0:00:03 > 0:00:06Hello, and welcome to Digging For Britain
0:00:06 > 0:00:09the programme which brings you this year's
0:00:09 > 0:00:12most exciting new archaeology.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15In this show, we'll be looking at highlights from all the digs.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18We'll get some in-depth analysis
0:00:18 > 0:00:20and we'll be looking at treasures from the past.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22CHEERING
0:00:22 > 0:00:25Once again, over the last year, archaeologists
0:00:25 > 0:00:30have been unearthing our history in hundreds of digs across Britain.
0:00:30 > 0:00:31Go on!
0:00:31 > 0:00:33It's a tooth.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35They've gone to extraordinary lengths
0:00:35 > 0:00:37to uncover secrets from the past.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44Retelling our story in a way that only archaeology can.
0:00:44 > 0:00:49- It's in perfect, mint condition. - Yeah, amazing. Well done.- Whoo!
0:00:49 > 0:00:52And our archaeologists have been out filming themselves
0:00:52 > 0:00:55so we have been there for every single moment of discovery.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58And then we're coming back here, to Norwich Museum,
0:00:58 > 0:01:02and seeing if we can really make sense of the new discoveries.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04In this series, we'll be touring the country
0:01:04 > 0:01:07and tonight we're in the South East.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11First, we hear about incredible finds
0:01:11 > 0:01:14at a Bronze-Age Pompeii in The Fens.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19We unearth an amazing hoard hidden in desperation
0:01:19 > 0:01:22as Queen Boudica's Tribe hunted down the Romans.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29And we discover weird burial rituals revealing
0:01:29 > 0:01:32the secrets of Anglo-Saxon motherhood and childbirth.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51Norwich Castle Museum, originally a Norman fortress,
0:01:51 > 0:01:55is now home to the archaeological riches of the Southeast.
0:01:58 > 0:02:03Norfolk is the treasure capital of England and each year 20,000
0:02:03 > 0:02:07finds are reported to the museum. More than in any other county.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17Finds like the Happisburgh Axe.
0:02:17 > 0:02:21Dating to half a million years ago, it comes from what's
0:02:21 > 0:02:24become one of the most important prehistoric sites in Britain.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29And the Snettisham Hoard.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37The richest Iron-Age treasure ever found in this country.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50Our first story takes us 70 miles away from Norwich,
0:02:50 > 0:02:52right into the heart of The Fenlands.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56Must Farm in Cambridgeshire is being called
0:02:56 > 0:03:00the Pompeii of the Bronze Age. Preserved in the wetlands
0:03:00 > 0:03:03of The Fens, this site is giving us an unparalleled
0:03:03 > 0:03:08glimpse of prehistoric life, going back over 3,000 years.
0:03:09 > 0:03:14In the past, archaeologists have uncovered ancient causeways
0:03:14 > 0:03:16running through the Fenland basin,
0:03:16 > 0:03:18making them think that Bronze-Age people
0:03:18 > 0:03:20saw this watery landscape
0:03:20 > 0:03:24as a sacred place, only visiting it on special occasions.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30But now, on the edge of a quarry,
0:03:30 > 0:03:34they're finding evidence of industrialised fishing
0:03:34 > 0:03:39opening up a whole new perception of life in The Fens.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43It's something never seen before and, more importantly,
0:03:43 > 0:03:46they believe it could stretch for miles.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50This is archaeology on a massive scale.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58Mark Knight from the Cambridge Archaeological Unit
0:03:58 > 0:04:02has been analysing some of the most recent finds from
0:04:02 > 0:04:04a lost side channel of the River Nene.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10Often we dig sites of the sort of Bronze Age in this region
0:04:10 > 0:04:14and we find one vertebrae and we say that that's evidence
0:04:14 > 0:04:17for fish in the diet or we say that maybe it's a chance find.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20But we're just finding lots and lots of fish
0:04:20 > 0:04:24and we're finding things like pike and perch and carp and smelt.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26And then when we went to excavate the channel properly,
0:04:26 > 0:04:30we then found about 20 really beautifully preserved
0:04:30 > 0:04:33sort of sock-shaped baskets that are definitely fish traps.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38But alongside those, we're finding these sort of chevron-shaped
0:04:38 > 0:04:41wattle fences, forming these weirs across the length of the channel,
0:04:41 > 0:04:44regularly spaced along the entire area of the channel
0:04:44 > 0:04:48that we excavated and there's a real sense here of an industry.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52Perhaps something sort of ad hoc and stuff.
0:04:52 > 0:04:53Remember, we've dug 300 metres
0:04:53 > 0:04:56and we're looking for a channel that we can trace for at least 10km.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00If it's typical then, you know, we're talking about hundreds of weirs
0:05:00 > 0:05:04and thousands of fish traps being set within its course.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06Mark, what an extraordinary site.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10I mean, the preservation there is beautiful.
0:05:10 > 0:05:11It's stunning, yes.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14It's one of those sites where you don't have to do a lot of describing
0:05:14 > 0:05:17to visitors, they can see for themselves just what's there.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19And it seems that fishing was going on
0:05:19 > 0:05:21on an almost industrial scale, then?
0:05:21 > 0:05:22It's a surprise, I suppose,
0:05:22 > 0:05:26because we don't normally find fish bones.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29So there we are, finding weirs and traps everywhere.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32So we know where these people were working, there must have been
0:05:32 > 0:05:35tens, hundreds of people, possibly, working in this industry.
0:05:35 > 0:05:36So where did they all live?
0:05:36 > 0:05:39Really good question. It's my opinion that, basically,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42they're living in the Fens, they're living on the peat,
0:05:42 > 0:05:44they're living on the rivers and we've got good evidence of that.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48And the sense that it corresponds to a phase within the dry land sites
0:05:48 > 0:05:50where there is no settlement.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53So it's as if they are colonising the wet, basically.
0:05:53 > 0:05:58And the traps and the weirs are part of that new landscape.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01I think we've got some more from this incredible site.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06As the team continue their excavations
0:06:06 > 0:06:10in the side channel of the Nene, they started to find metalwork.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14So we dig 300 metres of channel
0:06:14 > 0:06:19and we come up with a whole host of swords, spears and metal objects.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23Finds like these are rare,
0:06:23 > 0:06:26but some have been found on other Bronze-Age sites
0:06:26 > 0:06:31leading to theories that they were ritual offerings for watery deities.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37But Mark believes the weapons recovered at Must Farm
0:06:37 > 0:06:39had a more practical use.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43The sheer quantity of swords and spears.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46The sort of sense that this is a landscape
0:06:46 > 0:06:48that appears to be newly colonised.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50We're starting to think that maybe the metalwork being
0:06:50 > 0:06:54found in the wet places was actually an indication of just
0:06:54 > 0:06:57the scale of occupation of the wet spaces themselves.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59So they were living on the rivers
0:06:59 > 0:07:01or they were living on the marshlands themselves.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06Some of these swords also have nicks on the sides of the blades.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10Signs of violence.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15Swords like this were used to sort of slash things
0:07:15 > 0:07:19and the idea was that, if you were hitting someone,
0:07:19 > 0:07:21you'd get sort of marks on here,
0:07:21 > 0:07:24but if you were defending, then you'd get marks on here.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26And we've found swords with those consistent
0:07:26 > 0:07:28signatures of conflict, I suppose, of them
0:07:28 > 0:07:32being used in anger rather than just being sort of symbolic objects.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36You arrived being prepared to protect yourself, at the very least.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39Or maybe even upset people that were already in that landscape.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47So, Mark, you think these really were weapons?
0:07:47 > 0:07:48They're not just symbols.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51I just find it impossible to think that all those swords
0:07:51 > 0:07:54and all those spears were just purely there for show, basically.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57So, it seems like quite an idyllic environment,
0:07:57 > 0:08:00- but perhaps not as idyllic as all that.- Yeah.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03I suppose like any landscape that we occupy as human beings,
0:08:03 > 0:08:07there is this sort of tendency to want to hang on to what you've got.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10You get a real sense within Fenland that there is a territory,
0:08:10 > 0:08:13the idea that this is our place.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17So do you think this really was Bronze-Age prime real estate, then?
0:08:17 > 0:08:20I get the feeling that basically this is the place to be
0:08:20 > 0:08:23and essentially the sort of switch had come from Stonehenge
0:08:23 > 0:08:26over to the main rivers of eastern England.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29Right, we've got some more from your amazing site.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38The River Nene is an extensive wetland which was first
0:08:38 > 0:08:42created 4,000 years ago when sea levels rose.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50But the people of Bronze-Age Britain took this climate change
0:08:50 > 0:08:53in their stride. In fact, they flourished here.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59Evidence of this resourcefulness is backed up
0:08:59 > 0:09:01by a significant discovery.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04Not one, not two,
0:09:04 > 0:09:06but eight log boats.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12And unusually, virtually intact.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22The boats have been moved to Flag Fen and are now being
0:09:22 > 0:09:27conserved using the same methods that helped save the Mary Rose.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34There's a real sense here that we're seeing the vessels of transport,
0:09:34 > 0:09:36of movement, maybe of fishing.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38But also of about the actual occupation
0:09:38 > 0:09:40and the settlement of Deep Fen.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43The first time we actually step off dry land and get into
0:09:43 > 0:09:47the deep sediment, we find eight log boats in 300 metres of channel.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51So, either we've found the one spot in the whole of Fenland or this
0:09:51 > 0:09:54is representative of the rest of that landscape and if it is representative
0:09:54 > 0:09:58of the rest of the landscape then the scale is astonishing.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01In the sense that there are thousands of these boats
0:10:01 > 0:10:04up and down those channels and river courses.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08And they represent that sense of mass settlement of that wetland.
0:10:11 > 0:10:15We often think that climate change always has a negative impact
0:10:15 > 0:10:16and that the wetlands would have been
0:10:16 > 0:10:19an inhospitable environment for humans.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21But Mark has other ideas.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23What we're suggesting, from our evidence,
0:10:23 > 0:10:25was that it was the opposite of that.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28It was no longer an impediment to settlement
0:10:28 > 0:10:31and nor was it something that made you retreat, it was actually
0:10:31 > 0:10:34a landscape that you were quite keen to inhabit.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38And the people had the imagination to find ways of getting into that space.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41And they maintained that link to the channel as well.
0:10:41 > 0:10:42As in the English Channel
0:10:42 > 0:10:46and the continent and I think that's really important.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48It's just extraordinary.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51I mean, those are quite big boats that you're finding there.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53Yeah, one's nine metres in length, so...
0:10:53 > 0:10:55Why do you think they're at the bottom of the river?
0:10:55 > 0:10:58Is it anything to do with the swords and the other depositions?
0:10:58 > 0:11:01You've got to remember there's 1,500 years of history
0:11:01 > 0:11:04in that channel so... And there are boats throughout the sediment so
0:11:04 > 0:11:07it's not necessarily the same story for each of the boats,
0:11:07 > 0:11:08but some of the boats are pristine
0:11:08 > 0:11:11and they seem to have a connection with the weaponry.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13And it's quite often in the Fens that you find
0:11:13 > 0:11:15boats close to swords or spears.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17So there seems to be a connection there.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21And at the same time, there are fragments of human skeletons
0:11:21 > 0:11:23within the channel, as well.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25So, if we wanted, we could form a triangle here
0:11:25 > 0:11:28of swords, boats and bodies.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31And we can start maybe thinking about an association with
0:11:31 > 0:11:33maybe burial, or something like that.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36This is fascinating, because when I think about
0:11:36 > 0:11:37Bronze-Age burials, I think about
0:11:37 > 0:11:39cist burials, stone-lined, crouched burials.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43I don't think of people having burials in water.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47Yeah, but I think... Remember this is the later Bronze Age
0:11:47 > 0:11:50and if we try and find the burial record for that period, we can't.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54It's conspicuous by its absence and I like that idea that...
0:11:54 > 0:11:55We're not the first people to suggest
0:11:55 > 0:11:58that people were being buried in rivers.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00The Thames is famous for its Bronze-Age skulls
0:12:00 > 0:12:03and things like that and the association with swords and things.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06Maybe some of those boats, their pristineness,
0:12:06 > 0:12:09is the fact that they had a body attached to a sword
0:12:09 > 0:12:12in its scabbard and things and it was sunk in that river and things.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16So these are the possibilities that we're coming across.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19So you're pushing archaeological boundaries?
0:12:19 > 0:12:21Yeah, I think so, I think so.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24You feel like we're on a slope to the bottom of the North Sea
0:12:24 > 0:12:26and on the way down there, we're going to explore
0:12:26 > 0:12:28the whole of the British prehistory
0:12:28 > 0:12:30and I think that's the excitement about it.
0:12:31 > 0:12:36Must Farm, with its amazing wealth of finds, is the perfect
0:12:36 > 0:12:40example of how new archaeological discoveries can completely
0:12:40 > 0:12:42change our ideas about the past.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49And while Bronze-Age people rose to the challenge of The Fenlands,
0:12:49 > 0:12:52creating a highly productive fishing industry,
0:12:52 > 0:12:56it seems that they were also respecting the watery landscape
0:12:56 > 0:12:59with ritual offerings of swords to the gods.
0:13:03 > 0:13:07Like this stunning Bronze-Age dirk, or long dagger
0:13:07 > 0:13:08back here in the museum.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15So, Tim, what have you brought in for us today?
0:13:15 > 0:13:18What I really want to show you is something that the museum has
0:13:18 > 0:13:22just acquired and is an absolute star object
0:13:22 > 0:13:25for showing you something like ritual from the Middle Bronze Age.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29Wow, incredible. It's huge. And that's the blade along there, is it?
0:13:29 > 0:13:33It is. It's the blade edge, but one that's never been sharpened, so it's
0:13:33 > 0:13:38deliberately made, but not with the intention of ever using as a weapon.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40And the same goes for the hilt here,
0:13:40 > 0:13:44- it's never actually been hafted on.- Why's it so large?
0:13:44 > 0:13:46Well, it is because it's purely for ceremony.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50We don't quite understand why, but it's one of only six in Europe.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53There are two from England, two from France
0:13:53 > 0:13:55and two from Holland that are now known.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58Something that suggests there's a North-Sea trade link, perhaps.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01So it's real proof that in the Bronze Age there really was
0:14:01 > 0:14:04- a proper, organised trade network across Europe?- Absolutely.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07The interesting thing about this is in being
0:14:07 > 0:14:10the second from England, both of them are from Norfolk.
0:14:10 > 0:14:14I mean, it looks like a very sturdy object. How come it's been bent?
0:14:14 > 0:14:16Well, we often find with Bronze-Age weapons
0:14:16 > 0:14:19that they seem to be bent or deliberately destroyed
0:14:19 > 0:14:21before they're placed in the ground
0:14:21 > 0:14:25and that seems to be part of the ritual killing of the object itself.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27So, again, it's putting it out of commission
0:14:27 > 0:14:30and again it's part of presumably the ritual involved
0:14:30 > 0:14:34in why you have them in the first place.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51For thousands of years, the East coast has been
0:14:51 > 0:14:54the entry point for successive waves of invaders.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05And just 50 miles from our museum,
0:15:05 > 0:15:09Colchester was once the beating heart of Roman Britain
0:15:09 > 0:15:12until an uprising led by a British warrior queen.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22In various eras, Boudica has been described by historians
0:15:22 > 0:15:25as a blood-thirsty savage, a freedom fighter
0:15:25 > 0:15:31and even a feminist icon. But it's archaeology that's revealed
0:15:31 > 0:15:34the harsh realities of the Boudican revolt.
0:15:36 > 0:15:41In AD 61, Colchester was the first town to feel the full wrath
0:15:41 > 0:15:44of the Queen and her Iceni tribe.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50Archaeologists digging behind a Fenwick store in the town centre
0:15:50 > 0:15:54are unearthing a story of one Roman woman whose house was
0:15:54 > 0:15:56burned down in the fighting.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01It's quite amazing when you stand at the excavation
0:16:01 > 0:16:03and you can almost feel you're standing on the burnt out
0:16:03 > 0:16:07remains of her house, because the floors are all
0:16:07 > 0:16:11scorched red and black and the walls are all reddened.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14Big lumps of clay, block wall lying on the floors.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21The team are trying to trace the last moments of this house
0:16:21 > 0:16:23and its owner.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27Back at the Colchester Archaeological Trust,
0:16:27 > 0:16:30project officer Adam Wightman has taken up the trail.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35This is the remains of charred foodstuffs.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38We found one or two wooden planks which either came from some
0:16:38 > 0:16:39shelves or a table.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42And spread over the top of those were foodstuffs
0:16:42 > 0:16:46that have been preserved as they've been carbonised.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50Here we have... These are burnt figs,
0:16:50 > 0:16:53you can see all the little seeds in those. These are burnt dates.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58And this selection here has been hand-picked out of this soil
0:16:58 > 0:17:02sample and these are a selection of peas and small wheat grains
0:17:02 > 0:17:07and possibly some various other sorts of legumes.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11Were these blackened foodstuffs the interrupted last meal
0:17:11 > 0:17:13prepared by the lady of the house?
0:17:15 > 0:17:17It's very touching to see it lying there, scattered,
0:17:17 > 0:17:19blackened on the floor.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23And just outside the incinerated home,
0:17:23 > 0:17:26what appears to be evidence of a violent death.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31These were discovered actually on the edge of a Roman street.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34These two bones appear to exhibit injuries.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38This mandible here is missing a slice of bone, there.
0:17:39 > 0:17:44And this tibia is also missing a piece, there.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48The cuts appear to be quite clean.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51They look like they've been done by a sharp blade.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54More comparable to a butchery mark on an animal bone
0:17:54 > 0:17:55rather than, you know,
0:17:55 > 0:17:59the mark of a shovel or a spade from the clearance of the building.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03So the chances are, these bones tell us even more of a gruesome
0:18:03 > 0:18:05tale than just having been spread on the side of the road.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14Behind all this violence was Boudica.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17Originally, she was an ally of the Roman invaders,
0:18:17 > 0:18:22but they annexed her lands, flogged her and raped her daughters.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26In 61 AD, a revolt swept across the East.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32The Romans who weren't murdered fled for their lives.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37The team believes that this house
0:18:37 > 0:18:39was right in the path of the rebels
0:18:39 > 0:18:43and that the woman who lived here hid something before she left.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48What we found in this excavation was an extraordinary
0:18:48 > 0:18:51discovery of this desperation act.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56This well-off lady had taken all her precious jewellery
0:18:56 > 0:18:58and buried it in this tiny little hole,
0:18:58 > 0:19:02just big enough for her to stuff it all in and cover it.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04In the hope, I suppose, that she was going to be able to go back
0:19:04 > 0:19:07and recover it after the big emergency was over.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09But, of course, that never happened.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19Carefully unpicked in the lab, the jewellery,
0:19:19 > 0:19:23now known as the Fenwick hoard, had lain hidden from the Iceni
0:19:23 > 0:19:26and for almost 2,000 years after that.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31Earrings...
0:19:31 > 0:19:33Armlets...
0:19:34 > 0:19:36Chains...
0:19:38 > 0:19:40And rings.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44One woman's treasures.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48A poignant memento.
0:19:50 > 0:19:55But history suggests a grim fate for the owner of this hoard.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00Dio Cassius is the one that tells us
0:20:00 > 0:20:04what happened in Colchester to the women.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08"The noblest," for which we can read "the richest,"
0:20:08 > 0:20:09and that would be this lady, surely,
0:20:09 > 0:20:12were rounded up and taken to sacred groves.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15Groves which were dedicated to the British goddess of victory
0:20:15 > 0:20:18and there they were horribly sacrificed.
0:20:46 > 0:20:51Tim, that sounds horrendous, but this could just be Roman propaganda.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55But the archaeology is telling us something unequivocal.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58That there was a revolt here.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00The archaeology is certainly telling us that there's
0:21:00 > 0:21:03a destruction layer that occurred at exactly the time that it's
0:21:03 > 0:21:05documented the revolt took place.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09So it's not unreasonable to assume that that destruction layer
0:21:09 > 0:21:12is associated with the documented historical revolt, that's right.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14Why have you brought these particular artefacts?
0:21:14 > 0:21:16Well, this is exactly the reason.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18If we look at these, they're two very interesting artefacts.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21One of which is from the Castle Museum
0:21:21 > 0:21:25and it's a fragment of a horse statue. And the head, here,
0:21:25 > 0:21:28is on loan to us from Colchester and Ipswich Museums
0:21:28 > 0:21:31and it's actually a copy of a head, the original of which
0:21:31 > 0:21:33is now in the British Museum.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37And it's the head of Claudius, the Emperor who undertook the invasion of
0:21:37 > 0:21:41Britain and they seem to be from the same statue of the Emperor Claudius.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44- An equestrian statue.- Were they found in the same place?- They weren't.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46The head was found in the River Alde,
0:21:46 > 0:21:51- Rendham in Suffolk in 1907 by a boy splashing around in the river.- Right.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53And the part of the horse was found by
0:21:53 > 0:21:57a metal detectorist in Norfolk in 1979. So 37 miles apart.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00So how can you tell they're from the same statue, then?
0:22:00 > 0:22:03That's a good question. We can't be absolutely sure, but metal
0:22:03 > 0:22:06analysis shows that there's a very low lead content in both
0:22:06 > 0:22:09of the bronzes and it suggests that they are one and the same.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11It should also be added that there are no
0:22:11 > 0:22:13other fragments of statue like this in East Anglia.
0:22:13 > 0:22:15So they're a rare bird to start with.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18Do you think this statue had been deliberately destroyed?
0:22:18 > 0:22:21- Smashed up after the Boudican revolt?- Almost certainly.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23The head has been wrenched off
0:22:23 > 0:22:26and the leg also seems to have been torn up.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29And I think it's interesting that they haven't been melted down and reused.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32They've actually been deposited and with the head in the river
0:22:32 > 0:22:37it could easily be something like a sacrificial offering to a river.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40What happened after the revolt?
0:22:40 > 0:22:42Well, unfortunately it doesn't have a very happy
0:22:42 > 0:22:44ending for the Icenian people.
0:22:44 > 0:22:49Because after burning Colchester and going on to London and Verulamium,
0:22:49 > 0:22:53they're defeated in the West Midlands and Roman rule is imposed.
0:22:53 > 0:22:58In particular it's probably imposed very severely in East Anglia
0:22:58 > 0:23:01which were considered very dangerous and rebellious areas.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12From the story of treasure hidden by one desperate woman
0:23:12 > 0:23:15swept up in a bloody revolt,
0:23:15 > 0:23:18we move to a dig in Oakington that gives us
0:23:18 > 0:23:24amazing insight into the place of women in Anglo-Saxon society.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27Even today, childbirth can be a risky and worrying time
0:23:27 > 0:23:31but it was far riskier for our ancestors.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35A team from the University Of Central Lancashire
0:23:35 > 0:23:38has spent the last five years investigating life and death
0:23:38 > 0:23:41in an Anglo-Saxon community.
0:23:41 > 0:23:46They returned this year and made some truly remarkable discoveries.
0:23:46 > 0:23:47Here's their dig diary.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52So we are in Oakington
0:23:52 > 0:23:54and this is the 2014 excavation,
0:23:54 > 0:23:56this is our main trench.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01We have a significant early Anglo-Saxon cemetery which
0:24:01 > 0:24:03includes 124 graves.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08They date to pretty much the sixth century AD.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11But what's unusual about this cemetery
0:24:11 > 0:24:14is the number of infant burials.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17We appear to have little clusters of infants' graves
0:24:17 > 0:24:21around the edges of the site and we found something
0:24:21 > 0:24:25earlier on this week that I think demonstrates that very nicely.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29These are fragments of an infant's...
0:24:30 > 0:24:33legs and skull.
0:24:35 > 0:24:41Out of our population of 124 individuals, about 30% are infants.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44This is extraordinarily high so it's really interesting to have that.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46And we had to start questioning why.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56What's also unusual about this site is that the team has been
0:24:56 > 0:25:01finding a large number of high-status female burials.
0:25:02 > 0:25:07In this space, here in 2011, we excavated grave 57.
0:25:09 > 0:25:14This is an adult woman and one of the first ones that we found that year.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18She was a wealthy burial, buried with a large cruciform brooch at her neck,
0:25:18 > 0:25:24two smaller ones at her shoulders and a full set of beads and purse.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28What was really interesting about her is that in her pelvic area
0:25:28 > 0:25:32we found a whole series of very, very small bones.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35It turns out that these were an infant.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37She was pregnant when she was buried.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39And this is probably the cause of death.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47A really tragic story, but a very interesting piece of the puzzle.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50A surprising find.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54But this was only the tip of the iceberg for Duncan and his team.
0:25:55 > 0:26:01In 2012, we had a large trench just where I'm standing now.
0:26:01 > 0:26:07And excavating just here, we found a woman buried with a complete cow.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13Now, that's a completely unique find.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16We haven't found anything like that in the whole of north-western Europe
0:26:16 > 0:26:19for the sixth century AD.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22It's really interesting, because the cow
0:26:22 > 0:26:27has cut marks across its lower feet which suggests that it was skinned.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30It also had no tail bones at all.
0:26:30 > 0:26:35So this is not a romantic bovine burial with a furry, cosy
0:26:35 > 0:26:38animal in there - a pet. But rather it's a sacrificial offering.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41A meat gift placed in the grave
0:26:41 > 0:26:45so that she could host parties in the next world.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54Wow, what an incredible find. What did you make of that, Duncan?
0:26:54 > 0:26:56Oh, it was incredible. We didn't expect it at all.
0:26:56 > 0:27:01We got very excited, because you don't find large animals with women.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03I don't know of another example in England, I don't
0:27:03 > 0:27:07know of another example from the early Middle Ages in Europe at all.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09So it's unique at this point.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12So how does that burial there fit in with all the other
0:27:12 > 0:27:14female burials that you have in the cemetery?
0:27:14 > 0:27:16OK, so that one is mid-sixth century
0:27:16 > 0:27:18and it's probably got a little mound over the top of it.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21A whole load of burials all the way around it.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23And it becomes a central focus point.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26And we have a number of other similar burials like that,
0:27:26 > 0:27:29without the cow, of quite important female burials which seem
0:27:29 > 0:27:32to be focal points throughout the cemetery.
0:27:32 > 0:27:37And so it's a succession of important women that were part of that
0:27:37 > 0:27:40sixth-century community at Oakington.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43So, what did you find this year? Let's take a look.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52This is an adult female.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55You can tell from the shape of the pelvis here.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58But also from the skull shape as well.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03What's sort of interesting about this one is this yellow pipe here
0:28:03 > 0:28:08has been drilled through the grave from a different position
0:28:08 > 0:28:11and the people that put it here never saw it.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14This is part of the services for Oakington village
0:28:14 > 0:28:17as we're right up against the road.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19So this is often where lots and lots of services go through.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21And it's amazingly lucky
0:28:21 > 0:28:26that when they put this through, they missed all of the objects that she's
0:28:26 > 0:28:30been buried with and did very little damage really to the skeleton.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32They really couldn't have done that better, even if it was
0:28:32 > 0:28:34completely accidental.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40What's even more intriguing about this grave are the objects
0:28:40 > 0:28:42buried with the woman.
0:28:42 > 0:28:46She seems to be of high status.
0:28:46 > 0:28:48We have here a small
0:28:48 > 0:28:51long brooch that would have been worn on her shoulder and there's
0:28:51 > 0:28:56another one on her shoulder, just here, to hold up her dress.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59And then this large one would have been on a large cloak
0:28:59 > 0:29:03and this is face down so it would have almost certainly have been
0:29:03 > 0:29:06wrapped up in a cloak and then rolled over the top of the burial.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09So it's really interesting that the positions of the objects
0:29:09 > 0:29:11there can tell us how she was dressed.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14And almost certainly, she was wrapped up in a cloak before
0:29:14 > 0:29:16the soil was placed in the grave.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21So what you've got is an Anglo-Saxon cemetery with a large proportion of women
0:29:21 > 0:29:25and a large proportion of women who appear to be very high status
0:29:25 > 0:29:28and a lot of infants as well, compared with other cemeteries.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31- What's going on? - That's right. Well, OK.
0:29:31 > 0:29:35Proportionally, we have... Almost all of our female burials are furnished,
0:29:35 > 0:29:39whereas only a small handful of our male burials are furnished.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42So they are signifying, making a point of the female burials
0:29:42 > 0:29:44much more than they are of the male burials.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47Meaning that all the females were buried with combs, beads...
0:29:47 > 0:29:51Exactly and the brooches on the shoulders and the neck there as well.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53But there are all those infants buried in groups
0:29:53 > 0:29:57around the female burials or on the edge of the cemetery.
0:29:57 > 0:29:59The population is too high, and so what we're
0:29:59 > 0:30:03thinking at the moment is that we have a female dominated
0:30:03 > 0:30:07matriarchal group and their daughters are going out and marrying
0:30:07 > 0:30:11other communities, but potentially, that's quite a scary thing.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14You're going to a new place, a masculine place,
0:30:14 > 0:30:16and it's a bit scary to give birth.
0:30:16 > 0:30:18So they're maybe travelling back
0:30:18 > 0:30:20and they are bringing their children back to their mother's hall
0:30:20 > 0:30:24to their sister's hall and they're giving birth there.
0:30:24 > 0:30:27Now, I don't know whether we can see that archaeologically.
0:30:27 > 0:30:30But certainly what we can see is those connections,
0:30:30 > 0:30:32those relationships. And that's why
0:30:32 > 0:30:34this is a central place in the Cambridgeshire landscape.
0:30:34 > 0:30:38So cemeteries like this are not just telling us about individuals,
0:30:38 > 0:30:39they're giving us information about
0:30:39 > 0:30:42- the structure of society at the time?- Absolutely.
0:30:42 > 0:30:45The structure of societies, organisation, the movement of people
0:30:45 > 0:30:47across quite wide areas as well.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50We're not talking about walking around the corner. We're talking
0:30:50 > 0:30:52about travelling for some miles to come to this community
0:30:52 > 0:30:54for this sort of activity.
0:30:54 > 0:30:56And the first cow in an Anglo-Saxon grave.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58And have you finished the cemetery now? Is that it?
0:30:58 > 0:31:00We've excavated as much as we possibly can, yeah.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02So that's the end, now, of the excavation.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06All of it is now post-excavation and we hope to understand more
0:31:06 > 0:31:08and really question some of these things in much more detail.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15To get a sense of the wealth and high status of these
0:31:15 > 0:31:20Anglo-Saxon women, there's no place better than Norwich Castle Museum.
0:31:22 > 0:31:27It's a treasure trove of bronze, silver and gold.
0:31:33 > 0:31:37Like this Anglo-Saxon bracteate, or pendant.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42The particularly important thing about bracteates is that
0:31:42 > 0:31:43when they've been found in Britain,
0:31:43 > 0:31:47they've only been found in female graves or as single, stray finds.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50But the particular focus of this is as a hoards.
0:31:50 > 0:31:53It's the first time this has ever been seen in Britain,
0:31:53 > 0:31:54whereas, normally, in Scandinavia,
0:31:54 > 0:31:58where these bracteates are typically found, they're buried in hoards.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01I mean, the workmanship on these is absolutely incredible.
0:32:01 > 0:32:03But what do these show us?
0:32:03 > 0:32:06Well, bracteates are ultimately derived from coin designs,
0:32:06 > 0:32:07Roman coin designs.
0:32:07 > 0:32:10Because coins would have been worn as pendants themselves.
0:32:10 > 0:32:15And, ultimately, the design became copied and the copy became copied
0:32:15 > 0:32:18and so on, until you end up with a very basic design.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22And on this bracteate, you can see a warrior with a sword
0:32:22 > 0:32:26raised behind his back, fighting off two animals.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29So what kind of women would have worn these bracteates?
0:32:29 > 0:32:32They're solid gold, they look pretty expensive to me.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35They are expensive and therefore it's a sign that the person
0:32:35 > 0:32:38wearing them is of high status themselves.
0:32:38 > 0:32:41And from another point of view, it also says something about
0:32:41 > 0:32:44the person or people that were able to bury an entire
0:32:44 > 0:32:48hoard of these in the ground, to give them up and not come back for them.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01This summer, archaeologists have been digging in Kent,
0:33:01 > 0:33:05looking at what they suspect is a royal palace complex.
0:33:05 > 0:33:07Just the sort of place where people would have been wearing
0:33:07 > 0:33:09all of that Anglo-Saxon finery.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15Lyminge in southern Kent is now a peaceful English village.
0:33:18 > 0:33:22But in Anglo-Saxon times, this was a bustling Royal Centre.
0:33:24 > 0:33:28For the last three years, right in the heart of the village green,
0:33:28 > 0:33:31dig director Gabor Thomas and his team
0:33:31 > 0:33:35have uncovered evidence of medieval life and Bronze-Age burials.
0:33:35 > 0:33:40- But what they really want are signs of Anglo-Saxon royalty.- Right.
0:33:40 > 0:33:42A lovely rim fragment.
0:33:42 > 0:33:44'And they're beginning to find clues
0:33:44 > 0:33:46'to personal wealth and status.'
0:33:48 > 0:33:51So this is a bit of metalwork that came up yesterday.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55It's a small piece of copper alloy.
0:33:55 > 0:33:57And it's in the shape of the bird.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00It's decorated on both sides, which is quite interesting.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03This is just a hint of what's likely to come,
0:34:03 > 0:34:06once we start excavating into the features.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09I thought it was modern, and then I was like, "No, wait. What?"
0:34:09 > 0:34:12- Like the top of a Carlsberg bottle! - Yeah!
0:34:12 > 0:34:15I don't think we've ever had a bit so recognisable as that.
0:34:16 > 0:34:18We don't get a lot of bases at all...of a vase.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22It's a quite large fragment, anyway, for a piece of glass.
0:34:22 > 0:34:23We usually get rims
0:34:23 > 0:34:25and bits of the body.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28But not the bases, really.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32The team believes these glass fragments were once
0:34:32 > 0:34:35part of elaborate drinking vessels.
0:34:35 > 0:34:37Like these replicas.
0:34:38 > 0:34:42But, more importantly, they were used by high status Anglo-Saxons.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47Possibly even Kentish kings.
0:34:49 > 0:34:51And what they're uncovering now could be the proof
0:34:51 > 0:34:54they need that kings were here.
0:34:58 > 0:35:00We've had a really good breakthrough today,
0:35:00 > 0:35:02in this particular trench, where... We're looking
0:35:02 > 0:35:07at an exposure of around about 20 metres, so this building is about...
0:35:08 > 0:35:10Probably in excess of 20 metres in length.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13We've also got a width for it.
0:35:13 > 0:35:15Somewhere around 10 metres in width.
0:35:15 > 0:35:19That's a super-sized hall for the Anglo-Saxon period.
0:35:20 > 0:35:25You only get these scale halls on royal palace complexes.
0:35:29 > 0:35:33So, Gabor, you really think you have found an Anglo-Saxon royal hall?
0:35:33 > 0:35:37Without doubt. I mean, the structural evidence says that very clearly.
0:35:37 > 0:35:41You only get buildings on this scale, on this type of site...
0:35:41 > 0:35:45And it's worth saying that it's incredibly rare archaeology.
0:35:45 > 0:35:50Only two other sites of this period and this importance have previously
0:35:50 > 0:35:54been excavated, including the iconic sight of Yeavering in Northumbria.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57It was the first place that open-area excavations were
0:35:57 > 0:35:59undertaken in the 1950s.
0:35:59 > 0:36:02But normally these sites are found through aerial photography.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05They show up as crop marks.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08But on this site, it didn't even show up on the geophysics.
0:36:08 > 0:36:12It required open-area excavation from the start and, really,
0:36:12 > 0:36:16some small clues that there might be something of this magnitude,
0:36:16 > 0:36:17just under the village green.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20So what were the clues that made you dig there?
0:36:20 > 0:36:23Well, there was a documentary reference that's described
0:36:23 > 0:36:28Lyminge as a royal "ville" or a royal complex.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31But none of the archaeology relating to that earlier period have
0:36:31 > 0:36:33ever been found before.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36And that's what we hoped we would find under the village green
0:36:36 > 0:36:39and we hit the jackpot. It was amazing.
0:36:39 > 0:36:41And as well as this amazing royal hall,
0:36:41 > 0:36:43you found an extraordinary rubbish dump.
0:36:47 > 0:36:52Right next to the seventh-century royal hall, the team opened up
0:36:52 > 0:36:56another area, after geophysics revealed a mysterious blob.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00This turned out to be a midden, or rubbish dump,
0:37:00 > 0:37:03with incredibly rare finds deep within it.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09Archaeologist Alex Knox explains.
0:37:09 > 0:37:13Today, we have begun excavating what we called the "dark blob"
0:37:13 > 0:37:17in trench one. Which is full of Anglo-Saxon artefacts.
0:37:17 > 0:37:19And we're also hoping to find out
0:37:19 > 0:37:24if there's anything lying underneath this dump of rubbish.
0:37:24 > 0:37:26As the team dig into the midden,
0:37:26 > 0:37:30high-status finds start coming thick and fast.
0:37:30 > 0:37:32They uncover decorative brooches.
0:37:32 > 0:37:37- Yeah, it's in perfect, mint condition.- Yeah, amazing.- Well done.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39Bronze hair pins...
0:37:39 > 0:37:42It is an absolute monster. Is that the end? That is the point, yeah.
0:37:44 > 0:37:46And a copper alloy mount...
0:37:46 > 0:37:49Probably would have been attached to, perhaps, a leather belt,
0:37:49 > 0:37:52around the second half of the sixth century.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56These Anglo-Saxon fashion accessories predate
0:37:56 > 0:37:59the royal hall by a full century.
0:38:01 > 0:38:04A very early insight into the culture of this settlement.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10But the next finds begin to reveal something quite different.
0:38:12 > 0:38:18I've seen metalworking residues, iron tools and implements...
0:38:18 > 0:38:20- It looks relatively modern, actually.- It does.
0:38:20 > 0:38:22It probably isn't that modern at all.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27And as the metal finds grow, the team begins to suspect
0:38:27 > 0:38:30there's more to this dump than meets the eye.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35So they dig a trench right through the middle to investigate.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40What's appeared at this level, very clearly for us,
0:38:40 > 0:38:46is an area of burning. Or what archaeologists would call a hearth.
0:38:46 > 0:38:50We've also got consolidated lumps of what's likely to be
0:38:50 > 0:38:56the superstructure of a dome over a furnace or a kiln
0:38:56 > 0:38:59showing up nicely on this side of the trench.
0:38:59 > 0:39:04This evidence here fits very nicely with the materials that have
0:39:04 > 0:39:07been dumped in above this level.
0:39:07 > 0:39:09We've recovered a lot of smelting slag.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13So we have an early Anglo-Saxon version, if you like, of a
0:39:13 > 0:39:18metalworking installation, of which we've only got one other example,
0:39:18 > 0:39:22really, from Anglo-Saxon England, which is two centuries later.
0:39:22 > 0:39:26So this is hugely significant archaeology.
0:39:26 > 0:39:30Now, we've got to try and refine our understanding of what's
0:39:30 > 0:39:33going on in here a bit better, by the end of the season.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39So, Gabor, this is some of the earliest evidence
0:39:39 > 0:39:43- we have for metalworking in Anglo-Saxon Britain.- That's right.
0:39:43 > 0:39:45It's different types of metalworking as well.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48So we've got iron working represented, but also, in front
0:39:48 > 0:39:53of us here, is a selection of objects associated with bronze casting.
0:39:53 > 0:39:56- We've got a fragment of a two-piece mould just here.- What object do you
0:39:56 > 0:39:59- think that would have been? - Probably a piece of jewellery.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01It may have been something like a bronze buckle,
0:40:01 > 0:40:02or perhaps even a brooch.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05So they're really churning out this really high-status, bling
0:40:05 > 0:40:08- jewellery, if you like, here? - That's right.- But that's not all
0:40:08 > 0:40:11you had from the midden, is it? Alex, what have you got over there?
0:40:11 > 0:40:13We're just washing some of the animal bone that's come out
0:40:13 > 0:40:16of the midden. Just endless amounts of feasting debris
0:40:16 > 0:40:19- cattle, sheep, pig...
0:40:19 > 0:40:22Enormous amounts of animal bone to go along with all this metalworking.
0:40:22 > 0:40:26So we've got these myriad finds from the midden. What does it all mean?
0:40:26 > 0:40:28Well, we have a really interesting association
0:40:28 > 0:40:31here between feasting on the one hand,
0:40:31 > 0:40:35as represented by our animal bone and all of our glass vessels.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38I think what this represents is a period
0:40:38 > 0:40:43when specialised manufacture of high-status objects is happening
0:40:43 > 0:40:46within the sphere of elite residencies.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50And we haven't previously seen that on other sites. This is very new.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52So it's really adding, as well, to our knowledge of the whole
0:40:52 > 0:40:54of Anglo-Saxon Britain, really?
0:40:54 > 0:40:57Absolutely, it's telling us what elite culture was like in this
0:40:57 > 0:41:02period and its intimate relationship with the production of luxury items.
0:41:04 > 0:41:09So, once again, archaeology reveals an unexpected twist.
0:41:09 > 0:41:13A beautiful royal residence and, right next door,
0:41:13 > 0:41:18making their very own luxury goods, a very early Anglo-Saxon factory.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28Next, we head to Basing House,
0:41:28 > 0:41:32a place synonymous with battle and bloodshed.
0:41:32 > 0:41:36Basing House in Hampshire was a key site in the Civil War.
0:41:36 > 0:41:37It was a royalist stronghold
0:41:37 > 0:41:40and the parliamentarians were keen to take it.
0:41:40 > 0:41:42And this year, archaeologists have been digging up evidence
0:41:42 > 0:41:45of the house's bloody history, bringing us face-to-face with
0:41:45 > 0:41:48one of English history's most controversial characters.
0:41:53 > 0:41:58In the 16th century, Basing House was one of the most impressive
0:41:58 > 0:42:00Tudor complexes in the country.
0:42:01 > 0:42:06It was built on a Norman fort, known as The Old House.
0:42:07 > 0:42:11And right next to it used to sit a huge mansion,
0:42:11 > 0:42:13known as The New House.
0:42:14 > 0:42:17This is where the team have put in a large trench.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24Such a fantastic archaeological site to work on.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28We took off the topsoil and the walls started to emerge almost immediately.
0:42:30 > 0:42:33Documents of the time tell of a final battle
0:42:33 > 0:42:36that took place here in 1645.
0:42:36 > 0:42:41And the team are looking for hard evidence as to just how this
0:42:41 > 0:42:42mighty fortress fell.
0:42:44 > 0:42:46Heading up the dig is Chris Elmer.
0:42:48 > 0:42:49So we're midway through the dig
0:42:49 > 0:42:52and we're finding quite a lot of evidence now of the Tudor
0:42:52 > 0:42:55range that lies behind us.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57What we're interested in is thinking
0:42:57 > 0:43:01about what happened in the Civil War, with the destruction of the house.
0:43:01 > 0:43:04And, in fact, recently we've found some pretty interesting evidence,
0:43:04 > 0:43:09because we've got really nice sort of lead musket balls, showing us balls
0:43:09 > 0:43:12that obviously were available as the ammunition of the day.
0:43:12 > 0:43:14But, more intriguingly,
0:43:14 > 0:43:19we're also finding the evidence for musket balls that have impacted.
0:43:19 > 0:43:22They've obviously hit something or someone,
0:43:22 > 0:43:25because they've splatted and they've gone into this very strange shape.
0:43:25 > 0:43:29So we've got a theory that what we're looking at is
0:43:29 > 0:43:31the evidence of the conflict that was occurring,
0:43:31 > 0:43:35the battle that was occurring, and we're finding the real evidence
0:43:35 > 0:43:38of that with these musket balls and with the end product you see here.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45Two years before Basing House fell,
0:43:45 > 0:43:48it was placed under siege by the parliamentarians, as they fought
0:43:48 > 0:43:52the Royalists, led by John Paulet, the Marquess of Winchester.
0:43:56 > 0:44:00Over two years of digging, Chris and his team have mapped out
0:44:00 > 0:44:04the defensive lines of the now-vanished great house.
0:44:04 > 0:44:07As we're walking round the site of Basing House,
0:44:07 > 0:44:09we've just come to the gun platform.
0:44:09 > 0:44:13And there were several gun platforms erected during the Civil War.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16This one, we've got a replica of a civil war saker, a cannon,
0:44:16 > 0:44:19which would be pointing out towards the parliamentary
0:44:19 > 0:44:20lines on the other side.
0:44:20 > 0:44:25There were several gun platforms all the way around the ring work area
0:44:25 > 0:44:28and in a sense, this was the first line of defence
0:44:28 > 0:44:30during the Civil War for Basing House.
0:44:32 > 0:44:36By surveying the surviving buildings of the great Tudor complex,
0:44:36 > 0:44:40the team has also identified battle damage.
0:44:40 > 0:44:43We've now come inside the great barn,
0:44:43 > 0:44:48I think the most amazing example of destruction, if you like,
0:44:48 > 0:44:51that we can see, where there would have been cannonballs coming
0:44:51 > 0:44:55through the roof and then actually hitting the inside of the walls.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59So we can see there's a great big scar in the wall at the top there.
0:44:59 > 0:45:01There is another one further along.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07With Charles I supplying men and money
0:45:07 > 0:45:11for the house's fortification, it seemed invincible.
0:45:14 > 0:45:18And after two years of trying to batter Basing House into submission,
0:45:18 > 0:45:21the parliamentarians were getting nowhere.
0:45:23 > 0:45:25So, Alan, who did they turn to?
0:45:25 > 0:45:29Well, the Lord General Fairfax sent down his second in command,
0:45:29 > 0:45:32a man who you might be quite familiar with.
0:45:32 > 0:45:34Here he is. Lieutenant General Oliver Cromwell.
0:45:34 > 0:45:36Ah, the man himself.
0:45:36 > 0:45:39This is a life mask of Oliver that was done a few years after
0:45:39 > 0:45:40the siege of Basing House.
0:45:40 > 0:45:43As you can see, he is somewhat plumper than a serving soldier
0:45:43 > 0:45:45would have been in those days.
0:45:45 > 0:45:48But it does give you a really good impression of what he looked like.
0:45:48 > 0:45:51So if this is a life mask, this is a mould of his actual face?
0:45:51 > 0:45:53Indeed. That is Oliver.
0:45:53 > 0:45:56See, the eyes are rather odd because they were applied afterwards
0:45:56 > 0:45:58because obviously he would've had his eyes shut.
0:45:58 > 0:46:00It's extraordinary and slightly weird.
0:46:00 > 0:46:03I still don't think that Oliver Cromwell on his own could
0:46:03 > 0:46:05have conquered Basing House, so what did he bring with him?
0:46:05 > 0:46:07He had a bit of help.
0:46:07 > 0:46:10He had three regiments of foot, several regiments of cavalry,
0:46:10 > 0:46:14about 5,000 or 6,000 men in actual fact, and some really big guns,
0:46:14 > 0:46:18including an incredibly big piece of artillery, a Cannon Royal.
0:46:18 > 0:46:22That fires a 64lb ball and here is an illustration
0:46:22 > 0:46:26which gives you some idea of the size of the thing.
0:46:26 > 0:46:29Because of the condition of the roads, sometimes it would take
0:46:29 > 0:46:33up to 60 horses to pull these down the roads or 60 oxen.
0:46:38 > 0:46:40Once this was applied against a castle,
0:46:40 > 0:46:42it doesn't really stand a chance.
0:46:42 > 0:46:44So this is bigger than any of the cannon
0:46:44 > 0:46:47- that were actually in Basing House. - Oh, yes, much bigger, yes.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49I would not like to have been a royalist,
0:46:49 > 0:46:51facing up against that cannon. So how did they fare?
0:46:51 > 0:46:53Well, I think that is what the archaeologists
0:46:53 > 0:46:55are about to find out.
0:46:59 > 0:47:03The new house guarded the entrance to the postern gate,
0:47:03 > 0:47:07the way into the citadel of Basing House.
0:47:07 > 0:47:11The team believed that this was the weak point for Cromwell to exploit
0:47:11 > 0:47:15and he would have thrown everything he had at the Tudor range,
0:47:15 > 0:47:19including the firing power of his massive Cannon Royal.
0:47:23 > 0:47:25In the last week of the dig,
0:47:25 > 0:47:27they find evidence to support their theory
0:47:27 > 0:47:31when they uncover the remains of a bridge which connected
0:47:31 > 0:47:33the new house to the old.
0:47:35 > 0:47:38The postern gate that led into the old House
0:47:38 > 0:47:42is directly behind us and this area that we are excavating
0:47:42 > 0:47:45is part of the entry point for the old house.
0:47:45 > 0:47:48What we are thinking is this is a point where, in the Civil War,
0:47:48 > 0:47:52the parliamentarians broke through into the old house.
0:47:52 > 0:47:56So, can we see anything there that tells us about that final battle?
0:47:56 > 0:47:59Can we see anything that tells us about their entry
0:47:59 > 0:48:01to the old house, as well?
0:48:03 > 0:48:05Previously on this same site,
0:48:05 > 0:48:08archaeologists uncovered several skeletons around Basing House
0:48:08 > 0:48:12which they believe were defenders from the Civil War.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15But the most significant discovery was the remains
0:48:15 > 0:48:19of one particular soldier, found by the postern gate,
0:48:19 > 0:48:23who seems to have died defending this weak spot in the final siege.
0:48:25 > 0:48:28To our surprise, after we had finished excavating the gateway
0:48:28 > 0:48:31and had a narrow passageway,
0:48:31 > 0:48:34we saw there was a ditch which we sectioned.
0:48:34 > 0:48:39In that ditch, we found a skull which had been decapitated,
0:48:39 > 0:48:43some of the vertebrae were there in situ.
0:48:43 > 0:48:47And there was also a great sword cut on top of the cranium.
0:48:48 > 0:48:53And so that had to be, really, the head of one of the defenders
0:48:53 > 0:48:57of Basing, and as such, really, must have got there
0:48:57 > 0:49:02during that final assault on 14th of October, 1645.
0:49:02 > 0:49:04And it's so rare for an archaeologist to be able
0:49:04 > 0:49:08to find something and say, "This happened on this particular day."
0:49:08 > 0:49:11But we feel confident that that was the case there.
0:49:14 > 0:49:18Of the 400 loyalists defending Basing House,
0:49:18 > 0:49:22100 were slain and the rest taken prisoner,
0:49:22 > 0:49:25while the great Tudor mansion itself was set on fire.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34People could hear the cries of those who had taken refuge
0:49:34 > 0:49:37in the cellars, screaming to be let out.
0:49:39 > 0:49:42But there was no-one to let them out, no way of reaching them,
0:49:42 > 0:49:45so a good number must have perished in that way.
0:49:48 > 0:49:53Finally, Cromwell's brutal attack had led to a decisive victory
0:49:53 > 0:49:56and he quickly sent word back to London.
0:49:56 > 0:50:00"I thank God I can give you a good account of Basing.
0:50:00 > 0:50:04"We have had little loss, many of the enemy our men put to the sword.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07"Most of the rest we have prisoners,
0:50:07 > 0:50:10"amongst whom the Marquis of Winchester himself.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13"Your most humble servant, Oliver Cromwell."
0:50:19 > 0:50:22Not far from Basing House is Silchester,
0:50:22 > 0:50:26famous for the longest running archaeological dig in the country.
0:50:27 > 0:50:3118 years ago, a small team of archaeologists set out to spend
0:50:31 > 0:50:36a few seasons excavating a Roman site near Reading in Berkshire.
0:50:36 > 0:50:38What they found kept them coming back year on year
0:50:38 > 0:50:41and made the name Silchester synonymous with Roman archaeology.
0:50:47 > 0:50:50Silchester has revealed much of what we know
0:50:50 > 0:50:53about Roman town life in Britain,
0:50:53 > 0:50:57and it evolved from a large Iron Age settlement.
0:50:59 > 0:51:03We've just found this amazing object.
0:51:03 > 0:51:06We don't know what it is, but it's made of copper alloy.
0:51:06 > 0:51:09I just went, "Oh, my God!"
0:51:09 > 0:51:11I've been working here for 17 years
0:51:11 > 0:51:15and I've never found anything as amazing as this.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18Let's make bets. I say dagger. Nick says mirror.
0:51:18 > 0:51:22I tend not to think dagger because that is too dainty,
0:51:22 > 0:51:24- it's too fragile.- Yeah.
0:51:24 > 0:51:26- A mirror? Wow.- Be gentle.
0:51:33 > 0:51:36I wonder if it's a hinge or something like that.
0:51:36 > 0:51:39It was certainly something pretty fancy, because that is lovely.
0:51:39 > 0:51:43But once the finds specialist Elise Fraser cleans it up,
0:51:43 > 0:51:48the archaeologists realise it is not quite what they thought.
0:51:48 > 0:51:50THEY LAUGH
0:51:50 > 0:51:53Quite a strange looking copper alloy object.
0:51:53 > 0:51:57This has now turned into a folding skillet handle,
0:51:57 > 0:51:59so basically like a modern-day mess tin.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02The handle would be hinged onto the pan like that
0:52:02 > 0:52:05and would essentially just fold in, so very much like a modern
0:52:05 > 0:52:08soldier's mess tin, which is very exciting, because obviously
0:52:08 > 0:52:12it's very early Roman, probably military in its origin.
0:52:12 > 0:52:14But again, it shows that we have military presence here
0:52:14 > 0:52:17in the artefacts that we're finding, in a very early context.
0:52:17 > 0:52:20Some of the ideas that the students have been coming up with
0:52:20 > 0:52:21are quite fun.
0:52:21 > 0:52:25This is exactly the kind of find the team needs to give them
0:52:25 > 0:52:28clues as to the birth of Roman Britain.
0:52:28 > 0:52:33And the vexed question, was it an invasion or a friendly takeover
0:52:33 > 0:52:38by wealthier European neighbours, offering new riches and luxuries?
0:52:40 > 0:52:43And they're running out of time to find the answer,
0:52:43 > 0:52:45as this is their last season on site.
0:52:47 > 0:52:52Just 100 yards away, a new trench they opened up in 2013,
0:52:52 > 0:52:56known as Insula III, is throwing up more clues.
0:52:57 > 0:53:01Here, they are investigating a large Roman building.
0:53:05 > 0:53:09This is one of six column bases that we have excavated
0:53:09 > 0:53:11which run parallel to the north-south street.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14This is quite interesting because it is basically,
0:53:14 > 0:53:17these are made out of ceramic building material which
0:53:17 > 0:53:20sort of suggests that the people who lived here are trying to
0:53:20 > 0:53:22imitate cultural developments in Rome
0:53:22 > 0:53:25by using a cheaper material than marble stone,
0:53:25 > 0:53:28which still fits with our idea of Romanization.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31They're trying to follow what is happening in Rome.
0:53:34 > 0:53:36And it is not just with the buildings that the people
0:53:36 > 0:53:38were trying to copy Roman fashion.
0:53:38 > 0:53:40That is an absolutely beautiful...
0:53:40 > 0:53:43- I couldn't find the rest of it. - But a really beautiful...
0:53:43 > 0:53:47- It is, isn't it?- It is a cup, anyway. So very, very pretty.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50- Wow, that's amazing. - I know, it has made my day.
0:53:52 > 0:53:56During the Roman occupation, Silchester was known
0:53:56 > 0:54:01as Calleva Atrebatum and was ruled by client kings, answerable to Rome.
0:54:03 > 0:54:06The most famous in this area was Cogidubnus.
0:54:08 > 0:54:12But the team are discovering that one emperor in particular
0:54:12 > 0:54:14was directly involved with the town.
0:54:16 > 0:54:18Oh, lovely, oh, wow!
0:54:18 > 0:54:20Great. Oh, fantastic.
0:54:20 > 0:54:22Well, we all know what this is, don't we?
0:54:22 > 0:54:25- I thought you'd like that. - A Nero tile.
0:54:25 > 0:54:27Gosh. Nero tile, yes.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30Wow. Isn't that good?
0:54:30 > 0:54:34- And that is presumably, I hope, from Insula III.- It is indeed, yes.- Hah!
0:54:34 > 0:54:35That's a relief, good.
0:54:38 > 0:54:42Nero was the Roman Emperor from 54 to 68AD.
0:54:43 > 0:54:46These tiles are evidence that he was pumping some serious cash
0:54:46 > 0:54:50into the redevelopment of this town.
0:54:50 > 0:54:52The question is, why?
0:54:54 > 0:54:57So these are the Nero tiles, are they?
0:54:57 > 0:55:02These are two of the four fragments that we have found this season.
0:55:02 > 0:55:05You can see the stamp that was impressed with
0:55:05 > 0:55:08the abbreviations of Nero's name.
0:55:10 > 0:55:14Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus.
0:55:17 > 0:55:20These tiles have only been found in Silchester
0:55:20 > 0:55:22and it raises all sorts of questions.
0:55:22 > 0:55:24This implies Nero owned...
0:55:24 > 0:55:27He certainly owned the brickworks which produce them.
0:55:27 > 0:55:31Had he already taken over some of the client kingdom
0:55:31 > 0:55:32from Cogidubnus?
0:55:32 > 0:55:35In fact, did he own Calleva at this point?
0:55:35 > 0:55:38One possibility... There are several.
0:55:38 > 0:55:42We know that British client kings were beginning to overspend
0:55:42 > 0:55:45on the loans which they had taken from Rome to build up
0:55:45 > 0:55:48their residences, build up their lifestyle.
0:55:48 > 0:55:52And possibly, Cogidubnus had gone a bit bankrupt, I don't know,
0:55:52 > 0:55:57and in return for taking some of his kingdom,
0:55:57 > 0:56:00Nero invested in Calleva.
0:56:00 > 0:56:03And one context for that, of course,
0:56:03 > 0:56:07would be after the Boudiccan rebellion, because Calleva
0:56:07 > 0:56:10was the gateway to the southwest.
0:56:10 > 0:56:15To shore up, prop up, Calleva and that part of the kingdom,
0:56:15 > 0:56:18putting in money, supporting the king,
0:56:18 > 0:56:21securing the southwest of Britain at a time when some people
0:56:21 > 0:56:24thought Britain would have been lost entirely from the Empire.
0:56:24 > 0:56:27I think it is absolutely fascinating, because I think we tend
0:56:27 > 0:56:29to imagine that we know everything there is to know
0:56:29 > 0:56:32about Roman Britain, that there isn't really much more detail
0:56:32 > 0:56:35to be discovered, but we still are really getting to grips
0:56:35 > 0:56:38with how it worked, how it was managed, how it was ruled
0:56:38 > 0:56:41and how it operated as part of the Roman empire.
0:56:41 > 0:56:45Places like Silchester are instrumental in revealing that.
0:56:45 > 0:56:47But it's finished.
0:56:47 > 0:56:49This has been such an important site
0:56:49 > 0:56:53- and this is your last year of major excavations there.- I know, I know.
0:56:53 > 0:56:56You must be a bit sad, Matt, because you've dug there, haven't you?
0:56:56 > 0:56:58I did, yes.
0:56:58 > 0:57:01I was there for four years as a supervisor from 2000 onwards
0:57:01 > 0:57:04and I always say it was the best archaeological job I ever had.
0:57:04 > 0:57:06It sort of, it's an end in the field
0:57:06 > 0:57:09but there's a huge amount of work to do on writing up,
0:57:09 > 0:57:12because what we are sketching out now is only the beginning
0:57:12 > 0:57:16of the story which will be immensely enriched by studying the finds,
0:57:16 > 0:57:18the environmental evidence.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21There's a whole wealth of material and probably in five years' time
0:57:21 > 0:57:23I can come back and say,
0:57:23 > 0:57:25"Well, actually, in the light of studying this and that,
0:57:25 > 0:57:29"actually, we think this rather than what we are saying now today."
0:57:33 > 0:57:36Archaeology is a complex jigsaw puzzle.
0:57:36 > 0:57:42Drawing together everything from skeletons to swords
0:57:42 > 0:57:46and from riches to royalty.
0:57:48 > 0:57:53Amazing stories which are helping to rewrite our history.
0:57:54 > 0:57:58I think, for me, a couple of the really outstanding sites were
0:57:58 > 0:58:00the fishing industry in the Fens.
0:58:00 > 0:58:04I mean, the beautiful preservation there was just extraordinary.
0:58:04 > 0:58:06- That was just absolutely huge, wasn't it?- Yeah.
0:58:06 > 0:58:08I can't wait to see what they're going to find next.
0:58:08 > 0:58:10And of course, also it's got to be the cow burial.
0:58:10 > 0:58:14- I mean, it is just bizarre.- It is very strange indeed, isn't it?
0:58:14 > 0:58:18Well, it's been a fantastic year for archaeology here in the east.
0:58:18 > 0:58:21- It is goodbye from him... - And it's goodnight from her.