Return to Beanotown

It's been a while since I've had a chance to catch up on archaeological fieldwork being undertaken in Beanotown (see Nov 2013: The Archaeology of Pies) and, given the extraordinary nature of prehistoric pastry-related discoveries previously made there, I was very pleased to see that a sequel documentary has been commissioned and screened by the good people of the CBBC channel (still not worked out what CBBC stands for but I suspect it's very important - Cultural British Broadcasting Corporation perhaps?).

Anyway, the nature of fieldwork seems to have changed for the second season of investigation. On the positive side, as far as I can see, the project is far better resourced this time around, the team operating within a considerably larger trench  



(although I'm altogether sure that this is necessarily a good thing given that Beanotown School apparently sits, as revealed last time, slap bang in an Area of Outstanding Scientific Interest). On the negative side the bulk of the investigation is currently being undertaken by volunteers  

(which is not, I suspect, strictly ethical given that most seem to be of pre GCSE grade age). There were also a few issues concerning health and safety (only the director seems to be wearing a hard hat and any kind of high vis jacket – and I'm not sure what the Health and Safety at Work Act has to say about the wearing of bow ties on site)

 

whilst the recording of contexts seems to be almost non existent (although it's always difficult to see what has been staged for the purposes of television - but I didn’t, for that matter, see any discussion of artefact associations or associated bone groups either) nor was there any site photography or drawing going on (which was a bit odd).

This may, of course, all be due to the fact that director of operations is now Dr Palaeo (rather than the more pastry-obsessed Lancashire Smith). I'm not aware of Dr Palaeo's work, but he does seem to know his stuff, and I have to say that I was most convinced by his meticulous recreation of the Mutton-Poultry-Bovineo-Saurus in the final scenes

 

That is at least until the very close of the programme when it was hinted (quite strongly by the film maker) that the bulk of the faunal remains had been planted (akin to the way in which the faked bones of Piltdown Man had been discretely placed within the pre-disturbed gravels of Barkham Manor way back in 1912), which, as far as revelations go, was more than a tad explosive.

 

 

If this newly identified species of prehistoric animal is indeed a fake, and if there is any doubt concerning the overall authenticity of the Mutton-Poultry-Bovineo-Saurus, I think we need to know, certainly before any it becomes the subject of further PhD research and / or a best-selling book.