Ep 2. Mosaics, Mosaics, Mosaics, Dinnington

"The Time Team" is a British television show that explores archaeological sites across the UK to uncover the secrets of the country's history. Season 10 episode 2, titled "Mosaics, Mosaics, Mosaics, Dinnington," takes viewers to the picturesque South Yorkshire village of Dinnington. The Time Team is summoned to excavate a building that has long puzzled the locals. The site had been discovered in the early 1980s while digging a new housing estate, but not much was known about the building and its origins.

The team first examines a section of the building that has already been excavated to try and understand what the structure could have been. The evidence suggests that it was not a large mansion but rather an industrial building or workshop because of the high concentration of glass and lead found in the soil. The experts hypothesize that it may have been a glassmaking workshop, but they're not entirely sure.

The team decides to dig deeper, and within the first few hours, they make an exciting discovery: a mosaic floor in an adjacent room near where the team had been excavating. The pattern is intricate but not elaborate, primarily composed of contrasting grey polygons. The experts estimate that it dates back to the second or third century AD, a period when such pieces of art were uncommon in Britain.

The team explores other parts of the building, but they are not as successful in finding significant artifacts. They do find fragments of a Roman tile, but everything else seems to be from the medieval period.

However, the building's main event takes place on day three when the team discovers the room containing yet another mosaic floor. This time, the design is more elaborate, it has borders of brown tesserae forming rows of four tiles wide, which are beautifully intricate. The centre of the pattern is simpler, made of small cubes. Many of which are white, but with a significant number of black tiles placed in mathematical patterns. The mosaic design suggested that it would have been located in a central room, possibly the hall of the building, and could have been used for important functions.

The discovery of the second mosaic floor raises numerous questions about the purpose of the building. Could it have belonged to the Roman Empire since mosaic floors were a prominent feature in Rome's public buildings? Or was it created some centuries later by a wealthy patron in need of a magnificent hall to impress guests?

As excavation work draws to a close, the Time Team concludes that the building could have been an industrial workshop in Roman times that also had a residence for the employees. The mosaic floors were a way of decorating the main hall of the house, perhaps owned by a wealthy person associated with glass making. The team believes that in the fifth to seventh centuries, the building did not fall into disuse but was instead repurposed as a place of worship, much like other Roman structures throughout the UK.

The Time Team once again succeeds in unlocking the secrets of a location thanks to their expert knowledge and keen eye for spotting important clues. The discovery of not one, but two, rare mosaic floors hints at the building's lavish past and offers a valuable insight into history that would otherwise have remained untold.