Its a thought... you have to come up with a new angle for the TT... Like the Big Digs, or the Royal Dig. what would you suggest as a new idea?

To kick off... I would love to see a Time Team Total Town Project ... where the history of a single location is traced via archives, excavation, survey etc.. from the earliest to the present day. --- Please don't tell me thats be done ! each week a new period is investigated.. and the puzzle is pieced together...

It would have to be a very small town.

Come to midlothian !

Just reminded me
was the very first ''big dig'' fully
written up?
km.

Think it is now been done...

not as bad as one site I worked on in 1985... will be published next year.. ;-))

Hey... its worth waiting for..

quote:

Originally posted by kevmar:
Just reminded me
was the very first ''big dig'' fully
written up?
km.

and more importantly, have they forwarded the information onto all the County SMR's now

HI, ID, ASK THEM TO COME TO HOUGHTON ON THE HILL NEAR SWAFFHAM NORFOLK, ST MARYS CHURCH, GOOGLE HOUGHTON ON THE HILL ST MARYS CHURCH, AND YOULL SEE WHY!! HISTORY IS AMAZING, I LIVE VERY CLOSE BY, AND KNOW BOB(SEE GOOGLE). WOULD BE THE BEST PROGRAM YET

quote:

HOUGHTON ON THE HILL ST MARYS CHURCH

Well I did... and indeed you look like you have a cracking place. It would be interesting to follow teh history of this vilage from Irona Age (it must be there!) through Roman, Saxon, medeival, post med and on to 1944 (what happened for teh last service to take place then?) and on to the present...

What about revisiting sites to see how they fared.

quote:

Originally posted by BAJR:
What about revisiting sites to see how they fared.

A good idea, but not one which would sustain 13, 1 hour programmes I think. But there would a be enough material for a miniseries of "specials"

Could pick a 'best of' each series?

Be lovely to see a before and after.

Specials migth be better as you say though.

Here's a novel idea. how about making them publish some of their results

I'd like to see an episode were they don't find anything at all. That would at least make a change. Ideally the geophys would show enormous structures buried but actually there would be nothing. Tony would then have to do 'disappointed' instead of his usual 'enthusiastic' and 'fascinated'.

Well the Cheddar one came spectacularly close to finding "nothing at all". If it wasn't for that minute piece of bone....

I like TT as it is, but wonder how much longer it can carry on in it's present format. Give Jonathan Foyle a starring role is a good start, visit more peoples gardens etc, involve the public on each dig (I know it isn't practical, but the most successful episodes normally involve members of the public). Make the series shorter, and the digs longer. revisit sites, update us on the progress of continuing ones...

Hope the TT production team are taking notes

Send in Stewart Ainsworth and listen to him. Half the time there wouldn't even need to be a dig. he knows all just by reading maps and the land with all its lumps and bumps.

Hi All
brazilian wrote

"Send in Stewart Ainsworth and listen to him. Half the time there wouldn't even need to be a dig. he knows all just by reading maps and the land with all its lumps and bumps."

Sacrilege! where would archaeologists be without muddy holes? Just beardy men in wellies standing around in fields! Oh wait that's Farmers

Seriously BAJR has a good idea about a multi-period site but perhaps a village might be more achievable. One with prehistoric, Roman, early medieval, medieval and post-med evidence. Then all the methods could be applied to trace its development. This could also involve a village school throughout the project as well as locals and perhaps the county/district council archies might want to join in for added community involvment.

aardvark
Most people on the forum know, a report is published for every site they do which is then lodged with the SMR or EH or both, and sites which were excavated a while back are being written up.

At the moment a number of articles for journals are currently being written aswell, including Withington and Queenborough. It takes time for sites to be published, everyone knows that, just be patient.

What about a London riverside borough, with crossing dating back to the Iron age?
I live in one, it's called Fulham - once called Fulenham
A little dig by the river would be interesting.

Quite agree with teh comment about Stewart Ainsworth - one of my heros! I love reading the landscape and using old maps to interpret the present day landforms... ah... joy!

Seriously though.. does anyone from the TT production come to the forum for suggestions?

quote:

Originally posted by BAJR:
Seriously though.. does anyone from the TT production come to the forum for suggestions?

I doubt it, it's not actually Ch4 which make the programme. Sometimes one of the excavation team will drop by.

I think you could change the format completely and it would still be Time Team. That also goes for the presenter and the rest of the team.
In fact, I reckon a few changes wouldn't go amiss. I find the programme a touch too "cosy" at times.

Pity.... who is the person to talk to? (offline if it is not 'public')

It might be a great idea to ask the people... archaeology needs a big boot/boost.. just now.

Ideas for programmes can be sent to
Time Team
49 Goldhawk Road
London W12 8QP

Details here http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/timeteam/faqs_prog_2.html

The Much Wenlock programme is on Civilisation tonight. I'd love to see them go back to the investigation of people's back gardens because of interesting things residents have found, rather than some of the grander scale palaces etc they've looked for in recent series.

Thanks Jean.... perhaps we could put a few of these together and mail them off?