S22 | 2022: Site Wrestle - Anglo-Saxon (Site A) with Helen Geake
Added 2022-05-23 09:15:44 +0000 UTCThank you for all your votes and thoughts on the Site Contenders list and poll - please keep them coming!
It's currently neck and neck between the Anglo-Saxon site in Norfolk and the Knights Hospitallers preceptory.
In the first of our Site Wrestle sessions, Helen Geake and Tim Taylor discuss the merits and challenges of investigating an Anglo-Saxon burial ground (Site A).
Due to the sensitive nature, and with arrangements still to be finalised, we're currently unable to reveal the exact location or details of every contender. However, this wide-ranging conversation addresses some of the key considerations in excavating an Anglo-Saxon cemetery, and what we might hope to discover.
What can the location, types of finds and orientation or nature of burials reveal about the communities who lived in East Anglia over a thousand years ago?
PLEASE NOTE: By nature, this video includes discussion of funerary and burial practices.
Comments
I have always enjoyed listening and watching Helen over the years on Time Team. I have learned a lot about Anglo Saxons life . That period has always been a period of interest to me. I been trying to get as much information on it as I can. I’m a long time history buff. Thank you Helen
Stephen Early
2024-02-07 17:42:20 +0000 UTCThanks, Alan. I think Tony said on one of the Time Teams something about off to the pub for a curry and pint, and I've heard others say similar things. It seems so very "every day normal", but here in America, we never think of curry as being British. And then Helen mentioned in the site wrestle there's a difference between British Curry and India Curry... so I wondered.
Dorothy Frank
2022-06-18 16:15:29 +0000 UTCIIRC, the Brits invented curry, but in India the spices are fresher and better tasting. The brits came up with that spice mix because all their food was so...bland-ish. No cites or sources, I'm going on half-remembered crap I might have got wrong.
Alan Harris
2022-06-17 21:21:09 +0000 UTCLike Bill the Anglo Saxons and Romans are my main interests. Would like to see this dig included, plus I'm from Norfolk.
Richard Randlesome
2022-06-11 06:46:06 +0000 UTCLove learning from Helen. She's so enthusiastic and it comes across. Anglo Saxon is a time and language that I studied for my masters, so the topic is dear to my heart, too. On a jump in topic, what IS the difference between a British curry and curry from India?
Dorothy Frank
2022-06-09 23:14:51 +0000 UTCEarly Saxon and Roman nearby swings this one for me. Opportunity for Stewart to look at location and explain which he does so well.
Boethiusconsol
2022-06-04 13:07:34 +0000 UTCI agree with you Robert. A burial ground obviously offers interest, but it is the possibility of understanding that gradual transition that would make the site more than just digging up bodies and grave goods.
Richard Moss
2022-05-31 09:45:52 +0000 UTCI very much enjoyed listening to Helen explain the whys and wherefore and difficulties of Anglo Saxon sites.
Kathryn Sherlock
2022-05-29 19:54:48 +0000 UTCI could listen to Helen talk all day, she is so interesting. But, would such a site tell us more... I'm not convinced...yet. Thank you for sharing this discussion, her thoughts and process involved in the decision making.
Patricia Amero
2022-05-29 03:16:51 +0000 UTCKnowing there's a Roman site nearby raises my interest in this site even more. Like Helen, that transitional stage from Roman to Anglo-Saxon is what I'm most fascinated by. Sam Newton once was explaining to Tony that there was no sharp break, people didn't go to bed Romans and wake up Anglo-Saxons. There was a long period of transition, and that period is the least known and understood, the most filled with myth and misunderstanding. Anything that can be found that helps shed even a little light on it is exciting.
Robert Boudreau
2022-05-28 01:05:26 +0000 UTCVery interesting discussion. Love Helen’s idea to build a database to collect and analyze the information about Anglo Saxon burials.
Sharyle Doherty
2022-05-26 19:41:09 +0000 UTCCan I just say I love learning from Helen? Always thought-provoking discussions. The little hints about context are intriguing, it'll be tough deciding which sites to pick. Very much looking forward to more wrestle sessions. Thank you!
Elaine P
2022-05-26 14:31:37 +0000 UTCSomeday, TT will investigate an Anglo Saxon cemetery where ALL of the found objects are anomolous…that will be one for the text books! 😬
Eggs Ackley
2022-05-26 01:46:54 +0000 UTCI so enjoy Helen's thoughtfulness and perspective on archaeology, Anglo-Saxons and context. Her last question, "Why is it here?" is at the heart of archaeology. It knits so well with Stuart's take on landscape context. Thank you for these conversations.
Jude Edling
2022-05-25 22:38:17 +0000 UTCThanks Helen!
Jon Colcord
2022-05-25 16:52:15 +0000 UTCLove these conversations!
Gloria Carbaugh
2022-05-24 21:53:14 +0000 UTCMore of these dialogues please ...... so informative and interesting . Helen's enthusiasm , knowledge and experience are quite inspiring . ( from an old but still very interested digger)
Graham Adamson
2022-05-24 11:49:15 +0000 UTCThis is another great use of Patreon! Just film a chat between people engaged on a topic and post it for others to enjoy. Simple, easy, and really helps to fill in the rest of the story for Time Team. Thank you!
James D Speckart
2022-05-24 01:22:21 +0000 UTCFascinating talk, I could listen to Helen talk for hours! Cheering you all on from London, On, Canada!
Debbie Clarke
2022-05-24 01:10:45 +0000 UTCThese discussions are absolutely fabulous for me. I live in the middle of the Pacific and our archaeology here is very different but of course my ancestors come from there! Please keep informing us as you have done so brilliantly so far!
Olivia McGerty
2022-05-23 22:05:26 +0000 UTCThese discussions are absolutely fabulous for me. I live in the middle of the Pacific and our archaeology here is very different but of course my ancestors come from there! Please keep informing us as you have done so brilliantly so far!
Olivia McGerty
2022-05-23 22:05:21 +0000 UTCExcellent analysis as always from Helen
Roger Mills
2022-05-23 18:33:44 +0000 UTCTime Team is doing a great job in keeping the Patron Group in the loop. These Site Wrestling sessions are so interesting and the Master Classes are icing on the cake.
Thomas Murray
2022-05-23 17:54:42 +0000 UTCLovely seeing Helen again. She is so passionate about the Anglo-Saxons and she explains things so well.
Gail Dausener
2022-05-23 15:54:47 +0000 UTCInteresting conversation to wake up to! Teasing information out of limited grave goods at a site sounds like a real challenge, and someone suggested above that Naomi's float tank might be helpful in searching for environmental minutae to fill in gaps in the greater knowledge base about Anglo Saxon times.
Kay Theriault
2022-05-23 15:04:54 +0000 UTCCan Naomi's plant data add to the larger Anglo Saxon database? So, flower pollen, dye chemicals, spelt v bread wheat, etc. Earlier digs may not have had this? Medicinal herbs i.e. are poppies in evidence or such for pain relief?
Ann H
2022-05-23 13:35:55 +0000 UTCHelen is a joy to listen to. Looking forward to the next "wrestle".
Brian Perry
2022-05-23 13:07:31 +0000 UTCExcellent discussion, I understood around 20% of it, but Helen's knowledge and enthusiasm was great banter against Tim's fence sitting questions. He obviously knew much more about the sites than he let on to Helen and drew out her knowledge so well.
Brett Fewings
2022-05-23 12:54:31 +0000 UTCGreat conversation! I learn so much by listening to these site wrestles. Thank you.
Pamela Brotherton
2022-05-23 12:44:09 +0000 UTCThanks again, this was fascinating. Is there any way that you could crowd-source the database creation of all these burial details to enable analysis and pattern discovery?
Kieran Gane
2022-05-23 12:35:53 +0000 UTCJust hearing the opening bars of the Time Team theme makes me ridiculously happy. Really enjoyed this with Helen's explanations of how difficult and murky the interpretations of sites and finds can be.
Elisabeth
2022-05-23 11:41:44 +0000 UTCWonderful discussion, thank you both! I feel like I learned a lot, and got a glimpse of the limitations and frustrations one may encounter when attempting to assemble the story from a burial. One thing I’ve always wondered about are Stewart’s comments about the visibility of ancient burial sites from great distances. Prior to some point in the history of England (perhaps the Roman invasion or large scale ship building?), were there fairly widespread old forests that would limit visibility quite a bit?
Robert Wise
2022-05-23 10:19:07 +0000 UTC
