Archaeology for Writers by Dorothy Courtis

 Long long ago (in 1994) I was a great fan of 'Time Team' - a weekly tv programme that popularized archaeology in the UK. Regular cast members were Professor Mick Aston, geophysics specialist John Gater, Anglo-Saxon specialists Sam Newton and Helen Geake, digger extraordinaire Phil Harding, and many others, all led and interpreted to the viewer by Tony Robinson of Baldric fame.

And I've discovered that thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I can now watch all the episodes on YouTube. Plus, thanks to Patreon, there are new ones, including a dig at my favourite local National Trust site, Sutton Hoo.

I find the whole process of an archaeological dig fascinating - and as I'm now wrestling with my latest project, I'm discovering there are similarities and things I can learn!

That first step always takes courage. Time Team's mechanical digger has ripped through gardens and tarmac roads, pristine hilltops and stately lawns. And it looks a mess at first. Writers and archaeologists have to commit to the process, keeping going when it just feels like a mess.

Some gems and treasures appear on the first sweep. They often are pretty unrecognisable and need to be taken to an expert conservator to clean it up before their true beauty shines. But treasures there are, and to be delighted in. (For the writer, a good editor plays the conservator role, knowing what to polish up and what to discard!)

Time Team used to be a three-day search for palaces, manor houses, Roman villas. And every hour of those three days was needed. The writer needs to commit to the time it will take to get the work done too. And oftentimes, as with Time Time, the best discoveries turn up in the fading light of the last day. Don't give up too soon.

Writers, like archaeologists, have to dig down - through their own superficial-level competence to reach the better stuff. For both writer and archaeologist, this is work. And then there's research materials to dig through - literature search, and walking the field to know the territory well enough.

And as with the Time Team round up and celebration - sometimes with an Anglo-Saxon or medieval feast - we too need to mark the completion of our project and celebrate it. Wipe the mud off our trowels and oil them, ready for the next time!

Dorothy Courtis is wrestling with book 3 of her Somerset Mystery Series which she publishes as Dorothy Stewart. There's a fourth lurking in the shadows...