Time Team: Season 20, Episode 2

20 - 2:

Tony and the Team uncover their largest ever range and number of items from Roman Britain, and undertake their most ambitious geophysics project to date. The archaeologists explore a spectacular site at Brancaster in Norfolk, which is believed to have been a Roman 'Shore-Fort'. Excavations could determine how large it was, what it looked like, and whether it was one of the key military outposts of Roman Britain. If the site turns out to be as significant as the Team hope, it suggests this question: Why build a major stronghold in such a far-flung corner of the country? As the Team try to answer, they unearth an unprecedented 2500 finds, which provide lessons about everything from Roman sports to the decorative arts and even cockfighting. They even find a spectacular piece of a legionary's armour in a previously hidden chamber. The Team also take on a high-definition geophysics survey covering 24 acres. It generates so much data that the computers grind to halt. Can they be fixed in time to reveal the site's layout? The biggest surprise reveals evidence of a staggering level of trade with the local population, and clues as to how wealthy nearby Britons became on the back of the Roman presence.