Time Team were involved in an archaeological dig on Fetlar from August 26-29th 2002. The programme was shown in the 2003 series.

On their recent visit to Fetlar, Shetland a visit was made by the Yell Young Archaeologists Group to the two sites that were being excavated by Time Team. Yell is the second largest of the Shetland Isles. The membership of YAC in Yell is the whole of Cullivoe Primary School school, all 9 pupils!

They all had a grand day out, and the 3 P7 pupils from last year who have just moved to the local secondary school at Mid Yell also joined the party. After they had finished visiting the site, they then went on a tour of Fetlar listening to stories and tales about the Isle. The school secretary took these photos and has very kindly allowed us to use them on the website – He is actively trying to get other schools involved in Yell, and Unst.

The school website can be found at :http://www.cullivoe.shetland.sch.uk

Experts from Time Team concentrated their efforts on tracing the buried remains of the medieval town, granted its royal charter by King David I in the 12th century. In its heyday, Roxburgh had been an international trade centre. It counted among its visitors Italian bankers as well as the wool dealers who came to purchase fleeces from sheep reared in the Tweed valley. The exact dimensions of the riverside community are unknown, but there are understood to have been at least three churches, several schools and a sizeable population.

There were also a number of market places and Roxburgh almost certainly included the medieval equivalent of an industrial estate making pottery and other items for local inhabitants.

The churchyard at Govan, a suburb of Glasgow, contains thirty-one stones that date from the ninth to the eleventh centuries and are sculpted in Celtic, English, Pictish and Norse styles. Local archaeologists have been debating the History of Govan and its stones for years, and legends suggest that what is now a suburban area was an important site in the early medieval period.

(Description taken from Tim Taylor’s – The Ultimate Time Team Companion)

Broadcast 26th January 1997
Recorded 14th – 16th June 1996

(No Time Team Web pages for this programme)

Three trenches were excavated within the burial-ground ::
 

• Trench 1 (NS c. 5535 6588) revealed the foundation debris of successive post-medieval churches, the remains of one or more burials of comparatively recent date, pottery (some of it from the 14th century), and unmortared stone walls of uncertain context.
   

• Trench 2 (NS 554 658) was comparatively large (14m long by 3m deep) and was dug outside the burial-ground (to the E) in an (abortive) attempt to find evidence beneath modern industrial debris for a ceremonial way between the church and the possible motte or moot hill of Doomster Hill (NS56NE 18).
   

• Trench 3 (NS c. 5538 6582) aimed the investigate the ‘pointed’ (SE) end of the burial-ground in a search for an entrance-way from the direction of Doomster Hill. Tip-lines and a layer of stone and gravel (possibly a path) were revealed as well as a ‘substantial assemblage of pottery shards’.
   

Other Links

The Friends of Govan Old Parish Church

Articles about Govan and its archaeology as well as a relatively complete catalogue of the sculptured stones within Govan Parish church. 3D models of some of the stones scanned by Archaeoptics will be added soon. There is also a Photograph – of the Pictish stone carved by the Time Team during the making of the programme.

Govan, Glasgow 1996

Time Team 97: The site reports (Channel 4, 1997), pages 23-29. Popular account.

Rijksmuseum van Oudheden , Leiden, Netherlands

The Carpow Roman Legionary Fortress was discovered by Aerial photography which showed the defensive ditches as cropmarks.

Carpow is situated on the River Tay , in Eastern Scotland ,where it meets the River Earn at a point which could easily be reached by cargo ships. On the north bank of the River Tay, aerial photography also identified a camp opposite Carpow at St Madoes as well as a fortlet on the South Bank. Nothing remains visible at Carpow and the site is now on private property

The site was excavated in the 1960’s and 70’s – this revealed an early 3rd century four sided polygonal structure with a turf bank and defensive ditches with gateways on each side. Outside the 25 hectacre fortress was a riverside quay used for unloading seaborne supplies. It would appear that it was the intention of Septimus Severus not to rely on local supplies but to supply his troops from the south by sea.

The fortess was garrisoned by at least two Roman legions – the Second and the Sixth. Roof tiles with the stamps of the VI Victrix and II Augusta legions have been excavated from the site. A coin of Caracalla issued in AD 209 shows a bridge of boats or pontoon bridge and the legend TRAIECTUS (crossing) which referred possibly to a bridge or crossing at Carpow.

It is not known precisely when the construction began , but the dedicatory slabs above the fortress gate do not appear to have been completed until after the death of Geta in AD212 although there is a hint of an earlier phase when the gates are timber built. The dedication slabs condition is unweathered which would indicate that they did not stand in position for any length of time. The fortress appears to have been abandoned around AD 215.

Finds at Carpow

Scale armour fragment

The scales are laid out in rows and are fastened together with pieces of bronze wire which went through the holes on the sides and are then bent over towards the back. Each row was then stitched through the top holes through a tough backing cloth to a string running the length of the row.

Stone work and building materials

Sculptured masonry from the south and easy gateways showing Pelta or horn-shaped motif, Victory standing on a globe, 2 Pegasi or winged horses.

Inscribed stone showing ‘IMP ET D N M ARV ANTONINUS PIVS FELIX    LEG II AVG’ This translates as ‘To our Emperor and Lord Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Pius Felix    The Second Augustan Legion’

Brick and Tile fragments bearing the stamps of the sixth legion  

Iron pipe collars which joined together sections of wooden water pipes used to carry fresh water from an outside spring to the fortress

Iron nails were found in large quantities in the defensive ditches

Pottery Finds

Pottery finds including fragments of amphorae one with Amphora stamp reading:

(F?)S(C?)(I?)M/(N?)I(A?)(N?)O – dating Mt Testaccio Rome 3rd Century AD.

Any metal detectorist will tell you that finds of gold, silver , hoards of coins and metalwork are few and far between! However all the non-treasure items are potentially of great importance to our history. By recording these finds, we learn more about where people were living, what they were wearing, who they were trading with and how these things changed over the years. This is something that as a responsible detectorist – or as a new detectorist you should be keen to contribute towards.

Recording your finds is one of the most valuable contribitions metal detecting has to offer and its recommended that you give the time and effort to contact a finds liaison officer – the credibility of the hobby depends on this. They are all young and enthusiastic and very approachable.

You should also keep your own home record of finds too so that you can easily refer to them. Over a period of time, a pattern of similiar types or ages of finds develops, leading to further finds. Plotting individual finds will often produce a pattern of loss and this will help identify areas where there may have been occupation or activity of some sort. Its therefore important that you are able to check your records of finds.

Your basic home records for each find should include:

• The exact location of the find using National Grid references
• Type of find
• Type of Material
• Depth found at
• Type of ground
• Map of the area
• A photograph or drawing of the find
• A General Description of the find
• A description of the site
• The date the item was found

However help is at hand in the form of recording sheets which can be used as follows:

These have been road tested by Detectorists – some find them useful – Using them in the field it causes you to stop and think a while, put those thought’s on paper and carry on – some prefer to take a small note book to record details to be entered onto the main recording form at home. Its also useful to put your finds in numbered bags . then reference the notes to match the find number.

Main form (filled out once to save duplicating things like dates, names county etc) A5
Main Field Recording form (PDF format)

Finds Form (each object or group – with lots of quick tick boxes) A5
Field Recording Form (PDF format)

How does GPS work?

Garmin GPS Guide for Beginners & Using Garmin GPS with paper maps (PDF’s).
http://www.garmin.com/aboutGPS/manual.html

GPS tutorial;
http://www.trimble.com/gps/index.html

Understanding GPS, map reading & survival

http://www.gpsnavmag.com/gps_navigation_training/gps_training_education.htm

The furniture in the village houses was largely made of stone for two related reasons – Firstly, Orkney , then as now, was almost without trees – scondly the nature of the local flagstone, its ready availability and workability makes it ideal construction material for most purposes.

The Beds

Today we see only the skeletons of the peoples box beds, the stone remains. Usually the beds have cupboards set into the wall above them

The Dresser

In each house the dresser faces the door and dominates your view as you enter. This may have been a simple storage unit. There is a stone seat in front of the dresser in the best preserved houses.

Central Hearth

In the centre of the house between the door and the dresser is the hearth. But what did the people burn in it? While there is plenty of usable peat in Orkney today, this did not form until several centuries after the settlement was abandoned.

The Boxes

Set into the floors of the houses, near the hearth are stone boxes. The joints of these were luted – cemented with clay – to make them watertight.

The Cells

These are cupboards, alcoves or compartments recessed into the walls of the houses and vary in size and ease of access. Most of these are storage spaces. Some cells have drains running under them but because the drains cant be mapped properly without demolishing buildings its cant be said for sure that every house had one. Insofar as the excavation of the drains which has been possible it may be that we are seeing one of the earliest comprehensice systems of indoor sanitation.

The Doors

The doors were not hinged. You can still see the two doorstops, one projecting from the floor, the other from the ceiling of the entrance passage. The door itself was a slab of stone large enough to fill the entrance gap. The door was pinned against the projecting stops by a bar crossing behind it and fitting into slots in the wall of the entrance passage which allowed the door to be opened or closed. The bars were made of whalebone or wood.

Maclellan’s Castle

Dumfries and Galloway Variation of an L shaped fortalice with a main east/west block, a winh extending to the north, a rectangular tower, and two projecting towers. Part of the main block rises to 5 storeys – the rest to 4 storeys. The stonework is coursed rubble with some decorative detail – there are also several splayed gun-loops. Three vaulted basement cellars. Lord John Kirkcudbright, the third to hold the title lost most of his fortune supporting the Royalist cuse – Poverty forced the abandonment of the castle