0:00:18 > 0:00:21Stonehenge is our greatest monument.
0:00:21 > 0:00:27It was shaped over centuries, but to what purpose?
0:00:27 > 0:00:32Was it a temple to the sun, or the moon,
0:00:32 > 0:00:34an astronomical calendar,
0:00:34 > 0:00:38or a shrine to dead ancestors?
0:00:42 > 0:00:46Now Stonehenge may be about to give up some of its secrets.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03For the first time in nearly half a century a new archaeological dig
0:01:03 > 0:01:07has been permitted inside the sacred stone circle.
0:01:07 > 0:01:12And the men who are leading the excavation are well aware of the significance of this moment.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16I have to say it is a dream come true, I've been
0:01:16 > 0:01:21dreaming of Stonehenge and working in it and around it for so long.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24Professors Tim Darvill and Geoff Wainwright
0:01:24 > 0:01:28believe they have finally unlocked the mystery of the monument.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35The whole purpose of Stonehenge is that it was a prehistoric Lourdes,
0:01:35 > 0:01:39if you like, that people came here to be made well.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46Stonehenge as a healing centre would attract not only people who were unwell and looking to get healed,
0:01:46 > 0:01:50but people who were capable of helping them become healed.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54And, therefore, in a sense, Stonehenge becomes the A&E of southern England.
0:01:56 > 0:02:02Their radical theory is based not only on the evidence from within the sacred circle,
0:02:02 > 0:02:08but from forensic examination of some of the bodies buried around Stonehenge.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11It would have been excruciatingly painful.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15He wouldn't have been able to move easily, he wouldn't have been able to bend his knee.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21Stonehenge has been shrouded in mystery for centuries.
0:02:21 > 0:02:29But the stones and the bones are now telling a new story of one of the wonders of the world.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05Stonehenge was built around the same time
0:03:05 > 0:03:08as the great pyramid at Giza, in Egypt.
0:03:08 > 0:03:14It was the biggest and most complicated building project in all of Europe,
0:03:14 > 0:03:18and it's intrigued and fascinated the world for centuries.
0:03:26 > 0:03:31Most of the major archaeological digs took place in the last century,
0:03:31 > 0:03:36the final one, nearly 50 years ago, in 1964,
0:03:36 > 0:03:40and they unearthed some basic facts about the monument.
0:03:45 > 0:03:50We still don't know exactly when people started coming here, but it's now believed that
0:03:50 > 0:03:55Stonehenge was built on a site which previously held a wooden structure.
0:03:55 > 0:04:01And it was built in a cycle of four main phases.
0:04:06 > 0:04:13More than 4,000 years ago, a small ring of stones stood for around 200 years.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27Then came a single ring of huge standing stones.
0:04:31 > 0:04:36Into which a ring of smaller stones was inserted.
0:04:37 > 0:04:42Then another outer circle of small stones was added.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50Before the circle of massive stones enclosed the whole thing.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55This was the final phase of construction.
0:04:56 > 0:05:03Stonehenge's heyday would last around 200 years, until 1900 BC.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11The stones' alignment means that on the summer solstice,
0:05:11 > 0:05:16the sun rises directly behind the main entrance to the monument.
0:05:16 > 0:05:24That is why thousands of people gather here every year at this time to watch the sun rise.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28Others believe this signifies an ancient calendar.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33The cremated remains of 50 bodies found around the outside
0:05:33 > 0:05:41of the henge in the 1920s have convinced yet others the stones mark a place of ancestral worship.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47But despite all of this speculation,
0:05:47 > 0:05:51we still don't know why, nor when, the first stones
0:05:51 > 0:05:56were erected at the monument, when Stonehenge was effectively born.
0:05:56 > 0:06:03The only way to discover that elusive date is to uncover organic material, like a piece of bone
0:06:03 > 0:06:08or a grain that might have been placed or dropped at the oldest level of the building work.
0:06:11 > 0:06:17And it was that promise of getting an accurate date for the beginning of Stonehenge that persuaded
0:06:17 > 0:06:23English Heritage, who manage the site, to allow the first dig in a generation to take place.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29The history of excavation at Stonehenge is very unhappy.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33Lots of people have dug lots of holes here, and, of course, all of them
0:06:33 > 0:06:36have been without the benefit of modern technology.
0:06:36 > 0:06:42And so we have an opportunity to find out something new, archaeologically, by a group of people who've thought
0:06:42 > 0:06:45things through incredibly carefully, who've worked out their plans,
0:06:45 > 0:06:48who've got their technology lined up, and we're at that moment now.
0:06:48 > 0:06:54And we believe that this dig that's just about to happen has the chance
0:06:54 > 0:07:00of getting some dates, which will genuinely unlock part of the mystery
0:07:00 > 0:07:06of Stonehenge, and put another piece of that crucial jigsaw in, which is giving us a dating sequence
0:07:06 > 0:07:11that will allow us to relate what's happening here to what happens in the rest of prehistoric Britain.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26Archaeological digs don't normally attract much media attention,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29but Stonehenge is very different.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33When the first shovels break the sacred ground inside the stone circle, press,
0:07:33 > 0:07:41radio and television crews from Britain and around the world are on hand to record the unique event.
0:07:47 > 0:07:52Cutting that first turf was a pretty incredible feeling, to be doing research at Stonehenge again after
0:07:52 > 0:07:56so many years when people haven't been able to get in here and do it.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59It really was good, it was quite emotional, in a way, that
0:07:59 > 0:08:04we can start lifting the turf to see what's underneath.
0:08:04 > 0:08:09So long we've spent speculating about what's down there, now we can finally look.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13My first thought was that, oh, my God, I've desecrated the monument,
0:08:13 > 0:08:17you know, it was a really funny feeling
0:08:17 > 0:08:20when the spade first went into the turf.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23I looked at the monument manager, who was standing next to me, and his
0:08:23 > 0:08:29face went pale, you know, I mean, oh, my goodness, what are you doing to my wonderful monument?
0:08:29 > 0:08:36But then I thought oh, how exciting, we're on our way, and we're on our way the first time since 1964.
0:08:44 > 0:08:49The sacred nature of Stonehenge is celebrated and maintained by the Druids.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52Their belief in the power of mythology, and their reverence
0:08:52 > 0:08:56for their ancestors, is centred on this ancient stone circle.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59And they give the dig a special blessing.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02HE BLOWS HORN
0:09:07 > 0:09:10Now we're here to call upon us the ancestors and the spirit
0:09:10 > 0:09:14of the sacred land, and especially this sacred circle,
0:09:14 > 0:09:16so that when you excavate...
0:09:16 > 0:09:21For the Druids, Stonehenge is a holy place.
0:09:21 > 0:09:27The walls of this temple are the huge sarsen stones, which encircle the monument.
0:09:27 > 0:09:34But Darvill and Wainwright believe that these are the wrong stones to celebrate.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37They think that it's the much smaller
0:09:37 > 0:09:45and less well known bluestones that are essential to explaining the point and the purpose of Stonehenge.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48Well, these are the great iconic stones of Stonehenge, what everybody sees when
0:09:48 > 0:09:52they approach the site, and, of course, these are sarsens, these
0:09:52 > 0:09:58are the local stones, dragged perhaps 20, 30 miles from off the plains - sometimes called greyweathers,
0:09:58 > 0:10:02and that's very appropriate, this grey colour with the lichens growing on it.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05Grey colour, standing out beautifully against the blue sky this morning.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08The light is fantastic. The light's fantastic, yeah.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11But these are the big ones. And here we've got something much smaller.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14Absolutely, because these are the ones that really interest us.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16Exactly!
0:10:16 > 0:10:18These are the bluestones.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23Well, the stones we're looking at are the bluestones, these are the ones that we see on the right of us now.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27These are the small stones. Bringing those bluestones here made the difference.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29The target of our attention is the bluestones.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32The bluestones... Bluestones. Bluestones. The bluestones.
0:10:32 > 0:10:38And actually dig the socket of the foundation trench of one of these bluestones.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41They are sure the bluestones were the first stones erected here,
0:10:41 > 0:10:47and modern science is sure that they come from a long, long way away.
0:10:47 > 0:10:53The question is, why go to all the bother of dragging them here?
0:10:53 > 0:10:58They intend to use the dig to test a radical new theory.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02The archaeologists argue that the builders of Stonehenge
0:11:02 > 0:11:07thought that these bluestones had special healing powers.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11They can't dig all over the monument, so
0:11:11 > 0:11:15they are concentrating on the area surrounding this single bluestone.
0:11:20 > 0:11:25It lies here, in between the inner ring of huge sarsens and the outer ring,
0:11:27 > 0:11:30and they've chosen this small two and a half metre
0:11:30 > 0:11:34by three and a half metre area based on clues from earlier digs.
0:11:36 > 0:11:43They also believe that the healing powers of the bluestones were so important that people broke off bits
0:11:43 > 0:11:48to take away with them, and they hope to find evidence of that during the dig.
0:11:48 > 0:11:53But is there any other existing material to back up their healing theory?
0:11:57 > 0:12:02Are there any clues in skeletal remains from the Stonehenge area?
0:12:04 > 0:12:08Timewatch went back into the vaults to re-examine some of the bones.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14And we started with the most recent discovery.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23Six years ago an unremarkable housing estate three miles from
0:12:23 > 0:12:30Stonehenge became the site of one of the most important archaeological discoveries in Britain.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39As the foundations were being dug for this school in the village
0:12:39 > 0:12:44of Amesbury, the builders quite literally struck gold.
0:12:51 > 0:12:56They had unearthed the richest Neolithic grave ever found in Britain.
0:12:59 > 0:13:07The burial site was 4,500 years old, and awash in ancient treasures, including rare gold jewellery.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14The grave was also littered with flint arrowheads,
0:13:14 > 0:13:19which led to the skeleton being called the Amesbury Archer.
0:13:19 > 0:13:24In fact, the school which is built on his grave is named after him.
0:13:33 > 0:13:39And this skeleton was very unusual because it was so complete, and well preserved.
0:13:42 > 0:13:47Jackie McKinley is a leading expert in the analysis of ancient bones.
0:13:51 > 0:13:57So, is there anything in this skeleton that might support Darvill and Wainwright's healing theory?
0:13:58 > 0:14:03As soon as this skeleton was laid out, there's one thing that struck us as immediately obvious,
0:14:03 > 0:14:09and that was that there had been some major trauma to this left knee, something that had involved great
0:14:09 > 0:14:16force hitting that kneecap, possibly that person falling off something and hitting the ground with great force.
0:14:17 > 0:14:24One possible explanation for this injury could be a horse riding accident.
0:14:24 > 0:14:314,500 years ago this was a new and dangerous way of getting around.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52So what were the physical consequences of his injury?
0:14:56 > 0:15:02The most obvious effect of this trauma is evident at the end of the femur, or the thigh bone.
0:15:02 > 0:15:08What you've got is a groove running down there towards the knee joint, and a hole.
0:15:08 > 0:15:13Now, that hole is evidence of infection within the bone itself,
0:15:13 > 0:15:16the pus from which is draining through this hole.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19I mean, it would have been excruciatingly painful.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23He wouldn't have been able to move easily, he wouldn't have been able to bend his knee, he would have
0:15:23 > 0:15:25to change the way he walked.
0:15:28 > 0:15:35Professor Tim Darvill believes that this is what brought the Amesbury Archer to Stonehenge.
0:15:35 > 0:15:40This is a man who was not awfully well when he got to this part of southern England.
0:15:40 > 0:15:48This is a man who was probably motivated in his travels to find some relief, to find some way of getting
0:15:48 > 0:15:55better, and to come here, perhaps to have found that, perhaps to have found a few extra years of life.
0:15:58 > 0:16:04So the archer could possibly have visited Stonehenge to cure his very serious knee problem.
0:16:06 > 0:16:12And there's evidence in the bones to suggest that he lived with this injury for a very long time.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17He suffered with this for years.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20It wasn't something that happened just a week or so before he died,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23it happened quite a long time, years probably, before he died.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27And we can see that because there are changes to the skeleton, particularly
0:16:27 > 0:16:29on the legs, to the left and right side.
0:16:29 > 0:16:34And this will become most apparent if I hold up these two femurs.
0:16:34 > 0:16:40The right one is considerably heavier in build, it's more robust, it's a stronger bone.
0:16:40 > 0:16:46There's been wastage to this left side, and the individual has been favouring, or putting most weight,
0:16:46 > 0:16:51on the right side, which has consequently built up more strength
0:16:51 > 0:16:54in order to deal with that extra stress that's being put upon it.
0:16:57 > 0:17:02Darvill and Wainwright believe that the archer came here to be healed,
0:17:02 > 0:17:06drawn by the special qualities of the bluestones.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10But that medicinal magic wasn't a local phenomenon,
0:17:10 > 0:17:12it had to be brought here.
0:17:19 > 0:17:25The source of the henge's healing power lies 150 miles to the west,
0:17:25 > 0:17:29at Carn Menyn, in the Preseli Hills, South Wales.
0:17:33 > 0:17:40These mist-shrouded Welsh hills hold a long association with the Celts, and their mysteries.
0:17:46 > 0:17:53An ancient stone circle, a tiny forerunner of Stonehenge, lies here, as do dozens of tombs.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59The archaeologists know that the bluestones are from this area,
0:17:59 > 0:18:03and they have known it for nearly 90 years.
0:18:06 > 0:18:14A geological analysis in 1923 proved that the mineral make-up of the stones was a perfect match.
0:18:16 > 0:18:25This is a wafer thin slice of Stonehenge bluestone, 30 microns thick, magnified under a microscope.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28It's like a fingerprint of the rock,
0:18:28 > 0:18:32revealing its constituent crystals and minerals,
0:18:32 > 0:18:36and when compared like this, the Welsh bluestones
0:18:36 > 0:18:40and their Stonehenge counterparts look the same.
0:18:45 > 0:18:50And the evidence of the shaping of these stones litters the area.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59Look at that. Just as it was abandoned.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02- You could hear the swearing when that came down.- Yeah, absolutely.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06- But it just shows, you just lever these out of the ground and you've got the thing.- Sure, sure.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08- And then you start shaping it. - Absolutely.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11And look at that shaping along there, you see, that's really good.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13- It's been struck off.- Yeah, yeah.
0:19:13 > 0:19:18Now that's a beauty, and it would fit into Stonehenge like a hand in a glove.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26This is the home of the bluestones of Stonehenge.
0:19:26 > 0:19:32But for Darvill and Wainwright what makes these Welsh bluestones really special
0:19:32 > 0:19:37are the springs which proliferate at the base of the outcrop,
0:19:37 > 0:19:42springs which were once seen as sacred.
0:19:42 > 0:19:50Healing springs have a very long history around here, and, and even until comparatively recent times,
0:19:50 > 0:19:57and indeed at the present, these springs are visited by people who want to cure warts on their hands.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59I went to one myself last weekend,
0:19:59 > 0:20:03who want to cure a bad chest, or want to cure headaches.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08Darvill and Wainwright have discovered stones right next to
0:20:08 > 0:20:12ancient springs which are inscribed with Neolithic markings.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20But what really makes it for me is this stone here, when you first found it, do you remember?
0:20:20 > 0:20:26- That's right, I do. - And across it we've got four of these little cut marks.
0:20:26 > 0:20:32Here's the first one, at the top, there's the second one, round here, here's the third, and here's
0:20:32 > 0:20:35the fourth one, which is actually going off the edge of the rock.
0:20:35 > 0:20:36It's been broken off at some point.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40And I can well believe this stone, which is a bit loose already,
0:20:40 > 0:20:44- was really standing up somewhere just where you're sitting now.- Yes, oh, I think there's no doubt about it.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47It must have been standing up at the head of the spring.
0:20:50 > 0:20:55These stones were considered to be so powerful and so important
0:20:55 > 0:20:59that they were moved 150 miles to Stonehenge.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05There's no archaeological evidence been uncovered to tell us how it was
0:21:05 > 0:21:10done, but most archaeologists think they were put on a raft
0:21:10 > 0:21:18and floated around the Welsh coast, up the Bristol Channel and on along the River Avon to Stonehenge.
0:21:22 > 0:21:27Even for mariners of today, these are treacherous inland waters.
0:21:27 > 0:21:32For Bronze Age sailors, the dangers must have been extreme.
0:21:35 > 0:21:43To transport 80 plus bluestones 250 kilometres all the way from Preseli in North Pembrokeshire to
0:21:43 > 0:21:49Stonehenge was one of the greatest engineering feats in prehistoric Europe, if not THE greatest.
0:21:50 > 0:21:56Once they had completed their journey, the bluestones transformed Stonehenge.
0:21:56 > 0:22:03They were the first stones erected at the monument, and through all of the different phases of construction
0:22:03 > 0:22:08over the course of hundreds of years they held a central position in the circle.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29But just when did they make their journey?
0:22:38 > 0:22:44The search is on to find the elusive piece of evidence that will date the beginning of Stonehenge.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48Archaeologists work down from the top,
0:22:48 > 0:22:54and we're not going to get the material that we wish to date,
0:22:54 > 0:22:59to date the bluestone phase, until the very last few days of the excavation.
0:22:59 > 0:23:04The dig has been blessed with almost perfect weather, and the foundations
0:23:04 > 0:23:11of Stonehenge are slowly revealed as each separate layer of stone, earth and gravel is excavated.
0:23:14 > 0:23:19And the archaeologists appear to have uncovered new evidence
0:23:19 > 0:23:24which supports the idea of the power and importance of the bluestones.
0:23:24 > 0:23:30In order to investigate the Stonehenge layer, we cut it up into small squares.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33And we took out each square separately, and we took out each square
0:23:33 > 0:23:39as a series of separate layers, so that we could quantify the amount of stones that are represented in each.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43And I've got here the material which was extracted from just one of those
0:23:43 > 0:23:47small squares, and you can see straightaway that the amount of bluestone, which is this pile here,
0:23:47 > 0:23:52is far greater than the amount of sarsen, which is this little pile just beside me here.
0:23:52 > 0:23:58Now this is the stuff which of course comes from these massive great big stones around the edge of the site.
0:23:58 > 0:24:03This is the stuff which is essentially local, and it's, as you can see, quite a light colour.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06This is the material imported from Wales,
0:24:06 > 0:24:10and I would guess there's three times as much here as there is there.
0:24:10 > 0:24:15So why is there more bluestone than sarsen?
0:24:15 > 0:24:19The sarsens are obviously much, much bigger.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22Well, I think what we've got here is, is people flaking off
0:24:22 > 0:24:26pieces of stone, in order to create little bits to take away.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29Some of it is rubbish, these sort of bits, but the piece
0:24:29 > 0:24:33in my hand is the sort of sample that folk might want to take away.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37It's actually quite nicely shaped, as it turns out.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39It's one they've left behind, but you can well imagine them taking
0:24:39 > 0:24:45that off as an amulet, as a talisman, as a lucky charm of some sort and keeping it with them for a while
0:24:45 > 0:24:48in the hope that this is going to do them good, and heal them.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54This discovery delights the archaeologists.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58The preponderance of bluestone chips, they believe, marks
0:24:58 > 0:25:01the bluestone out as being special, and powerful.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08But there's another crucial find that Darvill and Wainwright are interested in.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12However, it's not from this dig.
0:25:12 > 0:25:19In 1976, a body was discovered in the ditch surrounding the monument,
0:25:19 > 0:25:22which is not far from where they are digging.
0:25:22 > 0:25:30Perhaps the proximity of the grave to Stonehenge could indicate that this was a very important person,
0:25:30 > 0:25:36and if Darvill and Wainwright are right, someone looking to be healed.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41Well, this is the skeleton of a young adult male.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45And unusually for archaeological material we can actually tell what he
0:25:45 > 0:25:53died of, because this young man was shot several times, from different angles, probably by different people.
0:26:02 > 0:26:07He was assailed from two different sides, from both the left and the right side.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13As far as I can tell, the first arrows are likely to have gone in
0:26:13 > 0:26:17when he was upright, and they've gone in on the right side.
0:26:21 > 0:26:26You can see there are two small marks, one at the top
0:26:26 > 0:26:31end of the ninth rib and one at the bottom end of the eighth rib.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38A later shot appears to have hit him in the sternum.
0:26:42 > 0:26:48He's also been hit on the left side of his body, and this is the tenth
0:26:48 > 0:26:52rib, so we're talking about this kind of area here,
0:26:52 > 0:26:55but again, towards the back.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58And looking at the angle of this, it looks like he's likely to have
0:26:58 > 0:27:00been hit while he was perhaps on the ground.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08He was hit again on the left-hand side, but much higher up than the rib cage.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11It's likely that he was down on the ground by this stage, and maybe his
0:27:11 > 0:27:17arm was up slightly because he's been hit probably in that region there.
0:27:20 > 0:27:26It seems clear that this young man was murdered, but the key question is why?
0:27:26 > 0:27:29Are there any clues in the way that he was buried that
0:27:29 > 0:27:33could be related to the special healing qualities of the monument?
0:27:36 > 0:27:43Doctor Alison Sheridan from the National Museum of Scotland believes she knows the answer.
0:27:43 > 0:27:48She's an archer, and a specialist in Bronze Age burials.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53It's intriguing, it's not like a normal burial of its time.
0:27:53 > 0:27:59It dates to around 2300, 2200, and it's unusual in several respects.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03In a formal burial, you would expect somebody to be
0:28:03 > 0:28:09lying on their side in a crouched position as if they're asleep, and as you can see this guy is on his back.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12OK, there's been some disturbance to the body, because animals have
0:28:12 > 0:28:17been burrowing here, so the ribs are, are moved around a little bit, but essentially he's on his back.
0:28:17 > 0:28:23And the other thing is that he hasn't been buried with any grave goods, cos normally in graves of this time
0:28:23 > 0:28:27you would at least have a pot, which may have contained something like ale
0:28:27 > 0:28:33for the journey into the afterlife, because people certainly believed that you go somewhere after you die.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35He has nothing like that.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40So why was this man murdered?
0:28:40 > 0:28:44If we put it all together we know that he was shot in the back,
0:28:44 > 0:28:49we know that he was buried in a shallow grave in the ditch close to the entrance.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52He's on his back, so they must have turned his body over.
0:28:52 > 0:28:57It looks almost as though they just chucked him in, from the way that his body is lying.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00And to me that suggests that here was somebody who was trying
0:29:00 > 0:29:06to get into the sacred area, but it was being protected, by security guards if you like.
0:29:06 > 0:29:11And so he went somewhere where he shouldn't have gone, and he's paid the heaviest price for it.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21He may not have been buried with any grave goods, but perhaps
0:29:21 > 0:29:25significantly, three pieces of bluestone were found in the grave.
0:29:27 > 0:29:31It may be that actually he had those pieces of stones about him.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34It's just possible that when we see them in the grave, it was that
0:29:34 > 0:29:40individual who'd snook in, taken some pieces of stone, and was shot going out.
0:29:44 > 0:29:51This young man would almost certainly have known about the security surrounding the monument,
0:29:51 > 0:29:54because he was from the Stonehenge area.
0:30:01 > 0:30:07And we know that because the secrets of where he lived are locked in his teeth.
0:30:15 > 0:30:22Hidden in the enamel are two tell-tale chemicals, strontium and oxygen.
0:30:22 > 0:30:29The strontium allows scientists to work out what kind of soil his food was grown in,
0:30:29 > 0:30:33and the oxygen, what kind of climate he grew up in.
0:30:36 > 0:30:40Once they have a read-out, the scientists can plot the information
0:30:40 > 0:30:45on specially prepared maps of the geology and climate of Europe.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51And they have examined thirteen sets of Bronze Age teeth
0:30:51 > 0:30:55to try to track the movements of our ancient ancestors.
0:30:58 > 0:31:06If we can tell where the Stonehenge intruder was from, what about the more celebrated Amesbury Archer?
0:31:10 > 0:31:16In an age where getting around was difficult, did he travel far on his journey to Stonehenge?
0:31:21 > 0:31:27His teeth analysis revealed something quite unexpected and remarkable.
0:31:27 > 0:31:33We analysed two teeth from the archer, and the results we got were astounding, they were one
0:31:33 > 0:31:37of those kind of scientific moments when you think, wow!
0:31:37 > 0:31:44Because he turned out to have an oxygen isotope value that couldn't have been picked up in Britain.
0:31:44 > 0:31:48He had to come from somewhere outside Britain, and to the east.
0:31:48 > 0:31:50And so that was a really exciting result.
0:31:50 > 0:31:55And when we looked at it, he probably came from an area that included
0:31:55 > 0:31:59Austria, Switzerland, parts of Germany, the Alpine region.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08The Alps are six hundred miles from Stonehenge,
0:32:10 > 0:32:15but they were linked by a newly emerging pan-European culture.
0:32:15 > 0:32:20A culture marked by beautiful pots, called beakers.
0:32:23 > 0:32:27This new beaker culture was driven by an economic revolution.
0:32:28 > 0:32:33The hunting and small scale farming communities of the Stone Age
0:32:33 > 0:32:38were being replaced by a bigger and more intensive agrarian economy.
0:32:38 > 0:32:43And farming allowed people to create the time, technology and wealth to
0:32:43 > 0:32:47take on the mammoth building project that Stonehenge had become.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59Stonehenge is an epic project, it's an outrageous project.
0:32:59 > 0:33:03To bring these stones to one place involved thousands of people,
0:33:03 > 0:33:09not just to carry the stones but to make the ropes, to get the food, to prepare the accommodation.
0:33:09 > 0:33:12So it's a huge project, the scale of it is really quite extraordinary.
0:33:12 > 0:33:18So is there any evidence of this culture being unearthed in the dig?
0:33:18 > 0:33:22- A bit of Bronze Age pottery. - Get away!
0:33:22 > 0:33:26Oh, Ed, well done! It's a piece of beaker. Fantastic!
0:33:26 > 0:33:28It's a piece of beaker.
0:33:28 > 0:33:30You little beauty!
0:33:30 > 0:33:33Let's have a look. My word, look at that, that's very good.
0:33:33 > 0:33:34Very nice.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37This is probably so far one of the best, most important
0:33:37 > 0:33:43finds of the excavation because it really dates to the time of Stonehenge that we're interested in.
0:33:43 > 0:33:48Beaker pottery is very distinctive, it's very thin, as you see, but also
0:33:48 > 0:33:51what is most important is it's got very particular types of decoration,
0:33:51 > 0:33:58sometimes impressed with cord, and in this case it's been incised, as you see, in various sections.
0:33:58 > 0:34:02Now we know that these pots are around Stonehenge around 2000 BC
0:34:02 > 0:34:08or thereabouts, and that there are very rich burials associated with this particular type of pottery.
0:34:08 > 0:34:12So just one shard represents a really beautiful vessel.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16Unfortunately we don't have the rest of it obviously, but this one shard
0:34:16 > 0:34:21gives us a really good hint that there's beaker around Stonehenge at this time.
0:34:24 > 0:34:28This 4,000-year-old piece of pottery is the oldest thing that's
0:34:28 > 0:34:35been found yet, but Darvill and Wainwright believe Stonehenge is almost certainly older than that.
0:34:35 > 0:34:39And the proof lies in the grave of the Amesbury Archer.
0:34:42 > 0:34:49Archaeologists know that the remains of the Amesbury Archer date to around 2300 BC,
0:34:49 > 0:34:56and if he came here to be healed, that means the bluestones must have been here at that time.
0:35:00 > 0:35:04And Darvill and Wainwright believe that the healing powers of the henge
0:35:04 > 0:35:08brought the archer back to this area on more than one occasion.
0:35:11 > 0:35:15The clue is once again in the bones.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20One other problem this individual suffered from,
0:35:20 > 0:35:23you can see the results of in his mandible.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26And here you can see he's got two quite large holes in his teeth.
0:35:26 > 0:35:32That's called dental caries, and that's caused by the acid produced by bacteria that live in the mouth.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36Now that opens the tooth up to infection, and that's what's happened in this case.
0:35:36 > 0:35:42You've got infection that's tracked down into the sockets of the teeth, and have formed a dental abscess.
0:35:45 > 0:35:50This abscess was so severe that it burst through the jawbone.
0:35:54 > 0:35:59Of course, there may have been herbal remedies and medicines around at this time,
0:35:59 > 0:36:06but nothing that could take away the pain of an extremely serious and potentially fatal dental infection.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10The pain is continuous, throbbing,
0:36:10 > 0:36:17excruciatingly tender to go anywhere near that tooth, so he can't bite on anything.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20So for two days he's not going to eat,
0:36:20 > 0:36:23all right, he's just going to feel like eating, he's not going
0:36:23 > 0:36:25to be able to chew anything anywhere near that tooth.
0:36:25 > 0:36:27Perhaps for longer because the tooth's already going to start
0:36:27 > 0:36:30getting tender before it gets to its peak.
0:36:30 > 0:36:35So he's not going to be eating, he's going to be in a lot of pain.
0:36:35 > 0:36:42Once the infection has progressed, and is actually burst through
0:36:42 > 0:36:47into the tissues, he's going to start to feel unwell on top of it.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51So his overall condition is fairly acute at that stage.
0:36:56 > 0:36:58Unfortunately for the Amesbury Archer,
0:36:58 > 0:37:02his painful toothache had developed into something life threatening.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09The main problem is instead of being a localised problem just to his tooth, once it starts
0:37:09 > 0:37:16spreading into the tissues it then becomes a systemic problem, affecting possibly his whole body.
0:37:18 > 0:37:22The infection that ensued from the tooth decay may well have killed him.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25It may well have been the final straw.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29Well, the tooth problem for the Amesbury Archer must have been
0:37:29 > 0:37:32absolutely critical, and it must have been absolutely excruciating.
0:37:32 > 0:37:38And I guess when you're in a great deal of pain, and you have a working knowledge of where you may get
0:37:38 > 0:37:43some relief from that pain, that's the place you're going to go to, and hope that somebody can help you.
0:37:43 > 0:37:49I think this is a well travelled man who knew perhaps where he could find some relief, and headed for it.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55In this desperate condition,
0:37:55 > 0:37:59could the Amesbury Archer have travelled to Stonehenge on his own?
0:37:59 > 0:38:05In fact, anyone in life threatening circumstances would need help to travel here,
0:38:05 > 0:38:08and it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect
0:38:08 > 0:38:11that they would be accompanied by members of their own family.
0:38:11 > 0:38:18So did the Amesbury Archer make his last journey to Stonehenge with someone close to him?
0:38:18 > 0:38:23The clues lie in the grave that was excavated at the same time
0:38:23 > 0:38:27the Amesbury Archer's last resting place was uncovered.
0:38:27 > 0:38:31These are the remains of a young adult male who came out of a grave adjacent to the Amesbury Archer
0:38:31 > 0:38:34and has therefore been dubbed the Archer's ompanion.
0:38:34 > 0:38:39Now we know they date to roughly the same phase, and having two graves of the same sort of date in the middle
0:38:39 > 0:38:43of a field suggests there was some relationship between them.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46But in this case, quite unusually, we've been able to see
0:38:46 > 0:38:49that is the case from looking at the bones, and the clue is in the feet.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54There's a very rare connection between two bones
0:38:54 > 0:38:58in their feet that only occurs in around 2% of the population.
0:39:00 > 0:39:05And archaeologists believe that in this case there is a very close family link.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10So these two individuals may well have been father and son,
0:39:10 > 0:39:15or nephew and uncle, but they were obviously quite closely related.
0:39:18 > 0:39:26And the teeth analysis of the Archer's Companion may back up the skeletal science.
0:39:27 > 0:39:31It shows that, like the Archer, he may have spent some of his
0:39:31 > 0:39:34late childhood in the Alpine regions of Europe.
0:39:37 > 0:39:43The early results of the survey of thirteen sets of Bronze Age teeth found near the monument
0:39:43 > 0:39:51may offer some support to the idea that Stonehenge was a place of pilgrimage for people from far away.
0:39:54 > 0:39:58At the moment we're running at about 50% of the burials we've found
0:39:58 > 0:40:00not being from the Stonehenge area.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02But the other side of it is that we are getting other people that
0:40:02 > 0:40:07definitely do come from the Stonehenge area, so these aren't just weird and anomalous results.
0:40:07 > 0:40:13We can also show that the other 50% are entirely consistent with having been raised in and around the area of
0:40:13 > 0:40:18Stonehenge. So that in a way adds to my sort of belief that
0:40:18 > 0:40:21the unusual ones are genuine and come from some distance away.
0:40:23 > 0:40:25The dig is now reaching its end,
0:40:25 > 0:40:29and for nearly two weeks they have been searching for that
0:40:29 > 0:40:34elusive piece of organic material that will allow them to definitively date the monument.
0:40:36 > 0:40:41And on Friday the 11th April 2008, their diligence and patience is rewarded.
0:40:43 > 0:40:47I'm very pleased to report that from one of the bluestone sockets
0:40:47 > 0:40:53we've got a grain of cereal, and that is exactly what we're looking for, and I hope it's the first of many.
0:40:53 > 0:40:58This tiny grain of cereal is the dig's needle in a haystack.
0:40:58 > 0:41:05It means they should now be able to get an accurate date for when the first stones were erected.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08It's an enormous relief for the archaeologists.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12It is a wonderful feeling.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15I have to say that I never really doubted it.
0:41:15 > 0:41:20Tim and I are the dream team, and we came here to prove something,
0:41:20 > 0:41:24to find something, and we've found it.
0:41:24 > 0:41:28We told the world we were going to date Stonehenge and in a sense it's a risk, but I
0:41:28 > 0:41:31was confident there would be something in here that we could use.
0:41:31 > 0:41:35It would have been incredibly bad luck if there was nothing at all.
0:41:38 > 0:41:42This single grain of cereal is fundamental to the Stonehenge story.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44It's a window into a world which was changing from hunting
0:41:44 > 0:41:51and small scale farming into a new, more intensive agrarian economy.
0:41:51 > 0:41:55So this is a very small carbonised fragment of grain.
0:41:55 > 0:41:59It's a whole grain that's been charred by being thrown away in the fire.
0:41:59 > 0:42:04If it wasn't for this grain, if it wasn't for farming, Stonehenge couldn't have been built.
0:42:04 > 0:42:07So the meaning of Stonehenge and what Stonehenge was used for is one thing,
0:42:07 > 0:42:10but without having a large agricultural population here,
0:42:10 > 0:42:15where they've got times of the year where they can sit down and relax rather than rush out and grab their
0:42:15 > 0:42:19food all the time, without that large population we couldn't have actually built Stonehenge.
0:42:19 > 0:42:26Stonehenge could not have been built. So this enables the construction of the stone phase of Stonehenge.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32Archaeologists are convinced that agriculture didn't just create the conditions for
0:42:32 > 0:42:39the construction of Stonehenge, it also heavily influenced the layout of the monument.
0:42:39 > 0:42:46Traditionally, it was assumed that the orientation of Stonehenge favoured the midsummer solstice,
0:42:46 > 0:42:51which is why thousands of people turn up here every year at this time.
0:42:51 > 0:42:57Many of them believe that they are taking part in a tradition that's thousands of years old,
0:42:57 > 0:43:02but they've almost certainly come at the wrong time of year,
0:43:02 > 0:43:06and they are looking in completely the wrong direction.
0:43:08 > 0:43:16Most archaeologists now believe that it was the midwinter solstice, which falls around the 21st December
0:43:16 > 0:43:21every year, that was important for the builders of Stonehenge.
0:43:21 > 0:43:28The entrance to the monument faces the remaining upright stone of the biggest of the sarsen trilathons.
0:43:28 > 0:43:32At this one time of year, as the sun sets,
0:43:32 > 0:43:39its rays would have shone directly through the narrow gap between the trilathons' two upright stones.
0:43:39 > 0:43:46In essence, the layout of Stonehenge is a very elaborate way of marking the passage of time.
0:43:49 > 0:43:53The theory is they needed to mark midwinter because this
0:43:53 > 0:43:58was the symbolic beginning of the new agricultural year.
0:44:01 > 0:44:05Stonehenge is a symbol of the success of this new agrarian economy.
0:44:05 > 0:44:11A local community grew up around it, a community which Darvill and Wainwright believe developed
0:44:11 > 0:44:15to service the needs of pilgrims seeking healing.
0:44:15 > 0:44:20A community which would have its fair share of doctors and physicians.
0:44:20 > 0:44:25Stonehenge as a healing centre would attract not only people who were unwell and
0:44:25 > 0:44:31hoping to get healed, but people who were capable of helping them become healed, that people want to go there
0:44:31 > 0:44:36to find some, not just simple relief but actually find people who are the best of their kind,
0:44:36 > 0:44:41the best magicians, the best medicine men and women that they can have to help them out.
0:44:41 > 0:44:46But is there any evidence to back up that theory?
0:44:46 > 0:44:50Could there be any clues in some of the skeletal remains?
0:44:53 > 0:44:59Like this unusual skull, which was unearthed in a burial mound near to Stonehenge.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02It really is the most strange shape.
0:45:02 > 0:45:06It's exaggerated in its shortness, and
0:45:06 > 0:45:13how round it is, particularly how broad it is at the back, and slightly flattened across this area here.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16You can see it best from that side.
0:45:16 > 0:45:19Now the kind of thing that's likely to have produced this kind
0:45:19 > 0:45:25of variation in shape is things like trauma at childbirth, so it's likely
0:45:25 > 0:45:31that this individual sat oddly in the womb, and as she was born maybe something got squeezed in the wrong
0:45:31 > 0:45:37direction, and it just didn't really fully get back into the normal shape that you would see in the skull.
0:45:37 > 0:45:43So there's no obvious skeletal reason for her to come to Stonehenge to be healed.
0:45:45 > 0:45:50But Doctor Chris Kanuzel believes that she may have come here to be a healer.
0:45:54 > 0:45:59Basically, this is a difficult birth made physical in the adult,
0:45:59 > 0:46:01and it's kind of a marker for that
0:46:01 > 0:46:04being, that time of life being somewhat difficult.
0:46:04 > 0:46:08It's the kind of thing one would associate with a special person in the past.
0:46:08 > 0:46:13Many ritual healers actually attain their ability to heal
0:46:13 > 0:46:17others because they've overcome their own impairments,
0:46:17 > 0:46:21and that might be contributing to this person's social make-up.
0:46:21 > 0:46:25So it's not improbable that
0:46:25 > 0:46:30a minor disfigurement might actually be much more important
0:46:30 > 0:46:32if the disfigurement is connected
0:46:32 > 0:46:34to the event of birth itself,
0:46:34 > 0:46:38and that in itself may have made this person
0:46:38 > 0:46:42quite special, and occasioned their burial at a very famous monument.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49The dig is now nearly over.
0:46:49 > 0:46:53The excavation has exposed a patchwork of holes,
0:46:53 > 0:47:00which is evidence of the continued re-shaping and re-structuring of Stonehenge over thousands of years.
0:47:01 > 0:47:05And most of them were occupied by bluestones.
0:47:05 > 0:47:13What the dig has uncovered is an apparent obsession with moving and chipping away at the bluestones.
0:47:13 > 0:47:20It's proved that there are three times as many bluestone flakes in the soil as sarsen.
0:47:25 > 0:47:31In the twelve days of the dig, they have excavated eight cubic metres of soil.
0:47:31 > 0:47:37And when they sift through it all, they uncover one hundred bits of organic material,
0:47:37 > 0:47:42and select the fourteen most promising pieces for carbon dating.
0:47:42 > 0:47:49And all of these vital pieces of evidence are sent to Oxford University's specialist lab,
0:47:49 > 0:47:52to undergo the most up to date carbon analysis.
0:47:59 > 0:48:04This complex technology is designed to accurately date organic material.
0:48:14 > 0:48:18The results are unexpected and startling.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27It was previously thought that the bluestones arrived at
0:48:27 > 0:48:34Stonehenge around 2600 BC, but that was essentially an educated guess.
0:48:34 > 0:48:38The new, accurate date from the Stonehenge dig
0:48:38 > 0:48:43shows that the bluestones actually arrived in 2300 BC,
0:48:43 > 0:48:47three hundred years later than was thought.
0:48:47 > 0:48:52Now, for the first time, we have an accurate dating sequence
0:48:52 > 0:48:56for this most iconic of Bronze Age monuments.
0:49:00 > 0:49:03The first stones to arrive were the bluestones.
0:49:03 > 0:49:09We now know they were erected at the site in 2300 BC.
0:49:09 > 0:49:13We don't know why, but they were taken down two hundred years later.
0:49:17 > 0:49:23The great sarsen trilathons were put up around 2100 BC.
0:49:26 > 0:49:28The bluestones were then slotted into the centre of that ring,
0:49:28 > 0:49:32hinting at their symbolic importance.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35Then, another outer circle of bluestones was added,
0:49:39 > 0:49:44before the massive circle of sarsens enclosed the whole thing.
0:49:49 > 0:49:51This was the heyday of the monument,
0:49:51 > 0:49:58and it lasted for about two hundred years, until 1900 BC.
0:49:58 > 0:50:02Over the next 4,000 years Stonehenge fell into a long, slow
0:50:02 > 0:50:10decline, neglect, theft and time producing the iconic structure we're left with today.
0:50:14 > 0:50:21And what's even more remarkable is that the new date for the arrival of the bluestones at Stonehenge
0:50:21 > 0:50:26coincides exactly with the date of the burial of the Amesbury Archer.
0:50:30 > 0:50:35Our new date for Stonehenge actually gives us, if you like, a glimpse
0:50:35 > 0:50:37of a moment in pre-history
0:50:37 > 0:50:41when things are happening at and around Stonehenge.
0:50:41 > 0:50:43And it's quite extraordinary that the date of the Amesbury Archer
0:50:43 > 0:50:49is identical with our new date for the bluestones of Stonehenge.
0:50:49 > 0:50:55These two things happening within living memory of each other for sure is something very, very important.
0:50:57 > 0:50:59They even think that the archer may have had
0:50:59 > 0:51:01an important role to play
0:51:01 > 0:51:04in promoting the healing powers of the henge.
0:51:07 > 0:51:11This is a very significant person.
0:51:11 > 0:51:13The grave goods that eventually go into his grave
0:51:13 > 0:51:19represent the richest collection of material that we have for the whole of north-west Europe at this time.
0:51:19 > 0:51:24This is a person with connections, this is a person with influence, this is a person who's travelled a great
0:51:24 > 0:51:28distance to be at Stonehenge for a particular purpose, I'm sure.
0:51:28 > 0:51:35This is just the sort of person who, when they appear at Stonehenge and recover from their ailments,
0:51:35 > 0:51:39can actually go out there and be an evangelist for this great monument.
0:51:44 > 0:51:50But there is one final unexpected revelation from the carbon dating process.
0:51:52 > 0:51:59A tiny fragment of organic material showed that people had been at Stonehenge since 7000 BC,
0:51:59 > 0:52:01that's 9,000 years.
0:52:03 > 0:52:09When we got the date of 7000 BC to about 7200, that was absolutely fantastic because we knew Mesolithic
0:52:09 > 0:52:14people, the middle Stone Age, the hunter gatherer people, were living
0:52:14 > 0:52:20in the area, were building upright pine posts in the area of Stonehenge.
0:52:20 > 0:52:22Why they would have chose that landscape
0:52:22 > 0:52:25is still a mystery, but this now proves beyond all doubt
0:52:25 > 0:52:33that they were at Stonehenge thousands of years before Stonehenge was even conceived as a monument.
0:52:34 > 0:52:39Up until now, the earliest evidence for any kind of activity
0:52:39 > 0:52:44on the site of the monument is around 3600 BC.
0:52:44 > 0:52:52This new date pushes the Stonehenge story back another 3,500 years.
0:52:52 > 0:52:59For the archaeologists, this historic dig at Stonehenge has surpassed all of their expectations.
0:52:59 > 0:53:03When we look back over the results of that tiny little hole, it's hard to
0:53:03 > 0:53:07imagine that we could actually have got so much out of such a small area.
0:53:07 > 0:53:11We've actually managed to re-write whole sections of Stonehenge's
0:53:11 > 0:53:15history from those very small excavations.
0:53:17 > 0:53:21It took Tim and I, I think about an hour around a kitchen table to plan it
0:53:21 > 0:53:24but that small hole produced big results.
0:53:34 > 0:53:39The bluestones, for years the poor relations of the imposing sarsens,
0:53:39 > 0:53:44are now assuming the central role in understanding the monument.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47They are, after all, the centre of the henge.
0:53:47 > 0:53:51And the reason for that might now be becoming clear.
0:53:51 > 0:53:58This may have been a place where the sick came to get better, the injured came to get healed.
0:53:58 > 0:54:04To discuss their theory, log onto our Open University hosted forum.
0:54:41 > 0:54:43Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd