0:00:29 > 0:00:31On a beach,
0:00:31 > 0:00:36bones in the sand tell a story of early Christian life,
0:00:36 > 0:00:40ancestral memories and tribal conflict.
0:00:51 > 0:00:56Those bones came from a site in a remote part of Ireland.
0:00:56 > 0:01:01I've been invited to join the archaeological investigation.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10- Hello, Betty.- How are you?
0:01:10 > 0:01:14- I've made it and it's a glorious day.- Yes.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16- This is the site?- Yes.- Let's see it.
0:01:16 > 0:01:21The archaeologist in charge of the dig is Betty O'Brien.
0:01:21 > 0:01:26She heard of it when a farmer found human bones while levelling dunes.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30What's going on over here?
0:01:30 > 0:01:36We're finishing off the excavation of this particular grave.
0:01:36 > 0:01:41All the bones from it so far have been disturbed.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45The first clues to the age of the site were stone-lined graves.
0:01:45 > 0:01:50Betty thought they must be part of an early Christian cemetery.
0:01:53 > 0:01:59Overlooking Donegal Bay, in western Ireland, this place is wonderful.
0:01:59 > 0:02:04The cemetery is behind the dunes, marked by a low, circular mound.
0:02:05 > 0:02:10Another clue to the age is in Betty's plan.
0:02:10 > 0:02:15At the centre are the burials, but beyond these is a layer of boulders.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18Betty is very puzzled about these.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21I think they're cairn material.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25It sounds weird, but I do think they are.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29They're rising to the surface and they're not modern -
0:02:29 > 0:02:32because roots are growing through.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36So they've brought these boulders from the beach...
0:02:36 > 0:02:39So you thought it was what date?
0:02:39 > 0:02:41Early Christian, 7th or 8th century.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44But other things are appearing?
0:02:44 > 0:02:47This cairn material, BENEATH the burials.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51But we don't know how much earlier it is yet.
0:02:51 > 0:02:56I'm here for a few days. Can I give you a hand?
0:02:56 > 0:03:00We'd be delighted to have a prehistorian.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05Betty put me to work on a patch of dark sand,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08right in the centre of the site.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10It turned out to be unusual.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13..Flakes all over the place. Look!
0:03:14 > 0:03:17- There's more coming up.- Just there.
0:03:17 > 0:03:23- This is a bit unexpected?- Totally unexpected. What do you think?
0:03:23 > 0:03:25Bits of cremated bone...
0:03:25 > 0:03:29It looks prehistoric, but then I'm a prehistorian.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32It's supposed to be early medieval.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34If this is cremated...
0:03:34 > 0:03:38It's totally unexpected, I don't mind telling you.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42- More complication. - I'll really have to think!
0:03:42 > 0:03:46- I'll have to look at it further. - Wonderful timing!
0:03:46 > 0:03:49I'm glad we turned up now.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52That patch marked the position of a pit
0:03:52 > 0:03:55which contained a cremation burial.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59The discovery of this burnt human bone
0:03:59 > 0:04:03means this may have been a burial site for over 2,000 years.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09Next day, Betty had another job for me.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13A skull was appearing through the sand.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15I had to find its skeleton.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20The sand was easy to remove.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23And the skull seemed well-preserved.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25But was it male or female?
0:04:27 > 0:04:30Stacey, one of the diggers, knew right away.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33I think it's a woman
0:04:33 > 0:04:36due to the rounded mandible.
0:04:36 > 0:04:41- The bottom part of the jaw? - Exactly - usually, a man's mandible
0:04:41 > 0:04:44is at a sharper angle.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47- So you think this is a woman?- Yes.
0:04:50 > 0:04:55As the outline of the grave became clear, I moved down to the feet.
0:04:55 > 0:05:00I think this is the most difficult bit to deal with.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04This is the feet - legs coming down here.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07The feet look very close together -
0:05:07 > 0:05:11maybe bound together in a shroud -
0:05:11 > 0:05:13probably like that.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17As it's decayed, the toe bones have collapsed down.
0:05:17 > 0:05:22So this ball here contains all of those little bones -
0:05:22 > 0:05:26which is what I've got to sort out.
0:05:27 > 0:05:33- 'There was another surprise in store.' This is the pelvis?- Yep.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41There! I haven't the faintest idea what it is.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43STACEY LAUGHS
0:05:47 > 0:05:50Next day, Betty was very excited.
0:05:50 > 0:05:56I've been looking at that lump from yesterday and I think it's wood.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00- Wood?- Look through there - you can see the fibres.
0:06:00 > 0:06:05And there seems to be a sand shadow building up underneath it.
0:06:05 > 0:06:10- We knew it wasn't bone.- Absolutely. But wood! That's totally unexpected.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14It's unbelievable! Bone, fine.
0:06:14 > 0:06:19- But I never thought you'd find wood preserved in sand. And...- What?
0:06:19 > 0:06:22There's more where I've just been cleaning.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24Oh, good! Let me have a look.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28That's bone. That's where that bit was.
0:06:28 > 0:06:33And all that by the side of the pelvis and femur is the same thing.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36So, if it's wood, what is it?
0:06:36 > 0:06:41- It might be part of a plank. - What's that doing there?
0:06:41 > 0:06:45It could be a plank-lined grave, which is great.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49For this period, there aren't plank-lined graves in Ireland.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53Well, we don't know of them. So we've got a first.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55- A first?- Yes.- Brilliant!
0:06:59 > 0:07:02I came here to see an early Christian site
0:07:02 > 0:07:06dating back maybe 1,200 or 1,400 years.
0:07:06 > 0:07:11But so much more has emerged that it looks as though those burials
0:07:11 > 0:07:15may belong to a family using an ancestral burial ground,
0:07:15 > 0:07:18dating back into prehistoric times.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21It emphasises what's so exciting about archaeology.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24No matter how much you think you know the site,
0:07:24 > 0:07:27there are always surprises.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35The next day, a team of geophysical surveyors arrived
0:07:35 > 0:07:39to investigate the structure of the ground.
0:07:39 > 0:07:44We have solid rock which drops, over a distance of about two metres,
0:07:44 > 0:07:47to a depth of 50 centimetres.
0:07:48 > 0:07:53Betty was convinced that the cairn was built on a natural rock outcrop.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00Martina, leading the geophysicists,
0:08:00 > 0:08:04is processing the first results of the survey.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07- Hello there.- Hello! How are you?
0:08:07 > 0:08:10Bet you're glad it's not raining.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13However, it was not what Betty was expecting.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16- Any results?- Just preliminary ones.
0:08:16 > 0:08:21If we did have an outcrop, it should come in here, on the lower levels.
0:08:21 > 0:08:27It doesn't seem to be - but these have to be further processed.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29But you should see it at this point.
0:08:29 > 0:08:34So you're saying we're looking at a monument which is built on sand -
0:08:34 > 0:08:38it's not a rock outcrop that's been augmented?
0:08:38 > 0:08:42From the results, it looks like it is built on sand,
0:08:42 > 0:08:44and it appears to be wind-blown sand.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48But Martina had a surprise.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52Acting on a tip-off, she scanned an area
0:08:52 > 0:08:57where she'd found traces of something large and circular.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00Was it another ancient structure?
0:09:00 > 0:09:04- What do you reckon that is, then? - I have no idea!
0:09:04 > 0:09:07Heaven only knows what it is.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09Isn't this place great?
0:09:09 > 0:09:13I'll wait with bated breath to see what they come up with.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15Oh, dear!
0:09:15 > 0:09:19It was a good time for Jane Brayne to be here.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21An archaeological illustrator,
0:09:21 > 0:09:25she's an expert at reconstructing ancient landscapes.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29How might it have looked 1,300 years ago?
0:09:29 > 0:09:33She had enough information to make a start.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37Jane, what has this got to do with the early Christian landscape?
0:09:37 > 0:09:41It has more to do with the modern landscape,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43but that's where you begin.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46It has to start with what's there now.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49Then I'll take it home and change it.
0:09:49 > 0:09:54So this is the framework - what you can see now?
0:09:54 > 0:09:59Yes, minus modern things like fences, and so on - they're not here.
0:09:59 > 0:10:04While Jane got on with painting, I went to have a look at that lake.
0:10:04 > 0:10:09I found that it was fresh water. Maybe that's what drew people here?
0:10:09 > 0:10:11But there's more.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15I thought this lake was strange,
0:10:15 > 0:10:20and someone's just told me it's known as the Lake Of The Fair Women.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22It's also supposed to be bottomless
0:10:22 > 0:10:26and contain treasure from a local abbey,
0:10:26 > 0:10:30so there are all sorts of legends attached to the area.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34My week at the dig was coming to an end.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38We'd found a cairn with a prehistoric cremation,
0:10:38 > 0:10:41and early Christians buried on top.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43What did it add up to?
0:10:43 > 0:10:49We have a small group of people - probably a family, I'm not sure -
0:10:49 > 0:10:54who are burying deliberately in an ancestral burial ground.
0:10:54 > 0:11:00They're establishing an ancestry for themselves - making a statement.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02Trying to lay claim to some land?
0:11:02 > 0:11:08Or confirming claim by establishing a connection with their ancestors.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11But who were they?
0:11:11 > 0:11:16We don't know, but there's a possibility we can find out.
0:11:16 > 0:11:21In Ireland we are lucky in that we do have early historic records.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24If we get radiocarbon dates on these,
0:11:24 > 0:11:28which will indicate which century they belong to,
0:11:28 > 0:11:32there's a possibility we might be able to link them in
0:11:32 > 0:11:35with a particular group of people.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39When are you going to do this research?
0:11:39 > 0:11:43When you give me a chance to finish the excavation.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47- Right! We'll go away and leave you alone.- Good.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52Several weeks later, I had an appointment
0:11:52 > 0:11:56with a bone specialist at Trinity College, Dublin.
0:11:59 > 0:12:04Moira Delaney was examining all the bones from the excavation.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07But what about that wood I'd found?
0:12:07 > 0:12:11- Have you had a look at our piece of plank?- Yes, this is it.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15It looks a bit dried out since I last saw it.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18Yes, I deliberately dried it out
0:12:18 > 0:12:21because when I got it, it was still damp.
0:12:21 > 0:12:22This is what came up.
0:12:22 > 0:12:27A lot of brown, fibrous stuff turned out to be clay and sand.
0:12:27 > 0:12:32I get the feeling you're trying to tell me something.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36Something you don't really want to hear - that this is bone.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38- Oh, no!- I'm afraid so.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41- It's not plank?- It's not plank, no.
0:12:44 > 0:12:49Out goes the idea of the first plank-lined grave found in Ireland.
0:12:50 > 0:12:55I was even more deflated when I saw the burial
0:12:55 > 0:12:57I'd helped to excavate.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01Most of her bones had crumbled to sand.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03Can you tell much from what's left?
0:13:03 > 0:13:07The skull has a couple of features
0:13:07 > 0:13:10that are worth mentioning -
0:13:10 > 0:13:15one piece of pathology that would have affected the quality of life.
0:13:15 > 0:13:21- That is an inflammation in the left orbit.- The left eye?
0:13:21 > 0:13:24That's the top of the left eye.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27You can see here,
0:13:27 > 0:13:30the remains of little pits,
0:13:30 > 0:13:33and a thickening of the bone, here.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35Holding it to the light,
0:13:35 > 0:13:41you can see the light through this orbit, but not the other.
0:13:42 > 0:13:47In this area here, sits what's called the lachrymal gland.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50And it does sometimes get inflamed.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53This appearance of inflammation
0:13:53 > 0:13:58is borne out by this very marked groove here.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02- So that's not damage to the bone? - No, it's not.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05That is a natural phenomenon.
0:14:05 > 0:14:11That indicates that the artery had enlarged,
0:14:11 > 0:14:15and that there was a greater blood supply to this area.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17Is that to do with this?
0:14:17 > 0:14:20With inflammation, you get
0:14:20 > 0:14:24an increase in blood supply to that area.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28So this more or less confirms the appearance.
0:14:28 > 0:14:33What effect would that inflammation have had on this woman?
0:14:33 > 0:14:38With inflammation of the lachrymal gland, there would be pain -
0:14:38 > 0:14:41in here, above the left eye.
0:14:41 > 0:14:46And the white part of her eye might have had little red veins -
0:14:46 > 0:14:50as you'd see in someone with conjunctivitis.
0:14:50 > 0:14:55I suspect that the eyelid would have been swollen as well.
0:14:55 > 0:15:00From the wear on her molars, Moira thought she died in her late 40s.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04What else could her teeth tell us?
0:15:04 > 0:15:07This is the left upper canine.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10And this is the left upper first.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13If you put them together, like that,
0:15:13 > 0:15:16there's a tiny notch between them.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19What could have caused that wear?
0:15:19 > 0:15:22It was either a chip off the enamel,
0:15:22 > 0:15:28or something she did pulling something between those two teeth.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31What sort of occupation could cause this?
0:15:31 > 0:15:35She could have been drawing threads,
0:15:35 > 0:15:38she could have been biting them off.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41The only definite thing I will say
0:15:41 > 0:15:45is that it wasn't a very abrasive substance.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50Despite her poor state,
0:15:50 > 0:15:54the woman from Donegal can provide us with clues.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58We can see what she looks like from her skull.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02Her leg bones - radiocarbon dated - should tell us when she was buried.
0:16:02 > 0:16:07We also want to know the date of that cremation pit.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09That's being dated as well,
0:16:09 > 0:16:14and we hope it will be in the prehistoric period.
0:16:18 > 0:16:23Then, I went to Belfast University with the bones from Donegal.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27They have one of the most accurate carbon dating labs in the world.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30But the chemistry will take about three months,
0:16:30 > 0:16:33which is good, as there's still lots to do.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40I headed back over the Irish Sea.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43I wondered if the groove in the tooth
0:16:43 > 0:16:48could be proven scientifically to be a wear mark.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52I went to see forensic orthodontist David Whittaker
0:16:52 > 0:16:55at Cardiff Dental Hospital.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57What could he tell us?
0:16:57 > 0:17:00Something's been going on, certainly.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05The tooth was coated with gold.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08This helps the scanning electron microscope
0:17:08 > 0:17:11to pick up minute surface details.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15The image was then enlarged over 200 times.
0:17:17 > 0:17:22After this gold plating, have you found whether this is wear or not?
0:17:22 > 0:17:25I think we have, yes.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27I'm pleased with this.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31This is the biting edge, along here
0:17:31 > 0:17:34which we'd expect to be continuous.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36There's quite a notch in it.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39Yes, in the actual edge.
0:17:39 > 0:17:45And continuing up from that, this super area of wear.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49- You can imagine... - But is it wear?- I think so, yes.
0:17:49 > 0:17:54When you get fracture, it's almost as though you've cleaved a diamond
0:17:54 > 0:17:58and you get these nice facets of polishing.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00This is not like that.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04It's got the shape of a narrow thread
0:18:04 > 0:18:07or a piece of leather or something -
0:18:07 > 0:18:10it's an occupational disease.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13It's an occupational function that this lady's been doing.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15What it is, I'm not sure,
0:18:15 > 0:18:21but she's been running or holding something between these two teeth.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25It's the lateral and central incisor, here.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28It's quite a sensible place to hold things.
0:18:28 > 0:18:33- Great! It was worth all this? - It's always worth it.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38Now we've proved the groove resulted from wear,
0:18:38 > 0:18:41what occupation caused it?
0:18:42 > 0:18:46Time to return to Ireland and visit the Ulster History Park,
0:18:46 > 0:18:48and another expert.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53Spinning is just twisting the fibres of the flax.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57Now, flax ... it helps if it's damp.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00Nowadays people wet their fingers,
0:19:00 > 0:19:04but before, people passed it through their teeth.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14Does that work? Does it help to wet it?
0:19:14 > 0:19:17It does. That has gone through my mouth
0:19:17 > 0:19:21and it's much...smoother, if you like.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25The dampness from the spittle helps the fibres of the flax to lie flat.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28And it tightens it.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32But the skull from Donegal has got wear marks on its teeth
0:19:32 > 0:19:36and this is suggested as being where this woman pulled...
0:19:36 > 0:19:39- It could.- ..fibres through her teeth.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43- That's just the same place. - It could be done like that.
0:19:43 > 0:19:48Well, I'd never have believed it - unless I'd seen it.
0:19:48 > 0:19:53- And it would floss your teeth as you did it, as well.- Absolutely!
0:19:55 > 0:19:58While I was here, I saw a reconstructed ring fort
0:19:58 > 0:20:02where early Christians would have lived.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06If this was home, it's certainly cosy,
0:20:06 > 0:20:09but where are the pots and pans?
0:20:09 > 0:20:14I see wooden vessels around, but weren't there any pots?
0:20:14 > 0:20:19No. In the early Christian period, the Irish didn't make pottery.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23Without pottery, what did they cook in?
0:20:23 > 0:20:25Probably a metal container,
0:20:25 > 0:20:30perhaps a cauldron, which would have lasted indefinitely.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33But you'd eat out of wooden bowls
0:20:33 > 0:20:35and serve your food
0:20:35 > 0:20:38- out of wooden troughs?- Yes.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42You'd use them for all sorts of purposes.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46In a roundhouse nearby, Betty laid on a demonstration
0:20:46 > 0:20:50of how early Irish Christians prepared their dead for burial.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53We know from 7th century literary sources
0:20:53 > 0:20:55that clerics, at any rate,
0:20:55 > 0:20:59were wrapped in white linen winding sheets.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01So, we've a volunteer.
0:21:01 > 0:21:06She's prepared to allow herself to be wrapped in
0:21:06 > 0:21:11what we think a winding sheet probably looked like.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13With the skeleton we excavated,
0:21:13 > 0:21:17the feet were wrapped extremely close together.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21But in this period we didn't have shroud pins,
0:21:21 > 0:21:24so we're using a piece of flax
0:21:24 > 0:21:27to hold the shroud in place at this point.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31I remember how tight together they were.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35If they were bound, as the body decayed, they'd stay close.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39- How do you feel?- Um...secure.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43- You're not claustrophobic, are you? - No.- Good.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46Before burial, the face would have been covered
0:21:46 > 0:21:50with a cloth, like this.
0:22:07 > 0:22:13Back on the road - up and down the country in search of more answers.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17This time, to Richard Neave at Manchester University.
0:22:17 > 0:22:22Facial reconstruction involves the rebuilding of the skull.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26Richard is an expert at this, but wasn't happy with what he saw.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29This is going to be a nightmare.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32Absolute nightmare.
0:22:33 > 0:22:38There is always going to be a slight gap.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42Also, there's a distortion on this bone...
0:22:42 > 0:22:45Richard's job is made more difficult
0:22:45 > 0:22:48because the skull is so deformed.
0:22:48 > 0:22:53Using wax and tiny props, the skull is painstakingly reassembled.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01Well, this has been a tussle.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04It really has.
0:23:04 > 0:23:09That's as good as we can expect to get it, under the circumstances.
0:23:10 > 0:23:15From there, to London, where the reconstruction would really begin.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19The surface of the skull is scanned by a laser
0:23:19 > 0:23:23and the information is fed into a computer.
0:23:24 > 0:23:29Dr Robin Richards is in charge of the Maxillofacial Unit at UCL.
0:23:29 > 0:23:34For Robin, facial reconstruction is a routine procedure,
0:23:34 > 0:23:36but normally with living patients.
0:23:36 > 0:23:41- That's the image the computer's captured?- That's right.
0:23:41 > 0:23:46Immediately apparent is the asymmetry in the face,
0:23:46 > 0:23:49but that's the orientation of the skull
0:23:49 > 0:23:53in the ground when you found it - it's been squashed.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57'Lying on her side had caused her skull to distort
0:23:57 > 0:24:00'from the pressure of the sand.'
0:24:00 > 0:24:02- Could you correct this?- Yes.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04I've pushed this part in
0:24:04 > 0:24:09and that part of the skull out to make it more symmetric.
0:24:09 > 0:24:14- So you can do what Richard wasn't able to do with solid bone?- Yes.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17Having got a skull that you're happy with,
0:24:17 > 0:24:20what's the next stage on from that?
0:24:20 > 0:24:24The next stage is to take a face.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27We'll warp the shape of that face
0:24:27 > 0:24:30to match the skull.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32Whose is that face?
0:24:32 > 0:24:36That face is the average of a number of people.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40So we're starting from a nondescript face.
0:24:40 > 0:24:45Go on - I'm dying to see this. Show me what the face looks like.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48Well, that's the new face.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51That's a very distinctive face.
0:24:51 > 0:24:56I'm fascinated at how the shape of the skull has come through.
0:24:56 > 0:25:01The high cheekbones and the prominent upper lip.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04That's right. Yes.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09Well, this is what Robin's produced.
0:25:09 > 0:25:14'At Jane's studio, it's time for the final stage of reconstruction.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18'Artistic interpretation takes over from science.'
0:25:18 > 0:25:22The only real problem is going to be this eye...
0:25:22 > 0:25:27'It's Jane's job to transfer the computer printout into a portrait.
0:25:28 > 0:25:33'We know she was middle-aged and had an eye infection,
0:25:33 > 0:25:37'but what colour were her hair and eyes and complexion?
0:25:40 > 0:25:42'While Jane got on with her work,
0:25:42 > 0:25:46'it was back to Belfast for the final jigsaw piece.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48'When did our lady die?'
0:25:48 > 0:25:51Don't keep us in any more suspense!
0:25:51 > 0:25:53- I'm sure you want to know.- Yes!
0:25:53 > 0:25:55And I do as well.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59- < You don't really want them now? - Yes!- I do.
0:25:59 > 0:26:04They date to between AD 608 and AD 660.
0:26:04 > 0:26:09- That's exactly what you thought. - Seventh century! Thank you, God!
0:26:09 > 0:26:11And the charcoal date
0:26:11 > 0:26:14is BC 400 to BC 50.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17- That's again what you...- Yup.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20I wouldn't be at all surprised
0:26:20 > 0:26:24if that narrows down to about the first century BC.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28That's fine. That's grand. That's Iron Age.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31- Which is what you expected?- Yes.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33OK! You were right.
0:26:39 > 0:26:44Six months ago, I helped to excavate her remains in Donegal.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47Since then, with the help of experts,
0:26:47 > 0:26:51she's gone from a collection of bones
0:26:51 > 0:26:54to a person you can come face to face with.
0:26:54 > 0:26:59We know about her eye condition, how painful it must have been,
0:26:59 > 0:27:02and we can suggest how she dressed.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05As a Christian, she would have had a headdress,
0:27:05 > 0:27:10and this woollen cloak would have been held with a brooch.
0:27:10 > 0:27:15So we can really build up a picture of how she looked.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19Now we know when she died, Betty has discovered
0:27:19 > 0:27:24from ancient Irish documents that she belonged to one of two clans -
0:27:24 > 0:27:27the Cenel Coirpre or the Cenel Conail.
0:27:27 > 0:27:32This area had long been fought over by rival clans.
0:27:32 > 0:27:37By the act of her burial, wrapped in a simple shroud of white linen,
0:27:37 > 0:27:40and laid with her head to the west,
0:27:40 > 0:27:44the lady of the sands helped her relatives lay claim
0:27:44 > 0:27:47to this disputed land.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13Subtitles by BBC - 1998