During an archaeological dig at Althorp, the ancestral estate of the Spencer family, archaeologist Cat Jarman and her team begin to uncover fragments of manmade artifacts from the late 17th century. Further excavation uncovers even more evidence of human activity, suggesting an Iron Age settlement may have once existed on the property.
TRANSCRIPT
-Just beneath the topsoil, the area inside the circles begins to yield fragments of manmade artifacts... [ Indistinct conversations ] -What have you got?
-Ooh, ooh!
-They're modern, but -- -No, they're not.
No, they're not!
No, they're not!
-What's this, then?
Ooh!
-Ooh!
No, they're not.
-What is that?
-They're not modern at all.
That's stoneware.
-Is it?
-Yeah.
Oh, it's nice.
It's beautiful.
Date?
-17th century.
-Is it?!
-Yup.
-That's really nice.
-1680, 1720-ish.
-Is it really?
-Yeah, yeah.
-Excellent.
That's the best of what we've had so far.
-Isn't that lovely?
-And it's literally just in the topsoil.
-Yes.
Isn't that lovely?
-So, actually now we are getting closer towards the beginning of the Spencers' time on the estate.
-Reign.
That's right.
Yup.
-Excellent.
-That's really a nice find.
-A few inches further down, signs of human settlement begin to emerge in the shape of tiny pieces of charcoal.
-There's more.
-Yeah, there's one there and there's a bigger one there.
-That one's really big isn't it?
That's really good.
Charcoal is always going to be evidence of human activity.
-Yeah.
-Finally!
-Like, that was quite difficult for me to break.
-So, there are some really big lumps coming out.
-So hopefully that's showing some human occupation.
-Are you sure this definitely charcoal?
-Yeah.
It's this one I'm not sure about.
-That's not charcoal.
-I just snapped that.
Yeah.
-You know, that might actually be pottery.
-Oh... [ Laughter ] -That's the other half.
[ Laughs ] Oh, dear!
-The inside of it looks very pottery-like to me.
And if it is, then this is something quite early.
It's possible it could be Iron Age.
♪♪ -I think what we're seeing is really that Althorp could well be a really very old landscape.
