Dr Russell & 'The Seven Ages of Britain'

Date: 21 March 2011

BU’s Dr Miles Russell has made a guest appearance on the Channel 4 television show ‘The Seven Ages of Britain’ which was aired on Saturday 5 March.

The show, which is presented by Bettany Hughes, takes a look at Britain’s history, starting at the last Ice Age and ending at the beginning of the agricultural and industrial revolutions. The programme examines how the everyday lives of ordinary British citizens have evolved over this time.

This episode was based around new theories on the Neolithic and discussed why British hunter gatherer society may have switched to farming and monument building 6000 years ago. Dr Russell, a Senior Lecturer in Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology, made an appearance to discuss the significance of flint mines in this transition, based upon his work on mines dug in Sussex and Norfolk from around 4,200 BC to 3000 BC.

Filming was carried out around and within the flint mines of Grimes Grave in Norfolk, and Miles discussed how the mines were excavated as a way of accessing the subterranean sources of flint, which would be used for tools and weapons such as axes and knives. However, due to the amount of ritual objects found by archaeologists in such mines, it is likely the excavation of the mines also served a religious purpose, perhaps providing a rite of passage for juveniles to attain adulthood.