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00:00Precious clues from the past.
00:02She's full of sensuous promise.
00:05With unmissable experiences.
00:09We're free!
00:10I adore dolphins so much and they're playing with us.
00:13Hidden sites in unexpected destinations.
00:17No way.
00:18I've never seen anything like that before.
00:22Amazing!
00:24I'm on a global voyage of discovery
00:28to explore our shared heritage
00:30and how our past shapes all of our lives.
00:34This time I'm uncovering the hidden treasures of Estonia.
00:38A place where forests hold timeless secrets,
00:42ancient sacred rites live on
00:45and the waters hide clues to a forgotten world.
00:49I'll be immersing myself in centuries-old rituals.
00:53I'm drinking Viper Gin.
00:55Discovering unexpected delights.
00:58A lovely penis!
00:59And using cutting-edge science to decode the past.
01:03This was chewed by a teenage girl
01:06ten and a half thousand years ago.
01:10Welcome to the magical treasures of Estonia.
01:15Estonia feels like a mystical place.
01:21A cherished land full of intriguing wonders.
01:27Facing the Baltic Sea, it boasts over 2,000 islands.
01:40Half the country is covered in forest.
01:44Beneath the surface of these stunning Nordic landscapes
02:00are fascinating secret histories.
02:03And new science is uncovering untold stories.
02:14I'm heading to this research lab which is revealing really incredible secrets
02:20both about Estonia's past but also about the secret histories
02:25that we all carry in our DNA.
02:32My first treasure is in the city of Tartu in South Estonia
02:36where researchers are combining archaeology and cutting-edge science
02:40to reveal stories from thousands of years ago.
02:43Historic finds from all over Estonia
02:46are brought to Tartu University for a new kind of analysis
02:50that's rewriting our understanding of the past.
02:54Inside this building there is some astonishing science and discoveries.
03:07I'm getting an inside peek at treasures unearthed across the country
03:11that combine two spiritual worlds.
03:16Hey, Key, hello.
03:17Hello.
03:18Hi again. Lovely to see you. How are you?
03:20Nice to see you.
03:21So lovely to see you.
03:23And this wealth of exquisite material that you have here.
03:28How old are these?
03:29They are about 800 years or maybe a little more.
03:32So would they have been Christian or pagan do you think?
03:37Probably people believed in Christ already
03:41although there was no church as official organisation here.
03:44Christianity came very late to Estonia.
03:48Some finds here have a pagan vibe.
03:52This little cross, what's that about?
03:54This cross is just a quite, quite strange thing.
03:59So you see it has a pendant here.
04:02Mm-hmm.
04:03But what is behind the pendant?
04:05If we raise it up...
04:06You see it is a raised penis.
04:11It is a raised penis with what looks like a vulva-shaped sort of knocker.
04:17And if we put it back...
04:21When you wear it, it makes brilliant noise.
04:25A brilliant and beautiful noise, then.
04:28But so what Christian is wearing that cross with a lovely penis
04:31and a sort of vulva-knocker?
04:34Somebody with a sense of humour?
04:35I think they were very practical men
04:38because God has created all good things for people.
04:42Yes.
04:43And if people mix them together, it's not a sin, to my mind.
04:47To my mind as well.
04:48Quite right.
04:49We like whoever that...
04:50We like him.
04:51He was open-minded, that guy.
04:53And you see, it's the beautiful thing about archaeology
04:56because you find these really intimate details of people's lives
05:00and their mindsets as well.
05:03Thank you for curating it,
05:05for being the guardian of all of this treasure.
05:12Among the finds are artefacts uncovered
05:15from a 12th-century burial ground in the village of Kukraza.
05:19The excavation, led by Mari Terev,
05:23has opened up a treasure trove of data,
05:26including a mysterious skeleton dubbed the Kukraza Lady.
05:32In her 50s, she was buried with fine bronze and silver jewellery,
05:36food to eat in the afterlife, a scythe and daggers.
05:42Combining cutting-edge chemistry and archaeology,
05:46Associate Professor Esther Oras
05:49is unlocking centuries-old secrets
05:52about the Kukraza Lady's life.
05:56Hey, hey, Brittany, good to see you.
05:58Lovely to see you.
05:59Sorry to disturb you.
06:00You're obviously right in the middle of working here,
06:03but so exciting to see this happening.
06:06Yes.
06:07And what's this here? What's in there?
06:08Well, that's a very special thing.
06:10This is eggshell.
06:11Eggshell?
06:12Indeed.
06:13That was buried with this lady.
06:16Yeah, at her foot.
06:17And, you know, it gets even better
06:19because we know that it was a fertilised egg,
06:21so it actually had a chick in the egg whilst it was buried
06:26and kind of someone decided that, you know,
06:28this particular lady should have this fertilised egg as a grave good
06:33to be buried with her or with something to do with
06:36maybe some kind of Christian symbolism and fertilisation.
06:39I mean, this is fascinating.
06:40So this is all...
06:41You can tell this because you're combining archaeology
06:44and...
06:45Exactly.
06:46...and chemistry here.
06:47Exactly, exactly.
06:48To get these really minute details of people's lives.
06:50Yeah, yeah.
06:51So we've got a picture of her, mid-50s,
06:52so she's probably post-menopause.
06:53Yeah.
06:54She's probably not fertile.
06:55Yeah.
06:56But they're burying her with a fertilised egg.
06:58We know more about her than we might know
07:00about neighbours who are still alive today.
07:02Absolutely, absolutely, yes.
07:04Researchers in the Institute of Genomics are pioneering another method
07:11to unpack even deeper layers of history.
07:15DNA samples are subjected to a new kind of analysis.
07:21I've been given access to a mind-blowing find.
07:27There's something totally incredible here that I just have got to show you.
07:36So, when you burn or heat silver birch bark, you get something called birch tar,
07:44which is still used today, but this that I'm just about to show you,
07:49this is birch tar from a site from the time of hunter-gatherers,
07:54so around ten and a half thousand years old.
07:58And I've just got to be incredibly careful with this.
08:01Hang on a sec.
08:03Oh!
08:04Okay.
08:06It tells us all kinds of extraordinary things.
08:09So I don't know if you can see here, but it's actually got teeth marks in it,
08:15and that's because one of the ways to prepare it is to chew the birch tar.
08:21And the extraordinary discoveries don't stop there.
08:25Because there are teeth marks here, there are also traces of saliva,
08:30and the research team here have managed to analyse that and extract the DNA,
08:37so we know that almost certainly this was bitten by a teenage girl,
08:43and they worked out that she probably had brown eyes and brown hair.
08:49So what you're looking at here is basically the chewing gum of a teenager
08:56from ten and a half thousand years ago.
09:00I've got to put it back.
09:02The Institute also holds DNA samples from 20% of Estonia's population,
09:10providing scientists with a modern genetic comparison
09:14to better interpret ancient DNA.
09:18The hidden stories in our genes and under the earth are a treasure,
09:23allowing the past to speak and revealing secrets about our ancestors.
09:32For centuries, people have travelled these old forest roads by horse.
09:53It's still a traditional form of transport at this time of year, Christmas.
09:59My next treasure is the Setemar culture from south-east Estonia,
10:09first settled 8,000 years ago.
10:13This unique Orthodox Christian community has declared itself a kingdom
10:20and proudly maintains its own distinct language.
10:24Beautiful journey to Aita, thank you, thank you.
10:30They describe themselves as living on the edge of the world
10:34because their culture is so distinct and their home so deep in nature.
10:40Because it's Christmas Eve, all over the region people are preparing,
10:47and I've been invited to stay in one of these farmhouses.
10:54Hi.
10:55Hello.
10:56Hello, Lisa.
10:57Hello.
10:58It's so good to see you.
10:59Oh.
11:01You made it.
11:02Helen, Angelica and Kaidi take great pride in their Setemar heritage.
11:06Sorry, you're clearly right in the middle of something.
11:10Ladies, can I just say you look, oh my goodness, you look incredible.
11:17You look so beautiful, all of you.
11:20Beautiful women are getting even more beautiful.
11:22Even more beautiful.
11:24Yes.
11:25Sorry to go straight into this, but I've read about these brooches,
11:29and I imagine, like, when you say a brooch, I imagine, like, a little thing here.
11:33These are incredible.
11:34They're like breast plates.
11:37Well, it's a symbol of, like, a married woman.
11:40Yeah.
11:41A fertile age.
11:42But it's also, like, yeah, it protects us from an evil eye.
11:45Why?
11:46But why so much silver?
11:48Where does all this silver come from?
11:50Basically still some of them from grandmother, grand-grandmother, and our moms.
11:55Yeah.
11:56Well, it was the only place to show off.
11:57These are actual coins, Coppaic.
11:5915 Coppaics, 20 Coppaics.
12:02Yes.
12:0320, this is 20.
12:04Yeah.
12:05From 1912, for example, but also from the end of the 19th century.
12:10Of course, before that, when there were no Coppaics, then they would wear something like this,
12:16more like a leaf-shaped things.
12:18Yes.
12:19You are walking banks.
12:21I feel so underdressed.
12:22So, is there anything particularly special that you do on Christmas Eve to prepare for tomorrow?
12:28We take a silver necklace, and then we put it in a bowl of water for the whole night,
12:34and then in the morning when we get up, we will wash the eyes with this water, and it's just very holy.
12:42These are identical to the silver treasures from those medieval burials I saw in Tartu.
12:49I love it as well, because you find this jewellery buried in the grounds from the medieval times.
12:55The fact that you've got these eight-pointed stars.
12:57I see that on the jewellery that goddesses were given 5,000, 4,000 years ago.
13:04So, it's just like, you know, it's the past alive now.
13:09When we dress up, actually, we feel like goddesses.
13:12The people of Setemar, the Setos, love singing.
13:30Bravo! Goddesses, dancing goddesses.
13:32I am in the Christmas mood.
13:34That is just gorgeous. Hurrah!
13:36You are like goddesses.
13:38You're living goddesses. Amazing.
13:42The Seto Christian community fervently believes in the spirit of nature,
13:47holding on to ancient pre-Christian pagan traditions along with their orthodox faith.
13:56At the heart of Seto belief is Peko, their so-called god-king,
14:01who protects nature and speaks to them through dreams.
14:05Angelica is taking me to see Peko's shrine.
14:09So, what's special about this play?
14:13For me, always, when I feel a little bit, I don't know,
14:18like I miss my grandparents or my grand-grandmother or my grandmother,
14:28I always love to come here.
14:30I like to feel close with my spirits.
14:49Hi. Hi.
14:51Did they, did they speak to you?
14:56Your ancestors, yeah.
14:58Yeah, definitely.
14:59I feel them.
15:02Especially right now, it's so peaceful and quiet.
15:05Yeah.
15:06To hear on the wind.
15:07Oh, so that's good they've come on Christmas Eve.
15:10These little, little offerings.
15:12Oh, exactly.
15:13Yeah.
15:14And remind her that we're so, you know, that thing that we're not part of nature,
15:19we are nature as well.
15:20Exactly.
15:21And we need to respect that here.
15:23Each year, a chief herald, an earthly assistant to King Peko, is elected,
15:32as Angelica has been.
15:34Their role, to safeguard the community's culture from the threats of modern life.
15:42Estonia was once part of the Soviet Union.
15:45In 1991, it gained independence, and Setamar land was divided into two.
15:54Today, around 13,000 Estonian speak Seto, and 3,000 live in this area.
16:01But two-thirds of original Setamar territory is in Russia,
16:05where only 300 Seto people are left.
16:08Border crossing is complicated, requiring visas and separating many Seto families.
16:17You actually have to go into Russia for a little bit
16:20to get to some of the Seto's particular sanctuaries and monuments.
16:24So this is the Russian border with Russia.
16:26So these are all cars that belong to people who've travelled back into Russia
16:30and they've just left the cars because they can't drive them there.
16:33So these guys with their suitcases, they'd be going across, would they?
16:36Yeah.
16:38Soviets tried to stamp out Seto culture,
16:40but now it's flourishing ever more vigorously,
16:42with Christmas Eve celebrated in January, not December,
16:46because they follow the Orthodox Julian calendar.
16:54Families across the region are busy at home,
16:56preparing in many different ways for the festivities ahead,
17:00including singing.
17:06Lalo is a unique form of polyphonic song, recognised by UNESCO.
17:18Silversmith Eva Ritsa still crafts the symbolic silver the Seto women wear.
17:25They believe that silver protects their souls.
17:29As night falls, something special catches my eye.
17:43This is the, um, one of the graveyards of the biggest church here.
17:49And all these candles are being put here because it's Christmas Eve
17:53and people are commemorating their ancestors and their loved ones.
17:58It's very magical being here.
18:01It just sort of feels like all ages are present here at all times.
18:07The women's breastplates are even hung on the graves.
18:19What keeps the past alive is a powerful connection
18:23between the living and their ancestors.
18:26Hey!
18:30Oh, thank you so much.
18:33I'll let you do it. I'll trust you with that.
18:35Yes.
18:36That is so toasty warm and delicious, thank you.
18:39So this is your family, but which...
18:41Is this one your grandmother?
18:43Yes, that's my grandmother.
18:44She must have been very proud of her life here and her lifestyle.
18:48When she got sick, unfortunately, I was 20 years old at that time,
18:52she asked me to her bedside and she said to me that,
18:56Kaidi, I think I will lose this battle.
18:59Uh, I will not come out of it alive.
19:03So she said that, um, I have one now.
19:07I always start crying when I tell the story.
19:10Yeah, of course, of course.
19:11And, um, she said that, can you promise me that, um,
19:15you will find a way to keep the songs alive,
19:19to keep the traditions alive, to talk about our family,
19:23about the silverware, the clothes, the traditions.
19:26Can you do that for me?
19:27Mm-hmm.
19:28Um, I said, I try.
19:30And she said, you can't, you cannot tell me try.
19:33You just have to promise.
19:34Yes.
19:35And I promised.
19:36And that's what you're doing now.
19:38Yeah.
19:39Why do you think you've devoted your life to this?
19:41Because I feel that, um, it was planted in me.
19:45Mm.
19:46The love towards the Seto traditions, towards, uh, my grandmother.
19:51Thank you for letting me even see this photo of her.
19:54Yeah.
19:55It's an incredible thing.
19:56It is.
20:01It's January the 7th, Orthodox Christmas morning.
20:06Oh, that's certainly refreshing.
20:11Just like the Seto's, I'm washing my face with silver water.
20:18Okay.
20:20Ready for the future.
20:21Hi.
20:22Nice to see you.
20:23Happy Christmas.
20:29Great.
20:32Amazing.
20:33Off to church.
20:34It's Christmas morning.
20:42While Seto culture dates back 8,000 years,
20:46their conversion to Christianity only started in the 11th century.
20:57The church accepted their ancient, nature-centered beliefs,
21:02allowing them to maintain old traditions within their new faith.
21:06I'm privileged to experience another special ritual, celebrating a relative who recently passed.
21:18Is it your father?
21:19The father is buried there.
21:20Oh, my gosh.
21:21So it's 40 days.
21:22My daughter-in-law and the son, two sons.
21:23Two sons.
21:24Two sons.
21:25Oh, I'm sorry if you're lost.
21:26So this is your father.
21:27Yeah.
21:28Yeah.
21:29So he was such a great singer.
21:30He got given a medal.
21:31This is the medal for singing.
21:32Okay.
21:33Great.
21:34Great.
21:38Oh, yeah.
21:39So here.
21:40Two sons, two sons. Oh, I'm sorry for your loss.
21:43So this is your father?
21:45Yeah.
21:48So he was such a great singer, he got given a medal.
21:52This is the medal for singing.
22:17So we're all eating this to remember,
22:21I can't pronounce his name properly, Vassil.
22:23Vassil.
22:24Vassil, soft, soft, soft S.
22:27It's 40 days after he died, so today's the day
22:30that his soul leaves his body.
22:32So we're eating to remember him, to remember your father.
22:36I'm very honoured to be here.
22:40And that's why you had the benches in all of the graves,
22:43so that people just come back and sit and eat
22:46and share a meal with their ancestors.
22:48Because here, you think your ancestors are asleep.
22:53Yes, exactly.
22:54Yeah, exactly.
22:56We've all been given a drink in honour of your father.
23:00For your father.
23:01Yes.
23:02Vassil, dere, vissi?
23:03Vassil, dere, vissi?
23:04Yeah.
23:05And happy Christmas.
23:06Yeah.
23:07Feasting, sitting with the dead, offering libations,
23:22goes right back to prehistory.
23:25You read about it in the great classical epics,
23:28like Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.
23:30The Setos are a treasure as they embody something
23:40that came long before artificial intelligence,
23:43ancestral intelligence.
23:45A deep connection to the cycle of life, nature,
23:49and the warmth of welcoming strangers.
23:52It's a place that feels as though you
23:55can live in two times at once.
24:10I'm just outside the capital city of Tallinn,
24:13on the trail of my next treasure,
24:15the hidden underwater world of Estonia's Baltic coast.
24:22I've heard there's a team that are working on the underwater
24:26archaeology here, and Estonia's famous for that.
24:29So I've asked to join them.
24:32It's not warm.
24:33It's not warm today.
24:34So it's going to be quite interesting out there
24:37in the middle of the sea.
24:39Hey, guys.
24:41Hi.
24:41Nice to see you.
24:52For thousands of years,
24:53the Baltic Sea has been a vital channel of commerce,
24:57communication, and conflict.
25:00Many of its secrets remain trapped beneath the waves.
25:05There are up to 10,000 shipwrecks here
25:08from this hub of maritime activity
25:11spanning the 8th to the 21st centuries,
25:14many with their cargo still intact,
25:17waiting to be explored.
25:20Look, one of the main wreck sites is just over there.
25:25Maritime archaeology researchers
25:27Ivar Trefner and Priet Leti
25:30from the Estonian Maritime Museum
25:32are responsible for the nation's underwater heritage.
25:41This involves mapping, surveying,
25:43and studying each ship they find.
25:47So far, 700 are being monitored in the depths.
25:55You OK?
25:56Yeah.
25:56You're total heroes.
26:01Archaeology heroes.
26:05The unique conditions of the Baltic Sea,
26:08low salinity, cold and dark,
26:11are an ideal environment for preserving sunken ships.
26:16This is a Fluet,
26:17a popular merchant vessel from the 17th century.
26:20It's astonishing, the level of preservation of the wood here.
26:29So on some of those fluids,
26:30like there, you can see incredible level of carving and detail.
26:35Why are the captains bothering to do that with their boats?
26:38Well, one reason was probably that it's kind of like the boat
26:43was kind of like a calling card.
26:44OK.
26:45Just to show off that,
26:46look, I know business.
26:47Yes.
26:48So I can afford having a fancy boat
26:50with a lot of decorations and stuff.
26:52Yeah.
26:53And you've just got to imagine these waters
26:56being crisscrossed by merchants.
26:59Because was it the Dutch who called it the mother of trade?
27:02Yes, it was the Dutch, yes.
27:03Yeah.
27:04Well, like the raw material trade that they were,
27:06which basically, you know,
27:08they, like a source of their wealth was that.
27:12And that's why they called it the mother of trade.
27:14Yeah.
27:15So you've got, from Estonia itself,
27:16you've probably got those kind of beautiful natural things,
27:19so kind of hemp and tar and salts going in one direction.
27:22Exactly.
27:22Grain, basically.
27:23Grain, yeah.
27:24So it's sort of, you know, again,
27:26we must remember that,
27:27that it's a sea that's bringing all these materials
27:29that are ending up right across Europe.
27:32So it's kind of nourishing culture, what's happening here.
27:35Exactly.
27:39When a medieval ship sank in a storm in the 16th century
27:42near the island of Nyssaar,
27:44it took with it something a bit special.
27:47Researcher Erky Russo has the often tricky job
27:51of identifying the finds, some of which are pretty unusual.
27:56So tell me what we've got here.
27:59It's really exciting.
28:02These funny things were found, these ointment jars,
28:06like this one or these ones, and also a syringe
28:11came from this box as well, some domestic stuff as well.
28:17So based on this, I'd say that at least this box
28:22belonged to some kind of pharmacist or person dealing with medicine.
28:27I've never seen anything like that syringe before.
28:29I'm now allowed to pick up the gloves.
28:31I've got my gloves on.
28:33Is that okay, Erky?
28:33Yeah, of course.
28:36Look at that.
28:38I mean, that's actually, it's, well, it's not gruesome,
28:41because it's probably life-saving,
28:43but that's a hardcore bit of medical equipment.
28:47So what sort of thing would this have been used for?
28:49Obviously to inject.
28:51Inject some kind of potion for different parts of body.
28:56So am I...
28:57Because that's not going under your skin,
28:58so is this the kind of, like, an anal syringe?
29:01Highly likely.
29:01Very charming.
29:03And as you can see, there is not a very sharp point,
29:06so it means that it's...
29:08Okay.
29:10And you're what?
29:10Sorry to now get into this detail,
29:13but you're what?
29:13You'd be injecting, you know, what would you be doing?
29:15Like painkillers or what would you be using it for?
29:19For example, had difficulties with digestion and something like that.
29:25Right, okay.
29:25Well, I hope it brought a lot of relief to somebody in the, you know, 16th or 16th century.
29:32But I mean, this is, it's astonishing, this ketophine.
29:35Shall I give it back to you?
29:38It's awesome, even if the syringe is petrifying.
29:41And the discoveries keep on coming.
29:47At the Maritime Museum, Ivar wants to share another sunken wreck.
29:53In December 1918, a British Royal Navy ship, HMS Cassandra,
29:59went down while supporting the newly formed Estonia against Russian attacks.
30:04Now, it might be a danger to the delicate Baltic Sea ecosystem.
30:13I'm just like, magnetically can't stop watching it.
30:16But it's true though, it's just so, so fascinating.
30:20The Cassandras on the seabed, she sunk, so what happened?
30:24The thing is that during the First World War, a lot of mines were laid out in the sea.
30:29And the mines were still there because the First World War just ended and it exploded.
30:35So, and that just, that was it.
30:37And that's, so if it was that quick, presumably there were casualties on this boat?
30:41Yes. There were 11 casualties.
30:44But is there anything particular with this, with this wreck that you're trying to discover?
30:48It's very important to understand the condition because
30:52HMS Cassandra is a potentially polluting wreck.
30:55So she was using oil as a fuel.
30:57Okay.
30:58Cassandra had about 950, let's say, approximately tons of heavy fuel oil on board.
31:05Okay.
31:06So, of course, during the mine explosion and probably during the sinking,
31:10some of the oil was released, but most of it is still there.
31:13Really?
31:14I mean, it's, it's incredible to see this because it's, you know, we think of the underwater
31:20archaeology and wrecks as historical treasures that tell us about the past.
31:25But this is, you know, you're using all your skills and science now to also to protect the Baltic Sea for the future.
31:32Ivar and his team are constantly monitoring the HMS Cassandra.
31:39If there's a leak, they'll need to siphon out the oil.
31:43The underwater discoveries here in Estonia are just remarkable because they tap into this nation's deep connection to the world of the sea.
31:57The underwater discoveries here in Estonia are just remarkable because they tap into this nation's deep connection to the world of the sea.
32:10And they also reveal incredible things about our past.
32:15I mean, if you think about it, 70% of the world is covered with water.
32:20So that's where you find extraordinary treasures.
32:24As Estonia's winter snows melt, the green wonderland below slowly comes back to life.
32:46I'm in the forests of southern Estonia to try to discover some of their secrets.
32:59Home to bears, elk, lynx, springs and swamps.
33:10My final treasure is the hidden and ancient law of forest culture in Estonia.
33:16There's someone here who uses all the gifts of the forest in a very historic way.
33:31Ada. Ada.
33:32Hello. Hi. Hi.
33:34Oh, straight away a hug. That's lovely.
33:38I'm better than you. Nice to meet you.
33:39I'm Ada. Lovely to see you face to face.
33:41I'm fauna, Mother.
33:43You? Well, I'm glad to hear you're a sauna mother. Sounds great. I've never met a sauna mother before.
33:49Yes, I would like you introduced to the saunas because saunas are family members.
33:55Are they?
33:56So, yeah.
33:57Okay.
33:58So, let's go and say hello.
34:01I've never in my life said hello to a sauna before.
34:05Already.
34:06But you have to.
34:06Do you have to?
34:07And we do it with a chant.
34:08Let's go.
34:09Tere, tere sanakene. Tere, tere sanakene.
34:14Good.
34:17The sauna tradition is engrained in Estonian society.
34:21A place to come together with family and friends and to connect to the spiritual world.
34:27Tere, tere sanakene. Tere, tere sanakene.
34:32Tere sanakene. Tere sanakene.
34:36So, now we have to ask permission to heat the sauna today.
34:41Lovely. I love it. Asking permission to take the saunas heat. Perfect.
34:46So, I go and ask permission. Can I heat sauna for you today?
34:51No.
34:53Hmm.
35:01Edda isn't speaking Estonian. She's using an ancient tribal language.
35:06Yes.
35:07Yes.
35:07So, would you drink the firewood straw thing?
35:11Yes.
35:12Good.
35:14Has the sauna ever said no to anybody?
35:16Sometimes.
35:17Yes.
35:18beautiful ah you can smell the elders so beautiful
35:29there are charms for me to put in the fire part of a series of preparatory rituals so
35:37this is linden wood yes okay so I put this in the fire and then this should summon three
35:42generations of my ancestors into the cylinder as well it's a kind of trade you give it to the fire
35:48and fire gives you back what you wanted what we told about okay okay okay so fire and no please
35:54trade don't say please yeah okay you are sure you get it okay okay I've got it so far I'm giving you
36:03this please give me there's a bit of a culture clash here right fire give me love creativity
36:25passion and ideas Estonian smoke saunas following an ancient singular design have no chimney for a
36:40reason you are under the smoke yeah under the protection yeah we exhale and we let all the
36:49artificial thoughts float out of our head so I'm just clearing my mind and asking you the saunas
36:57that when I'm in here to help me know what I need to know today yes but my soul gives me to know today
37:07oh that's so calming okay I think I think my mind's clear so so so do we leave the sauna to do its own
37:22preparation now while the sauna heats up for six hours we head to a holy spring to fetch water to feed it
37:32there's written evidence of smoke saunas from the 13th century but the word for sauna dates back at least
37:424,000 years Edda's community live in harmony with the forest deeply connected to its life cycle
38:10oh this is very idyllic this is your friend this is my friend Ruth yes she's picking mushrooms for
38:19dinner today after the sauna oh hello Ruth how lovely to see you oh I'm not going to tread on these
38:25yes look so many how long to see you on Brittany nice to meet you
38:31mm-hmm yeah yeah beautiful shot shot shot shot trials so yeah I mean these are like all the best
38:43restaurants in the world don't want these don't they and they're beautiful so those are good to eat hey
38:48this really is foraging mmm oh that's so lovely and those are my husband's favorites I'm just I just
39:00gonna say no but they're great that they're your husband's these are they're my favorite because
39:04it's like butter it's like peppery butter isn't it it's got a bit of a kind of pepper taste to it
39:10Edda's sauna sisters join us
39:24first a communal naked swim to refresh the skin and the mind
39:38I'm clean from swamp and spring water
40:01now we're going in
40:02my understanding is that you come here on really important occasions so people have wedding nights
40:14here and women give birth here and it's like it's it's kind of part of this of the cycle of life
40:20cycle of life cycle of nature cycle of being human whenever you lose the connection with
40:28yourself or with your destiny you can come back to the sauna and restore this connection it's like
40:36it's a threshold you know for me this is like all the ancient rituals that I read about that happened
40:40like three thousand years ago that you're crossing a gateway so you're almost entering another world by
40:46coming here oh what's that beautiful that meant different plants yes oh lovely
40:55Edda's asked me to lie on the bench for a healing treatment
41:02a whisk with these forest branches and herbs generates additional heat
41:20over the next few hours we oscillate between the icy chill of cold water plunges and the intense heat of the sauna
41:37rubbing ourselves with salt ash and honey caressed by steam from the sacred spring water
41:48okay
41:51let the water take away all the opinions i will slander all that horrible slander i will okay now yeah yeah
42:11jump
42:11what better end to the day than savoring the wild mushrooms we picked earlier
42:36and before we from your place we have to have one sip sip of
42:54of local drink what brings you into the your body again after this big flying in the sauna
43:06so this is alcohol yeah just a little bit okay okay it's medicine medicine the strongest medicine we have in our farm
43:17is it's it i definitely need a bit of that medicine
43:20yeah i hold it for you what's it got in it
43:23no way yeah the way the best way oh my goodness i didn't think the surprises are going to finish those
43:34okay there's a viper there's a viper in my soup there's a viper in my in my gin
43:42do i just drink it from here yeah oh no yes a little bit just do it i'm gonna do it
43:50and let it go into the roots don't drink it give it to the ancestors
43:54don't drink it yeah do drink it yeah it's through your body it goes to the ancestors
44:00okay okay okay i'm going in i'm going in i'm going in i'm drinking viper gin
44:04speechless
44:13for your health thank you this is the most extraordinary place to end up i'm in this incredible
44:22oasis in a forest and i've done a lot of things today that i've never done in my life but the
44:29incredible thing is this is what's been happening here for hundreds of years probably for thousands
44:34of years so it's new to me but it's very old to this land so thank you for showing me what your
44:45ancestors would have done on this on this earth way back in in estonia's history it's really special
44:53so thank you i am full of gratitude for being here thank you so much thank you thank you thank you
45:00do i say that back yes ten navajka ten navajka and i hope i survive the viper gin
45:10this amazing journey has immersed me in a world of medieval shipwrecks
45:20dna from our ancestors and age-old rituals beneath the surface estonia is brimming with magical surprises
45:33the human stories in this land of forests and sea and steam and ice are incredibly rich
45:47and they connect us back to ancient cultures that still live today as well as to the secret histories
45:55that live within our bodies so the hidden treasures here tell us not just about this country but about us
46:04as a species
46:05secrets and scandal in the 16th century the untold story of the virgin queen
46:24becoming elizabeth's stream the lot right now five past nine tonight and fresh revelations into the genetics of a tyrant
46:32part two of hitler's dna blueprint of a dictator
46:35keeping it light next though we're off to see new zealand and we're doing it by train
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