Sutton Hoo | Q&A: Ask the Team - Send Us Your Questions!
Added 2024-06-10 20:52:38 +0000 UTCThis week, we'll be doing some Q&As with the team and guests on site.
Derek and Lawrence have just arrived, and various members will be dropping in, including Hilde, Jimmy Adcock (having just returned from Poverty Point in Louisiana), and Helen among them.
So what would you like to ask them? Let us know in the comments section below.
We'll try get through as many people and questions as we can, so please include a few general questions we can ask them all!
UPDATE
Thanks for all your questions. We've had loads of fantastic Sutton Hoo questions that we'll put to the experts.
Do you have any more general questions you'd like to know from the wider team? E.g. How they got into archaeology? Favourite TT episode? Type of site they would most like to dig? Etc.
Comments
A special Patreon member drawing or competition for a trowel would be fun. I missed buying a Time Team trowel. Very sad.
Gloria B
2024-06-17 12:18:53 +0000 UTCI have only seen episode 1 when or how can we see the rest?
P H Woodward
2024-06-15 16:54:41 +0000 UTC#FreeGolbeckliTepe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPNgGnUrCKM
Kerie Receveur
2024-06-14 08:37:16 +0000 UTCHi noticed that there is a Sutton hoo time team badge how does one purchase this?
Leonie Hancock
2024-06-13 03:24:43 +0000 UTCMy husband would like to know if you've already ruled out the Anglo Saxons building the burial boats on the Sutton Hoo site - even if they hauled the materials there - rather than hauling the finished boats there. If so why is that ruled out? He says why wouldn't it be like the pyramids, where construction started well in advance of the pharaoh's death?
Shannon Wells
2024-06-13 01:19:56 +0000 UTCWhat involvement did Amateur archaeologist Basil Brown after the discovery of Sutton Hoo with the site and dig?
Shannon
2024-06-13 01:18:52 +0000 UTCDavey, I think it's called a Pint of Archeologists
Howard Shelton
2024-06-12 17:16:06 +0000 UTCHow many volunteers are digging throughout this archeological site? Why is it that sometimes volunteers sift through already dug up soil and other times not so? How can you be sure a vital piece of archeology is not missed? Second week now, is there anything of interest that has been found yet? Once a trench has been opened up would it surely save time by using a metal detector? I understand maps and print-outs indicate the possibility of finds but the big what if? Nothing is forthcoming in these large trenches.... I am trying to formulate in my mind the span of human history at Sutton Hoo. How do you determine that the land hasn't been tampered with over the centuries. It appears to me the first layer of the large trench has been removed. What happens next? Are your specialist archeologists going to visually examine the ground? Do you use chemical analysis on finds? ie ancient preservation methods or is that not the way forward today? Happy Time Team week All! 🥳🥳🥳🔦🪥☂️🪣📝⏳🔎
Marilyn
2024-06-12 15:32:05 +0000 UTCIt is obvious to an onlooker that one skill the team have is being able to trowel a trench etc. What other skills do they have? Do they have to draw, photograph, drive a digger, survey etc? What is the whole collection of skills? And is there a collective noun for people on a dig? A trowel, a kneel, a wheelbarrow, a scrape, a giggle?
Davey
2024-06-12 12:36:15 +0000 UTCI would like to know how much visibility a warrior would have wearing the “Sutton Ho” helmet. Specifically what percent of our normal field of vision would be lost while wearing this particular helmet.
Larry Besel, Jr.
2024-06-12 12:29:48 +0000 UTCgood morning thank you for reply Ive cheked both your links and indeed they are as you say I already got them both even the third recent playlist by steve day great music . What I meant was the songs and music that are not by steve noon but by other musical artist that are briefly heard in background of original series of 1993-2014 i can never sucssefuly shazam them as its too quick let me know .
Stefanie Messialle
2024-06-12 10:43:03 +0000 UTCIs there a chance TT could do more of the “where are they now?” or biographical interviews of old and new TT members like we saw after the Pandemic?
Roger Lundgren
2024-06-12 04:46:48 +0000 UTCHave any of our Time Team Crew ever worked on, or would be interested in investigating a site in Canada?
Patricia Amero
2024-06-12 01:02:48 +0000 UTCWhy did you choose to dig this massive trench rather than put th resources into more targeted areas?
Don Radford
2024-06-11 22:28:38 +0000 UTCAfter a trench has been opened and topsoil removed (or other defined layers), has John ever gone back to the trench and geophys'd with the topsoil removed? Would it help to better define or resolve objects further down or perhaps reveal objects that may have been in the shadow of another object in the top soil?
Michael Campion
2024-06-11 21:49:22 +0000 UTCAs a bit of a geeky pin collector I would absolutely love this!
Loz
2024-06-11 20:54:16 +0000 UTCStefanie, if you search “Time Team” on Spotify, you can find all the music created by Steve Day, who did the majority of the background music for much of the show's run and is still used in the new episodes. Here's some direct links: Volume One: https://open.spotify.com/album/4o2KDRSeEKciAUpaIXMYGA?si=m1xIjt4yT-C4J5luI-_Gmw Volume Two: https://open.spotify.com/album/0swvct85U4AjIW1X0d2nPU?si=OlRZnYLnTdu7m1Ca0wFgpg Apologies if these are the ones you already have!
Loz
2024-06-11 20:51:58 +0000 UTCYes! Thank you for asking. I was hoping to travel later this year or spring of 2025 and wondered the same thing. ❤️
Melody Piercy
2024-06-11 17:34:55 +0000 UTCDo flints in the very upper layers cause concerns that the deeper anomalies are only natural, based on the timelines associated with said flints?
ajay mantha
2024-06-11 17:33:47 +0000 UTCWhen did you first Know you wanted to be an archeologist?
Kathleen Garza
2024-06-11 17:29:46 +0000 UTCCould the images on the bucket be a depiction of the gladiators found in England?
Kathleen Garza
2024-06-11 17:29:04 +0000 UTCWhat prep work on local history and previous digs does the team do beforehand? It would be wonderful to have an historian on the show again. Robin did a great job.
Gloria B
2024-06-11 17:13:39 +0000 UTCThe sutton hoo design would certainly look good on a t shirt
Rob Treen
2024-06-11 16:33:48 +0000 UTCWho's burial could it be if not radweald and was any dating evidence at all found in the robbed out larger mound? Would love TT to come to lancashire, perhaps in a hunt for Ptolomys missing Portus Setantiorum or the mystery surrounding Danes pad but lots to examine in the north west
Rob Treen
2024-06-11 16:30:10 +0000 UTCI’m planning a trip to England soon. What are Time Team favorite historical sites, aside from Sutton Hoo, which tops my list, should a Time Team fan go see? Thanks for any suggestions. ,
Lauren
2024-06-11 16:24:21 +0000 UTCJust finished watching The Dig. If they do a Time Team movie, what actor/actress would you like to play yourselves?
John Keady
2024-06-11 14:38:53 +0000 UTCPutting comfort aside is rain help or hindrance to the digging and geophysics? Does anybody in the Time Team crew have a story of unexpected discovery due to weather? I’m thinking erosion, aridity, frost marks etc.
Alan
2024-06-11 14:27:09 +0000 UTCI wonder if Time Team HQ has considered creating a web page where all digs going back to the start in the 1990s are described and even linked to a YouTube version of that dig show, along with a link to the paper provided on each dig. If there are links to any further work on that site that has been done in the decades since,
L. Randolph Lee
2024-06-11 14:02:40 +0000 UTCAnd I'd love one of the fleece jackets!
cricket bidwell
2024-06-11 13:23:18 +0000 UTCAs an educator who loved history and archaeology as a child I remember some significant teachers and later lecturers who left lasting impressions and set me on a life-long career as a history educator. My question for any member of the team is ‘Do you have a significant teacher or lecturer or a significant lesson you remember that shaped your later career trajectory?
David Boon
2024-06-11 12:43:57 +0000 UTCWhat is planned for the garden field after this dig? If I visited in September will there be anything to see? Sutton Hoo is unquestionably an important site, where else do the experts consider as important, historically and archaelogically, in the Uk?
Davey
2024-06-11 11:24:20 +0000 UTCIts a bit of a long question , well get to sutton hoo in a minute thank you. 1) Is there a playlist or the names of the background songs,music that where used in the original time team series of 1993-2002 . Ive got the 2002 onwards playlist on spotify already but id really love to have all the songs from first 9 years of time team ,episodes that are not by steve noon please thank you . 2) has time team ever thought of in the near future of doing some partner digs ,full 3 day digs in france ,theres a rich history thats closely linked to the united kingdom . It would be great to make the french uncover time team more broadly . To use the time team know how ,techniques ,combine it with the french techniques know how ,to uncover the secret past together thats lurking in the french countryside or towns . would be nice thanks. 3) will there be a more detailed presentation on 3d screens, or in photographs of what has been uncovered at sutton hoo so far. Since the 1930s especially details regarding the anglo saxon cemtery discovered in 2000 . The iron age neolithique setlement under the mounds ,the later ocupations of the site ,details of few roman finds,full details of the boat burials thanks . 4) Is there any other male saxon burials in uk or in frankia that are as richely adorned as sutton hoo. Are there any lower status male burials as richely bejewelde richely furnished as sutton . Is there a decline in male fashion sense in christian period compared to pagan period . Is it more a transitional thing evolving into simpler fashions later on , is it the same for women thank you . 5)Is there a similarity or difference between male fashions,or armements, in anglo saxon britain compared with the frankish ,wisigoth ,kingdoms . Are there exchanges or clear diferences on those points , is it the same for womens fashions or armements thanks. Thank you very much for reading answering my questions best of luck for all the team on advance of sutton hoo dig 8-)(-;>0.0<😊⛏️🧹🥄☕️🍺🍷🐝💐🌼🌸🥾👢🧚🏼♂️🧜🏼♂️☀️💨❄️🌈🌧️
Stefanie Messialle
2024-06-11 10:49:04 +0000 UTCGeneral question here, as everyone is getting up in years, myself included, how are you finding the camping out at dig sites? I am not sure of the sleeping arrangements for the current dig, as I don't see the tents like I sometimes see in the Time Team 3 day dig specials. Are you all finding it harder to sleep as such? Also, where you are bent over scraping all the time, how are your backs and knees? Do you find you need chiropractic and massage care after each dig?
charity lister
2024-06-11 10:13:56 +0000 UTCMy favourite ever digs were the live ones from York and Canterbury. What are yours, both from this new incarnation (I probably loved Modbury most so far) and the original C4 ones?x
Gillian Gordon
2024-06-11 08:44:00 +0000 UTCIs Phil Harding ever likely to make a return to time team ?
paul alan Ryder
2024-06-11 07:18:26 +0000 UTCI probably should have said I'm there with the SIAH field group volunteering cleaning and indexing
Under The Bodie
2024-06-11 07:14:32 +0000 UTCThanks for the question, we hope you enjoy your visit! Unfortunately, you won't be able to bring your metal detector to the site. We have a team already on site, following a specific process. Yes, we'll be sharing more about all the finds in post-ex, in due course. Thanks
Time Team
2024-06-11 07:04:36 +0000 UTCExcellent Thankyou
Mucka Tav
2024-06-11 07:00:03 +0000 UTCWe will be revealing the 2024 Flag very soon - watch this space...
Time Team
2024-06-11 06:57:17 +0000 UTCWhy do both the Royal Burial site and Garden Field contain a mix of inhumation and cremation burials? Was this common in the pre-Christian era?
Emma Rowlinson
2024-06-11 04:14:23 +0000 UTCI am interested in the occupation/ use of the site after the royal burial ground fell out of use. Is there any evidence of Viking activity in the area or nearby?
Kerry Hennigan
2024-06-11 04:04:03 +0000 UTCA great idea... I would order a ball cap with the helmet logo on it as well.
Patricia Amero
2024-06-11 03:18:14 +0000 UTCIs there any find (or are there multiple) that seemed relatively common or insignificant at first, but turned out to be important? Not just in this dig, but including all others at this site. Greetings from the States, wish I could be there!
MariaStellaMaris
2024-06-11 03:13:25 +0000 UTC😮 I sure hope they don't.
Patricia Amero
2024-06-11 03:12:18 +0000 UTCWhere do Time Team digs get written up?
Bob Blaskiewicz
2024-06-11 03:00:39 +0000 UTCI’ve been fascinated to learn about Helen’s background with Sutton Hoo. Do other team members have histories with Sutton Hoo? May we assume that many team members will have studied Sutton Hoo? It makes think of my own experiences as an art historian, having powerful emotional responses when I get to visit and work in person with pieces that I have studied.
Ann Wagner
2024-06-11 02:57:14 +0000 UTCSo, Jimmy Adcock, having myself enjoyed many a great meal in Louisiana, what was your favorite dish? 😎
Eggs Ackley
2024-06-11 02:03:38 +0000 UTCAre Derrick and Lawrence giving up on their Career in Ruins?
Mac Whatley
2024-06-11 01:57:49 +0000 UTCWill the evidence of this excavation be written up and presented anywhere, like the IMC at Leeds or perhaps one of the archaeological journals?
Amy Amendt-Raduege
2024-06-11 01:57:43 +0000 UTCNothing whatsoever to do with Sutton Hoo but in case you need a filler question: What model of camper van does Matt have? We got a glimpse of it in a previous show and as a camper myself I like to know about different types/models. (Coming from the US, UK and EU models are particularly interesting because they're often so much smaller than most of what we see.)
Kris
2024-06-11 00:24:52 +0000 UTCHi Emily. Thank you so much for the huge role you have in Time Team. We really do have the best of the best. 🏆
Patricia Amero
2024-06-11 00:06:47 +0000 UTCGeneral question. Given the millions and millions of people who lived and died in a Britain over the past few thousand years, why are some areas more prone to archeological finds than others? What conditions and climate are best for preserving as much material as possible?
Chris Siegmann
2024-06-10 23:55:52 +0000 UTCAfter Sutton Hoo, which Anglo-Saxon site contains the richest amount of information on royal burial practices?
John A MacPherson
2024-06-10 23:41:39 +0000 UTCThe sandy/gravely soil looks like river flood deposit. Is this a flood plain? If so, then why would they use it as a cemetery? Provided the river course is still the same.
Alan Murdock
2024-06-10 22:20:43 +0000 UTCWhat happens after the digs, who and how are the trenches back filled?
Kevin Bausch
2024-06-10 22:19:32 +0000 UTCIs there any sort of find that would be so surprising that it would challenge any of your notions about the site?
Leanne
2024-06-10 22:17:38 +0000 UTCGreat Questions! Thanks all. Keep them coming!
Emily Boulting
2024-06-10 22:06:05 +0000 UTCWith modern tools and methods, are there any future plans to excavate one of the other mounds? Though smaller, I would imagine it might be possible to shed more light and give more context to what was found in mound one by opening another.
Robert Boudreau
2024-06-10 21:58:40 +0000 UTCThe sun rises and sets in slightly different points throughout the year. Does this affect the positioning of burials and help to determine what time of year the person was buried? When outlines are shown of known burials, some a slightly askew from others and wondered if this was the reason.
Debbie Gerlock
2024-06-10 21:52:05 +0000 UTCIn the livestream from last week, Helen (I think) mentioned a long period (a couple of centuries, I think) of almost no activity at Sutton Hoo. What are the Team's theories about what might have happened during that time? Or is there new evidence about what it was?
Michael Sperry
2024-06-10 21:33:10 +0000 UTCHow much time elapsed between first getting the wheels in motion to dig at Sutton Hoo and the actual dig this month? (Always thought it would be a hoot to see a "behind the scenes" special where Tony, Helen, and others are getting the proper permits and paperwork together!)
Sarah Edwards Obenauf
2024-06-10 21:22:35 +0000 UTC🥳 I do enjoy the Q&As on here... Time Team Patrons ask the neatest questions.
Patricia Amero
2024-06-10 21:18:32 +0000 UTCHow can/will you use the video from the 360° camera to help with the future research from the results of the current dig?
Carl Johnson
2024-06-10 21:17:35 +0000 UTCDigs😂
Stephen hobbs
2024-06-10 21:11:39 +0000 UTCIf ever I can volunteer for future dogs count me in as I missed out this time. What are the geo scans pointing to? More burials? And did they find anything when they laid the service ditch?
Stephen hobbs
2024-06-10 21:11:01 +0000 UTCWill we see the return of the 3D artists impression renders that we used to love see after all the work has completed? I'd love to see that made available as well for VR at our own leisure tour too.
Gareth Ross
2024-06-10 21:09:12 +0000 UTCCan you focus more on archeology which helps us to understand the lives of common folks/peasants. Without the sacrifices of these folks the “high status” folks wouldn’t have been able “rule”… That might not have been a bad thing!
Larry Besel, Jr.
2024-06-10 21:08:42 +0000 UTCActually a boat oar question, probably already asked,however. Do experts think that the boat was actually rowed, and that the hook thing that starts with T that my autocorrect thinks is trees wasn't just decorative because it was a high status burial? Bit behind in my watching. Cheers from Australia
Eirona Johansen
2024-06-10 21:07:52 +0000 UTCKnowing the importance of this site, how much harder is it to dig while using all the new filming techniques to show us what you are doing? Keep up the Great work, lots of love to all the Time Team for making this happen.
Kevin Murphy
2024-06-10 21:07:17 +0000 UTCI'm there on 25th and 26th am I able to bring my metal detector along. Also will there be a follow up regarding all the finds post dig? Aaron Suffolk
Under The Bodie
2024-06-10 21:06:31 +0000 UTCWhen the original ‘ship’ was found it was just an imprint in the earth…how did Basil Brown and the original archaeologists manage to uncover and preserve it?!
Mark Freestone
2024-06-10 21:06:24 +0000 UTCIs it believed that the ship was built just for the burial or had it been in use prior to death?
Christopher Stiehl
2024-06-10 21:05:36 +0000 UTCare you only going to excavate this one corner of the field or are you going to do more of it even if you don't find anything where you're excavating now. Just what you can do in the month you have no matter where it takes you.
Carolyn OMalley
2024-06-10 21:05:02 +0000 UTCI've enjoyed watching the site preparation and top soil removal that we didn't really see in the programmes. Will you also be showing the dig being closed down too - please? I always wanted a before and after the three days show.
Alice Hutchinson
2024-06-10 21:03:57 +0000 UTCWhile this is probably beyond exciting for everyone, is there an increased sense of responsibility or pressure to be working on a sight like this? Or is it business as usual?
Paige Gawith
2024-06-10 21:01:41 +0000 UTCThere’s a huge amount of ‘spoil’. Will this be examined in any detail before the trench is filled in?
Irene Daly
2024-06-10 21:00:33 +0000 UTCHi i was wondering have you got a big picture of the 2024 Flag on site please, where we can see all the names on it please? Many thanks, Mucka Tav
Mucka Tav
2024-06-10 21:00:26 +0000 UTC❤️Love this Sutton Hoo adventure! 👍. Will there be a Sutton Hoo Time Team pin? You are showing one with the helmet! A best seller for sure!
Veronica Sweden
2024-06-10 21:00:07 +0000 UTCWhen the team is using the trowel are they required to keep the same pace or can they get head of the rest of the ‘line’? And is there a requirement to only ‘scrape ‘ a certain amount?
Irene Daly
2024-06-10 20:58:33 +0000 UTCCool! Thanks for question opportunity. Interested in knowing if and with what you may use geophys further as you excavate the pit.. thanks cheers Nic from New Zealand
nic vipond
2024-06-10 20:58:29 +0000 UTC
