DIGGING FOR HISTORY

In a new companion book to the Channel 4 series The Great British Dig: History in Your Garden, archaeologist Chloë Duckworth delves deeper into the sites featured in the show. We ask Chloë for some tips on how to uncover history in your own back garden

What inspired you to become an archaeologist?

I never meant to be an archaeologist. I had an offer to read law at Durham, but something just snapped and I ended up going through the list of degrees in university ‘clearing’. I spoke to a lovely man about spaces on his archaeology course and, once I was in, I was hooked for life. An archaeology degree gives you so much breadth of learning: a bit of science, a smidgeon of philosophy and critical thinking, loads of opportunities to do practical and team-based work.

How did the team identify which back gardens to investigate?

A lot of research goes into what we do before and after we excavate a site. We look at historic environment records, old maps, satellite images, previous archaeological reports and we talk to other archaeologists. On The Great British Dig, we are lucky to work with a company called Solstice Heritage, who put in a huge amount of work to pinpoint likely sites for us. That’s the easy part, though. Convincing people to let you whack a great big hole in the middle of their lawn, while a TV crew films them from behind the petunias is something else! We’ve had quite a few say “no”, but people are usually really polite about it.

What are the most common historical items people tend to find?

It depends on where you live, but a really common find is a clay smoking pipe fragment. Tobacco was first brought to the British Isles in the 16th century, and it was hugely popular by the 18th. When clay pipes broke, people would often just toss them aside. If you imagine that cigarette butts were made of something durable like clay, you can get a sense of just how many of these old bits of pipe are kicking about beneath our feet. You might also find coins and other metal objects, and the remains of air raid shelters are common in gardens.

What’s the first step to take if you think your house may be on a site worthy of excavation?

Go online and check it’s not under any kind of legal protection. If you are keen on having a dig, you will get way more out of it with a bit of forward planning. My book includes a step-by-step guide to opening a one-metre trench in your garden, and how to recognise the different archaeological layers within it. It also helps you see how changes in soil can provide a lot of information on what happened over time. When you do find objects, all that information makes them far more meaningful.

If you come across something, who should you report the find to?

Check out the UK’s treasure laws, as it’s possible you will need to officially report your find to a local coroner. Go online and find the contact details for your local ‘finds liaison officer’ (everywhere has one); they can help to identify your find and ensure it’s properly recorded in an online database. finds.org.uk/contacts

What was the most exciting thing you unearthed on the recent TV series?

I was thrilled when I discovered a section of the barracks block wall belonging to the Roman fort at Falkirk in Scotland. The soil was filled with all this burnt building material because the whole thing had been burnt down, either during or after its abandonment. It felt like I’d found this ‘smoking gun’ evidence for the retreat of the Romans.

Will there be a third season of The Great British Dig?

We don’t know for certain yet, but I hope so, because we already have some really exciting sites lined up!

The Great British Dig: History in Your Back Garden by Dr Chloë Duckworth (Conway) is out now in hardback and ebook; £25.