Professor Mick Ashton

Mick Aston, who has died aged 66, was a leading archaeologist and gained much fame for appearing in Channel 4's popular Time Team programme. With his unruly silver hair and beard, some multi-coloured sweaters and distinctive West Midlands accent Professor Aston made a vital contribution to the programme's success. He combined a deep knowledge of history and a committed enthusiasm which much enlivened the series. He ensured the subjects were made understandable and entertaining and his informal manner – especially his ongoing banter with Sir Tony Robinson – did much to enhance the ambience of the show.

One of Time Team's most remarkable programmes came from Mull in 2010. On a wild and windy moor – with the rain pouring down – just outside Tobermory they uncovered the remains of a chapel and of a seventh-century Scottish saint. They also unearthed a Celtic Cross and some teeth. The latter necessitated a visit from the police who closed down the excavation immediately. Aston recalled later, "It was a really magical moment –you could feel a ripple of excitement."

Michael Antony "Mick" Aston was born the son of a cabinet maker in Oldbury in the Midlands and attended the town's grammar school. He recalled that his interest in archaeology began when he received Collins Field Guide to Archaeology by Eric Wood as a Christmas present when he was a teenager.

"What was nice about Eric Wood," he said, " was that he didn't just talk about famous monuments. He included bomb craters and dew ponds – all the stuff you actually come across when you wander about the countryside."

He went on to read Geography at Birmingham University where he became involved in the study of landscape archaeology, going on digs with Philip Rahtz, who ran a summer school at the university. On qualifying, he combined a career in teaching and institutions such as the Oxford City and County Museum and, from 1970, the first County Archaeologist for Somerset. He was closely associated with Bristol University where he was a tutor in archaeology and in 1996 was awarded a personal chair at Bristol.

His work with Time Team came about after a television producer heard him on radio in Oxford talking about his work and in 1988 he was invited to join a new four-part series for Channel 4 called Time Signs. Broadcast in 1991, it was followed three years later by Time Team. Aston was consultant and presenter on the programme and quickly became a popular household name.

It was the professor's background of scholarship and teaching that made him an ideal member of Time Team. His blend of the jocular and informed knowledge sat well with a TV crew that was under pressure to excavate a site in three working days. Aston also had to make decisions as to where they should dig from the research that had been carried out. This speed was not welcomed by some purists. "If you went to a pub and mentioned Time Team to a bunch of archaeologists," said Aston, "you'd instantly have a fight on your hands."

Their visits to Scotland proved historically important. In 2004 Prof Aston and his colleagues carried out a dig close to Floors Castle on the banks of the River Tweed. They revealed a powerful medieval city – Old Rokesburg – which had lain undisturbed for five centuries.

In 1999 a local farmer Douglas Paterson, of Tankerness in Orkney discovered an underground structure which had remained forgotten since its original discovery 50 years earlier. On the nearby island of Sanday some Orkney schoolchildren suggested that the Time Team investigate local mounds that local folklore maintained were of Viking origin.

In 2005, a major storm eroded a dune next to the beach at Allasdale, Barra, exposing human remains. All were investigated with great care and under Prof Aston's watchful and studious eye.

It was the sheer variety of subjects that made the series so popular. Profsor Aston discovered relics, bones and broaches and the programme was given permission to dig at such historic sites such as Westminster Abbey, Hampton Court, Buckingham Place and Hadrian's Wall.

It was the professor's relationship with Sir Tony Robinson that ensured the programme had a genial mix of serious archaeology and ribald asides. They had met on an archaeological course in Greece and made a formidable double-act. In 2012 Prof Aston left Time Team, arguing that the programme had become less focused on archaeology and history.

In 2004 he became an emeritus professor at Bristol University and held posts at both Exeter and Durham Universities. He published many books and was also seen on other programmes connected with archaeology.

He published several books including the popular title Mick's Archaeology in 2000, The Shapwick Project, Somerset in 2007 and Interpreting the English Village in 2013.

He had also recently been involved in researching the history of the village where he lived: Winscombe in Somerset.

He is survived by his partner, Teresa Hall and by a son.

An earlier marriage ended in divorce.