0:00:02 > 0:00:05We may be a small island, but we have a rich and complex history
0:00:05 > 0:00:08that's still full of mysteries.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12So, every year, hundreds of archaeologists
0:00:12 > 0:00:16go out hunting for lost pieces from our missing past.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19Tiny, tiny coin.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22Every element is there.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24This is just unbelievable.
0:00:24 > 0:00:29In 2017, their investigations continue to fill in the gaps...
0:00:31 > 0:00:33Oh, man! Wow!
0:00:33 > 0:00:36..bringing us closer to our ancestors than ever before.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40What do you think of that, Roy?
0:00:40 > 0:00:44In this programme, we showcase the best digs from the west of the UK.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47Oh, wow.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49That's rather lovely.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52Each of the excavations has been filmed as it happened
0:00:52 > 0:00:55by the archaeologists themselves.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59Their dig diaries mean that we can be there
0:00:59 > 0:01:01for each exciting moment of discovery.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05- Excalibur.- How does that feel, Rupert?- Yeah, really good.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10And now the archaeologists are bringing their finds, from pottery
0:01:10 > 0:01:14to metalwork to human remains, into our lab so we can take a closer look
0:01:14 > 0:01:19at them and find out what they tell us about our British ancestors.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24Welcome to Digging for Britain.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37In this programme, I'm joining archaeologists in the west
0:01:37 > 0:01:39to share their biggest discoveries.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43Near Stonehenge, a lost prehistoric monument
0:01:43 > 0:01:46is transforming our understanding of Stone Age Britain.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50- I mean, it looks like writing. - It does.- It's amazing.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55In Staffordshire, an incredible hoard of 2,500-year-old gold...
0:01:55 > 0:01:57It's a find of a lifetime, isn't it?
0:01:57 > 0:02:01..reveals our Iron Age ancestors' surprisingly continental tastes
0:02:01 > 0:02:02in jewellery.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05That is absolutely beautiful.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08In Repton, we come face-to-face with Vikings
0:02:08 > 0:02:10and discover some surprising new information
0:02:10 > 0:02:13about their bloodthirsty invasion of Britain.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17- Are they female warriors? - They could be.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27I've come to Taunton, to the Museum of Somerset,
0:02:27 > 0:02:31to find out how the artefacts in this collection can help us
0:02:31 > 0:02:35broaden out those stories of our new discoveries from the west.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40Our first dig takes us to Avebury,
0:02:40 > 0:02:44deep in the heart of our most treasured prehistoric landscape.
0:02:45 > 0:02:47Over 5,000 years old,
0:02:47 > 0:02:50Avebury has the largest stone circle in the world,
0:02:50 > 0:02:54measuring more than a kilometre in circumference.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58It's part of a vast network of prehistoric burial mounds
0:02:58 > 0:03:02and monuments, including the world-famous Stonehenge.
0:03:03 > 0:03:07We used to think that this was just a landscape of sacred sites
0:03:07 > 0:03:09but now we're challenging that.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15For centuries, investigators have been exploring
0:03:15 > 0:03:19the sacred landscape of Avebury, romancing the stones,
0:03:19 > 0:03:23painting this picture of a landscape that was almost devoid of life,
0:03:23 > 0:03:27but visited when people came to worship or to bury their dead there.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31But archaeologists are now interested in looking at
0:03:31 > 0:03:37that landscape not only as a sacred space but as a lived in place.
0:03:38 > 0:03:43If they can prove that Avebury wasn't just a dead ritual landscape
0:03:43 > 0:03:47but that prehistoric people actually lived in and around the stones,
0:03:47 > 0:03:51they will transform our picture of Stone Age Britain.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56So, teams from Leicester and Southampton universities
0:03:56 > 0:03:58have joined forces with the National Trust
0:03:58 > 0:04:00and are focusing on two spots,
0:04:00 > 0:04:04exploring in the fields that surround the stones
0:04:04 > 0:04:08and within the very centre of the circle itself.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12Avebury Stone Circle is too precious to dig,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15so they're using modern surveying equipment to investigate
0:04:15 > 0:04:17without causing any damage.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21But in the field overlooking the monument,
0:04:21 > 0:04:25the team have been granted privileged permission to excavate.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27OK, well, here we are, day one,
0:04:27 > 0:04:31we're in the process of beginning the excavation.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34It's a site that was first discovered in the 1920s
0:04:34 > 0:04:37and at the time it produced a very rich collection
0:04:37 > 0:04:40of both early and middle Neolithic flint work.
0:04:40 > 0:04:44These ancient flints are an intriguing clue
0:04:44 > 0:04:47that prehistoric people were actively present in the fields
0:04:47 > 0:04:49surrounding the stones.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52But are these tools that have simply been dropped
0:04:52 > 0:04:54by people passing through,
0:04:54 > 0:04:56or were those people more permanently settled here?
0:04:56 > 0:04:59To find out, the team is examining every inch of ground
0:04:59 > 0:05:02for evidence of Stone Age flint working.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05One of the issue is the fact that it's not always easy,
0:05:05 > 0:05:07especially when you're digging,
0:05:07 > 0:05:10to recognise what's worked and what's not worked.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13So the basic policy is for people to keep everything
0:05:13 > 0:05:16that they think might be worked
0:05:16 > 0:05:19and then afterwards we can just, sort of, go through the trays
0:05:19 > 0:05:22and root out anything that isn't.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24And with expert eagle eyes,
0:05:24 > 0:05:27the careful scrutiny soon begins to pay off.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32We've found a lovely piece of middle Neolithic Peterborough ware.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35It's from the body of the pot and it's got markings on it
0:05:35 > 0:05:39where people have used their fingernails to indent a pattern.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41- It's very exciting.- It's good.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43Over 5,000 years old,
0:05:43 > 0:05:46this pottery confirms that Stone Age people
0:05:46 > 0:05:49were active in these fields during the lifetime of the monument.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52And within the circle itself,
0:05:52 > 0:05:56the team's survey has produced even more extraordinary results.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00It's revealed a series of giant stones
0:06:00 > 0:06:03that once made up a square in the middle of the circle.
0:06:03 > 0:06:08And at its centre, what appears to be the remains of a house.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12This incredible revelation suggests that people might have been living
0:06:12 > 0:06:14inside the circle.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17But were they also living in the surrounding fields?
0:06:19 > 0:06:22- You've just found a nice scraper there, haven't you?- Yeah.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26This one's been retouched all the way around its circumference.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29- So it's the first one we've found on the site.- Yes.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33The scraper on its own isn't evidence of occupation
0:06:33 > 0:06:36but each tool that's discovered adds to the picture
0:06:36 > 0:06:39that's emerging of a busy Stone Age landscape.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45- It is one of the ugliest barbed and tanged heads I've found.- Good grief.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48- Sort of apprentice level. - Yes.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52- I mean, that could have been made by a kid, couldn't it?- It could.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56It suggests that whoever made this was basically still learning
0:06:56 > 0:06:58how to knap flint properly.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01And it's quite nice to find that kind of evidence
0:07:01 > 0:07:04of different skill sets - just makes it a bit more human.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08These tools give insight into day-to-day prehistoric life
0:07:08 > 0:07:11but the team then makes an even bigger breakthrough,
0:07:11 > 0:07:16finding evidence that this was much more than just a Stone Age workshop.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19In front of me we have a small pit.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23Within it, so far we've found pieces of cattle bone,
0:07:23 > 0:07:25charcoal and hazelnut shells.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29The sorts of things you could imagine people cracking open
0:07:29 > 0:07:32and eating the nuts and then tossing the shells on to the fire.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37The team has uncovered several of these pits across the site
0:07:37 > 0:07:40and for Josh the evidence is mounting up
0:07:40 > 0:07:44that our ancestors weren't just working, but living here.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48And the final pit turns up one of the most exciting clues yet.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52Is it a quern-stone? And the answer is yes.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54CHEERING
0:07:54 > 0:07:56In the Neolithic, our ancestors made the transition
0:07:56 > 0:07:59from being hunter gatherers to settled farmers
0:07:59 > 0:08:02and they used quern-stones to grind cereals.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06For the archaeologists, it's further evidence that people were living
0:08:06 > 0:08:09and working in the shadow of Avebury.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13This dig has produced some incredible finds.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17But how does it transform our picture of this iconic monument
0:08:17 > 0:08:20and the surrounding prehistoric landscape?
0:08:21 > 0:08:24I've invited site directors Mark Gillings and Josh Pollard
0:08:24 > 0:08:26into the lab to find out.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30And, first, I want to know more about that astonishing house.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33The really exciting thing was the discovery
0:08:33 > 0:08:36- in the middle of the circle here. - Yeah.- This is extraordinary.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40- The house is that little beastie behind the obelisk.- Oh, right.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43So we've got the obelisk, seven metres long,
0:08:43 > 0:08:46so would have stood to about six metres high.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49So they're putting this whopping great stone in there.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53Then we have a square of substantial standing stones,
0:08:53 > 0:08:5730 metres in diameter, centred on the house.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01So they're basically echoing the house on a colossal scale.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04- Huge, monumental scale. - So this is not a roof structure?
0:09:04 > 0:09:07- No, no. This is a square circle.- Ah.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09- If that makes any sense whatsoever. - Mark!
0:09:09 > 0:09:12Suggestions on a postcard...
0:09:12 > 0:09:14- Or on a sqircle...- On a squircle.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17Apparently you can get cream from Boots for that.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21So you've got a square around the site of a former house
0:09:21 > 0:09:24but elaborating it, enhancing it, you know,
0:09:24 > 0:09:26monumentalising it, if you like.
0:09:26 > 0:09:31Then we've got a huge stone circle surrounding the square
0:09:31 > 0:09:32and the house.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34The geometric centre of that circle
0:09:34 > 0:09:37is slap bang in the middle of the house.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40So does this building in the centre predate the actual stone circle?
0:09:40 > 0:09:42- Yeah.- Yeah?- No, absolutely.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46It gives us an insight into the origins of the henge itself.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50The discovery of this early house is an important revelation.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54But, incredibly, the dig has revealed that the surrounding area
0:09:54 > 0:09:56was also densely populated.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59There are a good number of tools that we came across,
0:09:59 > 0:10:04including these nice early Bronze Age barbed and tanged arrowheads.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07- They are lovely.- Which is an amazing piece of flint work.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09So when does that date, do you think?
0:10:09 > 0:10:14Erm... somewhere between about 2400BC to 1800BC.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18Yeah. I mean, I must say, looking at the film of you on-site,
0:10:18 > 0:10:22you know, Josh, when you're standing there with that tray
0:10:22 > 0:10:25and sorting through those flints, flinging one out,
0:10:25 > 0:10:28but what painstaking work.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32- It's not easy to throw them quite so...- No.- Boldly.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34LAUGHTER
0:10:34 > 0:10:36- It comes with years of practice. - Yeah.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40We were quite surprised, actually, by the results because we knew
0:10:40 > 0:10:43that there was a flint scatter there from the 1920s work.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45We'd done a little bit of field walking.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48But what we found was that the scatter was continuing,
0:10:48 > 0:10:50it's a much bigger scale than we imagined.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53It's a place repeatedly visited probably from the late Mesolithic
0:10:53 > 0:10:55right through into the early Bronze Age.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59There's evidence of people living there for periods time as well.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02It's a much busier kind of dynamic and alive landscape.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04These could be places which were just as significant,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07just as laden with history and associations,
0:11:07 > 0:11:09as many of the big monuments.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13The Avebury project is helping to transform the story
0:11:13 > 0:11:16of one of our most famous prehistoric monuments
0:11:16 > 0:11:19and perhaps it should make us think differently
0:11:19 > 0:11:21about Stonehenge as well.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25Archaeologists are now revealing that Britain's ancient monuments
0:11:25 > 0:11:27weren't empty and hushed sanctuaries,
0:11:27 > 0:11:30but bustling places full of people.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36Our next dig takes us to Repton in Derbyshire.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40Today, Repton is a small, sleepy village,
0:11:40 > 0:11:43but 1,200 years ago it was the capital of Murcia,
0:11:43 > 0:11:46a powerful Anglo-Saxon kingdom.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49Legendarily, Repton played a key role
0:11:49 > 0:11:52in one of the most tumultuous events in our island's history,
0:11:52 > 0:11:54the Viking invasion.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59In the 8th and 9th centuries,
0:11:59 > 0:12:03the Vikings gained a fearsome reputation as warriors
0:12:03 > 0:12:05that made annual visits to British shores
0:12:05 > 0:12:09to rape, pillage and plunder before returning home.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11But in 873, so the legend goes,
0:12:11 > 0:12:15they upped their game and this time they intended to stay.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19They beat the opposition at Repton and camped there for the winter,
0:12:19 > 0:12:23intent on continuing their attempted conquest the following year.
0:12:25 > 0:12:29A good story but the only records we have of this invasion
0:12:29 > 0:12:32were written down 300 years later
0:12:32 > 0:12:34in the Icelandic Sagas -
0:12:34 > 0:12:38less historical accounts, more like swashbuckling tales.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42But now a team of archaeologists from Bristol University
0:12:42 > 0:12:45has invaded Repton themselves.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49In just three weeks, they're hoping to test the idea
0:12:49 > 0:12:53that Repton really was the location of the legendary Viking winter camp.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58And begin to discover how the bloodthirsty Viking army
0:12:58 > 0:13:00prepared to conquer Britain.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05We started this excavation last summer - we had a two-week season
0:13:05 > 0:13:09when were just getting down to evidence of Viking activity,
0:13:09 > 0:13:11in terms of the artefacts.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14To explore the possibility that this really was
0:13:14 > 0:13:16the legendary Viking camp,
0:13:16 > 0:13:19this year, the team is using geophysical surveying kit
0:13:19 > 0:13:22to narrow down the digging targets.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25- There you go. So it goes up to 3,000.- Oh, my God.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28- It's minus... - So come back a bit further.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32There's obviously a lot buried beneath the ground here.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36But only digging it will tell whether it's hidden Viking evidence.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43The team has divided their most promising trench into sections
0:13:43 > 0:13:47and it soon reveals the first clue
0:13:47 > 0:13:50that someone here could have been setting out a camp.
0:13:51 > 0:13:56This is the surface here and you can see it's just a completely compacted
0:13:56 > 0:14:00pebbly surface in a kind of loamy deposit.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02And you can see just thousands, millions of pebbles
0:14:02 > 0:14:04all compacted together.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07When it gets wet, this place becomes a quagmire.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10- And what you really want to do... - Yeah.- .. is keep your feet dry.
0:14:10 > 0:14:14Precisely. And if you perhaps have tents and things like that,
0:14:14 > 0:14:16having those surfaces is really helpful.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19The team needs to work out whether this pebbled surface
0:14:19 > 0:14:22was indeed part of the Vikings' winter camp.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26And that depends on finding characteristic datable artefacts.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30For Mark, this is a particularly exciting dig
0:14:30 > 0:14:34because in the 1980s he excavated nearby
0:14:34 > 0:14:38and found a mausoleum with an almost identical pebbled surface.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42And on this, one of the most intriguing archaeological finds
0:14:42 > 0:14:44ever made in Britain.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46Essentially, we found a gravel mound
0:14:46 > 0:14:49and round the outside of that gravel mound were kerbstones
0:14:49 > 0:14:54and then when we removed the mound, we had essentially a mausoleum.
0:14:55 > 0:15:01And at the eastern end, there were just bones and bones.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04It was about this thick of solid bones.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09But dating this mausoleum has proved tricky.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12Viking coins were found amongst the bones
0:15:12 > 0:15:15but when the remains were radiocarbon dated
0:15:15 > 0:15:19they appeared to be hundreds of years too early to be Viking.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24But radiocarbon dating is now much more accurate,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27so as well as digging the new site at Repton,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30Cat is also resampling these bones
0:15:30 > 0:15:33to see if they really could be Viking after all.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39There are about 70 or so skulls in total.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43We know that there were a lot more than 70 people there.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46The minimum number of individuals is 249.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49And the way that was worked out
0:15:49 > 0:15:53was by counting the number of left femurs, so left thigh bones,
0:15:53 > 0:15:55because we only have one of those.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58We know that quite a few of them have injuries
0:15:58 > 0:16:00that they could have received in battle,
0:16:00 > 0:16:04so that could definitely be consistent with a Viking army.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08But what Cat really needs is an accurate date on these bones
0:16:08 > 0:16:11and she's hoping that new methods in radiocarbon dating
0:16:11 > 0:16:14will settle the question once and for all.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18Do these human remains date from the time of the Vikings?
0:16:22 > 0:16:25While the team waits for the results,
0:16:25 > 0:16:29back at the dig site Mark has been busy mapping the pebbled surface
0:16:29 > 0:16:31and this has revealed a tantalising link
0:16:31 > 0:16:35between the mausoleum and the potential Viking camp.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40So this is our pebble spread and then this is actually
0:16:40 > 0:16:43the remains of that pebble path coming down.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46So they built a path to keep their feet dry
0:16:46 > 0:16:48to go in to the end of the mausoleum.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52As the archaeologists reach deeper levels,
0:16:52 > 0:16:55they are starting to find clear evidence
0:16:55 > 0:16:58that this camp was set up by the Vikings.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03There you go. A nice really large but very delicate piece of bone.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05Excellent. Could be something like pig.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Oh, well, it looks like a blade.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12And it's very unusual to be sticking right up like that.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15- Is it iron? - It's definitely iron, yes.- OK.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20These discoveries are proving that the Vikings were camping down here
0:17:20 > 0:17:23and they are beginning to build up a picture that the army
0:17:23 > 0:17:25wasn't just waiting out the winter
0:17:25 > 0:17:29but preparing for total war against our Anglo-Saxon ancestors.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35I'm just looking through some of the pieces of slag that we've got.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37So this is metalworking waste.
0:17:37 > 0:17:42So these camps aren't just a place where you wait for the next battle
0:17:42 > 0:17:46to take place, you're actually doing a lot of active work and repairing,
0:17:46 > 0:17:49making new objects and so on.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53After three weeks of digging,
0:17:53 > 0:17:56the team has, for the first time, found hard evidence
0:17:56 > 0:18:01that Repton was the site of the legendary Viking camp
0:18:01 > 0:18:03and, as a bone expert myself,
0:18:03 > 0:18:08I want to find out if those skulls belong to the Vikings themselves,
0:18:08 > 0:18:12so I've invited Cat into the lab to reveal all.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16OK, Cat, what are the dates on these skulls?
0:18:16 > 0:18:19OK, so they are all completely consistent with a date
0:18:19 > 0:18:23- in the late 9th century.- They are? - They are, yeah. All of them.
0:18:23 > 0:18:28And so they all fit with an 873AD greater army winter camp.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32But do we know if these people are Vikings?
0:18:32 > 0:18:35Just because they're 9th century, that doesn't mean they're Vikings.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38Exactly, so we need a little bit more evidence than that.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41They could still be the local population,
0:18:41 > 0:18:44perhaps people who were killed when the Viking army attacked Repton,
0:18:44 > 0:18:47so I've been trying to find some more evidence from the bones
0:18:47 > 0:18:50to see where they grew up and I've been doing that
0:18:50 > 0:18:53by looking at isotope evidence from their teeth.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56So whatever chemicals you've incorporated into your diet
0:18:56 > 0:19:00as a child will remain in your teeth for the rest of your life
0:19:00 > 0:19:02and for 1,000 years afterwards.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06- And?- And some of them are completely beyond
0:19:06 > 0:19:09- what you would expect from England at all.- Right.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11So one of these skulls here
0:19:11 > 0:19:14has a value very consistent with inland Scandinavia.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18It sounds as though it is certainly possible that all these individuals
0:19:18 > 0:19:20- came over from Scandinavia. - Absolutely.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24And several of them we know couldn't have come from England at all.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26And this skull is very definitely male.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29It's got really chunky mastoid processors
0:19:29 > 0:19:31and big ridges over the ear hole just there.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33- But some of them are not male? - That's right.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37I don't know if you noticed, these two here actually both women.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40So the question is, of course, were they a part of the army?
0:19:40 > 0:19:43- Are they female warriors? - They could be.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47It's actually impossible to know whether these really were
0:19:47 > 0:19:51female Viking warriors but there were definitely women at Repton.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55A lot of them do have injuries, so they were clearly in battle.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58We have evidence from elsewhere in the Viking world
0:19:58 > 0:20:01that women are buried with weapons in typical, sort of, warrior graves.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03It's certainly a possibility.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07During the dig, the team didn't just find evidence about who was camped
0:20:07 > 0:20:11at Repton, but about how the army was preparing for invasion.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14We found some things that were definitely associated
0:20:14 > 0:20:16with the Viking winter camp.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19Most obvious are probably these two nails here.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22- So they are ship nails.- Oh, are they?- Called clinker nails.- Yeah.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25So they're a very particular type.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27This would have fastened together two bits of wood.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30You put a nail in one end, a rove at the other side
0:20:30 > 0:20:33and then you hit it with a hammer and it goes clink.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36- And that's why it's called a clinker nail.- Oh, really?
0:20:36 > 0:20:38And this is very typical for ship constructions.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41And because we've got these nails here,
0:20:41 > 0:20:45this showing quite possibly that they are fixing their boats.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48And because we're finding so much metalworking evidence,
0:20:48 > 0:20:51- that's really backing that up as well.- Mm.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53That's part of an axe.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57It's identical to illustrations of types found in Scandinavia.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59So that's very exciting.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01So, finding these weapons,
0:21:01 > 0:21:04again, it's very consistent with that Viking army.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07But not every object was to do with warfare.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10So these are little gaming pieces.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12- Are they?- Yes.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15- We can see some of them have a little hole underneath.- Oh, yeah.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19We think that's for putting them on a pegged gaming board.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22I think small objects like this are just so intriguing, aren't they,
0:21:22 > 0:21:27because we go from that, kind of, bigger picture of this Viking army
0:21:27 > 0:21:31coming in to the details of day-to-day life in the camp.
0:21:32 > 0:21:37Cat and her team have proved that the legend of a Viking camp
0:21:37 > 0:21:39at Repton was true.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43And now, for the first time, we have some detailed insight into
0:21:43 > 0:21:46how the Vikings set about their fabled invasion.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51It's an invaluable addition to the growing archaeological record,
0:21:51 > 0:21:55helping us to unpick our island's very own Viking saga.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59And there are finds from Somerset
0:21:59 > 0:22:01which helped to illuminate how this next chapter
0:22:01 > 0:22:04in English history played out.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06After they'd camped at Repton,
0:22:06 > 0:22:10the Vikings set their sights on conquering the rest of England.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12But when they headed southwest,
0:22:12 > 0:22:14they were to be stopped in their tracks
0:22:14 > 0:22:18by one of Britain's most celebrated kings - Alfred the Great.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24This is the most famous artefact, isn't it, associated with Alfred?
0:22:24 > 0:22:28It is. We have to admit, sadly, that this is a replica.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31The real thing is in Oxford in the Ashmolean Museum.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34- But that means I can pick it up. - You can pick it up, yes.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36The Alfred jewel was found in Somerset,
0:22:36 > 0:22:39in a Somerset field, in 1693.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43Written around the frame are the words, Alfred ordered me to be made.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45What is the object?
0:22:45 > 0:22:48The likelihood is that it's in fact the head a pointer,
0:22:48 > 0:22:51that a thin rod would have been attached to it there
0:22:51 > 0:22:55and that pointer would have been used for following words in a book.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58In a way, in this very small gleam of gold
0:22:58 > 0:23:01is gathered up everything that Alfred represented.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03He aimed to be three things.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07A soldier, to keep his kingdom safe, a scholar,
0:23:07 > 0:23:10and also a Christian king so that the...
0:23:10 > 0:23:12erm, that the...
0:23:12 > 0:23:15help of God would protect him and his people
0:23:15 > 0:23:17from the threat that the Vikings posed.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22Alfred dedicated his life to resisting the Vikings
0:23:22 > 0:23:24and, without him, British history
0:23:24 > 0:23:26would have played out very differently.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30And eventually he was victorious against the Vikings.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32- He beat them at Edington.- He did.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35Yes, the great year in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
0:23:35 > 0:23:37is the year 878, around Easter time,
0:23:37 > 0:23:42when, having hidden away in the fen fastnesses of Athelney...
0:23:42 > 0:23:44- Burning the cakes. - Burning the cakes.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48He then went to Egbert's stone on the eastern borders of the county
0:23:48 > 0:23:50and gathered the people of Somerset, Wiltshire
0:23:50 > 0:23:54and part of Hampshire to him, and then went on to defeat Guthrum,
0:23:54 > 0:23:57the King of the Danes, at the Battle of Edington.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00- And there's his name on the side. - It is.- Aelfred.- Alfred. Yes.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02It's extraordinary.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06Alfred's victory was a landmark moment in British history.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10By defeating the Vikings, he bound the Anglo-Saxons together
0:24:10 > 0:24:15and laid the foundations for a unified England.
0:24:20 > 0:24:25Our next dig takes us forward 1,000 years in British history
0:24:25 > 0:24:27to Burrow Island in Portsmouth Harbour
0:24:27 > 0:24:32and from famous kings and Vikings to humble unmarked graves.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35Burrow Island is a tiny tidal isle
0:24:35 > 0:24:39overlooked by the famous historic naval dockyard.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44Portsmouth was a thriving maritime hub
0:24:44 > 0:24:46during Britain's Age of Empire
0:24:46 > 0:24:50but this particular island has a much darker story to tell.
0:24:50 > 0:24:55Burrow Island was nicknamed Rat Island in the 19th century,
0:24:55 > 0:24:57where, as local legend has it,
0:24:57 > 0:25:01the rodents fed on the dead bodies of people buried there.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06Recently, that legend has been proved true
0:25:06 > 0:25:10as the forces of nature has revealed the bodies buried here.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15We came here in 2014 following one of the big storms
0:25:15 > 0:25:18when the police said there were human remains on the foreshore.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20Indeed, there was a human skull.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24And we recovered five individuals from graves
0:25:24 > 0:25:28cut into the rock surface of the cliff on the island.
0:25:30 > 0:25:35Now, in the summer of 2017, Richard and his team have returned,
0:25:35 > 0:25:38as three more graves have been exposed by the tides.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43They believe that Rat Island's bodies belong to criminals
0:25:43 > 0:25:46incarcerated on prison hulks moored in Portsmouth Harbour
0:25:46 > 0:25:48during the 19th century.
0:25:48 > 0:25:52These floating jail ships housed children as young as eight
0:25:52 > 0:25:56and many onboard would have committed only minor crimes.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02The people incarcerated in these floating prisons
0:26:02 > 0:26:05would have lived in appalling conditions
0:26:05 > 0:26:08and they've been practically written out of history.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12While we will never discover their individual identities,
0:26:12 > 0:26:15this dig hopes to bring their stories back to life
0:26:15 > 0:26:18and to tell us what the Britain of Empire was really like
0:26:18 > 0:26:21for those who fell foul of the law.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23The team has just four days to investigate.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27Each day that the bones lie exposed to the elements increases the risk
0:26:27 > 0:26:29of them being washed away forever.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32And they have to work extra fast,
0:26:32 > 0:26:35with only a short window between tides to lift the skeletons.
0:26:35 > 0:26:40But only hours into day one and they've made incredible progress.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42We're starting to get some skeletal remains.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44So, we've just been working on this arm,
0:26:44 > 0:26:47which is starting to come out here. We've got a hand.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49Do you want to show...
0:26:49 > 0:26:53It looks like we've got some feet bones coming through here,
0:26:53 > 0:26:55remains of the coffin side there, possibly a lid,
0:26:55 > 0:26:58the top of the coffin's come down there.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02As soon as they start lifting the skeletons, the bones immediately
0:27:02 > 0:27:06provide a shocking insight into the terrible diets and poor health
0:27:06 > 0:27:09of those who perished on board the prison hulks.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12Let's have a... Yeah, so, a lot of dental decay on this one.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17Well, you've got a few abscesses or cavities just there,
0:27:17 > 0:27:20another abscess there. Another one there.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23And the skeletons aren't the only evidence suggesting that disease
0:27:23 > 0:27:26was rife on board these ships.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29Really intriguing thing is this black layer.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32Just a black line within the material.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35Now, is that... It looks like pitch or burning or tar,
0:27:35 > 0:27:38something like that. There are some documentary references to material
0:27:38 > 0:27:41from the prison hulks being burnt on the island, especially if,
0:27:41 > 0:27:44rather unpleasantly, there were infestations of cholera.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48We know from documentary evidence that those on board the prison hulks
0:27:48 > 0:27:53were beset with diseases such as typhoid, cholera and smallpox.
0:27:53 > 0:27:58By the middle of day two, even more burials are coming to light.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02Ryan, did you say there's something unusual about the one you're working
0:28:02 > 0:28:06- on?- We've just exposed some more bones that suggest perhaps it's a
0:28:06 > 0:28:09double burial, perhaps two stacked on top of each other.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11What makes you think that, then?
0:28:11 > 0:28:15So what we've done is we've come down onto this other set
0:28:15 > 0:28:17of radius and ulna here,
0:28:17 > 0:28:21which in effect gives us three of each, so unless we looking at...
0:28:21 > 0:28:24- OK, so you've got an extra arm. - Extra arm. Yeah, in effect.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32With bodies stacked up and piled high, the archaeologists are now
0:28:32 > 0:28:35certain that Rat Island was an extensive cemetery.
0:28:38 > 0:28:42And as the dig nears its end, a fourth skeleton gives the most
0:28:42 > 0:28:44startling insight into the fate of one who perished
0:28:44 > 0:28:46on board the prison ships.
0:28:48 > 0:28:50Got a craniotomy here...
0:28:50 > 0:28:53- What's a craniotomy?- You can see this cut through the skull.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56- OK.- It's to access the brain, so they do this in autopsies.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59So in postmortem examinations,
0:28:59 > 0:29:03with a disease, they will cut open the head to access the brain.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06The skull has clearly been sawn open.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09This craniotomy could have been carried out as part of a postmortem
0:29:09 > 0:29:14on this body. After just four days of rescue archaeology,
0:29:14 > 0:29:17the team has recovered four skeletons of people who may have
0:29:17 > 0:29:19spent their last months or years
0:29:19 > 0:29:23in terrible conditions on board the prison ships,
0:29:23 > 0:29:26ending up in unmarked graves on the island.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29To find out what the team has learned from these burials,
0:29:29 > 0:29:33I've invited Richard and Nick into the lab.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36Sometimes I think when we look at human remains archaeologically
0:29:36 > 0:29:39we can think that it's gruesome but actually we're just looking at
0:29:39 > 0:29:42normal life and death, but in this case, I mean,
0:29:42 > 0:29:45- this is a terribly gruesome story, isn't it?- Exactly. Yes.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48So we're actually dignifying the remains, avoiding their
0:29:48 > 0:29:52destruction and they've actually become our teachers now.
0:29:52 > 0:29:53Teaching us about the past.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55So this is one of those skeletons from the film.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58Quite clearly, this is the one that had the craniotomy.
0:29:58 > 0:30:00Can we have a closer look at that?
0:30:00 > 0:30:02If I bring that over. It's a fairly rough job, isn't it?
0:30:02 > 0:30:05It is, yes, and there is a few attempts, I think,
0:30:05 > 0:30:09- to open the skull. - So it's been cut around here.
0:30:09 > 0:30:13- You can actually see the lines of sawing on it.- Exactly.- And then
0:30:13 > 0:30:17I presume what they've done is just stick something like
0:30:17 > 0:30:20a chisel in here and then pop it off, because actually on this side
0:30:20 > 0:30:24- it's broken.- It's been snapped. - Yeah. Yeah.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28So do you think this was done as a form of autopsy to determine the
0:30:28 > 0:30:31cause of death or do you think it was probably more about using it
0:30:31 > 0:30:35as an example of anatomy, finding out more about anatomy?
0:30:35 > 0:30:37The bodies on the prison hulks are bequeathed to
0:30:37 > 0:30:41Oxford and Cambridge University, so they can be looked at by anatomists.
0:30:41 > 0:30:45But there are cases before that of people doing autopsies just to see
0:30:45 > 0:30:48what people are dying from cos there are large numbers of people dying.
0:30:48 > 0:30:50But looking at this skeleton now,
0:30:50 > 0:30:54it's impossible for us to determine the cause at death.
0:30:54 > 0:30:59What we do know is that mortality rates were high on the prison ships.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05It must've been an utterly horrendous existence for prisoners
0:31:05 > 0:31:10- on board those hulks.- When you think of the numbers involved, I mean,
0:31:10 > 0:31:12300 is an average on one of these ships,
0:31:12 > 0:31:15but it goes up to the best part of 1,000 people,
0:31:15 > 0:31:18your bed spaces are sort of stacked in hammocks.
0:31:18 > 0:31:22Now, the allotted bed space to start with was five foot ten
0:31:22 > 0:31:24by a foot and a half,
0:31:24 > 0:31:27so there are people living in absolute squalor and filth.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30If you tried to escape, you were put into the black hole at the bottom
0:31:30 > 0:31:32of the ship, so you were incarcerated with no light.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35Rats running around. Disease was rife.
0:31:35 > 0:31:36The death rate was up to about 30%
0:31:36 > 0:31:39of people that went on to these hulks.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42Just...mind-bending, it really is.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45And do we know anything about where these people would have come from,
0:31:45 > 0:31:48generally? I mean, are they likely to be local criminals?
0:31:48 > 0:31:51There was an article in the Oxford Times which refers to
0:31:51 > 0:31:53a Charles Maurice Jones, who is from Aberystwyth,
0:31:53 > 0:31:56and he steals a certain amount of cloth from his employer and as a
0:31:56 > 0:32:00result he's given 14 years and he dies on the prison hulks.
0:32:00 > 0:32:02And the newspaper goes on to report
0:32:02 > 0:32:05that the body of Charles Maurice Jones was removed from the ship
0:32:05 > 0:32:08- and buried on the convicts burial ground of Rat Island.- It is sad,
0:32:08 > 0:32:13isn't it, I mean, it's horrendous to think that those prison hulks...
0:32:13 > 0:32:15Very poignant thing, to see an individual like this,
0:32:15 > 0:32:18who may have committed a very minor offence,
0:32:18 > 0:32:23and for him just being on the ships was enough to basically sign him
0:32:23 > 0:32:24- a death sentence.- Mm.
0:32:25 > 0:32:30Rat Island's graves give us a unique insight into the grim realities of
0:32:30 > 0:32:34crime and punishment in the early 19th century.
0:32:34 > 0:32:38It's a rare glimpse into a murky world that's often missing from the
0:32:38 > 0:32:41official record that our Victorian ancestors left behind.
0:32:45 > 0:32:50Our next investigation plunges us back more than 5,000 years to a time
0:32:50 > 0:32:53when Britain was on the cusp of enormous change.
0:32:54 > 0:32:59Our modern landscape is littered with iconic Stone Age structures we
0:32:59 > 0:33:01know as barrows.
0:33:01 > 0:33:06They've always been assumed to be ancient burial mounds.
0:33:06 > 0:33:10Barrows are amongst some of the most obvious traces of our prehistoric
0:33:10 > 0:33:14ancestors in the landscape and we thought we knew exactly what they
0:33:14 > 0:33:17were about, they're burial mounds, surely?
0:33:17 > 0:33:21But two digs are now challenging that interpretation and also
0:33:21 > 0:33:26shedding light on this pivotal moment in prehistory when our
0:33:26 > 0:33:27ancestors make the transition
0:33:27 > 0:33:31from being hunter gatherers to being farmers.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36The first dig in out prehistoric two-parter takes us
0:33:36 > 0:33:38to the mysteriously and
0:33:38 > 0:33:41rather gruesomely named Cat's Brain,
0:33:41 > 0:33:42a recently discovered barrow
0:33:42 > 0:33:45which sits in the heart of the world-famous
0:33:45 > 0:33:47Stonehenge ritual landscape.
0:33:49 > 0:33:51This summer, a team from Reading University
0:33:51 > 0:33:53set out to investigate it,
0:33:53 > 0:33:57the first time a long barrow has been dug near Stonehenge for over
0:33:57 > 0:33:5950 years.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02We are at the end of week two at Cat's Brain.
0:34:02 > 0:34:07We have exposed all of the archaeology and every element
0:34:07 > 0:34:08is there.
0:34:08 > 0:34:11This is just unbelievable.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13Jim has good reason to be excited.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16Because centuries of ploughing have destroyed the mound itself,
0:34:16 > 0:34:20the team had feared there would be nothing left to find.
0:34:20 > 0:34:24But the preservation below ground level is much better than they had
0:34:24 > 0:34:28expected. The foundations of the barrow are clearly visible and they
0:34:28 > 0:34:32now feel they have every chance to find out how the people who used
0:34:32 > 0:34:36Stonehenge buried their dead.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39This is a section of the ditch which at the moment has produced some
0:34:39 > 0:34:43really good quantities of early Neolithic pottery.
0:34:43 > 0:34:48It's the sort of soil but just makes you want to jump in and start
0:34:48 > 0:34:49digging. Extraordinary!
0:34:51 > 0:34:53Spurred on by their finds,
0:34:53 > 0:34:59the team sets to work trowelling the site and their efforts soon pay off.
0:34:59 > 0:35:00As they reach the deeper levels,
0:35:00 > 0:35:03Neolithic finds are coming thick and fast.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08This has really sort of caught my attention.
0:35:08 > 0:35:10I saw this when it came out of the ground.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13It's absolutely beautiful leaf-shaped arrowhead,
0:35:13 > 0:35:17classic early Neolithic flint work.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19Fresh as anything.
0:35:19 > 0:35:21It could have easily have been made just yesterday.
0:35:21 > 0:35:26And exactly, exactly what we were hoping for.
0:35:26 > 0:35:30Dating to around 3500 BC,
0:35:30 > 0:35:35the arrowhead is precisely the right date for a Neolithic burial mound.
0:35:38 > 0:35:43But as the dig progresses, the site becomes more and more baffling.
0:35:43 > 0:35:49There are no burials here, no skeletons, not a single bone.
0:35:49 > 0:35:53Instead, they discovered a load of post holes.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56And its leading Jim to an extraordinary conclusion
0:35:56 > 0:35:59about this monument.
0:35:59 > 0:36:01Actually, it's quite complex.
0:36:01 > 0:36:07We can see post holes showing up and beam slots.
0:36:07 > 0:36:12It is looking very much like an actual building rather than just
0:36:12 > 0:36:14a replica building for the long barrow.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19Cat's Brain is such an odd site,
0:36:19 > 0:36:24it's not at all what we expect from a Neolithic long barrow.
0:36:24 > 0:36:28Well, 120 miles away there are more long barrows that are being
0:36:28 > 0:36:31investigated, and once again these are looking unusual.
0:36:31 > 0:36:35So the best thing to do, we thought, was to look at those two sites
0:36:35 > 0:36:39together to compare and contrast and see what they teach us.
0:36:40 > 0:36:45The second dig takes to Dorstone Hill near Peterchurch
0:36:45 > 0:36:48in Herefordshire, where a team from Manchester University
0:36:48 > 0:36:52has been investigating three ancient burial mounds.
0:36:52 > 0:36:55So we are now two weeks into the excavation.
0:36:55 > 0:36:58Most of what we've been doing to this point is cleaning down
0:36:58 > 0:37:01onto the surface of the Neolithic mound.
0:37:01 > 0:37:05Like Cat's Brain, the mound itself was destroyed long ago.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09But the underground preservation is excellent, and yet again,
0:37:09 > 0:37:12as the team go in search of burials,
0:37:12 > 0:37:15they make a totally unexpected discovery.
0:37:15 > 0:37:18Looks like the base of a circular post hole.
0:37:20 > 0:37:24Just like at Cat's Brain, this team expected to find a burial mound,
0:37:24 > 0:37:28but once again it's looking like a building.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31And here the preservation of the wood is so incredible that Julian
0:37:31 > 0:37:34can even glimpse how this building was put together.
0:37:36 > 0:37:37Here, uniquely,
0:37:37 > 0:37:41we have got part of the timber superstructure of the building.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44So within this great mass of burnt daub and clay,
0:37:44 > 0:37:49we've got timbers like these, where you can see the grain of the oak,
0:37:49 > 0:37:52and in places you can even see the carpentry.
0:37:52 > 0:37:57So this one here, you can see it's a forking piece of timber
0:37:57 > 0:38:01with a peg that has gone straight through down into it.
0:38:01 > 0:38:05It's telling us that carpentry that's been involved in putting this
0:38:05 > 0:38:07building together is really very sophisticated.
0:38:07 > 0:38:09You are seeing mortises, you are seeing pegs,
0:38:09 > 0:38:13all of which means that you are dealing with quite sophisticated
0:38:13 > 0:38:14timber architecture.
0:38:14 > 0:38:19As Julian examines the evidence, he discovers something strange.
0:38:19 > 0:38:21Before it was covered with the mound,
0:38:21 > 0:38:25this building was burnt to the ground.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28We know that certainly it burned.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32Our geophysicists tell us that it burned at a temperature in excess
0:38:32 > 0:38:37of 600 Centigrade, so very, very hot indeed.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41Julian is starting to conclude that this monument started life as a
0:38:41 > 0:38:45large timber building and when it fell out of use,
0:38:45 > 0:38:50it was burnt to the ground and commemorated with a large mound.
0:38:50 > 0:38:54In fact, the digs at Dorstone and Cat's Brain suggest that,
0:38:54 > 0:38:56for decades, we've misunderstood
0:38:56 > 0:38:59some of our most famous Stone Age monuments.
0:38:59 > 0:39:02Far from being places of the dead,
0:39:02 > 0:39:06they were in fact buildings for the living.
0:39:06 > 0:39:10To find out more, I've invited Jim and Julian into the lab.
0:39:10 > 0:39:12I honestly don't really know what to say.
0:39:12 > 0:39:16Two absolutely amazing sites.
0:39:16 > 0:39:18They are incredible!
0:39:18 > 0:39:20Well, let's start with Cat's Brain first.
0:39:20 > 0:39:24Did you have any idea that you were going to find this level of
0:39:24 > 0:39:26preservation when you took the top layer of soil away?
0:39:26 > 0:39:27Absolutely none at all.
0:39:27 > 0:39:31And to find anything was absolutely extraordinary.
0:39:31 > 0:39:35You know, it was one of those moments where you, you know,
0:39:35 > 0:39:36the hairs on the back of your neck
0:39:36 > 0:39:38stand up and you sort of start shaking.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40It's there, it's actually there, you know,
0:39:40 > 0:39:42and right slap bang in the middle of our trench.
0:39:42 > 0:39:46I have no doubt in my mind that this is a building.
0:39:46 > 0:39:50A large, early Neolithic timber hall.
0:39:50 > 0:39:54That is fantastic. And these bits of stone, where are they from?
0:39:54 > 0:39:58Well, those two chalk blocks came from one of the post holes.
0:39:58 > 0:40:00Interestingly, one of the deep post holes.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02These are utterly extraordinary.
0:40:02 > 0:40:06There are grooves here and these grooves end in little pits.
0:40:06 > 0:40:07That's right.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10It's, it's very, very deliberate and carefully constructed.
0:40:10 > 0:40:12And this looks like a rune.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15It looks like writing.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18- It's amazing.- Yes, and the surface of them has been smoothed.
0:40:18 > 0:40:23And they have deliberately incised it with markings which clearly had
0:40:23 > 0:40:27some kind of symbolic importance to the community.
0:40:27 > 0:40:30And that was deposited within one of these post holes.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33And of course the whole of that building then is imbued with that
0:40:33 > 0:40:37- symbolism.- OK, well, that's utterly mind-blowing.
0:40:37 > 0:40:42And Dorstone looks exceptional as well, Julian.
0:40:42 > 0:40:46So, again, we have this idea that long mounds are cemeteries,
0:40:46 > 0:40:48that they are where people bury their dead.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52Each one of ours is constructed over the remains of a building.
0:40:52 > 0:40:56So it's not that you're dealing necessarily with just the tomb of a
0:40:56 > 0:40:59group of people, it's the tomb of the house.
0:40:59 > 0:41:03So you've got a transformation of something that is a building for the
0:41:03 > 0:41:05living, to a house of the dead.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09This is a time when people are becoming much more settled in the landscape, isn't it?
0:41:09 > 0:41:12I think what is important is that they are forming more coherent
0:41:12 > 0:41:16communities, and one of the ways in which the draw these communities
0:41:16 > 0:41:20together is through a collective act of building something which serves
0:41:20 > 0:41:24as a symbol of community. And that's what these huge halls are.
0:41:24 > 0:41:26To throw in a Game Of Thrones reference, you know,
0:41:26 > 0:41:30House Tyrell or House Lannister, for example.
0:41:30 > 0:41:35Or the House of York, you know. The house symbolises something more.
0:41:35 > 0:41:36It's more than just the household.
0:41:36 > 0:41:40It's a wider community. These are the pioneers, these are our
0:41:40 > 0:41:42country's first agriculturalists,
0:41:42 > 0:41:44the first time we get domestic species.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47Out of this landscape, they are hewing out their own society.
0:41:47 > 0:41:50And all of that is represented within the building.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53So you think there's something really important going on here which
0:41:53 > 0:41:57is marking this transition, marking this change in lifestyle?
0:41:57 > 0:42:01Yes. It's this moment of change I think that people remember for many,
0:42:01 > 0:42:05many generations afterwards. So, first of all, you build the halls,
0:42:05 > 0:42:08then you burn those halls down.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10You transform them into long mounds.
0:42:10 > 0:42:12Then those long mounds attract further activity.
0:42:12 > 0:42:17People come and dig pits into the mounds and place objects,
0:42:17 > 0:42:20- like these very nice axes, into those.- Those are lovely.
0:42:20 > 0:42:25And there are more cremation burials in pits in the long mounds and
0:42:25 > 0:42:30everything that happens on this hilltop is venerating, remembering,
0:42:30 > 0:42:33thinking back to that moment of inception.
0:42:33 > 0:42:34Two extraordinary sites.
0:42:34 > 0:42:39- Thank you so much. They are amazing. - Thank you.- Thank you.
0:42:39 > 0:42:44The revelations from Cat's Brain and Dorstone are stunning.
0:42:44 > 0:42:48They not only challenge our previous interpretations of long barrows,
0:42:48 > 0:42:53they reveal how Britain's earliest farmers were beginning to forge
0:42:53 > 0:42:55a communal identity.
0:43:04 > 0:43:09Our next dig takes us to Leekfrith in the heart of rural Staffordshire
0:43:09 > 0:43:11and the discovery of an incredible
0:43:11 > 0:43:152,500-year-old trove of buried treasure.
0:43:15 > 0:43:19On a winter's day at the end of last year, local metal detectorists
0:43:19 > 0:43:23Mark Hambleton and Joe Kania were in this field when they
0:43:23 > 0:43:26made a remarkable discovery.
0:43:26 > 0:43:28I looked at it, I knew it was gold straightaway.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31I went down to Mark and said, "Mark, what is this?"
0:43:31 > 0:43:35He said, "It's a torque." We was shocked, yeah.
0:43:35 > 0:43:40It was the find of a lifetime, ain't it? You know. Brilliant.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43But then they found three more.
0:43:43 > 0:43:47And knowing that these torques are something rare and special,
0:43:47 > 0:43:50they reported them immediately to local finds liaison officer
0:43:50 > 0:43:54Theresa Gilmore. She was equally stunned.
0:43:56 > 0:44:01It was just after lunch when Mark, one of the finders, turned up,
0:44:01 > 0:44:04sat down in front of me, reached into his bag and said,
0:44:04 > 0:44:06"I've got something you need to see."
0:44:06 > 0:44:08Pulled out an old duster,
0:44:08 > 0:44:12opened it up and there were four gold torques put in front of me.
0:44:12 > 0:44:15Which put me into a state of shock!
0:44:15 > 0:44:19Absolutely amazing. A fantastic find.
0:44:23 > 0:44:25Those gold torques are stunning,
0:44:25 > 0:44:28they are beautiful works of art in their own right,
0:44:28 > 0:44:31but the archaeologists have key questions about them.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34Where did they come from? When were they made?
0:44:34 > 0:44:37And how did they end up in that field?
0:44:39 > 0:44:43Initial examination revealed that they were Iron Age in date.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46But to hear what else has been discovered, I have invited
0:44:46 > 0:44:50finds liaison officer Theresa Gilmore into the lab.
0:44:51 > 0:44:56What wonderful, wonderful objects just to appear out of this field.
0:44:56 > 0:44:58Is there any context around them?
0:44:58 > 0:45:01Do we know of any Iron Age activity in the area?
0:45:01 > 0:45:05No. We don't know of any actual settlement in that area.
0:45:05 > 0:45:08So it has come out of the blue.
0:45:08 > 0:45:11So it is a complete surprise?
0:45:11 > 0:45:14They are found individually, or they were discovered individually.
0:45:14 > 0:45:18Do you think they were quite separate burials, then?
0:45:18 > 0:45:21They were discovered individually because they had been dislodged by
0:45:21 > 0:45:24the plough. But looking at the damage and the distortion on them,
0:45:24 > 0:45:28we actually believe that they were originally buried as part of a
0:45:28 > 0:45:32- nested arrangement.- And no idea at all as to why they have been buried
0:45:32 > 0:45:34- in a field?- It's a very damp area,
0:45:34 > 0:45:37so we think probably as an offering to the gods.
0:45:37 > 0:45:39- This is beautiful.- It is.
0:45:39 > 0:45:42It is the most decorative piece out of them.
0:45:42 > 0:45:47What's really notable is the decoration, which is an early style
0:45:47 > 0:45:50Celtic artwork. You can see what looks like a little leaf.
0:45:50 > 0:45:53I can see that
0:45:53 > 0:45:54in that diamond there.
0:45:54 > 0:45:57There is what looks like a little leaf there.
0:45:57 > 0:45:58That is absolutely beautiful.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01So what is the date of these, do you know?
0:46:01 > 0:46:04Current dating is about 4th century BC.
0:46:04 > 0:46:05So very early, actually.
0:46:05 > 0:46:09Yes. The earliest Iron Age gold we've found so far.
0:46:09 > 0:46:13- Anywhere in Britain?- In Britain, yeah.- That's fantastic.
0:46:13 > 0:46:17The date of these torques reveals that Iron Age people were skilled
0:46:17 > 0:46:20metalworkers, much earlier than we had ever thought.
0:46:20 > 0:46:22But even more intriguingly,
0:46:22 > 0:46:26the initial examination of them has suggested that the design influence
0:46:26 > 0:46:28came from abroad.
0:46:28 > 0:46:33And do you think that the fact that these designs bear some similarity
0:46:33 > 0:46:36with torques found on the Continent, do you think that that means that
0:46:36 > 0:46:39people in Britain are picking up those ideas? Or do you think these
0:46:39 > 0:46:43- torques themselves have come from the Continent?- We've done analysis
0:46:43 > 0:46:46on all four of these and the composition we've
0:46:46 > 0:46:49got is very similar to European gold alloys.
0:46:49 > 0:46:51It's reasonable to assume that, yes,
0:46:51 > 0:46:53they've come over from the Continent.
0:46:53 > 0:46:54It is intriguing, isn't it,
0:46:54 > 0:46:58to think that these objects may not have just simply been traded across
0:46:58 > 0:47:01- from the Continent, but actually they could have come across WITH people.- Yeah.
0:47:01 > 0:47:03They could have been high status women coming over,
0:47:03 > 0:47:05perhaps even as brides.
0:47:05 > 0:47:08- Possibly.- I think these are absolutely gorgeous objects,
0:47:08 > 0:47:10I'm blown away by them. They are beautiful.
0:47:10 > 0:47:15But I'm so frustrated by not knowing who they belong to or why they were
0:47:15 > 0:47:18put in the ground. I mean, these could have been somebody's treasure
0:47:18 > 0:47:20that they were burying quickly and then running away,
0:47:20 > 0:47:24or it could have been a votive offering. We really don't know,
0:47:24 > 0:47:27- do we?- We don't know but what we do know is that Staffordshire now has
0:47:27 > 0:47:29links to the Continent.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32So we've got Continental styles of torques and their metallic
0:47:32 > 0:47:35composition is that of Continental gold work.
0:47:35 > 0:47:38And you just didn't expect to find that?
0:47:38 > 0:47:40We didn't expect to find that in Staffordshire.
0:47:42 > 0:47:44There are still many mysteries
0:47:44 > 0:47:46around this Iron Age buried treasure,
0:47:46 > 0:47:50but we now have a fantastic new insight into the sophistication of
0:47:50 > 0:47:53our ancestors at this time
0:47:53 > 0:47:56and we know that international links penetrated
0:47:56 > 0:47:59deeper into Britain than we'd thought before.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04The Iron Age marks the final chapter in British pre-history,
0:48:04 > 0:48:07the time before written records began.
0:48:07 > 0:48:10But as our next dig shows,
0:48:10 > 0:48:12even when our ancestors began to document their lives
0:48:12 > 0:48:142,000 years ago,
0:48:14 > 0:48:20archaeology still holds the key to understanding their world.
0:48:20 > 0:48:22In AD 43, the Romans arrived.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26But it wasn't enough for them to come, see and conquer.
0:48:26 > 0:48:28They wrote about it as well.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31And so they recorded their battles and their building projects for
0:48:31 > 0:48:35posterity. But it seems that when it came to the British countryside,
0:48:35 > 0:48:37they ran out of ink.
0:48:37 > 0:48:43And so there's always been a question over how far Roman culture
0:48:43 > 0:48:46and influence spread into rural Britain.
0:48:46 > 0:48:51But our final dig in Hampshire's Meonstoke valley is shedding new
0:48:51 > 0:48:54light on this mystery.
0:48:54 > 0:48:58In the 1980s, archaeologists digging here discovered a Roman building
0:48:58 > 0:49:02of such importance that it's now housed in the British Museum.
0:49:02 > 0:49:06With little to go on except its quality and its rural location,
0:49:06 > 0:49:08it was labelled a villa.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12But a new investigation of the site
0:49:12 > 0:49:16is leading archaeologists to a radical rethink.
0:49:19 > 0:49:24We have an interesting discovery. In the middle of the geophysics plot
0:49:24 > 0:49:26we have this hexagonal building.
0:49:26 > 0:49:30Now, this hexagonal building has put a whole new
0:49:30 > 0:49:34idea to us that in fact this might not be a villa,
0:49:34 > 0:49:35it might be a religious site.
0:49:35 > 0:49:39We think that this might be an interesting Roman temple.
0:49:41 > 0:49:43As the team clears away the topsoil,
0:49:43 > 0:49:45the foundations of the hexagon
0:49:45 > 0:49:48become astonishingly clear to the eye.
0:49:48 > 0:49:52If this turns out to be a temple, it would be hugely significant.
0:49:52 > 0:49:55In an isolated location like this,
0:49:55 > 0:49:58it would suggest that Roman culture was far more ingrained in the
0:49:58 > 0:50:03countryside than we had ever imagined before.
0:50:03 > 0:50:07So the team hunts for evidence that the Romans were worshipping here.
0:50:09 > 0:50:11..quite deep.
0:50:11 > 0:50:14- BEEPING - There it is.- Oh!
0:50:14 > 0:50:16- Is it a minim?- Oh.
0:50:18 > 0:50:22- Looks like it might be a minim. - What's a minim?
0:50:22 > 0:50:23A tiny, tiny coin.
0:50:25 > 0:50:30This is, I would say a House of Constantine, type of coin.
0:50:30 > 0:50:33Early 4th century, almost certainly.
0:50:33 > 0:50:38Buried in situ, the coins prove this is definitely a Roman building.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44And Tony believes that they are the first clues that this could have
0:50:44 > 0:50:45been a temple site.
0:50:47 > 0:50:49It looks as though there is a reasonable number of coins,
0:50:49 > 0:50:52which could be votive offerings, on the site.
0:50:52 > 0:50:56Other Roman temples have often thrown up thousands of coins,
0:50:56 > 0:50:59given as votive offerings to the gods.
0:50:59 > 0:51:01And another find seems to back up
0:51:01 > 0:51:04the idea that this was a sacred site.
0:51:04 > 0:51:07There was a vertebrae from a cow and
0:51:07 > 0:51:11we've had some very young sheep bone as well.
0:51:11 > 0:51:16And what looks like deliberately placed very small, round pebbles.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21So it looks like
0:51:21 > 0:51:27we're getting a round pit here that was probably used for some ritual
0:51:27 > 0:51:29purpose and it looks like it
0:51:29 > 0:51:31predates the rest of the site that we've got here.
0:51:33 > 0:51:36The finds suggest that this could have been a religious site
0:51:36 > 0:51:40even before the Romans arrived, because in the preceding Iron Age,
0:51:40 > 0:51:45people may have buried rounded pebbles and animal bones as ritual deposits.
0:51:46 > 0:51:49And as the team begin to extend their trenches,
0:51:49 > 0:51:51they find a fascinating clue
0:51:51 > 0:51:54suggesting that this became an extensive
0:51:54 > 0:51:56temple complex under the Romans.
0:51:56 > 0:51:59They think they have found a bathhouse.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02We have just found our first piece of painted wall plaster.
0:52:02 > 0:52:04It has a trace of opus signinum,
0:52:04 > 0:52:08which is the waterproof mortar that the Romans used in bathhouses.
0:52:08 > 0:52:10So this is very exciting.
0:52:10 > 0:52:13The discovery of a bathhouse next to the temple makes the villa
0:52:13 > 0:52:16interpretation look increasingly shaky.
0:52:16 > 0:52:21Tony now believes it's much more likely that this was a sprawling
0:52:21 > 0:52:23complex of religious buildings.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26And this as temple site could have
0:52:26 > 0:52:29acted as a regional religious centre,
0:52:29 > 0:52:33with people coming here for processions and festivals.
0:52:33 > 0:52:34In the final weeks,
0:52:34 > 0:52:38the discovery of what could be more votive offerings supports Tony's
0:52:38 > 0:52:42theory, but it is on the penultimate day that they make the most
0:52:42 > 0:52:44incredible and intriguing find.
0:52:44 > 0:52:46This very small fragment,
0:52:46 > 0:52:48very interesting fragment,
0:52:48 > 0:52:51is part of a pipe clay
0:52:51 > 0:52:53or terracotta figurine.
0:52:53 > 0:52:58It is a type of figurine called a Dea Nutrix, or a mother goddess.
0:52:58 > 0:53:01What we've got is just a small part
0:53:01 > 0:53:05of it, which is the back of her head.
0:53:05 > 0:53:09The goddess figure is the icing on the cake for a fantastic dig that
0:53:09 > 0:53:13seems to have revealed a complex of sacred buildings.
0:53:13 > 0:53:17But is there enough evidence here to prove that Roman religion was taking
0:53:17 > 0:53:20root in the heart of rural Britain?
0:53:20 > 0:53:23Tony is joining me in the lab to discuss his finds.
0:53:26 > 0:53:28Well, Tony, this is utterly extraordinary.
0:53:28 > 0:53:32What we thought was a villa looks like something much more special.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36Yes, it is a very interesting site. Effectively three buildings.
0:53:36 > 0:53:39We have a large so-called aisle building.
0:53:39 > 0:53:43We have the bathhouse and we have the hexagonal,
0:53:43 > 0:53:44what we are pretty sure is a shrine.
0:53:44 > 0:53:48- Yeah.- There are only four hexagonal buildings in the whole of Roman
0:53:48 > 0:53:50- Britain.- It is really unusual, isn't it?
0:53:50 > 0:53:53And very, you know, very obvious and very striking.
0:53:53 > 0:53:55Where is this beautiful painted plaster from, then?
0:53:55 > 0:53:57The plaster all comes from the bathhouse.
0:53:57 > 0:53:59And you are sure it's a bathhouse, are you?
0:53:59 > 0:54:01Yes. We are in the changing room.
0:54:01 > 0:54:05And the wall plaster all comes from the changing room.
0:54:05 > 0:54:10And it has got what we think is a naked female figure.
0:54:10 > 0:54:13- Have a look at that then! - Yes.
0:54:13 > 0:54:15Yes, which is very obvious.
0:54:15 > 0:54:17I think you might be right.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21That is a pair of breasts, I believe.
0:54:21 > 0:54:23- It certainly is.- And it is quite usual, isn't it,
0:54:23 > 0:54:26to have bathhouses associated with temples?
0:54:26 > 0:54:31Yes. Temple sites sometimes have quite a lot of other buildings next
0:54:31 > 0:54:35to them. Which could be a hostel for pilgrims or visitors or whatever.
0:54:35 > 0:54:39So do you think matters what we originally thought was a villa,
0:54:39 > 0:54:41do you think that's what it actually is, then?
0:54:41 > 0:54:43We originally found the building in the 1980s
0:54:43 > 0:54:45and thought, "Right, we have villa."
0:54:45 > 0:54:48It had a of elaboration to the architecture.
0:54:48 > 0:54:52Now, maybe we can account for that now by saying it's a building that
0:54:52 > 0:54:55- is associated with a temple site. - So, Tony, say I lived somewhere
0:54:55 > 0:54:59nearby and I wanted to come and visit the shrine and perhaps worship
0:54:59 > 0:55:02the goddess here. What would I do when I arrive at this place?
0:55:02 > 0:55:07That's a very interesting question. We get the notion that the building
0:55:07 > 0:55:11itself is the house for the god or the goddess. And would have some
0:55:11 > 0:55:15sort of image like a statue or something like that in it.
0:55:15 > 0:55:17But it is not a place for a congregational worship,
0:55:17 > 0:55:20you don't get everybody cramming inside and trying to worship.
0:55:20 > 0:55:24So most of the activity probably went on outside. And that is why
0:55:24 > 0:55:28we find things like the pit with the pottery and the bones and so on
0:55:28 > 0:55:32- in it.- And are these the balls that came out of that odd pit?
0:55:32 > 0:55:35- Yes. These actually come from within the hexagon itself.- Right.
0:55:35 > 0:55:40They're flints. Probably fossil sponges or something like that.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43So this idea that people are bringing small offerings, small
0:55:43 > 0:55:45coins, it is low denominations,
0:55:45 > 0:55:47isn't it, and then also interesting shaped rocks.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50Yes. This is rather more special.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53- That is lovely. Isn't that lovely?- Yes.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56And that is the back of the head
0:55:56 > 0:55:59and the headdress of the Dea Nutrix figurine.
0:55:59 > 0:56:01So these figurines are well-known, are they?
0:56:01 > 0:56:04Yes. They are made in central France and they are imported.
0:56:04 > 0:56:09People probably bought in Britain and then dedicated at temple sites.
0:56:09 > 0:56:12Perhaps deliberately breaking them. Nearly all of them are broken.
0:56:12 > 0:56:14- Often with the heads broken off. - Yeah. And Dea Nutrix
0:56:14 > 0:56:16that's the nourishing mother goddess.
0:56:16 > 0:56:18She is often shown with babies at the breast.
0:56:18 > 0:56:22- That's right, yes.- Do you think this gives as an idea that actually Roman
0:56:22 > 0:56:25culture and Roman ideas about religion are permeating further into
0:56:25 > 0:56:28the British countryside than perhaps we had imagined?
0:56:28 > 0:56:31Hexagons are not a thing you find in the Iron Age in Britain.
0:56:31 > 0:56:35So this is a new idea. But deities, gods or goddesses,
0:56:35 > 0:56:37that are being worshipped on the site,
0:56:37 > 0:56:40probably go back right back to the Iron Age.
0:56:40 > 0:56:44And I think the people who come to this site are probably local people.
0:56:44 > 0:56:47I rather like that about the Romans, that, you know,
0:56:47 > 0:56:49they don't clear the original gods and goddesses
0:56:49 > 0:56:52out of the landscape. The work with them, don't they?
0:56:52 > 0:56:56- They go along with them?- Yes, they integrated with locals.
0:56:56 > 0:56:58But it is a form of imperialism, isn't it?
0:56:58 > 0:57:01We are taking over the local gods and calling them our own.
0:57:01 > 0:57:04It's a wonderful site. This wonderful little temple site
0:57:04 > 0:57:07- and a very unusual hexagonal building.- Yeah.
0:57:07 > 0:57:10The dig at Meonstoke demonstrates
0:57:10 > 0:57:14that even a time period as well documented as
0:57:14 > 0:57:19Roman Britain can still be rewritten by new archaeological discoveries.
0:57:22 > 0:57:23And this programme has shown
0:57:23 > 0:57:26how every dig has the power to illuminate and
0:57:26 > 0:57:29alter the story of Britain.
0:57:29 > 0:57:33From discovering how the fearsome Vikings prepared for their invasion,
0:57:33 > 0:57:38to revealing the living and lived in landscapes around some of our most
0:57:38 > 0:57:41famous ancient monuments.
0:57:41 > 0:57:45And showing the brutal reality of life and death for criminals in the
0:57:45 > 0:57:48Golden Age of Empire.
0:57:48 > 0:57:51Our ancestors made the country we live in today
0:57:51 > 0:57:55and through archaeology we have been able to reach back
0:57:55 > 0:57:58through the centuries and touch their lives.
0:58:00 > 0:58:03Next week's episode of Digging For Britain
0:58:03 > 0:58:05celebrates the best archaeology
0:58:05 > 0:58:09from the east and is packed with new revelations,
0:58:09 > 0:58:11from sunken treasure laying bare
0:58:11 > 0:58:14the murky story of empire building...
0:58:14 > 0:58:17We find loads, loads of coins.
0:58:17 > 0:58:21..to the first clear evidence of Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain.
0:58:21 > 0:58:24So there are two skulls. Gosh, that's remarkable.
0:58:24 > 0:58:28And intriguing traces of some of Britain's first inhabitants.
0:58:28 > 0:58:31You have got evidence of the earliest Neanderthals in Britain
0:58:31 > 0:58:35at a time when lions were roaming the Suffolk landscape!