Time Team Special: Swords, Skulls & Strongholds | Classic Special (Full Episode) 2008

FULL EPISODE | CLASSIC TIME TEAM SPECIAL
Tony Robinson and the team present a radical picture of the British Iron Age, by concentrating on its charismatic hill forts. This period was virtually ignored by antiquarians, who assumed the structures related to the Roman conquest of Britain. Nevertheless, many of the tracks, boundaries, ditches, and hill defences are still visible or in use today. Modern archaeologists like Barry Cunliffe, Mike Parker Pearson, and J.D. Hill have thrown new light on structures such as Maiden Castle and Danebury, suggesting their function was social and religious rather than military.
Original broadcast date: 19th May 2008
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[@TimeTeamOfficial]

Join us for the official KZbin premiere and live chat tonight at 7pm BST

[@InterestedAmerican]

I would imagine it would be extremely difficult to tell whether "human sacrifice" was because of a serial killing priest that engrained killing as part of a religeous ritual, or the result of a demented serial killing tribal leader that demanded deaths to satisfy their evil cravings for killing. Both were able to get away with it because their murderous ways gained them power over the people that weren't willing to murder.

[@lnbjr7]

This is an incredible production and a model for future TimeTeam programs. The idea of sharing what has been learned from previous work done by archeologists over the centuries is wonderful way of making the public aware of our past. Tony would have to be the Presenter and other classic and current members of TimeTeam could be could be brought in to explain the significance of the finds!

[@EuroWarsOrg]

BIT DISGUSTING HOW YOU PLASTER POOR TONY ALL OVER THE PLACE TO PROMOTE YOURSELF

[@eilrobichaud]

@TimeTeamOfficial - I would like to suggest, as an episode, having long time members of Time Team revisit things they found/discovered during their work with the series. It could be visiting items they discovered that are now in museums or locations that have now been scheduled and available for viewing by the public, etc. I think having them reflect on their experience with the tangible item/area/etc, might be very interesting.

[@support-4-whistleblowers]

great idea - also more reenactments inside computer visualisations of the historic sites

[@seanpaula8924]

Agree

[@preiter20]

I would love to see Phil do such an episode!

[@avalonkerr8332]

I'd like to hear about what happened in the pubs after!

[@ValleyKnown]

Agreed

[@johng.1703]

whenever Tony is talking about the plan layout for where they are going to put in a trench / test pit, my brain is always wanting him to say "I have a cunning plan"

[@debbralehrman5957]

No 🤦🏼‍♀️😂😂😂😂

[@efretheim]

"as cunning as a fox who's just been appointed Professor of Cunning at the University of Oxford"

[@annfahy2589]

😂😂😂

[@EventHorizon3.14]

Black Adder ….. nice

[@melissabaanders2751]

Same, every fukn time😂😂😂😂😂

[@ramonaausterman9620]

A California girl here….love, love, love the Time Team!

[@RobBoudreau]

Sir Barry Cunliff is an amazing man. I've read several of his books, and listened to many of his talks, they're always engrossing and informative. His knowledge of Iron-Age Britain and Celtic culture is second to none. This was one of my favorite specials largely because he was in it.

[@arthurprentice7110]

As I have climbed the aging mountain I can see the panorama of the past spread behind me. Thanks Time Team for bringing a lot of it into focus. Please keep on keeping on.

[@thehairyhominid9972]

Time Team is one of the greatest productions in the history of television. UK archeology to me is the most fascinating and intriguing area of the world to study. Even though living during the bronze age through -medieval times would have been a really difficult time to be alive, gosh do I wish I could have experienced walking through hill forts, villages, megalithic sites and castles. Heck, maybe I did in previous lives 😊

[@noonehere1793]

I loved the description of life “going to bed in the evening not knowing if someone might be at your door to do harm”….in other words JUST LIKE TODAY😁🤔😁

[@captainguy51]

It was nice seeing Phil again!

[@clairewall]

Thank you. These specials are great. I Love Tony. ❤

[@Abuamina001]

Kudos from New Zealand. This series is remarkable.

[@LilieDubh]

Love Time Team. Always look forward to these specials. This one doesn't disappoint. Hill Forts are an amazing part of British history.

[@Gandalf22476]

Fantastic! Here for the algorithm because more people need to find Time Team!

[@bblades1228]

Watching from NC!!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Time Team!!!

[@MsRain49]

Loving Time Team, and all the gang from Washington State, USA. ❤

[@user-hy7zb2vl3t]

You are right!!! Western Washington myself 😊

[@D.H.-mg2cz]

Apart from the intriguing content & Robinson's wonderful presentation, as a non-native English speaker I could listen for hours to Harding's thick accent. 😍

[@jimroberts3009]

It's great to see some of the old familiar faces again. I binge watched Time Team during the Covid shutdown, it was nice to see some lovely British countryside while stuck indoors. 😊

[@kathrynschauf1784]

I think you need to go dig at Calf Top mountain, Cumbria, Home of the Metcalfe family. My Family! Selfish me. Lots of history though! We're from Yorkshire. You're very close!

[@kenowens9021]

One of the biggest aids to come along that inspired more archaeology was, the airplane. When they saw the landscape from the air, they could see more distinct outlines of fields, forts and walls.

[@thekaxmax]

started with hot-air balloons, though. Used for both archaeology (a bit) and military reconnaissance.

[@verysurvival]

Cool

[@nettejakobs2501]

Loving Tonys final connecting London today with long lost times - his is right not much has really changed 😂 Greetings from Denmark ❤

[@seanpaula8924]

Thank you Time Team.

[@petphotog]

I was very lucky to tour Loughcrew August 2022. I was even aloud to sit on the Hag’s Seat. I got some really nice photos and I was quite happy I brought my flashlight. I would love to email with the makers of the video as I am gathering information to write a novel set in the times when these were being made. Newgrange, & Hill of Tara were also part of my visit. It was great it was right after lockdown so we had small groups and more time.

[@davidburbage3348]

Been a fascinated fan of British archaeology for years. Not only because of my ancestry; but there is so much more history in the UK than in the US. Notwithstanding the head start you had. And Time Team was a great help in getting through the pandemic! I particularly liked Eilrobichaud's suggestion below of revisiting previously excavated sites for updates. History is a never ending study, after all.

[@kevinroche3334]

Great to see castell hentlys again. I helped build the original huts in the late 1980s

[@bosse641]

Early and ancient history is an interesting subject. We know little. Would love to travel back in time seeing all the clans and cultures.

[@susanjane4784]

Wonderful educational and sorely missing part of the archeological sequence for me. One tiny suggestion: the occasional cartoon doodle stick figure person or car would greatly help us understand the height and width of these sites. The drone shots were majestic but I had no way to know if they were 10 feet tall or 100. The sheep seen on some helped a lot.

[@debbralehrman5957]

Thanks Guys 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@karlheinzvonkroemann2217]

There he is again! Tony, "I have a cunning plan mylord" Robinson. Gotta love Baldric!

[@KristenStieffel]

Fantastic episode! Thanks so much for brining us these specials. ❤

[@54mgtf22]

Long time ‘Time Team’ fan, loving the You Tube channel. Thank you.

[@giovanni5063]

Time Team is not Time Team without Tony Robinson nudging the Gang on and throwing his "What is going on here, when you said something else?" Bombs. Love ya' Tone.

[@michaelbelisle8930]

The best part of this special is the end when tony connected The ironage to the modernage

[@Geraint3000]

Wonderful episode!

[@Fush1234]

To me Tony Robinson was Time Team. I not donate anything without him. Sori.

[@michaelking8642]

Excellent content.

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

Thank you!

[@Davlavi]

Love the Iron Age.

[@nettejakobs2501]

What a cool excit commentary on 'changes' throu time 😅 Greetings from Denmark 😊

[@beebeelicious]

Great, thank you ❤

[@MrGozer23]

I believe the hill forts are the perfect settlement spot to avoid most iron age threats(people, animals, floods or fire)except disease of course. Also, you could see any potential threat from far enough away to be ready for it.

[@beckyburrow8576]

❤🎉❤ Go Time Team Go 😊

[@Psychlist1972]

I had to lol at Tony's Boris overdub at the end

[@paulthomas5724]

My wife Sara and I took our children Alecia and Dylan to Castell Henllys Iron Age fort a few years ago… what an incredible place! A wonderful insight into our ancient past! I highly recommend a visit 👍🏻

[@jasonmichael5055]

Thank you

[@simonhjc]

Brilliant

[@user-pm3er8ig1o]

will never tire of this show

[@micaltoy824]

Love Time Team❤

[@michaelking8642]

There were crazy amounts of dangerous wildlife back then, these defences, I believe, were primarily defensive against bears, elk , wolves and mental people.

[@user-hy7zb2vl3t]

So cool never seen by me before 😂❤😂😊

[@jenniferlaurensmom]

love seeing uncle Phil

[@alanatolstad4824]

Well-done.

[@deweyplaster5036]

When I was in the US Navy's nuclear field in the 80s we used thermoluminescent dosimetry. A chrystal in the holder would absorb radiation. When the chrystal was heated it would give off light proportional to the radiation received. That was equated to radiation dose received.

[@JOSHUASUTTON100]

Tony Robinson could read the back of a frozen lasagna package and I’d watch/listen

[@kylemeltzer7473]

I wish Tony Robinson was my uncle

[@ledacedar6253]

Sweet heart the man has an acidic tongue.

[@bettygreenhansen]

Hi Tony!!! 💋

[@michaelkinsey4649]

Why do we never see the VERY old TT episodes? They'd be fascinating - time capsules in their own right!

[@Odanti]

I watch them all the time on KZbin. I cannot get Time Team out of my blood. ❤️🙏❤️

[@georgedorn1022]

The first 11 series (minus series 9) are on the Channel 4 website so they won't be made available on KZbin for UK audiences at least. If you are elsewhere in the world, the Time Team Classics channel has more episodes available than we can see in the UK - including some of the earlier episodes.

[@kylegawron5358]

Is there a website that gives updates on new discoveries from all types of archeology,with information on the discoveries for people to get excited about it as the archeologist would of felt when they discovered it.

[@user-hy7zb2vl3t]

Bone detectives was pretty good 😊

[@54mgtf22]

Time for a new goal as you have now passed 10000 patreon members.

[@margomoore4527]

Is it just me, or does Stewart Ainsworth strongly resemble the Dr. Who with a very similar accent, the one who said, “Every planet has a North.”

[@Celtic2Realms]

Tim Taylor did interviews on the Time Team KZbin channel with various members of the team and featured their best finds and sites.

[@waynemcauliffe-fv5yf]

Glad i live now

[@ReneeWatson-cr9vw]

The world's oldest pub perhaps "The White Horse"

[@theoztreecrasher2647]

Are they really sure that it is a horse? Looks more like a greyhound lifting its leg to mark its territory! 😉😊

[@theeddorian]

The striking thing about hill "forts" is that they generally lack obvious documented water sources within the "fort" perimeters. Wheeler did speculate about certain ditches that _may_ have led to a water "butt." Water storage feature should be fairly obvious _if_ they were present. Typical cisterns tend to be lined to prevent over rapid loss of contents due to percolation into the surrounding soil or rock. Some rocks such as limestone and chalk are likely to be highly susceptible to loss. So, "fort" is an unlikely function, or it says something about intergroup conflict among Iron Age societies.

[@theeddorian]

The Romans writers do not describe the Britons are bearded. They do remark on their mustaches, and the muscular arms of the women for that matter. They remark are their extreme cleanliness, and the care they gave to their hair, which _was_ long.

[@user-hy7zb2vl3t]

Saying on the Gaul and there displays I think 😊

[@andrewdowns3403]

Danbury , there would no lack of metal detectors there ( the Detectorists)

[@billielyons-super70]

Yay! Uncle Phil!

[@Hinata.Sakaguchi]

wow !Boris Johnson was the Mayor when this was Aired.

[@guyd4067]

11:21 the two knights face off

[@spacelemur7955]

This, IMHO, was the best new episode yet.

[@TimesRyan]

It aired in 2008

[@peterjackhandy]

Archaeology's a fascinating science; new techniques & technical advances constantly make us look back scepticaĺly on the assumptions made by previous diggers - But the future will see much improved techniques & I can't help but think that future generations are going to be using noninvasive procedures to provide high-resolution, deep-down 3d images & bemoan the 'vandalism' done by today's diiggers.

[@emelle9705]

I would love to go back to school and exclusively study Iron Age Archaeology.

[@darreno9874]

I can find no indication that Wales produced tin, it did refine tin from Devon and especially Cornwall.

[@lnbjr7]

Another reason to become a Patriot member! Wish they had a “Pensioner” membership level!

[@user-hy7zb2vl3t]

What for us people who can only remember being able to move an bend like the team 😅

[@TARAROAD]

👋🏻

[@neoAREAXIS]

Yay.. happy place. I'm so lonely and hurt. Anyone need a pen pal? 😅

[@brim89]

I have a theory on why they built the hills. I believe it was to be closer to their gods

[@margomoore4527]

Obviously there was some shared culture with Northern Germany. Ruegen Island also has chalk cliffs and the early pagans worshipped both a two-faced god and a white horse.

[@TravisBrady-wn8fr]

With a title like that i couldnt click fast enough. Way to go Time Team!

[@cynhanrahan4012]

Beware the use of that word superstition, Tony. The gods of your ancestors may be listening.

[@user-hy7zb2vl3t]

That's ahell of a lot of ears listening 👂 yah know 😮

[@paulpowell4871]

50,000 years in the future Time Team, "these porcelain object where they relieved themselves were a form of religious sacrifice to the gods"

[@user-hy7zb2vl3t]

There was a story I can't rember the name of where they excavation was a hotel and they surmised bathrooms were religious rooms for worship. It was because every room had one 😊

[@pollyg562]

the hill fort are saying hay if you are traveling by don't even think of coming here causing trouble if we can build this imagine what we can do to you so keep going or trade in peace"

[@adamsjerome1839]

I know I am catch some flack over this. I think the reason that north American indigenous people did not develop sophisticated technology was that they were isolated. In Europe many cultures were trading and exchanging ideas and as humans the various tribes were trying to better their trading partners for superiority economically and militarily.

[@user-hy7zb2vl3t]

Agreed if you don't get access to new ideas and techniques you see no need to change

[@adamsjerome1839]

When the Europeans arrived they judged by what they were used to. Advanced navigational skills, metallurgy, a written language etc. The nail in the coffin however was the aboriginal beliefs in polytheism and animist characters. The Christian belief therefore judged the indigenous people as savages. A completely different aside is that when the people crossed over the Bering ice bridge they were colonizing an unknown territory. I doubt if they had encountered a preexisting population (which I doubt there was) they would have said "sorry about trespassing, we will go back to were we came from". Colonialism has existed for all time whether relatively benign to outright barbarism.

[@user-hy7zb2vl3t]

@adamsjerome1839 You maybe taking it wrong in what I was saying the cut off America's did not have the advancing trade in tech. Not saying in their own way advanced compared to the rest of the world, we were just above Australia in technology 🙄

[@jefflanam]

One big problem they had was the lack of tin. They had copper for thousands of year, plus gold and silver. But tin is very rare in the Western Hemisphere. No tin, no bronze. And without bronze, you don't develop the smelting technology for iron.

[@johnDukemaster]

Religion has always been a reason for defending one self. Now and then. Thank you TT!

[@kylegawron5358]

these hills give off Teletubbie vibes XD

[@brianvernall8487]

Where did these people get their water supplies from?

[@theoztreecrasher2647]

Plenty of women and other beasts of burden! Usually only a mile or 2 to the nearest creek. 😱😈

[@brianvernall8487]

@@theoztreecrasher2647 Ok, but hauling gallons of water per person per day up a hill like that must have been a major consideration against long term residence?

[@SIG442]

11:38 This 3D image doesn't represent the lines you can see in the ground from above. It would rather suggest more similar streets we have today with small square buildings in a typical more modern style alongside round houses. You could see clear straight lines in the ground at 10:07 but also clear signs of round houses. This might indicate there were 2 phases or different reasons for things.

[@Watcher1852]

GREAT VIDEO AND NO ROMANS. THANK U , SHARE, SHARE

[@JohhnyB82]

Brits have forgotten what it is like to share the landscape with large predators and other dangerous animals like wild boars. Of course they built places that would keep them out.

[@5chr4pn3ll]

"Swords" in plural. Where?

[@anvil5356]

In 53BC Julius Caesar Besieged the fortified town (hill Fort) of Alesia in Gual, capturing the Gaulish leader Vercingetoix and ending Gaulish resistance. This would of been well known of by people like Pitt Rivers and Mortimer Wheeler. Are modern archaeologist suggesting that archaeologists (working during the age of Empire [1880s-1960ish) thought the ancient British were less advanced than the Gauls (French) and couldn't build fortified towns, or is it just a case that modern archaeologists have got a bit pedantic about the word 'fort' and have gotten a little bit smug and self congratulating, because they have worked out that people actually lived inside these fortifications and are deliberately miss-interpenetrating the phrase 'Hill Fort'. A hill with a fortification around it is a 'hill fort', in the same way that a town/city with a wall around it is a fortified town (York, Chester, London, etc.) A fortified town is not a military fortification, but a town that is fortified and the same can be (and was probably always) said about 'hill forts' (short for hill fortifications). How anybody could believe that something the size of Maiden Castle was anything apart from a fortified town is behold me, especially when you think about the size of the population during this period. I was told they were towns/villages by my history teacher 50+ years ago.

[@midlander2756]

The whole premise of the show is to build a straw man ie silly old fashioned duffers from the past with their antiquated views versus us ever so sophisticated modern types who find conflict so distasteful. It's a nonsense when is a fortified town not a fort?

[@zworm2]

Sound like 'Forts' to me. look like 'Forts' also. The archeologists are simply vying for names and ideas to 'Gild' the English society. As the Mott and Bailey developed after the Normans arrived. Castle and community. Making the tools of war inside. Stashing the supplies needed in a siege behind the walls. Great they have more complete information but it only proves the fort is still a fort.

[@lenabreijer1311]

Want to link your peer reviewed PhD paper on that?

[@zworm2]

@@lenabreijer1311 Just commenting as the video did towards the end on the same correlation. I'm a biologist but love and support Time Team.

[@lenabreijer1311]

@@zworm2 there is definitely a difference between a Fort, which is basically occupied by soldiers and a walled town or village. Both York and London had walls, neither were forts.

[@Ulfhednir9]

Man i think that people that look at every archeological site or artifact and say its ritual or religious needs to stop. not every murder is ritual sometimes its murder and a fortified town is a fortified town. Children were killed in raids and battles since the start, doesnt mean its a sacrifice. Geez its like listening to a flat earther wanting attention.

[@amc5966]

Was really excited until it was all about pre-Roman. Loads of lumps, bumps and self indulgent piles of scattered rocks that is porn for hardcore archaeologists. I'll come back for the next one.

[@user-hy7zb2vl3t]

The porn or the archeology?😅

[@davidhocde007]

Y a des gaulois, ici ?

[@user-hy7zb2vl3t]

I believe the were a continent people I believe 😊

[@deadmeat_0152]

no mystery IMO, Hill Forts are just Fortified Towns before they knew how to build big stone walls

[@ashleysmith3106]

Questioner, " What is it ? ?" Archaeologist, thinks, "I haven't got a clue!" Says, "Obviously Ritual/Religious "

[@gubjorggisladottir3525]

The smallest amount Time team accept on Patreon is &5 (five pounds) I would like to contribute... but I am NOT able to afford that amount. Not at all... $1 is the maximun amount I could pay... so my small budget I am able to pay goes to another creator instead.

[@amandachapman4708]

There is a "thanks" button to the right of the "like" and some other buttons, which you can use to donate small amounts of your choice. Hope that helps.

[@user-hy7zb2vl3t]

My problem as well 😢

[@coryparni3620]

Dont hear a peep out of robinson for declaring the succession is broken . Not since his knighthood

[@sallyreno6296]

All this, "gods," "deities," "worship," "religion," and no evidence at all for any of that. sigh, More projection.

[@paulpowell4871]

Human nature, people wanted to steal your stuff.