Ridiculous

[@JETWTF]

@@Go-Dawgs Telling a Roman expert that there were no prostitutes in a Roman town especially outside a fort is like telling an astrophysicist that the sun revolves around the earth. It's just dumb.

[@dalekundtz760]

Heaven forbid that Tony should get his hands dirty. Would pay money to see that. He always acts so prim and proper and above such things. When others dig, he always walks away.

[@DeborahParham-ve1vp]

There have been a couple of episodes where Tony did get involved with digging. One where he was extracting a small bottle from a Saxon grave. One of the Orkney episodes they fussed at him for messing around in a trench. He was a little bit tipsy at the time.

[@vincewhite5087]

I think Tim was trying to get some free digging. 😜

[@basstrammel1322]

Tim Allen has the voice I always wanted.

[@paulallan1000]

39.31 A rare sighting of the dole fiddler Mabley peeking through a fence,without his walking sticks lol.

[@cs_fl5048]

like most nonprofessionals, finding nothing IS A RESULT. Not exciting, but it IS A RESULT.

[@CompetitiveAudio]

Poor "Tim Allen" pretty much struck out on his first go at a Time Team dig, at least up to 39:29 in to the program...

[@eboracum2012]

Very irritating. Had to have the last word. Strategy, we must follow the strategy.

[@jeffreymassey754]

I love Raksha...

[@mver191]

Thnx

[@Orxenhorf]

What's with the audio cut-outs in this episode?

[@rogerwilco2]

How do they not know where the utilities are? I have to notify the Kadaster 3 days before any digging, and then get a map from them.

[@CologneCarter]

Every show is planned and organized well in advance, every paper signed and every permission granted. Usually even the research is completed in advance. Common sense should tell you there is only so much you can organize and research in 72 hours and do all the digging and the acting for the camera. People also need breaks for food and sleep.

[@colinp2238]

There awas a lot of Victorian stuff there so probably not accurately plotted.

[@mooramcmillan1066]

Living above graves ! Great for Ghost Hunting !

[@carolyntaylor7954]

I participated in a dig at South Shields. Great experience. We found interesting pottery one day, and showed it to the archeologist. We (all Americans) were horrified when he tossed it in the heap. ‘Pfff. Victorian.’ Nick gave us a great tour of Hadrian’s wall.

[@MeAbroad2004]

Carolyn, were you on an Earthwatch dig? When did you do this?

[@morrigan191]

So this is the beginning of them doing terrible things to Matt and calling them 'experimental archaeology'

[@thehairyhominid9972]

They always picking on Matt poor guy lol.

[@colinp2238]

Should have hired Ozzie and the lads!

[@dianasprenkle3911]

MATT'S BUM!!!

[@stannousflouride8372]

Buzz Lighteryear's...er, um, I mean Tim Allen's final trench that 'ties it all together' is here: 55°00'06.4"N 1°25'50.6"W

[@Jenalgo]

I clicked this but nothing happened.

[@tyneside1946]

1.25 West lies some distance offshore, try 1.43 West instead.

[@oliverwade8066]

trench 1. 55.000513,-1432905. Trench 2. 55.002138, -1.431357

[@folkrace4life]

can you pleace upload the one from preston ?

[@freedom0022]

So when they are done their project, do the cover everything? Do they bring in a separate team to finish the site?

[@knuckleheadufc9296]

I live in South sheild nothing bothers me very nice people.

[@1101millie97]

All they needed was one more day....

[@Libbathegreat]

and a better strategy.

[@SIG442]

ugh, sound is cut on several important key points :(

[@SIG442]

@mike rusch A unfortunate truth that hit all channels.

[@clarencetaylor7455]

The only 'cracking' archaeology in this episode was care of Matt

[@edlechleiter7042]

Sorry , Tony . My Momma taught me "Almost don't count " '

[@saffyrobson]

there are bodies under everywhere iv lived in shields. doesn't bother me. my ex's home is in this video.

[@BobSmith-in2gn]

What is that squirrel doing on the underside of Tony's chin?

[@jesikebiking]

At 31:22 I don't understand how the Roman road is so deep and how the dirt is so deep covering the road ==where did all the dirt come from ? could someone tell me

[@angelitabecerra]

Moved in to level the place for the Victorian buildings. Then they did the same thing again when they demolished the Victorian buildings to build the modern houses. The short answer; a bunch of landscaping

[@phoule76]

Fans of Matt, contain yourselves 19:14

[@ohkaygoplay]

No. :D

[@andrewbrodie2718]

Conjecture is archaeology.. I like this show, but please.

[@DavidSmith-yx7kn]

Do you have any straw I may clutch at.

[@et4751]

Why couldn't the alternativ be the drunken louts of the day vandalised the tombs, pissed (literally & figuratively) off the governor and they moved the whole thing down to next settlement? The things and tombs found are all there that's left. Interesting episode nonetheless.

[@elizabethmcglothlin5406]

I do hope they put that mess back.

[@trumpsthebest6033]

The one thing that confuses me is if the Romans had a road why is there 6 feet of dirt on top of it does the earth grow or something

[@SandraNelson063]

Over time , people like to shift the landscape around. They like to put in soil to plant in, or shove dirt away to clear other spots for building. At the time they don't care if they are covering up or destroying historically significant sights. They just can't be " bovered". So over almost 2 000 yrs, a lot of stuff gets buried, built on or ploughed into oblivion. People just want to get on with it.

[@angelitabecerra]

This site was heavily landscaped by the Victorians, amongst others. That's what happens

[@tauceti8341]

there building a housing estate on top of an ancient Roman burial ground. I sure af wouldn't wanna live there fmd.

[@flitsertheo]

I'm sure they didn't state that tiny detail in the houses sales brochures. Most of the owners probably only found out when the first archeologists turned up.

[@colinp2238]

Laruam (spectre) that's the only related Latin word I can find on Google Translate - everything else it doesn't seem to translate.

[@westwingr5516]

Work from the unknown to the known? The site director did a wonderful job of wasting everyone's time.

[@jamesmccord8895]

+westwingr You sure got that right!

[@Jerbod2]

What if they found a cemetery at the farthest point... instead of going out, the graveyard stopping, assuming nothing was beyond.

[@CologneCarter]

How do you learn something new if you stick to the known? If you have a pile of books do you usually start with the books you already read or the ones you didn't?

[@Philrc]

westwingr how would you know?

[@nhansen197]

I tend to agree with you. They really should have stuck with what works and that is starting from the known and working out from there.

[@sassandsavvy007]

Chain mail??? Shouldn't that be long after the Roman Empire?????

[@Libbathegreat]

No chain mail was around for a long time before the empire.

[@angelitabecerra]

No, the Romans wore chainmail. Different style than the Medieval knights wore

[@edlechleiter7042]

I find some of the attempts of modern reproduction intrusive and often speculative . The preinduction examination comes from Suetonius treatise

[@tomhenderson1952]

No Mick, no Carenza!

[@legomego3333]

Tom Henderson carenza is here...

[@eboracum2012]

She was there. Seen most often not breaking a sweat, imho.

[@jenford7078]

YIKES... I am aghast that they are allowed to dig in a residential area (any inhabited or industrial area for that matter) without having the utility companies come out and mark the gas lines, water lines etc. As a girl my dad lost 4 good work friends when the gas company misidentified the exact location of a gas line and the machine operator punctured it, blew up half a city block and unfortunately rather than instantly kill them it burned them to living lumps of charcoal to suffer for 48 hours or so. Awful :(

[@vincewhite5087]

Jen Ford do we know for sure they didn't already scope the area for utility lines? Or went off drawings?

[@CologneCarter]

You are forgetting those digs are planned and organized in advance. Same goes for the permission to dig anywhere. Tony is just re-enacting some things for the camera. So do the archaeologists after a find. The camera team isn't watching them dig for 72 hours from multiple angles until something exciting happens. While the archaeology is real, what is shown on camera is well planned and scripted.

[@vincewhite5087]

CologneCarter I don't think it's re enacted. Since most of the finds they are simply just showing them in a tray, and they just state to Tony what they found. That would be poor re enactment. Once & a while the camera captures a find & since some finds need careful work to not damage, there's lots of time for a camera person to get a shoot of it. The summary statements & such are no doubt, scripted so they can be brief.

[@CologneCarter]

Never seen Time Team - Behind The Scenes?

[@vincewhite5087]

CologneCarter I have seen several. Haven't seen a re enactment. If they did re enactment, I haven't seen many appear on the actual show, & have watched many seasons. Very few finds (excluding post holes & such) are seen being discovered on camera in all the episodes I have seen. most often Tony just checks in & they look into a tray of finds & discuss. The soil color changes hardly would require re enactment. The finds that take long careful periods would not require re enactment. The arch just re capping what is in a tray and what part of ditch it came from is not in my opinion a re enactment. But I will look for more.

[@mondriaa]

Is it just me or was the Matt stuff filmed later because they found nothing and it had to fill the episode

[@angelitabecerra]

Unlikely. If you watch all their episodes you'll find some sort of reenactment or experimental archeology in most, if not all, of them. Mick Aston (RIP) believed experimental archeology was an important tool, rarely used. So that was one of the main pillars he put into this show when he conceived it.

[@mondriaa]

@@angelitabecerra I have seen pretty much all episodes and most more than once, this kind of reenactment was not done that much, the multi day style where 1 of the diggers (most of the time Matt) was doing reenactment and a lot of the time still digging only now dressed as a prisoner or navi, but the length of the Matt parts and its just feels different most of the time there is more interaction with the other diggers now it's just Tony saying hi

[@angelitabecerra]

@@mondriaa This is just like the reenactment when the one digger was a nun (forget her name), and another digger (forget his name) was a prisoner. Multi days, only interacting with Tony/the experts of the reenactment. And they found a lot on both of the other 2 I mentioned. This is par for the course with the reenactments. Currently on my 5th watch around of the episodes

[@mondriaa]

@@angelitabecerra my suspicions are not that off as Prof Alice Roberts said the same thing kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3elf42OoLJsjLc

[@TheShootist]

7:20 sometimes tony you are witless git.

[@liamshepard3981]

My Dad comes from South Shields

[@BadMedizin]

26:28 Alice Roberts? Really? I'm sorry but the orange hair? lol!

[@colinp2238]

Only a doctor then she is now almost 50 and a professor at Birmingham University.

[@johnrogers2826]

Tim Allen is a clown!

[@JohnP538]

We have just three days....so let's waste two days digging where nobody has ever found anything.

[@CreatingwithWinglessAngel]

Who, in their right mind builds houses over known graves!? You most certanly couldn't do that here in America??!

[@miekekuppen9275]

Europe´s a bit more crowded, few graveyards are eternal - and this area had already been built over in Victorian times, with the more modern houses built on top of the rubble without digging deeper down.

[@charlieherron5462]

You do realize they're discussing graves that are almost 2,000 years old when these buildings were built? With native Americans living in North America for about 14,000 years. Are you sure you're not sitting right now over an ancient grave?

[@colinp2238]

They're here!

[@Nylorac.Nruboc]

Yes you can. People do it all the time. Depends on the local legislation and how easily they can get around it. The Kohl’s department store near my house is sitting on a cemetery, and not an ancient one.

[@colinp2238]

@@Nylorac.Nruboc Surely there must be human remains everywhere lying beneath the ground?

[@ankr3w1]

I've watched every episode of this show 2 or 3 times over. These guys are always making assumptions in 3 days for tv purposes and i wish they didn't do that.

[@vincewhite5087]

They would not have been Iraqi. That is a modern creation.

[@billijomaynard8924]

You are correct about that, they most likely would have been Sarmatian boatmen, whose original territory befiore they were conquered by the Romans strecthed through mordern day Iraq and Iran. Their calvary was lengendary as well as their seafaiiring skills.

[@tempsitch5632]

Listening and comprehension failure.

[@Go-Dawgs]

Lol Carenza trying to deny any places for prostitutes is funny. Of Course she had to give her opinion that Tony & Guy were wrong. 🙄😒

[@flitsertheo]

Maybe they were denied entrance to the fort. As not to distract the soldiers from their military tasks. Or denied to live in the more "posh" parts of the Vicus. As not to bother the "upper-class" citizens. But otherwise they would be everywhere.

[@jor_r8769]

Modern architecture is so ugly. Should have left those Victorian homes.

[@patrickkelly4070]

This isn't a great one.

[@silverfrost1]

Least profitable episode of TT by far. They should have intuited that working in a recent suburban estate complex was going to be a disaster. The archeology is long gone.

[@MeAbroad2004]

Not true Silver Frost: the area around the fort continues provide glimpses: the school fields yielded good evidence for the Vicus when they were explored back in the 1990s. But 3 days is really trying to force it

[@angelitabecerra]

You find most archeological sites nowadays when a developer wants to build. Then rescue archeology happens so the builders can get building. This was a difficult site, urban archeology always is. But them starting from the unknown vs the known was the biggest hindrance on this site

[@brianhaskard1042]

Worst TT ever?

[@WOLFROY47]

i think that this proves my point ? they keep calling soldiers romans, when in fact, they wernt even from italy, let alone rome, just because its called the roman era, when the truth was they were from everywhere and worked for pay, i e mercenaries

[@cathjj840]

Kind of like the US army today - only there's no guarantee of citizenship after 25 yrs, serious injury or even death. Empires - seen one, seen 'em all.

[@tempsitch5632]

Nope.

[@colinp2238]

Ancient version of the Gurkhas.

[@angelitabecerra]

Part of the Roman Empire, signed up for the Roman army, got Roman citizenship; that makes them Roman. They didn't need to be from Rome itself to be Roman. Just like someone born in America to Italian parents is still Italian. Hence dual citizenship

[@sliewood]

Crap editing. Kinda rubbish when a sentence gets cut.

[@patstats1]

I’m thinking who is this fellow, Tim Allen? Certainly not a comedian. Nor was any of this dig humorous, except for Matt’s askew helmet. What a waste of effort and manpower. I have to agree, looks like Tim was doing someone a favor.

Why so happy to think Iraquis were part of a invasion of old britain? Is this consent to murder and invasion of britain? Is this some agenda to put down the modrrn iraqui invasion? why ? Stick to archaeology dude.

[@eboracum2012]

He's not an archaeologist, dude, he's the Wolfman Jack of Time Team...well, more like Dick Clark. Or Piers Gaveston.

[@eboracum2012]

No, wait, I meant Piers Morgan. That obnoxious guy.