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 is still full of mysteries.
0:00:09 > 0:00:14So, every year, hundreds of archaeologists go out hunting
0:00:14 > 0:00:17for lost pieces from our missing past.
0:00:17 > 0:00:18A tiny, tiny coin.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22Every element is there.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24This is just unbelievable.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29In 2017, their investigations continue to fill in the gaps...
0:00:32 > 0:00:33Wow!
0:00:33 > 0:00:37..bringing us closer to our ancestors than ever before.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39What do you think of that, Roy?
0:00:39 > 0:00:43In this programme, Digging For Britain showcases the best digs
0:00:43 > 0:00:45from the east of the UK.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47Oh, wow.
0:00:47 > 0:00:48That'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 > 0:01:00Their dig diaries mean we can be there for each exciting moment
0:01:00 > 0:01:02of discovery.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05- It's Excalibur.- How does that feel, Rupert?- Pretty 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 that we can take a closer
0:01:14 > 0:01:18look at them and find out what they tell us about our British ancestors.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23Welcome to Digging For Britain.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38In this programme I'm joining archaeologists in the east to share
0:01:38 > 0:01:40in their biggest discoveries.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45We're diving deep in the English Channel,
0:01:45 > 0:01:48rescuing the precious cargo of a lost East India ship.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52We found loads and loads of coins.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55And we travel to Suffolk to unearth traces
0:01:55 > 0:01:57of Britain's earliest occupants.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01We found this incredible hand axe, a fantastic find.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06It's also a big year in the east for Roman archaeology,
0:02:06 > 0:02:10and this episode includes hunting down evidence of Britain's first
0:02:10 > 0:02:12clash with the might of Rome.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16This could be a very important clue to confirming this is a base
0:02:16 > 0:02:18of Julius Caesar.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22And to find out how these discoveries fit into the story of Britain,
0:02:22 > 0:02:26I've come to Colchester to explore the castle museum and find out how
0:02:26 > 0:02:29the objects inside helped tell the story of the east.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35But our first dig takes us out of Colchester and into the buzzing
0:02:35 > 0:02:39financial centre of London and one of the biggest excavations in our
0:02:39 > 0:02:40capital's history.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47During the Blitz, the German Luftwaffe destroyed a third of the City of London.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49But amongst the devastation,
0:02:49 > 0:02:53glimpses of its ancient Roman past began to emerge from the rubble...
0:02:55 > 0:02:58..including a remarkable Roman Temple of Mithras,
0:02:58 > 0:03:01found just off Cannon Street.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05For archaeologists of the time, this was amongst the first evidence
0:03:05 > 0:03:08that parts of Roman London were still well preserved
0:03:08 > 0:03:11under the modern city, waiting to be rediscovered.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18In the post-war years, the site of the temple was built over,
0:03:18 > 0:03:22but it has long been believed that there was much more to be found
0:03:22 > 0:03:25in the layers beneath the Mithraeum.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29In 2012, archaeologists finally got the chance to revisit the site
0:03:29 > 0:03:31when the global information company Bloomberg
0:03:31 > 0:03:33started to redevelop the area.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38Now in the year that the new building has been opened,
0:03:38 > 0:03:41the team are sharing their dig diary with us.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46This was an incredible opportunity for archaeologists to delve down
0:03:46 > 0:03:48into the deepest layers of London's history,
0:03:48 > 0:03:51right back to its origin.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55The excavation gave them the chance to find out more about the original
0:03:55 > 0:03:56appearance of the town,
0:03:56 > 0:04:01about who lived there and about the lives of those first Londoners.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07The Bloomberg site was once at the heart of Roman London,
0:04:07 > 0:04:11straddling the Walbrook, a lost tributary of the River Thames.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14Because the site remains waterlogged,
0:04:14 > 0:04:16many organic remains have survived.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20This exceptional preservation gave archaeologists the unique opportunity
0:04:20 > 0:04:24to explore the realities of life in the very first London.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28Sadie Watson is heading up the dig.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32To be honest, we have been itching to get our hands back on this site
0:04:32 > 0:04:35since 1954 really, when Grimes found the temple of Mithras.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39We knew that there was a breadth of archaeology here that was unsurpassed in the general area.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42If you went 50 metres either side of this exact spot,
0:04:42 > 0:04:44you wouldn't get the same depth of material.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51The Romans built London from scratch in the mid 1st century AD.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55But until now, the original appearance of the town
0:04:55 > 0:04:56has been a bit of a mystery.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59However, because the preservation is so good here,
0:04:59 > 0:05:02the team can effectively reconstruct the layout
0:05:02 > 0:05:05of an entire Roman neighbourhood.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07What we have got here is a wattle structure,
0:05:07 > 0:05:11perhaps delineating some private land with some animals on the inside.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13Or it could be part of a building.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16It is absolutely amazing - obviously we are the first people to see this
0:05:16 > 0:05:18for nearly 2,000 years.
0:05:18 > 0:05:19So it feels a bit special.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21And it just makes you wonder what's
0:05:21 > 0:05:24underneath this, what's the next thing we're going to find?
0:05:24 > 0:05:26When the team began the dig,
0:05:26 > 0:05:29they were unsure of how much of the Roman town had been crushed by
0:05:29 > 0:05:31millennia of rebuilding over it.
0:05:31 > 0:05:36But what they're discovering is not just the traces of the original layout
0:05:36 > 0:05:40of this part of early London, but the very fabric of the streets.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44Many of the wooden buildings are preserved up to shoulder height,
0:05:44 > 0:05:46unheard-of in Roman Britain.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50So, as well as the street, we have the houses alongside the street,
0:05:50 > 0:05:53and the alleyways behind the houses, and the open areas where they were
0:05:53 > 0:05:55dumping their rubbish and things like that.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58So we have the whole streetscape laid out in front of us.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06This incredible dig is revealing that beneath the modern streets of
0:06:06 > 0:06:09London lies a Roman timber town
0:06:09 > 0:06:12with wooden buildings lining the streets,
0:06:12 > 0:06:16and a layout that wouldn't have been out of place in the Wild West.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20This astonishing discovery reminds us that London has always been
0:06:20 > 0:06:23evolving, adapting to the needs of its time,
0:06:23 > 0:06:25from its humble wooden beginnings
0:06:25 > 0:06:27into the modern city that we know today.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33Halfway through the dig,
0:06:33 > 0:06:37the team start to excavate down into the wooden buildings hoping to
0:06:37 > 0:06:40discover new details about the lives of the first Londoners.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44And they are not disappointed.
0:06:44 > 0:06:49So this is a penannular brooch made of copper alloy, and the pin has gone,
0:06:49 > 0:06:52but it would have been pinned into your tunic.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55And a really heavy steel yard weight.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58We've had lots of weights and measures from this site,
0:06:58 > 0:07:01so the assumption is that they are doing industrial weighing
0:07:01 > 0:07:03and measuring here.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08As the dig continues, the team unearth a wealth of personal finds
0:07:08 > 0:07:10from 2,000 years ago.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16The finds looks so fresh -
0:07:16 > 0:07:19the waterlogged conditions have seemingly frozen them in time.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28But it's one particular group of leather finds that allows the team
0:07:28 > 0:07:32the most intimate insight into London's fledgling population.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36We've got coming up for about 500 shoes.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39You can see very clearly that these are child-sized shoes.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42And at the other end of the spectrum you have large men's boots.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45So we have evidence for families living here,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48it's not just all about economic life.
0:07:48 > 0:07:49It is quite a tangible connection
0:07:49 > 0:07:51to the individual people who lived here.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58These items belonged to the earliest occupants of our capital city.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02They allow us to populate the ancient Roman streets with men,
0:08:02 > 0:08:05women, soldiers, traders and children -
0:08:05 > 0:08:08the first people to call London home.
0:08:12 > 0:08:17This excavation is producing more Roman discoveries than any other
0:08:17 > 0:08:18site in London.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23But then, towards the end of the dig,
0:08:23 > 0:08:25the team find something truly remarkable...
0:08:26 > 0:08:31Small, rectangular pieces of wood.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35More valuable to the archaeologists than silver or gold,
0:08:35 > 0:08:38these are ancient writing tablets.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40There are two pieces of writing tablet here.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43You've got the little indentation for the wax to go there.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45They are essentially just letters, really nice,
0:08:45 > 0:08:48it gets you close to the people, it is lovely.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52Incredibly, this writing tablet was not alone.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56In the end the team would find more than 400 of them,
0:08:56 > 0:08:59the largest collection of their kind ever found.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04But the big question was, would they discover any writing on them?
0:09:06 > 0:09:09These would have been wax tablets.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11The wax itself has long gone,
0:09:11 > 0:09:15but are there any traces of the writing on the wood itself?
0:09:19 > 0:09:21The team is in luck.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25They can see the impressions of letters.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32But in order to read them, they need to bring in a specialist.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36Professor Roger Tomlin is one of the world leaders in translating
0:09:36 > 0:09:38Latin shorthand.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40Working from photographs and hand drawings,
0:09:40 > 0:09:44he has the daunting task of deciphering the writing.
0:09:47 > 0:09:52Now, I'm inviting Roger and Sadie into the lab with these amazing tablets,
0:09:52 > 0:09:56so that I can finally hear the voices of the first Londoners.
0:09:57 > 0:10:02What an amazing sight, and how fantastic to have writing preserved.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05So, Roger, what do these letters actually say? What do they tell us?
0:10:05 > 0:10:10Well, they tell us all sorts of tantalising extracts of what Roman
0:10:10 > 0:10:13businessmen were writing to each other about.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16This is a particularly well-preserved tablet,
0:10:16 > 0:10:19and when I saw this in the conservation lab when it was still wet,
0:10:19 > 0:10:21I was very excited because I could read the first word at the top
0:10:21 > 0:10:24left-hand corner which was "nerone",
0:10:24 > 0:10:27clearly a reference to Nero, the Emperor Nero.
0:10:27 > 0:10:32- And then the date, the 8th of January, 57.- Amazing.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35And then the beginning of the text is written by a man called Tibalus
0:10:35 > 0:10:41and he acknowledges he owes the sum of 105 denarii in respect of goods
0:10:41 > 0:10:43sold and delivered.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45So an incredibly early financial document?
0:10:45 > 0:10:48Yes, it seems to be the earliest dated financial document,
0:10:48 > 0:10:51only about ten years after the Romans got to London.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54And here they are setting up business enterprises,
0:10:54 > 0:10:56importing and exporting.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58Not much has changed.
0:10:58 > 0:10:59Not much has changed.
0:10:59 > 0:11:00And what about the names?
0:11:00 > 0:11:04Do they give us an insight into who these people were,
0:11:04 > 0:11:05where they'd come from?
0:11:05 > 0:11:11Ideally they tell us who the person is, and this is a nice example here.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14It's an address of a letter which reads,
0:11:14 > 0:11:20"Dabis" - "You will give this letter..." Understood? "..to Junius the cuparius."
0:11:20 > 0:11:25The cooper, the barrel maker, a brewery somewhere in the area.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28And presumably Junius is making barrels for it.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32It's just astonishing. You know, this is the kind of detail that we
0:11:32 > 0:11:36expect from the Second World War, and to be able to reconstruct that
0:11:36 > 0:11:39level of detail going back 2,000 years ago, that's amazing.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42What about the other objects, Sadie?
0:11:42 > 0:11:44What about these beautiful brooches?
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Do they give us clues as well as to where people were coming from?
0:11:47 > 0:11:50Certainly they do. And brooches tell you a lot because people tend to
0:11:50 > 0:11:53bring them with them from wherever they've come from to London.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56So we have lots and lots of examples from the Western Roman Empire,
0:11:56 > 0:11:59Gaul and the Rhineland particularly.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02But this superbly decorated, wonderful example is actually
0:12:02 > 0:12:06from what we now call Norfolk. So it is from the Iceni tribe.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08- Boudicca's tribe. - Boudicca's tribe, exactly.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12And who would've moved in to London and worked and lived amongst the
0:12:12 > 0:12:13Londoners as well.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16So, not only do we have people coming from outside Britain
0:12:16 > 0:12:19to come to London and found this town in open fields,
0:12:19 > 0:12:23we also have people coming from elsewhere across the country to live and work here as well.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27It seems that, just like today, the first London drew
0:12:27 > 0:12:30its inhabitants from across Britain and Europe.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34So we are really looking at the very beginning of London.
0:12:34 > 0:12:35What would it have been like?
0:12:35 > 0:12:38We have evidence of course there is commercial activity going on
0:12:38 > 0:12:40with the writing tablets from the very beginning.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42We also have a huge assemblage of militaria,
0:12:42 > 0:12:45so we know the army were here in great number.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48There would have been industry such as metalworking,
0:12:48 > 0:12:50slightly more noxious ones - leather working,
0:12:50 > 0:12:53all the things that you would expect really, but living cheek by jowl
0:12:53 > 0:12:55with everything else as well. We also have...
0:12:55 > 0:12:57One of the tablets has an alphabet on it.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01- This one here?- Yeah, this one here. Possible evidence of education.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04Somebody learning or practising their alphabet.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07A, B, C, D and so on.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09That's just extraordinary.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11That's wonderful.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13A Roman child learning to read and write.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16It's a real mix of activity.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18So the very, very earliest beginnings of something,
0:13:18 > 0:13:22but a lot of things that remain very familiar to us today -
0:13:22 > 0:13:26banking, beer and this melting pot of cultures.
0:13:26 > 0:13:27Absolutely.
0:13:28 > 0:13:34The Bloomberg dig has revealed the forgotten voices of the people
0:13:34 > 0:13:36that first built London.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41And as the Mola team finishes the analysis of the finds
0:13:41 > 0:13:45over the coming year, they'll be able to give us a uniquely detailed
0:13:45 > 0:13:49picture of an entire neighbourhood in a Roman British town.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55By the middle of the 2nd century AD,
0:13:55 > 0:13:59London had become one of the most important trading centres
0:13:59 > 0:14:03in northern Europe, as well as the capital of Roman Britain.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07But it could have turned out very differently.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11London wasn't the first capital of Roman Britain, Colchester was.
0:14:11 > 0:14:16That is, up until the middle of the 1st century, when it met a grisly fate.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20And I'm told the best place to understand this story is underneath
0:14:20 > 0:14:21the castle.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29In AD 60, within 20 years of London being founded,
0:14:29 > 0:14:34the British warrior queen Boudicca revolted against Roman rule...
0:14:35 > 0:14:38..and eventually led an army of enraged natives
0:14:38 > 0:14:40right into Colchester.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43At the heart of the town was the Temple of Claudius,
0:14:43 > 0:14:45and it was situated right here.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49Amazingly, its foundations still survive,
0:14:49 > 0:14:53and curator Glynn Davis is taking me down into the basement to see them.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58This is incredible, Glynn!
0:14:58 > 0:15:01Yes, this is a very special space.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03We're actually standing in a false space.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06We're standing in a chamber that would have originally been filled
0:15:06 > 0:15:10with sand. And this construct made up a huge platform, or podium,
0:15:10 > 0:15:12upon which the Temple of Claudius -
0:15:12 > 0:15:14the largest of its kind in Roman Britain at the time -
0:15:14 > 0:15:17- would have been built.- So, what happened to the temple, then?
0:15:17 > 0:15:20Cos obviously Colchester was attacked during the Boudiccan rebellion.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22It was. Now, you have to remember,
0:15:22 > 0:15:26the Temple of Claudius was also where the Imperial cult was worshipped.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28In a way, it was a symbol of Rome.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31And to the Roman Brits, a symbol of their oppression.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33And this would have been a target.
0:15:33 > 0:15:34And after burning a lot of the town,
0:15:34 > 0:15:38Boudicca and the tribes who united with her would have bee-lined to
0:15:38 > 0:15:41this temple, where the townsfolk had basically sought refuge.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44And we know from Tacitus, our Ancient Roman writer,
0:15:44 > 0:15:47that they besieged the temple for two days.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50It must have been absolutely terrifying for the people of Colchester,
0:15:50 > 0:15:52who'd sealed themselves up in this temple,
0:15:52 > 0:15:54when Boudicca arrived with her army.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58It must have been. I mean, you're talking about hundreds of men,
0:15:58 > 0:16:02women, children hearing the shouting and the rampage outside.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04And of course, they start to set fire to the temple,
0:16:04 > 0:16:05so it starts to heat up.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09Maybe even elements of it start to fall after two days.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12And it's after those two days that Tacitus tells us that they
0:16:12 > 0:16:14eventually broke down those front doors.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16And then, a bloodbath.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20Above our heads, 2,000 years ago, it would have been absolute carnage.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22And what about after the rebellion?
0:16:22 > 0:16:24Cos that rebellion eventually failed.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27It eventually failed, with a huge loss of life on both sides,
0:16:27 > 0:16:30and Colchester was rebuilt. Indeed, the temple was rebuilt,
0:16:30 > 0:16:33but Colchester never retains that capital -
0:16:33 > 0:16:36that moves on to London, Londinium,
0:16:36 > 0:16:39and it never quite reaches the heights that Londinium does after that.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42So, it never quite recovers from that...
0:16:42 > 0:16:43The onslaught of Boudicca.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46- That devastation, no. - Yeah.- They left a mark.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52Archaeological discoveries from both London and Colchester have added
0:16:52 > 0:16:55flesh to the bare bones of history,
0:16:55 > 0:16:58revealing the lives of the people that lived through
0:16:58 > 0:17:00the bloody beginnings of Roman Britain.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04Our next story takes us into the English Channel,
0:17:04 > 0:17:07to one of the richest shipwrecks off our shores.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16The Goodwin Sands are notorious as swallowers of ships.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20Today, the remains of over 2,000 wrecks litter the area.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23One of them is the Rooswijk -
0:17:23 > 0:17:27a Dutch East India Company ship that sank in 1740,
0:17:27 > 0:17:29on its way out to Indonesia.
0:17:31 > 0:17:32In the 17th and 18th century,
0:17:32 > 0:17:36Britain and the Netherlands were two of Europe's leading powers.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39Both were great seafaring nations,
0:17:39 > 0:17:42locked in a battle for control of the lucrative trade with Asia.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47For the winner, the prize was enormous wealth.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50The race for the East was a dangerous business,
0:17:50 > 0:17:54and it wasn't just about the wealth of individuals and corporations,
0:17:54 > 0:17:57but of entire nations.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00As archaeologists get to work on the largest underwater excavation since
0:18:00 > 0:18:02the Mary Rose,
0:18:02 > 0:18:06they're hoping to gain insights into just how high the stakes and the
0:18:06 > 0:18:08risks really were.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15The East India ships were stuffed with incredible riches to trade
0:18:15 > 0:18:17with the Far East.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21What makes the Rooswijk so special is that it sank with all of its
0:18:21 > 0:18:24cargo and nothing was ever salvaged.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30Now a team from Historic England and the Dutch Government
0:18:30 > 0:18:32is investigating.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37They hope to understand more about these trade routes and the level
0:18:37 > 0:18:41of financial risk taken by the traders on each voyage.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49Underwater archaeologist Martijn Manders is leading the team.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54We're now on board the Terschelling, which is our research ship,
0:18:54 > 0:18:57and we're just right above the shipwreck.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00Within three months, we have to excavate a very large ship.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02Well, luckily, we only do the stern part of the ship.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06I think people will be amazed at what, er, what we bring up.
0:19:08 > 0:19:12The team have decided to excavate the back half of the ship because it
0:19:12 > 0:19:14is the best-preserved section.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17Part of the cargo hold is located here,
0:19:17 > 0:19:20so they're confident they'll be able to find evidence of what
0:19:20 > 0:19:22the Rooswijk was taking to the East Indies.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27But excavating a shipwreck on the perilous Goodwin Sands
0:19:27 > 0:19:29is a complex operation.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33The unpredictable weather and strong currents mean that time,
0:19:33 > 0:19:36and tides, are always against them.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38In late August, after months of preparation,
0:19:38 > 0:19:41they finally begin the diving operation.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50Just to confirm, the plumb weight's a couple of metres off the sea bed.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52Copy that.
0:19:52 > 0:19:57Slowly, the ghostly timbers of the Rooswijk become visible amongst
0:19:57 > 0:19:58the gloom.
0:19:58 > 0:20:03The team gets to work using giant suction tubes - known as airlifts -
0:20:03 > 0:20:06to help them clear away centuries of sand in the wreck.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10Then their hard work pays off.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15They get their first glimpse of the Rooswijk's lost cargo.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20Over here, we've got a few of the artefacts that we excavated so far.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23These very nice jugs.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26Actually, we found quite a few down there, close together,
0:20:26 > 0:20:30so this could be that it was cargo, meant for trading.
0:20:30 > 0:20:34These tankers provide the first insights into the kinds of goods
0:20:34 > 0:20:36that were being traded in the Far East.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41But the team needs more evidence to find out about the true scale of
0:20:41 > 0:20:43wealth that was stowed on board.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47They need to explore further into the wreck.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51However, what they begin to retrieve is...
0:20:51 > 0:20:53..copper sheeting.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55There wasn't much that the people needed in the Dutch Indies,
0:20:55 > 0:20:59but what they did need was building material.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02So, a lot of raw material, copper.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04Also, a lot of just normal bricks.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07They were weight, so they were ballast, but in a way,
0:21:07 > 0:21:09they were also goods to be sold.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14These discoveries are important evidence of how the British
0:21:14 > 0:21:17and the Dutch built their settlements in the East.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20But they weren't just out to build colonies -
0:21:20 > 0:21:23the real reason for taking such risks,
0:21:23 > 0:21:27with an eight-month voyage across pirate and storm-ridden waters,
0:21:27 > 0:21:28was trade.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31The key mission of these ships was to take out wealth from the
0:21:31 > 0:21:36Netherlands and Britain and bring back riches from the Orient -
0:21:36 > 0:21:40exotic goods like spices and textiles,
0:21:40 > 0:21:43items that were worth a fortune back in Europe.
0:21:44 > 0:21:48Historical records suggest that this ship should have been laden with
0:21:48 > 0:21:49silver currency.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53But the team hopes to discover the true scale of the investment
0:21:53 > 0:21:55involved in a single voyage.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01After weeks spent living on the research ship,
0:22:01 > 0:22:03and diving day and night,
0:22:03 > 0:22:05they've finally hit the jackpot.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10We found loads and loads of coins.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12We have silver from Mexico,
0:22:12 > 0:22:16but we also have silver from the Potosi mines in Bolivia.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19A piece of eight, so it's worth eight reales.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22Most of the ones that we've got so far have been from Mexico.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29The Dutch East India Company - also known as the VOC -
0:22:29 > 0:22:31traded using Spanish silver.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37As the archaeologists continue diving,
0:22:37 > 0:22:40they retrieve hundreds more coins.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43But towards the end of the project, they make an unusual discovery.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48- They're coming in clusters, yeah. - They're coming in clusters.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52Not all of the coins appear to be official Spanish currency.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54We've only just started uncovering these ones.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56A lot of the money that's been recovered has been the Spanish money
0:22:56 > 0:23:00so far. I believe these are rijders, these are Dutch coins.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04This leads Martijn to a surprising conclusion.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08He believes that the Dutch money belonged to the crew themselves.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15I think we're getting to the personal stuff, because of the coins
0:23:15 > 0:23:19that are so different from the cargo coins of the VOC.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22So, we're getting to personal belongings.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24Really interesting.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27So why were the men on board the Rooswijk transporting
0:23:27 > 0:23:31such large quantities of personal wealth to Indonesia?
0:23:31 > 0:23:35I've asked Martijn to come into the lab with this extraordinary haul
0:23:35 > 0:23:36of silver coins.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42I'm just amazed at what a huge amount of wealth went down with this ship.
0:23:42 > 0:23:44I mean, this is like a floating bank!
0:23:44 > 0:23:46Yes, well, in a way, it was.
0:23:46 > 0:23:54We know that it had 36,000 coins from Mexico, the Pillar dollars,
0:23:54 > 0:23:56on board of the ship.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00The VOC would take a lot of coins with them from the
0:24:00 > 0:24:02same kind of dates
0:24:02 > 0:24:05very shortly before the VOC would go out.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08So we think that looking at the dates - 1737,
0:24:08 > 0:24:10just before the ship went out -
0:24:10 > 0:24:13we think this is the money they took along with them.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16So that's kind of official business. That's official VOC money.
0:24:16 > 0:24:18- Exactly.- Yep. - And it is eight reales.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21So, a piece of eight, as they say.
0:24:21 > 0:24:27These coins we find here have a much older date, and these are ducatons
0:24:27 > 0:24:28from the southern Netherlands.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31And these are from 1619.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34So, 120 years before the ship sank.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36So where are these early coins from?
0:24:36 > 0:24:40Exactly. Well, they were smuggling, they were smuggled onboard.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43Why would they smuggle money and who would smuggle money?
0:24:43 > 0:24:45Well, it is actually everybody,
0:24:45 > 0:24:48from the captain until the most simple seaman.
0:24:48 > 0:24:54They would bring silver from the Netherlands to the Dutch Indies,
0:24:54 > 0:24:58because silver was worth more in the Indies than in the Netherlands.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01It's extraordinary, so there's the official business of the VOC,
0:25:01 > 0:25:05and then everyone on board from the captain down to the humblest sailor
0:25:05 > 0:25:07also stood to make a personal gain from this voyage.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09Exactly.
0:25:09 > 0:25:14But Martijn also believes that smuggling played a significant part
0:25:14 > 0:25:16in the final demise of the East India companies.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20The funny thing about the smuggling money is that,
0:25:20 > 0:25:22although it was illegal,
0:25:22 > 0:25:26people would even borrow from official banks,
0:25:26 > 0:25:28money to bring to the East Indies as well,
0:25:28 > 0:25:31and when they lost the money they had to go to court,
0:25:31 > 0:25:33or the widows had to go to court.
0:25:33 > 0:25:39- Yes.- And there was so much corruption that in 1795,
0:25:39 > 0:25:42the VOC was so much up to its debt
0:25:42 > 0:25:46that it went bankrupt and all the assets of the VOC
0:25:46 > 0:25:49- came to the Dutch Government. - So that was, what,
0:25:49 > 0:25:5250-odd years after the shipwreck, the company went bust?
0:25:52 > 0:25:55- Exactly.- And I think what the shipwreck shows us is based
0:25:55 > 0:25:59on the one hand what there was to gain from this international trade,
0:25:59 > 0:26:01but also the immense risks that were taken.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04That is exactly the truth, yes.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06The East India companies
0:26:06 > 0:26:09were the world's first multinational corporations.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11They accumulated vast fortunes,
0:26:11 > 0:26:15but were prone to corruption and mismanagement.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17It was the Dutch that folded first.
0:26:17 > 0:26:18The British soon followed,
0:26:18 > 0:26:22but not before they'd expanded their influence in Asia.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25When the government took over the business, the foundations
0:26:25 > 0:26:28had already been laid for Britain's Empire in the East.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35Archaeology provides us with another way of looking at history,
0:26:35 > 0:26:39adding to, and sometimes challenging the written records.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41But when it comes to prehistory,
0:26:41 > 0:26:45we rely solely on evidence unearthed from the ground.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48And that's exactly the case with our next dig,
0:26:48 > 0:26:50as we head to Barnham in East Anglia,
0:26:50 > 0:26:53where archaeologists are searching for the answer to an old
0:26:53 > 0:26:56Stone Age mystery.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00400,000 years ago, Britain was a very different place indeed.
0:27:00 > 0:27:05There was savanna here, where elephants, rhino and lions roamed,
0:27:05 > 0:27:08alongside some of our early ancestors,
0:27:08 > 0:27:13and any evidence that we can get of these people and the way they
0:27:13 > 0:27:15behaved is incredibly precious.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19That is exactly what our next excavation is revealing.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25Around 400,000 years ago,
0:27:25 > 0:27:29there is evidence of an expanding human population,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32right across northern Europe, including Britain.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34But who were these people?
0:27:34 > 0:27:35And why were they here?
0:27:37 > 0:27:40Part of the answer may lie in a disused clay pit near the village
0:27:40 > 0:27:44of Barnham, an incredibly well-preserved Stone Age site
0:27:44 > 0:27:46first discovered by the Victorians.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52Nick Ashton from the British Museum is one of the leaders of the team.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57We're just here for three weeks, so day two, we have another 20 to go.
0:27:57 > 0:27:58So a lot of work to be done.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03The team starts the dig by trying to discover what the environment
0:28:03 > 0:28:06was like for some of Britain's earliest occupants,
0:28:06 > 0:28:10investigating an area that was once on the edge of an ancient lake.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16It's not long before the team's animal bone expert, Simon Parfitt,
0:28:16 > 0:28:19is called in to identify the first find.
0:28:19 > 0:28:20It's a pond terrapin.
0:28:20 > 0:28:25This is one of the really important elements in the animal assemblage
0:28:25 > 0:28:27that tells us about the climate.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30So today, these animals are living in more continental Europe,
0:28:30 > 0:28:31in parts of France,
0:28:31 > 0:28:33where the summers are much warmer.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36So this provides a really good indication of what the climate was like.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42400,000 years ago, Britain was a very different place...
0:28:44 > 0:28:48..much warmer than today, with animals that seem exotic to us now.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53We found the edge of a piece of bone.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57If we take it out, we can see that it's a spongy bone in the middle
0:28:57 > 0:28:59and very thick cortical bone.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01It's actually the rib of an elephant,
0:29:01 > 0:29:05so this is obviously a tiny fragment of a very large rib.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09And living right next to the elephants were humans.
0:29:11 > 0:29:15In this area we found artefacts through this part of the sequence,
0:29:15 > 0:29:19and these are hard hammer flakes, part of the Clactonian industry.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22So, yeah, this is part of the contemporary vertebrate life that
0:29:22 > 0:29:25was living with humans at that time.
0:29:25 > 0:29:29Clactonian is the name given to a particular stone tool kit,
0:29:29 > 0:29:32including simple flakes of flint, used for butchery.
0:29:32 > 0:29:34These tools may look unremarkable,
0:29:34 > 0:29:37but to the archaeologist's eye they have the telltale signs of being
0:29:37 > 0:29:39worked by a human hand.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45They're evidence that people were living and hunting here
0:29:45 > 0:29:47in early Britain.
0:29:49 > 0:29:51But then, towards the end of week one,
0:29:51 > 0:29:55the team finds a more advanced Stone Age technology.
0:29:56 > 0:30:01We're at the end of day six, and a fantastic find found in area three,
0:30:01 > 0:30:03just as we were packing up.
0:30:03 > 0:30:05This incredible hand axe,
0:30:05 > 0:30:11and it's only the third we've found from the site in, I think,
0:30:11 > 0:30:12about ten years of digging.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14As you can see it's in incredibly fresh condition.
0:30:14 > 0:30:17It's this black flint, very fresh edges.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23This exquisite hand axe is much more advanced compared with the basic
0:30:23 > 0:30:26flint tools that the team has been finding so far.
0:30:29 > 0:30:30So the question is,
0:30:30 > 0:30:35did the people living here make a sudden technological leap forward,
0:30:35 > 0:30:38or is this hand axe evidence of a different group
0:30:38 > 0:30:39coming into the area?
0:30:42 > 0:30:46It's not clear yet, so the team continue their hunt for more clues.
0:30:46 > 0:30:51And in week two, they find something surprising and exciting.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53Is that some burnt flint?
0:30:53 > 0:30:55Yes. Multiple pieces here.
0:30:57 > 0:31:01This evidence is found in the same band of soil as the more advanced
0:31:01 > 0:31:04tools, and from the burning pattern Nick believes that this could be
0:31:04 > 0:31:07intentional use of fire by humans.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11The interesting thing is the quantity of burnt flint that is coming up.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14It's associated with a group of people who are making hand axes.
0:31:16 > 0:31:20A really interesting conclusion is the use of fire and the manufacture
0:31:20 > 0:31:24of hand axes - are they two parts of the technological package
0:31:24 > 0:31:27that they bring into the area at this time?
0:31:27 > 0:31:30I must confess, I still keep an open mind,
0:31:30 > 0:31:34but I'm inclining more and more towards the conclusion that,
0:31:34 > 0:31:36you know, people were actually using fire in this area,
0:31:36 > 0:31:37it is not just a natural fire.
0:31:39 > 0:31:43This potential evidence for humans using fire could be among the
0:31:43 > 0:31:45earliest ever found in Britain.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48Combined with the more advanced stone tools,
0:31:48 > 0:31:52it suggests that a new group of people was arriving here.
0:31:52 > 0:31:54But who were they and where did they come from?
0:31:55 > 0:31:58Nick has brought some of the artefacts into the lab,
0:31:58 > 0:32:02to help us answer some of these questions.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04Nick, this is a really exciting site.
0:32:04 > 0:32:06Thank you for bringing in the finds.
0:32:06 > 0:32:10You have these two different types of stone technology on the same site.
0:32:10 > 0:32:14Yes, so over here on the right you have very simple flakes and core.
0:32:14 > 0:32:16They'll do the job, but they are very simple.
0:32:16 > 0:32:19Here we have a clear change in the technology,
0:32:19 > 0:32:21and you have this beautiful hand axe.
0:32:21 > 0:32:23That's beautiful. Very individual thing.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26So who do you think was making the Clactonian and who do you think was
0:32:26 > 0:32:30- making that?- If I was to hazard a guess, and it is only a guess...
0:32:31 > 0:32:34..maybe you have Homo heidelbergensis making these more
0:32:34 > 0:32:38primitive-looking tools and perhaps the hand axe makers
0:32:38 > 0:32:40are very early Neanderthals.
0:32:40 > 0:32:42So this could be evidence of the first Neanderthals in Britain.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44Yes, some of the first evidence.
0:32:44 > 0:32:45Oh, that is really exciting.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51Homo heidelbergensis and Neanderthals are thought to be the
0:32:51 > 0:32:55two main species of humans living in northern Europe around this time.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00An ancient land bridge with the continent would have allowed them
0:33:00 > 0:33:02easy access into what is now Britain.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05Here's a tricky question, why are they coming over?
0:33:05 > 0:33:09Is this just a population expanding and people are just milling about
0:33:09 > 0:33:11and starting to spill further north-west?
0:33:11 > 0:33:15One of the ideas we are looking at is there's more or less around this
0:33:15 > 0:33:19time a big deforestation event - not just in Britain,
0:33:19 > 0:33:22not just East Anglia, but right across Europe.
0:33:22 > 0:33:24So the questions we are asking is,
0:33:24 > 0:33:27does it relate to some big natural disaster,
0:33:27 > 0:33:31is it volcanic activity creating a big nuclear winter,
0:33:31 > 0:33:35or something more exciting like a big meteor strike?
0:33:35 > 0:33:39That in itself would have a big impact on what humans were doing.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42If suddenly there is a loss of the sort of local habitat,
0:33:42 > 0:33:45loss of vegetation, that will affect the wildlife.
0:33:45 > 0:33:47This will trigger population movement.
0:33:47 > 0:33:51Maybe this is linked to a different group of people coming in just over
0:33:51 > 0:33:52400,000 years ago.
0:33:54 > 0:33:58This new evidence from Barnham is helping us to understand more about
0:33:58 > 0:34:02the early inhabitants of Britain and the environment they lived in,
0:34:02 > 0:34:08at an important moment in prehistory when the very first Neanderthals
0:34:08 > 0:34:09arrived in Britain.
0:34:15 > 0:34:19But our next dig deals with newcomers of a very different kind.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23We're heading to the tip of Kent,
0:34:23 > 0:34:27and possibly evidence of the first Roman invasion of Britain.
0:34:31 > 0:34:32I came here back in 2010
0:34:32 > 0:34:34for Digging For Britain,
0:34:34 > 0:34:35to see the excavations
0:34:35 > 0:34:38in advance of the construction of the Kent
0:34:38 > 0:34:40access road.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43I witnessed the unearthing of Bronze Age burial mounds,
0:34:43 > 0:34:45Iron Age treasure...
0:34:45 > 0:34:48Here we have a tiny gold coin.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51..and multiple Roman graves.
0:34:51 > 0:34:55But this was just the tip of the archaeological iceberg,
0:34:55 > 0:34:59because after I left, the team made their most amazing discovery -
0:34:59 > 0:35:02the ditches of a vast fort that was potentially Roman.
0:35:04 > 0:35:10We know that this area of Kent was where the Romans invaded in AD 43.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14But, incredibly, the team dated this fort to almost a century earlier.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18At this time only one Roman general was known
0:35:18 > 0:35:22to have visited our shores - the mighty Julius Caesar.
0:35:22 > 0:35:27So was this fort the first tangible evidence of his time in Britain?
0:35:28 > 0:35:33Now, no archaeological evidence of Caesar's actual arrival in Britain
0:35:33 > 0:35:37has ever been found, so the discovery of an early Roman fort
0:35:37 > 0:35:41is providing archaeologists with a precious opportunity
0:35:41 > 0:35:43to get closer to the truth.
0:35:47 > 0:35:51In the 50s BC, Julius Caesar is recorded as making two
0:35:51 > 0:35:53fleeting visits to our island.
0:35:55 > 0:35:59Dr Andrew Fitzpatrick believes this fort could have been built during
0:35:59 > 0:36:01one of those trips.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03Now he just needs to prove it.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07What he hopes to find is Roman military equipment that he can date
0:36:07 > 0:36:09to the time of Caesar.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16We know that Caesar in the second invasion brought at least
0:36:16 > 0:36:1924,000, 25,000 soldiers and 800 ships.
0:36:19 > 0:36:21That must have left a lot of evidence.
0:36:23 > 0:36:28If Andrew succeeds, he will not only have found Julius Caesar's fort,
0:36:28 > 0:36:31but put us on the path to understanding why he made this
0:36:31 > 0:36:33early exploration of Britain.
0:36:34 > 0:36:39Andrew's first task is to get to grips with the full layout of the fort.
0:36:40 > 0:36:44His team uses geophysics to map the line of the ditches that once
0:36:44 > 0:36:45ringed the encampment.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51As the results come in, they reveal a tantalising clue.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57Our geophysical survey showed that the fort runs in a rather unusual
0:36:57 > 0:36:58irregular pattern here,
0:36:58 > 0:37:04so I think this is a specific style of defence to encircle large areas,
0:37:04 > 0:37:08and the reason it is a large area is because what this is defending isn't
0:37:08 > 0:37:11so much the soldiers, as the fleet,
0:37:11 > 0:37:14and so the key to the story really is the sea.
0:37:16 > 0:37:21Andrew believes that the fort's huge ditches formed a circuit of defences
0:37:21 > 0:37:23that protected nearby Pegwell Bay.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27This large open area is not only the perfect place to land
0:37:27 > 0:37:31a sizeable navy, but also matches the description
0:37:31 > 0:37:35of Caesar's second visit to Britain in 54 BC.
0:37:36 > 0:37:39It looks like Andrew is on the right track,
0:37:39 > 0:37:42but he now needs to find dateable Roman artefacts
0:37:42 > 0:37:44left behind by Caesar's army.
0:37:44 > 0:37:47He believes the ditches are the best place to find them.
0:37:47 > 0:37:51As his team starts digging, they discover something intriguing.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55We believe it to be a Roman arrow head.
0:37:55 > 0:38:00- Where was it found?- About 30cm off the bottom of that ditch there.
0:38:00 > 0:38:02So it is from really near the bottom of the ditch,
0:38:02 > 0:38:06so that could be a really important find for us in trying to establish
0:38:06 > 0:38:08if these ditches were dug by the armies of Julius Cesar.
0:38:10 > 0:38:12Although rusty and broken,
0:38:12 > 0:38:16this piece of iron could represent a major breakthrough in Andrew's
0:38:16 > 0:38:18search for Caesar.
0:38:18 > 0:38:20Because, to a specialist's eye,
0:38:20 > 0:38:24Roman weaponry is just as diagnostic as a World War I rifle
0:38:24 > 0:38:25for a modern historian.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33To make a positive identification, it still needs a good clean,
0:38:33 > 0:38:36so Andrew takes the find to conservator Graham Morgan
0:38:36 > 0:38:37for initial analysis.
0:38:41 > 0:38:43After a couple of hours of work,
0:38:43 > 0:38:47the weapon turns out not to be an arrow head, but the tip of a spear.
0:38:48 > 0:38:52Right. There we are. There's the object so far.
0:38:52 > 0:38:53It's very corroded.
0:38:54 > 0:38:59But that might be like the illustration you showed me before.
0:39:02 > 0:39:06- This one here.- You can see there is a centre rib on that as well.
0:39:06 > 0:39:09- Very similar.- I know that this weapon here was found
0:39:09 > 0:39:13in the Roman camp at the siege works of Alesia.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17That is a site that Julius Cesar attacked in 52 BC.
0:39:17 > 0:39:23So the question is, is this from Ebbsfleet similar enough to the one
0:39:23 > 0:39:26from Alesia to suggest we really do have firm evidence
0:39:26 > 0:39:30for Roman soldiers at Ebbsfleet in the 50s BC?
0:39:32 > 0:39:35- And it looks quite close. - It does, yes.
0:39:36 > 0:39:40This possible Roman spearhead is an exciting clue.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43But to be sure that the fort belonged to Julius Caesar,
0:39:43 > 0:39:45Andrew needs more evidence.
0:39:45 > 0:39:50In September 2017, he returns to the site for the final time,
0:39:50 > 0:39:53hoping this time to unearth conclusive proof.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00The team begins by trying to find one of the entranceways to the fort,
0:40:00 > 0:40:03where they believe they are likely to find more artefacts.
0:40:03 > 0:40:07But their first discovery is totally unexpected.
0:40:07 > 0:40:12So, there are two skulls there, or are there more?
0:40:12 > 0:40:15There are more - there's these two, one over there,
0:40:15 > 0:40:19and one you may just about see being uncovered there.
0:40:19 > 0:40:20Gosh, that's remarkable.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25The team believes that these skulls may have once lined the approach
0:40:25 > 0:40:28to the fort as a chilling deterrent to the locals.
0:40:30 > 0:40:31If they are right,
0:40:31 > 0:40:34then perhaps they are close to one of the fort's entrances.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37They expand their trench and make a breakthrough.
0:40:41 > 0:40:43We have a road here,
0:40:43 > 0:40:46which you can see in the cobbling visible behind me.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49It runs into the entrance of the defended enclosure.
0:40:50 > 0:40:54Andrew believes the fort would have been similar to Caesar's other camps
0:40:54 > 0:40:58in France, with earthen banks, defensive ditches and a rough,
0:40:58 > 0:41:01cobbled road leading into the entrance.
0:41:02 > 0:41:06But more important is what the team find on the road.
0:41:09 > 0:41:11Strewn across the site is more human bone...
0:41:13 > 0:41:15..heavily corroded weapons...
0:41:16 > 0:41:21..and one tiny find that could be the key in linking this fort
0:41:21 > 0:41:23to Julius Caesar.
0:41:23 > 0:41:24This small bit of iron...
0:41:26 > 0:41:31..could be the first hobnail that we've found on this site.
0:41:31 > 0:41:32You can see...
0:41:32 > 0:41:37..there's a shank here, then it comes down to a slightly pointed,
0:41:37 > 0:41:40domed head. If that turns out to be a hobnail,
0:41:40 > 0:41:45the surface in which it's been found dates to the 1st century BC.
0:41:45 > 0:41:50The only people who came to Britain wearing boots with hobnails in them
0:41:50 > 0:41:52were the soldiers of Julius Caesar's army.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56There can be no doubt about the significance of hobnails.
0:41:56 > 0:41:57It would be, in many ways,
0:41:57 > 0:42:02the smallest of details that give us the clinching fact of the biggest of
0:42:02 > 0:42:06stories of the first chapter of Britain's history.
0:42:06 > 0:42:10So, could this humble piece of rusty iron solve one of the biggest
0:42:10 > 0:42:14questions in Roman archaeology in Britain?
0:42:14 > 0:42:17To hear the latest news from the site, I've asked Andrew to come into
0:42:17 > 0:42:19our lab with some of the most important finds.
0:42:21 > 0:42:25How exciting. Andrew, what is all the evidence you're using to come to
0:42:25 > 0:42:28your conclusion that this probably is Caesar's fort?
0:42:28 > 0:42:30We have a very large defended enclosure,
0:42:30 > 0:42:33that dates to the 1st century BC.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36The shape of the defences is very similar to known Roman sites in France,
0:42:36 > 0:42:39of 52 BC, of Caesar.
0:42:39 > 0:42:41It's the right place, the geography fits.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45We have weaponry that could well fit.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48In terms of where would you land your army, I think it's here.
0:42:48 > 0:42:51It all points to that conclusion.
0:42:51 > 0:42:55If that is a hobnail, is that going to clinch it?
0:42:55 > 0:42:58It would be very strongly suggestive and there are other pieces -
0:42:58 > 0:43:00we have possible Roman weapons.
0:43:00 > 0:43:01- These things here?- Yes.
0:43:01 > 0:43:06So, the possibility is that this, in your hand, is the tip of a pilum,
0:43:06 > 0:43:08which is a Roman type of weapon.
0:43:08 > 0:43:10And this is the diagram over here?
0:43:10 > 0:43:14This is the one. It's the same size, it's the same shape.
0:43:14 > 0:43:19We know this particular one was found in a Roman fort of 52 BC.
0:43:19 > 0:43:23And there are other examples found in Italy.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26And the interesting thing about that is that's where Julius Caesar raised
0:43:26 > 0:43:27his legions, in north Italy.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30It's all starting to stack up, isn't it?
0:43:30 > 0:43:34With the fort looking likely to have belonged to Julius Caesar,
0:43:34 > 0:43:38Andrew has started to think about the reasons that motivated his visits.
0:43:38 > 0:43:40Why do you think Julius Caesar came?
0:43:40 > 0:43:43My personal view is he comes for the glory,
0:43:43 > 0:43:45because he's going beyond the known world.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48For the Romans, the world stops at France.
0:43:48 > 0:43:50Britain is almost a mythical land.
0:43:50 > 0:43:52They're still not sure that people really live there,
0:43:52 > 0:43:55and he brings it under the control of the Roman world.
0:43:55 > 0:43:58So, he achieves great glory because of that.
0:43:58 > 0:44:01There must have been some political benefit as well?
0:44:01 > 0:44:04Well, one of the key things is what happens afterwards.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06This isn't an army of occupation.
0:44:06 > 0:44:08It's not going to be there with boots on the ground.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12The way the Romans worked for many centuries is they worked through the
0:44:12 > 0:44:15local rulers, and they get the local elite to work with them.
0:44:15 > 0:44:19When Julius Caesar leaves in 54, he does two things -
0:44:19 > 0:44:22he agrees the amount of tribute that will be paid to Rome,
0:44:22 > 0:44:24but he also takes hostages.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26And those hostages are very often the family
0:44:26 > 0:44:28and the youngsters of the rulers.
0:44:28 > 0:44:31And it means that Britain is tied into the Roman world,
0:44:31 > 0:44:35and the kings of Britain become client kings of Rome.
0:44:35 > 0:44:38Effectively, they are part of the Roman Empire.
0:44:40 > 0:44:43Caesar's campaign diary provides us with some of the earliest
0:44:43 > 0:44:47written descriptions of Britain, as well as our first recorded dates.
0:44:49 > 0:44:53Andrew has made a compelling case for this having been Caesar's fort.
0:44:55 > 0:44:58And, rather than a simple story of conquest,
0:44:58 > 0:45:02Rome appears to have spent a full century softening up British rulers
0:45:02 > 0:45:04before finally taking over.
0:45:09 > 0:45:11I'm dying to meet one of these client kings,
0:45:11 > 0:45:13so I'm going behind the scenes
0:45:13 > 0:45:17at the castle museum to examine a contender
0:45:17 > 0:45:19in the form of the Lexden Burial,
0:45:19 > 0:45:24a selection of objects interred with a very important man in Colchester.
0:45:24 > 0:45:28Crucially, it dates between Caesar's visits to Britain and the final
0:45:28 > 0:45:31Roman invasion in AD 43.
0:45:32 > 0:45:34What grave goods. I mean, they're just gorgeous.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37Look at this little boar. He is lovely.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40The detail is just wonderful, isn't it?
0:45:40 > 0:45:43- It's fantastic, isn't it?- Really, really beautiful.- You wouldn't
0:45:43 > 0:45:46believe, in some ways, that is 2,000 years old, or just over.
0:45:46 > 0:45:50- Fantastic.- There's a real Roman flavour to this because
0:45:50 > 0:45:53the boar - incredibly important to Iron Age people in Britain.
0:45:53 > 0:45:56They hunted them, they ate them, they even revered them.
0:45:56 > 0:46:00But this little figurine has a real Roman, classical look to him.
0:46:00 > 0:46:04It could well have been made in Gaul and imported over here to Britain.
0:46:04 > 0:46:06What about this little foot, that's very sweet?
0:46:06 > 0:46:09This tiny little foot. You can just about make out the toes.
0:46:09 > 0:46:11- He's wearing a little sandal. - He's wearing Birkis -
0:46:11 > 0:46:13Birkenstock sandals.
0:46:13 > 0:46:15- Very definitely. - A lot of detail there.
0:46:15 > 0:46:19So, what do you think this was? Was it part of a statue?
0:46:19 > 0:46:21No, it's unlike our figurines.
0:46:21 > 0:46:23I think this is part of a piece of furniture.
0:46:23 > 0:46:25- Really?- Yeah, which may seem odd.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28But it's a footing for something like a folding chair or stool.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31So, who had chairs like that?
0:46:31 > 0:46:35It would have been some of the most powerful men in Rome,
0:46:35 > 0:46:36all the way up to the Emperor.
0:46:36 > 0:46:38Indeed, it may even have been gifted,
0:46:38 > 0:46:41if this person was of high enough rank, maybe,
0:46:41 > 0:46:43maybe even a client king, who in Britain...
0:46:43 > 0:46:46Somebody who was sponsored by the Roman Empire?
0:46:46 > 0:46:47Exactly that.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52A connection with the Roman Empire gave this individual great wealth
0:46:52 > 0:46:55and power. But the last object suggests that this was more than
0:46:55 > 0:46:58just political expediency.
0:46:58 > 0:47:03A relationship with Rome seems to have been personally meaningful to
0:47:03 > 0:47:06- this British ruler. - This is a medallion.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09- It's based on a coin of the emperor, Augustus.- Is it?
0:47:09 > 0:47:14And what's amazing about this is this gives us a brilliant date for
0:47:14 > 0:47:18this burial. This burial can't be earlier than about 15 BC,
0:47:18 > 0:47:21which is when the coin would have been cast.
0:47:21 > 0:47:25And it's tempting to think that this is a very personal object,
0:47:25 > 0:47:27and maybe there's some individual relationship here.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31Maybe not with the emperor, but certainly with the elite in Rome.
0:47:31 > 0:47:34So, when Claudius arrives, in 43 AD,
0:47:34 > 0:47:39do you imagine that some powerful people in Britain are effectively
0:47:39 > 0:47:40welcoming him in?
0:47:40 > 0:47:44Yes. I think there will be people siding with the Romans, yes, indeed.
0:47:44 > 0:47:46Especially in the southern part of Britain.
0:47:49 > 0:47:54The belongings of this possible client king in Essex provide a rare
0:47:54 > 0:47:57glimpse of the forgotten relationships that facilitated
0:47:57 > 0:47:59the final Roman invasion.
0:48:00 > 0:48:05And, as Andrew's post-excavation research on Caesar's fort continues,
0:48:05 > 0:48:09it will undoubtedly enrich our understanding of the very beginnings
0:48:09 > 0:48:10of Roman Britain.
0:48:17 > 0:48:19Rather than rewriting big history,
0:48:19 > 0:48:24our final story is revealing the forgotten lives of ordinary Britons.
0:48:24 > 0:48:26Throughout the 18th century,
0:48:26 > 0:48:30maritime trade was the mainstay of the British economy.
0:48:30 > 0:48:35But 1706 saw one of the most catastrophic disasters in all of
0:48:35 > 0:48:37British seafaring history
0:48:37 > 0:48:43when a fleet of 182 ships sailed straight into a winter storm.
0:48:43 > 0:48:47They were returning from Virginia in America as part of the so-called
0:48:47 > 0:48:49trade triangle.
0:48:49 > 0:48:52European goods were sent to West Africa to buy slaves.
0:48:52 > 0:48:57The slaves were sold to plantations in the Americas and, in return,
0:48:57 > 0:49:01tobacco, rum, cotton and sugar flowed back into Europe.
0:49:01 > 0:49:04It was a wretched, but lucrative trade.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12The Hazardous Prize was one of the fleet's escort vessels.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15It sank on the 19th of November, 1706,
0:49:15 > 0:49:19when bad weather forced it to run aground off Bracklesham Bay.
0:49:22 > 0:49:24During the early 1700s,
0:49:24 > 0:49:26thousands of ships were crisscrossing the globe.
0:49:28 > 0:49:30The lives of the men on board are a vital,
0:49:30 > 0:49:32but forgotten part of our history.
0:49:33 > 0:49:37Without them, Britain would never have become a maritime power
0:49:37 > 0:49:38or built its empire.
0:49:41 > 0:49:43In 2016,
0:49:43 > 0:49:46a team of local divers and archaeologists launched into a new
0:49:46 > 0:49:50two-year excavation of the wreck, funded by Historic England.
0:49:53 > 0:49:56Their mission was to recover new details about the crew
0:49:56 > 0:49:59and the realities of 18th-century life at sea.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12They start by constructing a metal grid,
0:50:12 > 0:50:14positioned over the ship's hold,
0:50:14 > 0:50:17so that they can record and locate any new discoveries.
0:50:19 > 0:50:23Site licensee Iain Grant and archaeologist Dan Pascoe are leading
0:50:23 > 0:50:25the investigation.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28So, we've put down the frames.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31These are going to be the grid that we are going to be working off,
0:50:31 > 0:50:32doing the excavation.
0:50:32 > 0:50:35We've gone from one side going over what looks like
0:50:35 > 0:50:37a barrel store.
0:50:37 > 0:50:39There must be at least
0:50:39 > 0:50:40five half barrels
0:50:40 > 0:50:42and at least one complete one, by the look of it.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46These barrels were used to store provisions
0:50:46 > 0:50:50for the Hazardous's 280-strong crew.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54The fact they are still intact is a promising find and suggests that the
0:50:54 > 0:50:56wreck may contain many more artefacts.
0:50:58 > 0:51:02A few weeks into the project, the team make an important discovery,
0:51:02 > 0:51:05related to the men's most crucial job on board.
0:51:08 > 0:51:11A really exciting find from today's diving.
0:51:11 > 0:51:14What it looks like is a powder chamber.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17The hollow area is where the charge would have been.
0:51:17 > 0:51:21There would have been a lid on top and this would have been transported
0:51:21 > 0:51:25from the powder room, up to the guns on the gun deck.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29Keeping the many guns of the Hazardous at the ready
0:51:29 > 0:51:32was a key task for the crew.
0:51:32 > 0:51:36The warship was responsible for protecting the fleet from
0:51:36 > 0:51:39the pirates and privateers that terrorised the waves.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43These weapons are a powerful reminder that the men of
0:51:43 > 0:51:47the Hazardous must have been constantly wary of attack.
0:51:51 > 0:51:53Halfway through the project,
0:51:53 > 0:51:55the divers begin to discover something else -
0:51:55 > 0:51:58the personal belongings of the crew.
0:51:58 > 0:52:03I think the best two finds are these.
0:52:03 > 0:52:04Buttons.
0:52:05 > 0:52:07That one has got a pattern on it.
0:52:07 > 0:52:09- That is...- A horse's head?
0:52:09 > 0:52:11Yes, could be a horse's head.
0:52:11 > 0:52:13A knight, yes.
0:52:13 > 0:52:18Well done, people. Never cease to be amazed, eh?
0:52:20 > 0:52:21Along with the buttons,
0:52:21 > 0:52:26the team begins to discover many more personal items on the seabed -
0:52:26 > 0:52:31a shoe buckle, a pair of brass dividers used for navigation,
0:52:31 > 0:52:32and a pewter plate.
0:52:34 > 0:52:36As Iain and Dan sort through the finds,
0:52:36 > 0:52:39they begin to build up a vivid picture
0:52:39 > 0:52:41of the different kinds of lives on board.
0:52:42 > 0:52:47So, do you think the pewterware was probably officers'?
0:52:47 > 0:52:49- Yes.- Rather than crew?
0:52:49 > 0:52:54Yeah. I think the crew probably ate off of wooden platters.
0:52:54 > 0:52:56Wooden bowls, at best.
0:52:56 > 0:52:59But what's the old story about the square meal?
0:52:59 > 0:53:01Three square meals a day.
0:53:01 > 0:53:03Yeah. They would have been wooden platters.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06I don't think ordinary crew would have...
0:53:06 > 0:53:07- Had the pewterware?- No.
0:53:08 > 0:53:13So, even at sea, Britain was a society divided by class.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16But in the end, class meant little when the men's lives were
0:53:16 > 0:53:18put under threat.
0:53:18 > 0:53:24On the 19th of November, 1706, after a 3,600 mile journey,
0:53:24 > 0:53:28the Hazardous Prize was within touching distance of home
0:53:28 > 0:53:30when bad weather closed in.
0:53:30 > 0:53:34You get the feeling that the sea's pretty rough just here.
0:53:34 > 0:53:38It's a beautiful day today, but really, really rough.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41So they come in, they have missed their safe anchorage.
0:53:41 > 0:53:43They've bumped around all through the night.
0:53:43 > 0:53:46They finished up very close to here.
0:53:46 > 0:53:51And the shore, although it looks no distance to us on a nice day,
0:53:51 > 0:53:54on a stormy day I should think it probably looks a long way.
0:53:54 > 0:53:58And all they want to do is get on dry land.
0:53:58 > 0:54:01So, they're not interested in personal effects.
0:54:01 > 0:54:03They're all left on the site.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08The Hazardous was wrecked in Bracklesham Bay,
0:54:08 > 0:54:11the ferocious waves ripping apart its mighty timbers,
0:54:11 > 0:54:13condemning the ship to a watery grave.
0:54:15 > 0:54:19But fortunately the majority of its men made it to land.
0:54:19 > 0:54:21It must have been devastating, though,
0:54:21 > 0:54:25for them to leave all of their precious belongings on board,
0:54:25 > 0:54:29including one very unusual object that is now providing a valuable
0:54:29 > 0:54:31insight into the mind-set of some of the crew.
0:54:33 > 0:54:38So, this is the elephant tusk that's come up from the Hazardous Prize.
0:54:38 > 0:54:42Now, this is a ship that's sailing back from Virginia, and, forgive me
0:54:42 > 0:54:45if I'm wrong here, but I don't think they had elephants in Virginia.
0:54:45 > 0:54:51No, and it seems most likely that it's come from Africa to America.
0:54:51 > 0:54:53It may have come on a slave ship
0:54:53 > 0:54:57and somebody's bought it and is going to take it home.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00And this is something that was probably picked up by the officers
0:55:00 > 0:55:02on board. They might have been bringing it back
0:55:02 > 0:55:04to make a profit back home.
0:55:04 > 0:55:07And this tusk really reminds us of that triangular trade, doesn't it?
0:55:07 > 0:55:10The fact that the Hazardous Prize herself may not have travelled to
0:55:10 > 0:55:14Africa, but there are ships going from Africa to the New World,
0:55:14 > 0:55:17and other ships coming from the New World back to Britain.
0:55:17 > 0:55:21And an opportunity to make a few shillings here and there...
0:55:21 > 0:55:23- Yeah.- ..however they could.
0:55:25 > 0:55:29But the crew of the Hazardous Prize never got a chance to cash in
0:55:29 > 0:55:31their exotic acquisitions.
0:55:31 > 0:55:35And, in fact, this wreck was just the last of a string of casualties
0:55:35 > 0:55:37that year.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43So, tell me more about the Hazardous Prize.
0:55:43 > 0:55:47This shipwreck is part of a much bigger tragedy, isn't it?
0:55:47 > 0:55:52It was escorting a merchant fleet that was over in Virginia,
0:55:52 > 0:55:53in the Americas.
0:55:54 > 0:56:00Its job was to bring that fleet back safely to England.
0:56:00 > 0:56:03Unfortunately, it was kind of doomed from the beginning.
0:56:03 > 0:56:08Very much so. A catalogue of hold-ups early on in the year,
0:56:08 > 0:56:14which meant they didn't actually get to America until July.
0:56:14 > 0:56:18And the last escort ship, I think, didn't arrive until August.
0:56:18 > 0:56:21It meant they were crossing the Atlantic in really poor conditions.
0:56:21 > 0:56:24September is the worst time to leave,
0:56:24 > 0:56:26as we know from the hurricanes that have just been.
0:56:26 > 0:56:28When they got back to England,
0:56:28 > 0:56:35there was 35 of the original 200-ish merchant ships left.
0:56:35 > 0:56:38- That's a huge loss. - Massive, massive loss.
0:56:38 > 0:56:42Not only did they lose one of their warships,
0:56:42 > 0:56:45they also lost a large amount of tax revenue.
0:56:45 > 0:56:47Then, on top of that,
0:56:47 > 0:56:50there was all the personal losses for all the traders.
0:56:50 > 0:56:53So, yeah, it was a major, major tragedy.
0:56:53 > 0:56:55I think it's really interesting,
0:56:55 > 0:56:59contrasting this shipwreck of the Hazardous Prize with the Rooswijk,
0:56:59 > 0:57:01which went down a few decades later.
0:57:01 > 0:57:05I think both show you just how risky this was.
0:57:05 > 0:57:06Exactly.
0:57:08 > 0:57:10The excavation of the Hazardous Prize
0:57:10 > 0:57:14is bringing us closer to the forgotten seamen who once plied
0:57:14 > 0:57:16the Atlantic trading routes...
0:57:17 > 0:57:20..providing new details about their daily lives
0:57:20 > 0:57:22on board 18th-century ships.
0:57:23 > 0:57:27It's just one discovery in a year that has been jam-packed with new
0:57:27 > 0:57:29archaeological revelations.
0:57:30 > 0:57:33From sunken treasure that lays bare the extensive corruption
0:57:33 > 0:57:35of the East India companies...
0:57:36 > 0:57:40..and writing tablets with the words of the first Londoners...
0:57:42 > 0:57:45..to new evidence of Julius Caesar in Britain...
0:57:47 > 0:57:51..archaeology is helping us rewrite the story of our island.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57Next week, we're joining archaeologists
0:57:57 > 0:57:59in the north of Britain, unearthing evidence
0:57:59 > 0:58:02of a forgotten British rebellion on Hadrian's Wall...
0:58:04 > 0:58:07- Oh, my God. How does that feel, Rupert?- Yeah, pretty good!
0:58:09 > 0:58:12..finding a 3,000-year-old cache of weapons...
0:58:12 > 0:58:15Oh, wow!
0:58:15 > 0:58:18..linking us back to the warrior chiefs of Bronze Age Britain.
0:58:19 > 0:58:23And we discover that the Scottish island of Iona was home
0:58:23 > 0:58:26to a forgotten Jerusalem of the North.
0:58:26 > 0:58:27It's quite an extraordinary thing to do -
0:58:27 > 0:58:30- it's like early medieval virtual reality.- Yeah, maybe.