0:00:05 > 0:00:07This is the story of what may be
0:00:07 > 0:00:12the most important archaeological find ever on Dartmoor.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14I've worked on Dartmoor for over 20 years
0:00:14 > 0:00:18and never would have anticipated getting anything like this.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21The moor has kept its secrets well.
0:00:21 > 0:00:26But now I'm on the trail of the discovery of a 4,000-year-old tomb
0:00:26 > 0:00:28that's rewriting the history books.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32This sort of find is truly exceptional -
0:00:32 > 0:00:37they don't come along even every decade, every 100 years.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40- There we are, going to pour it into this mould.- Whoa! Look at that.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42- There we are.- Fabulous.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46As a team of archaeologists and craftsmen seek to understand
0:00:46 > 0:00:49these unique finds by creating detailed replicas...
0:00:49 > 0:00:52That's really marvellous, cos we've ended up with a product
0:00:52 > 0:00:56that's very, very similar to the originals.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58..we reveal just how magnificent
0:00:58 > 0:01:01these artefacts would have been when new,
0:01:01 > 0:01:05and what they tell us that the people who made them...
0:01:05 > 0:01:07- Amazing.- That is beautiful.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13..as we seek to unravel the Mystery of the Moor.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31If it's Bronze Age Britain you're after,
0:01:31 > 0:01:33then this is the place to come.
0:01:33 > 0:01:38Because beyond this woodland is the finest relic
0:01:38 > 0:01:40we have of this ancient landscape.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47Dartmoor has the finest preserved Bronze Age landscape,
0:01:47 > 0:01:50not only in Britain, but in the whole of Europe.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54Come to the high moor and you'll find enigmatic stone rows
0:01:54 > 0:01:56and cosmically-aligned standing stones,
0:01:56 > 0:02:00the purpose of which we can only guess.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03But what we do know is that just over 4,000 years ago,
0:02:03 > 0:02:07there was a technological and cultural revolution
0:02:07 > 0:02:10with Dartmoor right at the heart.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13There were more than 5,000 of these hut circles
0:02:13 > 0:02:17showing a vibrant community living and working on the moor.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22Despite this, discoveries of artefacts on the moor
0:02:22 > 0:02:24have been few and far between.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28A combination of the acidic nature of the soil
0:02:28 > 0:02:32and grave-robbing have left us few significant finds.
0:02:32 > 0:02:33Until now.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39The chance discovery of a buried cist or stone box
0:02:39 > 0:02:42on White Horse Hill, high on the Northern moor,
0:02:42 > 0:02:46is giving us a glimpse into the ancient past.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51The cist had been untouched for nearly 4,000 years,
0:02:51 > 0:02:56until 2011, when archaeologists from the National Park
0:02:56 > 0:02:58levered off the lid.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03What they found astonished them -
0:03:03 > 0:03:07organic remains very rare in the harsh conditions of Dartmoor.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10They found a cremation wrapped in an animal pelt,
0:03:10 > 0:03:14and containing a delicate bracelet studded with tin beads,
0:03:14 > 0:03:18a textile fragment with detailed leather fringing,
0:03:18 > 0:03:23and a unique coiled bag, scans of which reveal more treasures within.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32The story of the discovery is a tale of good fortune.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35Guiding me to the location is Jane Marchand,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38Dartmoor National Park's chief archaeologist.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40Half an hour in the car, half an hour walk,
0:03:40 > 0:03:43one of the most remote places in England.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45Jane, it's not Stonehenge, is it?
0:03:45 > 0:03:48I have to admit, I'm slightly underwhelmed.
0:03:48 > 0:03:49I'm sorry about that,
0:03:49 > 0:03:53but actually what we've got here is visibly maybe not as impressive
0:03:53 > 0:03:56as Stonehenge, but archaeologically it's just as important.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59- It's what's underneath... - It's what it contained, yeah.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04So, what happened? How did this become revealed, then?
0:04:04 > 0:04:07One of those stones actually fell out.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10Somebody reported to us that they'd thought they'd found
0:04:10 > 0:04:13this cist up here, came up to have a look, thinking,
0:04:13 > 0:04:15"They must be..." You know, "They're making it up."
0:04:15 > 0:04:17Couldn't believe it when we saw it.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19But seeing that it still had its lid on it,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22there was just the chance that there might be still
0:04:22 > 0:04:23something contained within it.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25Of course, those stones on top are nothing to do with it.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28They're nothing to do with it. No, they're just walkers' cairns.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31And this is the first time that any organic remains
0:04:31 > 0:04:32- have been found on Dartmoor.- It is.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35So, come on, tell me how you were feeling when you actually found it.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37It must've been astonishing.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39It was incredibly exciting.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43As we lifted it up, very carefully, a bead fell out.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47And the thrill of realising, "Actually, this is a proper burial."
0:04:47 > 0:04:50This is a bead that belonged to the burial.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53But unfortunately we don't know who this person was.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56Only that they were a young man or woman.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59To think of the scene that must have been going on here
0:04:59 > 0:05:04almost 4,000 years ago, and the most exciting thing of all -
0:05:04 > 0:05:07the journey of discovery has only just begun.
0:05:08 > 0:05:09There.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13'And in December 2012, that journey started.'
0:05:13 > 0:05:16I just really want it to be, so I may be thinking...
0:05:16 > 0:05:18That's the second bit I've seen.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22Jane's come to the Wiltshire Conservation lab,
0:05:22 > 0:05:26where they're hoping to reveal the secrets of that coiled bag.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29..wishful thinking, but we were thinking that might be
0:05:29 > 0:05:31remains of mineralised thread, because you see the way
0:05:31 > 0:05:34- it's kind of going through the perforation in the middle...- Yeah.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37Today, it's conservator Helen Williams' job
0:05:37 > 0:05:40to delicately remove the contents for the first time
0:05:40 > 0:05:43in nearly 4,000 years.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45The level of preservation we've got is amazing,
0:05:45 > 0:05:49so to find an object like this, with contents still intact, is fantastic.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51It is a very exciting day,
0:05:51 > 0:05:54and, hopefully, it's all going to go well.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56So I'll have a look and see what we've got.
0:05:58 > 0:06:03'It's painstaking work looking for and then removing bead after bead.
0:06:03 > 0:06:04'To put this in context,
0:06:04 > 0:06:09'just eight beads have been found on Dartmoor in the last 100 years.'
0:06:09 > 0:06:11It's getting better by the minute, certainly.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17OK.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20'But then something altogether more unusual.'
0:06:20 > 0:06:25Well, it's a round object - sort of about that size.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27It's got two slightly domed surfaces,
0:06:27 > 0:06:29it almost looks like a very small yo-yo.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34It would have been worn, sort of, in the ear.
0:06:34 > 0:06:36Absolutely extraordinary.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40I don't remember studs being recorded
0:06:40 > 0:06:43in any other excavation from this period.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46That's one there, I'm sure.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49That excavation was carried out nearly a year ago,
0:06:49 > 0:06:51and since then leading archaeologists
0:06:51 > 0:06:54from across the country have been coming here to Wiltshire
0:06:54 > 0:06:55to examine the finds.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59They're eager to work out what clues those objects hold to the lives
0:06:59 > 0:07:03of our ancestors, and hopefully in here are some of the answers.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16It's a year since our cameras have been here.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19Helen, I have to say, it looks like you've been incredibly busy.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22All of a sudden, they're looking fantastic.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24Yeah, it's been quite a year, actually.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26We've had a whole range of different materials
0:07:26 > 0:07:29and objects to work on, so it's been fantastic.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32As a natural historian, I have to say I'm fascinated,
0:07:32 > 0:07:37of course, with animals, and the pelt is astonishing.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40Yeah, we are waiting hopefully to get some DNA results through,
0:07:40 > 0:07:43so we can identify what animal it might have come from.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46So that's the kind of key bit of mystery we're still trying to unravel
0:07:46 > 0:07:49with this one at the moment.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53'Organic finds are incredibly rare, as the material usually rots away.'
0:07:53 > 0:07:55That for me is the most interesting find,
0:07:55 > 0:07:59but that, I have to say, is so impressive.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03A year ago, that kind of looked like a cowpat, didn't it?
0:08:03 > 0:08:06- It's changed quite a bit. - So much detail.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08Yes, yeah, this has been freeze-dried now.
0:08:08 > 0:08:13Considering it's 4,000 years old, I have to say it's astonishing.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19"Amazing" doesn't really do them justice, I don't think.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23We've got the most extraordinary assortment of finds.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26We've got things like the tin, we've got the tin bead,
0:08:26 > 0:08:28we've got the tin studs on the bracelet,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31and this is the first hard evidence we've got suggesting
0:08:31 > 0:08:35that Bronze Age people were actually working tin on Dartmoor.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37'In fact, it's the earliest evidence of tin
0:08:37 > 0:08:40'ever found in the Southwest.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43'But even more remarkable are the organic finds,
0:08:43 > 0:08:46'and in particular the wooden ear studs.'
0:08:46 > 0:08:49Well, these look absolutely...
0:08:49 > 0:08:52- Do you mind if I pick it up? - Absolutely.- Divine.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55The most astonishing thing is, we think these are the ear studs,
0:08:55 > 0:09:00is that you can actually see the annual growth rings on this.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03You can almost say that is an ear stud taken from a piece of wood
0:09:03 > 0:09:06that was maybe six or seven years old, at least.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10- Any idea what type of wood? - We think that's spindle wood.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15I have to say that they look just a glorious collection.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17It's really revealing life about this person.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20It's kind of tantalising and exciting in equal measure,
0:09:20 > 0:09:22- isn't it, Jane?- It is, absolutely.
0:09:24 > 0:09:29Is there any way you can take these objects to learn even more?
0:09:29 > 0:09:31That would be great because we've got 200 beads,
0:09:31 > 0:09:33but we don't actually know how they were worn,
0:09:33 > 0:09:36whether they were just one great necklace.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39Certainly the bracelet, you've seen the intricate working,
0:09:39 > 0:09:42wonderful weaving around the tin studs.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45Whether we could actually try and get someone to replicate that,
0:09:45 > 0:09:47I just don't know.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51I mean, wouldn't it be fantastic if we could try
0:09:51 > 0:09:53and actually see if we can make them today?
0:09:53 > 0:09:56I think you're throwing down the gauntlet here, Jane.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58I just might be.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00It's called experimental archaeology.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02I like a challenge.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10These finds are a wonderful insight into the people who lived
0:10:10 > 0:10:13in this landscape 4,000 years ago.
0:10:15 > 0:10:20'A direct link to what one person actually wore and what their friends
0:10:20 > 0:10:22'and family believed they would need on their journey
0:10:22 > 0:10:24'into the afterlife.'
0:10:28 > 0:10:32So I've decided to recreate some of the grave goods
0:10:32 > 0:10:36to find out, by remaking them, what we can learn from the past.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38Basically, I need a panel of experts.
0:10:38 > 0:10:44Someone to work wood, weave hair, carve amber, cut shale,
0:10:44 > 0:10:49smelt tin, and then fashion it into the incredibly exquisite jewellery
0:10:49 > 0:10:53of the day. All as they would have done in the Bronze Age.
0:10:53 > 0:10:54How difficult can that be?
0:10:57 > 0:11:01First on my list is Britain's foremost Bronze Age expert,
0:11:01 > 0:11:03President of the Prehistoric Society
0:11:03 > 0:11:08and the perfect person to help me with my challenge - Alison Sheridan.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11I think what really makes it special for me is you've got tin.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15You've got tin beads and tin studs. This is incredibly rare.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18Why was tin so important and such a revelatory find?
0:11:18 > 0:11:22Well, tin is really what the Southwest Bronze Age was all about.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26Because here you have one of the largest natural deposits of tin
0:11:26 > 0:11:30- in the whole of Europe.- So what do we know about the person with the bead?
0:11:30 > 0:11:33Well, the person had been cremated and the bone specialists
0:11:33 > 0:11:36have been able to say it was an individual between 15 and 25,
0:11:36 > 0:11:38so it's a young adult.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40Unfortunately, they couldn't tell the sex,
0:11:40 > 0:11:43but they said that the bones were quite slender
0:11:43 > 0:11:46and on the basis of the things that have been found in the cist,
0:11:46 > 0:11:49I'd bet you 95% probability it was a woman.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52- So, it's a young woman. - Well, there we go, a woman.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54And potentially with all these finds, as well,
0:11:54 > 0:11:56a priestess or a princess of Dartmoor.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59Yes, very, very high status. And it wasn't just the one tin bead.
0:11:59 > 0:12:01It was part of a necklace
0:12:01 > 0:12:04and, in fact, she was buried with an entire set of jewellery.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07So, in modern parlance, she was really quite blinged-up.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09Oh, totally blinged-up, yeah.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11They have complicated beliefs, so this necklace
0:12:11 > 0:12:14wasn't just something that was beautiful or showing her status.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16It was supernatural power dressing.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22These people had a very sophisticated set of religious beliefs.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24It's a very dramatic landscape,
0:12:24 > 0:12:27it's close to the world of the gods and the ancestors.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29You've got the big sky.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31We know that they had a very close interest
0:12:31 > 0:12:34in the movement of the planets, the sun and the moon
0:12:34 > 0:12:36and the stars, as well. And you can see from the stone rows,
0:12:36 > 0:12:39they are creating their own landscapes, as well.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42- So, spiritual people. - Very spiritual people, indeed.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54Could this find really be that of a tin princess?
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Was she the leader of a people who were beginning
0:12:57 > 0:12:59to play a central role
0:12:59 > 0:13:03in the most important technological revolution to date?
0:13:05 > 0:13:09To understand what was at the heart of that revolution,
0:13:09 > 0:13:13and to get the tin in order to make those replica studs and beads,
0:13:13 > 0:13:16I'm going to need a man with fire.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27I'm presuming this must be what a Bronze Age smelt
0:13:27 > 0:13:30- must have looked like 4,000 years ago on Dartmoor.- Exactly.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33I mean, all it is is a hole cut into the turf,
0:13:33 > 0:13:35and it's only about that deep.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38The air is coming under the turf
0:13:38 > 0:13:42in a little pipe from where Dan is using these bellows,
0:13:42 > 0:13:44so he's just trapping the air,
0:13:44 > 0:13:48pushing the air through this pipe and we've got about,
0:13:48 > 0:13:51maybe getting up to 1,100 degrees centigrade
0:13:51 > 0:13:53under those charcoal embers there.
0:14:02 > 0:14:03These bellows are very effective.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07It's really cranking the fire now, and the charcoal is burning well
0:14:07 > 0:14:11and the heat's rising and that's exactly what we need to smelt.
0:14:12 > 0:14:17Simon now needs to put cassiterite, or tin ore, into the crucible
0:14:17 > 0:14:21before that's heated in the fire to produce our tin.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25So, 4,000 years ago, the people who must have made tin
0:14:25 > 0:14:29by smelting like this were considered magicians.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31It really is a magical metal,
0:14:31 > 0:14:35because here you're having it used as ornaments,
0:14:35 > 0:14:39as a sort of status object in a burial.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43But also this is the ingredient of that technological change
0:14:43 > 0:14:47which goes from the Copper Age into the Bronze Age
0:14:47 > 0:14:50to make harder, more versatile, easier to cast,
0:14:50 > 0:14:52more complex casting tools.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59- Right, Simon, the moment has come. - The moment has come, yeah.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12Wow, the heat coming off that is astonishing!
0:15:21 > 0:15:23Here we are, that's the top of the crucible there.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27The first time this has been done for thousands of years...
0:15:27 > 0:15:30on Dartmoor. Terribly exciting.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36- There we are.- Look at that! - That's the crucible.- Fabulous.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43That's the lid off. There we are, going to pour it into this mould.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45Whoa, look at that! Fabulous!
0:15:45 > 0:15:48We've got a nice, little ingot of tin there.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52Maybe another little ingot there. A little bead.
0:15:53 > 0:15:55- Look at that.- There we are.
0:15:56 > 0:16:01There we go. That is absolutely fantastic.
0:16:01 > 0:16:07That is tin from the Southwest made, for the record, in Dartmoor.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12That, gentlemen, is a result.
0:16:12 > 0:16:13Chuffed to bits.
0:16:25 > 0:16:304,000 years ago, this ingot of tin would have put the Southwest
0:16:30 > 0:16:33right at the heart of the European Bronze Age,
0:16:33 > 0:16:37bringing with it power, wealth and prestige.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40No wonder they wanted to make jewellery out of it.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47- Jamie, nice to meet you, sir.- Hello.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49Look at this.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52That is tin made on Dartmoor this morning.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54What do you think?
0:16:54 > 0:16:57Well, looks a lot better than I'd thought it might be.
0:16:57 > 0:17:02Looks just as good as the Cornish tin I'd been using in practice runs,
0:17:02 > 0:17:03so, yeah, well done.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07What's the technique to turn that into the bead
0:17:07 > 0:17:10that was found on the Dartmoor cist?
0:17:10 > 0:17:13What I'll do is just hammer that out,
0:17:13 > 0:17:18make a big sheet and then chop my oblong shape out.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20And then try bending.
0:17:22 > 0:17:29I want that, the surface, to just roll over and to such an extent
0:17:29 > 0:17:32that you shouldn't be able to see the seam at all.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37So, I would have thought that's more or less it.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43Jamie, I have to say, it's taken, by my reckoning,
0:17:43 > 0:17:49about an hour and ten minutes for you to turn a chunk of tin
0:17:49 > 0:17:52into that absolutely fabulous bead,
0:17:52 > 0:17:56which would be the proud centrepiece of any necklace.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58Well, thanks.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02It looks like the studs for the bracelet were even more tricky,
0:18:02 > 0:18:04because they're tiny.
0:18:04 > 0:18:09How on earth do you go about making something as small as that?
0:18:09 > 0:18:12Cutting them off a length of rod,
0:18:12 > 0:18:15putting them in a bit of stick with a hole drilled in
0:18:15 > 0:18:18and filing and polishing from there.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22'Watching Jamie brings home how skilled those early tinsmiths
0:18:22 > 0:18:26'must have been and just how advanced their society was.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29'Creating just one of the studs is a tall order.'
0:18:29 > 0:18:32- We need 35 studs.- Don't I know it?
0:18:34 > 0:18:35And how have you got on?
0:18:35 > 0:18:39Yeah, well, I've done them, and I'm pleased with them.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42The sooner you can polish them, the sooner I can take them away.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45Because I know a lady who's very keen to do a job
0:18:45 > 0:18:48- equally as demanding and intricate as you.- Yes, I hear.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50They're going into this lovely bracelet.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53Great, well, I'll look forward to seeing that.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59The bracelet. Surely the most intricate of all our artefacts.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05We know it's woven from animal hair and to try and create a replica,
0:19:05 > 0:19:07I've recruited Linda Hurcombe,
0:19:07 > 0:19:12a materials culture archaeologist from Exeter University.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14This sort of find is truly exceptional.
0:19:14 > 0:19:19They don't come along even every decade, every 100 years.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22The bracelet is unique.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24I mean, I specialise in organic remains
0:19:24 > 0:19:26and the joke is that I look at what isn't there, normally.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29Here, it IS there, and it's fantastic
0:19:29 > 0:19:32to have a chance to really look at something and try and replicate it.
0:19:32 > 0:19:37And putting those beside the bracelet that I've started to weave
0:19:37 > 0:19:41for the first time, they're going to work exactly right,
0:19:41 > 0:19:45and in keeping with the archaeological piece. That's great.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49It's very fiddly.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52There's a rhythm to it, as there is with most weaving and plaiting.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00It looks so difficult. So you're trying technique number two, Linda.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06And until you tension it, it's not going to...
0:20:08 > 0:20:10..pull that and lock it in.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13So maybe it might work better... Ah!
0:20:13 > 0:20:16Back to the drawing board, I think.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20Ah! I think you can pick up the bead?
0:20:20 > 0:20:21By my reckoning,
0:20:21 > 0:20:25Linda's been working now for about just under half an hour.
0:20:25 > 0:20:30And she hasn't even put the first stud in. She's only got 35 to go.
0:20:30 > 0:20:31LINDA CHUCKLES
0:20:31 > 0:20:33It's going to take a while, isn't it?
0:20:38 > 0:20:42Well, Linda's first two techniques have failed miserably.
0:20:42 > 0:20:47So method number three is a set of watchmakers' forceps
0:20:47 > 0:20:50with a stud in, and two people. I'm going to be her assistant.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56I'm going to put it underneath and you are going to try...
0:20:56 > 0:21:00- I'm going to try with the... - Tease it out.
0:21:01 > 0:21:07It looks like it's just easing apart those horsehairs.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10- Is it through yet? I can't quite see.- Not quite, not quite.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15Shall I take the tweezers out?
0:21:15 > 0:21:17- It's done.- Let's have a look. - It's done.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20- You've got it.- Yeah, it's in. - Congratulations.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23- If at first, you don't succeed... - Try and try and try.
0:21:23 > 0:21:24..try and try again.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28- Wow, that looks beautiful in there, as well.- It does, doesn't it?
0:21:28 > 0:21:29- Pleased?- Very.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33- It's going to be a bit easier, now you've got a good technique.- Yes.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36I'm just going to need you to stay there for a while, I think.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39- For the next week!- Yes!
0:21:39 > 0:21:4134 more beads to go.
0:21:41 > 0:21:42It's going to be a challenge,
0:21:42 > 0:21:44but that doesn't mean to say it won't get done.
0:21:44 > 0:21:48- All I can say, Linda, is the very best of luck.- Thank you.
0:21:54 > 0:21:5818th-century investigators called these people aborigines.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04But what I'm learning is that they were, in fact, highly skilled,
0:22:04 > 0:22:08immensely sophisticated and spiritual folk,
0:22:08 > 0:22:10totally in touch with their landscape.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20But when our princess walked this land, it looked very different.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26We know it was heavily wooded with oak and hazel
0:22:26 > 0:22:29and that these raw materials formed the basis of their lives,
0:22:29 > 0:22:33their buildings, their tools and their jewellery.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38But very little of this organic material has survived
0:22:38 > 0:22:43and it's what makes our next find - the ear studs - so special.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46They're made from the wood of the spindle tree
0:22:46 > 0:22:50and I've a piece freshly-cut from a Dartmoor hedgerow
0:22:50 > 0:22:51ready for our next task.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54Can I introduce you, Stuart...
0:22:54 > 0:22:56Stuart King, master carpenter, has agreed to help.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59So before you put it onto the lathe, you're going to
0:22:59 > 0:23:02- have to do some fashioning and some whittling?- Quite a bit, yes.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04- Can we leave that with you? - Yeah, I'll go off and do some work.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07- We'll discuss ear studs. - OK, see you later.
0:23:07 > 0:23:08Fabulous, see you later, Stuart.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12Tell me why this find is so special.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14Wooden finds like this are extremely rare.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17They're probably the earliest evidence
0:23:17 > 0:23:18for turning of wood from the UK.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20The earliest in the UK, ever?!
0:23:20 > 0:23:24It's basically pushed back our evidence for wood turning in the UK
0:23:24 > 0:23:26half a millennium, 500 years.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32- That's nicely whittled. - Yeah, basically...
0:23:34 > 0:23:36I need someone to do that.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39- OK, long strokes.- Yeah.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41Go on, then, that's it.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43Isn't that brilliant? What do you think, Richard?
0:23:43 > 0:23:46That looks really good, it's very simple technology,
0:23:46 > 0:23:49there's no reason why they couldn't have use something like that.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53- Here's an original bronze tool just to prove...- There we go.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56It's slower, but it will work.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03Doesn't really get any better than this, does it?
0:24:03 > 0:24:07Dartmoor spindle, Bronze Age hut circle in the background,
0:24:07 > 0:24:08ancient techniques...
0:24:10 > 0:24:11..and very effective as well.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14Lovely razzle of the tool,
0:24:14 > 0:24:17which must have echoed all over Dartmoor at one time.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19I like the picture you're painting.
0:24:19 > 0:24:20HE LAUGHS
0:24:22 > 0:24:26- That's pretty well good enough, I think.- So smooth inside as well.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28Yeah, and that's straight from the tool.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32Now we remove that from the lathe.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40It is giving a very similar finish to that on the originals.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42Just like a 4,000-year-old Stanley knife.
0:24:44 > 0:24:45What we can do now...
0:24:46 > 0:24:48is...
0:24:48 > 0:24:50LAUGHTER
0:24:50 > 0:24:55- Break that off there.- As if by magic. - Just tidy up the other side.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57There we are, finished.
0:24:57 > 0:25:02There we have a spindle ear stud or labret.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05Now, Richard, how similar do you think it is and what do you
0:25:05 > 0:25:08think of this fantastic process we've gone through?
0:25:08 > 0:25:11I think that's marvellous because we've ended up with
0:25:11 > 0:25:14a product that's very, very similar to the originals.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19And you've shown that a skilled person using very simple technology
0:25:19 > 0:25:22and bronze tools can make them.
0:25:22 > 0:25:23So that's wonderful.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31Well, my journey is nearly at an end
0:25:31 > 0:25:34and I'm ready to bring all our efforts together.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36From smelting tin on Dartmoor
0:25:36 > 0:25:39and working it into a beautiful bead and studs,
0:25:39 > 0:25:42to our painstaking bracelet weaving.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45And, let's not forget our wood turning.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48Alison just needs to string the necklace
0:25:48 > 0:25:52incorporating our tin bead and then I can dress our model.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56Claire, you look fabulous.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04Right, it's time to show the results to our expectant team.
0:26:07 > 0:26:08Folks, follow me.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12We have a lovely model called Claire here. Come round.
0:26:13 > 0:26:15MUFFLED VOICES
0:26:15 > 0:26:19- That is beautiful.- It's so detailed, isn't it?- That's wonderful.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Jane, what's it like to see our lovely model Claire
0:26:22 > 0:26:26- in all her glory?- It's wonderful. Really, it's incredible.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31- And how many hours did you go into making this, Linda?- A lot!
0:26:31 > 0:26:34- I lost count.- Fantastic.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37When I started to put them all in and it was coming out in a row,
0:26:37 > 0:26:40I thought, "This has got real sparkle to it."
0:26:40 > 0:26:44It's maybe a piece of jewellery that does two things, one up close
0:26:44 > 0:26:46and one from a distance.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49And the interesting thing as well, Alison, the colour
0:26:49 > 0:26:51of the beads just directs your eye
0:26:51 > 0:26:54towards the amber and then...the tin.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58Yes, it's just great. Bling!
0:26:58 > 0:27:01Jane, the ear studs?
0:27:01 > 0:27:04Absolutely extraordinary. Beautiful.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08- Actually, they look very attractive - would you buy a pair?- Yes, I would.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11You look beautiful, really beautiful.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16And, Alison, of course, you are a kind of Bronze Age jewellery expert,
0:27:16 > 0:27:19if there could possibly be one.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21Is it like stepping back in time?
0:27:21 > 0:27:23Oh absolutely, I mean, this brings it absolutely to life.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25Yes, it's fantastic.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28It's only when you string them up together and you think,
0:27:28 > 0:27:30"Wow, this is an amazing piece of jewellery."
0:27:30 > 0:27:34And seeing them against the skin, that makes all the difference.
0:27:34 > 0:27:39Actually, I'm lost for words. It looks wonderful.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41Thank you very much, guys.
0:27:41 > 0:27:45- What a wonderful project and quite fabulous result.- Yes.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53In remaking these wonderful objects,
0:27:53 > 0:27:57I had no idea how hard it would be or how much we would learn.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03It's given me a vivid insight into how incredibly skilled these
0:28:03 > 0:28:05ancient craftspeople were.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11And, how sophisticated their society must have been.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20Perhaps most important of all, the beauty
0:28:20 > 0:28:22and obvious value of the grave goods,
0:28:22 > 0:28:27show the respect our ancient forebears had for their dead.