QUIACHON, Gerald Mari O.

2012-11524
The Only Earl Is Essex
For this episode, property magnate Paul Whight invited Time Team to investigate around his property
which was used to be owned by the De Veres or better known as the Earls of Oxford. It is where they founded a
grand priory during the 12th century. Also, the team were tasked to discover the truth behind the 17th century
earl, Edward de Vere whether he was Shakespeares inspiration of Hamlet or hes the real Shakespeare.
With the help of geophysicists, some of the walls of the priory were discovered even without excavating.
The site director, Mick Aston, decided where to place the first trench at the side of the chapel. At the first trench,
they were able to find piles of bones that was once placed in a bag that rotted away over time. They were also
able to find encaustic tiles and stained glass which indicated the location of the grand chapel. Aside from these,
they found a fragment of a large terracotta plaque that was shown in the illustration of the house during the
1770 that Paul Whight provided.
During the second scanning of the geophysicists, they were able to find a mysterious room that was out
of place. After excavating the second trench, they were only able to find the wall of the chapel but not the
mystery room. However, they suspected that it was a cell for an anchorite/anchoress.
In the end, after digging 2 trenches, they werent able to find the remains of Edward de Vere in which
they concluded that since Edward was forced to sell the property after using all the familys wealth, he must
have been buried elsewhere. However, with the help of all the information they have gathered, they were able to
produce a 3D outline of the whole priory.
So, to be honest, I was expecting more. After watching this episode, I realized that it lacks content.
Instead of showing stone work, and drinking cocktail, why not just dig more trenches instead of showing the
viewers scenes that doesnt have much connection to the goals of the episode. Or this just my reaction after
comparing it to documentaries Ive watched about ancient civilizations. Well I guess thats all they can do with
such a short time.

Sutton Courtenay
For this episode, the Time Team was invited by Dr. Helena Hamerow to investigate an empty field in Oxfordshire.
During the 1920s, the first Anglo-Saxon settlement around the site and aerial photos of the site suggest that it might have
been a place for an Anglo-Saxon great hall.
Lead by Mick Aston, the site director, the geophysicist got to work by scanning the area to produce images of the
structures where they once stood. They decided to dig the first trench around the corner of the great hall. After digging
some time, they were able to find Anglo-Saxon pottery and different patterns in the soil and large alternating slanted post
holes suggesting the walls of the great hall were very tall.
Then after more geophysics results were made, they decided to dig another trench to determine whether the
structures might have been Anglo-Saxon grub huts. However, after sometime they interpreted that it might have been a
watering hole instead of an Anglo-Saxon grub house.
Then a third trench was dug to determine whether the great hall stood on its own or there were other structures
around it. In this trench, an antler bone comb was found and suggested about grooming during that time. Other than that,
pottery fragments, bones, a what appears to be a 7th century seax or knife, and lastly, a 9th Century strap end. But the most
interesting find was the dog skull which they inferred that it might have been a closure ritual, suggesting that the grub hut
was suggested that the Anglo-Saxon deliberately closed the structure.
On the other end of the first trench, another trench was made because they thought that they discovered the
location of the entrance to the great hall. After digging some more, they uncovered patterns on the ground which
suggested that it was the doorway to the great hall.
After excavating for 3 days, the team were able to uncover most of the wall posts of the great hall. And they
concluded that the hall was used to stand on a river side and the great hall was the largest ever discovered and ended the
show with a toast.
There is one question that runs through my mind during the whole show, how did the pottery expert knew that the
pot fragment came from the Anglo-Saxons just by looking at it for a short period or hes just that good. Also, I didnt like
the part where they just insulted each other in another language. I mean it lasted for a couple of minutes instead of
showing a meaningful clip. But overall, this episode is better than the first one. It showed more evidences and it was
remarkable.