Time Team series 9

Regular contributors on Time Team include: Tony Robinson (presenter); archaeologists Mick Aston, Phil Harding, Carenza Lewis, Ian Powlesland, Jenni Butterworth, Katie Hirst, Kerry Ely, Alice Roberts; Robin Bush, Guy de la Bédoyère, Dr. Peter Reynolds (historians); Victor Ambrus (illustrator); Stewart Ainsworth (landscape investigator); John Gater, Chris Gaffney (Geophysics); Henry Chapman (surveyor); Mark Corney (Roman specialist).

One question the team wants to tackle concerns why the Romans built a defensive system around the town in the late 3rd century CE.

After some initial problems with the stratigraphy, Phil finds the cemetery level, while Carenza discovers a layer filled with jumbled up human remains mixed with other bones, probably representing disturbed burials.

In the cemetery, Phil eventually uncovers the lid of a possible sarcophagus, and its excavation could thus require certain precautions due to the potential for lead poisoning and presence of biological hazards.

In the end, the archaeologists suggest that the massive defences were ordered to be put up by the Roman central administration in Britain, and completely disrupted the original town layout.