Originally posted by Steve Platt: Pure chance that they put the trench where they did. This was an evaluation, not a full-site excavation, so it could easily have been missed.
Agreed, but as they knew burials had been destroyed only a matter of yards away when the railway was laid, there was a good chance of making more finds. There are also more excavations planned before the road is widened
The area in question is also a very narrow strip of land, not like putting a trench in a 200 acre field.
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Even on a small site, luck plays its part. And remember, this was a small, routine evaluation - there was no indication that anything like as important a burial might be found here. According to Ian Blair, the excavation team leader: 'If we'd put [the trench] where I originally planned to put it we would have missed the chamber grave completely.'
Sounds like a really good show, shame about the title.
Guaranteed to put off middle-aged viewers (what's a bling? ) and probably won't attract any youngsters. It's the M&S marketing disaster all over again.
I live just near the site where to saxon king was found and i dont think it was a surprise that there was something of importance there.At our local museum ( http://www.southendmuseums.co.uk )there are other saxon objects and remains that was discovered when they orginally built Priory cresent not to mention that Piory Park just opposite is also crammed full of archeology as shown by a geophysical survey that the English Hertigate Trust helped pay for. Surely further inspection of Priory Park is a must to see what else of importance lies undiscovered in our park. Check out the southend museums web site and see the geophysical survey results for yourself. oh and enjoy the show.
Although the word 'bling' has passed into colloquial English - in some circles, at least - I'll wager it'll certainly not be understood by the majority of Time Team viewers.
It took me a long time to know what it meant, and it really doesn't seem a suitable word to use in the title of a show that purports to be 'serious' archaeology.
Tony Robinson once described archaeology as 'the new rock and roll', so why can't it be the new hip hop too? Here's the etymology of 'bling', courtesy of MTV:
The next time you and your pals coin a slang term to describe your latest bejeweled accessories, don't bet on keeping it exclusive. The linguistics "gangstas" over at the Oxford English Dictionary aren't "new jacks" to the latest "def" lingo.
The venerable definitions resource has already added other hip-hop-turned-mainstream terms like "jiggy," "breakbeat," "dope" and "phat" to the online updates of the 20-volume dictionary, and now it has started drafting an entry for the latest OED-approved term, "bling bling."
The term, which is used to describe diamonds, jewelry and all forms of showy style, was coined by New Orleans rap family Cash Money Millionaires back in the late '90s and started gaining national awareness with a song titled "Bling Bling" by Cash Money artist BG.
The rapper, who is currently promoting his new album, Living Legend, told MTV News, "I'm so surprised that that word has spread like it has. But I knew it was serious when I saw that the NBA championship ring for the Los Angeles Lakers had the word 'bling bling' written in diamonds on it."
And while BG once felt territorial about his much-loved term, he's since opened his arms to the slang's universal appeal.
" 'Bling bling' will never be forgotten," he said. "So it's like I will never be forgotten. I just wish that I'd trademarked it, so I'd never have to work again."
I found out what it meant when Craig Charles accused Jimmy Saville of having been "Bling before Bling was Bling". Didn't really need much explanation after that!
Even the Breakfast Show DJs on Virgin thought the title sounded like serious dumbing down!!
I can just see Tony standing in the pouring rain on the site at Prittlewell saying " When you think of Southend, what comes to mind ? Candyfloss, Kiss me Quick hats, etc, etc
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