Classic Time Team

1000 years ago, the port of Denia used to be a thriving Islamic outpost in medieval Europe, run by a pirate king, before being christianized in 1242. During this period, Spain benefitted from a sophisticated Arab culture, including math, astronomy, and art. The Time Team arrives to dig before the site is redeveloped. They are particularly hoping to find Islamic pottery and burial sites.

In 300 A.D., Corinium Dobunnorum was England's wealthiest city next to Londinium. Now, it's the pleasant Gloucestershire town of Cirencester, and the Time Team is visiting the leafy suburban Chester Street, where they hope the back gardens will yield clues about the bustling Roman city and its main highway. Could a Roman temple have occupied this site, or even more rare, an early Christian church?

On May 23rd, 1940, a Spitfire flown by RAF pilot Paul Klipsch crashed in a field in Wierre-Effroy, France. The Time Team, alongside WWII aircraft historians and air crash investigator Steve Moss, try to find out what happened. Several residents of the village remember the air battle, and Captain Allan Wright, who was flying in the same formation as Klipsch, comes along to help the investigation.

Tony and the Time Team are doing a spot of gardening. Residents have presented them with evidence of historical activity in the form of pottery shards and bumps in the landscape. Could there be a 4,000-year-old henge here? Back in the garden, the first clear signs of a roundhouse emerge. Carenza helps potter Jim Newbolt to make and fire a collection of replica Iron Age and medieval pots.

The team carry out the first-ever excavation of a cemetery at a Roman fort. This one is a World Heritage Site on Hadrian's Wall, marking Roman Britain's northern boundary. Dead soldiers would have been cremated, and Jackie makes an experimental funeral pyre. Stewart is more interested in the erosion of the land, which may have been caused by flooding or an earthquake.

Beneath a modern holiday village in Suffolk lies evidence of early Stone Age activity, over 400,000 years old. Human remains from this period are exceedingly rare, but the team hopes to find animal and plant debris. They are joined by paleontologists Simon Parfitt and Andy Currant from the Natural History Museum. Andy explains the importance of voles in dating such early material.

Coventry's modern cathedral replaced the old cathedral, bombed to destruction by the Luftwaffe in World War II. A third cathedral, St. Mary's, was also a Benedictine priory, demolished in the 16th century by Henry VIII. The west and east wings are still visible, but the Time Team has been tasked to excavate what lies in between, before the site gets redeveloped. Are they up to the task?

Basing House in Hampshire was once one of the largest private homes in Britain until it was destroyed in the English Civil War. Most of the ruins are a Protected Ancient Monument, but Time Team is permitted to dig on the edge of where the canal once cut through the ruins. The English Civil War Society come to reenact the siege of Basing House. They show how musket and pistol balls were cast.

The team have their work cut out in the Cambridgeshire fenland, looking for remnants of an ancient culture in the flat landscape. The long wooden track would function as a barrier, defense, and ritual passage where votive offerings were placed in the water. At the end of it they hope to find a barrow, a circular Bronze Age burial mound. Dave Chapman constructs a bronze axe in a primitive furnace.

Time Team is in Freen's Court on the English-Welsh border. The kingdom of Mercia was ruled by the ruthless eighth century King Offa. Could this be his palace? As it's a protected monument, they must dig by hand under the watchful eye of English Heritage inspector Paul Stamper. There are some medieval remains, but so far nothing Anglo-Saxon. Only time will reveal any evidence of the lost king.

The team digs for Roman remains in Greenwich Park, London. Chris Owen, a reconstructor, demonstrates Roman plastering techniques and ingredients, and paints a fresco. A remarkable find creates much excitement, boosting their hopes of identifying a Roman temple. Stewart suggests that Watling Street may have run through the park.

In 1833, builders in Hartlepool, Northumbria found name stones and skeletons in what once was the graveyard of Hartlepool Abbey. Time Team investigates what remains of the monastery in the front gardens and traffic islands of the modern town. They find the remains of a substantial Saxon building, the remains of a high-status medieval building, and the complete skeleton of a 7th-8th century woman.

The team heads to the ancient city of York for a special live dig. Finds include a Roman skeleton with hobnailed boots and a Viking leather shoe. They build a brick kiln and make a Roman-style glass jug. Environmental archaeologist Andrew Jones sifts through organic debris to determine the diet of the inhabitants. Medical historian Carole Rawcliffe demonstrates some medieval herbal remedies.