0:00:02 > 0:00:08At the University of Dundee's Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification,
0:00:08 > 0:00:13the History Cold Case team is embarking on a major new investigation.
0:00:13 > 0:00:15Ladies, today's case.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17Medieval Norwich.
0:00:17 > 0:00:22We've got disarticulated remains of at least 17 people.
0:00:22 > 0:00:27Using a mobile forensic lab, the team has come to Norwich,
0:00:27 > 0:00:33where recent archaeological investigations have unearthed a major and chilling new find...
0:00:33 > 0:00:37the remains of 17 people at the bottom of a medieval well.
0:00:40 > 0:00:47Disarticulated, which means we're not looking at single burials, so presumably it's a mass grave.
0:00:47 > 0:00:52The bodies include men, women and young children.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56The local community needs answers.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59Who were these people? And how did their remains end up down a well?
0:00:59 > 0:01:02The possibilities are horrific.
0:01:02 > 0:01:07There's some debate as to whether the children were dead when they went down the well.
0:01:07 > 0:01:13The investigation will be led by world-renowned forensic anthropologist Professor Sue Black.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17Dr Xanthe Mallett will gather historical evidence.
0:01:17 > 0:01:22While Professor Caroline Wilkinson will rebuild the faces of the dead.
0:01:22 > 0:01:27And the team is also joined by DNA expert Dr Ian Barnes.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31I've got a team that is of world-renowned reputation,
0:01:31 > 0:01:34so that if we can't crack it, then, you know, who else can?
0:01:34 > 0:01:40By forensically retracing events, analysing the scene of death
0:01:40 > 0:01:43and reconstructing the identities of two of the skeletons,
0:01:43 > 0:01:47can we discover what happened to these people?
0:01:49 > 0:01:54This is really unusual situation for us, I think this is really unique.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57and ultimately might this case reveal the unthinkable -
0:01:57 > 0:02:00that they were killed?
0:02:00 > 0:02:03You simply can't breathe because your chest is compressed.
0:02:03 > 0:02:08We go back to a shocking period of widespread religious persecution
0:02:08 > 0:02:09and genocide...
0:02:09 > 0:02:14They haven't applied normal Christian tradition, they've completely ignored it.
0:02:14 > 0:02:20..as the trail reveals new proof about one of the most shameful episodes in British history.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50The team has been called to the Cathedral City of Norwich.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55While much of the city's heritage remains intact,
0:02:55 > 0:03:00the medieval site where the skeletons were discovered in 2004
0:03:00 > 0:03:03now lies underneath the Chapelfield Shopping Centre.
0:03:07 > 0:03:13Inside a mobile forensic unit, local archaeologists lay out the bones.
0:03:13 > 0:03:19The jumbled remains point to at least 17 individuals.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25It's thought there are six adults, both male and female.
0:03:25 > 0:03:30But, more shockingly, 11 children, aged from just two years old.
0:03:33 > 0:03:38This is one of the most troubling archaeological hauls the team has been presented with.
0:03:45 > 0:03:51Who were these people, what killed them and why did their bodies end up at the bottom of a well?
0:03:53 > 0:03:57Finding out will require the full arsenal of forensic skills.
0:04:03 > 0:04:08Professor Caroline Wilkinson and Dr Xanthe Mallett will initiate the investigation,
0:04:08 > 0:04:13before reporting back to Professor Sue Black at Dundee HQ.
0:04:15 > 0:04:21This time round we go out into the community, so we go down to the site where the bones were found.
0:04:21 > 0:04:26We talk to the people who were involved and we look at those bones on that site.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29We then go and do our analysis and we come back
0:04:29 > 0:04:34and we present to the community what it is that we've found.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38Connecting the skeletons to the context of where they were found
0:04:38 > 0:04:43is a crucial first step in what promises to be a challenging case.
0:04:43 > 0:04:48The original excavation was led by archaeologist Giles Emery.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51He arrives at the mobile lab to bring Xanthe up to speed
0:04:51 > 0:04:54with the possible theories about this bizarre discovery.
0:04:54 > 0:05:00When we first found them we suspected it could be a plague burial,
0:05:00 > 0:05:04because that's the kind of thing, you know, a mass burial in an unexpected place.
0:05:06 > 0:05:11To test the idea that these were plague victims they did carbon dating.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13We've had two carbon dates done.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17Probably talking 12th to 13th century.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20But the dates didn't add up
0:05:20 > 0:05:24as the 12th or 13th century is too early for plague.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28Plus there's the strange position in which the bodies were found -
0:05:28 > 0:05:31several metres down in what seems to be an old well.
0:05:31 > 0:05:37Giles is hoping the team can come up with some new leads to explain this unique find.
0:05:42 > 0:05:47He takes Xanthe to the exact spot where the bodies were discovered.
0:05:47 > 0:05:52The shoppers have no idea about the history that lay buried here.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57So if we stop about here...
0:05:57 > 0:06:02We're in quite a busy shopping arcade but to our left here...
0:06:02 > 0:06:04This actual shop?
0:06:04 > 0:06:07Yeah, this is the site. 17 people in the bottom of a well.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09That sounds unusual to me but...
0:06:09 > 0:06:14Yeah, it's a mass burial but it's in a well shaft which, yeah, I've not been able to find any parallels.
0:06:14 > 0:06:16- Anywhere?- In the UK.- Really!- No.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20Pictures taken at the time of excavation seem to indicate
0:06:20 > 0:06:24that the bodies were thrown down together, head first.
0:06:24 > 0:06:29- Oh, wow.- You can see all these skeleton remains.- Yep.
0:06:29 > 0:06:34There's a leg there that is articulated and that's the wrong way round. It's heading up.
0:06:34 > 0:06:36Can you imagine you drop someone by their ankles down a well?
0:06:36 > 0:06:39They're going to end up in this kind of slumped position.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43But there are still so many unanswered questions.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46What I really want to know is, is it a family group?
0:06:46 > 0:06:49If it's too early for a plague burial, was it some other endemic disease?
0:06:49 > 0:06:53- Could be something as simple as flu. - Could even be a famine.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55The other problem I have is what are they doing down a well.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58- Yeah, that's a bit of a query. - They're in the parish
0:06:58 > 0:07:02of St Stephen, literally 100 metres away there's a cemetery.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05They didn't make it that far, they were actually placed in a well here.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08Why? Why were they treated like that?
0:07:08 > 0:07:12The mystery has become something of an obsession for Giles.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16Yeah, it's one of those things I think about literally every other week it crosses my mind.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18- Why?- Well, it's such a...
0:07:18 > 0:07:21Whenever you do a burial it's a very intimate experience.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24But to do that many and then to find out there were so many children
0:07:24 > 0:07:27- it makes you think. - It's touched you?- It has, yeah.
0:07:31 > 0:07:37Xanthe and Caroline must start the difficult job of making sense of the bones.
0:07:37 > 0:07:43Which they learn also include the puzzling remains of dead cats.
0:07:43 > 0:07:48How they fit with this, I've no idea.
0:07:48 > 0:07:49Pretty sharp though.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54- This is a bit of a strange mixture, isn't it?- It is.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57They start with the remains of the children.
0:07:57 > 0:08:04There are at least 11 individuals, aged from about 15 down to two years old.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07And we've got a mandible.
0:08:07 > 0:08:13Oh, OK, look, we've got some cribra orbitalia which is these little holes
0:08:13 > 0:08:15which is a sign of anaemia.
0:08:15 > 0:08:21Immediately they spot marks which could be evidence of poor nutrition.
0:08:23 > 0:08:30But on this initial visual examination Xanthe and Caroline find no clear patterns.
0:08:34 > 0:08:40It will require a full battery of the latest scientific tests to help establish how these people died.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52The team continues to work into the night.
0:08:52 > 0:08:58Two of the skeletons are singled out as good candidates for facial reconstruction.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02Caroline first scans the fractured skull of one of the children.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05He or she was five to seven years old.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08I think that we've got enough fragments...
0:09:08 > 0:09:13If they're all from the same individual we've got enough fragments to do a reconstruction.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16We'll have to do a little bit of estimation around the mid-face.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20If they're not all from the same individual then that will be much more problematic.
0:09:24 > 0:09:30She also wants to work on the skull belonging to one of the adult males.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32This skull's got interesting features around
0:09:32 > 0:09:38the nasal branches because they're very large and prominent, suggesting a very large and prominent nose.
0:09:38 > 0:09:43We've got this level of asymmetry around the eyes, one's much higher and further back than the other.
0:09:43 > 0:09:48And then we've got strong what are called supermastoid crests, which are lines above the ear
0:09:48 > 0:09:55which suggest that this person had large ears that stuck out from the side of the head.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59So he's got good characteristic detail, in terms of his facial appearance.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03I'm looking forward to this, actually, because it's not often
0:10:03 > 0:10:07you get such characteristic detail that you notice straight away.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09So he should be an interesting face.
0:10:09 > 0:10:15To begin the laboratory testing, she removes one of his teeth.
0:10:15 > 0:10:22We're going to take this molar and send it for stable isotope analysis, and that should tell us what he ate,
0:10:22 > 0:10:26what his diet was like, therefore where he came from,
0:10:26 > 0:10:30and hopefully give us a broader picture of this individual.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35The bones will also be tested for DNA and trace chemicals,
0:10:35 > 0:10:38which could tell us more about who these people were.
0:10:38 > 0:10:44It's around this barrage of scientific tests that the team will build their investigation.
0:10:51 > 0:10:59But will they be able to bring identities back to the two skeletons they selected - the man and child?
0:11:03 > 0:11:07Back in Dundee, Xanthe brings Professor Black up to speed.
0:11:07 > 0:11:13I've got a CGI actually for you, which is fantastic actually.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17So this is obviously rows of houses, right in the centre, kind of
0:11:17 > 0:11:21where you'd have your bins out, you know, in the back garden as it were.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24So the well is right in the middle of this community.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26Oh, I don't like going down. Urgh!
0:11:26 > 0:11:28I know, it makes you want to lean over the edge.
0:11:28 > 0:11:33So this is obviously showing the shaft of the well, and this is representative of the...
0:11:33 > 0:11:34- That's looks horrific.- I know.
0:11:34 > 0:11:39Yeah. You can see the soil compacting all of them down into one group. That's the great...
0:11:39 > 0:11:46A thin layer of soil on top of the bodies means they were deposited at the same time.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50The obvious first question is, was this foul play?
0:11:50 > 0:11:53They could have actually been murdered and put down the well.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56- Are we talking about that type of event?- Disposal.
0:11:56 > 0:12:02- Exactly.- Well, only if we see signs of perimortem trauma that would indicate a violent death.
0:12:02 > 0:12:09The apparent lack of damage caused around the time of death means they dismiss the idea of murder...
0:12:09 > 0:12:11for now, at least.
0:12:11 > 0:12:17So is this perhaps a place where the sick or deprived ended up when they died?
0:12:17 > 0:12:22So this is a time of kind of hardship in England. You did get famine and things.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25- There's some signs of anaemia, signs in the...- OK.
0:12:25 > 0:12:30Or are we talking about some type of disease that's hit the population?
0:12:30 > 0:12:35The fact that we've got so many children could be dysentery, something like that.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39- Obviously if a lot of individuals die at the same time...- Containment.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42Yep. You need to remove them from the population quickly
0:12:42 > 0:12:45- and get rid of them. - Yeah, you don't really want them hanging around, do you?
0:12:45 > 0:12:53- No.- The team agrees that poverty and disease are the obvious places to start to look for a cause of death.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02The remains may yet yield some other crucial information.
0:13:02 > 0:13:08Geneticist Dr Ian Barnes takes samples from the long leg bones of eight of the skeletons,
0:13:08 > 0:13:13including the adult male and the 5-7-year-old child.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17Ian is helping us out enormously, in terms of the DNA,
0:13:17 > 0:13:22and Ian has a worldwide reputation in terms of his science.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26And I don't think I've met anybody who knows more about the subject
0:13:26 > 0:13:30than he does, but has the ability to convey it in a manner that is really
0:13:30 > 0:13:36quite straightforward, which is what most of us need when it comes to genetics.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40If the people in the well turn out to be related,
0:13:40 > 0:13:43then this could dramatically change the complexion of the case.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49But it will be several weeks before the DNA results are back.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00Meanwhile, to start the historical investigation, Xanthe needs
0:14:00 > 0:14:03to understand what Norwich was like in the 1100 and 1200s.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10At that time, Norwich was England's second largest city,
0:14:10 > 0:14:17its expansion built on its position as a major centre of manufacture and trade.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20The population had ballooned to over 12,000.
0:14:20 > 0:14:25But who was living in the immediate area around the well?
0:14:28 > 0:14:33Xanthe hopes the Norwich records office will yield some clues.
0:14:33 > 0:14:40She meets archivist Susan Maddock, who produces a surprising and rare document from the time.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43- So this looks exciting.- Yes. This is one of the city court rolls.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45It covers 1287 to 1298.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47- Is this original?- This is original.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49Then I will not touch that!
0:14:49 > 0:14:50I'll let you unroll it.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53- It's probably as valuable as it looks.- Yes, it certainly is.
0:14:53 > 0:14:57- I mean, obviously it's unique and irreplaceable.- OK.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59I didn't say that to frighten you!
0:14:59 > 0:15:01What's this made from?
0:15:01 > 0:15:03It's made from parchment, which is sheep skin.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07So it's scraped and cleaned and makes a very durable writing surface.
0:15:07 > 0:15:12So this was the main medium used for records in this country, really,
0:15:12 > 0:15:16until paper became popular in the 14-15th centuries.
0:15:16 > 0:15:21- VOICE-OVER:- It's a record of property ownership in 13th century Norwich.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25Susan is looking for a street name she can trace to near the well.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30Now I'll just gently unroll it.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34Now, what we're looking for... Ah, yes.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37In the margin here, we can see this little,
0:15:37 > 0:15:40little marginal note that looks like NEDA.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43- So this is Latin?- This is Latin,
0:15:43 > 0:15:49yes, and that's pointing out this word here, Nedham - N-E-D-H-A-M.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52And I see, looking at a modern reconstruction map of Norwich,
0:15:52 > 0:15:55which shows the medieval street names,
0:15:55 > 0:15:57and on this map it's shown as Vicus -
0:15:57 > 0:16:00which is the Latin for street - de Nedham.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03So we can see that matches with the Nedham in our deed here.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07So this street was originally called Vicus de Nedham?
0:16:07 > 0:16:10Yes, or Nedham or "Need-ham" Street.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14Right. So the block that I'm interested in on here is represented by this area here, is that right?
0:16:14 > 0:16:17It is, yes. Yes.
0:16:17 > 0:16:23The document also reveals the occupations of property owners.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25I can't help noticing that in these...
0:16:25 > 0:16:28in this map, there are a lot of butchers turning up.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31Butcher, butcher, merchant.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34Is there any evidence of tanning or skinning, those kind of industries?
0:16:34 > 0:16:39Because there were cat bones down the well, kind of mixed in with the human bones.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41I'm wondering whether we might actually
0:16:41 > 0:16:45find something on here that would help explain that a little bit.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48Well, let's give it a try.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52I notice there's a skinner down here, and this is only a short distance away from your area.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55- Oh. It's only, like, four doors down.- Yes. 1295,
0:16:55 > 0:16:57you've got John de Saham...
0:16:57 > 0:16:59- That would work.- ...the skinner. - Wow!
0:16:59 > 0:17:05And if we actually look at the other side, moving along what's now St Steven's Street,
0:17:05 > 0:17:10- to this diagram here, there are quite a number of tanners in this area towards horse market.- Yeah.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13So again, the right time period.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16- Yes.- So, yeah, these people could have actually been living
0:17:16 > 0:17:20in or very near to people who ended up down the well.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23So we're really looking at working class people, aren't we,
0:17:23 > 0:17:26- which fits with everything else I think I've found out.- Yes.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30So were our people local skinners or tanners?
0:17:30 > 0:17:33And if so, could their profession offer clues as to a cause of death?
0:17:33 > 0:17:40Xanthe hits the streets of Norwich's old town with local historian Brian Ayres.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43- It's lovely.- It's very picturesque now, but it would have been
0:17:43 > 0:17:47distinctly less picturesque in the 12th and 13th centuries.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50I mean, we're on a street which is next to the river.
0:17:50 > 0:17:58This is a river which a whole range of industries are using, for dye works, for tanners, for skinners.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01- So the dirtier trades. - The dirtier trades.
0:18:01 > 0:18:06All this effluent material is flowing down behind the buildings, which would have been stood here.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10This could explain the puzzling cat bones in the well, which may be
0:18:10 > 0:18:16a by-product of the manufacture of catskin gloves, highly prized across medieval Europe.
0:18:16 > 0:18:23This was just one aspect of a widespread skinning and tanning industry, and it was dirty work.
0:18:23 > 0:18:29Medieval tanners often used human urine and faeces, collected door to door, to soften the leather.
0:18:29 > 0:18:35- Your life expectancy is probably going to be less in Norwich than it is out in the countryside.- Really?
0:18:35 > 0:18:38Because of the noxious fumes and the poor living conditions.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42But it would be a shorter life, but probably an economically better one.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45- Potentially a better one. - That's an interesting one.
0:18:45 > 0:18:51And so one does get people arriving here for that very reason.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55It's clear that poor hygiene and harsh working conditions
0:18:55 > 0:18:58would have made local people vulnerable to serious infection.
0:19:02 > 0:19:07Back in Dundee, Caroline is ready to start the facial reconstructions.
0:19:07 > 0:19:12We've got the skull of the male adult from the Norwich well.
0:19:12 > 0:19:17You can see the bits that are pale are the pieces of bone that we have,
0:19:17 > 0:19:21and the green areas are the areas that I've had to estimate.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24We just had this one piece of missing mandible.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28So all round I'm quite interested by this skull.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32It's got lots of nice characteristic detail.
0:19:32 > 0:19:37The shattered skull of the child requires much more work, however.
0:19:37 > 0:19:42We've got to put together these fragments before we can do any reconstruction.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45What we can do on the computers, we can take one of the pieces.
0:19:45 > 0:19:53Here we've got part of the forehead, and we can move it so that it's touching the other piece...
0:19:53 > 0:19:55and realign it.
0:19:57 > 0:20:02We can put it roughly in the right position and then we can tweak it.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06So this is our skull when it's been...
0:20:06 > 0:20:09totally reassembled.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19And that's... Those are the areas that have been estimated,
0:20:19 > 0:20:21in green.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25Reconstructions of children have their own unique challenges.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27It's very difficult to tell whether...
0:20:27 > 0:20:32the individual is male or female, when the child is this young.
0:20:32 > 0:20:39So girls and boys between the ages of five and seven are indistinguishable facially.
0:20:39 > 0:20:45We tend to judge the sex of a child in relation to their hairstyle, their clothes that they're wearing,
0:20:45 > 0:20:48how they're being treated by others around them.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51We're actually very bad at estimating whether a child is male
0:20:51 > 0:20:54or female from just the face, especially at this age.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59Soon actual faces will start to emerge,
0:20:59 > 0:21:05as Caroline adds the muscles, skin and features to each reconstruction.
0:21:05 > 0:21:12With squalid living conditions around the well area, and apparent signs of malnutrition on the bones
0:21:12 > 0:21:15but no obvious trauma, is disease now the most
0:21:15 > 0:21:19likely culprit in the story of what happened to these people?
0:21:19 > 0:21:22And if so, what killed them?
0:21:22 > 0:21:28The 1100 and 1200s marked a time of huge population growth for Norwich,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31and the sick were catered for in new charitable medical centres.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34- It is, it's amazing. - Founded in 1249.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38The Great Hospital of Norwich was one of first of its kind in Britain.
0:21:38 > 0:21:44Xanthe meets Professor Carole Rawcliffe here, a specialist in medieval health.
0:21:44 > 0:21:50I actually have a photograph of one of the specimens I've been looking at,
0:21:52 > 0:21:56and she's interesting because obviously we've got some of those markers.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58You've got the cribra orbitalia.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01That's a sign of iron deficiency,
0:22:01 > 0:22:06and what's fascinating is that other excavations in Norwich
0:22:06 > 0:22:12have revealed a very high incidence of this, up to 70% in some cases among women and children.
0:22:12 > 0:22:18And what may not be known is that during the Middle Ages and later,
0:22:18 > 0:22:21- malaria is endemic in parts of England.- Really?
0:22:21 > 0:22:24And that also will increase levels of anaemia.
0:22:24 > 0:22:29Carole thinks it's entirely possible the people in the well died of a then incurable disease,
0:22:29 > 0:22:34such as malaria, which was rife in the overcrowded city of the 12th and 13th centuries.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38It's rather like the developing world today.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41Here in the city you were encountering diseases
0:22:41 > 0:22:45and deficiencies, which we no longer have to experience.
0:22:45 > 0:22:52It's likely there could have been an epidemic of influenza, perhaps dysentery, perhaps typhus.
0:22:52 > 0:22:57It's very hard to tell, but obviously something which is killing people in quite large numbers.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02Charitable hospitals had close links to the church,
0:23:02 > 0:23:06and the sick believed going to hospital could erase their burden of sin.
0:23:06 > 0:23:11Even the poor could expect to receive medical care.
0:23:11 > 0:23:17The theory that our people fell victim to disease certainly fits the facts so far.
0:23:17 > 0:23:22But if 17 people died at the same time, where would they have been buried?
0:23:22 > 0:23:27Would their bodies have been disposed of in a well?
0:23:33 > 0:23:39To find out how people were buried during the epidemics which hit Britain in the Middle Ages,
0:23:39 > 0:23:46Xanthe heads to Bishopsgate in London, once the site of a vast medieval cemetery.
0:23:46 > 0:23:51No other burials in wells have ever been found in the UK,
0:23:51 > 0:23:55but under the pavement here is an extraordinary site
0:23:55 > 0:24:01called the Charnel House, where hundreds of bodies have been excavated from deep shafts.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05The way people were laid to rest here might offer vital clues.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07- Hello, Chris? - Hi.- The man behind the wall.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09Welcome to the Charnel House.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12Fantastic! Oh, shall we get out of the rain?
0:24:12 > 0:24:13Come in this way.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19Chris Thomas, from the Museum of London, excavated this site,
0:24:19 > 0:24:23which was used for a huge number of mass burials.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27This Charnel House sits in the middle of a cemetery that we excavated
0:24:27 > 0:24:31- about 10,500 skeletons from.- Wow!
0:24:31 > 0:24:39And it was in use from around about 1150-1540, and it's a cemetery that's associated with a medieval hospital.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42Most of the people are buried in individual graves, but we had
0:24:42 > 0:24:46thousands of people buried in mass burial pits,
0:24:46 > 0:24:51and a whole series of shafts, with people buried on top of each other.
0:24:51 > 0:24:56And what you find, generally speaking, even in Black Death burial grounds, any sort
0:24:56 > 0:25:00of emergency burial ground, people are usually buried in a Christian manner.
0:25:00 > 0:25:05So you can see from some of the burials that we had,
0:25:05 > 0:25:08- even in our mass burial pits... - Oh, I see.
0:25:08 > 0:25:13..the skeletons are still being laid out on their back, with their head at the west end, the feet at the east.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17- OK. So even in mass burials, the placement of the body is still really important.- It is.
0:25:17 > 0:25:23So the myth that people are thrown off the back of carts into pits in the Black Death simply isn't true.
0:25:23 > 0:25:28So if I just show you some of the pictures from MY site, you may get a better idea. Now, this is...
0:25:28 > 0:25:33this is the well shaft, and you can see they're all completely intermixed.
0:25:33 > 0:25:38This just looks like, almost like rubbish thrown away, all mixed up, no care.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42Yeah. I think the difference is absolutely fundamental.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44Whoever's dealt with this, they haven't
0:25:44 > 0:25:48applied normal Christian tradition. They've completely ignored it.
0:25:52 > 0:25:59What Xanthe learns from the Charnel House makes the well burial even more confusing.
0:25:59 > 0:26:05Even during the worst outbreaks of disease, people were not just thrown into the nearest hole.
0:26:05 > 0:26:11The church taught that to be buried in a non-Christian way would lead to purgatory and hell.
0:26:11 > 0:26:18Medieval Norwich was a devout Christian city, with over 40 parish churches.
0:26:18 > 0:26:25So why weren't our 17 people buried with the usual care?
0:26:25 > 0:26:29Could it be because they weren't Christians?
0:26:29 > 0:26:36This is not a Christian burial, so do we have people who are not of the Christian faith?
0:26:36 > 0:26:39Is that why they're there, or is it that they're some form
0:26:39 > 0:26:42of an outcast, was it that people were afraid of them?
0:26:42 > 0:26:46I don't know, but they were not dealt with with respect.
0:26:48 > 0:26:53The stable isotope data are back, and the results are intriguing.
0:26:53 > 0:26:58What they reveal is that the people found down the well had lived in the local area for many years.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02They were not just visiting.
0:27:02 > 0:27:07The trail suddenly now points towards non-Christian locals.
0:27:09 > 0:27:16And there's only one significant community from the time that matches that profile.
0:27:17 > 0:27:23Since 1135, Norwich was home to a thriving Jewish community,
0:27:23 > 0:27:25living just a few hundred yards from the well site.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32Xanthe meets up with Sophie Cabot, a specialist in Norwich's Jewish history,
0:27:32 > 0:27:35to find out more about this community.
0:27:37 > 0:27:42The Jewry in Norwich in the Middle Ages was in this position, between the market and the castle.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46The castle's just up there, obviously the market's behind us,
0:27:46 > 0:27:49and the properties owned by Jews were concentrated
0:27:49 > 0:27:51in the area from White Lion Street here,
0:27:51 > 0:27:53up to Little Orford Street at the end of this block.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57- Is the proximity of the Jewry to the castle important?- It is, yeah.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00I mean, Norwich is a royal castle.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02- They were in England at the invitation of the Crown.- I see.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06And the Crown had direct legal control over them and their business.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10The Jews of Norwich had a very specific role.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13And why were they actually invited here by the king?
0:28:13 > 0:28:15They were invited to lend money.
0:28:15 > 0:28:17And that was their primary function?
0:28:17 > 0:28:21Yeah. Yeah. At the time, the Christian interpretation
0:28:21 > 0:28:25of the Bible didn't allow Christians to lend money at interest.
0:28:25 > 0:28:26It was a sin called "usury".
0:28:26 > 0:28:30Certainly that's something that's not forbidden in Jewish law,
0:28:30 > 0:28:35so cash finance for big projects of any sort came from Jewish financers.
0:28:35 > 0:28:37- Almost like banks. - Yeah, like banks basically.
0:28:37 > 0:28:39Does that mean they were all wealthy then?
0:28:39 > 0:28:42Some of them were extremely wealthy.
0:28:42 > 0:28:46There's one or two families who are incredibly rich and who are lending money
0:28:46 > 0:28:50- on a national scale or even international scale.- Really?
0:28:51 > 0:28:56Xanthe and Sophie visit the house of Isaac Jurnet, which still stands in Central Norwich.
0:29:00 > 0:29:03Despite having financed the cathedral, like many Jews
0:29:03 > 0:29:08across Christian Europe, the Jurnets may have been subject to persecution.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11- This is him here, shown at the top. - With a crown?
0:29:11 > 0:29:16Wearing a crown, yes, showing how important he is, and also with three profiles, three faces.
0:29:16 > 0:29:18- What does that mean?
0:29:18 > 0:29:23It seems to mean that he's into everything, that he's sort of got fingers in lots of pies.
0:29:23 > 0:29:26- Oh, I see.- And this is a caricature.
0:29:26 > 0:29:31This was drawn by a Christian, by a scribe in the Exchequer.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34They, as you can see, have rather caricatured faces, big noses.
0:29:34 > 0:29:38This is a hat that indicates he is Jewish.
0:29:38 > 0:29:40They're not kind drawings.
0:29:40 > 0:29:44No. And they're shown with this little devil, who is tweaking them on the nose.
0:29:44 > 0:29:48Would you say that it's anti-Semitic, because it's certainly not complimentary?
0:29:48 > 0:29:52There's resentment of the fact that Jews are making money.
0:29:52 > 0:29:58Some Jews, like Isaac, are making a huge amount of money, and they're doing it in a way that
0:29:58 > 0:30:03doesn't involve physical labour, or things that are necessarily recognised as work, you know.
0:30:03 > 0:30:07It's a bit like people feel about bankers now.
0:30:07 > 0:30:12But Sophie thinks it's unlikely the skeletons in the well came from the Jewish community.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15On the site of the old synagogue, Sophie explains how they would
0:30:15 > 0:30:20have taken as much care over burial as Norwich's Christians.
0:30:20 > 0:30:26- You would want it to be quick, so you would be ideally buried within 24 hours of death.- Really?
0:30:26 > 0:30:32You would want it to be very simple, so you would be washed and wrapped in a shroud.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36It's quite a simple ceremony, but it's got to be done right, and in a dignified way.
0:30:36 > 0:30:38You've pre-empted my other question.
0:30:38 > 0:30:43So you don't think that the Jewish community would have put other Jewish individuals in the well?
0:30:43 > 0:30:46No, I don't. I think it's pretty much impossible.
0:30:46 > 0:30:50I think if there were any Jews in the community to see that
0:30:50 > 0:30:53the dead got a proper burial, that's what they would do.
0:30:53 > 0:31:00If the bodies in the well were indeed Jewish, this would point to foul play.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06It would suggest that their burial was deliberately careless or rushed.
0:31:06 > 0:31:09We know that across Britain and Europe at this time,
0:31:09 > 0:31:14Jewish people were increasingly victims of vicious hate attacks.
0:31:14 > 0:31:18Could this be what happened to our 17 people in Norwich?
0:31:28 > 0:31:31The DNA analysis is now complete.
0:31:31 > 0:31:37Aware that the case now risks grinding to a halt, the team hopes the results will provide a new lead.
0:31:40 > 0:31:45So how many did we take DNA samples from, out of the, what was it? 17?
0:31:45 > 0:31:47I think we sampled eight.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51- Eight individual... - From children through to adults. - Yes. We tried to get a range.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54Well, the DNA report will perhaps not only tell us about family,
0:31:54 > 0:31:57but if there is any other connection, genetic
0:31:57 > 0:32:02type connection, you know, in a tight knit group, then Ian might be able to tell us something about that as well.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05- Yep.- So, fingers crossed for DNA.
0:32:05 > 0:32:06- Yeah.- Our money's on DNA.
0:32:06 > 0:32:11They call Dr Ian Barnes.
0:32:11 > 0:32:12There we are.
0:32:12 > 0:32:14- OK.- Hello.- We've got you now. Hi.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18We are looking today at medieval Norwich.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22We're hoping against all hope that you'll have something interesting to tell us.
0:32:22 > 0:32:24No pressure!
0:32:24 > 0:32:27OK. So, some pretty interesting news for this cold case.
0:32:27 > 0:32:28Oh good!
0:32:28 > 0:32:31OK.
0:32:31 > 0:32:34So we actually got eight samples.
0:32:34 > 0:32:36Of the eight, one of them looks like there might be
0:32:36 > 0:32:40some contamination, or maybe it's heavily damaged in some way.
0:32:40 > 0:32:42- OK.- So we'll disregard that one.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44The remaining seven.
0:32:44 > 0:32:52One of them has a very generic standard European DNA type.
0:32:52 > 0:32:57One of them has a DNA type which is relatively,
0:32:57 > 0:33:00relatively uncommon
0:33:00 > 0:33:05- across Europe, though it's still just a generic European kind of sequence.- OK.
0:33:05 > 0:33:10The other five, however, had the same mitochondrial DNA sequence.
0:33:10 > 0:33:16So it looks like the five that have the same sequence, you could maybe
0:33:16 > 0:33:20- assume or infer that they are directly maternally related.- Right.
0:33:20 > 0:33:25Remarkably, five of the people down the well were related to each other.
0:33:25 > 0:33:29But that's not all the DNA results reveal.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32Now, the more unusual thing is that
0:33:32 > 0:33:38their sequences belong to a group which is relatively unusual in Europe.
0:33:38 > 0:33:42It occurs at about something like 6%,
0:33:42 > 0:33:49but it's at very high frequency, more like over 30%, in Ashkenazi Jewish populations.
0:33:49 > 0:33:51Wow! That's interesting.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54That's just amazing. So that's for how many individuals?
0:33:54 > 0:33:58- Five.- So that's five that we're happy with.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01It's an unexpected breakthrough in the case.
0:34:01 > 0:34:05The science has shown that at least five of the people down the well
0:34:05 > 0:34:08were from the Jewish community, and likely family members.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13This is a really unusual situation for us.
0:34:13 > 0:34:19I think this is a really unique set of data that we've been able to get for these individuals.
0:34:19 > 0:34:22I'm not aware that this has been done before,
0:34:22 > 0:34:24that we've been actually able
0:34:24 > 0:34:31to pin them down to this level of specificity, about the ethnic group that they seem to come from.
0:34:31 > 0:34:33That's a good result. That's phenomenal.
0:34:33 > 0:34:35Thank you so much indeed. Bye.
0:34:35 > 0:34:37Bye-bye.
0:34:37 > 0:34:42- I think what Ian has told us is truly amazing.- Hmm, it is.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46In that we, we clearly have family members.
0:34:46 > 0:34:48We've got a recognised group.
0:34:48 > 0:34:52And this is really pointing to something, the most tragic of all
0:34:52 > 0:34:57- of those options as well, with 11 children.- 11 children.- Six adults.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59- Of a common maternal DNA. - Closely linked.
0:34:59 > 0:35:04The story now looks set to take a much darker turn.
0:35:04 > 0:35:12There is a real temptation, I think, to go down the route of saying, because we've recognised the group,
0:35:12 > 0:35:15because we know they're a family, we're looking at something
0:35:15 > 0:35:19that's possibly more macabre, that we're looking at persecution.
0:35:19 > 0:35:24What we haven't yet got is the cause of death, or causes of death.
0:35:24 > 0:35:26I think we probably should look...
0:35:26 > 0:35:29go back to some of the bones and just have a look,
0:35:29 > 0:35:33because I am concerned that we haven't got any form of a trauma.
0:35:33 > 0:35:36I mean, dropping down the well would cause trauma, and the prospect
0:35:36 > 0:35:40that, you know, maybe someone's gone down that well alive...
0:35:40 > 0:35:42- Especially kids.- ..is horrendous.
0:35:48 > 0:35:55Sue's previous experience leads her to believe this could now be a case of mass murder.
0:35:55 > 0:36:01We're possibly talking about persecution, we're possibly talking about ethnic cleansing.
0:36:01 > 0:36:06And this all brings to mind very much the scenario that we dealt with during the Balkans war crimes.
0:36:06 > 0:36:12In terms of the brutality of the ethnic cleansing, it was felt that, you know,
0:36:12 > 0:36:16women and children, quite frankly, weren't worth wasting the bullet on.
0:36:16 > 0:36:18So that women were quite often bayoneted, for example.
0:36:18 > 0:36:23Pregnant women were bayoneted, because that way you got rid of a woman, because that wasn't important,
0:36:23 > 0:36:27and you got rid of the next generation, because you really didn't want them to survive.
0:36:27 > 0:36:32So I know what sort of patterns I'm looking for if it was the same sort of situation.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35Were these individuals thrown down the well alive?
0:36:35 > 0:36:39Were these individuals killed before they went down the well?
0:36:41 > 0:36:46With this new question in mind, Sue goes back to the bones again,
0:36:46 > 0:36:50to examine the legs and spinal columns in minute detail,
0:36:50 > 0:36:55and on one of the adults makes a crucial new discovery...
0:36:55 > 0:36:59If you open up and look at the surface of the
0:36:59 > 0:37:0412th thoracic, you can see that we've got what looks like a burst fracture,
0:37:04 > 0:37:10and it's coming over onto the surface here at the side, and coming over onto the front there.
0:37:10 > 0:37:15That kind of thing happens when you get force, either coming
0:37:15 > 0:37:19down onto legs, or of course coming down onto head.
0:37:19 > 0:37:22So that what you're getting is a twisting, because that's what
0:37:22 > 0:37:28happens, you get a twisting, and the edge of one vertebra causes the fracture on the body.
0:37:28 > 0:37:35So the column is twisting, and as you impact, then what you get is the burst fractures.
0:37:35 > 0:37:41And there is similar damage to three of the adult leg bones.
0:37:41 > 0:37:48When we look particularly at these three bones, what we've got are
0:37:48 > 0:37:51radiating fracture lines passing up there,
0:37:51 > 0:37:56and we've got little stepped areas of cortex with a little fracture coming.
0:37:56 > 0:38:01Those again look like they're going to be perimortem.
0:38:01 > 0:38:06All of these indicating that what we have is individuals
0:38:06 > 0:38:10where we have trauma to the extended leg.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14So whether it's going down, it must be landing on feet, because you're getting...
0:38:14 > 0:38:16or landing on knees of course it could be.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19But it's certainly trauma of force of impact.
0:38:19 > 0:38:26If you were falling into water, then I wouldn't expect to find this, this fracturing. I simply wouldn't.
0:38:26 > 0:38:32Because once you hit the water surface, then you've got almost like a cushioning, if you like.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36These are fractures that I suspect are about landing on a hard surface.
0:38:36 > 0:38:44Sue believes this new evidence shows the well was actually dry, and the adult victims were either killed
0:38:44 > 0:38:50just before, or died very shortly after being thrown down the well.
0:38:50 > 0:38:54If they're down at the bottom of the well, and these are the adults,
0:38:54 > 0:38:58then the children, where we're seeing no trauma, may well have been thrown in on top of them.
0:38:58 > 0:39:03So we're not going to see perimortem fracturing as such with them,
0:39:03 > 0:39:06because they're landing on a cushion of these adults.
0:39:08 > 0:39:12It's an alarming possible sequence of events.
0:39:21 > 0:39:28So, what would a modern homicide detective make of the circumstances of this case?
0:39:28 > 0:39:34Xanthe meets up with forensic pathologist Stuart Hamilton in Norwich Castle,
0:39:34 > 0:39:37which still has an intact well shaft.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40That's a long way, isn't it?
0:39:40 > 0:39:42That's a deep well, yes.
0:39:42 > 0:39:47Somebody falling in there, or being pushed, whatever, are they going to survive that?
0:39:47 > 0:39:49They're not going to survive that fall.
0:39:49 > 0:39:56If the simple impact at the bottom doesn't kill them outright, then the deceleration is going to tear
0:39:56 > 0:39:59arteries, it's going to damage organs.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01You're going to bleed to death fairly rapidly.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05Even if you don't die straight away, you're not going to be alive for long.
0:40:05 > 0:40:10What would you say if this were a forensic case presented to you, 17 people in a well,
0:40:10 > 0:40:16- what would be your reading of it? - One person in a well like that, to me is something that's worrying.
0:40:16 > 0:40:22Two people is very worrying. 17 people is... It's a mass grave.
0:40:22 > 0:40:27Would I put a slightly different slant on this in your opinion, if I were to tell you that
0:40:27 > 0:40:30all of the individuals were from a minority group?
0:40:30 > 0:40:33I think it's almost just common sense, really.
0:40:33 > 0:40:38This is saying that it is a particular group which seems to have been targeted.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40In this sort of case, it's the accumulation
0:40:40 > 0:40:43of the evidence, it's not just one piece or the other piece.
0:40:43 > 0:40:46It's, as it all builds up, more and more and more,
0:40:46 > 0:40:49you simply can't ignore all of these things coming together.
0:40:49 > 0:40:55And he feels the lack of fatal trauma on all of the bones does not rule out murder.
0:40:55 > 0:41:01It's not uncommon that you can get homicides where there really would be nothing left on the bones.
0:41:01 > 0:41:08Relatively recently, I've dealt with a case where there was a homicidal knife assault with neck wounds.
0:41:08 > 0:41:13Arteries were damaged, but no, no bone injuries at all.
0:41:14 > 0:41:18Stuart explains another cause of death that leaves no marks, but may
0:41:18 > 0:41:22fit with so many people being thrown down a narrow well.
0:41:24 > 0:41:28The average adult human weights 70 kilograms,
0:41:28 > 0:41:34and that amount of pressure pressing down on you, with multiple people, it's gonna compress your chest.
0:41:34 > 0:41:40There is a well-recognised phenomenon that's called crush asphyxia, where you simply can't breathe
0:41:40 > 0:41:45because your chest is compressed, and that could be by a wall that's fallen on you,
0:41:45 > 0:41:47but it could by a pile of human beings.
0:41:47 > 0:41:52And some of the disasters with the football stadia, people crushed against fences.
0:41:52 > 0:41:57You simply can't move your chest because it's crushed so tightly.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00It doesn't really bear thinking about in some ways.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03What's your gut instinct as to what happened?
0:42:03 > 0:42:09I, for these people's sake, what I hope happened was that they had their throats cut,
0:42:09 > 0:42:15that they were strangled, that they died a quick death and their bodies were disposed of.
0:42:15 > 0:42:20I fear that they were simply thrown down the well and left to die.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25It seems horrific,
0:42:25 > 0:42:28but if we're looking at 17 people who knew each other,
0:42:28 > 0:42:34perhaps even mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, then what events could have led to this?
0:42:37 > 0:42:42When Jewish people first moved to Britain following the Norman Conquest of 1066,
0:42:42 > 0:42:49many settling in the key cities of London, Norwich and York, they enjoyed the protection of the Crown.
0:42:49 > 0:42:54But just a few generations later, the story was very different.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58In England, protection wavered after Richard the Lionheart's coronation
0:42:58 > 0:43:05in 1190, and right across Europe anti-Semitic propaganda was growing.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08Jews were accused of spreading plague, poisoning the water
0:43:08 > 0:43:13in wells, and even of using the blood of Christians in their rituals.
0:43:16 > 0:43:20But were our people somehow caught up in this?
0:43:23 > 0:43:27Xanthe travels to Bevis Marks in London, the oldest
0:43:27 > 0:43:32surviving synagogue in the country, to see Jewish historian Miri Rubin.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43You're aware by now that the DNA has come back
0:43:43 > 0:43:47and it's indicating that we're looking at a Jewish population.
0:43:47 > 0:43:49What does that mean to you?
0:43:49 > 0:43:51The first reaction is just shock.
0:43:51 > 0:43:53It's just, you know, the mind boggles, you know.
0:43:53 > 0:43:59At least 17 people - so many children, so many really young children amongst them.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02Well, it's just a horrific thought that,
0:44:02 > 0:44:06you know, with all the research, these sort of events can just go unnoticed.
0:44:06 > 0:44:11There are new types of dangers that develop in the late 12th, 13th centuries. New nasty narratives.
0:44:11 > 0:44:18You might even say that as Europe becomes more Christian, there is a real deepening of the...
0:44:18 > 0:44:21of the sort of the sense of Jewish evil.
0:44:21 > 0:44:27So that it is, I'm afraid, a picture of worsening, and ultimately the age of expulsions, where England leads
0:44:27 > 0:44:32- in 1290, where the Jews are expelled, "back to where they came from," to Northern France.- Yeah.
0:44:32 > 0:44:36So was that the kind of pinnacle of the unrest, the expulsion?
0:44:36 > 0:44:41You might say so. The king brought them in and the king kicked them out, sort of thing.
0:44:41 > 0:44:47But Miri doesn't think they could have been part of the recorded acts of violence against Jews,
0:44:47 > 0:44:51nor the organised expulsion of Jews from England and Wales of 1290.
0:44:51 > 0:44:57I see no reason that the bodies will not have been relinquished to the Jewish community to bury properly.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00Nor indeed would I think that children would have been involved
0:45:00 > 0:45:06so conspicuously, nor bodies that seem unbroken, undisturbed, unmutilated,
0:45:06 > 0:45:08like the ones that we've found.
0:45:08 > 0:45:10That's the problem.
0:45:10 > 0:45:15She believes this points to another less well known incident in the 1230s.
0:45:15 > 0:45:19Another flashpoint that occurred to me is the 1230s.
0:45:19 > 0:45:23The 1230s that saw a number of occasions of violence
0:45:23 > 0:45:27in the streets of Norwich against Jews, and indeed,
0:45:27 > 0:45:34and very important for this case, a burning of some Jewish houses by Norwich people.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37That would then suggest that maybe they died in their sleep
0:45:37 > 0:45:43from the inhalation of smoke, and thus they suffocated, because that would explain both the existence
0:45:43 > 0:45:47of the children, and the fact that their bodies are not mutilated in
0:45:47 > 0:45:52a way that you'd expect if it was just sort of real violence in the street and they were just felled.
0:45:55 > 0:45:58What's clear is that during this time
0:45:58 > 0:46:02the Jews of Norwich could not rely on any protection from the Crown.
0:46:02 > 0:46:05It's evident that royal officials, the sheriff and his bailiffs,
0:46:05 > 0:46:09simply lost control of the city, and indeed became the subject...
0:46:09 > 0:46:12The bailiffs were actually beaten up by Norwich people.
0:46:12 > 0:46:17So that suggests to me a situation where this system of control and scrutiny and
0:46:17 > 0:46:22protection that was painstakingly laid down over the decades had actually been disrupted in those
0:46:22 > 0:46:26years, and actually royal officials could not contain what was unfolding.
0:46:26 > 0:46:29How many Jewish people were actually in Norwich at this time?
0:46:29 > 0:46:31Maybe 150 to 200 or so.
0:46:31 > 0:46:3617 people then is actually quite a large proportion of this.
0:46:36 > 0:46:40You know, you think of 17, you know, within a community, it's not that many, but this is massive.
0:46:40 > 0:46:45Really, really big, and the fact these are families and children, this is a very, very big deal.
0:46:47 > 0:46:54This puts a totally new complexion onto the facial reconstructions, now nearing completion.
0:46:54 > 0:46:58So this is our Jewish group from the well in Norwich,
0:46:58 > 0:47:03and we've got adult male and young unidentified child, in terms of sex.
0:47:03 > 0:47:06We don't know if it's a boy or a girl, 5-7 years old.
0:47:10 > 0:47:15First, there is the adult male, in his 40s.
0:47:15 > 0:47:19So the first thing that we'll look at in terms of characteristics
0:47:19 > 0:47:25are his ears, because we know that he's got adherent ears.
0:47:25 > 0:47:28In others words he hasn't got any lobes,
0:47:28 > 0:47:31the ears just hit straight on to the side of the head.
0:47:31 > 0:47:36And the bones around the mastoid process suggest that
0:47:36 > 0:47:40he had quite prominent ears, both upper and lower prominence.
0:47:43 > 0:47:48Then there is the 5-7-year-old child, who could be related to the man.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51And we've added the muscle structure over and above the skull,
0:47:51 > 0:47:54and now we can look at some of the feature detail.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57Much more difficult with children,
0:47:57 > 0:48:00because we don't have the strong features that we can take with
0:48:00 > 0:48:06adults, so most children tend to have similar small upturned noses, and the
0:48:06 > 0:48:12adult nose shape won't develop until after the age of eight, is when it starts to develop.
0:48:12 > 0:48:17And Caroline has discovered evidence which backs up the idea that they are family members.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21Now, interestingly, with this particular individual,
0:48:21 > 0:48:28he or she also had adherent ears, which means the child didn't have lobes, which is similar to the adult.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31The adult is showing that feature too.
0:48:31 > 0:48:35We know it's an hereditary feature, so if you have adherent ears,
0:48:35 > 0:48:37then one of your parents will have adherent ears as well.
0:48:37 > 0:48:43So the fact that they both have adherent ears, I think, is significant.
0:48:45 > 0:48:50The final task will be to apply likely skin, hair and eye colour.
0:48:56 > 0:49:02Did our man and child die from smoke inhalation when their houses were set fire to?
0:49:02 > 0:49:06Did they die once in the well from crush asphyxia?
0:49:06 > 0:49:12Or is there still another scenario which could explain the lack of fatal trauma on the bones?
0:49:14 > 0:49:19Xanthe has come to Clifford's Tower in York to take part in an annual service
0:49:19 > 0:49:25commemorating a very different sequence of events which led to the tragic loss of many Jewish lives.
0:49:25 > 0:49:32In March 1190, about 150 Jews, men, women and children, sought protection
0:49:32 > 0:49:39in the royal castle here, now known as Clifford Tower, where they could usually rely on royal protection.
0:49:39 > 0:49:46The Sheriff of Yorkshire decided to order the ejection of the Jews from the castle, and the families inside,
0:49:46 > 0:49:52deciding that the end had come, followed the tradition of heroic martyrdom, that they
0:49:52 > 0:49:57should take their own lives rather than die at the hands of the mob.
0:49:57 > 0:50:03The father of each household killed his own family and was then killed by the rabbi.
0:50:03 > 0:50:08The suicide method, taking a knife to their throats,
0:50:08 > 0:50:10may well not have left a mark on the bones
0:50:10 > 0:50:15and would also fit with the idea that the people in the well are family members.
0:50:15 > 0:50:17It's a tragic possibility.
0:50:17 > 0:50:21It really hits home that I've seen some people who may have
0:50:21 > 0:50:25lived in a very similar situation and may have died in a similar way,
0:50:25 > 0:50:31and it really humanises the whole story and tells me about what Norwich may have been like.
0:50:31 > 0:50:34We've seen it in York. Was it the same in Norwich?
0:50:46 > 0:50:50The team has reached the end of this investigation.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54The first examination of the bones took place in the depths of winter.
0:50:54 > 0:50:58It's now spring, and after months of work, it's time for the story
0:50:58 > 0:51:02these bones have told to be relayed back to the local community.
0:51:07 > 0:51:14Sue, Caroline and Xanthe return to Norwich and the medieval Guild Hall.
0:51:19 > 0:51:23Keen to hear their findings are those who originally excavated the site,
0:51:23 > 0:51:28experts who have assisted the investigation and members of the local community.
0:51:28 > 0:51:33I think a lot about it, actually, yeah, it almost haunts me a bit, because it was such an unusual thing
0:51:33 > 0:51:39for me, and quite morbid in a way, but also, you know, I'd just like to know a bit more about them.
0:51:39 > 0:51:44To actually be able to put a face to one of these characters and actually
0:51:44 > 0:51:47bring the person to life, it'll be, I think, the most interesting for me.
0:51:47 > 0:51:50I shall be,
0:51:50 > 0:51:55yeah, interested to find out what we've been able to tell about them, because they're a bit of a mystery.
0:51:59 > 0:52:03But how will the people of Norwich react to a story that brings back to life
0:52:03 > 0:52:04one of the city's darkest hours?
0:52:07 > 0:52:14What we have started to do, by bringing the science into this investigation, is to allow us
0:52:14 > 0:52:18to look at the story from a different perspective.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21Why were they in a well?
0:52:21 > 0:52:25Were they alive or were they dead when they were placed in the well?
0:52:25 > 0:52:32And how do they fit into the history of Norwich at the time as we know it?
0:52:32 > 0:52:40Sue details some of the major twists that the investigation took, starting with the idea of disease.
0:52:40 > 0:52:45So it's not leprosy, it's not TB, it's not something that leaves
0:52:45 > 0:52:49a skeletal lesion, but that doesn't rule out all of the enteric diseases.
0:52:49 > 0:52:54But there was the stumbling block of unchristian burial.
0:52:54 > 0:52:59The most important thing is, even though they died in vast numbers,
0:52:59 > 0:53:03they were still buried with the observance of Christian rites.
0:53:03 > 0:53:08And then the dramatic science that pushed the trail towards murder.
0:53:08 > 0:53:12So we need to talk about a real turning point, the point at which
0:53:12 > 0:53:19this investigation really did take a very, very different direction.
0:53:19 > 0:53:22We have to talk DNA.
0:53:22 > 0:53:26So we sent some bones off to Ian to have a look at the DNA.
0:53:26 > 0:53:31Out of the five of them where there was retrievable, good information,
0:53:31 > 0:53:37what we have is a situation where the mitochondrial DNA, which is the
0:53:37 > 0:53:41DNA that's transferred down through a maternal line,
0:53:41 > 0:53:45effectively matches, so we have family members.
0:53:45 > 0:53:48That was really important,
0:53:48 > 0:53:50but what was even more important
0:53:50 > 0:53:54was that the DNA told us that the most likely group
0:53:54 > 0:54:00to which these individuals belong are in fact Jewish.
0:54:00 > 0:54:01Wow.
0:54:06 > 0:54:08Wow, I'm actually quite shocked about that.
0:54:08 > 0:54:11Well, you weren't the only one.
0:54:11 > 0:54:13If it's not a natural death,
0:54:15 > 0:54:18then I have to go back to where I was in Kosovo,
0:54:18 > 0:54:22and to say, "Are we looking at a non-natural death?
0:54:22 > 0:54:25"Are we looking at a murder scenario?"
0:54:27 > 0:54:30Everyone is shocked at the idea that the people of Norwich
0:54:30 > 0:54:35once participated in the Europe-wide Jewish persecution.
0:54:35 > 0:54:43Usually, this is the nice bit for everybody, where I reveal a face, but it doesn't feel that way today.
0:54:43 > 0:54:46So let me first show you our male adult face.
0:54:52 > 0:54:55I think he's got a great face, it's a lovely face.
0:54:57 > 0:55:01Caroline's second reconstruction is even more emotive,
0:55:01 > 0:55:04one of the 11 children from the well.
0:55:04 > 0:55:06I think our child is just beautiful as well.
0:55:06 > 0:55:09He's perfect, isn't he? He or she.
0:55:09 > 0:55:11They're just perfect.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17I think they're very...
0:55:17 > 0:55:20Well, they're all a bit emotive now, actually.
0:55:25 > 0:55:27Yeah.
0:55:27 > 0:55:31We know what we might be looking at here is father and son or father and
0:55:31 > 0:55:34daughter, or uncle and niece or uncle and nephew, etcetera.
0:55:34 > 0:55:38But a familial bond of some sort,
0:55:38 > 0:55:42and those might still be skeletons, but these are now people.
0:55:48 > 0:55:51It's a shocking revelation for everyone involved.
0:55:53 > 0:55:59It's very sad for Norwich. It changes the story of what we know about this community.
0:55:59 > 0:56:04We don't know everything about this community, but what we thought we knew is changed by this, yeah.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07No, it was a big surprise, really.
0:56:07 > 0:56:11It's not what I was expecting at all. I knew that we were going to learn something,
0:56:11 > 0:56:14I really didn't think it was going to go in that direction.
0:56:14 > 0:56:19We had an idea that...they died horribly, but the thought that it
0:56:19 > 0:56:23could be self-inflicted possibly is rather upsetting.
0:56:23 > 0:56:24Erm...
0:56:33 > 0:56:38From what started out as a mysterious jumble of unidentified remains,
0:56:38 > 0:56:42we can now say that at least five of the people in the well were Jewish.
0:56:42 > 0:56:48We know that the children could likely have been from the same extended family or community,
0:56:48 > 0:56:50and tragically,
0:56:50 > 0:56:57that the trail points to them having possibly been murdered or pushed into suicide.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00This story throws new light on the horrific spate of persecution
0:57:00 > 0:57:07that ran the medieval England, which saw Jews used for their money, forced to remain social outcasts
0:57:07 > 0:57:11and ultimately left without protection from the angry mob.
0:57:11 > 0:57:15The bones will be handed back, perhaps for eventual reburial.
0:57:15 > 0:57:18Do you know? Today was hard.
0:57:18 > 0:57:22I don't think I quite expected it to be as hard as it was,
0:57:22 > 0:57:26and it's how I feel every single time
0:57:26 > 0:57:31I have to talk to families today when we bring the news.
0:57:31 > 0:57:36And in the forensic anthropology the news that we bring is always bad news.
0:57:36 > 0:57:40It's the news that says, "I'm sorry your son's dead, your mother's dead,"
0:57:40 > 0:57:44and you have to deal with the emotion.
0:57:44 > 0:57:46We were bringing the information
0:57:46 > 0:57:51to a community that was going to be seriously affected
0:57:51 > 0:57:55and seriously challenged by what we were going to say.
0:57:55 > 0:57:59But I knew that what we weren't doing was bringing closure.
0:57:59 > 0:58:02We were bringing almost the opposite.
0:58:02 > 0:58:05We were opening wounds that people were going to have to address.
0:58:05 > 0:58:10Next time: Some of the oldest bones ever found in Britain
0:58:10 > 0:58:13will make us think again about how our ancestors lived...
0:58:15 > 0:58:17There'll be a great spurt of blood!
0:58:17 > 0:58:20..as go back to a time of brutal rituals, when people lived in fear
0:58:20 > 0:58:25of what lay beneath the surface of the earth.
0:58:33 > 0:58:37Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:37 > 0:58:40E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk