Time Team

The Roman's Panic - Ancaster, Lincolnshire

Season 9    Episode 2
January 13, 2002    50m    TV-G
Ancaster has yielded numerous Roman finds as well as a large cemetery with several sarcophagi from the period. In addition, the church is known in British archaeology for a Roman inscription dedicated to the deity Viridius. Phil finds the cemetery level, while Carenza discovers a layer filled with jumbled up human remains mixed with other bones. 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. However, the object proves to be a cist burial, as well as hazard-free. Incredibly, one of the cist slabs also turns out to contain yet another inscription to the god Viridius. 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.

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Cast of The Roman's Panic - Ancaster, Lincolnshire
  • Tony RobinsonSelf - Presenter
  • Carenza LewisSelf - Field Archaeologist
  • Phil HardingSelf - Field Archaeologist
  • John GaterSelf - Geophysicist
  • Stewart AinsworthSelf - Landscape Investigator
  • Mick AstonSelf - Landscape Archaeologist
  • Victor AmbrusSelf - Historical Illustrator
  • Henry ChapmanSelf - Surveyor
  • Robin BushSelf - Historian

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