As an appetiser for the first programme I would like to impart the following information. In the course of my job I often find myself on building sites. Just before Christmas I visited the site of an old manor house in Northampton. During a discussion with the land owner I was informed that the first of the new series of Time Team had been filmed there earlier in the year. The reason being that during the excavation for some footings for a new building, several skeletal remains possibly dating back to Saxon times were found. Upon further investigation by local archaeologists many more bodies were unearthed. During my visit I was shown examples of complete bodies that were coming out of the ground all over the place, some of them only just below the surface. It was simply an amazing and facinating sight to behold. Apparently Phil Harding was in his element!!
I've always thought Phil has shown great sensitivity about excavating skeletons - in fact he made such an impression on me that I've always tried to copy him.
Well, they do take a lot of time, care and patience to excavate properly and reverently, and once you've found one it can't simply be ignored - at the very least it's got to be recorded and its location noted for future reference, even if it's not going to be excavated and removed.
where there is a deadline to lift hundreds fo graves the need to give them proper attention can be lost in the mad race? i am not saying i have seen any carnage but it can get a bit production line if you need to get so many out in a limited space of time?
A Home Office licence is necessary before any human remains can be excavated, and one of the standard conditions concerns treating the remains with due respect. So presumably if one suspected that things weren't being done properly a complaint could be made.
I don't know how quickly an experienced excavator could "do" a skeleton - not much less than half a day to uncover, record and lift everything properly I should imagine. It takes me longer than that but I haven't done many.
