0:00:03 > 0:00:07We might be a small island, but we've got a big history.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11Everywhere you stand, there are worlds beneath your feet.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15And so, every year, hundreds of archaeologists across Britain
0:00:15 > 0:00:18go looking for more clues into our story.
0:00:18 > 0:00:20Who lived here, when, and how?
0:00:20 > 0:00:23So there was a blade in here, here...
0:00:23 > 0:00:25So he's being attacked from all angles.
0:00:25 > 0:00:30Archaeology is a complex jigsaw puzzle drawing everything together
0:00:30 > 0:00:34from skeletons to swords, temples to treasure.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37- He's biting his shield. - Biting his shield, yeah.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43From Orkney to Devon, we're joining this year's quest -
0:00:43 > 0:00:47on sea, land and air.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51We share all of the questions and find some of the answers.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54As we join the teams in the field
0:00:54 > 0:00:56Digging for Britain.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10These islands we call the British Isles have been inhabited,
0:01:10 > 0:01:14on and off, for hundreds of thousands of years.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17And for most of that time, the early communities here
0:01:17 > 0:01:20were living through what we now know as the Stone Age.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22But who were these people?
0:01:22 > 0:01:24What were their lives really like?
0:01:24 > 0:01:28And when did the foundations of our modern society emerge?
0:01:28 > 0:01:33With no written records to draw on, it is only through archaeology
0:01:33 > 0:01:36that we can hope to gain an insight
0:01:36 > 0:01:38into the lives of our ancient ancestors.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42Tonight, I'll be coming come face to face
0:01:42 > 0:01:44with Stone Age people on Orkney...
0:01:44 > 0:01:48The wealth of secrets that we could learn from this is quite incredible.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52..learning some disturbing truths about Britain's Ice Age hunters...
0:01:52 > 0:01:55We have clear proof of cannibalism in this site.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58..and visiting the Channel Islands
0:01:58 > 0:02:01on the trail of some misunderstood early humans.
0:02:01 > 0:02:02Nature just doesn't allow
0:02:02 > 0:02:06a creature that isn't perfectly fitted to its environment
0:02:06 > 0:02:07to thrive and exist.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10We'll be travelling backwards in time
0:02:10 > 0:02:14on a journey spanning 100,000 years of human pre-history
0:02:14 > 0:02:18to uncover the changing story of the first inhabitants of Britain.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26Stonehenge is our biggest, and most famous, Stone Age monument
0:02:26 > 0:02:29and it dates back some 5,000 years.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33These mysterious stones have been written about
0:02:33 > 0:02:37since the time of the Anglo-Saxons, and studied by antiquarians
0:02:37 > 0:02:40since Henry VIII sat on the English throne.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45There are many theories about how it was built and why.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49As an ancient calendar, a place of the dead,
0:02:49 > 0:02:51or a temple for worshiping pagan gods.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55Every year, archaeologists conduct new digs
0:02:55 > 0:02:59and explore new theories about our most iconic landmark.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03Four years ago, two eminent archaeologists,
0:03:03 > 0:03:06Professor Tim Darvill and Geoff Wainwright,
0:03:06 > 0:03:08got permission to dig within the stone circle
0:03:08 > 0:03:12for the first time in almost 50 years.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23What they suggested sparked interest from around the world.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29They advanced the extraordinary and controversial theory
0:03:29 > 0:03:34that, at its beginning, Stonehenge had been a centre of healing.
0:03:34 > 0:03:39I'm not heading for Stonehenge. Instead, I'm going right to the very edge of West Wales,
0:03:39 > 0:03:43which is well over 100 miles away from Salisbury Plain.
0:03:43 > 0:03:48And in case that sounds odd, I can assure you, there's a very good reason that I'm here.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53The earliest phase of stone building used
0:03:53 > 0:03:55a special type of rock called Bluestone.
0:04:00 > 0:04:06These distinctive stones were erected around 2300 BC.
0:04:07 > 0:04:12Geology tells us they were mined from a hilltop here in Preseli,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15where Tim and Geoff believe that springs welling up from the ground
0:04:15 > 0:04:19may have been thought to have had healing powers.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23Just when you think it's safe to go, another cow appears!
0:04:25 > 0:04:30On a nice, sunny day, this is an absolutely spectacular bit of countryside.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32But today I cannot see a thing.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36I know the team are working up there in the hills.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39I can't see the hills at all.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43And at some point, I'm going to have to turn off this road onto a dirt tack,
0:04:43 > 0:04:45so that should be exciting.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47It's absolutely tipping it down.
0:04:47 > 0:04:52I can't believe these archaeologists are out in this weather.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55This year the Stonehenge team are at the spot these healing springs are found,
0:04:55 > 0:05:00and where the famous Bluestones were quarried.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05They're digging at the site of a 4,000 year old Neolithic tomb,
0:05:05 > 0:05:10which was built right in the shadow of the Bluestone quarry.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15They're looking for dating evidence that might tie this tomb
0:05:15 > 0:05:18to the earliest building phase at Stonehenge,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21and that may mean that whoever was buried here
0:05:21 > 0:05:24also had some direct link with Stonehenge.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31The link between the Preseli Hills and Stonehenge
0:05:31 > 0:05:36was first recognised in 1923 by geologist Herbert Thomas.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38Through geological analysis,
0:05:38 > 0:05:42he posited that the distinctive Spotted Dolerites, or Bluestone,
0:05:42 > 0:05:47could only have come from this exact spot in Wales.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00- Hello!- Alice, hi. Great to see you.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03Walking up onto the hill here, the ground's just covered
0:06:03 > 0:06:08- with large stones. Are these the famous Preseli Bluestone? - This is the famous Preseli Hills,
0:06:08 > 0:06:12Carn Menyn, where the Bluestones, the Spotted Dolerite come from,
0:06:12 > 0:06:15which they used for the central settings at Stonehenge.
0:06:15 > 0:06:20What you are looking at is the Spotted Dolerite. Here's a superb example right here.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23Feel the texture of it. It's really very pleasing-looking rock.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26This is a landscape where you come to take the rocks,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29You can literally just pluck them off the surface of the ground.
0:06:29 > 0:06:30I saw one a minute ago -
0:06:30 > 0:06:33here it is right behind where we're standing.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37- That looks like a prefect standing stone.- Doesn't it? Exactly right.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40Literally, people could come here, pick it up and take it away.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44Getting it out of the ground is not a problem at all -
0:06:44 > 0:06:47some simple levers would be quite adequate for that.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52Nevertheless, it would have been a huge engineering feat,
0:06:52 > 0:06:55moving 80 massive stones
0:06:55 > 0:07:00over 150 miles from this hill in Wales to Salisbury Plain.
0:07:00 > 0:07:05Tim and Geoff think the reason these stones were so prized was because of
0:07:05 > 0:07:08their connection to this to this area's healing springs.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10And the tomb suggests that this place in Wales
0:07:10 > 0:07:12was already a sacred site.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20The archaeologist knew that the tomb had been disturbed,
0:07:20 > 0:07:22and probably looted, long ago.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26But to explore what's left,
0:07:26 > 0:07:30they've excavated a section through the tomb's outer edge.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35With this very small trench,
0:07:35 > 0:07:37you've actually made a significant discovery?
0:07:37 > 0:07:40It's a little piece of keyhole surgery into an important monument,
0:07:40 > 0:07:43but it's actually lived up to our expectations perfectly.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45Let's show you what we've got in the trench.
0:07:45 > 0:07:50Now, you can see this if you like is a platform just inside the ditch.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56They've found something intriguing - a ditch and a raised bank.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59And, importantly, it looks as though the bank
0:07:59 > 0:08:03has pairs of standing stones imbedded in it.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06They believe this means the site was originally
0:08:06 > 0:08:08a small ceremonial monument,
0:08:08 > 0:08:10which was subsequently covered over by a tomb.
0:08:12 > 0:08:18The interesting thing is that at Stonehenge there are Bluestones
0:08:18 > 0:08:21that were set in pairs of holes, OK?
0:08:21 > 0:08:26So there is an architectural link between this site and Stonehenge.
0:08:26 > 0:08:31With this tomb, with this ceremonial monument, we have
0:08:31 > 0:08:36obviously got a very important person who may have been responsible
0:08:36 > 0:08:40for the impetus that caused these stones to be transported.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45The team will also be collecting samples for radio carbon dating
0:08:45 > 0:08:47to establish when this monument was built.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50They'll have their results later this year,
0:08:50 > 0:08:54and perhaps these will provide Tim and Geoff with more evidence that
0:08:54 > 0:08:58whoever was buried here had some direct involvement
0:08:58 > 0:09:00with the birth of Stonehenge.
0:09:00 > 0:09:01See you later.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05And while the team wait for the rain to stop,
0:09:05 > 0:09:08Tim will show me more evidence they found during the dig.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12It's nice to get into a slightly more sheltered spot.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16And is this an artefact from the excavation?
0:09:16 > 0:09:18This is an artefact from the excavation.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21What it is, is a hammer stone. You can see the way that the surface is pitted
0:09:21 > 0:09:24where it's been used to bang really quite hard.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28I'm always amazed when archaeologists show me objects like this
0:09:28 > 0:09:31and I think, "Well, to me that just looks like a stone."
0:09:31 > 0:09:34So it's this kind of pecking on the surface you're looking at?
0:09:34 > 0:09:37Yes, giveaway characteristics. What are they doing with it?
0:09:37 > 0:09:41Well, here, right next to where we found these two hammer stones
0:09:41 > 0:09:45was this beautiful flake. This has come off a huge block
0:09:45 > 0:09:47and at some point somebody's used a hammer,
0:09:47 > 0:09:51probably just like the one here - in fact may even have been this hammer -
0:09:51 > 0:09:54to literally strike the side of the block and take off that flake.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58I presume it isn't always this misty and murky and rainy and foggy
0:09:58 > 0:09:59when you're digging up here?
0:09:59 > 0:10:03It does feel like we're sitting in the mists of time today.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07Upland archaeology is one of those strange fields of archaeology.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10We're working in really quite a hostile environment up here.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13It can turn nasty quite quickly, so we have to be prepared for that.
0:10:18 > 0:10:23We've already discovered from this small excavation
0:10:23 > 0:10:27that something that was thought to be a tomb is much more than that,
0:10:27 > 0:10:30it looks like it was a ceremonial site as well.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35If they can get radiocarbon dates, then that makes this even more important.
0:10:35 > 0:10:43It means that we are getting much closer to really understanding what was going on in the Neolithic.
0:10:45 > 0:10:50Stonehenge continued to be developed throughout the subsequent Bronze Age.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54But the first stones were erected towards the end of the Neolithic,
0:10:54 > 0:10:57around 4,500 years ago.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01This period saw huge changes in society...
0:11:01 > 0:11:04for the first time people began to farm the land
0:11:04 > 0:11:06and to permanently settle.
0:11:06 > 0:11:12500 miles north of Stonehenge there is some of the best surviving
0:11:12 > 0:11:15Neolithic archaeology anywhere in Europe -
0:11:15 > 0:11:17on the Islands of Orkney.
0:11:31 > 0:11:37Last summer I visited a dig at the Links of Noltland, on the small Orkney island of Westray.
0:11:37 > 0:11:43On a windswept beach, archaeologists were uncovering a Neolithic farmstead
0:11:43 > 0:11:47and what has been described as our earliest domestic goddess,
0:11:47 > 0:11:49The Westray Wifey.
0:11:57 > 0:12:02This year I'm back on Orkney, to visit another Neolithic site
0:12:02 > 0:12:08that is revealing more important clues about these early farmers, and their complex beliefs.
0:12:08 > 0:12:13This is Banks Farm on the Island of South Ronaldsay where just last year
0:12:13 > 0:12:19some construction work up by the farmhouse, revealed a previously undisturbed Neolithic tomb.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26This wasn't the first time an important Neolithic tomb had been found on Orkney.
0:12:26 > 0:12:34In 1958 a local farmer uncovered the now world famous Tomb of The Eagles.
0:12:34 > 0:12:42Inside it were 16,000 human bones as well as 725 bird bones,
0:12:42 > 0:12:45many of which were from white-tailed sea eagles.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51The unearthing of another Neolithic tomb on Orkney is enormously significant,
0:12:51 > 0:12:55a once in a generation event.
0:12:55 > 0:13:01Hamish Mowatt made a startling discovery right outside his front door.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04There was a hole the size of my fist, so I get the torch,
0:13:04 > 0:13:06shine in, you could see the rock face.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09Well, at that point you're looking in at something
0:13:09 > 0:13:12that hasn't seen the light of day for thousands of years, I expect.
0:13:12 > 0:13:18The old heart starts to pound a bit then, and you, well, you can't leave it at that point.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22Then when I shined the torch, this eerie white object with two holes,
0:13:22 > 0:13:25was sort of looking back in at me.
0:13:25 > 0:13:30So I sort of sat back and looked again, yes, that's definitely a skull.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33What a remarkable thing to find, just metres away from your house.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37- Well, yes, it's just really is basically ten metres outside the door.- Yeah.
0:13:37 > 0:13:44The discovery by Hamish that this mysterious mound right on his doorstep contained human remains
0:13:44 > 0:13:50gave archaeologists the opportunity to excavate undisturbed chambers inside a Neolithic Tomb.
0:13:50 > 0:13:55And I'm off now to meet the archaeologist who led the excavations.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02Did you have to move in and dig it quickly because it had been opened up to the elements?
0:14:02 > 0:14:06Yeah, as soon as we realised there were human remains in the cell here,
0:14:06 > 0:14:08the whole thing's full of water.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10It became apparent we had to move quickly because
0:14:10 > 0:14:14we weren't sure how the conditions had changed within the tomb.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21Because part of the tomb had been unwittingly damaged by previous building work,
0:14:21 > 0:14:26water was now seeping in, and the team faced a race against time
0:14:26 > 0:14:29to rescue the archaeology hidden inside.
0:14:29 > 0:14:34Dan kept a unique video diary of the unfolding dig.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36Day Two of the excavations at Banks and we haven't had
0:14:36 > 0:14:41the weather on our side today. It's been pretty rainy and we've had gale force winds.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43So we're hoping to carry on tomorrow
0:14:43 > 0:14:47with the idea of removing the top slab of one of the cells,
0:14:47 > 0:14:52with the idea of excavating the human remains that may be in there.
0:14:52 > 0:14:57The team soon realised that this was a sizable tomb, consisting of a central passageway
0:14:57 > 0:15:01with five separate cells, or chambers, leading off it.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04We've been digging our section into the passage here.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08This is the east cell, with very restricted access into here,
0:15:08 > 0:15:14and there's a skull sitting just there in the top, so we're trying to get access to that through here.
0:15:16 > 0:15:21Once the team had removed the layers of mud and clay they were able to access the chambers,
0:15:21 > 0:15:26and the human remains inside them.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28Skull just straight back.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34The team's first impression was that skulls had been placed as a closing
0:15:34 > 0:15:38offering when the tomb was finally sealed.
0:15:38 > 0:15:44It's a captivating glimpse of these people's burial rituals going back some 5,000 years.
0:15:47 > 0:15:52As well as the skulls, there were hundreds of other human bones in the chambers,
0:15:52 > 0:15:55all mixed together in a jumbled mass.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05Excavating them was a slow and delicate process.
0:16:05 > 0:16:10Each precious fragment was catalogued and carefully removed, for further study.
0:16:13 > 0:16:18Can we actually get down and have a look inside the tomb itself?
0:16:22 > 0:16:25- So we can open this chamber? - Yeah, we could have a look in.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28This is pretty similar to how it was when we first looked in here.
0:16:28 > 0:16:34Where the bits of skull were tucked in amongst these stones as a sort of final offering,
0:16:34 > 0:16:38before this doorway was sealed up and the tomb sealed off for good.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41Dan, how amazing to have the opportunity to excavate this,
0:16:41 > 0:16:44where you know it's absolutely pristine.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46Yeah, it's quite an amazing, amazing experience.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49I worked in this cell myself.
0:16:49 > 0:16:55As you remove that bone you're doing that in reverse, and you kind of get the sense of how
0:16:55 > 0:16:59that person put that bone there in the first place - 5,000 years ago.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02The wealth of secrets that we could learn from this is quite incredible.
0:17:05 > 0:17:10The construction work has completely changed the environment of this tomb.
0:17:10 > 0:17:15It's had it's entire roof taken off, so it's now exposed to the elements,
0:17:15 > 0:17:19in a way that for the last 5,000 years it never has been before.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22And this means that the archaeology is under threat.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25The human remains in here, are under threat.
0:17:25 > 0:17:31If the archaeologists don't act fast then there may be very little left to excavate.
0:17:36 > 0:17:43Having recovered the bones the team moved them to their lab in Kirkwall to begin the analysis.
0:17:43 > 0:17:49They would also be able to compare this new discover with the famous Tomb of the Eagles.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52It lies a little over a mile from Banks tomb,
0:17:52 > 0:17:57and has revealed some disturbing truths about Neolithic society.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00Recent research has shown that around a quarter of the skulls
0:18:00 > 0:18:04from the Tomb of the Eagles show clear signs of violence.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10Dan and the team want to answer two key questions.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13What can they can learn about burial rituals from these bones?
0:18:13 > 0:18:20And does comparing Banks Tomb with the Tomb of the Eagles tell us anything new?
0:18:22 > 0:18:26Have you an idea of how many individuals might be represented?
0:18:26 > 0:18:29So far it's about 14. We are looking at quite a number of bones.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33If you imagine there's five cells there you could times that very roughly by five.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37So this could be a communal burial place for a whole community.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40I'm really surprised at how well preserved the bones are.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44There's damage on this one but, you know, still the actual skull is pretty much intact.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47It is, yeah, and that's quite an interesting skull in itself,
0:18:47 > 0:18:50because that was placed as a sort of closing offering
0:18:50 > 0:18:54into the east cell before the passageway was finally sealed off.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58So this would've been one of the last people buried in the tomb.
0:18:58 > 0:19:04I think skulls are amazing cos you are looking at somebody's face, aren't you?
0:19:06 > 0:19:12It's only early days, but the team are starting to build up a picture of these communal burial rituals.
0:19:17 > 0:19:22At this stage, do you have any idea of whether these bones were placed in the grave as bones.
0:19:22 > 0:19:27Were they de-fleshed, or just a jumble of bones, or were whole bodies were placed there?
0:19:27 > 0:19:30Are we looking at bodies being taken in and perhaps,
0:19:30 > 0:19:33maybe put into the central chamber or the passage,
0:19:33 > 0:19:39and being allowed to decompose and then at some point they're moved into various cells at certain times?
0:19:39 > 0:19:42Then they become intermingled by later activity and become
0:19:42 > 0:19:45- this mass of bones, this mass of the ancestors.- Yeah.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50Got any evidence of violence for instance?
0:19:50 > 0:19:55Tomb of the Eagles, as recent research has shown, there is a lot of evidence for this.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00There's less so here at Banks, so far, but we haven't actually got that many cranium fragments.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04That looks like it might've been a little fracture there,
0:20:04 > 0:20:08there's a definite dent in the top of that person's skull,
0:20:08 > 0:20:10but just turn it very carefully...
0:20:10 > 0:20:15Yeah, there's no evidence of it penetrating through to the inner surface of the skull there.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19Do you think the Tomb of the Eagles is an interesting comparison? Is it contemporary?
0:20:19 > 0:20:23I would say they're probably contemporary and we await radiocarbon dates.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27We are certainly looking at communities in that area over several hundreds of years,
0:20:27 > 0:20:31expressing their sort of identity in death through these monuments.
0:20:34 > 0:20:40The preliminary work here has thrown up some fascinating questions.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44Did something occur in this Neolithic society
0:20:44 > 0:20:48that made them abandon one tomb and construct a new one?
0:20:48 > 0:20:52or, were there two rival populations here,
0:20:52 > 0:20:57each with their own competing ancestor culture?
0:20:57 > 0:21:01Dan and his team are in the first year of what promises to be the most
0:21:01 > 0:21:08thorough examination of a British Neolithic tomb ever undertaken.
0:21:08 > 0:21:13We're getting an amazingly detailed picture emerging, of rituals and beliefs
0:21:13 > 0:21:16that seem very alien to us today, very strange.
0:21:16 > 0:21:23Imagine how different it was then, when you would have been laying your dead to rest in a communal tomb,
0:21:23 > 0:21:28and probably pushing aside the bones, even the rotting bodies of more distant ancestors.
0:21:28 > 0:21:33It seems very odd indeed, I think, to us today, and it's a ritual,
0:21:33 > 0:21:39it's a belief system which has disappeared from memory was never recorded in history,
0:21:39 > 0:21:45and the only chance we have of trying to understand it is through archaeological investigation.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51The community buried at Banks Tomb were amongst the first farmers in
0:21:51 > 0:21:57Britain, and they've left permanent evidence of their lives behind.
0:21:57 > 0:22:04But moving back beyond the Neolithic, our ancestors lived a more mobile, nomadic existence,
0:22:04 > 0:22:07during what's known as the Mesolithic.
0:22:07 > 0:22:14Finding evidence of the transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic has proved very elusive.
0:22:14 > 0:22:20But, a community archaeology group in Scotland may have discovered a site which could shed light
0:22:20 > 0:22:22on this gap in our knowledge.
0:22:26 > 0:22:31Over the past 20 years a dedicated group of volunteer archaeologists
0:22:31 > 0:22:34have been excavating sites around the Daer Valley in Scotland.
0:22:34 > 0:22:39They're looking for evidence of a missing link in archaeology.
0:22:39 > 0:22:44The Daer Valley sits in an area of land between the Rivers Clyde and Tweed.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48Hidden in this remote valley are clues about a huge leap
0:22:48 > 0:22:52in our ancestors' technology and lifestyles.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54OK, how we doing? Everybody OK?
0:22:54 > 0:22:57Leading the research is Tam Ward.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01The reason that we're on this site is because the hill has been ploughed up
0:23:01 > 0:23:03for new forest and when that happens
0:23:03 > 0:23:06the plough exposes the archaeological sites for us,
0:23:06 > 0:23:13so all we really need to do is walk up and down the furrows and, literally, find what's lying about.
0:23:15 > 0:23:20Dense scatters of flint are churned up by the forestry ploughs.
0:23:20 > 0:23:25These flints provide clues that archaeology is lurking beneath the peat.
0:23:25 > 0:23:30If we found one of these bags in an entire site, we would think we were lucky,
0:23:30 > 0:23:35and we are finding masses and masses of material in here. It's so exciting.
0:23:35 > 0:23:42Just below the peat is the original ground level, which is covered in evidence of our ancestors' lives.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46The style of tools suggests this is a Mesolithic site,
0:23:46 > 0:23:53and so Tam and his team are the first people to touch these flints in over 6,000 years.
0:23:53 > 0:24:00The volunteers give up their weekends to unearth fragments of their ancient ancestors' lives.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03Been doing this for a number of years now,
0:24:03 > 0:24:07and it sort of becomes a bit of an addiction after a while.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11We'll dig anywhere, anything, any opportunity.
0:24:11 > 0:24:17Well, what always strikes me is this is such an unremarkable valley.
0:24:17 > 0:24:22You would drive past it and never give it a second thought and yet there's 10,000 years of history here,
0:24:22 > 0:24:32that is still waiting for somebody to come along and ruin their knees and their back digging it up.
0:24:32 > 0:24:39Tam and his team have found over 250 archaeological sites in this one valley alone,
0:24:39 > 0:24:44and there could be many more waiting to be explored.
0:24:44 > 0:24:49Today the team has exposed a large area and they work
0:24:49 > 0:24:54inwards from the outer edges, digging down just a few inches.
0:24:54 > 0:25:01The sheer volume of flint suggests this was a camp site, an incredibly rare thing to find.
0:25:01 > 0:25:06You can just imagine ancient people expertly making their tools in their camp,
0:25:06 > 0:25:10or perhaps re-sharpening a trusty weapon before a hunting expedition.
0:25:10 > 0:25:16Tam has been finding typically Mesolithic, styles of tools.
0:25:16 > 0:25:21We have a microlith, this is what they were manufacturing most of the time.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24Microliths were part of a distinctive Mesolithic technology.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28These tiny flint blades were imbedded into the shafts of arrows
0:25:28 > 0:25:31and harpoons to increase their effectiveness.
0:25:31 > 0:25:36They date to an era when people relied on hunting and gathering.
0:25:36 > 0:25:41They hadn't yet begun to farm the land or to husband animals.
0:25:41 > 0:25:46Here in the Daer Valley, Tam and his team think they have made a significant discovery.
0:25:46 > 0:25:53because they've found both Mesolithic and later Neolithic technologies on the same sites.
0:25:53 > 0:26:00We've began to find Neolithic evidence, and this is in the form of this pottery.
0:26:01 > 0:26:06Now this is the earliest pottery to be used anywhere in Europe and these pots were quite large pots
0:26:06 > 0:26:09and these indicate people are settled in the landscape
0:26:09 > 0:26:13as opposed to travelling through it, because these pots do not travel.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16That can only mean one thing, the very first farmers.
0:26:16 > 0:26:23Now the most interesting thing about that is, are these the same people who were former hunter-gathers?
0:26:23 > 0:26:27The use of pottery signifies a radical change
0:26:27 > 0:26:33in people's lifestyle - it goes hand in hand with settlement
0:26:33 > 0:26:37Tam has also found these distinctive smaller Mesolithic
0:26:37 > 0:26:43and larger Neolithic scrapers at the same sites, in the same levels.
0:26:44 > 0:26:50As farming became more important even simple tools like these were changing.
0:26:50 > 0:26:55And beautiful Neolithic arrowheads, like this, begin to replace
0:26:55 > 0:27:01the Mesolithic Microliths, the tools of the hunt were also changing.
0:27:01 > 0:27:06We think this is a transition between the two earliest cultures...
0:27:06 > 0:27:14the Mesolithic and the Neolithic, and if that's correct then that's a really major discovery.
0:27:14 > 0:27:19This valley is yielding clues about a crucial transition in human history -
0:27:19 > 0:27:24it marked the end of a nomadic culture that had been around for millennia,
0:27:24 > 0:27:29and saw the birth of a structured society that we would recognize today.
0:27:32 > 0:27:38But travelling backwards to the beginning of the Mesolithic another site is yielding
0:27:38 > 0:27:44extraordinary evidence of life going back some 11,000 years.
0:27:46 > 0:27:52At the tail end of the Ice Age, Britain was thawing out and the climate was warming up
0:27:52 > 0:27:58and people were beginning to change the way they lived in this newly hospitable landscape.
0:27:58 > 0:28:03They were making the transition from nomadic hunter-gatherers to becoming more settled.
0:28:03 > 0:28:08The most important Mesolithic site in Britain was discovered
0:28:08 > 0:28:14just after the second world war, at Star Carr in North Yorkshire.
0:28:14 > 0:28:20This remarkable site is still re-shaping our view of people at the time.
0:28:20 > 0:28:27Since 2004, York and Manchester universities have been digging there.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31The new excavations have revealed that Star Carr was in fact much
0:28:31 > 0:28:35larger than previously thought, covering at least three acres.
0:28:35 > 0:28:42The site was sealed by peat and left undisturbed for over 10,000 years.
0:28:42 > 0:28:47I've come to the York University to meet a team who have been working on Star Carr, for over a decade
0:28:47 > 0:28:53and to find out why all is not well at Britain's most famous Mesolithic site.
0:28:53 > 0:28:58Over the last 60 years, tens of thousands of artefacts
0:28:58 > 0:29:01have been found at Star Carr.
0:29:01 > 0:29:07And because of the lack of oxygen in the peat, the preservation was remarkable.
0:29:07 > 0:29:12What emerged were not just stone tools, but organic remains.
0:29:12 > 0:29:17Leading the post excavation work is Dr Nicky Milner.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20- These are some of your most recent finds?- That's right.
0:29:20 > 0:29:24It's not just stone, it's not just flint. Well, what's this?
0:29:24 > 0:29:28This is a digging stick, and it's actually made of wood.
0:29:28 > 0:29:32And it looks a bit like a normal branch of a tree but actually
0:29:32 > 0:29:35when you look at it, it has actually been carefully carved.
0:29:35 > 0:29:40And you've got this amazing point at the end which would have been used for digging.
0:29:40 > 0:29:45But it's incredible when you think that it's about 10,000 years old.
0:29:45 > 0:29:47It's fantastic. You can build up a picture
0:29:47 > 0:29:50of how these people survived, what they were doing.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54We've never found anything like this before.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56Somebody was holding this and digging for their food.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00It's amazing to have something like this surviving,
0:30:00 > 0:30:04but this wasn't the only remarkable thing the team discovered.
0:30:06 > 0:30:12The really exciting thing about our recent finds is the structure that was found,
0:30:12 > 0:30:17it had a big hollow in the ground and it had post holes around it
0:30:17 > 0:30:20and this is the earliest kind of structure,
0:30:20 > 0:30:25a bit like a house, I suppose, that we know of in Britain.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29These small holes are a hugely significant discovery,
0:30:29 > 0:30:34it's the earliest evidence that these people weren't just living in temporary camps
0:30:34 > 0:30:41but were settling down and building more permanent structures and not just houses.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44And then as well as that we also have evidence of
0:30:44 > 0:30:50a platform, made out of worked planks, which goes out into lake.
0:30:50 > 0:30:57- So a jetty?- Like a jetty but it goes about 30 meters across the edge of the lake.- Oh, wow!
0:30:57 > 0:31:03Really important cos it's the earliest evidence of carpentry we have in Europe.
0:31:03 > 0:31:07Preserved in the peat for over 10,000 years
0:31:07 > 0:31:14is the first proof of our ancestors working in wood on a massive scale.
0:31:14 > 0:31:20If they're building structures like that they're staying at that place for a while, aren't they?
0:31:20 > 0:31:24It seems to be overturning all our expectations of what people were like at this time.
0:31:24 > 0:31:29I think we have to accept that they were more sophisticated than we thought they were.
0:31:32 > 0:31:37The unique preservation at Star Carr provides an astonishing wealth of
0:31:37 > 0:31:41detail about our ancestors' everyday lives.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44So what about these, these are lovely?
0:31:44 > 0:31:47These are called barbed points and if you look at them carefully
0:31:47 > 0:31:51they've been carved to have these little harpoon-like points.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53What are they made of?
0:31:53 > 0:31:55They're made of red deer antler.
0:31:55 > 0:31:57- There're really beautifully made. - Very delicate.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00Quite evil looking, those little barbs.
0:32:00 > 0:32:06It's so lovely to have a site where organic remains preserved, because you start to see more of the culture
0:32:06 > 0:32:11and more of the technology - you're not just relying on the stone tools, you're seeing wooden tools,
0:32:11 > 0:32:16antler, antler little harpoons, they're lovely.
0:32:16 > 0:32:23The finds that Nicky and the team have recovered from the excavations really help to paint a picture
0:32:23 > 0:32:26of what was happening here over 10,000 years ago.
0:32:28 > 0:32:33There's a whole lost world trapped beneath the peat, and clear evidence of people
0:32:33 > 0:32:39settling in their environment, in way that hasn't been seen before.
0:32:39 > 0:32:44Ben Elliott, one of the team here at York, has been using some of finds
0:32:44 > 0:32:49to discover more about the skills of these Mesolithic people.
0:32:49 > 0:32:53You're not just looking at artefacts which have been dug up, are you?
0:32:53 > 0:32:56No, as part of my kind of own research I've been conducting some experimental
0:32:56 > 0:33:01archaeology and having a go at recreating some of the types of artefacts we find at Star Carr.
0:33:01 > 0:33:02- So can we have a go?- Yes, we can do.
0:33:02 > 0:33:06Yes, the first thing that people are doing at Star Carr
0:33:06 > 0:33:13are making these kind of longways grooves and they use their flint blades to slowly incise...
0:33:13 > 0:33:18And you can see the material starts to come away, especially when it's wet.
0:33:18 > 0:33:20- Oh, yeah, can I have a go? - Yeah, of course you can.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24- Get a feel for just how soft it is. - Hm-hm.
0:33:24 > 0:33:29And they say this is exactly what they would have been doing is it, using flint tools like this?
0:33:31 > 0:33:34I have to say I am getting to the point where I just want a power tool!
0:33:38 > 0:33:44After just a few minutes, I'm really getting a sense of how Ben's research is unlocking the skill
0:33:44 > 0:33:49and artistry represented in the Star Carr tools.
0:33:49 > 0:33:51It is coming off.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54Once you have two parallel grooves defined along the length
0:33:54 > 0:33:57of the antler you then have this kind of strip.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01So what are they doing with these strips once they've removed them?
0:34:01 > 0:34:04They start to carve them using flint tools.
0:34:04 > 0:34:09And this, as you can see, is again it's quite a gradual process, but you can sort of,
0:34:09 > 0:34:12using your flint flakes you can gradually sharpen off
0:34:12 > 0:34:17and create quite a sharp point to the tips so a pretty formidable weapon, really.
0:34:17 > 0:34:21Do you mind if I have a go? Is it all right? Thank you.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23Just want to get an idea of how...
0:34:23 > 0:34:26You have to hold the blade in a certain way. That's the stuff.
0:34:26 > 0:34:28It makes a nice sound.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31Yeah, so doing this experimental archaeology,
0:34:31 > 0:34:35is that helping you to interpret the material you're finding?
0:34:35 > 0:34:37Oh, yeah. Doing these experiments has given me a sense of
0:34:37 > 0:34:40the experience of what life might've been like at the site.
0:34:40 > 0:34:46Nearly 200 of these barbed antler points have been found at Star Carr,
0:34:46 > 0:34:4997% of those found in the whole of Britain.
0:34:49 > 0:34:53Star Carr is one of the most important Stone Age sites in Britain,
0:34:53 > 0:34:57It's given archaeologists an amazing opportunity to try to understand
0:34:57 > 0:34:59what was happening here in the Mesolithic.
0:34:59 > 0:35:04But when they were excavating recently they started to make finds which were worrying,
0:35:04 > 0:35:10not because of the deep past, but because of what might happen at Star Carr in the future.
0:35:12 > 0:35:20Something drastic has happened and it's threatening the very existence of this important site.
0:35:20 > 0:35:24So although things were preserved in the ground for 10,000 years
0:35:24 > 0:35:27over the last 60 years or so it's taken a turn for the worse,
0:35:27 > 0:35:31so this is something that was excavated in 1985.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34And what is it? It's the skull of a large animal?
0:35:34 > 0:35:38- Yeah.- That's the base of the skull that's been completely almost pancaked.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41So, this was excavated about 25 years ago,
0:35:41 > 0:35:43but in the last few years
0:35:43 > 0:35:47we've got some serious problems. These were excavated in 2007.
0:35:47 > 0:35:50So, that's an antler from the original excavations on the site,
0:35:50 > 0:35:53- so when would that have been excavated?- 1950.
0:35:53 > 0:35:561950.
0:35:56 > 0:35:58So 60 years on.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02- It's just like leather.- Oh, my goodness.- It has been conserved. - But it's...
0:36:02 > 0:36:06Isn't that strange. It's like a leathery banana skin.
0:36:06 > 0:36:08And in fact we have very little anther and bone
0:36:08 > 0:36:10compared with the 1950s
0:36:10 > 0:36:13I can show you what those are like - you are going to be quite shocked.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15Um and...
0:36:15 > 0:36:18Oh, my goodness, it's completely soft.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20It's like a piece of rubber.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24That is so strange.
0:36:24 > 0:36:26Another piece here.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28So this is bone...
0:36:28 > 0:36:29- that's almost jelly, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:36:29 > 0:36:33This is bone that's been completely demineralised.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36It was when we found this and did all the tests
0:36:36 > 0:36:39and realized it was extremely acidic, it's basically, it's...
0:36:39 > 0:36:43We've been told by our specialists it's a bit like car battery acid.
0:36:44 > 0:36:50For 10,000 years this Mesolithic world has lain perfectly preserved,
0:36:50 > 0:36:52just waiting to be discovered.
0:36:52 > 0:36:58But now something terrible has happened to the peat, it's no longer preserving the finds.
0:36:58 > 0:37:03It's destroying them. So why is it so acidic? That's worse than it just being a peat bog.
0:37:03 > 0:37:08It's basically because the water table has fallen dramatically,
0:37:08 > 0:37:14that's let oxygen into the deposits, and that's created a chemical reaction and created sulphuric acid.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17So what does the future hold for this site?
0:37:17 > 0:37:20Well, luckily we have got five more years funding from
0:37:20 > 0:37:23the European Research Council so we will be going back.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27I was taken aback to see the state of preservation
0:37:27 > 0:37:31of that bone and antler from the excavations at Star Carr,
0:37:31 > 0:37:35and if that level of deterioration continues at the site
0:37:35 > 0:37:39then much of the precious evidence there will be lost forever.
0:37:39 > 0:37:43So that means it's fantastic news that the archaeologists have secured
0:37:43 > 0:37:47funding to go back and excavate and rescue this archaeology
0:37:47 > 0:37:51from one of Britain's most important Mesolithic sites.
0:37:58 > 0:38:03Stepping back even further in time, whilst Britain was still in the grip
0:38:03 > 0:38:09of the Ice Age, we arrive in the Palaeolithic, or Old Stone Age.
0:38:09 > 0:38:13Around 14,000 years ago, as Britain began to thaw,
0:38:13 > 0:38:19modern humans started to colonise this newly hospitable landscape.
0:38:24 > 0:38:31Our Palaeolithic ancestors left only very subtle traces of their lives behind.
0:38:31 > 0:38:36They didn't live in houses. So what we're trying to spot is evidence of their campsites,
0:38:36 > 0:38:40imagine trying to find a camp that's thousands of years old.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43It takes a keen eye, and a fair bit of detective work!
0:38:43 > 0:38:46At the end of the Ice Age, the expanse of land
0:38:46 > 0:38:51between Britain and France was a vast and rich hunting ground,
0:38:51 > 0:38:54known as the La Manche Plain.
0:38:54 > 0:39:00As the ice melted away and the sea level rose the English Channel swallowed up this land.
0:39:00 > 0:39:04But there are a few areas of this lost landscape still with us,
0:39:04 > 0:39:07and the Channel Island of Jersey is one of them.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13I'm on my way to a site, that's so new,
0:39:13 > 0:39:17that you won't find mention of it in archaeological textbooks or journals.
0:39:17 > 0:39:21It's been called Les Varines after the road that leads there.
0:39:23 > 0:39:27This discovery was made by local man Peter Bohea.
0:39:27 > 0:39:31Peter, you found this site, how on earth did you come across it?
0:39:31 > 0:39:35Well, it was purely an accidental find,
0:39:35 > 0:39:38I was running through this field one evening, fortunately
0:39:38 > 0:39:42the field had just been lifted of its Jersey new potatoes
0:39:42 > 0:39:48and so it was lovely fresh soil, and lying on the surface I just found a flint core.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51Did you know what it was, or did you think that looks prehistoric
0:39:51 > 0:39:54and it looks like a perhaps a stone tool?
0:39:54 > 0:39:58I knew it was prehistoric, I know what a piece of worked flint looks like,
0:39:58 > 0:40:02and I got home and spoke to my wife who is a curator of archaeology,
0:40:02 > 0:40:04she confirmed it was a flint core.
0:40:04 > 0:40:08Very useful to have an archaeologist at home after you find things out ruining!
0:40:08 > 0:40:10Oh, it certainly is.
0:40:10 > 0:40:14Last year, following up on Peter's discovery, a team of archaeologists
0:40:14 > 0:40:17excavated a few small test pits,
0:40:17 > 0:40:23which seemed to indicate this might be an ancient, Palaeolithic, site.
0:40:23 > 0:40:27Many other famous sites from this era have been found in caves,
0:40:27 > 0:40:33but this is an open field, so it is an incredibly rare find.
0:40:33 > 0:40:38These people certainly weren't the caricature cavemen of popular culture.
0:40:40 > 0:40:45Leading the dig here at Les Varines is Dr Chantal Conneller.
0:40:45 > 0:40:52What we've got here is a campsite that dates to about 14,000 years ago, we don't know the scale of it.
0:40:52 > 0:40:56There seems to be huge amounts of material coming out from the plough soil, so it may be
0:40:56 > 0:41:01people who live by hunting and gathering, who moved across quite large areas,
0:41:01 > 0:41:04but camped here in this very spot.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08A Palaeolithic site looks very different from later archaeology,
0:41:08 > 0:41:10where there are walls and features to follow.
0:41:10 > 0:41:17This means Chantal and her students need to meticulously plot every stone tool that they find.
0:41:17 > 0:41:21And the soil here is rock hard, so the going is tough.
0:41:26 > 0:41:31So have you found anything of interest yet, or is this very early stages?
0:41:31 > 0:41:36We've been going for nearly two weeks now, but now we're getting quite dense scatters,
0:41:36 > 0:41:43so all these little flags show a single bit of flint and we're also getting quite a few tools.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46So, there's this little piece of flint here we think is part of
0:41:46 > 0:41:48a scraping tool, probably for working hides,
0:41:48 > 0:41:51but sometimes they're used for working wood as well.
0:41:51 > 0:41:57So we have maybe people gearing up for hunting expeditions or repairing their weapons
0:41:57 > 0:42:05but also other activities going on as well involving the processing of animal remains.
0:42:05 > 0:42:10Last year, I visited a site of a similar age at Creswell Crags.
0:42:10 > 0:42:15Here other Ice Age hunters were making beautiful art.
0:42:18 > 0:42:22It's clear from this site that these people weren't just cavemen,
0:42:22 > 0:42:26perhaps they're better described as tent people.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29They might have used caves for art and ritual,
0:42:29 > 0:42:33but above all, they were nomadic hunters ranging over large areas.
0:42:33 > 0:42:38The tools found at Les Varines are the real treasure of the Stone Age,
0:42:38 > 0:42:43and they're all the archaeologists have to go on.
0:42:43 > 0:42:50From these simple bits of flint, they can build a compelling picture of life here 14,000 years ago.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53- So shall I wash that?- Yes.
0:42:53 > 0:42:56Very technologically advanced washing equipment.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59Hm, that's very nice. What is it.
0:42:59 > 0:43:03This is a little tool called a burin, or an engraver.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06You can see this triangular point here?
0:43:06 > 0:43:09And these were used for working bone and antler.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13So for kind of digging in, for making an incision into those materials?
0:43:13 > 0:43:18Yes, there's little indentations, each of those represent an act of re-sharpening.
0:43:18 > 0:43:20People are obviously using this tool for quite
0:43:20 > 0:43:24a time so they used it, it became blunt and they re-sharpening it.
0:43:24 > 0:43:26- So their taking off little slivers of flint.- Yeah.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29And what's this larger one that you washed?
0:43:29 > 0:43:33This is part of a blade. That edge there is very sharp.
0:43:33 > 0:43:38It would easily have cut through reindeer hide or reindeer skin.
0:43:38 > 0:43:43These stone tools are different from those found at later sites like Star Carr and the Daer Valley.
0:43:43 > 0:43:47This Palaeolithic technology was designed for the specialized hunting
0:43:47 > 0:43:51of migrating animals like reindeer or horse.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57I think when you start understanding how all these tiny
0:43:57 > 0:44:00little bits of stone might have been used, we're looking at
0:44:00 > 0:44:05quite a sophisticated technology, and you start to think these people were very much like us.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07But they have a different world view from us -
0:44:07 > 0:44:10the way they treat their dead at Gough's Cave,
0:44:10 > 0:44:14the way they decorate caves and some of their tools, which obviously have
0:44:14 > 0:44:17great meaning to them, so though in some ways they
0:44:17 > 0:44:20seem like us, in other ways they would have seemed very alien.
0:44:20 > 0:44:24It's amazing to be finding these little traces of them.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26It's very exciting just because it's so old, and it's nice
0:44:26 > 0:44:32to be the first person for 14,000 years to be touching these tools.
0:44:32 > 0:44:37This is an incredibly exciting site because it seems that underneath the plough soil
0:44:37 > 0:44:42we have intact archaeology and the remains of a hunter-gatherer
0:44:42 > 0:44:45camp from the very end of the Ice Age.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48This is such an ephemeral thing to find, something
0:44:48 > 0:44:53that is much more likely to disappear than be preserved.
0:44:53 > 0:44:58So we have the opportunity to gain some precious insights into the world
0:44:58 > 0:45:03of those pioneering hunter-gathers who were re-colonising Northern Europe
0:45:03 > 0:45:05after the ice sheets receded.
0:45:09 > 0:45:14But as well as finding clues about these Ice Age hunters' everyday lives,
0:45:14 > 0:45:19archaeologists have also uncovered evidence that shows these people
0:45:19 > 0:45:20were very different from us.
0:45:20 > 0:45:28Finds from a cave in Cheddar Gorge, are now held in London's Natural History Museum.
0:45:28 > 0:45:33Rescue excavations at Gough's Cave between 1987 and 1992
0:45:33 > 0:45:37revealed evidence of hunter-gatherers using the cave, and human remains.
0:45:37 > 0:45:43Last year, a team of experts from the Natural History Museum re-examined some of those bones.
0:45:43 > 0:45:46What they found was truly gruesome.
0:45:51 > 0:45:5720 years ago clues emerged that seemed to be evidence for cannibalism.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00The new analysis strengthens this theory.
0:46:00 > 0:46:05This jaw bone has been deliberately broken to extract bone marrow
0:46:05 > 0:46:09these people were eating their own kind.
0:46:09 > 0:46:14And a closer inspection of the bones has revealed something new and extraordinary.
0:46:14 > 0:46:18We had the vault of the skull, or three skulls,
0:46:18 > 0:46:22which was absolutely perfectly preserved.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25And there was a sort of... Why they were saving it.
0:46:25 > 0:46:30We have clear proof of cannibalism in this site, so if they were going
0:46:30 > 0:46:35to modify the skull it was probably to extract brain,
0:46:35 > 0:46:38but the way they modified it is not just to extract brain
0:46:38 > 0:46:41because they would have break it in much easier way to extract it.
0:46:41 > 0:46:46But here we observe a very clear process of complete defleshing.
0:46:46 > 0:46:49You can almost imagine somebody peeling off the tissues,
0:46:49 > 0:46:51and then cutting down underneath.
0:46:51 > 0:46:54Exactly. It's a classic example of scalping.
0:46:54 > 0:46:56So peeling like this and cut, cut, cut, cut.
0:46:56 > 0:47:00All across. When we analyzed the face and other parts
0:47:00 > 0:47:05they are clear signs that they were going much more in detail,
0:47:05 > 0:47:09so they were cutting the eyes, they were cutting the cheek,
0:47:09 > 0:47:11they were cutting the lips.
0:47:11 > 0:47:12Why would they want to that?
0:47:12 > 0:47:19We think that was to produce a container and the simple movement
0:47:19 > 0:47:22of an anatomical position to put it upside down
0:47:22 > 0:47:25it just tells you want it was, and it was a cup.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31Even as an anatomist, as someone who has dissected human cadavers,
0:47:31 > 0:47:35I find it extraordinary the lengths they were going to,
0:47:35 > 0:47:41to scrupulously clean up a skull to transform it into a cup.
0:47:41 > 0:47:45And this new research shows us how they were doing it,
0:47:45 > 0:47:48but why is another question entirely.
0:47:48 > 0:47:52Were they driven by hunger, or by their beliefs,
0:47:52 > 0:47:55was this just an elaborate funerary ritual?
0:47:55 > 0:48:01And whom were they eating - their enemies, or their friends and relatives?
0:48:03 > 0:48:06It seems strange to our modern sensibilities that our
0:48:06 > 0:48:10ancient ancestors would make such macabre objects.
0:48:10 > 0:48:14And as is so often the case, archaeology can provide us
0:48:14 > 0:48:17with the evidence, but not with the reasons, why.
0:48:27 > 0:48:32Before we modern humans arrived on these shores, there were other,
0:48:32 > 0:48:36different, humans who roamed the British Isles.
0:48:36 > 0:48:40And there is evidence of their lives here, on the Channel Island of Jersey.
0:48:44 > 0:48:48During colder periods of the Ice Age, the sea levels
0:48:48 > 0:48:52around Britain would have been significantly lower than today.
0:48:52 > 0:48:54The English Channel, and much of the North Sea,
0:48:54 > 0:48:56would have been dry land,
0:48:56 > 0:49:02and the Channel Islands would have stood out as areas of high ground in a flat landscape.
0:49:02 > 0:49:06I'm here to meet a team of archaeologists who are hoping
0:49:06 > 0:49:10to shed light on a much-maligned human species - the Neanderthals.
0:49:10 > 0:49:14Neanderthals survived and thrived in Europe
0:49:14 > 0:49:19for hundreds of thousands of years - through periods of major climate
0:49:19 > 0:49:24change as glaciations repeatedly brought ice sheets down over northern Europe.
0:49:24 > 0:49:30And they were here long before we modern humans arrived on the scene.
0:49:30 > 0:49:36The Neanderthals were a distinct and separate branch of the human evolutionary tree.
0:49:36 > 0:49:41They evolved in Europe some time before 300,000 years ago.
0:49:41 > 0:49:44And before modern humans emerged from Africa,
0:49:44 > 0:49:50the lands north of the Mediterranean were the domain of the Neanderthals.
0:49:50 > 0:49:54I've arranged to meet Dr Matt Pope, of University College London,
0:49:54 > 0:49:56- who is one of the co-directors of the project here.- Hello, Alice.
0:49:56 > 0:50:01- I'm Matt, Matt, nice to meet you. - This is Kevin, our guide.
0:50:01 > 0:50:04So we're going to go and have a look at La Cotte from the sea?
0:50:04 > 0:50:06We've got a beautiful bay,
0:50:06 > 0:50:09and round the corner some archaeology.
0:50:19 > 0:50:23What a fantastic way to do archaeology! I could get used to this.
0:50:23 > 0:50:29La Cotte de St Brelade is of international significance because it's one of the few places
0:50:29 > 0:50:33that Neanderthal remains have been discovered in North West Atlantic Europe.
0:50:33 > 0:50:38This is a fantastic way to view from the sea.
0:50:38 > 0:50:40I mean, most people when they look at La Cotte,
0:50:40 > 0:50:43they're looking at it either from the site or from the headland above.
0:50:43 > 0:50:47We're trying to give a different perspective here, what we're able to do here
0:50:47 > 0:50:52looking at these stacks, the remains of an entire valley system.
0:50:52 > 0:50:56And it's within these valley systems that the Neanderthals were almost certainly hunting
0:50:56 > 0:51:01and moving following herds of mammoth, rhinoceros and other animals.
0:51:05 > 0:51:10We're actually paddling over the top of a submerged Ice Age landscape,
0:51:10 > 0:51:17and the sea is fairly calm today, but just occasionally we get hit by the bow wave of a ferry.
0:51:17 > 0:51:20And then you have to be really careful about being close to reefs
0:51:20 > 0:51:23as white water starts breaking over them.
0:51:23 > 0:51:27Matt is using kayaks to map every part of the Jersey coastline,
0:51:27 > 0:51:31looking for new caves, and with them, new archaeology.
0:51:34 > 0:51:37So La Cotte is really just the beginning?
0:51:37 > 0:51:41I don't think we'll equal the size and the importance of La Cotte,
0:51:41 > 0:51:45but what we can start to do is fill in the gaps, and try and create
0:51:45 > 0:51:49an entire history of occupation and periods of abandonment,
0:51:49 > 0:51:52this side of the English Channel river for the past half million years.
0:52:03 > 0:52:09Travelling round the coast by kayak is a fantastic way to survey it, you can get really close.
0:52:09 > 0:52:15And it's great to go along with Matt and see that he's not just looking at the modern landscape
0:52:15 > 0:52:19of today but imagining in his mind's eye the ancient coastline.
0:52:19 > 0:52:24La Cotte is such a famous site, but there maybe other important archaeological sites
0:52:24 > 0:52:30as yet undiscovered around this coast, but for now I want to get over there and see it up close.
0:52:32 > 0:52:38La Cotte has provided us with a wealth of information about the lives of Neanderthals.
0:52:41 > 0:52:47Archaeologists have been digging here for over 100 years.
0:52:47 > 0:52:52And in the 1960s, Prince Charles even took part in the excavations.
0:52:57 > 0:53:02Matt and his team suspected that La Cotte might have more to reveal,
0:53:02 > 0:53:08so this year they're trying to establish if there's any untouched archaeology here.
0:53:08 > 0:53:14They're clearing away backfill debris from previous excavations to expose the original sediments.
0:53:16 > 0:53:20Because of the tides, they can only work here for a few hours at a time.
0:53:20 > 0:53:24It's a dangerous environment, hence the hard hats.
0:53:24 > 0:53:28- Hello! What an amazing site! - Yeah, it's great.
0:53:28 > 0:53:32Now how much of this is original archaeology,
0:53:32 > 0:53:35and how much of it is the back fill from previous excavations?
0:53:35 > 0:53:37Well, when we first came here,
0:53:37 > 0:53:43we were under the impression that most of this was material left over from previous excavations.
0:53:43 > 0:53:47The picture that we're starting to build up, and from Martin Bate's excavations here,
0:53:47 > 0:53:53is in fact large parts of this site remain unexcavated and intact.
0:53:53 > 0:53:57It's really exciting that there is pristine archaeology here.
0:53:57 > 0:54:01This means the team can start to plan future excavations
0:54:01 > 0:54:06and perhaps learn more about what the Neanderthals were doing here over a huge length of time.
0:54:06 > 0:54:12And few tantalising fragments have even been emerging from the exploratory dig.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15So, Becky, these are some of the finds which have been coming out today?
0:54:15 > 0:54:20Yeah, there's a couple of bits Bully's just pulled out.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23- Is that flint? - Is it, they're both flint.
0:54:23 > 0:54:27They're quite heavily damaged around these edges, here.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30Oh, that's not something somebody's done to them?
0:54:30 > 0:54:36No, if it was freshly struck you'd expect to see a sharp feather edge.
0:54:36 > 0:54:41It must have been exciting to realise that you have got in situ pristine archaeology here?
0:54:41 > 0:54:45Fantastic, especially when we had no idea that there was this much here.
0:54:45 > 0:54:51There's never a time you walk up here where it doesn't strike you - it's always exciting.
0:54:53 > 0:54:59This site is so iconic and famous, but I think in some ways that distracts from its real importance,
0:54:59 > 0:55:06which is that the Neanderthals were coming back here to this cave over tens of thousands of year.
0:55:06 > 0:55:10It holds out the promise of really understanding how
0:55:10 > 0:55:15Neanderthals adapted to this changing climate in Europe during the Ice Age.
0:55:15 > 0:55:20But back to the present and the tide is rising really rapidly
0:55:20 > 0:55:23so if we don't get out of here we're going to get stuck.
0:55:25 > 0:55:30Over 250,000 individual stone tools have been found at La Cotte -
0:55:30 > 0:55:34more than all the other Neanderthal sites in Britain combined.
0:55:34 > 0:55:39Becky and Matt have arranged for some of the best to be brought down to the beach.
0:55:39 > 0:55:44They can demonstrate just how sophisticated the Neanderthals really were.
0:55:44 > 0:55:50You've got artefacts here from a very long period of time, what do they tell us about the Neanderthals?
0:55:50 > 0:55:53What's interesting about this collection as a whole
0:55:53 > 0:55:59is there's a lot of flint in it, which these artefacts are here, and there's no flint on the island.
0:55:59 > 0:56:03The nearest source is of flint is perhaps 20 kilometres away.
0:56:03 > 0:56:07They're probably following animals here in a place where
0:56:07 > 0:56:10there's not brilliant stone for making tools,
0:56:10 > 0:56:12so they're bringing that in from elsewhere.
0:56:12 > 0:56:17There is flint around here in the beaches but it's useless.
0:56:17 > 0:56:19They know where the good raw material sources are.
0:56:19 > 0:56:23The Neanderthals certainly weren't primitive brutes.
0:56:23 > 0:56:26These tools show real sophistication and intelligence.
0:56:26 > 0:56:28This one is particularly beautiful.
0:56:28 > 0:56:33Yeah, this part of a much bigger piece, but I don't recognise
0:56:33 > 0:56:36the raw material at all so this is something very exotic.
0:56:36 > 0:56:40I mean, that's beautiful, it's been really carefully manufactured.
0:56:40 > 0:56:45What's also interesting is that it comes from the very early excavations that took place
0:56:45 > 0:56:46in the upper part of the cave,
0:56:46 > 0:56:50and these may have been some of the last Neanderthals here.
0:56:50 > 0:56:55That suggests somebody who is good at making something functional, and they've got an eye for beauty.
0:56:55 > 0:57:00It doesn't look like a technology of people on the edge - we need to focus on that.
0:57:00 > 0:57:05Neanderthals, if they, compared to humans, lacked the ability to make tools,
0:57:05 > 0:57:11lacked the ability to think, they would have been extinct before they'd even started.
0:57:11 > 0:57:17Nature just doesn't allow a creature that isn't perfectly fitted to its environment to thrive and exist.
0:57:17 > 0:57:22My 100,000-year long journey ends here, with these surprising truths
0:57:22 > 0:57:27about the sophistication, and achievements, of the Neanderthals.
0:57:27 > 0:57:33Along the way, I've seen so much fresh evidence of ingenuity and invention.
0:57:33 > 0:57:36From the epic building of Stonehenge
0:57:36 > 0:57:39to the first wooden structures found in Europe.
0:57:39 > 0:57:43I've also seen exciting new discoveries being made.
0:57:43 > 0:57:48And tiny clues uncovered that are all adding to the complex jigsaw
0:57:48 > 0:57:51puzzle that is ancient Britain.
0:57:51 > 0:57:56In many ways the Stone Age seems unimaginably distant to us
0:57:56 > 0:58:00and the voices of our ancient ancestors have long since faded into silence.
0:58:00 > 0:58:04But archaeology helps us to piece their stories together -
0:58:04 > 0:58:09revealing how they lived, how they viewed their world.
0:58:09 > 0:58:13And showing us how the foundations of our modern society emerged.
0:58:13 > 0:58:18And so with many questions still unanswered,
0:58:18 > 0:58:20the digging continues.
0:58:20 > 0:58:23You can get hands on with archaeology yourself
0:58:23 > 0:58:26with BBC Hands on History.
0:58:26 > 0:58:29Find events near you and download family activities
0:58:29 > 0:58:31to try at home on the website.