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The time
Today: Saturday 21 April 2001. Time Team start their investigations in the middle of a northern ex-mining town. The archaeology could take them back 2,000 years.
Then: Roman Britain. The people in this settlement lived on an important trade route and gateway to the northern reaches of the Empire. This was occupied territory. Was the might of the Roman military nearby? That’s for Time Team to find out.
The place
Today it’s near the industrial heart of northern England. Once one of the most active mining areas of the region, the town is fighting back against pit closures and economic hardship.
During the Roman period it would have flourished as an important economic and strategic centre.
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Diary
There is little evidence of post-Roman settlement in the town. Time Team is hoping to find top-quality archaeology under the modern town centre, undisturbed by later development.
The means
The Team will be using the latest techniques and equipment to discover what was happening on this site 2,000 years ago. Was it a hamlet or small village, or maybe a large town or fortress? Excavation, land survey, geophysics, aerial photographs, maps and reconstructions will all be employed to build a picture of the past.