Great new archaeology show on PBS

[semillama]

Time Team America - based on the original Time Team show from the UK.

http://www.pbs.org/opb/timeteam/

The show is doing a pretty good job of both showcasing really important American archaeology sites, while also serving as a splendid introduction to how archaeology is routinely carried out in the US (Normally we don't have just three days to work on a site, though).

And in case anyone was wondering, yes, real archaeologists look just like the people in the show (Tattoos, earrings, bad hair).

[Warpy]

1. The tweedy professor types are indeed gone

because jeans and running shoes make a lot more sense on the usual muddy or rocky dig.

They look like us now.

[baldguy]

2. But I LIKED the tweedy professor types

getting all excited over some Roman-era comb, or a medieval shoelace.

The only thing about Time Team America is that the historic record only goes back 4-5 hundred yrs instead of 4-5 thousand.

[eShirl]

3. "The only thing about Time Team America is that the historic record only goes back 4-5 hundred yrs"

That's sad; I would have been interested in episodes on pre-European-contact archeology.

[baldguy]

5. But then you're getting into some *real* archeology

And having amateurs digging around paleoamerican settlements might raise the ire of their descendants.

[semillama]

11. The archaeology of post contact America IS real archaeology.

And the people on the show are all professional archaeologists - indeed, some of them are among the most respected active archaeologists right now (i.e., Eric Deetz, Joe Watkins). In fact, Joe Watkins is a Native American, and he didn't seem to be too ireful.

Watch the show - you'll learn something and I bet you'll come away with a better appreciation for American archaeology.

[xchrom]

7. what fo you call the episode on the fremont first nations people

in utah?

[baldguy]

8. Whose ancestors are they?

And are those descendants OK with a TV show digging up their great-great-great Uncle Walter?

[xchrom]

9. your point was they did excavations that were only x number of years.

and here they do an excavation that are y number of years.

i'm not sure that any one knows whose predessors the frement people were.

and the team is a qualified team -- they go into these digs by invitation from professionals already working there.
it's an already existing excavation.

[enlightenment]

4. Oh, cool!

I LOVE Time Team!

Thanks for the heads up!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

6. great series

you can find out a lot about history.

[L. Coyote]

10. Past episodes stream online. Topper covers Clovis an the comet impact evidence.

MUST SEE for us archaeos.