Ep 4. Ice and Stone

Ice and Stone is the fourth episode of season 2 of Digging for Britain, a documentary series which focuses on recent archaeological discoveries in Britain that shed light on the country's ancient history. In this episode, the team explores two different sites, one related to the Ice Age and the other to the Bronze Age.

The first site is Hengistbury Head, a spit of land near Bournemouth on the southern coast of England. This area has evidence of human activity going back to the Palaeolithic era, when it was occupied by Neanderthals. In fact, Hengistbury Head offers one of the best records of early human occupation in the country. The team join an excavation led by Professor Matthew Pope, who is keen to find out more about the people who lived here at the end of the last Ice Age, around 12,000 years ago.

Pope believes that Hengistbury Head was a refuge for humans during the harsh climatic conditions of the Ice Age. He and his team uncover evidence of a series of hearths or fireplaces, which would have been essential for keeping warm during the freezing winters. The team also find bones of animals that were hunted for food, such as red deer, and even a mammoth tusk. Pope is particularly excited by the discovery of a stone tool that has been chipped into a sharp edge, as this indicates a level of technical skill and innovation that was previously unknown for this period.

The second part of the episode takes us to a very different site, in the heart of Wales. This is Carn Goedog, one of the quarries that was used to extract the bluestones that make up part of the world-famous monument of Stonehenge. Stonehenge has long fascinated archaeologists and the general public alike, and while its purpose and construction is still a source of debate, there is no doubt that the monument represents an incredible feat of engineering and organisation, given that the bluestones had to be transported hundreds of miles from west Wales to Salisbury Plain.

The team joins Dr. Josh Pollard, who is leading an excavation at Carn Goedog. Pollard is interested in finding out more about how the bluestones were extracted from the quarry and transported across the country, and what this can tell us about the people who did it. Pollard explains that the bluestones were extracted using a technique called wedging, which involved hammering wooden wedges into the rock and then pouring water over them, causing them to expand and split the rock apart. This was a highly skilled and dangerous job, but it would have been essential for providing the raw materials for the people who built Stonehenge.

The excavation at Carn Goedog yields some fascinating finds, including pieces of bluestone that were abandoned in situ, and a range of tools used in the quarrying process. Pollard also come across what he believes to be a prehistoric hearth, which hints at the presence of a settlement nearby. Overall, the episode offers a fascinating glimpse into two periods of Britain's ancient past, separated by thousands of years but both revealing something important about how people lived and worked in the landscape.