Earthworks

Series

Episode

Title

First
Broadcast

Repeated

Comments

Metal

20250124

[LISTEN NOW]

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby concludes her reflections on the human need to craft objects. In Sheffield for the final essay, Rose explores the steel industry that transformed the city and meets individuals still forging this craft today. Since the arrival of metals in Britain in the Late Neolithic period, this material has revolutionised practical tasks and has driven social transformation. It’s easy to take such an extraordinary invention for granted; but visiting a cutler and a blacksmith in Sheffield, Rose finds enchantment in the magic of metallurgy, seeing it as a testament to human creativity and endeavour.

Rose Ferraby is an artist, archaeologist and writer whose EarthWorks essays explore traces of human history around the British Isles. In the first series, Rose considered broad aspects of landscape - Wold, Fen, Mountain, Island and Moor, places in which archaeology can reveal change and human adaptations through time; and in the second series, she zoomed in closer to examine different cultural spaces preserved in the archaeological record - Town, Grave, Quarry, Field and Monument, all of which serve enduring purposes to this day. This new series focuses in fine-grained detail on the materials that have shaped human cultures and societies. Looking in turn at stone, wood, pottery, leather and metal, and the ways in which they’re crafted and understood, she reflects on how these materials can connect us to landscape, community and place.

Written and presented by Rose Ferraby
Produced by Mark Smalley
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3
Series Image: ‘Dark Peak’ by Rose Ferraby

Rose Ferraby considers steel in the company of a cutler and a blacksmith in Sheffield.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby tells the enchanting story of steel in Sheffield, visiting a cutler and a blacksmith to better understand complex metallurgical crafts.

Metal

20250124

[LISTEN NOW]

Written and presented by Rose Ferraby
Produced by Mark Smalley
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3
Series Image: ‘Dark Peak’ by Rose Ferraby

Rose Ferraby considers steel in the company of a cutler and a blacksmith in Sheffield.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby tells the enchanting story of steel in Sheffield, visiting a cutler and a blacksmith to better understand complex metallurgical crafts.

Wold

20220404

20240603 (R3)

Archaeologist and artist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history in different landscapes around the British Isles. In Wold', she discovers layers of human history in Yorkshire's celebrated chalk hills and describes her involvement in a dig at Thwing on the high Wolds at a Romano-British farmstead, a site which interacts with much older patterns of habitation.

Rose uses the lens of archaeology to reveal our impacts on the world. In EarthWorks she helps us see ourselves within previous patterns of change. Archaeology, we hear, is about imagination, with layers of time revealing people and their stories folded into the earth. At a time of considerable uncertainty about our future, could understanding our past interactions with the environment help us respond and adapt to whatever comes next?

Image: 'Dark Peak' by Rose Ferraby

Produced by Mark Smalley

A Reduced Listening Production

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby discovers the human past in the chalk of the Yorkshire Wolds.

Archaeologist and artist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history in different landscapes around the British Isles. In ‘Wold', she discovers layers of human history in Yorkshire's celebrated chalk hills and describes her involvement in a dig at Thwing on the high Wolds at a Romano-British farmstead, a site which interacts with much older patterns of habitation.

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores traces of the human past in the British landscape. In the Yorkshire Wolds, she discovers stories in the chalk.

Fen

20220405

20240604 (R3)

Archaeologist and artist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history in different landscapes around the British Isles. In 'Fen' she is at Must Farm in, near Peterborough, where close attention to the changes in the peat shows how we responded to environmental change in the Bronze Age. It was a time when rising sea levels drove inhabitants to seek higher ground.

Image: 'Dark Peak' by Rose Ferraby

Produced by Mark Smalley

A Reduced Listening Production

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby digs into the peat of the Fens to unearth tales of change.

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores traces of the past in the British landscape. She delves into the peat of the Fens to unearth long-lost signs of time and change.

Mountain

20220406

20240605 (R3)

Archaeologist and artist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history in different landscapes around the British Isles. In Mountain' she heads for the Lake District and a site of some startling discoveries. She recounts how during the Neolithic, 6000 years ago, skilled workers extracted the hard-wearing greenstone from the Langdales and fashioned axes that have been found throughout the British Isles.

Rose uses the lens of archaeology to reveal our impact on the world. In EarthWorks she helps us see ourselves within previous patterns of change. Archaeology, we hear, is about imagination, with layers of time revealing people and their stories folded into the earth. At a time of considerable uncertainty about our future, could understanding our past interactions with the environment help us respond and adapt to whatever comes next?

Image: 'Dark Peak' by Rose Ferraby

Produced by Mark Smalley

A Reduced Listening Production

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby goes in search of a Neolithic axe quarry in the Lake District.

Archaeologist and artist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history in different landscapes around the British Isles. In ‘Mountain' she heads for the Lake District and a site of some startling discoveries. She recounts how during the Neolithic, 6,000 years ago, skilled workers extracted the hard-wearing greenstone from the Langdales and fashioned axes that have been found throughout the British Isles.

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores traces of the past in the British landscape. She climbs a Lake District peak to visit a Neolithic quarry, the source of highly prized axes.

Island

20220407

20240606 (R3)

Archaeologist and artist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history in different landscapes around the British Isles. In Island' Rose begins with the excavation of a Neolithic house on a remote causeway which leads her to explore the nature of islands, connectedness through sea travel, and margins.

Image: 'Dark Peak' by Rose Ferraby

Produced by Mark Smalley

A Reduced Listening Production

Rose Ferraby finds signs that Scotland's Western Isles were once far from remote.

Archaeologist and artist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history in different landscapes around the British Isles. In ‘Island' Rose begins with the excavation of a Neolithic house on a remote causeway which leads her to explore the nature of islands, connectedness through sea travel, and margins.

Rose Ferraby is exploring traces of the past in the British landscape. In the Outer Hebrides, she considers the archaeology of islands and the connections they reveal.

05 LAST

Moor

20220408

20240607 (R3)

Archaeologist and artist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history in different landscapes around the British Isles. In Moor' she explores environmental change on Exmoor's peatlands. Here, ecologists and archaeologists must work together to restore the upland bogs. Understanding past environments provides insight into scales of change, and archaeology can be a valuable part of creating sustainable landscapes in the face of climate change.

Image: 'Dark Peak' by Rose Ferraby

Produced by Mark Smalley

A Reduced Listening Production

High on Exmoor, archaeologist Rose Ferraby reflects on past change and the future.

Archaeologist and artist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history in different landscapes around the British Isles. In ‘Moor' she explores environmental change on Exmoor's peatlands. Here, ecologists and archaeologists must work together to restore the upland bogs. Understanding past environments provides insight into scales of change, and archaeology can be a valuable part of creating sustainable landscapes in the face of climate change.

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby interprets ancient human marks left in the UK's landscapes. On Exmoor's high ground, she reflects on how the past can help us think about the future.

Town

20230710

Archaeologist and artist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history around the British Isles in this second series of EarthWorks. Through her essays she considers how cultural spaces such as towns, graves, fields and monuments reflect so much about the way we live and die. These are places that have changed over time but which still feature large today, establishing a dialogue between past lives and ourselves.

The first essay of this new series takes us to a Roman town close to Rose's heart, found beneath Aldborough, in North Yorkshire. What do towns show us about individuals and society? What connections develop between the inhabitants of this place and the excavators across two thousand years? The archaeological discoveries tell stories of continental connections, the come and go of people and the everyday stuff of life. And as the team digs down each summer, a new community is forged in the remains of the town. Such encounters are illuminating, showing how our worlds change, buried below pasture, lost to time.

Rose Ferraby is an archaeologist and artist whose work explores our changing relationship with landscape and materials. As a researcher with the University of Cambridge, she co-directs the Aldborough Roman Town Project, and her artwork seeks to inspire new ways of seeing archaeological landscapes and animating objects in museum settings. She contributed to the British Museum's World of Stonehenge exhibition in 2022.

Produced by Mark Smalley

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby unearths a Roman town in Yorkshire, and considers communities.

Grave

20230711

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby considers the grave as a site of slow accumulation, where the lives and deaths of human history intercut and overlap. She visits the British Museum to hold in her hands the Folkton Drums, three decorated chalk objects discovered in the grave of a Neolithic child in the Yorkshire Wolds over 5000 years ago. She reflects on how human rituals of death have sought to meet the loss of bereavement, with the practice of installing grave goods helping to bridge a sense of loss and love that can touch us still today. There's a peculiar privilege of an archaeologist's work to encounter and handle the remains of previous generations, to become closely connected with the sites where a life has been shifted into the land. Archaeology, Rose concludes, is about people, empathy and humanity.

Produced by Mark Smalley

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores how archaeology invites us to be with death.

Quarry

20230712

What I love about quarries is that they're a kind of accidental place. A place that has been formed during the making of something else - an inverse echo of our built world.' Archaeologist Rose Ferraby takes us to Beer on England's Jurassic coast where she considers the quarry as a space where the ingrained relationships between people and stone are revealed. Worked since Roman times, the stone was used to build fine villas, cathedrals and local houses, while the caves were a hideaway for smuggled brandy, entangling human and natural worlds. The empty voids still stand, containers for ongoing stories of stone.

Produced by Mark Smalley

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby descends underground to visit Devon's Beer Quarry Caves.

Field

20230713

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby travels to a field close to Fountains Abbey, in North Yorkshire. Fields seem so completely natural to our landscapes that they've almost come to represent an idea of tradition - our green and pleasant land; but the patterns of enclosure that thread our landscapes reflect shifts in power and society over time, and the changing ecological impacts of land use. Looking beyond the pastoral idyll, Rose sees how the different parts of field systems - boundaries, hedgerows, dung deposits and the 'organic archives' of soil - offer insights into the relationships between people and the natural world.

Produced by Mark Smalley

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby teases out a North Yorkshire field's place in changing times

05 LAST

Monument

20230714

Rose Ferraby visits Arbor Low in Derbyshire, a monumental Neolithic henge. Although it's hard to know exactly what went on at these henges when they were built, we do know that they were places of communal gathering. It remains a dramatic place within a ceremonial landscape, attracting people then and now. Rose reflects on the making and meaning of such a place, how community was cemented as a result of constructing the henge together. At a time when small groups shifted around the landscape with their animals, following cycles of seasons, such monuments seem to have provided the solid, static points at which to come together, allowing for rare moments of congregation. In the present, it continues to draw people in, its solid stones somehow creating a sense of firm grounding for the future.

Produced by Mark Smalley

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores a Neolithic henge in the Peak District

Stone

20250120

In the first episode of the third series of EarthWorks, archaeologist Rose Ferraby travels to the Hepple Estate in Northumberland to explore a site where rock art has been etched into great boulders. Created around 4000 years ago, the circular forms and lines produce shapes and patterns that have invited all kinds of interpretation. Their enigmatic presence continues to inspire new perspectives on how people's relationships with these landscapes have changed through time.

Rose Ferraby is an artist, archaeologist and writer whose EarthWorks essays explore traces of human history around the British Isles. In the first series, Rose considered broad aspects of landscape - Wold, Fen, Mountain, Island and Moor, places in which archaeology can reveal change and human adaptations through time; and in the second series, she zoomed in closer to examine different cultural spaces preserved in the archaeological record - Town, Grave, Quarry, Field and Monument, all of which serve enduring purposes to this day. This new series focuses in fine-grained detail on the materials that have shaped human cultures and societies. Looking in turn at stone, wood, pottery, leather and metal, and the ways in which they're crafted and understood, she reflects on how these materials can connect us to landscape, community and place.

Written and presented by Rose Ferraby

Produced by Mark Smalley

A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3

Series Image: ‘Dark Peak' by Rose Ferraby

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores rock art in Northumberland.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores how Northumbrian rock art reveals our enduring relationship and fascination with stone.

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history around the British Isles.

[LISTEN NOW]

Wood

20250121

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby continues her reflections on the very human need to craft objects from the materials available to us. In this second essay of EarthWorks Series Three, she tells the story of the extraordinary discovery of a wooden funerary monument on the beach at Holme-next-the-Sea in North Norfolk. Dubbed ‘Seahenge' by the local press when it was found in 1998, the monument was formed by a huge upturned stump of oak surrounded by an egg-shaped façade of 55 split oak timbers. Originally constructed on the edge of a saltmarsh in the early summer of 2049BC, the remarkable preservation of the wood in the peat allowed archaeologists to analyse it in detail. They could see individual toolmarks made by different bronze axes and the honeysuckle rope used to drag it to the site. The monument shows how trees were wrapped up in the cultural imaginings of Bronze Age society, something we find echoes of today in the cultural value we give to particular trees.

Rose Ferraby is an artist, archeologist and writer whose EarthWorks essays explore traces of human history around the British Isles. In the first series, Rose considered broad aspects of landscape - Wold, Fen, Mountain, Island and Moor, places in which archaeology can reveal change and human adaptations through time; and in the second series, she zoomed in closer to examine different cultural spaces preserved in the archaeological record - Town, Grave, Quarry, Field and Monument, all of which serve enduring purposes to this day. This new series focuses in fine-grained detail on the materials that have shaped human cultures and societies. Looking in turn at stone, wood, pottery, leather and metal, and the ways in which they're crafted and understood, she reflects on how these materials can connect us to landscape, community and place.

Written and presented by Rose Ferraby

Produced by Mark Smalley

A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3

Series Image: ‘Dark Peak' by Rose Ferraby

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby traces the story of Seahenge in North Norfolk.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores our relationship with wood as she traces the story of Seahenge, a wooden Bronze Age funerary monument discovered on the beach in North Norfolk.

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history around the British Isles.

[LISTEN NOW]

Pottery

20250122

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby continues her reflections on the very human need to craft objects from the materials available to us. In this central essay in the third series of EarthWorks, Rose rolls up her sleeves to try her hand at pottery-making. From hand-formed pots to wheel-thrown vessels, ceramic items have played a key role in the shaping of everyday life and cultural identity for thousands of years. As time has passed, the original function of some pots may well be forgotten, but archaeologists are discovering new information about the food such vessels might have held through examinations into their surfaces. And clay itself has memory, certain types - like porcelain - recall their previous forms in the heat of the kiln. In the pottery studio, Rose reflects on how the act of throwing a pot creates connections with other makers, a respect for the craft experienced across time.

Rose Ferraby is an artist, archaeologist and writer whose EarthWorks essays explore traces of human history around the British Isles. In the first series, Rose considered broad aspects of landscape - Wold, Fen, Mountain, Island and Moor, places in which archaeology can reveal change and human adaptations through time; and in the second series, she zoomed in closer to examine different cultural spaces preserved in the archaeological record - Town, Grave, Quarry, Field and Monument, all of which serve enduring purposes to this day. This new series focuses in fine-grained detail on the materials that have shaped human cultures and societies. Looking in turn at stone, wood, pottery, leather and metal, and the ways in which they're crafted and understood, she reflects on how these materials can connect us to landscape, community and place.

Written and presented by Rose Ferraby

Produced by Mark Smalley

A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3

Series Image: ‘Dark Peak' by Rose Ferraby

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby rolls up her sleeves to experience the art of making pottery.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby delights in the tactile quality of clay, exploring how the processes of making pottery can reveal different understandings of archaeological ceramics.

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history around the British Isles.

[LISTEN NOW]

Leather

20250123

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby continues her series of essays on the human need to craft objects from the materials available to us, visiting Vindolanda on Hadrian's Wall, once the northern frontier of the Roman Empire. The layers of occupation at the fort have sealed the earliest deposits, creating the unique, anaerobic conditions needed to preserve organic remains for nearly 2000 years. This includes Roman leather - from shoes to tent panels, boxing gloves to horse gear. These objects offer us extraordinary views into everyday life at the fort, revealing details about the families who lived there. Rose finds out how a team of experts are experimenting with new techniques to understand Roman leatherwork, and how this is shaping our broader view of the Roman world.

Rose Ferraby is an artist, archaeologist and writer whose EarthWorks essays explore traces of human history around the British Isles. In the first series, Rose considered broad aspects of landscape - Wold, Fen, Mountain, Island and Moor, places in which archaeology can reveal change and human adaptations through time; and in the second series, she zoomed in closer to examine different cultural spaces preserved in the archaeological record - Town, Grave, Quarry, Field and Monument, all of which serve enduring purposes to this day. This new series focuses in fine-grained detail on the materials that have shaped human cultures and societies. Looking in turn at stone, wood, pottery, leather and metal, and the ways in which they're crafted and understood, she reflects on how these materials can connect us to landscape, community and place.

Written and presented by Rose Ferraby

Produced by Mark Smalley

A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3

Series Image: ‘Dark Peak' by Rose Ferraby

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby encounters Roman leatherwork at Vindolanda on Hadrian's Wall.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby visits Vindolanda on Hadrian's Wall, where leather artefacts have been preserved at the Roman fort for nearly 2000 years.

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history around the British Isles.

[LISTEN NOW]

05 LAST

Steel

20250124

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby concludes her reflections on the human need to craft objects. In Sheffield for the final essay, Rose explores the steel industry that transformed the city and meets individuals still forging this craft today. Since the arrival of metals in Britain in the Late Neolithic period, this material has revolutionised practical tasks and has driven social transformation. It's easy to take such an extraordinary invention for granted; but visiting a cutler and a blacksmith in Sheffield, Rose finds enchantment in the magic of metallurgy, seeing it as a testament to human creativity and endeavour.

Rose Ferraby is an artist, archaeologist and writer whose EarthWorks essays explore traces of human history around the British Isles. In the first series, Rose considered broad aspects of landscape - Wold, Fen, Mountain, Island and Moor, places in which archaeology can reveal change and human adaptations through time; and in the second series, she zoomed in closer to examine different cultural spaces preserved in the archaeological record - Town, Grave, Quarry, Field and Monument, all of which serve enduring purposes to this day. This new series focuses in fine-grained detail on the materials that have shaped human cultures and societies. Looking in turn at stone, wood, pottery, leather and metal, and the ways in which they're crafted and understood, she reflects on how these materials can connect us to landscape, community and place.

Written and presented by Rose Ferraby

Produced by Mark Smalley

A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3

Series Image: ‘Dark Peak' by Rose Ferraby

Rose Ferraby considers steel in the company of a cutler and a blacksmith in Sheffield.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby tells the enchanting story of steel in Sheffield, visiting a cutler and a blacksmith to better understand complex metallurgical crafts.

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history around the British Isles.

[LISTEN NOW]

Episodes

Series	Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Repeated	Comments
		Metal	20250124		[LISTEN NOW] Archaeologist Rose Ferraby concludes her reflections on the human need to craft objects. In Sheffield for the final essay, Rose explores the steel industry that transformed the city and meets individuals still forging this craft today. Since the arrival of metals in Britain in the Late Neolithic period, this material has revolutionised practical tasks and has driven social transformation. It’s easy to take such an extraordinary invention for granted; but visiting a cutler and a blacksmith in Sheffield, Rose finds enchantment in the magic of metallurgy, seeing it as a testament to human creativity and endeavour. Rose Ferraby is an artist, archaeologist and writer whose EarthWorks essays explore traces of human history around the British Isles. In the first series, Rose considered broad aspects of landscape - Wold, Fen, Mountain, Island and Moor, places in which archaeology can reveal change and human adaptations through time; and in the second series, she zoomed in closer to examine different cultural spaces preserved in the archaeological record - Town, Grave, Quarry, Field and Monument, all of which serve enduring purposes to this day. This new series focuses in fine-grained detail on the materials that have shaped human cultures and societies. Looking in turn at stone, wood, pottery, leather and metal, and the ways in which they’re crafted and understood, she reflects on how these materials can connect us to landscape, community and place. Written and presented by Rose Ferraby Produced by Mark Smalley A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3 Series Image: ‘Dark Peak’ by Rose Ferraby Rose Ferraby considers steel in the company of a cutler and a blacksmith in Sheffield. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. Archaeologist Rose Ferraby tells the enchanting story of steel in Sheffield, visiting a cutler and a blacksmith to better understand complex metallurgical crafts. Show more
		Metal	20250124		[LISTEN NOW] Archaeologist Rose Ferraby concludes her reflections on the human need to craft objects. In Sheffield for the final essay, Rose explores the steel industry that transformed the city and meets individuals still forging this craft today. Since the arrival of metals in Britain in the Late Neolithic period, this material has revolutionised practical tasks and has driven social transformation. It’s easy to take such an extraordinary invention for granted; but visiting a cutler and a blacksmith in Sheffield, Rose finds enchantment in the magic of metallurgy, seeing it as a testament to human creativity and endeavour. Rose Ferraby is an artist, archaeologist and writer whose EarthWorks essays explore traces of human history around the British Isles. In the first series, Rose considered broad aspects of landscape - Wold, Fen, Mountain, Island and Moor, places in which archaeology can reveal change and human adaptations through time; and in the second series, she zoomed in closer to examine different cultural spaces preserved in the archaeological record - Town, Grave, Quarry, Field and Monument, all of which serve enduring purposes to this day. This new series focuses in fine-grained detail on the materials that have shaped human cultures and societies. Looking in turn at stone, wood, pottery, leather and metal, and the ways in which they’re crafted and understood, she reflects on how these materials can connect us to landscape, community and place. Written and presented by Rose Ferraby Produced by Mark Smalley A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3 Series Image: ‘Dark Peak’ by Rose Ferraby Rose Ferraby considers steel in the company of a cutler and a blacksmith in Sheffield. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. Archaeologist Rose Ferraby tells the enchanting story of steel in Sheffield, visiting a cutler and a blacksmith to better understand complex metallurgical crafts. Show more
01	01	Wold	20220404	20240603 (R3)	Archaeologist and artist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history in different landscapes around the British Isles. In Wold', she discovers layers of human history in Yorkshire's celebrated chalk hills and describes her involvement in a dig at Thwing on the high Wolds at a Romano-British farmstead, a site which interacts with much older patterns of habitation. Rose uses the lens of archaeology to reveal our impacts on the world. In EarthWorks she helps us see ourselves within previous patterns of change. Archaeology, we hear, is about imagination, with layers of time revealing people and their stories folded into the earth. At a time of considerable uncertainty about our future, could understanding our past interactions with the environment help us respond and adapt to whatever comes next? Image: 'Dark Peak' by Rose Ferraby Produced by Mark Smalley A Reduced Listening Production Archaeologist Rose Ferraby discovers the human past in the chalk of the Yorkshire Wolds. Archaeologist and artist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history in different landscapes around the British Isles. In ‘Wold', she discovers layers of human history in Yorkshire's celebrated chalk hills and describes her involvement in a dig at Thwing on the high Wolds at a Romano-British farmstead, a site which interacts with much older patterns of habitation. Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores traces of the human past in the British landscape. In the Yorkshire Wolds, she discovers stories in the chalk.
01	02	Fen	20220405	20240604 (R3)	Archaeologist and artist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history in different landscapes around the British Isles. In 'Fen' she is at Must Farm in, near Peterborough, where close attention to the changes in the peat shows how we responded to environmental change in the Bronze Age. It was a time when rising sea levels drove inhabitants to seek higher ground. Rose uses the lens of archaeology to reveal our impacts on the world. In EarthWorks she helps us see ourselves within previous patterns of change. Archaeology, we hear, is about imagination, with layers of time revealing people and their stories folded into the earth. At a time of considerable uncertainty about our future, could understanding our past interactions with the environment help us respond and adapt to whatever comes next? Image: 'Dark Peak' by Rose Ferraby Produced by Mark Smalley A Reduced Listening Production Archaeologist Rose Ferraby digs into the peat of the Fens to unearth tales of change. Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores traces of the past in the British landscape. She delves into the peat of the Fens to unearth long-lost signs of time and change.
01	03	Mountain	20220406	20240605 (R3)	Archaeologist and artist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history in different landscapes around the British Isles. In Mountain' she heads for the Lake District and a site of some startling discoveries. She recounts how during the Neolithic, 6000 years ago, skilled workers extracted the hard-wearing greenstone from the Langdales and fashioned axes that have been found throughout the British Isles. Rose uses the lens of archaeology to reveal our impact on the world. In EarthWorks she helps us see ourselves within previous patterns of change. Archaeology, we hear, is about imagination, with layers of time revealing people and their stories folded into the earth. At a time of considerable uncertainty about our future, could understanding our past interactions with the environment help us respond and adapt to whatever comes next? Image: 'Dark Peak' by Rose Ferraby Produced by Mark Smalley A Reduced Listening Production Archaeologist Rose Ferraby goes in search of a Neolithic axe quarry in the Lake District. Archaeologist and artist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history in different landscapes around the British Isles. In ‘Mountain' she heads for the Lake District and a site of some startling discoveries. She recounts how during the Neolithic, 6,000 years ago, skilled workers extracted the hard-wearing greenstone from the Langdales and fashioned axes that have been found throughout the British Isles. Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores traces of the past in the British landscape. She climbs a Lake District peak to visit a Neolithic quarry, the source of highly prized axes.
01	04	Island	20220407	20240606 (R3)	Archaeologist and artist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history in different landscapes around the British Isles. In Island' Rose begins with the excavation of a Neolithic house on a remote causeway which leads her to explore the nature of islands, connectedness through sea travel, and margins. Rose uses the lens of archaeology to reveal our impact on the world. In EarthWorks she helps us see ourselves within previous patterns of change. Archaeology, we hear, is about imagination, with layers of time revealing people and their stories folded into the earth. At a time of considerable uncertainty about our future, could understanding our past interactions with the environment help us respond and adapt to whatever comes next? Image: 'Dark Peak' by Rose Ferraby Produced by Mark Smalley A Reduced Listening Production Rose Ferraby finds signs that Scotland's Western Isles were once far from remote. Archaeologist and artist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history in different landscapes around the British Isles. In ‘Island' Rose begins with the excavation of a Neolithic house on a remote causeway which leads her to explore the nature of islands, connectedness through sea travel, and margins. Rose Ferraby is exploring traces of the past in the British landscape. In the Outer Hebrides, she considers the archaeology of islands and the connections they reveal.
01	05 LAST	Moor	20220408	20240607 (R3)	Archaeologist and artist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history in different landscapes around the British Isles. In Moor' she explores environmental change on Exmoor's peatlands. Here, ecologists and archaeologists must work together to restore the upland bogs. Understanding past environments provides insight into scales of change, and archaeology can be a valuable part of creating sustainable landscapes in the face of climate change. Rose uses the lens of archaeology to reveal our impact on the world. In EarthWorks she helps us see ourselves within previous patterns of change. Archaeology, we hear, is about imagination, with layers of time revealing people and their stories folded into the earth. At a time of considerable uncertainty about our future, could understanding our past interactions with the environment help us respond and adapt to whatever comes next? Image: 'Dark Peak' by Rose Ferraby Produced by Mark Smalley A Reduced Listening Production High on Exmoor, archaeologist Rose Ferraby reflects on past change and the future. Archaeologist and artist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history in different landscapes around the British Isles. In ‘Moor' she explores environmental change on Exmoor's peatlands. Here, ecologists and archaeologists must work together to restore the upland bogs. Understanding past environments provides insight into scales of change, and archaeology can be a valuable part of creating sustainable landscapes in the face of climate change. Archaeologist Rose Ferraby interprets ancient human marks left in the UK's landscapes. On Exmoor's high ground, she reflects on how the past can help us think about the future.
02	01	Town	20230710		Archaeologist and artist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history around the British Isles in this second series of EarthWorks. Through her essays she considers how cultural spaces such as towns, graves, fields and monuments reflect so much about the way we live and die. These are places that have changed over time but which still feature large today, establishing a dialogue between past lives and ourselves. The first essay of this new series takes us to a Roman town close to Rose's heart, found beneath Aldborough, in North Yorkshire. What do towns show us about individuals and society? What connections develop between the inhabitants of this place and the excavators across two thousand years? The archaeological discoveries tell stories of continental connections, the come and go of people and the everyday stuff of life. And as the team digs down each summer, a new community is forged in the remains of the town. Such encounters are illuminating, showing how our worlds change, buried below pasture, lost to time. Rose Ferraby is an archaeologist and artist whose work explores our changing relationship with landscape and materials. As a researcher with the University of Cambridge, she co-directs the Aldborough Roman Town Project, and her artwork seeks to inspire new ways of seeing archaeological landscapes and animating objects in museum settings. She contributed to the British Museum's World of Stonehenge exhibition in 2022. Produced by Mark Smalley Archaeologist Rose Ferraby unearths a Roman town in Yorkshire, and considers communities.
02	02	Grave	20230711		Archaeologist Rose Ferraby considers the grave as a site of slow accumulation, where the lives and deaths of human history intercut and overlap. She visits the British Museum to hold in her hands the Folkton Drums, three decorated chalk objects discovered in the grave of a Neolithic child in the Yorkshire Wolds over 5000 years ago. She reflects on how human rituals of death have sought to meet the loss of bereavement, with the practice of installing grave goods helping to bridge a sense of loss and love that can touch us still today. There's a peculiar privilege of an archaeologist's work to encounter and handle the remains of previous generations, to become closely connected with the sites where a life has been shifted into the land. Archaeology, Rose concludes, is about people, empathy and humanity. Produced by Mark Smalley Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores how archaeology invites us to be with death.
02	03	Quarry	20230712		What I love about quarries is that they're a kind of accidental place. A place that has been formed during the making of something else - an inverse echo of our built world.' Archaeologist Rose Ferraby takes us to Beer on England's Jurassic coast where she considers the quarry as a space where the ingrained relationships between people and stone are revealed. Worked since Roman times, the stone was used to build fine villas, cathedrals and local houses, while the caves were a hideaway for smuggled brandy, entangling human and natural worlds. The empty voids still stand, containers for ongoing stories of stone. Produced by Mark Smalley Archaeologist Rose Ferraby descends underground to visit Devon's Beer Quarry Caves.
02	04	Field	20230713		Archaeologist Rose Ferraby travels to a field close to Fountains Abbey, in North Yorkshire. Fields seem so completely natural to our landscapes that they've almost come to represent an idea of tradition - our green and pleasant land; but the patterns of enclosure that thread our landscapes reflect shifts in power and society over time, and the changing ecological impacts of land use. Looking beyond the pastoral idyll, Rose sees how the different parts of field systems - boundaries, hedgerows, dung deposits and the 'organic archives' of soil - offer insights into the relationships between people and the natural world. Produced by Mark Smalley Archaeologist Rose Ferraby teases out a North Yorkshire field's place in changing times
02	05 LAST	Monument	20230714		Rose Ferraby visits Arbor Low in Derbyshire, a monumental Neolithic henge. Although it's hard to know exactly what went on at these henges when they were built, we do know that they were places of communal gathering. It remains a dramatic place within a ceremonial landscape, attracting people then and now. Rose reflects on the making and meaning of such a place, how community was cemented as a result of constructing the henge together. At a time when small groups shifted around the landscape with their animals, following cycles of seasons, such monuments seem to have provided the solid, static points at which to come together, allowing for rare moments of congregation. In the present, it continues to draw people in, its solid stones somehow creating a sense of firm grounding for the future. Produced by Mark Smalley Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores a Neolithic henge in the Peak District
03	01	Stone	20250120		In the first episode of the third series of EarthWorks, archaeologist Rose Ferraby travels to the Hepple Estate in Northumberland to explore a site where rock art has been etched into great boulders. Created around 4000 years ago, the circular forms and lines produce shapes and patterns that have invited all kinds of interpretation. Their enigmatic presence continues to inspire new perspectives on how people's relationships with these landscapes have changed through time. Rose Ferraby is an artist, archaeologist and writer whose EarthWorks essays explore traces of human history around the British Isles. In the first series, Rose considered broad aspects of landscape - Wold, Fen, Mountain, Island and Moor, places in which archaeology can reveal change and human adaptations through time; and in the second series, she zoomed in closer to examine different cultural spaces preserved in the archaeological record - Town, Grave, Quarry, Field and Monument, all of which serve enduring purposes to this day. This new series focuses in fine-grained detail on the materials that have shaped human cultures and societies. Looking in turn at stone, wood, pottery, leather and metal, and the ways in which they're crafted and understood, she reflects on how these materials can connect us to landscape, community and place. Written and presented by Rose Ferraby Produced by Mark Smalley A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3 Series Image: ‘Dark Peak' by Rose Ferraby Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores rock art in Northumberland. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores how Northumbrian rock art reveals our enduring relationship and fascination with stone. Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history around the British Isles. [LISTEN NOW]
03	02	Wood	20250121		Archaeologist Rose Ferraby continues her reflections on the very human need to craft objects from the materials available to us. In this second essay of EarthWorks Series Three, she tells the story of the extraordinary discovery of a wooden funerary monument on the beach at Holme-next-the-Sea in North Norfolk. Dubbed ‘Seahenge' by the local press when it was found in 1998, the monument was formed by a huge upturned stump of oak surrounded by an egg-shaped façade of 55 split oak timbers. Originally constructed on the edge of a saltmarsh in the early summer of 2049BC, the remarkable preservation of the wood in the peat allowed archaeologists to analyse it in detail. They could see individual toolmarks made by different bronze axes and the honeysuckle rope used to drag it to the site. The monument shows how trees were wrapped up in the cultural imaginings of Bronze Age society, something we find echoes of today in the cultural value we give to particular trees. Rose Ferraby is an artist, archeologist and writer whose EarthWorks essays explore traces of human history around the British Isles. In the first series, Rose considered broad aspects of landscape - Wold, Fen, Mountain, Island and Moor, places in which archaeology can reveal change and human adaptations through time; and in the second series, she zoomed in closer to examine different cultural spaces preserved in the archaeological record - Town, Grave, Quarry, Field and Monument, all of which serve enduring purposes to this day. This new series focuses in fine-grained detail on the materials that have shaped human cultures and societies. Looking in turn at stone, wood, pottery, leather and metal, and the ways in which they're crafted and understood, she reflects on how these materials can connect us to landscape, community and place. Written and presented by Rose Ferraby Produced by Mark Smalley A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3 Series Image: ‘Dark Peak' by Rose Ferraby Archaeologist Rose Ferraby traces the story of Seahenge in North Norfolk. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores our relationship with wood as she traces the story of Seahenge, a wooden Bronze Age funerary monument discovered on the beach in North Norfolk. Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history around the British Isles. [LISTEN NOW]
03	03	Pottery	20250122		Archaeologist Rose Ferraby continues her reflections on the very human need to craft objects from the materials available to us. In this central essay in the third series of EarthWorks, Rose rolls up her sleeves to try her hand at pottery-making. From hand-formed pots to wheel-thrown vessels, ceramic items have played a key role in the shaping of everyday life and cultural identity for thousands of years. As time has passed, the original function of some pots may well be forgotten, but archaeologists are discovering new information about the food such vessels might have held through examinations into their surfaces. And clay itself has memory, certain types - like porcelain - recall their previous forms in the heat of the kiln. In the pottery studio, Rose reflects on how the act of throwing a pot creates connections with other makers, a respect for the craft experienced across time. Rose Ferraby is an artist, archaeologist and writer whose EarthWorks essays explore traces of human history around the British Isles. In the first series, Rose considered broad aspects of landscape - Wold, Fen, Mountain, Island and Moor, places in which archaeology can reveal change and human adaptations through time; and in the second series, she zoomed in closer to examine different cultural spaces preserved in the archaeological record - Town, Grave, Quarry, Field and Monument, all of which serve enduring purposes to this day. This new series focuses in fine-grained detail on the materials that have shaped human cultures and societies. Looking in turn at stone, wood, pottery, leather and metal, and the ways in which they're crafted and understood, she reflects on how these materials can connect us to landscape, community and place. Written and presented by Rose Ferraby Produced by Mark Smalley A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3 Series Image: ‘Dark Peak' by Rose Ferraby Archaeologist Rose Ferraby rolls up her sleeves to experience the art of making pottery. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. Archaeologist Rose Ferraby delights in the tactile quality of clay, exploring how the processes of making pottery can reveal different understandings of archaeological ceramics. Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history around the British Isles. [LISTEN NOW]
03	04	Leather	20250123		Archaeologist Rose Ferraby continues her series of essays on the human need to craft objects from the materials available to us, visiting Vindolanda on Hadrian's Wall, once the northern frontier of the Roman Empire. The layers of occupation at the fort have sealed the earliest deposits, creating the unique, anaerobic conditions needed to preserve organic remains for nearly 2000 years. This includes Roman leather - from shoes to tent panels, boxing gloves to horse gear. These objects offer us extraordinary views into everyday life at the fort, revealing details about the families who lived there. Rose finds out how a team of experts are experimenting with new techniques to understand Roman leatherwork, and how this is shaping our broader view of the Roman world. Rose Ferraby is an artist, archaeologist and writer whose EarthWorks essays explore traces of human history around the British Isles. In the first series, Rose considered broad aspects of landscape - Wold, Fen, Mountain, Island and Moor, places in which archaeology can reveal change and human adaptations through time; and in the second series, she zoomed in closer to examine different cultural spaces preserved in the archaeological record - Town, Grave, Quarry, Field and Monument, all of which serve enduring purposes to this day. This new series focuses in fine-grained detail on the materials that have shaped human cultures and societies. Looking in turn at stone, wood, pottery, leather and metal, and the ways in which they're crafted and understood, she reflects on how these materials can connect us to landscape, community and place. Written and presented by Rose Ferraby Produced by Mark Smalley A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3 Series Image: ‘Dark Peak' by Rose Ferraby Archaeologist Rose Ferraby encounters Roman leatherwork at Vindolanda on Hadrian's Wall. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. Archaeologist Rose Ferraby visits Vindolanda on Hadrian's Wall, where leather artefacts have been preserved at the Roman fort for nearly 2000 years. Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history around the British Isles. [LISTEN NOW]
03	05 LAST	Steel	20250124		Archaeologist Rose Ferraby concludes her reflections on the human need to craft objects. In Sheffield for the final essay, Rose explores the steel industry that transformed the city and meets individuals still forging this craft today. Since the arrival of metals in Britain in the Late Neolithic period, this material has revolutionised practical tasks and has driven social transformation. It's easy to take such an extraordinary invention for granted; but visiting a cutler and a blacksmith in Sheffield, Rose finds enchantment in the magic of metallurgy, seeing it as a testament to human creativity and endeavour. Rose Ferraby is an artist, archaeologist and writer whose EarthWorks essays explore traces of human history around the British Isles. In the first series, Rose considered broad aspects of landscape - Wold, Fen, Mountain, Island and Moor, places in which archaeology can reveal change and human adaptations through time; and in the second series, she zoomed in closer to examine different cultural spaces preserved in the archaeological record - Town, Grave, Quarry, Field and Monument, all of which serve enduring purposes to this day. This new series focuses in fine-grained detail on the materials that have shaped human cultures and societies. Looking in turn at stone, wood, pottery, leather and metal, and the ways in which they're crafted and understood, she reflects on how these materials can connect us to landscape, community and place. Written and presented by Rose Ferraby Produced by Mark Smalley A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3 Series Image: ‘Dark Peak' by Rose Ferraby Rose Ferraby considers steel in the company of a cutler and a blacksmith in Sheffield. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. Archaeologist Rose Ferraby tells the enchanting story of steel in Sheffield, visiting a cutler and a blacksmith to better understand complex metallurgical crafts. Archaeologist Rose Ferraby explores traces of human history around the British Isles. [LISTEN NOW]