0:00:06 > 0:00:09Hello and welcome to Digging For Britain, the programme which
0:00:09 > 0:00:12brings you this year's most outstanding new archaeology.
0:00:15 > 0:00:19Once again, over the last year, archaeologists were busy
0:00:19 > 0:00:23unearthing our history in hundreds of digs across Britain.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27They've gone to extraordinary lengths to
0:00:27 > 0:00:30uncover long-lost treasures,
0:00:30 > 0:00:35retelling our story in a way that only archaeology can.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38And our archaeologists have been out filming themselves to make
0:00:38 > 0:00:42sure that we were there for every moment of discovery.
0:00:42 > 0:00:43Go on! Fantastic.
0:00:43 > 0:00:45It's a tooth.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48And they'll be joining us back here at The National Museum of Scotland
0:00:48 > 0:00:51to help us make sense of what these new finds actually mean.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56In this series we'll be touring Britain
0:00:56 > 0:01:00and tonight we're in the North.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03We discover one of the biggest and best preserved
0:01:03 > 0:01:06Roman forts in Britain.
0:01:07 > 0:01:12And we catch the very moment when a Viking boat burial is unearthed...
0:01:12 > 0:01:15APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:01:15 > 0:01:18And see how rescue archaeologists are fighting
0:01:18 > 0:01:22the elements to save a rare Iron Age site.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39Over a million and a half people visit The National Museum of
0:01:39 > 0:01:41Scotland every year.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44They come to see some of the 20,000 artefacts that illustrate
0:01:44 > 0:01:46key moments in our history.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55From the Penicuik Jewels kept safe by a lowly servant after
0:01:55 > 0:01:59Queen Mary's execution in 1587.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04To Bonnie Prince Charlie's picnic set that he brought into combat
0:02:04 > 0:02:07with the English at the Battle of Culloden.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13Our first story takes us to Orkney
0:02:13 > 0:02:16and to one of the northernmost digs in Britain.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22I've had the privilege of visiting Orkney on numerous occasions
0:02:22 > 0:02:25and I've seen some truly astonishing archaeology there.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28Back in 2010, I saw the Westray Wifey, which is
0:02:28 > 0:02:32the earliest depiction of a human from the British Neolithic.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36In 2011, I was lucky enough to see
0:02:36 > 0:02:38an intact Neolithic tomb being opened.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42But in recent years, the most astonishing discovery has been
0:02:42 > 0:02:45at the Ness of Brodgar which is quickly
0:02:45 > 0:02:49becoming the most important Neolithic site in Britain.
0:02:52 > 0:02:57Sitting right in the heart of the Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site
0:02:57 > 0:02:59is the Ness of Brodgar.
0:02:59 > 0:03:03Along with nearby Skara Brae and Maeshowe,
0:03:03 > 0:03:08it now belongs amongst the most famous prehistoric sites in Britain.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11Our ancestors settled to farm,
0:03:11 > 0:03:15trade and thrive on this land over 5,000 years ago,
0:03:15 > 0:03:18and because they built in stone
0:03:18 > 0:03:22their traces are still visible all over the island.
0:03:22 > 0:03:27At Skara Brae, we find elaborate stone houses.
0:03:32 > 0:03:38And at Maeshowe sits a huge chambered tomb for the dead.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42But the Ness of Brodgar is becoming another vital piece
0:03:42 > 0:03:44in this Neolithic puzzle.
0:03:44 > 0:03:49It's offering unique insights into how our ancestors lived.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56The team filmed themselves in this, their eighth season,
0:03:56 > 0:04:01uncovering clues to the world of our ancestors 5,000 years ago.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04Some of the finds are quite prosaic.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08They look like paving or fallen roof slabs. Bang, bang, bang.
0:04:10 > 0:04:15And I was able to see a really pretty orange sandstone artefact.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20And some artefacts tell of a confident trading people who
0:04:20 > 0:04:22roamed the nearby seas.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24The person who made this and the people who used it
0:04:24 > 0:04:27and the people who saw it at the Ness of Brodgar
0:04:27 > 0:04:31back in the Neolithic would have recognised an object which
0:04:31 > 0:04:34invited parallels with Shetland, in other words, this is
0:04:34 > 0:04:37an object being made by somebody and used by somebody down here,
0:04:37 > 0:04:41who was aware of traditions of making tools that stretched up
0:04:41 > 0:04:45through the Northern Isles and up to the Shetland archipelago.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52It's clear that the Ness of Brodgar is important to people in Orkney
0:04:52 > 0:04:55but exactly how it was used remains a mystery.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59But some of the artefacts are pointing to something which could
0:04:59 > 0:05:03be interpreted as ritualistic, something sacred.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09What we're dealing with here is a fragment of a very classic
0:05:09 > 0:05:12later Neolithic artefact called a mace head.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14Like many mace heads at the Ness,
0:05:14 > 0:05:18we tend to find them in fragmentary conditions, they're broken.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21A mace head is part of a blunt Stone Age weapon or tool.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24Now, some of these might have broken during use
0:05:24 > 0:05:27but archaeologists believe that others
0:05:27 > 0:05:30could have been ceremonially decommissioned.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33We're getting deposits of objects like these at the Ness,
0:05:33 > 0:05:36which suggests that perhaps sometimes we might be dealing
0:05:36 > 0:05:39with a more deliberate act where sometimes an object, because
0:05:39 > 0:05:43of its biography, because of who it was associated with in life, perhaps
0:05:43 > 0:05:46when that person died, that object had to be taken out of commission,
0:05:46 > 0:05:50deliberately broken in the way that people might have broken
0:05:50 > 0:05:54swords at the end of a commission or taking weapons out of use.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58These broken mace heads are adding
0:05:58 > 0:06:02to a series of finds curated at The National Museum of Scotland.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06So what have we got here?
0:06:06 > 0:06:09Well, we have a selection of carved stone objects
0:06:09 > 0:06:11all from Skara Brae which is a settlement
0:06:11 > 0:06:13not too far away from the Ness of Brodgar.
0:06:13 > 0:06:18And there's been an awful lot of speculation as to what these things
0:06:18 > 0:06:20were, what they were for.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23I think people agree that they were certainly symbols of power.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26They're also, they could have been used as weapons,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29because you could deal somebody at pretty painful blow
0:06:29 > 0:06:32with one of these, or you could put cord around them
0:06:32 > 0:06:35and swing them around and, indeed, there's at least one skull that's
0:06:35 > 0:06:37got a depressed blunt fracture,
0:06:37 > 0:06:39so they could well have been used.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43With something like this, you could keep it in your fist
0:06:43 > 0:06:46and deal somebody a horrible blow with a spiky point.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49One of the things I really love about pre-history is finding
0:06:49 > 0:06:53objects like this which are so intriguing and so enigmatic
0:06:53 > 0:06:55and I don't think we'll ever really know what
0:06:55 > 0:06:59they were used for but we can still really appreciate the art
0:06:59 > 0:07:02and the skill that went into making them.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06Oh, exactly, and clearly they would have selected beautiful,
0:07:06 > 0:07:10aesthetically pleasing stones, probably cobbles from the beach,
0:07:10 > 0:07:13and they wouldn't have had metal tools, obviously,
0:07:13 > 0:07:17so they would've used stone tools, sand, water, a lot of elbow grease
0:07:17 > 0:07:23and many, many hours of work went into making something like this.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27These objects and the smashed pieces of stone maces
0:07:27 > 0:07:31from the Ness of Brodgar suggest that the Ness may have been
0:07:31 > 0:07:35a ritual site, and everyday the team find more evidence.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41Here we've got quite a nice incised stone.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44You can see there's various lines crisscrossing each other
0:07:44 > 0:07:48here forming kind of chevrons, zigzags, patterns here.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52This is a kind of piece of Neolithic artwork that's been
0:07:52 > 0:07:54built into the main structure of the building.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56We're finding these sort of decorated stones
0:07:56 > 0:08:00built into all the walls internally and externally across the site.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04The archaeologists believe that this prehistoric artwork
0:08:04 > 0:08:09is further evidence that this was a ritual complex.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12And now Nick Card and his team
0:08:12 > 0:08:16believe that they have found the spiritual centre -
0:08:16 > 0:08:18a Neolithic temple.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22Here we're standing next to Structure Ten,
0:08:22 > 0:08:24the so-called Neolithic Cathedral.
0:08:29 > 0:08:34It's over, probably, 25 metres long, 20 metres wide almost.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38Everything about it would just scream ritual, religion.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41You still get a sense of what this building must have
0:08:41 > 0:08:42been like in its heyday.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44Truly amazing.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48This Neolithic Cathedral has been robbed of its stone over
0:08:48 > 0:08:52thousands of years, making one of this year's discovery's even
0:08:52 > 0:08:54more remarkable -
0:08:54 > 0:08:58the entrance to it, marked by the threshold stone.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04What we're standing on here is the original entrance.
0:09:04 > 0:09:10It's about 1.8 metres wide and almost a metre across.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14We'd always been a bit weary about where the entrance was
0:09:14 > 0:09:17and because of the robbing this was just not clear at all,
0:09:17 > 0:09:20as we knew that it had to be facing towards Maeshowe.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24This direct connection to the chambered tomb of Maeshowe
0:09:24 > 0:09:28and the growing acceptance that Orkney's Neolithic monuments could
0:09:28 > 0:09:33be linked makes the final discovery inside the temple astounding.
0:09:36 > 0:09:41A standing stone at the centre of this ritual complex.
0:09:41 > 0:09:46The archaeologists wonder, was this altar of central importance
0:09:46 > 0:09:48in Neolithic Orkney?
0:09:50 > 0:09:53Just half a mile away you have Maeshowe, a few hundred metres away,
0:09:53 > 0:09:56Stones of Stenness, and behind us in the skyline,
0:09:56 > 0:09:57the Ring of Brodgar.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00They all seem to be clustering around the Ness
0:10:00 > 0:10:04and I think 5,000 years ago, it maybe wasn't the great stone
0:10:04 > 0:10:08circles of the Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness
0:10:08 > 0:10:11which today kind of dominate our thinking of this landscape,
0:10:11 > 0:10:14it really is, it's Ness of Brodgar, 5,000 years ago that maybe held
0:10:14 > 0:10:18that very central position and all these other monuments were
0:10:18 > 0:10:20maybe just peripheral to what was happening here.
0:10:21 > 0:10:27This important site really is shaping the archaeological world.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30We always are kind of a bit London-centric,
0:10:30 > 0:10:31southern British-centric,
0:10:31 > 0:10:35with some of the great monuments like Stonehenge in Wessex area,
0:10:35 > 0:10:39but this with the rest of Orkney is really turning the map on its head.
0:10:40 > 0:10:45The scale of it, the architecture, it's an archaeologist's dream site.
0:10:47 > 0:10:52A 5,000-year-old temple at the heart of a sacred landscape
0:10:52 > 0:10:57built out of stone over hundreds of years
0:10:57 > 0:11:00and what is most amazing of all is that the digging
0:11:00 > 0:11:05suggests that this entire complex was abandoned almost overnight.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11So what happens at the end at the Ness of Brodgar?
0:11:11 > 0:11:15Well, certainly it seems as though this huge Structure Ten was
0:11:15 > 0:11:20deliberately decommissioned and they marked the occasion by having
0:11:20 > 0:11:25this ginormous feast with hundreds of cattle,
0:11:25 > 0:11:27and of course we'll never know for sure
0:11:27 > 0:11:31but we can say it probably wasn't climate change.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34So there wasn't a tsunami, there wasn't a catastrophe,
0:11:34 > 0:11:37they weren't invaded by other people.
0:11:37 > 0:11:42I suspect that they had engaged in this sort of spiral
0:11:42 > 0:11:47of increasing investment of effort so that by the time you've
0:11:47 > 0:11:50built Structure Ten and you've built the Ring of Brodgar, you've involved
0:11:50 > 0:11:55probably most of the population of Orkney and how then do you top it?
0:11:55 > 0:11:57So it may well have been a kind of social boom and bust.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59You know, they couldn't trump it,
0:11:59 > 0:12:01so they realised that the number was up.
0:12:01 > 0:12:06But also it's got a much more complicated story because it
0:12:06 > 0:12:10seems as though people were coming from the Stonehenge area,
0:12:10 > 0:12:12almost in a pilgrimage kind of way,
0:12:12 > 0:12:16because you get houses at Durrington Walls near Stonehenge
0:12:16 > 0:12:19that look like the houses at Skara Brae.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21It does seem like a golden age for Orkney doesn't it?
0:12:21 > 0:12:23Oh, absolutely, yes.
0:12:25 > 0:12:305,000 years ago, our ancestors abandoned a cathedral
0:12:30 > 0:12:35erected here in stone and this year's archaeology is also telling
0:12:35 > 0:12:40another story of the shifting power of the gods along the largest
0:12:40 > 0:12:43frontier ever built on our shores.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48One of the most obvious footprints of the Romans in Britain is,
0:12:48 > 0:12:50of course, Hadrian's Wall.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54Stretching from coast to coast, this 75-mile-long wall divided
0:12:54 > 0:12:57the wilds of the north from the Romanised south.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01And dotted along the wall were military garrisons
0:13:01 > 0:13:05where Roman soldiers lived, trained and worshipped.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08Now, recent excavations are changing the way
0:13:08 > 0:13:10we look at religion along the wall.
0:13:10 > 0:13:16In 2011, I visited the very start of a dig at the Roman
0:13:16 > 0:13:19site of Binchester in County Durham.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22The barracks sprung up in the first century AD
0:13:22 > 0:13:26when the Roman army was asserting its power in north-east England.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32The first trenches yielded just animal bone and other refuse
0:13:32 > 0:13:36as the team searched for clues into the everyday lives
0:13:36 > 0:13:37of Roman legionaries.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41Three years on, one of the biggest
0:13:41 > 0:13:45and best preserved Roman barracks in Britain has emerged,
0:13:45 > 0:13:49offering insights into all aspects of Roman occupation.
0:13:52 > 0:13:58I'm standing right in the trench of a Roman communal toilet.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02Going to the toilet was a social activity in the Roman period.
0:14:02 > 0:14:04There would have been a series of perhaps, one, two,
0:14:04 > 0:14:07three, or even four toilet seats next to each other.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10There was a big conduit coming through and when it rained,
0:14:10 > 0:14:12which it does a lot up here in County Durham,
0:14:12 > 0:14:16that water would have flushed everything through
0:14:16 > 0:14:20and kept our latrine block cleansed and Roman Binchester,
0:14:20 > 0:14:24if not sweet-smelling, would have made it a little less unsavoury.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27Near the Roman toilets,
0:14:27 > 0:14:30David and his team dug down seven feet
0:14:30 > 0:14:34to reveal another incredible discovery -
0:14:34 > 0:14:39a Roman bathhouse with plaster still clinging to its walls.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43The end of our fifth week on site and in the last week or so
0:14:43 > 0:14:47we have finished clearing out the interior of what you can see
0:14:47 > 0:14:50is an exceptionally well-preserved Roman bathhouse.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56Behind me here you can see we have the benches and this shows us
0:14:56 > 0:14:59it's probably a Roman changing room.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04Then David and his team make an important discovery,
0:15:04 > 0:15:08one that explains the extraordinary preservation of the bathhouse.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12This is the middle of our final week, week seven at Roman Binchester.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15Beside me is a deep pit.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17It goes down about seven or eight courses
0:15:17 > 0:15:19and you've got a foundation at the bottom.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22That's much, much deeper than we were expecting it to go.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25We always thought the bathhouse survived really well
0:15:25 > 0:15:27because it was partly terraced into the hillside
0:15:27 > 0:15:30and then it got filled in with lots of Roman rubbish.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32What's increasingly clear is the building was
0:15:32 > 0:15:34constructed as a free-standing building
0:15:34 > 0:15:38and then the street levels outside rose up around it and then
0:15:38 > 0:15:42with the rubbish rising up on the inside, the entire thing became
0:15:42 > 0:15:45embedded in Roman archaeology, either side of the walls.
0:15:45 > 0:15:50The whole structure was filled right up to roof height with massive
0:15:50 > 0:15:53quantities of Roman rubbish
0:15:53 > 0:15:55which basically stopped it falling down.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01And buried within this rubbish are precious objects that today
0:16:01 > 0:16:06hold clues for us about religion and worship on these walls.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12This is a silver ring with a tiny gemstone on it
0:16:12 > 0:16:16and on that gemstone is a carved early Christian symbol and this
0:16:16 > 0:16:18is found in the force itself,
0:16:18 > 0:16:20so this has came from one of our barracks.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22Right, so what have we got on there?
0:16:22 > 0:16:24- It's absolutely tiny. - It's absolutely tiny.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28You've got an anchor and suspended from it are a pair of fish.
0:16:28 > 0:16:29In the third and fourth century,
0:16:29 > 0:16:32which is when this probably dates from,
0:16:32 > 0:16:34the cross wasn't yet used as the symbol of Christianity
0:16:34 > 0:16:37so, instead, it was other symbols such as this one.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40That's how we know it belongs to the early Christian faith.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42So what have we got here, what's this?
0:16:42 > 0:16:45This is the carved head of probably a Roman God which
0:16:45 > 0:16:49we found mixed up with all the rubbish in the bathhouse.
0:16:49 > 0:16:50OK, so how old is that, then?
0:16:50 > 0:16:54This is probably second or third century AD and it's beautiful
0:16:54 > 0:16:58because it's got the nice carved hair, kind of classical-style hair,
0:16:58 > 0:17:01but the eyes are very kind of Celtic looking.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05The almond shape kind of reminds me of the kind of art which
0:17:05 > 0:17:07the local indigenous Britons were making.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10We've got the early Roman head there, the late Roman rings,
0:17:10 > 0:17:12so we're spanning, what, three or four centuries
0:17:12 > 0:17:14of religion in this site.
0:17:14 > 0:17:15Yeah, there's a huge amount.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17We've also found altars,
0:17:17 > 0:17:20we've found all sorts of other religious objects and it would
0:17:20 > 0:17:24have permeated their day-to-day existence. So the head, the altars,
0:17:24 > 0:17:26they came from a bathhouse, they don't come from a temple,
0:17:26 > 0:17:29but everywhere the Romans were they are expressing their beliefs.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32And we also, there's a transition, isn't there, to Christianity?
0:17:32 > 0:17:35I mean, the head is, can we call it pagan?
0:17:35 > 0:17:37And then we've got the Christian symbology on the ring.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39Absolutely, Christianity becomes a legal
0:17:39 > 0:17:42religion in the Roman Empire in the fourth century.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45This ring is probably some of the earliest evidence
0:17:45 > 0:17:47we have for Christianity. And it's nice,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50it shows that Binchester had a range of different beliefs
0:17:50 > 0:17:53and that people were probably worshipping pagan gods at the
0:17:53 > 0:17:56same time others were celebrating their Christian belief.
0:18:01 > 0:18:03Almost 100 miles along the wall,
0:18:03 > 0:18:05a team in Maryport has made
0:18:05 > 0:18:07another important discovery
0:18:07 > 0:18:09about shifting religious beliefs
0:18:09 > 0:18:11on the Roman's great frontier.
0:18:18 > 0:18:24So here we are at Maryport on the Cumbrian coast
0:18:24 > 0:18:28and we're about to see the unearthing of a monument that
0:18:28 > 0:18:31was originally carved in the second century when Maryport was
0:18:31 > 0:18:35part of the coastal defences link to Hadrian's wall.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38And you can see there some of my colleagues in action.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40That's the excellent Tony Willmott,
0:18:40 > 0:18:43the site director, one of Britain's...
0:18:43 > 0:18:46That's lovely. What is that? Is that an altar?
0:18:46 > 0:18:48That is indeed an altar.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50It takes your breath away.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54We're going to get this altar out now, see if it's complete.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58I'm going to first of all get these big stones out then John's
0:18:58 > 0:19:01going to dive in and clean it up, so, we'll get cracking.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04And how close was this site to the wall itself?
0:19:04 > 0:19:09Well, Maryport is actually part of the Cumbrian coastal complex,
0:19:09 > 0:19:13so Hadrian actually extends the line of turrets
0:19:13 > 0:19:16and towers along the Cumbrian coast from Hadrian's wall.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20So we're quite a way south of the actual wall.
0:19:22 > 0:19:27- Is it complete?- Yes, it is. - Ooh! Oh, gee!
0:19:31 > 0:19:35And there you can see the text 'IOM' at the top.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38That's something to do with Jupiter, I know that.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40It is indeed, it's 'Jupiter The Best And The Greatest' -
0:19:40 > 0:19:42'Jupiter Optimus Maximus.'
0:19:42 > 0:19:46And below that we can actually see who dedicated it.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50'PRAEF - prefect, commanding officer - VSLM'
0:19:51 > 0:19:57Set it up to fulfil a vow.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00That tells us the name, not only of the unit,
0:20:00 > 0:20:03but of the man, a guy called Attius Tutor.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05And we've actually got three other dedications
0:20:05 > 0:20:07by this guy from Maryport.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11Heave!
0:20:13 > 0:20:15This is the bit where the guys risk a hernia.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17It's a big thing.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19CLAPPING AND CHEERING
0:20:19 > 0:20:21Now all we got to do is get it to the car!
0:20:21 > 0:20:23THEY LAUGH
0:20:23 > 0:20:25You're on your own!
0:20:25 > 0:20:26Worthy of Mr Hutton, isn't it?
0:20:26 > 0:20:29What can I say? Shattered.
0:20:29 > 0:20:30HE LAUGHS
0:20:30 > 0:20:31Yes.
0:20:31 > 0:20:3425 years ago when I started digging at Birdoswald,
0:20:34 > 0:20:36I said if anyone found an inscription
0:20:36 > 0:20:38there was malt whisky in it. John?
0:20:41 > 0:20:44CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:20:46 > 0:20:50That's a fantastic find and the inscription just looks so crisp.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52It does look crisp, doesn't it?
0:20:52 > 0:20:56And that's Cumbrian red sandstone for you.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59In fact, when we look at it very closely, you can see it has
0:20:59 > 0:21:00experienced some weathering.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02How many altars did you find there?
0:21:02 > 0:21:06We're actually nudging the total of known alter fragments from that site
0:21:06 > 0:21:08up to about 22-23 now.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11Right. So why are they buried in the ground, then?
0:21:11 > 0:21:14For a long time the assumption was that as these altars appeared
0:21:14 > 0:21:17so crisp and as there were
0:21:17 > 0:21:20so many that were obviously dedicated in a very short
0:21:20 > 0:21:22space of time in the second century,
0:21:22 > 0:21:25often by the same named individual,
0:21:25 > 0:21:29well, the assumption was that each time a new altar was put up,
0:21:29 > 0:21:32the one that had been dedicated the year before was buried on the spot.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35So it was almost like they were being ritually buried
0:21:35 > 0:21:36to make room for the next one.
0:21:36 > 0:21:37That was the explanation
0:21:37 > 0:21:39but, in fact, the Romans don't do things like that,
0:21:39 > 0:21:41we know now they don't do things like that.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43They were being buried much later.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47They are dug to support a massive timber structure on the site.
0:21:47 > 0:21:48So they were being used as foundations?
0:21:48 > 0:21:52- They were being used for foundations, yes.- So this is fascinating.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55These Roman altars then which obviously had huge ritual
0:21:55 > 0:22:00significance to the people that made them and set them up, are just being
0:22:00 > 0:22:03used as foundation stones,
0:22:03 > 0:22:06- as objects of as no ritual significance, really.- They are.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10Not any more, and Jupiter is no longer the best and the greatest.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14There's a new landscape at Maryport.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19From abandoned Roman temples telling of a death of an empire,
0:22:19 > 0:22:25we travel 160 miles south to find ancestors living in Britain
0:22:25 > 0:22:29just after the end of the Ice Age.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33One of my favourite prehistoric sites has to be Star Carr
0:22:33 > 0:22:34in East Yorkshire.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37We covered this site on a previous series of Digging For Britain
0:22:37 > 0:22:41where I talked to Nicky Milner about the astonishing discoveries that she
0:22:41 > 0:22:42and her team were making.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44Now this year, she's been excavating
0:22:44 > 0:22:46at a nearby site
0:22:46 > 0:22:48called Flixton Island
0:22:48 > 0:22:50and this one goes back even earlier.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53Back beyond 11,000 years ago.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01Day seven and we're really excited because we're right on the edge
0:23:01 > 0:23:02of what would have been the lake
0:23:02 > 0:23:05and we've just started finding some animal bone.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09Well, we've come down to the earliest peat
0:23:09 > 0:23:11and we've come across what looks to be horse bones.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14So we've got a horse pelvis, half of the pelvis,
0:23:14 > 0:23:20and a horse scapula as well, which is really fantastic to see
0:23:20 > 0:23:22the preservation of it, considering how old it is.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28This site dates back almost to the Ice Age.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32Organic finds from this era are practically unheard of
0:23:32 > 0:23:35but Flixton is rewriting the record.
0:23:38 > 0:23:4211,000 years ago this land was an island,
0:23:42 > 0:23:46used by Stone Age hunter-gatherers.
0:23:46 > 0:23:51When the water that surrounded the island drained, the lake bed
0:23:51 > 0:23:55turned to peat, preserving vital clues to this lost world.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04It's day 20 at Flixton Island and I'm sitting in front of something
0:24:04 > 0:24:07very, very exciting indeed.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10These are actually hoof prints which have been
0:24:10 > 0:24:14made in the mud by animals over 11,000 years ago.
0:24:16 > 0:24:18The horses were probably walking along the edge of the lake
0:24:18 > 0:24:20in muddy conditions.
0:24:20 > 0:24:26Soon afterwards, sand and gravel gently washed over the print,
0:24:26 > 0:24:28preserving them in time.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33These are quite small but we know that they are horse hoof prints
0:24:33 > 0:24:36because we've actually found horse hooves in the trench
0:24:36 > 0:24:41and this is half of a horse hoof and if I just put
0:24:41 > 0:24:44that in there you can see that it actually fits beautifully.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48And, Nicky, here are some of these horse bones from Flixton Island.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51- They're incredibly well-preserved aren't they?- They are.
0:24:51 > 0:24:57And we've got a distal phalanx here, the very end of a horse's leg,
0:24:57 > 0:24:59so that's the bone that sits just underneath the hoof,
0:24:59 > 0:25:01as we saw in the film.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04Yes, and that fits nicely into the hoof prints on site.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07They're actually quite small horses, aren't they?
0:25:07 > 0:25:11I mean, I'm looking at these bones and they are from adult horses,
0:25:11 > 0:25:14the ends of the bones are fused to the shaft
0:25:14 > 0:25:18so these aren't juveniles, they're adults, but they're small adults.
0:25:18 > 0:25:23They do seem to be very small and probably more like pony size.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25We've got this jaw as well.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29This is quite small, too, and you can see the teeth in the end here
0:25:29 > 0:25:33and then we've also got a piece of a pelvis, which
0:25:33 > 0:25:38we know is a pelvis because this is the bit where the leg bone fits in.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40Yep, that's the hip socket.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43So these are wild horses on Flixton Island?
0:25:43 > 0:25:48That's right, yes, and they become extinct quite soon after the
0:25:48 > 0:25:50end of this site.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54And what's really incredible is that these are the
0:25:54 > 0:25:57last wild horses that we think we've got in Britain.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59After that they die out.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02We don't have any Mesolithic sites with horses on them.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04And how rare is this site?
0:26:04 > 0:26:06It's incredibly rare,
0:26:06 > 0:26:08we only have about 30 in the whole country, which is a really
0:26:08 > 0:26:12small number if you compare with other sites of different periods
0:26:12 > 0:26:15and most of these sites tend to have lots of flint on them.
0:26:15 > 0:26:20There's only one other site which actually has any bone on it at all
0:26:20 > 0:26:22and so bone from this period is incredibly rare
0:26:22 > 0:26:26and it just gives us more of an insight into the environment
0:26:26 > 0:26:28and what people are doing at this time.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32In fact, it's really, really unique for the whole of Europe.
0:26:32 > 0:26:33It's a very, very important site.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38As the month-long dig nears its end,
0:26:38 > 0:26:40clues about human activity also emerge.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44The team begin to notice that some of the animal skeletons
0:26:44 > 0:26:45have parts missing.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50We've got the middle bit of the spine here and it curves
0:26:50 > 0:26:54round to the lower bit and then this large bit just here is the sacrum
0:26:54 > 0:26:56which is at the bottom of the spine
0:26:56 > 0:26:58and that's where the hips articulate at.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01But what's really interesting is that up here
0:27:01 > 0:27:04these vertebrae would have the ribs attached to them
0:27:04 > 0:27:07but they're not there any more and the sacrum
0:27:07 > 0:27:09would have the pelvis attached but that's not there either.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16The team believe that humans slaughtered this horse
0:27:16 > 0:27:1911,000 years ago on Flixton Island.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25They must have come over in boats to the island
0:27:25 > 0:27:28and killed at least six or seven horses.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32And they seem to have just taken away the really meaty parts.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35It's likely that they were here for a very, very short period of
0:27:35 > 0:27:39time, just enough for this to have happened, because there's no other
0:27:39 > 0:27:41evidence of occupation.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43There's very little flint or anything like that.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47What I love about being an archaeologist is that you
0:27:47 > 0:27:50peel back the layers of soil to reveal a past landscape that
0:27:50 > 0:27:53hasn't been seen for thousands of years.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56This is amazing for us because it's a period of time which
0:27:56 > 0:28:00we know very little about and it gives us a real snapshot
0:28:00 > 0:28:04into how people were living just after the end of the last Ice Age.
0:28:04 > 0:28:09So we do have archaeological artefacts as well from the island.
0:28:09 > 0:28:14We do. This is a long blade and we only have a few of these,
0:28:14 > 0:28:17but this is a typical tool of that period.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19And what would it have been used for?
0:28:19 > 0:28:23Well, we actually know from microscopic analysis exactly
0:28:23 > 0:28:25what this particular blade was used for.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29It was, first of all, this point was used for piercing through the skin
0:28:29 > 0:28:32and cutting through skin.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35This side was used for butchery of meat
0:28:35 > 0:28:40and then right at this bottom end there's polish which shows
0:28:40 > 0:28:46that perhaps someone was holding the blade using a very soft cloth.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50So it's definitely a blade for butchery rather than
0:28:50 > 0:28:54a projectile point for killing an animal?
0:28:54 > 0:28:57Yes, definitely, we have proof it's for butchery.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00Now can you be absolutely sure that the humans are implicated in
0:29:00 > 0:29:02the death of these horses?
0:29:02 > 0:29:05Because couldn't these horses have died naturally and this could
0:29:05 > 0:29:07have just been an item that was dropped
0:29:07 > 0:29:09by someone visiting the island?
0:29:09 > 0:29:13Well, it's very rare, but we do have a few pieces of bone which do
0:29:13 > 0:29:14have butchery evidence on them.
0:29:14 > 0:29:16They've got cut marks, so we are sure
0:29:16 > 0:29:18that they were actually killed by humans.
0:29:18 > 0:29:22So humans killing these wild horses towards the end of the Ice Age,
0:29:22 > 0:29:26do you actually think that humans were instrumental in the local
0:29:26 > 0:29:27extinction of the horses?
0:29:27 > 0:29:30Well, there are two possibilities. Certainly we've got evidence
0:29:30 > 0:29:33here that people are butchering them and butchering large numbers,
0:29:33 > 0:29:37but there's also the question of the change in environment.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41The climate's changing at this time, it goes from after the end
0:29:41 > 0:29:44of the Ice Age, a very open tundra-like landscape
0:29:44 > 0:29:47and then it begins to get very wooded very quickly,
0:29:47 > 0:29:52just within a matter of a couple of hundred years and the horses tend to
0:29:52 > 0:29:54prefer the more open environments.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57So perhaps it was environmental change,
0:29:57 > 0:30:01perhaps it was humans killing them, perhaps it was a bit of both.
0:30:04 > 0:30:09These tiny hoof prints, frozen in time, give us an amazing snapshot
0:30:09 > 0:30:14of the world of our hunter-gatherer forbears as the Ice Age ended.
0:30:14 > 0:30:18But such amazing archaeological discoveries are often under
0:30:18 > 0:30:20threat from erosion.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25Hundreds of ancient monuments are lost before they are ever
0:30:25 > 0:30:28studied or even known about.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31But in Scotland there's a team working to fight the tide
0:30:31 > 0:30:34and record as much information as they can before it's too late.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37The team is the award-winning SCAPE Trust and they've made
0:30:37 > 0:30:41a name for themselves by getting to sites in the nick of time.
0:30:45 > 0:30:50On Sanday in Orkney sits a precarious Bronze Age site
0:30:50 > 0:30:54uncovered by a storm back in 2005.
0:30:57 > 0:31:01It's now in danger of being swallowed by the sea unless
0:31:01 > 0:31:04it can be rescued in time.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08Tom Dawson has a plan to save it.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11The site, unfortunately, is going to be lost to the sea at some point,
0:31:11 > 0:31:12we don't know exactly when,
0:31:12 > 0:31:15but it could be the next big storm which will take it away.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18So by moving the site and reconstructing it, we are
0:31:18 > 0:31:21saving something for people to come and look at, so they can share
0:31:21 > 0:31:24in the exciting discoveries made by the Sanday Archaeology Group.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29The team embarks on a complete excavation,
0:31:29 > 0:31:32recording each detail for further research.
0:31:32 > 0:31:38During this process, one find takes them by complete surprise -
0:31:38 > 0:31:42a Bronze Age well covered by the bank.
0:31:42 > 0:31:44And we've just discovered that at the bottom
0:31:44 > 0:31:48they have actually cut into the bedrock so the material
0:31:48 > 0:31:52you can see there is bedrock and they've made a large hole,
0:31:52 > 0:31:55built walls up on the sides but they've just left the back as
0:31:55 > 0:32:00bedrock and then placed that lintel spanning the two side walls.
0:32:00 > 0:32:05And there is a gap, if I put my hand up between the bedrock
0:32:05 > 0:32:07and the wall,
0:32:07 > 0:32:10and presumably what happens is the water
0:32:10 > 0:32:14would run down the bedrock here and then fill up this chamber.
0:32:16 > 0:32:18This structure is an astonishing addition
0:32:18 > 0:32:21to the already impressive site,
0:32:21 > 0:32:26but being so close to the sea, it has little chance of survival
0:32:26 > 0:32:30so the team carefully dismantles it for the move to the Heritage Centre.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37We've had great support from the local community in Sanday
0:32:37 > 0:32:39who've come out with their JCBs, their tractors and trailers,
0:32:39 > 0:32:41and everyone's mucking in and helping us to move
0:32:41 > 0:32:45the site from here, several miles to the other side of the island.
0:32:54 > 0:32:59The result is that this 3,000-year-old piece of archaeology
0:32:59 > 0:33:03has been saved instead of being lost forever.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08It's been an absolutely fantastic effort and after just
0:33:08 > 0:33:12a couple of weeks, here you can see the site.
0:33:12 > 0:33:13We're hoping that people will come here
0:33:13 > 0:33:16and learn about the site that has been rescued from the sea.
0:33:18 > 0:33:22So that's a lot of work to save one archaeological site.
0:33:22 > 0:33:24How many sites do you have like this across Scotland?
0:33:24 > 0:33:26Well, there are hundreds of sites which are at risk
0:33:26 > 0:33:29and we're working with communities all over the place,
0:33:29 > 0:33:32so although the problem is large, by working with these groups
0:33:32 > 0:33:34at least we're making a small difference.
0:33:36 > 0:33:40SCAPE has also at work in the county of Fyfe, recording artwork
0:33:40 > 0:33:44carved into a series of coastal caves during Pictish times.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47This is Jonathan's Cave over in East Wemyss
0:33:47 > 0:33:50and this is one of six caves that survive.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55These are all very typical Pictish carvings.
0:33:55 > 0:33:57That was a leaping salmon.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59- Not a rocket, then? - That's not a rocket, no!
0:34:01 > 0:34:05And this is a double disk and a trident.
0:34:05 > 0:34:08So if you've got Pictish engravings on the wall,
0:34:08 > 0:34:10when do those date to, do you know?
0:34:10 > 0:34:12Well, they're going to be probably somewhere between the fifth
0:34:12 > 0:34:14and the eighth century AD.
0:34:14 > 0:34:19And this is actually thought to be a Viking boat and this might be
0:34:19 > 0:34:21one of the only representations of a Viking boat in Britain.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23So there are a lot of carvings in this cave.
0:34:23 > 0:34:25There is the largest collection of carvings
0:34:25 > 0:34:27anywhere in the United Kingdom.
0:34:27 > 0:34:30Well, in fact, anywhere in the world.
0:34:30 > 0:34:33And here what we're doing is we're using are both laser scanners
0:34:33 > 0:34:37and photographic techniques to make a 3-D recording both of the caves
0:34:37 > 0:34:39and of the carvings themselves.
0:34:39 > 0:34:41Right, so there will be a permanent record of these
0:34:41 > 0:34:43carvings for all future researchers.
0:34:43 > 0:34:46There will be, and this is the most accurate record
0:34:46 > 0:34:47that has been made to date.
0:34:47 > 0:34:49This is submillimetre accuracy.
0:34:49 > 0:34:50That's fantastic.
0:34:50 > 0:34:54So are these engravings in this cave actually under threat?
0:34:54 > 0:34:57They are, they're under threat from a variety of things.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59There's not only people who go in and occasionally write
0:34:59 > 0:35:01things on the cave walls.
0:35:01 > 0:35:02In the past, somebody set fire
0:35:02 > 0:35:03to a car in the caves
0:35:03 > 0:35:05which caused a collapse, but also
0:35:05 > 0:35:09we have the instability of the rock and also coastal erosion, of course,
0:35:09 > 0:35:12which, there is the danger the sea will enter the caves at some point.
0:35:12 > 0:35:14So it's really important to create this record.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17And I think you've been up in the Outer Hebrides as well, haven't you,
0:35:17 > 0:35:18where the sea really is a problem.
0:35:18 > 0:35:20It really is, yes. We've been up in North Uist,
0:35:20 > 0:35:22over in the Outer Hebrides.
0:35:25 > 0:35:27The site had been reported by local people
0:35:27 > 0:35:28who had been finding wooden objects
0:35:28 > 0:35:31and these have now been dated, thanks to the excavation,
0:35:31 > 0:35:32to the Iron Age.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35Oh, you're right on the beach here.
0:35:35 > 0:35:38And are those little metre square test pits?
0:35:39 > 0:35:41This is an unusual way of digging
0:35:41 > 0:35:43but we were trying to stop the sea from taking everything away...
0:35:43 > 0:35:44SHE GASPS
0:35:44 > 0:35:47So the idea was that we could backfill the test pits.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53This was a problem, the tide was covering the site twice a day
0:35:53 > 0:35:55so we had to work fast.
0:35:57 > 0:35:59So you're basically working at low tide
0:35:59 > 0:36:02- and then you have to just get out at high tide.- That's right.
0:36:02 > 0:36:03- Bail out.- We had to bail out.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07So every day when we came down, the site would look like this.
0:36:07 > 0:36:10Then we'd be bailing the site out and then we could carry on digging.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14But what was frustrating is the speed with which the tide
0:36:14 > 0:36:16could come up. So you might be in the middle of doing your drawing
0:36:16 > 0:36:19and then you'd have to abandon your trench, come back
0:36:19 > 0:36:21the next day and it'd have filled up with sand again.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24- And then clean up again. - Clean up again.
0:36:24 > 0:36:26Have you finished work there or are you going back?
0:36:26 > 0:36:28We're hoping to go back in the future but for the moment...
0:36:28 > 0:36:31We were just trying to work out what might be there.
0:36:31 > 0:36:32I have to say, I love the SCAPE Project.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34You seem to go from strength to strength
0:36:34 > 0:36:36and I do follow you year on year.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39It's wonderful to see archaeologists working so closely with local
0:36:39 > 0:36:44communities and literally saving archaeology from being washed away.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50Rescue archaeology like this often turns up
0:36:50 > 0:36:53astonishing chance discoveries.
0:36:53 > 0:36:58But sometimes it's shear persistence by archaeologists that pays off.
0:37:02 > 0:37:05Researchers in Western Scotland were in their eighth year
0:37:05 > 0:37:08at Ardnamurchan as they set out to examine
0:37:08 > 0:37:12what they thought was a pile of stones in a field.
0:37:12 > 0:37:16They discovered something which had never been found before in
0:37:16 > 0:37:17mainland Britain -
0:37:17 > 0:37:21an intact Viking boat burial and they recorded
0:37:21 > 0:37:25the moment of excavation and we're joined by Hannah Cobb who is one of
0:37:25 > 0:37:28the directors of the excavation out there on the Ardnamurchan peninsula.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31Hannah, talk us through your dig.
0:37:31 > 0:37:35Initially we thought it was perhaps a clearance from farming.
0:37:35 > 0:37:38The moment we took the turf off it was a boat shape
0:37:38 > 0:37:40and we felt nervous.
0:37:40 > 0:37:43We didn't want to say to ourselves, "This is a Viking boat burial."
0:37:43 > 0:37:46But we excavated it very slowly, carefully.
0:37:46 > 0:37:50This is the point where we lifted the axe taking it as carefully
0:37:50 > 0:37:53and getting it in there as securely as possible.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55But everyone was crowed round and everyone was quite
0:37:55 > 0:37:58excited to see, so it was a lovely moment for the team.
0:37:58 > 0:38:00'Well done, guys. That deserves a round of applause.'
0:38:00 > 0:38:02APPLAUSE
0:38:02 > 0:38:04And at that point you knew it was a boat burial
0:38:04 > 0:38:06that you were looking at?
0:38:06 > 0:38:09Yeah, and as we got down through the layers, we began to find
0:38:09 > 0:38:12the artefacts and the fact that it was quite clearly a boat shape.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15They're just wonderful, aren't they? Wow! So there's that axe head.
0:38:15 > 0:38:17There it is, it's amazing
0:38:17 > 0:38:19and it's actually got some of the wood
0:38:19 > 0:38:23from the handle that it would have been on still preserved within it.
0:38:24 > 0:38:26Just tell us about the sword.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29The sword is fantastic, it's actually broken
0:38:29 > 0:38:31but it wasn't broken when it was put into the grave.
0:38:31 > 0:38:33It's broken subsequently
0:38:33 > 0:38:36because of all the things that happen to artefacts
0:38:36 > 0:38:37when they're in the soil,
0:38:37 > 0:38:40but it's made up of some amazing material.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43It's got part of a sheath on it and then on top of that
0:38:43 > 0:38:46it's actually got this textile adhered on the outside
0:38:46 > 0:38:47of it, which is really amazing.
0:38:47 > 0:38:49All the way down there you can see the detail.
0:38:49 > 0:38:53Oh, my goodness, could that be the clothing of the Viking himself then?
0:38:53 > 0:38:55It certainly could and the way it was laid out
0:38:55 > 0:38:58within the burial, it was against the side of the Viking
0:38:58 > 0:39:01so probably pressed against either his clothes
0:39:01 > 0:39:05or her clothes or the material that was wrapped around them in death.
0:39:05 > 0:39:10It was a proper traditional Viking burial, then, inside a boat?
0:39:10 > 0:39:15Yes, and unfortunately in this case, the wood from the boat wasn't
0:39:15 > 0:39:17particularly preserved but all of the rivets of the boat,
0:39:17 > 0:39:21so over 200 rivets from the boat were all preserved.
0:39:21 > 0:39:23Did you have any skeletal remains associated with this?
0:39:23 > 0:39:27Unfortunately, the preservation of the artefact is amazing and
0:39:27 > 0:39:29the preservation of the human remains was very poor
0:39:29 > 0:39:30so we just had two teeth
0:39:30 > 0:39:33but we've been able to get lots of information from the teeth
0:39:33 > 0:39:36because we've been able to do stable isotope analysis of them.
0:39:36 > 0:39:38Oh, brilliant, so if you've done isotope analysis,
0:39:38 > 0:39:40do you know where this person grew up?
0:39:40 > 0:39:42It was somewhere north, further north than here,
0:39:42 > 0:39:44potentially Norway.
0:39:44 > 0:39:46So potentially an actual Viking?
0:39:46 > 0:39:48- Yes, yes, indeed... - From Scandinavia.- Yes.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54But what was it about this site that made the Vikings choose
0:39:54 > 0:39:56to bury their chieftain here?
0:39:58 > 0:40:01The team have been working on this peninsula for eight years now
0:40:01 > 0:40:06and have identified a pattern of burials spanning five millennia.
0:40:07 > 0:40:11First, they excavated a Neolithic chambered cairn,
0:40:11 > 0:40:15then they found evidence of a Bronze Age cist.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18They believe the Vikings chose to be associated
0:40:18 > 0:40:20with these ancient burial sites.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27As well as excavating the Viking boat burial, the team are also
0:40:27 > 0:40:31investigating the cairn and the Bronze Age cist.
0:40:35 > 0:40:37It's day one on the Ardnamurchan Transitions Project
0:40:37 > 0:40:42and we're doing an amazing job at deturfing an enormous trench
0:40:42 > 0:40:45and who knows what it's going to be.
0:40:45 > 0:40:48There's bits coming out that might look a bit curby,
0:40:48 > 0:40:51there's bits coming out that look like cairn material,
0:40:51 > 0:40:55that's what we're expecting, but when it's from, who knows?
0:40:55 > 0:40:57The piled rocks of the Neolithic cairn
0:40:57 > 0:40:59are familiar to the archaeologists,
0:40:59 > 0:41:04but the Bronze Age cist contains something very surprising.
0:41:04 > 0:41:06Crawling into the excavation tent.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08What we've got here, essentially,
0:41:08 > 0:41:11- we've got a long bone coming up there.- Wow.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13Another bone coming down there
0:41:13 > 0:41:15so we think that's... Foot's not really coming up
0:41:15 > 0:41:17so it might have just deteriorated.
0:41:17 > 0:41:19There's actually a knee up here, we think,
0:41:19 > 0:41:22and that mushy stuff that's kind of broken off a bit,
0:41:22 > 0:41:25probably the pelvis and the skull fragments are coming up somewhere
0:41:25 > 0:41:27in here so it's kind of...
0:41:27 > 0:41:30- So foetal, almost? - Yeah, kind of foetal.
0:41:30 > 0:41:31Wow.
0:41:33 > 0:41:37Individual crouch burials in stone-lined cists
0:41:37 > 0:41:39were common in the Bronze Age.
0:41:40 > 0:41:42But after further examination,
0:41:42 > 0:41:47the researchers conclude that this cist contains the remains
0:41:47 > 0:41:52of at least two people, and this is very rare.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57The Viking boat burial, the Bronze Age cist
0:41:57 > 0:42:01right next to a Neolithic burial chamber
0:42:01 > 0:42:03means people have been bringing their dead to this bay
0:42:03 > 0:42:05for over five millennia.
0:42:12 > 0:42:17It's incredible to think of that being a cemetery site for that long.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20Yeah, it was obviously a really special landscape where people were
0:42:20 > 0:42:24burying their dead for a really long period of time.
0:42:24 > 0:42:26And I think the fact that the Neolithic tomb was built there and
0:42:26 > 0:42:30was obviously very visible within the landscape was something that
0:42:30 > 0:42:33then attracted people to come back again and again to the monument.
0:42:33 > 0:42:35And just picking up on that Bronze Age cist,
0:42:35 > 0:42:38the thing that really intrigued me from the video was that you
0:42:38 > 0:42:41found two burials in that cist. That is unusual, isn't it?
0:42:41 > 0:42:43It is, it's a very unusual thing.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46Traditionally, Bronze Age tombs,
0:42:46 > 0:42:49Bronze Age cists would have a single individual
0:42:49 > 0:42:53and this wasn't just two people crouched as you would also expect
0:42:53 > 0:42:57in a Bronze Age but it was sort of disarticulated human remains,
0:42:57 > 0:42:59so bits of bodies mixed up.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02Potentially, people were recalling the practices that
0:43:02 > 0:43:04had occurred at this Neolithic tomb.
0:43:04 > 0:43:07Potentially, this was just the way that they venerated their dead here.
0:43:08 > 0:43:14Digs like Ardnamurchan tell us of long spans of ancient time
0:43:14 > 0:43:16with changing burial rituals.
0:43:16 > 0:43:21But sometimes archaeology and British history collide
0:43:21 > 0:43:25to paint a vivid snapshot of a single event.
0:43:26 > 0:43:30In the 15th century, the aristocracy, people like Richard III
0:43:30 > 0:43:34and his noblemen, threw lavish feasts and banquets complete
0:43:34 > 0:43:41with grand entertainment, music, games and lots and lots of drinking.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45A dig in North Yorkshire has uncovered a feasting hall
0:43:45 > 0:43:50from this period with evidence of revelry on an epic scale.
0:43:50 > 0:43:53But they've also discovered how one night
0:43:53 > 0:43:57the feasting and laughter came to a very abrupt end.
0:44:02 > 0:44:06For the last five years, a team of volunteers has been digging
0:44:06 > 0:44:08on the former estate of Sir John Conyers,
0:44:08 > 0:44:11a 15th century nobleman.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13Every day, the diggers
0:44:13 > 0:44:15find new treasures
0:44:15 > 0:44:16amongst the rubble.
0:44:16 > 0:44:19The site has kept the team busy, logging artefacts
0:44:19 > 0:44:22pulled from the ruins of this aristocratic banqueting hall.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31You found it. Well done!
0:44:33 > 0:44:35It's part of a latch, either from a door
0:44:35 > 0:44:37or from a big piece of furniture, like a chest.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46This medieval hall was massive,
0:44:46 > 0:44:49it could hold upwards of 1,000 people,
0:44:49 > 0:44:52and in this hall the powerful and influential met,
0:44:52 > 0:44:54the movers and shakers of the day.
0:44:54 > 0:44:57It was here that Conyers rubbed shoulders with King Edward IV
0:44:57 > 0:45:00and Richard III.
0:45:00 > 0:45:06This is a site where the important decisions on political power
0:45:06 > 0:45:08in England in the mid-15th century,
0:45:08 > 0:45:10the 1460s, the 1470s, are made.
0:45:13 > 0:45:17The hall reflected Conyers' high social standing.
0:45:19 > 0:45:23And as the team dig further, they find artefacts left over
0:45:23 > 0:45:26from the lavish banquets that were thrown here.
0:45:26 > 0:45:29Here we go, thank you.
0:45:29 > 0:45:33It appears to be part of a serving dish,
0:45:33 > 0:45:36either a meat pan or what's known as a dripping pan which was used
0:45:36 > 0:45:40to serve sizzling meat dishes at the table.
0:45:40 > 0:45:45We've got a bit of food bone. By the size of it, it is a hunted species.
0:45:45 > 0:45:49We found a lot of evidence of people eating venison and boar
0:45:49 > 0:45:51but sometimes other exotic species.
0:45:51 > 0:45:56Being able to afford to eat exotic foods such as crane,
0:45:56 > 0:46:00peacock or beaver was certainly a sign of high status.
0:46:00 > 0:46:04But it wasn't just the food that was posh.
0:46:04 > 0:46:10This is the handle of a one-gallon wine jug.
0:46:12 > 0:46:16These would have been on the table to serve a half-pint drinking jug,
0:46:16 > 0:46:17usually of red wine,
0:46:17 > 0:46:21probably originating in the Bordeaux region of Southern France.
0:46:25 > 0:46:30These feasts were integral to maintaining power and influence.
0:46:31 > 0:46:35But for the Conyers, their influence would not last.
0:46:36 > 0:46:42In 1485, Henry Tudor defeated Richard III, seizing the Crown.
0:46:42 > 0:46:46So John Conyers went from being an ally of the king
0:46:46 > 0:46:48to being a real threat.
0:46:52 > 0:46:56- Erik, what on earth happened to this feasting hall?- It was attacked.
0:46:56 > 0:46:59A force, we believe acting on the orders of the Tudor
0:46:59 > 0:47:02government was sat the north-west of the building
0:47:02 > 0:47:06and they attacked it with cannon.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09This is a piece of a cannonball.
0:47:09 > 0:47:12So this is a cannon ball, you can be sure of that?
0:47:12 > 0:47:13Oh, we certainly can.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16You have a series of striations along the leading edge of it
0:47:16 > 0:47:20caused by it being fired and going through the barrel of the gun.
0:47:20 > 0:47:22So is that shattered on impact?
0:47:22 > 0:47:27It did, it was fired into the building and it shattered,
0:47:27 > 0:47:28bits flying everywhere.
0:47:28 > 0:47:30There are probably other bits lying in there
0:47:30 > 0:47:31that we've not been able to identify.
0:47:31 > 0:47:34Probably started the fire that destroyed the building
0:47:34 > 0:47:37and the collapse event that succeeded the fire causing
0:47:37 > 0:47:40the vast area of rubble that we found.
0:47:40 > 0:47:44So what exactly had Conyers done to annoy the Tudors?
0:47:44 > 0:47:48He was intimately associated with the previous regime.
0:47:48 > 0:47:50He carried the sceptre at Richard III's coronation,
0:47:50 > 0:47:54he was made a Knight of the Garter by King Richard III.
0:47:54 > 0:47:58He is alleged in 1487 to have been conspiring with
0:47:58 > 0:48:01King James III of Scotland to place the Earl of Warwick,
0:48:01 > 0:48:04who was in prison in the Tower of London, on the throne
0:48:04 > 0:48:05in place of Henry Tudor.
0:48:05 > 0:48:07So essentially he was on the wrong side.
0:48:07 > 0:48:09He was most definitely on the wrong side.
0:48:09 > 0:48:11And what about this pottery, then?
0:48:11 > 0:48:12Is this high-status pottery?
0:48:12 > 0:48:14It is very high-status pottery.
0:48:14 > 0:48:18It was imported from Flanders, from Belgium
0:48:18 > 0:48:21and would have been displayed prominently at the high table
0:48:21 > 0:48:24and on the buffet that would have adjoined it.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27So this little piece of pot, what would that have been part of?
0:48:27 > 0:48:29It's a half-pint wine jug.
0:48:29 > 0:48:31You can imagine the consequences
0:48:31 > 0:48:33of drinking half pints of red wine on a regular basis.
0:48:33 > 0:48:39We found evidence in the form of dislodged healthy human front teeth.
0:48:39 > 0:48:45And other stranger things like severed digits from statues.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47We have three severed fingers from statues.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50- So these feasts could be quite rowdy affairs, then?- Oh, yes.
0:48:50 > 0:48:51Beautiful pottery, though.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54It is, it's a type of pottery called lusterware that was very
0:48:54 > 0:48:58popular in the mid to late 15th century.
0:48:58 > 0:48:59And it's still lustrous as well.
0:48:59 > 0:49:01- I like that.- It is indeed, yes.
0:49:01 > 0:49:06So we've got this family led by Conyers himself who were very
0:49:06 > 0:49:08influential, very wealthy,
0:49:08 > 0:49:10and we're seeing a snapshot, really, of them
0:49:10 > 0:49:13presumably at the height of that wealth and influence.
0:49:13 > 0:49:15What happens after this?
0:49:15 > 0:49:21The family's influence and power declines after 1513.
0:49:21 > 0:49:26It just disappears by 1518. They've declined into obscurity.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29Conyers' downfall is documented by history
0:49:29 > 0:49:32and the destruction of his hall by archaeology.
0:49:32 > 0:49:38But what happens when an entire population disappears without trace?
0:49:38 > 0:49:42Mysterious tribes ruled Dark Age Scotland.
0:49:42 > 0:49:46The Romans called them the Picti, or painted ones.
0:49:46 > 0:49:51But the Picts themselves left no written records and at the end
0:49:51 > 0:49:57of the first millennium AD, they seem to vanish almost overnight.
0:49:57 > 0:50:00So we actually know very little about them
0:50:00 > 0:50:06which means every dig, every find, is all the more important, providing
0:50:06 > 0:50:09us with clues that we can piece together
0:50:09 > 0:50:12to tell us who the Picts really were.
0:50:14 > 0:50:18In the small Scottish village of Rhynie, Pictish fever has
0:50:18 > 0:50:22gripped the locals as archaeologist Gordon Noble descends
0:50:22 > 0:50:28with his team, hoping to uncover evidence of a Pictish royal site.
0:50:28 > 0:50:32And the place name, as well, seems to derive from 'Rhy' for king
0:50:32 > 0:50:35and perhaps means something like 'a very royal place'
0:50:35 > 0:50:38or 'place of a very powerful king'.
0:50:40 > 0:50:46He's convinced that this is a royal site because since the 19th century,
0:50:46 > 0:50:49Pictish symbol stones have been discovered in the village.
0:50:51 > 0:50:56The most iconic of which is the Rhynie Man found in 1978.
0:50:58 > 0:51:02It's day one at Rhynie, so we're almost the end of the day.
0:51:02 > 0:51:06We're just starting to uncover our first test pits,
0:51:06 > 0:51:08the layers inside those test pits,
0:51:08 > 0:51:13and starting to find elements of the earlier village here.
0:51:16 > 0:51:19The Picts were a tribe of people living in the late Iron Age
0:51:19 > 0:51:21and early medieval periods,
0:51:21 > 0:51:25before they apparently mysteriously vanished.
0:51:25 > 0:51:27They were known to be fearsome warriors
0:51:27 > 0:51:30and even defeated the Romans in the far north.
0:51:30 > 0:51:34But today, they are proving illusive to Gordon and his team.
0:51:36 > 0:51:39The previous three days we've been working in the village square
0:51:39 > 0:51:42which is over in this direction here.
0:51:42 > 0:51:46We've really only found 19th-century material in the square so far
0:51:46 > 0:51:52so we've moved this way southwards to the south edge of the village
0:51:52 > 0:51:55to try and look at areas where
0:51:55 > 0:51:58two of the symbol stones from Rhynie came from.
0:51:58 > 0:52:04We're doing a slightly larger test pit than we done before.
0:52:04 > 0:52:08Gordon has been leading digs at Rhynie for the last three years
0:52:08 > 0:52:12and as the project expands he's carving up more and more
0:52:12 > 0:52:16of the village as they hunt for the enigmatic Picts.
0:52:16 > 0:52:19He's confident all this work will eventually pay off,
0:52:19 > 0:52:23because in 2012 the team found something spectacular,
0:52:23 > 0:52:26so small, they nearly missed it.
0:52:27 > 0:52:29And so what's this here? It looks like a little axe.
0:52:29 > 0:52:32This is one of the really fascinating aspects of the site
0:52:32 > 0:52:34is that we're starting to find objects
0:52:34 > 0:52:37represented on the Pictish stones.
0:52:37 > 0:52:41We have this really delicate little iron object here which is
0:52:41 > 0:52:46an axe pin or pendant, very much like the axe the Rhynie Man carries.
0:52:46 > 0:52:50And you can see here incredible metalworking skills
0:52:50 > 0:52:53because at this period you can't cast iron, you have to forge it.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57So incredible skill and patience needed to require...
0:52:57 > 0:52:59To make this object here.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02So ironworking was really important to the society, then.
0:53:02 > 0:53:05Yes, metalworking is key to this period, really.
0:53:05 > 0:53:08It's the emergence of the first kingdoms in northern Britain
0:53:08 > 0:53:10in this period
0:53:10 > 0:53:13and metalworking really underpins that more hierarchical
0:53:13 > 0:53:15organisation of society.
0:53:15 > 0:53:19So it's a non-monetary economy but these objects almost acting as
0:53:19 > 0:53:24money, underlining that relationship between the king and his followers.
0:53:24 > 0:53:28Well, the king and his followers are still nowhere to be found
0:53:28 > 0:53:32in this year's dig as Gordon closes in on the very spot
0:53:32 > 0:53:37where the first symbol stones were found back in the 1830s.
0:53:37 > 0:53:41This is the nearest spot that we can identify where the symbol
0:53:41 > 0:53:43stones where marked on the first edition map.
0:53:43 > 0:53:48And when they were found, this appears to have been open fields
0:53:48 > 0:53:52but, obviously, now we're in the back garden of a house
0:53:52 > 0:53:53on my right-hand side here.
0:53:53 > 0:53:57So we've opened a trench to see if we can identify any features.
0:53:57 > 0:54:01Finally, in the last moments of the dig
0:54:01 > 0:54:03a strange ruin emerges.
0:54:03 > 0:54:05But is it Pictish?
0:54:06 > 0:54:10It looks like a sub-rectangular building of some description.
0:54:10 > 0:54:14Within the structure here we've got a post hole or a pit
0:54:14 > 0:54:16in the centre there
0:54:16 > 0:54:19and this is something we'll hopefully explore in future years.
0:54:19 > 0:54:23What is the extent of this structure? What date is it?
0:54:23 > 0:54:26Is it related to the Pictish activities in this landscape
0:54:26 > 0:54:29or is it something much later?
0:54:31 > 0:54:35In the end, this season at Rhynie has added little
0:54:35 > 0:54:37to our meagre Pictish records,
0:54:37 > 0:54:40but on another nearby dig this year,
0:54:40 > 0:54:44Gordon unearthed one of the richest hoards of Pictish treasure
0:54:44 > 0:54:47ever found, revealing some of the secrets
0:54:47 > 0:54:49of their metalworkers' craft.
0:54:50 > 0:54:54Now spread out before me is this astonishing Pictish hoard,
0:54:54 > 0:54:56most of it freshly out of the ground.
0:54:56 > 0:54:58First of all, how did you find this hoard?
0:54:58 > 0:55:03The site itself was where two stone circles were located
0:55:03 > 0:55:08and in the 1830s the landowners decided to improve the field.
0:55:08 > 0:55:12So they removed the stone circles, blew up some of the standing stones
0:55:12 > 0:55:15and in the process of clearing that site away
0:55:15 > 0:55:20they found fragments of silver. But we went back to the site really
0:55:20 > 0:55:23just to try and see if we could find out more
0:55:23 > 0:55:25about the context of this find.
0:55:25 > 0:55:28And we didn't really expect to find any more silver,
0:55:28 > 0:55:30but within a few days we began to uncover
0:55:30 > 0:55:32some of these amazing artefacts.
0:55:32 > 0:55:34- You actually found more of the hoard.- Yeah.
0:55:34 > 0:55:37So what have we got here, these are Roman coins, are they?
0:55:37 > 0:55:41Some of the earliest things that we were finding were these late
0:55:41 > 0:55:42Roman coins here.
0:55:42 > 0:55:47So these had been minted in the last couple of decades
0:55:47 > 0:55:49of the fourth century.
0:55:49 > 0:55:51And they are then circulating around Britain in the fifth century.
0:55:51 > 0:55:54And they look as though the edges have been clipped off.
0:55:54 > 0:55:58Yeah, they clipped the edges off because the Picts are recycling
0:55:58 > 0:56:01the silver that's left behind after the Romans leave.
0:56:01 > 0:56:06And eventually the coins become tiny as they clip all of the edges off
0:56:06 > 0:56:10and at this point they are probably just worth their bullion in weight.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13They're moving out of a coin-using economy
0:56:13 > 0:56:15and into bullion based economy.
0:56:15 > 0:56:19So the material, the silver, is what becomes important.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22It tells us that they are appropriating material
0:56:22 > 0:56:25from Roman Britain, reusing it,
0:56:25 > 0:56:27making it into new objects of their own
0:56:27 > 0:56:31and they give us the sort of starting point for this accumulation
0:56:31 > 0:56:33of material coming together.
0:56:33 > 0:56:38So we can date it roughly between 450 and, say, 600.
0:56:38 > 0:56:40So who were the Picts, then?
0:56:40 > 0:56:43Because, obviously, they were here in the north
0:56:43 > 0:56:45before the Romans arrived.
0:56:45 > 0:56:49Presumably they were still here during the Roman period,
0:56:49 > 0:56:52and then there seems to be some kind of resurgence after the Romans go.
0:56:52 > 0:56:57Well, they were first mentioned in late Roman sources as these
0:56:57 > 0:56:59troublesome tribal groupings
0:56:59 > 0:57:01and after the Romans withdrawal from Britain, they seem
0:57:01 > 0:57:05to merge as the most powerful kingdoms in northern Britain.
0:57:05 > 0:57:09And they're best known for these mysterious symbols.
0:57:09 > 0:57:12The types of symbols that are on the plaque there
0:57:12 > 0:57:16have been carved into stone monuments all over northern and
0:57:16 > 0:57:20eastern Scotland and this is what we really associate with the Picts.
0:57:22 > 0:57:26Pictish finery revealing the secrets of vanished master
0:57:26 > 0:57:28metalworkers...
0:57:29 > 0:57:32Hoof prints that led us to Ice Age butchers...
0:57:34 > 0:57:38And temples to Roman gods fallen from grace.
0:57:40 > 0:57:43Matt, we've seen a fantastic range of archaeology
0:57:43 > 0:57:45from the north of Britain.
0:57:45 > 0:57:46What really stood out for you?
0:57:46 > 0:57:47The Ness of Brodgar,
0:57:47 > 0:57:51that huge Neolithic ritual building. Absolutely incredible.
0:57:51 > 0:57:54That's wonderful. I loved the Pictish hoard.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57I mean the beautiful artwork, absolutely stunning,
0:57:57 > 0:58:01but also the Viking boat burial from the Ardnamurchan peninsula
0:58:01 > 0:58:03and that fantastic sword.
0:58:03 > 0:58:04Really, really, stunning stuff.
0:58:04 > 0:58:08Well, it has been a fantastic year, so good luck to all
0:58:08 > 0:58:11our archaeologists in the north as they continue digging for Britain.
0:58:11 > 0:58:13It's good night from him.
0:58:13 > 0:58:15And it's good night from her.