Time Team Excavation Site Yaverland

 archeological site, interesting place, historical layer / disappeared object

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Welcome to the Isle of Wight, and in particular, to this field which has turned up a real archaeological mystery.

Two years ago they were putting a water pipe through here and a previously unknown Roman site was discovered. There wasn’t much time for investigation, but they did catch glimpses of at least one wall, evidence of Roman metalworking and literally hundreds of finds. And most intriguing of all, was this slab of Italian marble, with marks on it here which indicate that it may have been attached to a high status building.

But was it, and if so was the high status building in this field? The islanders are really excited about it and want time team to solve the mystery, and as usual, we got just three days to come up with some answers.


Day One:
Two seconds in and already something’s going wrong. Stewart, Phil and Carenza combined can’t find the pipe that will give them their bearings, and the location of the previous trenches, and Tony and Mick have just arrived to lend a helping hand. Stewart is trying to locate the original trench by working out and landmarks he can see on the photos.
Archaeologist Kevin Trott discovered the site when the pipeline was laid. The pipe is plastic, so it's not expected to show up on the geophysics results.

There are a few dozen people local to the field that are fieldwalking and metal searching on behalf of the County Archaeology Unit. Ruth Waller is co-ordinating the search. She is cataloguing all the results and where they came from and there is a nice picture developing, there seems to be a lot of evidence everywhere that the walkers have searched.

All the field walking finds are being brought to the dinosaur centre on the Isle of Wight which is acting as Time Team’s base. Guy is looking with Carenza in detail at some of the coins that were found during yesterday’s field walk.

Guy tells us that there is some lovely detail on this coin. It has the legend all around it which includes the first part of the emperor's name.

In the middle of the coin is a portrait of him. Thick bull neck, curly hair, laurel reef and a rather ugly face. It was this emperors father Vespasian, who invaded and captured the Isle of Wight.


This coin was in a relatively good condition when it was found, so Guy expects that it was lost within 20 years of its mint in Rome in the late 1st century, so this shows evidence of occupation for the early 2nd century AD.

Day One, 10.30.

They’ve finally found the location of the previous trenches. Kevin’s first target is to find the cobbled area that they found a slab of marble from previously. Phil says that they actually need to find the location of the pipeline, so that would tell them exactly where they are and then everything should fall in place.

It’s so important to relocate Kevin’s trenches because no only did it uncover roman material, but also evidence of the earlier Iron Age. They are interested in the transition from the Iron to Roman times, when the Isle was called Vectis.

This is what the local area’ tribes were, so which tribe owned the Isle of Wight?

But, Mick and Guy don’t agree with the map, mainly because they were always fighting and the boundaries changed all the time.


The problem is that the GPS system used two years ago has changed rapidly, so there is a large margin of error.

The locating of the previous trenches is failing, and the rain is falling. If they can find the original trenches, then they will know where the cobbles are.

Worse news still is that geofizz are struggling to get any reasonable results here. But, Carenza’s making Trench 2, based on one anomaly of the geo-physics.

Back in trench 1, and one thing is for certain, they have found the pipe, but no evidence of archaeology.

20 minutes later and they have something to smile about, a layer of shells, burnt material, pot, and a single glass bead.

It was made in France, is a rare find, and was made between 150BC and 250AD, covering both Iron and Roman periods.


But the previous trenches are still causing bother. And Stewart’s come to the rescue. He’s been trying to locate the tree line found on the original photo, and has managed it with a 28mm lens. So the trench is actually next to the current trench 1.

Guy and Carenza are now looking at some of the finds that were found two years ago. They are looking at something that could either be a large adjustable bracelet or a small necklace. The steel yard and steel yard weights suggest a trading post. But Kevin’s trench also turned out marble. But, as Guy asks, is it from a building at the site, or a building somewhere else?

The extended trench 1, and Phil and Kevin have found the cobbles, and Jenni’s opened up a new trench, we’ll call it trench 3. She reckons that she’s found the source of the geofizz anomaly. Those results aren’t clear but they have located the pipe trench, or rather a metal pipe that runs next to the plastic one.

Day One, 4.45pm.

Archaeology is now being found in trench 1, in an area left intact because it was underneath Kevin’s spoil heap.

Phil’s found a bronze bracelet, it is really fragile, but Phil’s removed it, and there are terminal ends, to take on and off.

This dates to the third or 4th century, which is intriguing because in the same trench, 1st century material’s being found in what appears to be a tip of shells, so much that sacks are being used to collect them


Carenza’s trench is also turning up shells and big shards of local hand made pottery, Vectis wear, which was being made from the Iron Age to early 4th century. These finds, however, are no later than 70 – 80 AD.

Phil has also find Kevin's old trench, so they are closer to finding out if it was a Roman villa.




Day Two:
Tony, Mick, Kevin and Phil are standing in the extended pipe trench, which now covers Kevin’s original trench. What was found was a cobbled area, rubble, and a mortar type look which suggests that they are in the building. The idea now is to go uphill with the trench and possibly move the spoil heap because Saxon material was found there before.
Kevin's finds included lumps of recycled glass. Lead was also found, which introduces a possibility that people were enamelling broaches. Dr Helen Geake (18:40) has three broaches with her, all found in Saxon areas but all originated from the 3rd century AD.

Very little is known about the processes of enamelling in Roman times, so Time Team are going to make an exact copy of this hare, it looks like a rabbit but they were only introduced into Britain after the Norman conquest.

Bronze smith Andrew Lacey and local jeweller Guy Morray are taking up the challenge.

Guy’s first task is to create a replica out of lead, slightly larger than the original because when the metal cools it shrinks, he’s using cuttlefish bone to create the mould that will be used.


The field walking is going well, but as they went up the field the results became less and less. Intriguingly, the field walking shows concentration on 3rd and 4th century material near Kevin’s trench, but away from there first century finds are being discovered.

Mick suggests that as there is a lack of clear geofizz results they should place the next trench in one of the twenty metred square sections that are bringing-up a lot of Roman pottery. There was also a lot going on in the late Iron Age before the Roman invasion in 43AD. Carenza’s trench is finding a lot of Iron Age material as well, pottery included. This trench has revealed a lot of post-holes near cobbles, which have a very straight edge on. Everything that is appearing came from the late Iron Age.

Day Two, 11.00am.

In the Extended Pipe Trench, another piece of a bronze bracelet has been found, the third from this trench.

There is a single layer that they are finding the bracelets in, with nothing beneath it.

Phil suggests that the wall which they thought was the front of the building could be the back, with a cobbled floor.


In Time Team's Cameo workshop, the bronze mixture made up of 90% copper, 7% tin and 3% lead, is ready to be poured into the cuttlefish moulds. They are hoping for at least one decent broach that could be enamelled tomorrow.

Five minutes later, and it’s clear the furnace wasn’t hot enough; the bronze has solidified before reaching all parts of the mould. The solution, to add more tin to lower the melting point, to allowing the liquid metal to reach all parts of the mould, it worked.

Stewart’s fascinated by an engraving depicting the Isle of Wight from 1545, showing the view from Portsmouth towards the Isle of Wight. He chuckles at the fact you can see the "Mary Rose" sinking.

it shows clear water access very near to the site. If we look from the same angle today, this whole area has been reclaimed. This site was a valley back in the 16th century, effectively cut off from the rest of the island.


There are a lot of bronze items appearing from just one trench, not just bracelets, but pins as well. This appears green now, but Dr Helen Geake, an Anglo-Saxon expert, says that it would have been bronze when it was first made. The pin itself isn't rare, but the engraving on the head is. These finds look like they have been cut up, which, Tony says, could suggest an industrial site. Phil agrees saying that it could fit in. And what about the marble, well, just a mile away is Brading Villa, so it is likely that it would be taken to this site, second hand, as it were.

Tony and Mick visit Brading Villa, Dr David Tomalin, Trustee for Brading Roman Villa, shows them around. There is a large mosaic depicting the sea.

Day Two, 3.45pm.

In the 4th century workshop, Phil’s delighted at being able to show the cobbled area of the extended pipe trench.

Katie’s Trench, put in on the basis of field-walking finds, and is turning up loads of late Iron Age and early Roman material.

Clearly there are two Roman stories on this site, one around the time of the Roman invasion, and the other, a jewellery workshop from the 4th century.

Phil comes over to Mick and Guy with what Guy calls a Roman disc broach.

Over in the reconstruction, glass needs to be made. They are using silver sand and soda lime. In this case Malachhite is used to colour it. Enamel is essentially made of ground glass, so this has got to work.

Nearly the end of day two, and just chance to check with Jenni, in her trench lots of material has been found, including roof tiles, and sea creatures have been found, plus pottery and nails. And there’s a wall, Guy explains that this is more exciting that a villa because there is more to find in a working industry.


Day Three:
Although the current field is full of Iron Age and Roman finds, the experts, Mick, Guy and Stewart are eyeing up the neighbouring field, 100m away from the trenches. There are platforms in this field that are clearly man-made.
The plan is to dig a series of test pits, just to see if there is any sign of occupation in this field. Geophysics are working here as well, and they’ve been getting much better results higher up where the top-soil isn’t as deep. John explains the area that geofizz are working on.

The big ditch found in Katie’s Trench appears to be part of the earlier story on this site. The ditch has been cut through the bed-rock, and geofizz have tracked it round near Carenza’s trench (33:47) so it looks like it is surrounding something on the hill.

Day Three, 11.30am.

The Extended pipe trench has had yet another extension, this time to find a later Saxon building, which the experts believe could be the most important discovery of them all. So far two post holes have been discovered, no other Saxon buildings have been discovered on the island so far, so this could be a first.

In Time Team’s Roman workshop, the day of enamelling of the broach has arrived. For that they need some newly created coloured glass. Copper has been found on the pot which the glass should have been made in, it’s a strange sign. And it’s green on the underside, which is a good sign. This is very much trial and error, as no-one knows how the colours will change when they are heated again. Guy’s finishing the broach by trimming off the waste metal and drilling (using Roman methods) the hole for the pin.

It has now been proved that it was possible for cargo ships to get to the site, unfortunately the test pits nearer the creek show no sign of occupation, but this could have been lost because the hill was bulldozed after the war.

Geofizz have detected something on the top of the hill, so a trench has been put in to find out if it's Roman or Iron Age.

And there appears to be an entrance in the circle found in their results.

Katie’s found a flint scrapper in the ditch, which was either Neolithic or Bronze Age, Mick reckons this could have been a Bronze Age ring ditch around a barrow burial mound. This means that people would have been living in this landscape since 2000BC.

Day Three, 2.15pm.

Carenza’s trench, and a structure has been found, in the form of more post holes, in different sizes, which could suggest that some were the walls from a round house and others were for partition walls within the structure.

Carenza is impressed wit one of the smaller finds, a glass bead from one of the post holes, of course, Carenza’s more impressed by this than anyone else because she’s been trying for the last two days to make anything remotely glassy.


One last evaluation trench has been set up and it’s revealed something quite unexpected. Caroline Barker, an Osteoarchaeologist, has found human burial, or rather human remains. It looks like it male, and has been buried incredibly shallow (worrying the team to think it may be a modern day murder). The orientation is hard to work out. Carenza’s arrived to see the burial for herself; the hands are near to the head, suggesting a pre-historic burial, although Caroline admits to not knowing what a Saxon one looks like.

Carenza has to rush off because she doesn’t want to miss the enamelling stage of the experiment. The process of the enamelling only takes 30 seconds to a minute; it’s tricky because the different colours need to be added at different times and for different heating times.

Day Three, 4.00pm.

With the burial now uncovered, Time Team has committed themselves to fully excavating it, which will probably mean that Caroline will continue working tomorrow after the rest of the team have gone.

For the time being, she’s going to continue with it so we can see as much as we can at the end of the day.


In Carenza’s trench, there is now a Hearth to go with the Post holes, and now the facts point towards an Iron Age round house, part of a large settlement at the time of the Roman invasion in 43AD.

The ditch would be assumed to go the whole way around the settlement but geofizz could only see this much (see image), perhaps to appear impressive for anyone looking from the creek.

The roman building that was here around 300AD, was a humble structure, and not like the villa that was originally thought, but more likely to be a workhouse, perhaps with slaves working there, and maybe of several buildings here, because of the easy access to the sea, with people trading and shipping.

The enamelling experiment is a success, and 15/10 according to Phil.

Meanwhile, the experts appear to have found definite rare evidence of a Saxon building standing around 100 years after the Roman workshop.

Roman Pottery has also been found in the same trench, why the Saxons were living at the same place, because they had to live in a good patch.

After consulting Malcolm, Caroline says that the burial is late Iron Age.

This would be only the second Iron Age burial discovered on the island, and also his hands appear to be bound, or tied, for some reason.

Since the dig, radiocarbon dating positions the bones to the 1st century BC, which means that this man died in the late Iron Age.

Both Tony and Victor like the suggestion that this man was a prisoner, executed for a crime.