Why We Dig | S1 Episode 2 | Archaeology docuseries

As the dig progresses, the archaeologists are mystified by a 'big circular feature' in the trench. What could it mean for the story of the site? Meanwhile, we get to know the rest of the team and reflect upon the more human aspects of archaeology.
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#archaeology #docuseries #netflix #whywedig

[@twothreebravo]

Johanna is a saint! She's trying to run a tight ship and you lot come in and mess everything up :)

[@PatHerranz]

These episodes are super! Such great quality, amazing editing and you guys have the most wonderful energy 👏🏻👏🏻 I wish they could get more exposure because they are 🔝🔝🔝 I might visit this summer and join the dig 🤘🏻

[@amys2650]

I’ve always loved Archaeology and can literally watch any and every documentary in it I can find. Started with Time Team and from them I came across your team. I’m 39 and wish I wasn’t to old to go to school to be an archaeologist. My dream wish would be to go on a dig and get dirty and dig for days just to experience my love of History and Archaeology.

[@willisgemutlich2608]

Thanks gals and guys, I really enjoy catching up with this project. You have a very interesting and rich site with so many stories to tell or to hide. I appreciate the 20 minute length... the multitude of short ones less. This one was great.

[@Digventures]

Cheers Willis. Glad you like the new direction that we're taking with our video content. It takes a lot more time and resource to produce something like this, so we're relieved you're liking it!

[@northernskys]

Absolutely brilliant stuff. Love this team. Such a great sense of humour and friendship. so wish I was living in England so I could come play with you guys. Keep up the fantastic work! Cheers from Oz!

[@Digventures]

Thank you Peter! Good team spirit is so important for good archaeology. We hope you can come and dig with us one day, but for now we're delighted that you can be part of our team online, all the way from Oz.

[@kendrajohnson6535]

This is inside-out and back-to-front wonderful - I loved every minute of it!

[@Digventures]

Thank you Kendra! We all watched it together last night in the Crossman with popcorn and found ourselves all laughing out loud. We knew you'd love this episode in particular! Looking forward to seeing you at the weekend x

[@thomasbell7033]

You so deserve more looks and likes.

[@orkboy59]

This is awesome!!

[@Digventures]

Thank you Conan!

[@MrNas42]

I love these videos!

[@Digventures]

Thanks Nigel - there's more to come!

[@theinquisitiveginger5864]

😂 the joys of working with the sun 😅

[@neilfleming2787]

lol, my sharpies were either in my digging box or if using one in a back pocket or t-shirt front pocket

[@Digventures]

They always manage to go on walkabout no matter where you hide them away! They like a form of currency to archaeologists.

[@neilfleming2787]

at least nobody referred to the 'circular feature' as a 'tree throw'...used to hate when that happened (thinking about a dig at Bignor Roman Villa out in the courtyard area....)

[@Digventures]

That would be one big tree!

[@neilfleming2787]

@@Digventures It's more the damage that the trees do when they eventually fall (or are blown) over. at least two metres or more for a mature tree (depending species). The holes that are left look like pits (nice and circular), but then bottom out very quickly but you may get what look like post holes but are the tap root and other roots and sometimes animal action. Believe me, when you've dug half a dozen of them and then they say...'oh yeah, there could have been an orchard'...grrrrr

[@arttucker9913]

Wow. Was it really just six months ago?

[@fm2dmax]

Have any digs tried long wave (365nm) and shorter wave UV lights that will often fluoresce organic compounds to help know when to dig more carefully?

[@Digventures]

No, we haven't, but that is a most intriguing suggestion. Do tell us more...

[@WhoCaresWinsAgain]

I was at this site yesterday and stood patiently at the fence waiting to speak to anyone on the team. Both of the young archeologists ( probably in charge) on site walked past me several times without any contact. I was wearing a sweatshirt from Vindolanda where I spent two weeks fantastic digging 12 weeks ago. I was keen to talk to the diggers and share information but sadly I was not approached despite standing a few feet away for 10 minutes! Perhaps you need to engage more with obviously interested members of the public. When at Vindolanda all the diggers were encouraged to engage with the public and the results were obvious. Treat this as some feedback and perhaps you might improve your public engagement.

[@Digventures]

Hi Nick, we're sorry you didn't get the attention you expected. Everyone on our team, including our Venturers, is always encouraged to speak to passersby if they are able to. We have thousands of visitors every day, and speak to hundreds of them - regardless of which t-shirt they're wearing. Unfortunately we don't always manage to speak to everyone. We're a small team with lots to do, but we do our best to engage with as many people as possible - both online and in person, and our signs clearly show how you can find out more about our discoveries if an archaeologist isn't available to speak to you during the 10 minutes that you come by. However, we have noted your comment, and will keep doing our best to engage with as many people as we can. Please do feel free to come back and say hello, or to send us an email with the information you'd like to share. We hope you enjoyed the video.

[@WhoCaresWinsAgain]

@@Digventures Hi and thanks for the reply and I do appreciate everything you’ve said. I was actually the only one standing at the fence line and several of the diggers were looking at phones or simply not making eye contact. I did enjoy the video as I love archeology and wish you well with future projects.

[@Digventures]

​@@WhoCaresWinsAgain Ah yes, our phones! We actually use a digital recording system called Digital Dig Team to record all of our discoveries online - including all contexts, features, and artefacts. So, what can appear to be us just 'looking at our phones' is actually us recording the site and making our data available to everyone in the world for free. In fact, the QR code on the sign by the fence links you to it so that you can see all the new records popping in real time. You can see it here: ddt.digventures.com/lindisfarne/browser.php We totally appreciate your interest, and hope that you will come and visit again in future. Maybe you can even come and dig with us next time! In all seriousness, if you'd just given a little shout to say hello, I am 100% sure someone would have looked up and popped over to have a quick chat. In the meantime, we hope you can enjoy learning about the site through our videos, records, and social media channels - we really are doing our best to share our work as widely as possible, and to engage with people in as many different ways as we can.