0:00:32 > 0:00:34In January last year,
0:00:34 > 0:00:37deep inside the limestone rocks of the Yorkshire Dales,
0:00:37 > 0:00:40cave divers, Andrew Goddard and Phil Murphy,
0:00:40 > 0:00:42were exploring the narrow and boulder-choked passages
0:00:42 > 0:00:45of a little-known underground river.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55When they surfaced in an uncharted chamber,
0:00:55 > 0:00:58they thought they were the first to set foot in these caves.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01But they were soon to discover otherwise.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08As the divers progressed deeper into the cave,
0:01:08 > 0:01:12wherever they looked, there were bones. But how old were they?
0:01:16 > 0:01:19Even more remarkable, a set of bare human footprints
0:01:19 > 0:01:23in the soft clay floor of the cave.
0:01:23 > 0:01:24By pure chance,
0:01:24 > 0:01:27the divers had stumbled upon an ancient burial site
0:01:27 > 0:01:31and one of the most important cave finds this century.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43Those bones turned out to be 3,500 years old.
0:01:43 > 0:01:44It's an amazing find,
0:01:44 > 0:01:46and means that the cave's probably a burial site
0:01:46 > 0:01:49belonging to our Bronze Age ancestors.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51So, this morning, I'm on my way to meet the team
0:01:51 > 0:01:53who are going to explore the site.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02- That was quite a drive! Hello.- Hi, Phil Murphy. Pleased to meet you.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04Hi, Julian, Andrew Goddard. Pleased to meet you.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06So you're the two that found the cave?
0:02:06 > 0:02:10- That's right.- Do you reckon we're going to find a way in?- No problem!
0:02:11 > 0:02:14As an archaeologist, I've always been fascinated
0:02:14 > 0:02:17by how much you can tell about our past from a few scattered remains.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22In this programme and the coming series,
0:02:22 > 0:02:26I shall be joining in excavations of burials across the British Isles,
0:02:26 > 0:02:29and finding out more about our ancestors.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31I'll be talking to specialists,
0:02:31 > 0:02:34trying to discover who these people were,
0:02:34 > 0:02:36and when and how they died.
0:02:36 > 0:02:37Excellente.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39At the end of each programme,
0:02:39 > 0:02:42with the help of experts in facial reconstruction,
0:02:42 > 0:02:45we'll come face-to-face with one of our ancestors.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Back in the Yorkshire Dales, the team was heading into the hills.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59Their first task is to find an alternative way into the cave
0:02:59 > 0:03:03that doesn't involve dangerous water-filled tunnels.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10Heading the team is one of Britain's leading cave archaeologists -
0:03:10 > 0:03:13Andrew Chamberlain from Sheffield University.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17Our prehistoric ancestors couldn't have potholed into the cave,
0:03:17 > 0:03:19so there must have been another entrance.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23Could one of these depressions on the hillside be the way in?
0:03:23 > 0:03:26There are several of these in the neighbourhood.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28We don't want to dig the wrong one.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31This is why we're using the radio location device,
0:03:31 > 0:03:33to try and find exactly where we are.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42Andy and Phil have volunteered to dive back into the cave
0:03:42 > 0:03:44with a small radio transmitter.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47We hope this will guide us to a suitable spot on the hillside
0:03:47 > 0:03:49where we can find a way into the cave.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59On the surface, Bob's location device
0:03:59 > 0:04:01can pinpoint the exact location of the divers,
0:04:01 > 0:04:05even if they're deep underground.
0:04:07 > 0:04:08The divers have to work their way
0:04:08 > 0:04:12through 120 metres of narrow, water-filled passages
0:04:12 > 0:04:14before they re-emerge into air.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18From here, they climb up a steep, rocky slope up into the burial cave.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22TRANSMITTER BEEPS
0:04:22 > 0:04:24That's right, then it dips off...
0:04:24 > 0:04:26BEEPING CONTINUES
0:04:26 > 0:04:28..and it comes back.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30So, that's the spot?
0:04:30 > 0:04:33That's the spot - they're directly below that, yes.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40Andy and Phil are now deep in the cave.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42They think they've found the original entrance,
0:04:42 > 0:04:45but it's now completely choked with huge boulders.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49OK, Bob. What do you want us to do next?
0:04:49 > 0:04:51You can move three metres south.
0:04:53 > 0:04:54Bob wants the divers to move
0:04:54 > 0:04:57towards one of the depressions in the hillside.
0:05:04 > 0:05:05It looks quite shallow.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11HE-L-L-OO!
0:05:11 > 0:05:15- They can hear us!- They can...?! What, they can hear us?
0:05:16 > 0:05:19- Hello-o!- Can you hear him? - Yes, I can hear him.
0:05:19 > 0:05:20Hello?
0:05:20 > 0:05:22Sounds like I can hear Julian up there.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24Not very loud, but I can definitely hear him.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26Can you hear me?
0:05:26 > 0:05:29THEY HOWL
0:05:29 > 0:05:31HE LAUGHS
0:05:31 > 0:05:33What's going on, Julian?
0:05:33 > 0:05:37Um, well, the cave's called the Wolves' Den, isn't it?
0:05:37 > 0:05:39They're howling like wolves down there!
0:05:39 > 0:05:43So I think that means they've found the place!
0:05:43 > 0:05:47OK, lads. That's it. You can come out. We'll see you on the surface.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51This was amazing luck.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54Andy and Phil had found a shaft that led almost up to the surface.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58So all we have to do now is clear the rocks blocking the entrance.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05For that job, Andrew and his team needed some heavy equipment.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23There are lots of caves in the area,
0:06:23 > 0:06:25some of which contained human burials,
0:06:25 > 0:06:27but many were excavated over a century ago
0:06:27 > 0:06:30and very little survives today.
0:06:30 > 0:06:35That's why this cave, inaccessible until now, could be so special.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39GENERATOR WHIRRS
0:06:41 > 0:06:43Now we've got the generator rigged up,
0:06:43 > 0:06:46we can see how far this hole really does go.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54JULIAN LAUGHS Can you tell us that, Julian?
0:06:54 > 0:06:56Um...
0:06:56 > 0:06:58It's a bit deeper than we thought!
0:06:58 > 0:07:01The floor of the cave is about nine metres down -
0:07:01 > 0:07:04that's nearly 30 feet from where we're standing at the moment.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08And I reckon... Hang on, put that tape there again.
0:07:08 > 0:07:13There's only about two or three feet of clay and rock
0:07:13 > 0:07:16- that we're standing on!- Yes.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19There's not much to go and a long way to the bottom of the cave!
0:07:19 > 0:07:21But it's incredible.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27While the team carried on digging,
0:07:27 > 0:07:31I went off to find where Bronze Age people in this area lived.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34I found some clues in the next valley,
0:07:34 > 0:07:39where tumbled stone walls marked the remains of a prehistoric settlement.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43This may not look much, but it's the remains of a prehistoric hut.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46I'm sitting on what remains of the back wall,
0:07:46 > 0:07:47level floor in front of me,
0:07:47 > 0:07:52and there is the entrance, pointing out to the valley bottom.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58It was probably a small farmstead, with pens for sheep and cattle.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00Perhaps home to two or three families.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03And in this wonderfully sheltered spot,
0:08:03 > 0:08:07they would have been able to have grown their crops of wheat and barley.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13Back at the site, they'd got a grip
0:08:13 > 0:08:15on the last rock blocking the entrance.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19But it was vital this boulder didn't crash onto the cave floor,
0:08:19 > 0:08:21destroying any remains that lay below.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23- More tension!- More tension!
0:08:26 > 0:08:29- Steady.- Steady.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31MOTOR REVS
0:08:35 > 0:08:37THEY CHEER AND APPLAUD
0:08:37 > 0:08:41After three intense days of digging and heaving great rocks around,
0:08:41 > 0:08:43the entrance was finally clear.
0:08:43 > 0:08:44Oh!
0:08:47 > 0:08:49Very snug!
0:08:58 > 0:09:00Lower me away!
0:09:02 > 0:09:03Right.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10As an archaeologist, I've spent a fair bit of my working life
0:09:10 > 0:09:12digging in holes in the ground.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15But this will be the first time I've gone underground
0:09:15 > 0:09:17in search of ancient remains.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20I felt an enormous sense of anticipation and excitement
0:09:20 > 0:09:23as I climbed down the flimsy wire ladder.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27Andrew had gone ahead, and helped me to land on a platform
0:09:27 > 0:09:30the team had built at the top of the steep rocky slope.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53- Now, don't step backwards. - No. Good God, that's the...?
0:09:53 > 0:09:54It's scree.
0:09:54 > 0:09:59This is the scree running down to the flooded passage,
0:09:59 > 0:10:03which is where the cavers initially came up into this cave.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06I see what they mean about it being steep!
0:10:06 > 0:10:09And I can see bones on the...
0:10:09 > 0:10:12'When we turned away from the slope the divers had clambered up,
0:10:12 > 0:10:15'we saw human bones laid out in front of us.'
0:10:15 > 0:10:18Everywhere you look, there's more bone!
0:10:18 > 0:10:20I mean, there's some under here.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23'They looked so fresh and remarkably well-preserved.'
0:10:23 > 0:10:27Is this how they were left 3,500 years ago?
0:10:27 > 0:10:28I think so, yes. Yes.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30I've never...
0:10:30 > 0:10:34In all the years I've been an archaeologist,
0:10:34 > 0:10:38I never believed that I could come and see something like this!
0:10:40 > 0:10:44I'm sort of genuinely quite speechless!
0:10:44 > 0:10:47- Underneath the platform, there's one...- Crikey, yes.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49..right under here.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52- Are these all human? - These are all human.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56- OK, so what's that bone, Andrew? - That's a humerus.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59Right. So there's a humerus there. That's another arm bone.
0:10:59 > 0:11:00That's a radius.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03- Then that's a tibia.- Yep.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06- What about that one under there? - Another tibia.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10So these are long bones from both the arm and the leg...
0:11:10 > 0:11:14- that are all stacked up in a neat little pile.- That's right.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18If you look at this bone here, we have another human humerus -
0:11:18 > 0:11:22it's missing its head. You can see the epiphysis is missing.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24It's the end of the bone.
0:11:24 > 0:11:29It's not fused, the person died before the age at which that fuses,
0:11:29 > 0:11:32which is in the late teenage years.
0:11:32 > 0:11:37So we can be sure this is a separate individual from this one here.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41- So there's the remains of more than one person buried in here.- Right.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44Hang on, that must be human.
0:11:44 > 0:11:49That's right. It's very recognisable as a human jaw.
0:11:49 > 0:11:55Two left premolars and the first molar is very worn,
0:11:55 > 0:12:00which is typical of the jaws of the early population.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03The team are mapping the entire cave.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05In a small space near the boulder slope
0:12:05 > 0:12:07are parts of three individuals -
0:12:07 > 0:12:10a woman, a man and a child aged about 15.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13The floor of the cave has partly collapsed,
0:12:13 > 0:12:16taking some of their bones tumbling down the slope
0:12:16 > 0:12:17towards the underground river.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21The wolf bones litter every part of the cave floor.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25Animal-bone specialist Roz Cord was very excited by the evidence
0:12:25 > 0:12:28that wolves had been using the cave as a den.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31It's quite remarkable. There's a few passages there,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34and they have wolves in them.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38- Not live ones.- No, not live ones! We have canid bones.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42And it looks like it's typical denning activity.
0:12:42 > 0:12:43What do you mean?
0:12:43 > 0:12:46Denning activity is when they go into a cave, a hole underground
0:12:46 > 0:12:49where they can have their cubs without being disturbed.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53There's adult wolves down there and there's juvenile wolves down there.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57You can see the remains of their dinners scattered all about.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00- What were they eating? - They were eating roe deer.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03- Somebody said there's a whole deer carcass down there.- There is.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05Indeed, there is a deer carcass down there.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08It's a small deer, and it's mixed up with some other bones.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11- Is that wolves' dinner as well?- Yes. It's a wolf's dinner as well.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13The adults are bringing in animals
0:13:13 > 0:13:16for the juveniles and themselves to eat.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20You can see, along the passages, as the small cubs have taken bones
0:13:20 > 0:13:22and they've dragged them along the passages.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24All the bones are piled up in the corners
0:13:24 > 0:13:27where the wolves have been walking through, trampling through.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31- How amazing.- It's quite fascinating.
0:13:31 > 0:13:37Even more extraordinary are the human footprints in the midst of the wolf bones.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39They're impressed in the soft mud of the cave floor.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42But some are sealed below layers of limestone,
0:13:42 > 0:13:45which have taken thousands of years to form -
0:13:45 > 0:13:47so we know they're prehistoric.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49In fact, they're only ancient human footprints
0:13:49 > 0:13:51ever found in a cave in the British Isles.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54I still find it difficult to grasp
0:13:54 > 0:13:57that somebody could have come in here, thousands of years ago,
0:13:57 > 0:14:01and left a footprint in the mud
0:14:01 > 0:14:05that we can still see all this time afterwards!
0:14:05 > 0:14:08It's extraordinary.
0:14:08 > 0:14:13It brings you so close to the person, doesn't it,
0:14:13 > 0:14:18to see that there, especially as it's so small!
0:14:19 > 0:14:22I'll get a close-up of the good one.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26Bill Sellars arrived to examine the footprints.
0:14:26 > 0:14:31If you do it at the same height, we can collage the whole track together,
0:14:31 > 0:14:33which would be really nice.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40We've got a track with several sets of prints.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42We've got three really clear ones
0:14:42 > 0:14:48and we've got some others that are obscured by the flow-stem covering.
0:14:48 > 0:14:54What we're trying to do is get a photograph of the whole track
0:14:54 > 0:14:58so that we can recreate how whoever it was walked.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02On the last day of the excavation,
0:15:02 > 0:15:05Phil volunteers to go down the boulder slope.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08He wants to find the human bones he spotted
0:15:08 > 0:15:10when he first came into the cave.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12But it's a hazardous operation.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15This is going to involve a lot of rock falling down I think.
0:15:15 > 0:15:21- STONES RATTLE - Oops! There goes some.
0:15:21 > 0:15:26ROCKS CLATTER DOWN
0:15:26 > 0:15:31As far as possible, Andrew wants to leave the cave as it was found.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34The only bones he feels should be removed
0:15:34 > 0:15:36are those that have fallen down the steep boulder slope.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39They simply wouldn't survive the next rock fall.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49- OK, just hold me there. - Well done!- Well done!
0:15:49 > 0:15:52Have a look. They're dead delicate. I wonder if they're the juvenile.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58I'll send it up to the surface. We'll have a look at it there.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00Be very gentle when you're pulling it up.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12By the time we'd all climbed out of the cave,
0:16:12 > 0:16:16everyone was desperate to see what Phil had found.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18It's very fragile, the bone.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20From that boulder slope,
0:16:20 > 0:16:22he'd recovered part of an incredibly delicate skull.
0:16:22 > 0:16:27It's not a very prominent brow ridge, but we need to know how old it is.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33After a day that was spent mainly underground down the cave,
0:16:33 > 0:16:36it's a real relief to be out in the sunshine
0:16:36 > 0:16:40and also to have retrieved this very fragile fragment
0:16:40 > 0:16:42of one of the people buried in the cave.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46I can't believe Phil was able to relocate it down that boulder slope
0:16:46 > 0:16:47and bring it out.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55CHEERING
0:16:55 > 0:16:57Well done! Well done!
0:16:57 > 0:16:59As we plugged the cave entrance,
0:16:59 > 0:17:01all hints of our efforts were camouflaged -
0:17:01 > 0:17:04the burial chamber once again sealed,
0:17:04 > 0:17:06as it was when boulders blocked its original entrance
0:17:06 > 0:17:08thousands of years ago.
0:17:08 > 0:17:13How much can we find out about a person from a few skull fragments?
0:17:13 > 0:17:16I went to see Richard Neeve at Manchester University -
0:17:16 > 0:17:20one of Britain's top specialists in facial reconstruction.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24I have one of these boxes at home which I keep an electric drill in.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33Is there anything down there?!
0:17:33 > 0:17:35JULIAN LAUGHS
0:17:35 > 0:17:37Ah!
0:17:37 > 0:17:39Oh, look at that!
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Isn't that nice?
0:17:43 > 0:17:45Female? Female.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47'From its shape and proportions,
0:17:47 > 0:17:49'Richard immediately identified the skull as female.'
0:17:49 > 0:17:52Your reaction's not as bad as I thought it'd be.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54It depends what you want me to do with it.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57I mean, if you want be to actually do anything with it,
0:17:57 > 0:17:59then my reaction might be very different!
0:17:59 > 0:18:01THEY BOTH LAUGH
0:18:01 > 0:18:04Now, what are you asking me about all this for?
0:18:04 > 0:18:08I sense some foreboding here.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11'Was Richard able to rebuild her face?'
0:18:11 > 0:18:15The foreboding I have is that if you ask a face to be built from that,
0:18:15 > 0:18:19you can use that as the basis
0:18:19 > 0:18:24upon which you can base a face,
0:18:24 > 0:18:28but areas of it are inevitably going to be very subjective.
0:18:28 > 0:18:33The loss of the lower jaw is one of the more important things
0:18:33 > 0:18:37when it comes to recreating a face which can be recognised.
0:18:37 > 0:18:43That IS an important feature and without that,
0:18:43 > 0:18:49you don't get the overall vertical proportions of the face as such.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53The first stage is to rebuild the skull
0:18:53 > 0:18:55using casts of the original fragments,
0:18:55 > 0:18:58a copy of a suitable jaw and clay.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00A plaster cast is then made of the whole thing
0:19:00 > 0:19:04and this forms the foundation for the reconstruction.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06But before Richard can get on with the next stage,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09he needs to know how old the woman was when she died.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13I hate going to the dentist,
0:19:13 > 0:19:15but at least it's the lady from the cave
0:19:15 > 0:19:18who's got the appointment, not me!
0:19:18 > 0:19:22'Cardiff Dental Hospital's forensic orthodontist, David Whitaker,
0:19:22 > 0:19:25'has developed a unique way of ageing individuals
0:19:25 > 0:19:27'using a thin slice of tooth.'
0:19:27 > 0:19:30Well...
0:19:30 > 0:19:34Let's look at the maxilla - the upper jaw
0:19:34 > 0:19:37of this incredibly delicate piece of bone.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40And we're going to take this tooth out
0:19:40 > 0:19:43to see if we can do an ageing on it.
0:19:43 > 0:19:49From my point of view, it's a slightly hairy problem.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53This very ancient material is SO fragile
0:19:53 > 0:19:56that it can suddenly shatter.
0:19:56 > 0:20:02It's not like taking teeth... Ah! ..out of living people.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04Well, it looks excellent.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07It's in amazingly good condition
0:20:07 > 0:20:10considering the age of a tooth like that.
0:20:10 > 0:20:15Before the tooth can be cut, it's set into a block of resin.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19Then it's mounted on what looks like a tiny bacon slicer.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27What we're expecting to see under the microscope
0:20:27 > 0:20:31is something like this tooth that we've dealt with before.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35What we're going to be looking for is this change here.
0:20:35 > 0:20:40And from the age of about the mid-20s onwards,
0:20:40 > 0:20:43this transparent change starts here
0:20:43 > 0:20:47and spreads along the root of the tooth.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52It produces this glass-like transparent appearance
0:20:52 > 0:20:57compared with the living healthy tooth.
0:20:57 > 0:21:02We have this scale to actually measure how far that change has gone.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07When the cutting was finished,
0:21:07 > 0:21:10our slice was one tenth of a millimetre thick.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14I'll look under the microscope. It looks pretty good.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19It really is in super condition.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22The enamel over the top of the tooth is beautiful.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26By measuring how far the crystalline area has progressed along the tooth,
0:21:26 > 0:21:30David can calculate the age of our Bronze Age ancestor.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34On the bottom, we've got the number of millimetres
0:21:34 > 0:21:38that this process has progressed up the tooth.
0:21:38 > 0:21:44So we'll just take this across from the regression line to the age line.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50There we are. It comes out at...48.
0:21:50 > 0:21:5248!
0:21:52 > 0:21:56That's not a bad age for the Bronze Age.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58I'm comfortable with that.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02If that were a forensic tooth, I'd be very happy about that age,
0:22:02 > 0:22:06give or take six years either way.
0:22:06 > 0:22:13Now we know her age, Richard can calculate the correct depths for facial muscles and soft tissue.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17Richard's reconstructions are based on a sound understanding of anatomy
0:22:17 > 0:22:20and the way the human face ages.
0:22:20 > 0:22:22Some people...
0:22:24 > 0:22:26..say, "Why bother about the anatomy?
0:22:26 > 0:22:33"Why bother about this laborious process of building it up?"
0:22:35 > 0:22:39And the answer really to that is that...
0:22:39 > 0:22:44without it, one can't demonstrate
0:22:44 > 0:22:47how you've arrived at what you've arrived at.
0:22:49 > 0:22:54You can't demonstrate that it isn't just imagination.
0:22:58 > 0:23:00What we are doing now
0:23:00 > 0:23:07is, I suppose, a bit like wallpapering or plastering.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11We're putting the final coat on
0:23:11 > 0:23:14which you see underneath.
0:23:16 > 0:23:21One of the things when you're doing a young person
0:23:21 > 0:23:23is to get the surface very smooth.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26Now, on this one, it doesn't matter
0:23:26 > 0:23:30because the skin surface, the skin texture
0:23:30 > 0:23:33is less than perfect.
0:23:33 > 0:23:38It's lost that peachy bloom which you associate with young skin.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44While Richard continued to work on the woman's head,
0:23:44 > 0:23:47I went to see Bill in his lab at Edinburgh University
0:23:47 > 0:23:50to see what we could learn from the footprints.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54First, he showed me how he can reconstruct the way people walk.
0:23:54 > 0:23:59This is a reconstruction of a human walking.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02It's a computer generation
0:24:02 > 0:24:07based on the actual physical properties of the leg bones.
0:24:07 > 0:24:12You can make it walk through the footprints you've got.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15So, can you do this with the footprints from the cave?
0:24:15 > 0:24:19- I HOPE to be able to do this with those.- That sounds ominous.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23It's not! It's just that the data we got from the cave is different.
0:24:23 > 0:24:24Let me show you.
0:24:26 > 0:24:31This is a photograph of the footprints.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35I can't see much except one of the cavers' welly boots!
0:24:35 > 0:24:38The footprints are actually here and here.
0:24:38 > 0:24:39But if I outline, they're clearer.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46Oh, yes, I can see the toes there!
0:24:46 > 0:24:48They're lovely - you can see individual toes
0:24:48 > 0:24:51and a an impression of the ball of the foot.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53And you can see a mark from the heel, well-preserved.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57- Can you do anything with the gait from these?- I was hoping to.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01We initially thought it was a trail of footprints,
0:25:01 > 0:25:03but you can see on is pointing this way
0:25:03 > 0:25:07and the other one's pointing in different directions.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10The other thing I did was, if you actually move them around
0:25:10 > 0:25:12so that you can measure them...
0:25:12 > 0:25:16- Oh, they're different sizes. - Different sizes.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20- Is that the real size? - Yes, they're life-sized.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23- But they're not adult ones, are they?- No. Not at all.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27This one's children's size 11 and this is children's size eight.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29What age does that make them?
0:25:29 > 0:25:34Approximately, this is probably an eight-year-old and a five-year-old.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38There were two children in the cave. What were they doing? Running?
0:25:38 > 0:25:42If you look at this picture again,
0:25:42 > 0:25:46you can see very clear imprints of the heels.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48So these are flat footprints.
0:25:48 > 0:25:54You only get them from walking or standing. They were walking slowly.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57We think that children this age
0:25:57 > 0:26:02are likely to have been herding sheep up on the hills.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04Maybe they wandered into the cave
0:26:04 > 0:26:08because it was raining or just wanted to look around.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10It's an incredible thought.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12They were probably told not to!
0:26:12 > 0:26:13Yes, absolutely!
0:26:13 > 0:26:16- So some things don't change. - Nothing changes.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20It's amazing to have a record of what these people were doing.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22It's a direct record of their behaviour,
0:26:22 > 0:26:24rather than just an artefact.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40In his studio, Richard was putting the final touches
0:26:40 > 0:26:41to the woman from the Wolf Den.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46- Are you going to show me then? - I'm going to show you, yes.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48Here you are.
0:26:53 > 0:26:55I think it's fantastic to see this face!
0:26:55 > 0:26:57I'm amazed you managed to do so much
0:26:57 > 0:27:00with those tiny little fragments of bone.
0:27:00 > 0:27:05When I saw them come out the cave, I wondered if we'd see a face.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09It's not a face that I could have invented.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12It's not one I could have made up out of my head.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15It's one that's grown of its own accord.
0:27:17 > 0:27:23I think those people that knew her could recognise her from this.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25So I'm reasonably happy with it, yes.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33We'd finally met our Bronze Age ancestor,
0:27:33 > 0:27:37and this is the landscape she knew as home.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40When she died, she was taken on a final journey,
0:27:40 > 0:27:42from the place where she lived,
0:27:42 > 0:27:45across hills and rivers, to a very special place,
0:27:45 > 0:27:48perhaps one she knew during her life.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50Bearing offerings for the next life,
0:27:50 > 0:27:53her grieving relatives laid her to rest deep in the cave.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58Perhaps it wasn't nature that sealed the entrance.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02Maybe their last task was to place the boulders that ensured her rest,
0:28:02 > 0:28:05safe from wolves that roamed the hills.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd