More Time Team Drama?

The Daily Mail said good morning with a rather harsh article about yet another Time Team shake-up:

While not quite as exciting as excavating buried treasure, the boffins of Channel 4’s archaeological show Time Team have managed to dig themselves into an extraordinary hole.

For just a day after it emerged that Bristol’s emeritus professor of archaeology Michael Aston had quit the programme, I learn that his much younger, attractive co-host has also walked out.

Cambridge beauty Mary-Ann Ochota, 30, a former model, has told Time Team fans she is leaving her post and will not be in the next series.

‘I always loved Time Team, and was very excited to be working with Mick — he wasn’t so keen!’ she revealed yesterday. 

‘The series didn’t work out quite how I wanted it to either — needless to say I’m not coming back for the next series either!’ 

Mary-Ann, who holds a master’s degree in archaeology and anthropology from Cambridge, also mounts a robust defence of her position on the show amid continuing speculation that she and Prof Aston did not get on. 

‘I was brought in to be a co-presenter, not an archaeologist, so I could ask the questions viewers might be asking,’ she writes on Time Team’s Facebook page.

But within minutes, the site was abuzz with comments from viewers. One said: ‘You really have to establish your archaeological credentials first on the show [or] it looks like the programme producers have employed you purely for the “totty factor” despite having the appropriate academic qualifications.'

The walkouts were apparently triggered after producers decided to reformat the show, which is hosted by Blackadder star Tony Robinson, after 19 series.

Part of the reshuffle included recruiting Miss Ochota — married to children’s author Joe Craig — and archaeologist Alex Langlands this year.

According to programme  sources, Miss Ochota appeared to have a happy working relationship with most of the Time Team crew on set. 

A Channel 4 spokeswoman says: ‘Mary-Ann will not be returning for the next series of Time Team, which will be aired in 2013.’

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The Daily Mail article sort of glazes over two important points, which I'd like to briefly address.  The first being the Miss Ochota does tout the necessary credentials (a Master’s Degree in Archaeology and Anthropology from Cambridge University) to be involved with the series.  Everyone is hot to mention she modeled for Special K cereal or something, but glazes over the fact that she is an academic.  The second, and more severe tidbit that the media should be highlighting is that the network wants to "cut down the informative stuff about the archaeology."  Therein lies the true crime.  "Informative stuff?"  I thought pissing on science education was limited to the US Department of Education.

Mick Aston quits Time Team after producers hire former model co-presenter

Mick Aston, the archaeologist, has quit Time Team after producers hired a former model as the programme’s co-presenter.

The 65-year-old, who has been on the show for 19 years, said he had been left “really angry” by changes which led to the introduction of co-presenter Mary-Ann Ochota and some archaeologists being axed.

In an interview with the magazine British Archaeology, Prof Aston, the show’s former site director, said: “The time had come to leave. I never made any money out of it, but a lot of my soul went into it. I feel really, really angry about it.”

He was responding to changes first proposed by producers at Channel 4 in late 2010, which included a new presenter to join Tony Robinson and decisions to “cut down the informative stuff about the archaeology”.

An email to archaeologists last year from Wildfire Television, which makes the programme, said it was seeking a female co-presenter who “does not have to be overly experienced or knowledgeable as we have plenty of expertise within the existing team”.

Though Professor Aston appears with the new recruits in the current series, he will not join the 20th series, which starts filming in April.

“Whatever happened, we’d all thought, we’ll complete the 20th series. It feels very sad that I shan’t do that. I’m not proud of Time Team, it hasn’t worked,” Prof Aston added.

He compared the reshuffle at Time Team to the changes at the BBC’s Countryfile in 2008, which introduced younger presenters and, he said, reduced it to “cliché-ridden pap”.

Miss Ochota, 30, holds a master’s degree in archaeology and anthropology from Cambridge University and has previously done modelling work, including shoots for Special K.

You can find Tim Taylor's response to the announcement here: http://www.scribd.com/tim_darch/d/80914164-Tim-Taylor-Statement-regarding-Mick-Aston

Sexy Archaeology Holiday Gift Guide

The holiday season is upon us and whether you celebrate Christmas, Kwanza, Hanukkah, Saturnalia, Festivus, Wookie Life Day or one of a dozen other December rituals, chances are you’ll be buying a gift for at least one person. And what if that person is an archaeologist? Whatever will you get them? Thankfully, Sexy Archaeology has you covered with our guide to holiday gift giving.

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Think you’ve got the cranial capacity to come up with the best present ever? Save all that energy and head over to Skulls Unlimited, the world’s leading supplier of osteological specimens. We watered a the mouth when we saw the extensive collection of replica fossil Hominid skeletons they have available.  What better present than a museum quality Australopithecus afarensis? How about an entire disarticulated Lucy skeleton? Really get creative by wrapping each bone individually.

Head over to Skulls Unlimited now!

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The Past Horizons tool store is your one stop shop for top archaeology gear at the lowest price. From trowels to finds bags, Past Horizons should be every archaeologist’s first stop to shop. We’re especially fond of their Archaeologist toolkit. This is the best toolkit we’ve seen yet; it comes complete with 4” WHS trowel, tapes, nails, plum bobs, and plenty more all in a handy 12 tool roll. You can pick one up today at the Past Horizons online store for £59.99.

Find this and more at Past Horizons!

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If your archaeologist conducts his or her work from the armchair, then the Time Team America DVDs are the perfect find! PBS has made all five episodes of the hit series available on DVD. Join host Colin Campbell as he takes you to some of America's hottest archaeology sites on a whirlwind three day dig. Our particular favorite is the Range Creek, Utah episode.... but we wouldn’t say no to the complete set.

Unearth this and more at PBS.org.

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Maybe your archaeologist is more of a hands on individual. Flint knapping never went out of style; it can be a great way to understand past peoples and the methods they employed to make the artifacts we find today.  Plus there's nothing more satisfying than the sound of a hammer stone against volcanic glass.  3 Rivers Archery has an excellent flint knapping kit, good for both beginners and modern day Clovis peoples.  As for the source material, we suggest keeping you eyes peeled to EBay for the best deals on flint and obsidian from around the globe.

Visit 3 Rivers Archery.

That's all for now.  If you have gift ideas you feel every archaeologist should know about, send us an email and let us know!

Time Team America season finale tonight!

Tonight brings us the season finale of Time Team America on PBS!

On the season finale, the archaeologists of Time Team America ride to the rescue of a Wild West time capsule. In 1865, a unit of cavalry soldiers thought they had volunteered to fight in the Civil War. Instead, they found themselves sent west to defend pioneer settlers against angry Sioux Indians in what is now South Dakota. Upon their arrival, the soldiers built one of the few stone forts on the American frontier. The fort’s quartzite walls still peek out from under a grassy field. Our team has just three days to map, dig, and uncover what remains of Fort James. What they find tells an intriguing tale of 1865 frontier life.

Watch the episode NOW on the PBS Digital Portal.

And head over to the Time Team America website and learn more about Range Creek in the Site Report.

Time Team America launches in 4 DAYS!

Happy Fourth of July to all our sexy American friends out there! What better way to celebrate the Fourth than with a four day countdown to the premiere of Time Team America on PBS!

The sexy, new and improved Time Team America website is off the ground with loads of exciting supplementary information to keep you ditch diggers and dirt groupies busy!  New to archaeology?   Check out the Field School section for a crash course in some of the processes utilized by archaeologists.  Old vet or just can't get enough of the new series? The Site Report area has everything you need to expand your understanding of the five sites visited in the first series.

And if you haven't already, check out the first episode now at the PBS Digital Portal!