0:00:04 > 0:00:06Hello and welcome to Digging For Ireland,
0:00:06 > 0:00:08the programme that promises to bring you this year's most
0:00:08 > 0:00:11outstanding new archaeology.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13We've got highlights from all the digs,
0:00:13 > 0:00:16we'll have in-depth analysis, and we've also got some really amazing
0:00:16 > 0:00:18treasures from the past.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26All year, in hundreds of digs across Ireland and Britain,
0:00:26 > 0:00:28archaeologists have once again been
0:00:28 > 0:00:30unearthing our history.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33They've gone to extraordinary lengths to uncover long lost
0:00:33 > 0:00:39treasures, retelling our story in a way only archaeology can.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43Our archaeologists have been out filming themselves to make
0:00:43 > 0:00:46sure that we were there for every moment of discovery.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48And they'll be joining us back here at the Ulster Museum,
0:00:48 > 0:00:51to help us understand of what these new finds really mean.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57Tonight, we'll reveal a 3,000-year-old bog body.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01Could this be a murdered king?
0:01:04 > 0:01:10And we'll see the perfectly preserved boat of the warriors who fought the Vikings.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15And we'll meet the dead from the notorious prison
0:01:15 > 0:01:17known as Ireland's Alcatraz.
0:01:31 > 0:01:36The Ulster Museum's collection has been built up over nearly 200 years.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40The archaeological treasures it holds connect us to people long gone
0:01:40 > 0:01:44and to vanished worlds in a unique way,
0:01:44 > 0:01:46from the Malone Hoard,
0:01:46 > 0:01:50ceremonial axe-heads unearthed in the middle of Belfast...
0:01:52 > 0:01:56..to the Corrard gold torc, a Bronze Age offering to the gods, pulled
0:01:56 > 0:02:00from a bog in County Fermanagh.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02We've taken over the Ulster Museum
0:02:02 > 0:02:08to tell the story of Ireland like never before.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12We begin with a dig exploring the shift in power that reshaped
0:02:12 > 0:02:16the North of Ireland. Alongside an iconic ruined castle,
0:02:16 > 0:02:20a long-lost village which tells the stories of the English
0:02:20 > 0:02:24and Scottish settlers brought into Ulster in the 17th century
0:02:24 > 0:02:27in what's known as the Plantation.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36For over 500 years,
0:02:36 > 0:02:40Dunluce Castle has towered over the North Antrim coast.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46Though it hasn't been lived in for over 300 years,
0:02:46 > 0:02:51this year, there is plenty of action in the castle grounds.
0:02:51 > 0:02:56A team of archaeologists are kicking off a five-year dig.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59This is their video diary as they search
0:02:59 > 0:03:04for clues into the castle's most important and controversial period in history.
0:03:04 > 0:03:09In 1608, Dunluce became the seat of power for a new planned
0:03:09 > 0:03:13settlement, a plantation.
0:03:13 > 0:03:19The plantations were ordered by King James to civilise the North of Ireland.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23Controversially, Scottish and English settlers were brought in to work
0:03:23 > 0:03:30and live in newly formed towns and villages, displacing the indigenous Gaelic population.
0:03:30 > 0:03:35This ushered in a new economy, one that replaced subsistence farming.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39Evidence of this monumental shift is being
0:03:39 > 0:03:42pulled from one of the trenches.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46We're right at the very edge here of the 17th-century garden.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48So, we've got our 17th-century topsoil layer here.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51And it's been quite an interesting layer so far.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53We've picked up a few finds,
0:03:53 > 0:03:56but some of the most interesting ones have been this coin
0:03:56 > 0:03:57and a musket ball.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59The coin is silver.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02We're starting to see the introduction of money and currency.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05We're starting to see people paying rent rather than just
0:04:05 > 0:04:08living off the land and paying in crops and whatever else.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14The landlord of this estate, Randal MacDonnell, was the largest
0:04:14 > 0:04:19landowner in County Antrim, owning over 300,000 acres.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21When he ruled this estate in the 1620s,
0:04:21 > 0:04:25it grew into a successful plantation.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27Almost 400 years later,
0:04:27 > 0:04:30clues to life on the estate are emerging every day,
0:04:30 > 0:04:35with valuable artefacts kept in the dig's conservation room.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39The most interesting find we've got, or the personal find, you
0:04:39 > 0:04:44can imagine somebody using it, is this little seal matrix, it's called.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48It's a stamp for creating a seal on wax.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51So, if you're writing your letter, or verifying a document,
0:04:51 > 0:04:53you'd have used this.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57- Tell me about this seal. - This is a copper alloy seal matrix.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00This is the object you would use to put your impression
0:05:00 > 0:05:04- into the red wax seal of an official document.- It's lovely.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07- It is, isn't it?- Yes. So what's the picture on it?
0:05:07 > 0:05:09It seems to be a representation of a castle.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11Dunluce town is established around a marketplace
0:05:11 > 0:05:13and it would have been merchant families who were
0:05:13 > 0:05:15brought in by the MacDonnells to
0:05:15 > 0:05:17populate the town and undertake trade.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19This could have been associated with one of
0:05:19 > 0:05:21those Scottish merchant families. Perhaps they have taken the
0:05:21 > 0:05:24image of Dunluce as their family symbol, the symbol of their business.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27The image of the castle, yes. Tell me more about Randal MacDonnell. Who was he?
0:05:27 > 0:05:30Randal was the chieftain of the MacDonnell clan in Ulster.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33He's a really interesting character because he transcends
0:05:33 > 0:05:37the period from the late medieval through to the early modern period.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40At the start of the 17th century, he undertakes his own private
0:05:40 > 0:05:44plantation scheme in order to secure the favour of the king.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47What was that scheme? What is a plantation scheme?
0:05:47 > 0:05:49You might have heard of the Ulster Plantation, and that's
0:05:49 > 0:05:53a scheme in the opening decades of the 17th century where
0:05:53 > 0:05:56a lot of people from England and Scotland were brought across
0:05:56 > 0:05:59into Ulster to basically set up new towns
0:05:59 > 0:06:01and populate the landscape,
0:06:01 > 0:06:05and the idea was to populate what was previously a rebellious
0:06:05 > 0:06:09Gaelic province with loyal British subjects.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12The interesting thing about Randal MacDonnell and Dunluce
0:06:12 > 0:06:14is that this is a plantation enterprise
0:06:14 > 0:06:16undertaken by a Gaelic Catholic landlord, which is
0:06:16 > 0:06:19in contrast to the normal narrative of the Plantation.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23Randal is the only major Gaelic lord at that time who holds
0:06:23 > 0:06:27on to his lands and in fact he's the largest land-holder in Ulster at the
0:06:27 > 0:06:30start of the 17th century because he's gained the favour of the king.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34What about these other artefacts? What about the pottery from the dig? What does that tell us?
0:06:34 > 0:06:36The people who would have been brought in to live
0:06:36 > 0:06:39at Dunluce town, we think a lot of them would have been merchants,
0:06:39 > 0:06:43quite wealthy people who would have come in, built a house and then undertaken trade through
0:06:43 > 0:06:46the marketplace which the town was founded around.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49We also see them bringing in new types of pottery that hadn't
0:06:49 > 0:06:53been seen before, so in contrast to, in the late medieval period,
0:06:53 > 0:06:58we found this type of pottery which is known as Ulster coarse ware pottery,
0:06:58 > 0:07:01and that is basically a type of locally produced cooking pot.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03- It looks pretty basic doesn't it? - Exactly, yes, so with
0:07:03 > 0:07:06the new type of economy in the 17th century,
0:07:06 > 0:07:07we see imports from England,
0:07:07 > 0:07:10so this would have been imported from the Midlands in England
0:07:10 > 0:07:12and that's the base of a little cup or mug.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15You can see one of the handles on that side.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17It's probably the merchant class, the people of Dunluce
0:07:17 > 0:07:20buying expensive goods just to show off their wealth and status.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24So we've got the arrival of English-speaking Protestant
0:07:24 > 0:07:26rulers into Ireland.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28Is this the beginning of Northern Ireland as we know it?
0:07:28 > 0:07:31There are massive shifts in the demographics
0:07:31 > 0:07:33and the population make-up in Ulster,
0:07:33 > 0:07:36so there's this massive influx of people from lowland Scotland
0:07:36 > 0:07:40and from England and that's a Protestant population coming in.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43Now we see that shift in demographics
0:07:43 > 0:07:45down to the modern day
0:07:45 > 0:07:48and, really, you can see some of the origins of modern Ulster,
0:07:48 > 0:07:50modern Northern Ireland,
0:07:50 > 0:07:53in the population changes that were happening at that time.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57The town at Dunluce grew up in the shadow of the castle
0:07:57 > 0:07:59under Randal MacDonnell's influence.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03In the second phase of this year's dig,
0:08:03 > 0:08:07the team are searching beyond the castle garden walls, looking
0:08:07 > 0:08:11for the lost town where the estate workers lived.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13We're in the middle of the 17th-century town
0:08:13 > 0:08:16and this surface I'm standing on would have
0:08:16 > 0:08:18been where the 17th-century roadway was.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21So you can see down the slope where the grass was cut,
0:08:21 > 0:08:23that's the line of the 17th-century road.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27And it would have been flanked by houses on either side.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29So we've positioned some of our trenches over these houses,
0:08:29 > 0:08:32so we've positioned them on the corners to see if we can try
0:08:32 > 0:08:34and find out what size they were.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37We are standing at the side, the end gable of one of the houses.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41Cormac is over here trying to expose the other side
0:08:41 > 0:08:44and trying to find any evidence for a chimney or a fireplace.
0:08:44 > 0:08:49There would have been a series of houses running up the slope
0:08:49 > 0:08:54here and all opening out onto the marketplace.
0:08:54 > 0:08:59The team is mapping the vanished town that reflected the vision
0:08:59 > 0:09:04of landlord Randal MacDonnell, forming the economic hub of his estate.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06What he was doing here was establishing a new type
0:09:06 > 0:09:09of settlement in this landscape, which hadn't been seen before.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11It was a mercantile settlement,
0:09:11 > 0:09:15an economic town built around a market place.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18So, very much a modern type of development.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22The world was changing. This emerging local economy
0:09:22 > 0:09:27was also connecting to places much further afield. And this is a
0:09:27 > 0:09:30change seen in the artefacts coming out of the ground.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37In the 17th century, it's kind of the beginning of tobacco smoking
0:09:37 > 0:09:39coming from the Americas.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42I've got some pipes here that we found onsite.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45It's almost like cigarette butts, we start seeing them
0:09:45 > 0:09:47being thrown away whenever they break.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49They are maybe quite fragile.
0:09:49 > 0:09:54As smoking becomes more fashionable, we start seeing an increase in these pipes.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57While some aspects of society may have changed,
0:09:57 > 0:10:03the team are finding that certain class boundaries still remained.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05This wall acted as the boundary wall
0:10:05 > 0:10:07between the 17th-century town
0:10:07 > 0:10:10and the 17th-century formal gardens.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13Your gardens would have been very private,
0:10:13 > 0:10:15so you would have wanted a large boundary wall,
0:10:15 > 0:10:16giving you some privacy
0:10:16 > 0:10:21from the sights and smells of the 17th-century town.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26This dig is providing an uncensored snapshot
0:10:26 > 0:10:29of what life was like in a plantation town.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31But the reason that this site
0:10:31 > 0:10:34is offering quite so much amazing archaeology
0:10:34 > 0:10:36is because of how the town met its end.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43So, looking at Dunluce today, there's a ruined castle
0:10:43 > 0:10:46and just empty fields. So, what happened?
0:10:46 > 0:10:50In 1641, there is the Irish Rebellion,
0:10:50 > 0:10:54which starts in County Tyrone but quickly spreads throughout Ulster.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56And in January of 1642, it arrives at Dunluce.
0:10:56 > 0:11:01So there's an attempt to capture the castle by rebellious forces.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03They're unsuccessful.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05The garrison in the castle refused to surrender
0:11:05 > 0:11:06and they're successful in defending it.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08But in the aftermath of that, the forces,
0:11:08 > 0:11:12some of the soldiers set fire to some of the buildings
0:11:12 > 0:11:14in the town and the fire spreads and burns everything down.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17So, who was actually leading this rebellion?
0:11:17 > 0:11:19Well, this rising was led by the native Irish
0:11:19 > 0:11:22and there are a lot of different reasons behind it.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25But at a local level, a lot of the local people who would've
0:11:25 > 0:11:28been dispossessed through the Plantation
0:11:28 > 0:11:31saw this as an opportunity to settle scores, to get back
0:11:31 > 0:11:34some of what had been taken from them during the plantation process.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38So it became very brutal and violent at a local level
0:11:38 > 0:11:40with murders and massacres going on.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42And that really sounds the death knell for the settlement.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45And within a number of decades, it's abandoned
0:11:45 > 0:11:48and it reverts back to just being grassy, green fields again.
0:11:48 > 0:11:49And it's because of that abandonment,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52and there was no subsequent development into the modern era,
0:11:52 > 0:11:55that the archaeology is so well preserved.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58Inches beneath the surface of the fields around Dunluce Castle
0:11:58 > 0:12:02today, you have a real-time capsule of life in the 17th century.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04So, have you found archaeological evidence of this
0:12:04 > 0:12:07period of violence and uprising?
0:12:07 > 0:12:09Some of the really interesting finds we've found
0:12:09 > 0:12:11include this nice musket ball.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15And you couldn't really ask for a more tangible object
0:12:15 > 0:12:18- associated with violence than a musket ball.- Has it been fired?
0:12:18 > 0:12:19That one hasn't been fired.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23It's still pristine from the mould that it would've been pressed in.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26You can still see the impressions of that.
0:12:26 > 0:12:27Whereas this one is more interesting.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29This is half a musket ball.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32So, it's been cut in half? Why on earth would you want to do that?
0:12:32 > 0:12:35It's been deliberately cut in half to make it more deadly.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38But because it's that funny shape, it's very inaccurate,
0:12:38 > 0:12:40so it's a close-quarters weapon.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42And you can imagine it would've been quite brutal fighting that
0:12:42 > 0:12:44would've been involved in.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47It is a very familiar story, this tension between
0:12:47 > 0:12:51Gaelic-speaking Catholics and English-speaking Protestants.
0:12:51 > 0:12:52Absolutely.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55And you see that in some of the violence in the 17th century.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58But we also see incidences of local people
0:12:58 > 0:13:01and English and Scottish people living side by side peaceably.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04And that's part of the story of Dunluce town as well.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13The vanished town beneath Dunluce Castle
0:13:13 > 0:13:17was witness to a seismic shift of power in Ireland.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24Found less than ten miles away,
0:13:24 > 0:13:28the Ulster Museum houses an astonishing hoard.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30Just decades earlier,
0:13:30 > 0:13:34Protestant England faced an invasion by a Catholic superpower.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39The Spanish Armada.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43This is a fantastic collection of some of your treasure
0:13:43 > 0:13:45here at Ulster Museum. What is it?
0:13:45 > 0:13:47This is just a small sample of treasure from one of our
0:13:47 > 0:13:49most prized collections.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52It's a collection of international importance from the Spanish
0:13:52 > 0:13:54Armada shipwreck, the Girona,
0:13:54 > 0:13:58which sank off the north Irish coast on 26th October in 1588.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01The Girona was discovered in 1967.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04And there was a particular effort made to shoot
0:14:04 > 0:14:05a series of underwater footage.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07And what really that allows us
0:14:07 > 0:14:09to do is imagine we're down with the divers.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16It was place name evidence.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18And ironically, the names had been staring
0:14:18 > 0:14:21people in the face for hundreds of years on a map.
0:14:21 > 0:14:26The Girona was discovered at an area known as Lacada Point.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30Beside Lacada Point, you have Port Na Spaniagh, Spanish Cave
0:14:30 > 0:14:31and Spanish Rock.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34And it almost sounded too good to be true,
0:14:34 > 0:14:38but that's what proved to be the key factor in discovering the wreck.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42It's a very treacherous coastline, subject to strong tides.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45And it was a combination of these factors, including a storm,
0:14:45 > 0:14:48that eventually led to the ship going down.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51- This is the discovery, well, the excavation in the '60s.- Yeah.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53- It was discovered... - Is that gold there?
0:14:53 > 0:14:56Well, what we're actually looking at is a series of gold coins.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59When we talk about an Armada wreck being laden with treasure,
0:14:59 > 0:15:01the Girona hits all the marks.
0:15:01 > 0:15:06There was something in the region of over 400 gold coins discovered.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09And there was almost something like 800 silver coins,
0:15:09 > 0:15:11including the classic pieces of eight.
0:15:15 > 0:15:16Is that a cannonball?
0:15:16 > 0:15:18Yeah, that's a cannonball.
0:15:18 > 0:15:23The Girona was well-armed. She had in the region of 15 cannon on board.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26But a number of the cannon were deliberately jettisoned
0:15:26 > 0:15:28in order to make room for more crew.
0:15:28 > 0:15:30More gold coins.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39- What's that?- Well, this is one of... I think it was something like 12.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42- This is a massive gold chain. - Is it like this one here?
0:15:42 > 0:15:44I think it actually is the one here.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46It's something like 2.3 metres in length
0:15:46 > 0:15:48and this is it actually being discovered.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53Not necessarily the sort of practice that
0:15:53 > 0:15:55we'd like to see from archaeologists today.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58There were quite a few rings discovered, so we definitely
0:15:58 > 0:16:01don't recommend trying those on, in case you can't get them off!
0:16:03 > 0:16:06Why was the ship so laden with treasure?
0:16:06 > 0:16:09I mean, this is part of the Armada. This was an attack fleet.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11The reason why it was laden with treasure,
0:16:11 > 0:16:15and that's the key to understanding the Girona, is that it had
0:16:15 > 0:16:18held up for repairs in Killybegs in County Donegal
0:16:18 > 0:16:22and it took on board the remains of two other shipwrecked crews.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25Although the Girona was originally designed to hold 500 people,
0:16:25 > 0:16:27when it eventually set sail again,
0:16:27 > 0:16:29it was holding 1,300 people.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32And this included members of some of the most famous
0:16:32 > 0:16:34and rich families in Spain.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37They imagined they were going to be victorious
0:16:37 > 0:16:40and would parade through the streets of London wearing all their finery,
0:16:40 > 0:16:42but, of course, fate was to decide otherwise.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46And out of the 1,300 people on board, only five survived.
0:16:46 > 0:16:51This is just a small sample of some of the gold objects from the Girona.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53It looks like a book that held something
0:16:53 > 0:16:55of precious religious values.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58Both of those items there are kind of for protection and good luck.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01Presumably, the same goes for this one here. That's a little cross.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05This is a little cross belonging to an order of chivalry,
0:17:05 > 0:17:07Santiago de Compostela.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10It was awarded to comparatively few people,
0:17:10 > 0:17:12but very interesting to know that one of the people it was
0:17:12 > 0:17:17awarded to was one of the commanders of the Armada.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20And we know that he was actually on board the Girona
0:17:20 > 0:17:22when it set sail on its fateful voyage.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24So when the little cross was discovered,
0:17:24 > 0:17:27the significance of that was that they knew beyond
0:17:27 > 0:17:30probably any reasonable doubt that it was Girona shipwreck
0:17:30 > 0:17:32that they had discovered.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35From treasure that allowed archaeologists
0:17:35 > 0:17:39to tell the story of the Spanish Armada's doomed invasion,
0:17:39 > 0:17:43to a skirmish in Ireland's Wild West.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47Irish history has caused many arguments.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50In County Fermanagh, a war of words
0:17:50 > 0:17:53has broken out between historians and locals.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56It's war about a battle.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59Where exactly did the Battle of the Ford of the Biscuits
0:17:59 > 0:18:02take place in 1594?
0:18:05 > 0:18:09Along the Arney River, six miles from Enniskillen,
0:18:09 > 0:18:12a group of enthusiasts has gathered to find the exact spot
0:18:12 > 0:18:15where Irish forces surprised English troops
0:18:15 > 0:18:17at the start of the Nine Years' War.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23The team is basing their search around local knowledge.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25Knowledge that differs from where
0:18:25 > 0:18:28the history books claim the battle should be.
0:18:28 > 0:18:33Chief archaeologist, Paul Logue, believes the history books.
0:18:33 > 0:18:34We'll check out the field
0:18:34 > 0:18:38and then we'll check out the base of that slope.
0:18:38 > 0:18:39And we'll just see what we get.
0:18:39 > 0:18:40If we get nothing, or if we get bored,
0:18:40 > 0:18:43what we'll do is we'll go back, get a cup a tea
0:18:43 > 0:18:48and then we'll go over to Dromane, where I think it actually is.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51- So if you just want to go out, enjoy yourself for a while.- OK.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53Don't find any musket balls.
0:18:53 > 0:18:54THEY LAUGH
0:18:54 > 0:18:56You've been warned.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00In the 1590s, English troops were coming up
0:19:00 > 0:19:03from their stronghold at Dublin Castle
0:19:03 > 0:19:05intent on conquering Ulster,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08the last area of Gaelic rule.
0:19:08 > 0:19:13This battle was one of the first skirmishes in a struggle for power
0:19:13 > 0:19:15that would last nearly a decade.
0:19:17 > 0:19:22Paul believes the battle took place in another nearby field,
0:19:22 > 0:19:26but he and the history books are very quickly faced with a dilemma.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30Yep. Musket ball.
0:19:32 > 0:19:33Paul?
0:19:35 > 0:19:37First find.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39INDISTINCT
0:19:40 > 0:19:42PAUL SIGHS
0:19:43 > 0:19:47There's two sizes of shot and weight that are quite close.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50And they date widely apart.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53So, looking at this one,
0:19:53 > 0:19:56without weighing it and measuring it,
0:19:56 > 0:20:00it's either going to date to the late 1700s,
0:20:00 > 0:20:04or it's going to date to the time of the battle.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06I'm guessing, actually, that it's 18th-century,
0:20:06 > 0:20:11but that's partly because I want it to be 18th-century.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13This is the way it starts.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15We'll see if we start picking up any more.
0:20:15 > 0:20:20The English troops were heading for the besieged Enniskillen Castle.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23The soldiers there were desperate for supplies.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26But after the ambush, the much-needed provisions,
0:20:26 > 0:20:29including biscuits, floated downriver,
0:20:29 > 0:20:31providing a name for this battle.
0:20:31 > 0:20:36Its exact location has never been archaeologically confirmed.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40HIGH-PITCHED WHIR
0:20:40 > 0:20:43Well, it's a musket ball, roughly about, I would say,
0:20:43 > 0:20:48about an ounce in weight, down about four inches under the soil.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50I think it's very exciting.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54It's the little boy in me looking for treasure.
0:20:54 > 0:20:59A very, very old little boy, but nevertheless, a little boy at heart.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02Now, there's something else here. I'm not quite sure what it is.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05So I'm going to look further.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12Yep. Another one.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17Hello?
0:21:17 > 0:21:21Remember we were talking about when somebody finds one
0:21:21 > 0:21:22and then it just all starts?
0:21:22 > 0:21:24This could've been a battle site,
0:21:24 > 0:21:26or they could've been sighting in their muskets.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30- Yeah. Somebody's clearly either firing at this hill...- Yeah.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32That's made my day.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39I'm not sure if it's made mine, but we found what we came to look for.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41HIGH-PITCHED WHIR
0:21:41 > 0:21:42Paul?
0:21:42 > 0:21:44Have you got another one?
0:21:46 > 0:21:49- Pfft! - Similar to the other one I found.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51Once you get one, you get a hotspot and there's a few.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54There could've been a hedgerow along here where the troops cover
0:21:54 > 0:21:57if they were firing, or being fired at. They're all in one line.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59So we'll keep our fingers crossed that
0:21:59 > 0:22:02it's the time of the battle, 1590s.
0:22:04 > 0:22:05I think that's about 15.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07Faced with this growing evidence,
0:22:07 > 0:22:11Paul is trying to understand the dynamics of the battle.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14If you can imagine you have a firing line of men
0:22:14 > 0:22:18and they're standing here and firing out this direction,
0:22:18 > 0:22:21what you should get is the odd dropped shot here
0:22:21 > 0:22:25that the men have dropped during combat that have never been fired.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28And then you would hopefully get the enemy's rounds coming in
0:22:28 > 0:22:31and hitting where these men are standing.
0:22:31 > 0:22:32And that's what you might have there.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35So if we were over where I want the battle to be,
0:22:35 > 0:22:38I would be absolutely ecstatic.
0:22:38 > 0:22:44But...it's starting to look like the battle may be here.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48The English would ultimately win the war,
0:22:48 > 0:22:50changing the course of Irish history.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53And the musket balls the team are unearthing here
0:22:53 > 0:22:57suggest that they have indeed found the site of this battle.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00The local story is that the battle is out here to my right,
0:23:00 > 0:23:03but it actually looks like what might be happening
0:23:03 > 0:23:05is that the Irish troops are in a line along here
0:23:05 > 0:23:09and they're firing up behind me to the English troops,
0:23:09 > 0:23:12who are moving along this ridgeline, trying to get into Enniskillen.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16It's a very rare day, in my experience,
0:23:16 > 0:23:18that we would actually find this much.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20It's so rare that I'm not really believing it
0:23:20 > 0:23:22because it's not meant to happen.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24This is so good, what's happened today,
0:23:24 > 0:23:27I can't quite believe it's happened.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31To give everybody an idea of how rare this is,
0:23:31 > 0:23:35the last battlefield we looked at and we found, it took us
0:23:35 > 0:23:39two years to find as much as we've found here in one day.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42So...it's absolutely amazing.
0:23:42 > 0:23:44- HIGH-PITCHED WHIR - Another one!
0:23:53 > 0:23:56That lost battle, with its precise location
0:23:56 > 0:23:58preserved in local knowledge,
0:23:58 > 0:24:02was a small part of a long war that reshaped Ireland.
0:24:02 > 0:24:07Now, we travel 200 miles away and three millennia back in time
0:24:07 > 0:24:09to Ireland's Bronze Age,
0:24:09 > 0:24:13and evidence of another group of incomers.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15In County Wexford, a team of archaeologists
0:24:15 > 0:24:19have been working on a site that's far, far older.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23While carrying out test excavations ahead of a new roadway,
0:24:23 > 0:24:26they discovered a 3,000-year-old cemetery
0:24:26 > 0:24:29dating to a time when Irish people
0:24:29 > 0:24:32had just started to bury their cremated dead,
0:24:32 > 0:24:34as incomers brought new customs with them.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43We're looking at a Bronze Age flat cemetery
0:24:43 > 0:24:46which contains a number of discreet burials,
0:24:46 > 0:24:50each of which contains cremations
0:24:50 > 0:24:53and some of which we've already observed contain pots.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55All of which seem to be inverted.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58So they're turned upside down inside the pit.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02This type of burial began around 2000 BC
0:25:02 > 0:25:07and continued for 1,500 years into the Iron Age.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10It was a new way of burying the dead.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12Previous traditions might have included sky burials,
0:25:12 > 0:25:15where the dead were left to the open elements
0:25:15 > 0:25:17and lost to history.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20But in the Bronze Age, this all changed.
0:25:20 > 0:25:25Cremation's very important, because the burial itself can be postponed.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29And that allows time for news of the death to get around,
0:25:29 > 0:25:33for relatives perhaps not living close by to gather together.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37The urns are in impeccable condition,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40and the process of excavation is painstaking.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46So this is our urn, and this is the cut of our pit here.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48We're going to lift out the urn next,
0:25:48 > 0:25:51and then we're going to explore what's going on at this side.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55We would have thousands of examples of these kind of graves.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58Most of what we have are from very old excavations
0:25:58 > 0:26:00which weren't scientifically conducted.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03It's the scientific side that's rare,
0:26:03 > 0:26:06because these burials don't turn up that often in the modern world.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10This cemetery gives us a window into burial practices
0:26:10 > 0:26:13from 3,000 years ago.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16The conservation may take several years.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19We're coming literally face to face with our ancestors.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23It's about the human interaction between ourselves
0:26:23 > 0:26:26and people who are our ancestors.
0:26:26 > 0:26:27And from whom we can learn a great deal
0:26:27 > 0:26:30about the way that humans interact with the world.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35These burials are part of a massive cultural shift.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38Archaeologists believe this was partly due to new people
0:26:38 > 0:26:42coming to the island, as trade routes opened up.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44So who were these new people,
0:26:44 > 0:26:48and what other customs and goods did they bring with them?
0:26:48 > 0:26:52Archaeology can help us piece together a vanished world
0:26:52 > 0:26:56when Ireland was Europe's golden capital.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00Ireland was known at that time, I suppose,
0:27:00 > 0:27:02as the El Dorado of western Europe
0:27:02 > 0:27:06simply because of the quality and quantity of the goldwork.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10Now I have to say my eye has been drawn all the time
0:27:10 > 0:27:11by this beautiful object here,
0:27:11 > 0:27:14and you've very kindly said that I can pick it up.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16This is one of the most spectacular single items
0:27:16 > 0:27:20of prehistoric gold jewellery ever discovered in Ireland.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23It dates from around 1300 to 1100 BC.
0:27:23 > 0:27:24Is it very delicate?
0:27:24 > 0:27:27You can tell me whether you think it's delicate or not.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31No, it's not at all, is it?
0:27:31 > 0:27:32It's so solid!
0:27:32 > 0:27:36- And heavy.- It was found in 2009
0:27:36 > 0:27:38in a town called Corrard.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41It would originally have formed a circular hoop,
0:27:41 > 0:27:44and the ends acted like a clasp on a necklace,
0:27:44 > 0:27:48or a belt with a buckle, allowing it to be opened and closed.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51And is it local gold? Are they finding this gold locally?
0:27:51 > 0:27:54That's sort of the 64 million question.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58We do know that there are a number of sources of Irish gold today.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01My dentist told me that he had panned enough gold in the Sperrins
0:28:01 > 0:28:02to fill a tooth.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05So where the source of the gold is, we're not sure,
0:28:05 > 0:28:07but it was almost certainly alluvial gold -
0:28:07 > 0:28:11that means gold that was our classic vision of people panning in rivers.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13And in terms of who would have worn this,
0:28:13 > 0:28:16I'm imagining it would have been somebody of extremely high status -
0:28:16 > 0:28:18perhaps even a Bronze Age king or queen?
0:28:18 > 0:28:21We don't know. Again, one of the unusual things
0:28:21 > 0:28:24is that no torc has been found with skeleton remains.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27But it must have belonged to somebody, you know,
0:28:27 > 0:28:31of really high status. Another unusual thing about this metalwork
0:28:31 > 0:28:35is that it's often found in boggy locations.
0:28:35 > 0:28:37These include rivers, lakes and bogs.
0:28:37 > 0:28:41So they must have been regarded as some form of sacred landscape.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45Finds like the Corrard torc suggest that for the ancient people,
0:28:45 > 0:28:48peat bogs were sacred places
0:28:48 > 0:28:50between earth and water,
0:28:50 > 0:28:53where ritual offerings to the gods could be made.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56But unique discoveries of human remains
0:28:56 > 0:29:02are evidence that these divine gifts were sometimes quite macabre.
0:29:02 > 0:29:04As a physical anthropologist,
0:29:04 > 0:29:08I am absolutely fascinated by our next story.
0:29:08 > 0:29:12You can't really come to Ireland and look at archaeology
0:29:12 > 0:29:14without looking at bog bodies.
0:29:14 > 0:29:18And there are some extraordinary new theories emerging here -
0:29:18 > 0:29:21theories about ancient ritual,
0:29:21 > 0:29:23prehistoric kingship,
0:29:23 > 0:29:25and human sacrifice.
0:29:32 > 0:29:36In the conservation rooms of the National Museum of Ireland,
0:29:36 > 0:29:40numerous bog bodies are in storage - literally frozen in time.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53Ned Kelly has been tracking these bodies
0:29:53 > 0:29:56as they come out of the ground for years.
0:29:58 > 0:30:02This body was reported in December of 2012.
0:30:02 > 0:30:06It was found when
0:30:06 > 0:30:09a pile of peat was moved.
0:30:09 > 0:30:10We now realise that
0:30:10 > 0:30:12the body had actually been
0:30:12 > 0:30:14extracted from the bog
0:30:14 > 0:30:16perhaps as much as two years previously,
0:30:16 > 0:30:20so it was lying on this pile of peat, drying out,
0:30:20 > 0:30:23which is why it has desiccated
0:30:23 > 0:30:24and shrivelled up.
0:30:24 > 0:30:29Peat has been dug out of Ireland's bogs to heat homes for centuries.
0:30:31 > 0:30:33But modern industrial extraction
0:30:33 > 0:30:37is tearing an extraordinary harvest from the wetlands.
0:30:38 > 0:30:40In the past decade,
0:30:40 > 0:30:44eight bog bodies have been found dotted across the island
0:30:44 > 0:30:46wherever peat is mined.
0:30:48 > 0:30:50When examined by the state pathologist,
0:30:50 > 0:30:54many of them have proved to have been horrifically murdered.
0:30:54 > 0:30:56It's a ritual that stretches back
0:30:56 > 0:30:59deep into Ireland's prehistory.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04This bog body dates to around 900 BC,
0:31:04 > 0:31:06which is during the later Bronze Age.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10So here's the left...
0:31:10 > 0:31:12the left arm and hand.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15The right arm here -
0:31:15 > 0:31:19the end of it has been cut away by a milling machine.
0:31:20 > 0:31:22And the head also is missing.
0:31:23 > 0:31:25Again, we're fairly sure
0:31:25 > 0:31:29that that's a result of action by the milling machine
0:31:29 > 0:31:32rather than an ancient decapitation,
0:31:32 > 0:31:35because all the neck vertebrae are in place there.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37Based on previous findings, it almost certainly is a male.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39It appears to be a young adult male.
0:31:44 > 0:31:45Gabriel, that was incredible.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48And to see the individual fingers of a body like that -
0:31:48 > 0:31:50the preservation is amazing.
0:31:50 > 0:31:53Yeah. I suppose I was very struck by that.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55And this sense that we have as archaeologists,
0:31:55 > 0:31:58that we have this extraordinary opportunity,
0:31:58 > 0:32:01but also responsibility when we see these people from the past.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04It's so unusual to have a body so well preserved as well,
0:32:04 > 0:32:06you've actually got soft tissue.
0:32:06 > 0:32:09It's very odd, isn't it, what the bog does to a body,
0:32:09 > 0:32:12in that the bones become very pliable.
0:32:12 > 0:32:15The acid environment means that the bones become quite bendy,
0:32:15 > 0:32:19but all the soft tissues are tanned, they're preserved.
0:32:19 > 0:32:21Yeah. And then, of course, it's from that detail
0:32:21 > 0:32:24that we can say so much about these people,
0:32:24 > 0:32:26the fact, for example, that they seem to be treated
0:32:26 > 0:32:28in a way that we would find extraordinary,
0:32:28 > 0:32:30in terms of the kind of acts of violence
0:32:30 > 0:32:33that, in some cases, are meted out to them.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36So, what kinds of violence are we seeing on these bodies?
0:32:36 > 0:32:38Well, these are photographs, National Museum photographs,
0:32:38 > 0:32:41of another of the bog bodies from Old Croghan.
0:32:44 > 0:32:46He seems to have been decapitated, disembowelled.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49His nipples were cut off.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56That sounds like torture, really, isn't it?
0:32:57 > 0:33:00So there really is extraordinary violence
0:33:00 > 0:33:03associated with these people's death.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06I mean, they've been killed in a very violent, traumatic way.
0:33:06 > 0:33:10Yeah. I think it would be valid to use the term "overkill" for this.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14This is way over and above what was needed to kill these people.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17Do you think that in itself is evidence of ritual, then?
0:33:17 > 0:33:20Yes. And it poses very interesting questions about who saw this,
0:33:20 > 0:33:23and whether this was a kind of public ceremony.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26What about the bodies themselves, though? Are there any other clues
0:33:26 > 0:33:29about the nature of their last days, perhaps?
0:33:29 > 0:33:34Well, there are the fantastic investigations
0:33:34 > 0:33:35that have been done by the museum,
0:33:35 > 0:33:38looking at the contents of the stomachs, for example,
0:33:38 > 0:33:40that these people had,
0:33:40 > 0:33:43and telling us something about clues about the last meals that they had.
0:33:46 > 0:33:51This is an X-ray of the Moydrum bog body
0:33:51 > 0:33:56and, in fact, you can get a good sense of the body from the X-ray.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59Again, the right arm,
0:33:59 > 0:34:01the left arm, and so on.
0:34:06 > 0:34:11We were rather puzzled by these small, spherical objects.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13There's a mass of them there.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18So we got the state pathologist to have a look and to investigate,
0:34:18 > 0:34:23and we found that these small, spherical objects are sloes,
0:34:23 > 0:34:27they're the stone at the centre of a sloe.
0:34:27 > 0:34:30The sloe is the fruit of the blackthorn.
0:34:31 > 0:34:35The sloe ripens at the end of October, or early November,
0:34:35 > 0:34:39and this is precisely the period of the festival of Samhain,
0:34:39 > 0:34:41which is modern Halloween.
0:34:42 > 0:34:44And Samhain is the period when,
0:34:44 > 0:34:47according to all the early Irish mythological stories,
0:34:47 > 0:34:50kings were ritually sacrificed.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57One of these stories describes how the king was
0:34:57 > 0:35:00"burned on the night of Samhain after being drowned in wine".
0:35:02 > 0:35:06But, for Ned, the final clue to unlocking the story of this body
0:35:06 > 0:35:08is where it was found
0:35:08 > 0:35:12on the border of two ancient counties.
0:35:13 > 0:35:15He's plotted other discoveries
0:35:15 > 0:35:18and found that they also lie on ancient boundaries.
0:35:19 > 0:35:24This, and what Ned believes is a ceremonial last meal in the stomach,
0:35:24 > 0:35:25leads him to conclude
0:35:25 > 0:35:29that the Moydrum bog body is a sacrificed king.
0:35:32 > 0:35:37The presence of what I think can only be interpreted
0:35:37 > 0:35:40as a ritual meal, within this man,
0:35:40 > 0:35:44and the sort of mythological connections we can make
0:35:44 > 0:35:47with the contents of that meal,
0:35:47 > 0:35:49I think it makes it absolutely clear
0:35:49 > 0:35:53that he is an ancient king who has been sacrificed
0:35:53 > 0:35:56because his kingship has failed,
0:35:56 > 0:35:59and the people needed to replace him with a new king.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05I think these are part of a social elite.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08We know how other elite people are buried,
0:36:08 > 0:36:09and how much of a contrast it is
0:36:09 > 0:36:12with this placement of bodies in bogs.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15Most other people that we know of were cremated.
0:36:15 > 0:36:19So their bones or their bodies were placed on pyres, burnt,
0:36:19 > 0:36:23and then the bones collected and placed in cemeteries.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26Is there any other evidence of ritual
0:36:26 > 0:36:28associated with these bodies, then?
0:36:28 > 0:36:30Well, I think where they're placed is important.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34If we think about, in many societies, many religions,
0:36:34 > 0:36:36the notion of there being portals to the other world,
0:36:36 > 0:36:40and they're very often associated with sources of water.
0:36:40 > 0:36:42And here we have bogs,
0:36:42 > 0:36:44they're actually open pools where these people are placed.
0:36:44 > 0:36:46And I think, in that sense, these are...
0:36:46 > 0:36:48They're being put into the other world.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51And either to make their journey, if you like, secure -
0:36:51 > 0:36:53their bodies going into the other world -
0:36:53 > 0:36:56or perhaps deliberately to kind of hold them in limbo
0:36:56 > 0:36:59so that they won't come back and transgress further
0:36:59 > 0:37:01in living society.
0:37:01 > 0:37:03I really love this about prehistory, though,
0:37:03 > 0:37:05the fact that there are all these questions.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08I think we'll probably never get all the answers,
0:37:08 > 0:37:11but we can use the latest scientific techniques
0:37:11 > 0:37:13to really understand what was happening to these people
0:37:13 > 0:37:17in the days before they died and the point of death.
0:37:17 > 0:37:18But there will still be
0:37:18 > 0:37:21some element of mystery about it.
0:37:25 > 0:37:28Only archaeology can shed light on these rituals
0:37:28 > 0:37:31and hint at the beliefs and customs
0:37:31 > 0:37:34of the ancient inhabitants of this island
0:37:34 > 0:37:36from millennia before written records began.
0:37:38 > 0:37:41It's clear that ceremony and ritual
0:37:41 > 0:37:42were incredibly important
0:37:42 > 0:37:45to the lives prehistoric people in Ireland.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48And this year has seen the first-ever dig
0:37:48 > 0:37:50at a very important site
0:37:50 > 0:37:55that's strongly associated with the Celtic festival of Samhain,
0:37:55 > 0:37:57otherwise known as Halloween.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03At the Hill of Ward in County Meath,
0:38:03 > 0:38:06archaeologists are digging an important ritual site
0:38:06 > 0:38:08known in Irish as Tlachtga.
0:38:08 > 0:38:11The team are keeping a dig diary.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14I've been interested in this site for as long as I can remember.
0:38:14 > 0:38:17Wrote a book about it in 1999.
0:38:17 > 0:38:19I'm interested in the mythology of the site,
0:38:19 > 0:38:23hoping that we will be able to find
0:38:23 > 0:38:25something that might confirm
0:38:25 > 0:38:28the different strands of mythology here.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32Samhain is one of the four major Celtic festivals,
0:38:32 > 0:38:34and its association with this site
0:38:34 > 0:38:36makes the dig extremely important.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39The team are hoping that discoveries here
0:38:39 > 0:38:41could shed light on ancient rituals.
0:38:43 > 0:38:47Folklore suggests that this hill fort takes its name from Tlachtga,
0:38:47 > 0:38:51a druid's daughter who died here giving birth to triplets.
0:38:51 > 0:38:53With its connections to Samhain,
0:38:53 > 0:38:56the dig generates a wealth of public attention,
0:38:56 > 0:38:58with the locals checking up on progress.
0:38:59 > 0:39:02So, we're now eight days in to the excavation here,
0:39:02 > 0:39:06we've got three main trenches that are open,
0:39:06 > 0:39:09which we're imaginatively calling Trench One, Two and Three.
0:39:09 > 0:39:11Geophysical surveys of the site
0:39:11 > 0:39:15show earth features stretching over one square kilometre,
0:39:15 > 0:39:19with circular ditches over 100 metres in circumference.
0:39:21 > 0:39:23The team has situated their trenches
0:39:23 > 0:39:27in three distinct areas on this massive site.
0:39:30 > 0:39:33Now over halfway through the dig,
0:39:33 > 0:39:36the team is finding potential evidence of ritual ceremony.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39As you can see behind us,
0:39:39 > 0:39:42we've got the remains of quite a big ditch.
0:39:42 > 0:39:44It's a rock-cut ditch,
0:39:44 > 0:39:47so on either side you can see the bedrock coming up.
0:39:47 > 0:39:49We're doing it very carefully now,
0:39:49 > 0:39:51because we're finding lots of animal bone
0:39:51 > 0:39:55and we also found a large piece of antler.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59The archaeologists believe that these clues are important.
0:39:59 > 0:40:03The animal bones could be evidence of ancient ritual feasting,
0:40:03 > 0:40:07possibly a direct connection to the festival of Samhain.
0:40:09 > 0:40:12In the last days of the dig,
0:40:12 > 0:40:15the team makes an unexpected discovery.
0:40:15 > 0:40:17At the bottom of trench number three,
0:40:17 > 0:40:20they find more bones.
0:40:20 > 0:40:23But this time, these aren't animal bones,
0:40:23 > 0:40:26this is the skeleton of an infant.
0:40:27 > 0:40:32It's a big responsibility to have to excavate a human burial,
0:40:32 > 0:40:35but especially an infant burial on a site like this.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38As archaeologists, it's important to find discoveries like this
0:40:38 > 0:40:40because it tells us a bit more
0:40:40 > 0:40:43about what would have been a hugely important and significant moment
0:40:43 > 0:40:45in the lives of the people, the parents,
0:40:45 > 0:40:47the wider family and community.
0:40:49 > 0:40:50In response to the find,
0:40:50 > 0:40:53the team decides to take a quiet moment
0:40:53 > 0:40:56to pay their respects to this ancient child.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00It was nice to have a group of people around,
0:41:00 > 0:41:04sort of remembering this child as it was being lifted.
0:41:04 > 0:41:07Just a few moments out of our day,
0:41:07 > 0:41:09but it was a nice thing to do.
0:41:11 > 0:41:14The human remains are taken to the University College Dublin
0:41:14 > 0:41:17to osteoarchaeologist, Abigail Ash.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23To anyone who's dealt with human remains, even vaguely,
0:41:23 > 0:41:26you can see that this is a very small individual.
0:41:26 > 0:41:28The posture was very juvenile.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31If you've ever laid down a baby,
0:41:31 > 0:41:33immediately, the legs bow
0:41:33 > 0:41:35in a very characteristic way, like this.
0:41:35 > 0:41:37And that is exactly
0:41:37 > 0:41:39how it was in the ground,
0:41:39 > 0:41:40so it's just as if
0:41:40 > 0:41:42somebody had laid the baby down
0:41:42 > 0:41:44and it was just perfectly preserved like that.
0:41:45 > 0:41:48Abigail sets out to examine the remains,
0:41:48 > 0:41:51and to work out how old the baby was when it died.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56It's juvenile. Even though it's very, very young,
0:41:56 > 0:41:57it does have some teeth forming.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00The majority of these are actually still in the jaw
0:42:00 > 0:42:04as they haven't erupted through the gums yet.
0:42:04 > 0:42:06The estimate that I want to put on it
0:42:06 > 0:42:08is quite conservative.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10I want to say about three to five months of age.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16Infant burials have been found at ritual sites before,
0:42:16 > 0:42:18but they are extremely rare.
0:42:19 > 0:42:24Dating the burial reveals that it is from the late Iron Age,
0:42:24 > 0:42:26over 1,500 years ago.
0:42:29 > 0:42:30Knowing the importance of this site
0:42:30 > 0:42:33and how little has actually been excavated,
0:42:33 > 0:42:36the broader significance of this find
0:42:36 > 0:42:38will depend on further digging in the years ahead.
0:42:47 > 0:42:49All I can say is that, at the end,
0:42:49 > 0:42:51somebody took the time to bury it,
0:42:51 > 0:42:54to put it somewhere maybe they thought it would be safe,
0:42:54 > 0:42:58and to cover it up and to leave it there.
0:43:02 > 0:43:06Sometimes, archaeology offers more questions than answers,
0:43:06 > 0:43:10and nowhere is this truer than Iron Age Ireland.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13It's the era of warrior chieftains,
0:43:13 > 0:43:15heroes like Cu Chulainn,
0:43:15 > 0:43:18and when Celtic art arrives here.
0:43:18 > 0:43:20But what can archaeology really tell us
0:43:20 > 0:43:22about the people of the Iron Age?
0:43:22 > 0:43:25Were the Celts another wave of invaders?
0:43:27 > 0:43:28The situation in Ireland
0:43:28 > 0:43:31regarding the association between the Iron Age and the Celts
0:43:31 > 0:43:33is a complex one,
0:43:33 > 0:43:36and it's one that's much debated, even still today.
0:43:36 > 0:43:38The debate essentially revolves around whether,
0:43:38 > 0:43:40between 600 and 300 BC,
0:43:40 > 0:43:43there was a major influx from the Continent
0:43:43 > 0:43:46of Celtic-speaking people, bringing objects with them,
0:43:46 > 0:43:48or whether we can account
0:43:48 > 0:43:51for Iron Age objects of that date in Ireland
0:43:51 > 0:43:52by some other means.
0:43:52 > 0:43:54I think this looks to me like a classic example
0:43:54 > 0:43:57of what we would call Celtic art.
0:43:57 > 0:43:59So tell me about this disk.
0:43:59 > 0:44:00It's made of bronze,
0:44:00 > 0:44:04and some of the finest and prestigious objects of the Iron Age
0:44:04 > 0:44:07weren't actually made of iron, but made of bronze.
0:44:07 > 0:44:11And it exhibits elements of a Celtic art style
0:44:11 > 0:44:14that's identifiable on the Continent,
0:44:14 > 0:44:15known as La Tene art,
0:44:15 > 0:44:17named after a site in Switzerland.
0:44:17 > 0:44:21We have these beautiful curving lines linking together.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23It's quite organic-looking, isn't it?
0:44:23 > 0:44:26And if you contrast, I suppose,
0:44:26 > 0:44:28a little bit with the decoration on this,
0:44:28 > 0:44:30and these two objects,
0:44:30 > 0:44:33the decoration is a bit more complex.
0:44:33 > 0:44:35- And what are they? - They are part of a scabbard.
0:44:35 > 0:44:37So if you imagine you're carrying around a sword,
0:44:37 > 0:44:39you don't want to carry it around all day,
0:44:39 > 0:44:41you would wear it inside a scabbard,
0:44:41 > 0:44:43which would have been worn around the waist.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46So the scabbard wouldn't have just been a dull, leather object,
0:44:46 > 0:44:49it would have had these, which are... Are they made of bronze?
0:44:49 > 0:44:52As I say, both of these objects were made of bronze,
0:44:52 > 0:44:54and bronze was used for the more prestige items.
0:44:54 > 0:44:56These just don't belong to anybody -
0:44:56 > 0:44:59probably the average warrior would maybe have had his wooden scabbard,
0:44:59 > 0:45:01but these were beautifully decorated plates.
0:45:01 > 0:45:03But this brings us back again
0:45:03 > 0:45:06to the debate as to how do we account for them.
0:45:06 > 0:45:08Because the rest of the archaeological record in Ireland
0:45:08 > 0:45:12doesn't suggest that there was a major invasion
0:45:12 > 0:45:14of Celtic-speaking people.
0:45:14 > 0:45:16So perhaps these could be accounted for
0:45:16 > 0:45:18by an incursion of a warrior elite.
0:45:18 > 0:45:20Some people think they're the products
0:45:20 > 0:45:23of itinerant or travelling smiths, or even trade.
0:45:23 > 0:45:25But it does... This does mark
0:45:25 > 0:45:28the end of the great Bronze Age civilisations,
0:45:28 > 0:45:30and the end of all the big hill forts
0:45:30 > 0:45:34and the gradual decline of bronze as it is replaced by iron.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37And it marks this change that comes across Europe
0:45:37 > 0:45:40that most people associate with the Celts.
0:45:41 > 0:45:43Ireland's coast and waterways
0:45:43 > 0:45:47have always provided invading warriors with easy access,
0:45:47 > 0:45:52and now one site is offering an amazing treasure trove of boats
0:45:52 > 0:45:56spanning from the Bronze Age through to the Viking era.
0:45:56 > 0:45:58Next, we're going underwater,
0:45:58 > 0:45:59with an incredible discovery
0:45:59 > 0:46:02that started off as a blip on a sonar scan
0:46:02 > 0:46:05of the bottom of Lough Corrib in County Galway.
0:46:05 > 0:46:08And joining us is marine archaeologist, Karl Brady.
0:46:08 > 0:46:12Now, Karl, you've brought in some amazing footage to show us
0:46:12 > 0:46:13of this discovery.
0:46:13 > 0:46:16Yeah, well, this first discovery we made over three years ago,
0:46:16 > 0:46:18and from there, we've made a whole load of new discoveries,
0:46:18 > 0:46:20so I'll show you some footage now.
0:46:29 > 0:46:30Could you see what you were doing?
0:46:30 > 0:46:32Yeah, we could see all right.
0:46:32 > 0:46:34It tends to clear up quite quickly,
0:46:34 > 0:46:36but that was actually the log boat there,
0:46:36 > 0:46:38you can see it here just coming up now.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43We're looking at the bow and we're just travelling along the log boat.
0:46:45 > 0:46:48It was actually found by a local surveyor, Trevor Northage,
0:46:48 > 0:46:51who's been mapping the lake for a number of years.
0:46:51 > 0:46:52And one day he was out
0:46:52 > 0:46:55and all of a sudden a blip came up on the sonar,
0:46:55 > 0:46:57and it took the shape of a boat.
0:46:57 > 0:46:59And perfectly preserved, as well.
0:46:59 > 0:47:01Really well preserved, yes.
0:47:01 > 0:47:03Preservation on it was excellent.
0:47:03 > 0:47:06The muds and silts in it are really fine, in the lake,
0:47:06 > 0:47:09and they tend to cover over the boat very quickly and preserve it,
0:47:09 > 0:47:11almost like as if it was vacuum-packed.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16So what do we know about this boat? Do you know what it was used for?
0:47:16 > 0:47:18We know it dates to the early Bronze Age,
0:47:18 > 0:47:22it was made about 4,500 years ago.
0:47:22 > 0:47:25So it's probably one of the earliest Bronze Age boats
0:47:25 > 0:47:26we have in Ireland.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29There seems to be very little wear and tear on the boat,
0:47:29 > 0:47:31so we think it was only used on special occasions.
0:47:31 > 0:47:33I think this is the sort of thing you imagine
0:47:33 > 0:47:36is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime find, and incredibly rare -
0:47:36 > 0:47:38but it's not that rare.
0:47:38 > 0:47:41No. Well, shortly afterwards, Trevor was out mapping the lake again
0:47:41 > 0:47:43and came across another boat
0:47:43 > 0:47:45near Lees Island in the middle of the lake.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59What's that thing lying inside it there?
0:47:59 > 0:48:01- Is it a sword or an oar? - No, that's a steering oar.
0:48:01 > 0:48:03- So it's quite long, over two metres in length.- Wow!
0:48:03 > 0:48:04And it's really well preserved.
0:48:04 > 0:48:07And beside that there was also an iron spearhead,
0:48:07 > 0:48:09so it was a really exciting find.
0:48:09 > 0:48:11And are those seats going across, or something like that?
0:48:11 > 0:48:14Yeah, that's a seat. And just below the seat there,
0:48:14 > 0:48:16you can see the remains of an iron axe.
0:48:16 > 0:48:18What's unusual about this axe
0:48:18 > 0:48:20is that it was inserted purposely in the boat.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23They carved out a little notch on the handle
0:48:23 > 0:48:26so it fit snugly underneath the seat and the floor.
0:48:26 > 0:48:27An iron axe.
0:48:27 > 0:48:31So this is a little bit younger than the last boat, then?
0:48:31 > 0:48:32Yeah, a little bit younger.
0:48:32 > 0:48:35We just got back some radiocarbon dates
0:48:35 > 0:48:37from Queen's University here in Belfast,
0:48:37 > 0:48:39and we just found out last week
0:48:39 > 0:48:42that it dates to between the 8th century BC and the 5th century BC.
0:48:42 > 0:48:45And that date's actually on the boat itself, is it?
0:48:45 > 0:48:46That's the date of the boat itself.
0:48:46 > 0:48:49We probably will go and date the axe as well, just to confirm it,
0:48:49 > 0:48:52but the boat is early Iron Age.
0:48:52 > 0:48:55The next boat you found was even more recent.
0:48:55 > 0:48:58Yeah, the next boat actually dates to around the 11th century,
0:48:58 > 0:49:01a kind of turbulent time in Irish history
0:49:01 > 0:49:03when the provincial rulers were vying with the Vikings
0:49:03 > 0:49:06for political control over the island.
0:49:13 > 0:49:16Our first impression was that this was quite a late boat,
0:49:16 > 0:49:18maybe 18th, 19th-century.
0:49:18 > 0:49:22But as we began to excavate, we came across some interesting artefacts
0:49:22 > 0:49:25that obviously changed our minds very quickly
0:49:25 > 0:49:26and kind of made us think
0:49:26 > 0:49:29this probably dates around the 11th or 12th century.
0:49:29 > 0:49:31So this is not actually a Viking boat,
0:49:31 > 0:49:34it's a native boat from the Viking era?
0:49:34 > 0:49:38That's right. It's an Irish boat built in Irish style,
0:49:38 > 0:49:40but what was interesting with the boat
0:49:40 > 0:49:43was that we found three Viking-style axes on board, three battle-axes.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47So the Irish had adopted kind of the Viking weapons
0:49:47 > 0:49:48because they were so effective.
0:49:49 > 0:49:52We also found a work axe and two iron spears,
0:49:52 > 0:49:57so we reckon that this was possibly a boat carrying a group of warriors
0:49:57 > 0:50:01who were ferrying around maybe a local dignitary or chieftain
0:50:01 > 0:50:02or one of the ruling elite.
0:50:02 > 0:50:05Again, why do you think that boat ended up on the bottom of the lough?
0:50:05 > 0:50:09Well, we think this boat actually sank as the result of an accident.
0:50:09 > 0:50:11It was carrying a large stone,
0:50:11 > 0:50:14maybe for use in a monastery or as a grave slab.
0:50:14 > 0:50:17And we felt that maybe they were bringing the stone
0:50:17 > 0:50:20to one of the monasteries on one of the islands on the lake
0:50:20 > 0:50:23and, unfortunately, it developed a crack
0:50:23 > 0:50:25and got swamped with water and sank.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28The people who were on board, maybe it took them a while to get out,
0:50:28 > 0:50:30and they had to leave their personal belongings behind
0:50:30 > 0:50:32and kind of try and swim for shore.
0:50:37 > 0:50:39We'll never know if the warriors manning this boat
0:50:39 > 0:50:41ever made it to shore,
0:50:41 > 0:50:44but the Viking raiders they fought
0:50:44 > 0:50:46left their own traces,
0:50:46 > 0:50:50including one of the museum's greatest treasures.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54So, sitting in front of us here is an extraordinary group of artefacts
0:50:54 > 0:50:57that can really tell us about the exploits and plunders
0:50:57 > 0:51:01of those most notorious invaders - the Vikings.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03So, Greer, these all came from the same site, did they?
0:51:03 > 0:51:06Remarkably, these lay in the bed of the River Blackwater
0:51:06 > 0:51:09for hundreds and hundreds of years until around the 1990s,
0:51:09 > 0:51:12when they were dredged from the river bottom.
0:51:12 > 0:51:14You think they all came from the same hoard, then?
0:51:14 > 0:51:16They almost certainly came from the same hoard.
0:51:16 > 0:51:17But one of the really challenges was
0:51:17 > 0:51:21that some of the objects were chopped up into tiny bits.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24So it's a bit like a jigsaw puzzle - what exactly is it we have here?
0:51:24 > 0:51:27And there are a few classic telltale signs,
0:51:27 > 0:51:30and one of the telltale signs of a Viking presence
0:51:30 > 0:51:32came from this little gold ring.
0:51:32 > 0:51:34You can see that it's tied with a tiny, tiny knot,
0:51:34 > 0:51:37and this is a characteristic Viking gold ring,
0:51:37 > 0:51:40so we are quite sure there was a Viking presence.
0:51:40 > 0:51:41What we also had as well
0:51:41 > 0:51:44was material coming from a local church site.
0:51:44 > 0:51:47So we know that we had shrines,
0:51:47 > 0:51:49we had covers for books,
0:51:49 > 0:51:52we have remains of crosses, we have bells,
0:51:52 > 0:51:55we have material comparable to some of the finest pieces
0:51:55 > 0:51:57produced in the early Christian period,
0:51:57 > 0:51:59the only problem being that they've been chopped into tiny bits.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02So these are real pieces of Viking plunder?
0:52:02 > 0:52:04These are real pieces of Viking plunder.
0:52:04 > 0:52:06And I suppose the question maybe to ask then is,
0:52:06 > 0:52:10where on earth were the Vikings getting this material from?
0:52:10 > 0:52:14And the most likely answer is that it came from Armagh,
0:52:14 > 0:52:15which is a city nearby.
0:52:15 > 0:52:18We know that from around the 800s,
0:52:18 > 0:52:21Armagh was the most important church site in the whole of Ireland.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24And written accounts record the first Viking raids in Armagh
0:52:24 > 0:52:26in the year 832,
0:52:26 > 0:52:28and it was raided three times in one month.
0:52:28 > 0:52:30So all this could have been dropped
0:52:30 > 0:52:32on the way back from one of those raids?
0:52:32 > 0:52:34Was somebody crossing the river when they fell in?
0:52:34 > 0:52:37Was it buried in a big treasure chest by the edge of the river
0:52:37 > 0:52:38and got washed in?
0:52:38 > 0:52:41And the answer is that we don't know.
0:52:46 > 0:52:48Our next story takes us to Cork,
0:52:48 > 0:52:53to a Victorian prison where Irish convicts were worked to the bone,
0:52:53 > 0:52:54carrying out manual labour.
0:52:54 > 0:52:57It is a story of ruthless treatment
0:52:57 > 0:52:59and a harsh existence,
0:52:59 > 0:53:02but it also shows us how the inmates were able
0:53:02 > 0:53:07to eke out a degree of respect towards each other - in death.
0:53:09 > 0:53:13Spike Island is known as Ireland's Alcatraz.
0:53:16 > 0:53:18Opened in 1847,
0:53:18 > 0:53:21it once served as a holding centre
0:53:21 > 0:53:24for prisoners being transferred to Australia or Bermuda.
0:53:25 > 0:53:29This year, researchers from University College Cork
0:53:29 > 0:53:31have been digging up the grounds of the former prison.
0:53:32 > 0:53:34We know historically
0:53:34 > 0:53:36that just under 1,200 convicts
0:53:36 > 0:53:39who were held here at Spike Island
0:53:39 > 0:53:43died between the years of 1847 and 1883.
0:53:43 > 0:53:46Between 1850 and 1855,
0:53:46 > 0:53:49Spike Island was the largest convict depot
0:53:49 > 0:53:52in what was then the United Kingdom of Britain and Ireland.
0:53:52 > 0:53:55And we have these catastrophically high death rates,
0:53:55 > 0:54:00where they were losing one tenth of the prisoners in any one year.
0:54:01 > 0:54:06These high numbers mean that Barra and his team have been very busy
0:54:06 > 0:54:09excavating graves of nameless convicts
0:54:09 > 0:54:11who died while imprisoned here.
0:54:11 > 0:54:15This is how the graves initially appear.
0:54:15 > 0:54:19So we mattock off the first, say, 25 centimetres of soil,
0:54:19 > 0:54:21once we've removed the sod,
0:54:21 > 0:54:24and then we begin to get these voids appearing,
0:54:24 > 0:54:26where the soil just falls away
0:54:26 > 0:54:29from the much denser surrounding subsoil.
0:54:29 > 0:54:32And these graves are uniform size
0:54:32 > 0:54:35and they're also roughly in line with one another.
0:54:37 > 0:54:39Examining the skeletons,
0:54:39 > 0:54:43Barra is already able to deduce important details
0:54:43 > 0:54:45of what life was like for the people here.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49And he's found that it was far from easy.
0:54:50 > 0:54:52With this particular burial,
0:54:52 > 0:54:55we can see, while it's still in the ground,
0:54:55 > 0:54:58that it is the skeleton of a male.
0:54:58 > 0:55:01We can see the beginnings of...
0:55:01 > 0:55:04well, actually, fairly advanced degenerative changes
0:55:04 > 0:55:05in his vertebrae,
0:55:05 > 0:55:09which are a reflection of two things - age and lifestyle.
0:55:09 > 0:55:11So it's probably an older individual,
0:55:11 > 0:55:14and then one who has spent his life
0:55:14 > 0:55:17engaging in physical labour.
0:55:17 > 0:55:22The kind of labour that these guys were engaged in
0:55:22 > 0:55:25was lifting and carrying heavy loads.
0:55:25 > 0:55:27The convicts on Spike Island
0:55:27 > 0:55:30were worked to exhaustion,
0:55:30 > 0:55:32a common practice in Victorian prisons.
0:55:32 > 0:55:37But as Irishmen, the inmates also experienced extra prejudice.
0:55:39 > 0:55:41One of the interesting things that occurs
0:55:41 > 0:55:43in the annual reports
0:55:43 > 0:55:46is the unsuitability of the typical Irish convict
0:55:46 > 0:55:50to learning trades and crafts and so on.
0:55:50 > 0:55:52And there's this kind of racialised understanding
0:55:52 > 0:55:54of the convict prisoners,
0:55:54 > 0:55:58which is typical of the Victorian era.
0:55:58 > 0:56:00The Irish are characterised
0:56:00 > 0:56:03as being more suited to general labouring
0:56:03 > 0:56:07rather than to learning particular trades and crafts.
0:56:07 > 0:56:08For many of those men,
0:56:08 > 0:56:11English would have been a second language,
0:56:11 > 0:56:13and that might have made it more difficult for them
0:56:13 > 0:56:17to be taught certain trades and crafts and so on.
0:56:22 > 0:56:23During their lives, then,
0:56:23 > 0:56:27these men would have been viewed as inferior.
0:56:29 > 0:56:32But they were treated with respect in death,
0:56:32 > 0:56:34as the archaeologists are discovering
0:56:34 > 0:56:37as they carefully excavate the graves.
0:56:43 > 0:56:44So here we can see
0:56:44 > 0:56:47this really well-preserved coffin.
0:56:47 > 0:56:51We've removed the human remains from this coffin
0:56:51 > 0:56:54and, at the moment, we're just excavating out
0:56:54 > 0:56:57where the floor of the coffin will be.
0:56:57 > 0:57:01And in a few moments, we'll remove the coffin timbers.
0:57:01 > 0:57:04These coffins would have been made by fellow inmates,
0:57:04 > 0:57:09so obviously by somebody who had been trained as a carpenter.
0:57:11 > 0:57:15The prisoners had been through hell during their often-short lives.
0:57:17 > 0:57:21But in death, their fellow inmates gave them a proper burial.
0:57:23 > 0:57:26Archaeology is a complex jigsaw puzzle,
0:57:26 > 0:57:30drawing together everything from the skeletons of dead convicts
0:57:30 > 0:57:33to Spanish gold off the north coast.
0:57:33 > 0:57:38Amazing stories which are helping to rewrite our history.
0:57:40 > 0:57:42Matt, it seems to have been a fantastic year
0:57:42 > 0:57:44for archaeology in Ireland.
0:57:44 > 0:57:46We've seen some amazing discoveries,
0:57:46 > 0:57:48and there have been some real insights
0:57:48 > 0:57:49and real revelations as well.
0:57:49 > 0:57:52I think my favourites have been all the underwater ones.
0:57:52 > 0:57:54The log boats from Lough Corrib -
0:57:54 > 0:57:56they're absolutely amazing, amazing preservation.
0:57:56 > 0:57:58And also the Armada wreck as well.
0:57:58 > 0:58:01I mean, it's gold and it's treasure, but it's absolutely stunning.
0:58:01 > 0:58:03Amazing to look at and see right in front of us,
0:58:03 > 0:58:06and it fitted in absolutely perfectly with our historic knowledge as well.
0:58:06 > 0:58:09- What about you? - Well, it might be a bit predictable,
0:58:09 > 0:58:10but it has to be the bog bodies.
0:58:10 > 0:58:14I mean, they're just extraordinary, the preservation of those bodies,
0:58:14 > 0:58:17and what we're learning as well about those prehistoric rituals,
0:58:17 > 0:58:19I think they're extraordinary finds.
0:58:19 > 0:58:21Well, it has been a fantastic year,
0:58:21 > 0:58:24and we hope that next year will be equally great.
0:58:24 > 0:58:27We wish all our archaeologists good luck
0:58:27 > 0:58:29as they continue digging for Ireland.