Time Team's Dig Village: A Guide to Discovering the Local History & Archaeology of your Community

by Tim Taylor, illustra illustrated by SaraN Sara Nunan Time Te Team Digital Dec 2019 £34.95 pp pp480 hb isbn 9781 9781916278806

You can still watch 107 Time Team films online, but the last original broadcast was in 2013. Notwithstanding that and the deaths of its lead archaeologist and its historian, however, the brand lives on, thanks to the determination of its founder, Tim Taylor. There is a Time Team website with old film clips and team profiles (in which the late Mick Aston is prominent), and now this. The branding feels odd, as you know the book has not come from the long-dispersed team. But we should judge it on its own merits. What does it offer? The first thing to say is that

it’s very attractive. A large, heavy book with masses of illustrations, its photos tempt you to get out, visit sites and research your home patch. There are 66 chapters grouped into seven themes such as buildings, documents or “Outreach & Presentation”, in which “Report Writing” creeps in as the penultimate section (“not exciting from a viewer’s perspective”). Here’s the nub. For inspiring a new interest in archaeology, it’s as good as they get. But for all its history (and it is very historical) and research tips, it’s not a practical guide.