In Time Team, why do they limit themselves to such a short amount of time?!
Question: I did Archaeology at University and my Lecturers would scoff derisively at Time Team, accusing it of being unrealistic and "Soap-Opera Archaeology". A real dig takes months or years (depending on its size, scope, available funding etc) and so much of the dirty work, the washing, sorting, cataloguing, drawing, photographing, documenting and the endless sitting in the dirt scraping away with trowels just never gets shown!!
Time Team is not meant to appeal to real Archaeologists, its meant to appeal to the average TV viewer who has a short attention span and who just wants to see them dig up bones and cool pieces of Roman Pottery.
Also digs are EXPENSIVE! The longer one goes on for, the more it costs! Three days' worth of dig is about all that Channel 4 is probably prepared to pay out for each programme.
I like Time Team though, it really helps to spark peoples' interest in Archaeology and history.
Answers: I did Archaeology at University and my Lecturers would scoff derisively at Time Team, accusing it of being unrealistic and "Soap-Opera Archaeology". A real dig takes months or years (depending on its size, scope, available funding etc) and so much of the dirty work, the washing, sorting, cataloguing, drawing, photographing, documenting and the endless sitting in the dirt scraping away with trowels just never gets shown!!
Time Team is not meant to appeal to real Archaeologists, its meant to appeal to the average TV viewer who has a short attention span and who just wants to see them dig up bones and cool pieces of Roman Pottery.
Also digs are EXPENSIVE! The longer one goes on for, the more it costs! Three days' worth of dig is about all that Channel 4 is probably prepared to pay out for each programme.
I like Time Team though, it really helps to spark peoples' interest in Archaeology and history.
Because they know that if it was for longer we would all fall out with our partners who hate time team and there would be mass divorces and break ups up and down the nation.
Or is just my house where the theme tune causes sighs, grunts and protests?
To create drama and make more people want to watch it - without a time limit there would be no panics and the program would be even more boring!
The three day thing is a gimmick to make the show seem fast and exciting. If they said we are here to excavate this site as part of a slow ongoing investigation over the course of five years then probably the show would get fewer viewers.
It's a TV gimmick, used in many such trivial programmes, in an attempt to generate a little bit of interest; aka Charlie Dimmock and gardening friends..........