Digging up Britain: Ten discoveries, a million years of history

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Others are chance finds, leading to revelations out of proportion to the scale of the original projects.Although Robin is probably a mythical character, there are reasons why the King stirred widespread resentment among ordinary people. Along the way he explains how study of DNA in excavated remains demonstrates at least one almost complete replacement of one population by another - not when the Saxons or the Normans came, but sometime after the creation of Stonehenge. Digging Up Britain consists of a series of ten archaeological case studies from sites shedding light on the earliest (known) occupation of these islands to the times of the Anglo-Saxon and Viking. Mike Pitts leads us on a journey through time from the more recent and familiar to the most remote and bizarre, just as archaeologists delving into the earth find themselves moving backwards through the years until they reach the very oldest remnants of the past. All are extraordinary tales of luck and cutting-edge archaeological science that have produced profound, and often unexpected, insights into people’s lives on these islands between a thousand and a million years ago.

Mike Pitts reviews ten significant archaeological sites in Britain, considering the latest (as of 2019) analyses of the artifacts and remains found. An ideal Christmas present for that young person in your family considering a course in archaeology.

The digs were interesting, the conclusions neither sensationalized nor presented as fact with too little evidence. Although it’s a compact paperback and the margins are quite small, it’s really well-produced and easy to read.

The report reiterates the ‘safe digging for all’ message, and highlights who was digging, where they were digging and why they were digging. The Geospatial Commission leadership would do well to read this report closely, and ensure its forthcoming work is additive to existing systems. When I skipped to the fourth series to see if they later got their heads back on straight, I discovered that they did change course, but not to their original format.The book works backwards through time, starting with a Viking site and ending in the mists of prehistory, parting to show us pre- homo sapiens peoples living their lives and doing their thing.

Pitts is able to take an admirable long view over most of these sites, showing how knowledge has increased and dates have gone back in time or been refined as often generation after generation of archaeologists have studied, pondered, hypothesised and published. Landscapes of Predation: Exploring Hostile Social Environments in Small-Scale Societies presented by Dr. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site.

We open a door and see a new world: but all around are a hundred more doors, and we have no idea what lies behind them. A great way to find out key information about the current state of knowledge across millennia of history and prehistory. Elsyng Palace was one of nearly 60 royal residences owned by Henry Vlll, but for centuries its exact location was unknown. At each of these sites we hear from the people who found and recovered these ancient remains, and follow their efforts to understand them. They’re back to almost a million years now – and while there is not much to go on with the very early stuff, stories can be told, carefully, from evidence, and that evidence can be woven together to provide compelling discoveries and changes in thought.