Masterclass: Winfarthing Lady | Post-Ex Analysis
Added 2024-03-22 12:10:04 +0000 UTCMany of us have been captivated by the Winfarthing Lady, a high-status early Medieval burial discovered in Norfolk. In this brand new masterclass, the plot continues to develop with post-excavation analysis of isotopic and environmental evidence.
It's only fitting that this fascinating discussion brings together four fantastic women who are all experts in their respective fields.
Our own Dr Helen Geake and 'queen of the ancient environment', Naomi Sewpaul, are joined by isotopic researcher, Dr Sam Leggett (University of Edinburgh), and early Medieval archaeologist, Prof Helena Hamerow (University of Oxford).
Special thanks to our panel of experts, in addition to Tom Sparrow of the School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences, University of Bradford for the CT scans of environmental samples.
Comments
I am also new. Not sure if we can get any type of continuing class credit, but hope to find out.
Donna Oldenkamp
2025-01-23 19:53:19 +0000 UTCDonna - How does one take the next class? I'm new to Patreon and I'm not sure how it works. I just want to learn more so Masterclass caught my eye. Can you help me out and explain how to take a class? Thank you. Regards, Rebecca Duncan
Rebecca Duncan
2025-01-23 19:50:06 +0000 UTCSo looking forward to the next class. The use of “Museum Store” made me gasp, as in the US that means an actual shop inside the museum. As I kept listing, I realized what was they meant.
Donna Oldenkamp
2025-01-21 00:46:42 +0000 UTCBrilliant discussion, so much to think about based on the evidence produced by the post-excavation data. And so well presented by the panel of experts with so much knowledge!
Kathryn Senior
2024-11-27 20:12:40 +0000 UTCAll hail to the mansplainer... NOT. Why not listen and learn from four very expert and educated female archaeologists/scientists and squash that ego just a little bit? And maybe back up your wild assertions with some citations from evidence-based research?
Kathryn Senior
2024-11-27 20:10:42 +0000 UTCYou had two questions in the episode. First, what was in the "tear" bottle? IMHO it was a concentrated odor management oil, basil. Yep, the Romans didn't cook with it, but used it to deodorize their houses, and clothes. As skin cleaning was done with olive oil, it makes sense that a corpse that is really going "off" would have been treated prior to burial. As the Egyptians used oil unctions for the same purposes on mummies, it seems logical to do something similar in Roman areas after the time of Caesar. Secondly, while lechate from her liner would contribute to her bones lead content, it would be interesting to XRF a cross section of freshly cut bone to determine it's gradient. As she was from a far flung part of the empire, and a patrician either locally adopted or immigrant, her bones would have a high lead content normally. All her wine, the really good stuff, would have been shipped from Italy. It was shipped in resin coated amphirae that were stopped by lead plugs to keep them air tight and prevent vinegaring. There was conjecture in the 60's and 70' s that the lower intellectual ability at the close of the empire was that a good portion of the patrician class has chronic and hereditary problems from lead poisoning. Add to that a patrician living in the countryside where water was often contaminated, she could have passed from alcoholism complicated by lead laced wine (as it took a while to ship it and transport it from Italy. Hey, it was safer than the water even if you're used to it. Anyway, that's my conjecture.
John Melka
2024-04-13 21:47:04 +0000 UTCYes, that was a fascinating discussion. I very much appreciated the expertise of each panel member. A thought occurred to me: will isotope analysis be as informative to archaeologists in the far future, when they are digging up present day people? The reason I ask is that many in the developed world eat many imported foods. So, a future isotope analysis might give fuzzier results. Of course, archaeologists in 3000 BCE will probably use their Star Trek scanner to pull up detailed information using technology that we can't imagine right now :-).
Andy Quick
2024-04-06 01:39:25 +0000 UTCThat was a fascinating discussion. Thank you for doing this. It is amazing how far the various analyses have come these last few years.
Pamela Brotherton
2024-03-31 15:26:28 +0000 UTCI can’t tell you all just how much I appreciate your work, and how much value I get out of all your programs, especially the master classes like this one. I have learned so much, and consequently my life feels much more rich because of it. And, your enthusiasm for your work is inspirational. Thank you!
Mary Lu Perham
2024-03-30 18:00:26 +0000 UTCI really appreciate being able to listen in on this excellent discussion. More analysis of this kind in the future would be very welcome.
Phil Webb
2024-03-29 23:50:16 +0000 UTCI wonder if this high-status lady could have been an ancestor of Charlemagne, a descendant of Clovis? Aachen, the Frankish capital is only 30 miles away from Cologne, so she could easily have originated there. Our current monarch in the UK is Charles III who is said to be a descendent of Charlemagne, so who knows her real significance? She would presumably have been a contemporary of Bede, though she lived further south. The expanding influence of Christianity across the Anglo-Saxons from the continent would certainly have put high-status people and priests from the Frankish world in touch with each other. Political alliances along the Rhine and up into East Anglia would have made sense, so why not marry a princess or noblewoman from Frankish nobility into the line of Wuffa? It's all very fascinating.
Amethyst Gray
2024-03-29 22:55:54 +0000 UTCI absolutely loved this. And for the 100th time, wish I could have my time over again so that I could work in this field. Also lovely to see an Aussie archaeologist working in Britain here <3
Bron Lloyd
2024-03-29 08:16:31 +0000 UTCThe village of my infancy was named after a Woman Bilda and her Enclosure - Blidworth (Blideworde) an ancient place, in the heart of Nottinghamshire. Great conversation and discussions.
Brett
2024-03-28 16:26:10 +0000 UTCThank you so much for that fascinating masterclass! The opportunity to go deeper into these types of stories really captures the imagination and wonder brought about by the interconnection between science and humanity!
Andrew Calderwood
2024-03-26 00:39:55 +0000 UTCThank you so much - tremendously interesting discussion. And congratulations on achieving 10,000 members! I'm looking forward to many new TT's to come.
Rosemary Henderson
2024-03-25 21:57:23 +0000 UTCThoroughly enjoyed this discussion. I also appreciate, as others have pointed out, that the panel is four professional women.
Sharyle Doherty
2024-03-25 20:07:47 +0000 UTCAbsolutely brilliant - would love more of this indepth analysis of site findings!
Sue Oldham
2024-03-25 20:02:53 +0000 UTCI so deeply appreciate this follow up…completely fascinating. And something struck me in particular. You touched on changes in the field (toward the end of the convo). My fascination in archeology was fired by a book I was given as a small child on the King Tut discovery by Howard Carter. And over my lifetime there has clearly been a shift from men treasure hunting to women like yourselves doing the detailed work that injects tremendous humanity into the science. For me, this is as significant as the scientific leaps forward. With great appreciation…thank you.
Kimberly Fox
2024-03-25 19:08:19 +0000 UTCExcellent discussion almost made me fee like a participant rather than just an observer.
Derek Thom
2024-03-25 17:06:25 +0000 UTCFantastic follow-up to the dig. How perfect that it is four women on the panel. When I was a kid I wanted to be an archaeologist, but it was a primarily male field. I love that younger generations have the opportunity to see brilliant women like these.
Moonmare
2024-03-24 17:27:40 +0000 UTCThank you so much and I look forward to seeing more of this type of discussion.
jenni burke
2024-03-24 17:25:58 +0000 UTCWhat a lovely discussion and interesting to find out more about the burial. Thank you.
David Thorndike
2024-03-24 14:18:20 +0000 UTCBrilliant work 👏
Karen Anderson
2024-03-24 09:31:25 +0000 UTCAbsolutely love these master classes. Echoing others, would very much like more (but understanding everyone has lots of work they're doing outside of Time Team). A huge thank you to them all for giving us their valuable time to further enlighten us about the compelling Winfarthing Lady. These windows into the archaelogy world are so compelling.
Elaine P
2024-03-24 02:06:33 +0000 UTCAbsolutely fascinating. Thank you for this in depth look.
Lynn Marsh Freeman
2024-03-23 23:17:54 +0000 UTCJust fantastic. Thank you so much for providing this extended conversation among experts--it's just what Patreon is built for!
James D Speckart
2024-03-23 17:12:32 +0000 UTCLove this analysis of information gathered from this excavation, a bit unsure of some of the extrapolation, but when looking at the overview it does give some direction towards future research.
Neil Graham
2024-03-23 13:14:38 +0000 UTCTremendously interesting, and exciting. The guests were all marvelous. It also answered so many of my questions. Thank you so much.
Elizabeth Neill
2024-03-23 05:55:15 +0000 UTCSo much interesting and compelling information... quite technical but yet easily understood as everything is explained incredibly well. Thank you all for taking time from your busy schedules to offer us this fascinating Masterclass. Time Team & TT Patreon is a blessing in my life. 🙏 Canada
Patricia Amero
2024-03-23 03:31:26 +0000 UTCFascinating master class! I suspect the only high status folks of this period who did not periodically visit the continent were the one prone to seasickness. 🤢
Eggs Ackley
2024-03-23 02:06:33 +0000 UTCThe botanical and isotopic research is amazing. WOW. This is just why I love archaeology and Time Team so much.
Michell Adams
2024-03-23 01:16:50 +0000 UTCI loved this! Thank you very much! I love in-depth discussions like this.
Christie M Shepherd
2024-03-22 23:20:56 +0000 UTCHello Ladies, I just enjoyed this discussion so much. I did see the 2022 Winfarthing Lady on Time Team. Listening to all of you added so much more knowledge for me. Thank you all for an hour well spent.
Bethanny Allain
2024-03-22 22:54:26 +0000 UTCLove this, so wish they'd had a map or two showing the locations they were discussing
Kama Miller
2024-03-22 21:14:02 +0000 UTCHei Time Teamers, congratulations on 10014 ongoing members on Patreon!!! I just checked =) Greatings from Norway
Anja Adam
2024-03-22 19:44:51 +0000 UTCWhen I saw the birch bark I was reminded what an excellent material for kindling, plus a copper pot and maybe medicinal ingredients too.... but sounds as though there was far more birch than a bit of firewood.
John Amatt
2024-03-22 19:38:19 +0000 UTCRe ‘bed burials’: has anyone looked at the possibility that they are actually ‘bier burials’, with the special individual carried to and from church, then placed in the grave on a furnished frame that could be structurally lighter and less robust than an everyday bed?
H Harding
2024-03-22 19:37:33 +0000 UTCLoved this! I really enjoyed hearing about the Winfarthing Lady and female connections - she makes me think of my mother, a Saxby from Lincolnshire and a Saxon queen in her own right!
MegascopsAsio
2024-03-22 17:10:57 +0000 UTCMore like this, please!
Hazel Uzzell
2024-03-22 17:05:23 +0000 UTCAmazing program! Please bring us more of this sort of thing. I’m with Kenneth asking for more of the scientific detail. Thanks for this!
Jessica Wicks
2024-03-22 15:52:59 +0000 UTCI was very interested in this conversation, since it allows us to follow the process of identifying and contextualizing the person and the grave goods. Idle thought: Would it be possible to get her DNA and follow it down the centuries to identify current relatives?
Evelyn G Kimbrell
2024-03-22 15:31:32 +0000 UTCLoved this. Probably crazy, but could DNA analysis from the similar female burials mentioned reveal familial relationships? Could the women be cousins, or such like?
Blandyna Teresa Williams
2024-03-22 14:17:22 +0000 UTCI cannot wait to tuck into this tonight!
Michell Adams
2024-03-22 13:38:59 +0000 UTCSuper stuff and just what I've been requesting. This additional research and discussion is the missing facet that shows Time Team has evolved the story from a starter to a main meal. More detailed science please and thanks for this Helen.
Kenneth Brawn
2024-03-22 13:11:56 +0000 UTCWow
James Matney
2024-03-22 12:30:16 +0000 UTC
