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00:01I'm on the trail of wonders to treasure.
00:05Precious clues from the past.
00:07She's full of sensuous promise.
00:10With unmissable experiences.
00:14We're afraid why your door's open so much and they're playing with us.
00:18Hidden sites in unexpected destinations.
00:22No way. I've never seen anything like that before.
00:27Amazing.
00:28I'm on a global voyage of discovery to explore our shared heritage
00:35and how our past shapes all of our lives.
00:39This time I'm uncovering the hidden treasures of Estonia.
00:43A place where forests hold timeless secrets,
00:47ancient sacred rites live on
00:50and the waters hide clues to a forgotten world.
00:54I'll be immersing myself in centuries-old rituals.
00:58I'm drinking viper gin.
01:00Discovering unexpected delights.
01:03A lovely penis.
01:04And using cutting-edge science to decode the past.
01:07This was chewed by a teenage girl ten and a half thousand years ago.
01:15Welcome to the magical treasures of Estonia.
01:20Estonia feels like a mystical place.
01:26A cherished land full of intriguing wonders.
01:33Facing the Baltic Sea, it boasts over 2,000 islands.
01:39Half the country is covered in forest.
01:54Beneath the surface of these stunning Nordic landscapes are fascinating secret histories.
02:09And new science is uncovering untold stories.
02:19I'm heading to this research lab, which is revealing really incredible secrets.
02:25Both about Estonia's past, but also about the secret histories that we all carry in our DNA.
02:33My first treasure is in the city of Tartu in South Estonia,
02:41where researchers are combining archaeology and cutting-edge science
02:45to reveal stories from thousands of years ago.
02:48Historic finds from all over Estonia are brought to Tartu University
02:53for a new kind of analysis that's rewriting our understanding of the past.
02:58Inside this building, there is some astonishing science and discoveries.
03:12I'm getting an inside peek at treasures unearthed across the country
03:16that combine two spiritual worlds.
03:21Hey Ki, hello.
03:22Hello.
03:23Hi again.
03:24Lovely to see you, how are you?
03:25Nice to see you.
03:26So lovely to see you.
03:28And this wealth of exquisite material that you have here.
03:32How old are these?
03:34They are about 800 years or maybe a little more.
03:37So would they have been Christian or pagan, do you think?
03:42Probably people believed in Christ already,
03:45although there was no church as official organisation here.
03:49Christianity came very late to Estonia.
03:53Some finds here have a pagan vibe.
03:57This little cross, what's that about?
03:59This cross is just a quite strange thing.
04:03So you see it has a pendant here.
04:06Mm-hmm.
04:07But what is behind the pendant?
04:09If we raise it up, you see it is a raised penis.
04:16It is a raised penis with what looks like a vulva-shaped sort of knocker.
04:21And if we put it back, when you wear it, it makes brilliant noise.
04:30A brilliant and beautiful noise, that.
04:33But so what Christian is wearing that cross with a lovely penis and a sort of vulva-knocker?
04:38Somebody with a sense of humour?
04:40I think they were very practical men because God has created all good things for people.
04:47Yes.
04:48And if people mix them together, it's not a sin, to my mind.
04:52To my mind as well.
04:53Quite right.
04:54We like whoever that, we like him.
04:57He was open-minded, that guy.
04:59And you see, it's the beautiful thing about archaeology
05:01because you find these really intimate details of people's lives and their mindsets as well.
05:08Thank you for curating it, for being the guardian of all of this treasure.
05:17Among the finds are artefacts uncovered from a 12th-century burial ground in the village of Kukruza.
05:25The excavation, led by Mari Terev, has opened up a treasure trove of data,
05:32including a mysterious skeleton dubbed the Kukruza Lady.
05:37In her 50s, she was buried with fine bronze and silver jewellery, food to eat in the afterlife, a scythe and daggers.
05:48Combining cutting-edge chemistry and archaeology,
05:52Associate Professor Esther Oras is unlocking centuries-old secrets about the Kukruza Lady's life.
06:00Hey!
06:01Hey, Anthony, good to see you.
06:03Lovely to see you.
06:04Sorry to disturb you.
06:05You're obviously right in the middle of working here, but so exciting to see this happening.
06:11Yes.
06:12And what's this here?
06:13What's in there?
06:14Well, that's a very special thing.
06:15This is eggshell.
06:16Eggshell?
06:17Indeed.
06:18That was buried with this lady.
06:21Yeah, at her foot.
06:23And, you know, it gets even better because we know that it was a fertilised egg,
06:27so it actually had a chick in the egg whilst it was buried and kind of someone decided that, you know,
06:34this particular lady should have this fertilised egg as a grave good to be buried with her,
06:40probably something to do with maybe some kind of Christian symbolism and fertilisation.
06:44I mean, this is fascinating.
06:45So this is all, you can tell this because you're combining archaeology and chemistry here.
06:50Exactly.
06:51Exactly.
06:52To get these really minute details of people's lives.
06:55So we've got a picture of her, mid-50s, so she's probably post-menopause.
06:58She's probably not fertile, but they're burying her with a fertilised egg.
07:03We know more about her than we might know about neighbours who are still alive today.
07:07Absolutely, absolutely, yes.
07:09Researchers in the Institute of Genomics are pioneering another method to unpack even deeper layers of history.
07:20DNA samples are subjected to a new kind of analysis.
07:26I've been given access to a mind-blowing find.
07:32There's something totally incredible here that I just have got to show you.
07:41So, when you burn or heat silver birch bark, you get something called birch tar, which is still used today.
07:50But this, that I'm just about to show you, this is birch tar from a site from the time of hunter-gatherers, so around 10,500 years old.
08:03And I've just got to be incredibly careful with this.
08:06Hang on a sec.
08:09Okay.
08:10It tells us all kinds of extraordinary things, so I don't know if you can see here, but it's actually got teeth marks in it, and that's because one of the ways to prepare it is to chew the birch tar.
08:26And the extraordinary discoveries don't stop there.
08:30Because there are teeth marks here, there are also traces of saliva, and the research team here have managed to analyse that and extract the DNA.
08:42So, we know that almost certainly this was bitten by a teenage girl, and they worked out that she probably had brown eyes and brown hair.
08:54So, what you're looking at here is basically the chewing gum of a teenager from 10,500 years ago.
09:05I've got to put it back.
09:07The Institute also holds DNA samples from 20% of Estonia's population, providing scientists with a modern genetic comparison to better interpret ancient DNA.
09:23The hidden stories in our genes and under the earth are a treasure, allowing the past to speak and revealing secrets about our ancestors.
09:37For centuries, people have travelled these old forest roads by horse.
09:58It's still a traditional form of transport at this time of year, Christmas.
10:04My next treasure is the Setemar culture from south-east Estonia, first settled 8,000 years ago.
10:17This unique Orthodox Christian community has declared itself a kingdom and proudly maintains its own distinct language.
10:28Beautiful journey.
10:33They describe themselves as living on the edge of the world, because their culture is so distinct, and their home so deep in nature.
10:45Because it's Christmas Eve, all over the region people are preparing, and I've been invited to stay in one of these farmhouses.
10:58Helen, Angelica, and Kaidi take great pride in their Setemar heritage.
11:11Sorry, you're clearly right in the middle of something.
11:15Ladies, can I just say, you look, oh my goodness, you look incredible.
11:22You look so beautiful, all of you.
11:25Beautiful women are getting even more beautiful.
11:27Even more beautiful.
11:28Yes.
11:29Sorry to go straight into this, but I've read about these brooches, and I imagined, like when you say a brooch, I imagine like a little thing here.
11:38These are incredible, they're like breast plates.
11:42Well, it's a symbol of like a married woman.
11:45Yeah.
11:46A fertile age.
11:47But it's also like, yeah, it protects us from an evil eye.
11:50But why so much silver?
11:52Where does all this silver come from?
11:55Basically still some of them from grandmother, grand-grandmother, and our moms.
12:00Yeah.
12:01Well, it was the only place to show off.
12:02These are actual coins, copayic.
12:0415 copayics, 20 copayics.
12:06Yes.
12:0720, this is 20.
12:08Yeah.
12:09From 1912, for example, but also from the end of the 19th century.
12:15Of course, before that, when there were no copayics, then they would wear something like this, more like a leaf-shaped things.
12:23Yes.
12:24You are walking banks.
12:26I feel so underdressed.
12:27So is there anything particularly special that you do on Christmas Eve to prepare for tomorrow?
12:33We take a silver necklace.
12:34Yeah.
12:35Yeah.
12:36And then we put it in a bowl of water for the whole night.
12:39And then in the morning when we get up, we will wash the eyes with this water and it's just very holy.
12:47These are identical to the silver treasures from those medieval burials I saw in Tartu.
12:54And I love it as well because you find this jewellery buried in the grounds from the medieval times.
13:00The fact that you've got these eight-pointed stars, I see that on the jewellery that goddesses were given 5,000, 4,000 years ago.
13:09So it's just like, you know, it's the past alive now.
13:13And when we dress up, actually, we feel like goddesses.
13:16The people of Setamar, the Setos, love singing.
13:26I love singing.
13:27Doody, doody, doody, doody, doody, doody, doody, doody, doody.
13:33Woo!
13:34Woo!
13:35Bravo!
13:36Goddesses, dancing goddesses.
13:37I am in the Christmas mood.
13:39That is just gorgeous.
13:41Hurrah!
13:42Goddesses, your living goddesses.
13:44Amazing.
13:48The Seto Christian community fervently believes in the spirit of nature, holding onto ancient,
13:54pre-Christian, pagan traditions, along with their orthodox faith.
13:59Woo!
14:00Woo!
14:01At the heart of Seto belief is Peko, their so-called God-King, who protects nature and speaks
14:08to them through dreams.
14:11Angelica is taking me to see Peko's shrine.
14:15So, what's special about this place?
14:20For me, always, when I feel a little bit, I don't know, like, I miss my grandparents
14:29or my grand-grandmother or my grandmother, I always love to come here.
14:36I like to feel close with my spirits.
14:40Hi.
14:41Hi.
14:42Hi.
14:43Aw.
14:44Did they...
14:45Did they sweet you?
14:46Your ancestors, yeah.
14:47Yeah.
14:48Definitely.
14:49I feel them.
14:50Especially right now, it's so peaceful and quiet to hear on the wind.
14:56Aw, so that's good they've come on Christmas Eve, these little offerings.
14:57Yeah.
14:58And remind her that we're so, you know, that thing that we're not part of nature, we are
15:03nature as well.
15:04Exactly.
15:05And we need to respect that here.
15:06We are.
15:07We are.
15:08Each year, a chief herald, an earthly assistant to King Peko, is elected.
15:09As Angelica has been.
15:40to safeguard the community's culture from the threats of modern life.
15:47Estonia was once part of the Soviet Union.
15:51In 1991, it gained independence, and Setamar land was divided into two.
15:58Today, around 13,000 Estonian speak Seto, and 3,000 live in this area.
16:06But two-thirds of original Setamar territory is in Russia, where only 300 Seto people are
16:13left.
16:16Border crossing is complicated, requiring visas and separating many Seto families.
16:22You actually have to go into Russia for a little bit, to get to some of the Seto's
16:27particular sanctuaries and monuments.
16:29So this is the Russian border with Russia.
16:32So these are all cars that belong to people who've travelled back into Russia, and they've
16:36just left the cars because they can't drive them there.
16:39So these guys with their suitcases, they'd be going across, would they?
16:42Yep.
16:43Soviets tried to stamp out Seto culture, but now it's flourishing ever more vigorously,
16:48with Christmas Eve celebrated in January, not December, because they follow the orthodox
16:53Julian calendar.
16:55Families across the region are busy at home, preparing in many different ways for the festivities
17:05ahead, including singing.
17:10Lalo is a unique form of polyphonic song, recognised by UNESCO.
17:23Silversmith Eva Ritsa still crafts the symbolic silver the Seto women wear.
17:31They believe that silver protects their souls.
17:38As night falls, something special catches my eye.
17:48This is one of the graveyards of the biggest church here.
17:54And all these candles are being put here because it's Christmas Eve, and people are commemorating
18:00their ancestors and their loved ones.
18:03It's very magical being here.
18:07It just sort of feels like all ages are present here at all times.
18:15The women's breastplates are even hung on the graves.
18:25What keeps the past alive is a powerful connection between the living and their ancestors.
18:34Hey.
18:35Oh, thank you so much.
18:38I'll let you do it.
18:40I'll trust you with that.
18:41That is so toasty warm and delicious.
18:45So this is your family, but which...
18:47Is this one your grandmother?
18:49That's my grandmother.
18:50She must have been very proud of her life here and her lifestyle.
18:54When she got sick, unfortunately, I was 20 years old at that time, she asked me to her
19:00bedside, and she said to me that, Kaidi, I think I will lose this battle.
19:06I will not come out of it alive.
19:09So she said that, I have one now.
19:12I always start crying when I tell the story.
19:16And she said that, can you promise me that you will find a way to keep the songs alive,
19:24to keep the traditions alive, to talk about our family, about the silverware, the clothes,
19:30the traditions.
19:31Can you do that for me?
19:32And I said, I try.
19:35And she said, you cannot tell me try.
19:38You just have to promise.
19:39Yes.
19:40And I promised.
19:41And that's what you're doing now.
19:43Yeah.
19:44Why do you think you've devoted your life to this?
19:46Because I feel that it was planted in me, the love towards the Seto traditions, towards my grandmother.
19:56Thank you for letting me even see this photo of her.
19:59Yeah.
20:00It's an incredible thing.
20:01It is.
20:02It's January the 7th, Orthodox Christmas morning.
20:14Oh, that's certainly refreshing.
20:16Just like the Seto's, I'm washing my face with silver water.
20:21Okay.
20:22Ready for the future.
20:23Hi.
20:24Nice to see you.
20:25Happy Christmas.
20:26Great.
20:27Amazing.
20:28Off to church.
20:29Good Christmas morning.
20:34While Seto culture dates back 8,000 years,
20:50their conversion to Christianity only started in the 11th century.
20:57The church accepted their ancient, nature-centered beliefs, allowing them to maintain old traditions
21:10within their new faith.
21:13I'm privileged to experience another special ritual, celebrating a relative who recently passed.
21:35Is it your father?
21:36Their father is buried there.
21:37Oh my gosh.
21:38So it's 40 days.
21:39My daughter-in-law and the son, two sons.
21:40Two sons.
21:41Oh, I'm sorry for your loss.
21:42So this is your father?
21:43Yeah.
21:44Yeah.
21:45So he was such a great singer.
21:46He got given a medal.
21:47This is the medal for singing.
21:48Oh my gosh.
21:49Oh my gosh.
21:50Oh my gosh.
21:51Oh my gosh.
21:52So this is your father?
21:53Yeah.
21:54Yeah.
21:55Yeah.
21:56So he was such a great singer.
21:57He got given a medal.
21:58This is the medal for singing.
21:59And he got given a medal there.
22:00Oh my gosh.
22:01So I'm going to learn.
22:02OK.
22:05Wait.
22:06Wait.
22:07Wait.
22:08And I were all going to say there.
22:10Yeah.
22:11Wait.
22:17So we're all eating this to remember, I can't pronounce his name properly.
22:28Vassil. Vassil. Vassil. Soft, soft, soft S.
22:32It's 40 days after he died, so today's the day that his soul leaves his body,
22:37so we're eating to remember him, to remember your father.
22:41I'm very honoured to be here. Thank you.
22:45And it's... And this is... That's why you have the benches in all of the graves,
22:48so that people just come back and sit and eat and share a meal with their ancestors,
22:53because here you think your ancestors are asleep.
22:58Yes, exactly. Yeah, exactly.
23:01We've all been given a drink in honour of your father.
23:04Your father. Yes.
23:07And happy Christmas.
23:10Feasting, sitting with the dead, offering libations, goes right back to pre-history.
23:29You read about it in the great classical epics, like Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.
23:35The Setos are a treasure, as they embody something that came long before artificial intelligence,
23:48ancestral intelligence, a deep connection to the cycle of life, nature and the warmth of welcoming strangers.
23:57It's a place that feels as though you can live in two times at once.
24:05I'm just outside the capital city of Tallinn, on the trail of my next treasure,
24:20the hidden underwater world of Estonia's Baltic coast.
24:26I've heard there's a team that are working on the underwater archaeology here,
24:31and Estonia's famous for that, so I've asked to join them.
24:37It's not warm. It's not warm today, so it's going to be quite interesting out there in the middle of the sea.
24:44Hey, guys. Hi. Nice to see you.
24:47For thousands of years, the Baltic Sea has been a vital channel of commerce, communication and conflict.
25:05Many of its secrets remain trapped beneath the waves.
25:08There are up to 10,000 shipwrecks here from this hub of maritime activity spanning the 8th to the 21st centuries,
25:19many with their cargo still intact, waiting to be explored.
25:25Look, one of the main wreck sites is just over there.
25:27Maritime archaeology researchers Ivar Trefner and Preet Letty from the Estonian Maritime Museum
25:37are responsible for the nation's underwater heritage.
25:45This involves mapping, surveying and studying each ship they find.
25:50So far, 700 are being monitored in the depths.
25:59You're OK?
26:01Yeah.
26:02You're total heroes.
26:06Archaeology heroes.
26:10The unique conditions of the Baltic Sea, low salinity, cold and dark,
26:16are an ideal environment for preserving sunken ships.
26:20This is a fluid, a popular merchant vessel from the 17th century.
26:28It's astonishing, the level of preservation of the wood here.
26:34So on some of those fluids, like there, you can see incredible level of carving and detail.
26:40Why are the captains bothering to do that with their boats?
26:43Well, one reason was probably that it's kind of like the boat was kind of like a calling card
26:49for, just to show off that, look, I know business.
26:52Yes.
26:53So I can afford having a fancy boat with a lot of decorations and stuff.
26:57Yeah.
26:58And you've just got to imagine these waters being crisscrossed by merchants.
27:04Because is it, was it the Dutch who called it the mother of trade?
27:06Yes, it was the Dutch, yes.
27:08Yeah.
27:09The raw material trade that they, which basically, you know, like a source of their wealth was that.
27:17And that's why they called it the mother of trade.
27:19Yeah.
27:20So you've got, from Estonia itself, you've probably got those kind of beautiful natural things,
27:24so kind of hemp and tar and salts going in one direction.
27:27Green, mostly.
27:28Great.
27:28Green.
27:29So it's sort of, you know, again, we must remember that, that it's a sea that's bringing
27:33all these materials that are ending up right across Europe.
27:36So it's sort of, it's kind of nourishing culture, what's happening here.
27:40Exactly.
27:44When a medieval ship sank in a storm in the 16th century near the island of Nyssa, it took
27:49with it something a bit special.
27:52Researcher Erky Russo has the often tricky job of identifying the finds, some of which
27:59are pretty unusual.
28:02So tell me what we've got here.
28:04It's really exciting.
28:07These funny things were found, these ointment jars, like this one or these ones, and also
28:15syringe came from this box as well, some domestic stuff as well.
28:21So based on this, I'd say that at least this box belonged to some kind of pharmacist or person
28:30dealing with medicine.
28:31I've never seen anything like that syringe before.
28:35I'm now allowed to pick it up as well, because I've got my gloves on.
28:38Is that okay, Erky?
28:38Yeah, of course.
28:40Oy, oy, oy, oy, look at that.
28:41Look.
28:43I mean, that's actually, it's, well, it's not gruesome, because it's probably life-saving,
28:48but that's a hardcore bit of medical equipment.
28:52So what sort of thing would this have been used for, obviously to inject?
28:55Inject some kind of potion for different parts of body.
29:01So am I, because that's not going under your skin, so is this the kind of, it's like an
29:05anal syringe?
29:06Highly likely.
29:07Very.
29:07Yeah.
29:08And as you can see, there is not a very sharp point, so it means that it's.
29:13Okay.
29:15And you're what, sorry to now get into this detail, but you're what, you'd be injecting,
29:19you know, what would you be doing, like painkillers, or what would you be using it for?
29:24For example, had difficulties with digestion and something like that.
29:30Right.
29:30Okay.
29:31Well, I hope it brought a lot of relief to somebody in the, you know, 16th century.
29:37But I mean, this is, it's astonishing, this key to find.
29:40Shall I, yeah, give it back to you?
29:43It's awesome, even if the syringe is petrifying.
29:49And the discoveries keep on coming.
29:52At the Maritime Museum, Ivar wants to share another sunken wreck.
29:57In December 1918, a British Royal Navy ship, HMS Cassandra, went down while supporting
30:06the newly formed Estonia against Russian attacks.
30:11Now, it might be a danger to the delicate Baltic Sea ecosystem.
30:17I'm just like, magnetically can't stop watching it.
30:21I mean, it's true though, it's just so, so fascinating.
30:24The Cassandras on the seabed, she sunk.
30:28So what happened?
30:29The thing is that during the First World War, a lot of mines were laid out in the sea.
30:34And the mines were still there, because the First World War had just ended and it exploded.
30:40So, and that just, that was it.
30:42And that's, so if it was that quick, presumably there were casualties on this boat?
30:46There were 11 casualties.
30:49But is there anything particular with this, with this wreck that you're trying to discover?
30:53It's very important to understand the condition because HMS Cassandra is a potentially polluting wreck.
30:59So she was using oil as a fuel.
31:02Okay.
31:03Cassandra had about 950, let's say, approximately tons of heavy fuel oil on board.
31:10Okay.
31:11So of course, during the mine explosion and probably during the sinking, some of the oil was released, but most of it is still there.
31:18Really?
31:19I mean, it's, it's incredible to see this because it's, you know, we think of the underwater archaeology and wrecks as historical treasures that tell us about the past.
31:30But this is, you know, you're using all your skills and science now to also to protect the Baltic Sea for the future.
31:37Ivar and his team are constantly monitoring the HMS Cassandra.
31:45If there's a leak, they'll need to siphon out the oil.
31:49An expensive and dangerous operation.
31:52The underwater discoveries here in Estonia are just remarkable because they tap into this nation's deep connection to the world of the sea.
32:15And they also reveal incredible things about our past.
32:20I mean, if you think about it, 70% of the world is covered with water.
32:25So that's where you find extraordinary treasures.
32:29As Estonia's winter snows melt, the green wonderland below slowly comes back to life.
32:51I'm in the forests of southern Estonia to try to discover some of their secrets.
33:08Home to bears, elk, lynx, springs and swamps.
33:14My final treasure is the hidden and ancient law of forest culture in Estonia.
33:28There's someone here who uses all the gifts of the forest in a very historic way.
33:36Ada.
33:36Ada.
33:37Hello.
33:38Hi.
33:38Hi.
33:39Oh.
33:40Hi.
33:41Straight away a hug.
33:42That's lovely.
33:43I'm Bethany.
33:43Nice to meet you.
33:44I'm Bethany.
33:44Lovely to see you face to face.
33:47I'm sauna mother.
33:48You?
33:49Well, I'm glad to hear you.
33:50For you.
33:50A sauna mother sounds great.
33:53I've never met a sauna mother before.
33:54Yes, I would like you introduced to the saunas because saunas are family members.
34:00Are they?
34:01So, yeah.
34:02Okay.
34:02So, let's go and say hello.
34:06I've never in my life said hello to a sauna before.
34:10Already.
34:11But you have to.
34:11Do you have to?
34:12And we do it with a chance.
34:13Let's go.
34:14Let's go.
34:15Tere, tere, sanakana.
34:17Tere, tere, sanakana.
34:19Good.
34:22The sauna tradition is ingrained in Estonian society.
34:26A place to come together with family and friends and to connect to the spiritual world.
34:33Tere, tere, sanakana.
34:35Tere, tere, sanakana.
34:36Tere, sanakana.
34:37Tere, sanakana.
34:37Tere, sanakana.
34:39Tere, sanakana.
34:41So, now we have to ask permission to heat the sauna today.
34:46Lovely.
34:47I love it.
34:48Asking permission to take the saunas heat.
34:50Perfect.
34:51So, I go and ask permission.
34:53Can we heat the sauna for you today?
34:57Hmm.
35:06Eda isn't speaking Estonian.
35:08She's using an ancient tribal language.
35:11Yes.
35:12Yes.
35:12So, would you print the firewood?
35:15Firewood straw thing.
35:16Yeah.
35:17Good.
35:19Has the sauna ever said no to anybody?
35:21Sometimes.
35:22Yeah.
35:22Yes.
35:26Beautiful.
35:28You can smell the elders.
35:29So beautiful.
35:34There are charms for me to put in the fire.
35:37Part of a series of preparatory rituals.
35:41So, this is lindenwood.
35:43Yes.
35:43Okay.
35:43So, I put this in the fire.
35:45And then this should summon three generations of my ancestors into the sauna as well.
35:50It's a kind of trade.
35:51You give it to the fire.
35:53And the fire gives you back what you wanted, what we told about.
35:57Okay.
35:57Okay.
35:57I'm going to...
35:58Okay.
35:58So, fire.
35:58Yeah.
35:59And no, please, trade.
36:00Don't say please.
36:01Okay.
36:01I've got to be firm with the fire.
36:03Yeah.
36:03Okay.
36:04You are sure.
36:04You get it.
36:05Okay.
36:06Okay.
36:06I've got it.
36:07So, fire, I'm giving you this.
36:08Please give me love, passion.
36:11Oh, no.
36:12I said please.
36:16So sorry.
36:17So sorry.
36:18Once more.
36:18I'm sorry, fire.
36:19I'm English.
36:20Okay.
36:20I'm going to be more Estonian.
36:21There's a bit of a culture clash here.
36:25Right.
36:26Fire.
36:27Give me love, creativity, passion, and ideas.
36:31Estonian smoke saunas, following an ancient, singular design, have no chimney for a reason.
36:45You are under the smoke.
36:49Yeah.
36:49Under the protection.
36:51Yeah.
36:51We exhale, and we let all the artificial thoughts float out of our head.
36:59So I'm just clearing my mind and asking the saunas that when I'm in here, to help me know what I need to know today.
37:06Yes.
37:08Delightful.
37:08What my soul gives me, you know, today.
37:12Ah.
37:15Oh, it's so calming.
37:17Okay, I think it, I think my mind's clear.
37:22So, so, so, do we leave the sauna to do its own preparation now?
37:29While the sauna heats up for six hours, we head to a holy spring to fetch water to feed it.
37:37There's written evidence of smoke saunas from the 13th century, but the word for sauna dates back at least 4,000 years.
37:49Eda's community live in harmony with the forest, deeply connected to its life cycle.
38:16This is very idyllic.
38:18So, is this your friend?
38:19This is my friend Ruth, yes.
38:22She's picking mushrooms for dinner today after the sauna.
38:26Oh, hello, Ruth.
38:27How lovely to see you.
38:29Oh, I'm not going to tread on these.
38:31Yeah.
38:31Yes, look.
38:32So many.
38:33How lovely to see you.
38:34I'm better than you.
38:35Lovely to see you.
38:35Nice to meet you.
38:36Me?
38:37Mm-hmm.
38:38Yeah.
38:40Chantrellas?
38:40Yeah, the better.
38:41Oh, beautiful.
38:43Chantrellas.
38:44Yes.
38:45I mean, these are like all the best restaurants.
38:48Restaurants in the world want these, don't they?
38:50Aren't they beautiful?
38:52So those are good to eat.
38:53Hey, this really is farthing.
38:55Yeah, I have a good cooking you're going to eat here.
38:55Mm-hmm.
38:56It's a man-pick.
38:59Mm.
38:59Oh, that's so lovely.
39:01And those ones are my husband's favourites.
39:04I'm just going to say.
39:06No, but they're great.
39:07They're your husbands.
39:08These are now my favourites.
39:09Because it's like butter.
39:10It's like peppery butter, isn't it?
39:12It's got a bit of a kind of pepper taste to it.
39:14Edda's sauna sisters join us.
39:29First, a communal, naked swim to refresh the skin and the mind.
39:56Are you going to go in?
39:57Yeah.
39:57OK, let's go to the sauna.
40:02I'm clean from swamp and spring water.
40:06Now we're going in.
40:13My understanding is that you come here on really important occasions.
40:17So people have wedding nights here and women give birth here.
40:21And it's like it's kind of part of the cycle of life.
40:25Cycle of life, cycle of nature, cycle of being human.
40:31Whenever you lose the connection with yourself or with your destiny, you can come back to the sauna and restore this connection.
40:39It's like it's like it's a threshold.
40:40You know, for me, this is like all the ancient rituals that I read about that happened like 3,000 years ago, that you're crossing a gateway.
40:49So you're almost entering another world by coming here.
40:52Yeah.
40:53Oh.
40:54What's that?
40:55Beautiful.
40:56Is it mint?
40:57Different plants, yes.
40:58Oh, lovely.
40:59Ed has asked me to lie on the bench for a healing treatment.
41:07A whisk with these forest branches and herbs generates additional heat.
41:25Over the next few hours, we oscillate between the icy chill of cold water plunges and the intense heat of the sauna, rubbing ourselves with salt, ash and honey, caressed by steam from the sacred spring water.
41:53Nothing is fair.
41:54Cool.
41:55Oh.
41:56Ok.
41:57Let the water take away all the opinions.
42:11I will.
42:12Slander, all that horrible slander.
42:13I will.
42:14Ok.
42:15Now?
42:16Yeah, jump!
42:17Yay.
42:18Yeah.
42:19What better end to the day than savouring the wild mushrooms we picked earlier?
42:49And before we start to eat we have to have one sip of local drink that brings you into your body again after this big flying in the sauna.
43:11So this is alcohol?
43:13Yeah, just a little bit.
43:15Okay.
43:16It's medicine.
43:18The strongest medicine we have in our farm.
43:22Is it?
43:23I definitely need a bit of that medicine.
43:25Yeah, I'll hold it for you.
43:26What's it got in it?
43:27A viper.
43:28No way.
43:29Yeah, the way.
43:31The best way.
43:33Oh my goodness.
43:35I didn't think the surprises were going to finish those.
43:39Okay, there's a viper.
43:42There's a viper in my soup.
43:44There's a viper in my gin.
43:47Do I just drink it from here?
43:49Yeah.
43:50Oh no.
43:51Yes.
43:52A little bit.
43:53Just do it.
43:54I'm gonna do it.
43:55And let it go into the roots.
43:57Don't drink it.
43:58Give it to the ancestors.
43:59Don't drink it.
44:00Yeah.
44:01Do drink it.
44:02Yeah, it's through your body.
44:03It goes to the ancestors.
44:04Okay.
44:05Okay.
44:06I'm going in.
44:07I'm going in.
44:08I'm drinking viper gin.
44:09I'm speechless.
44:10I'm speechless.
44:11I'm speechless.
44:12For your health.
44:14This is the most extraordinary place to end up.
44:15I'm in this incredible oasis in a forest and I've done a lot of things today that I've never done in my life.
44:33But the incredible thing is this is what's been happening here for hundreds of years, probably for thousands of years.
44:40So it's new to me, but it's very old to this land.
44:45So thank you for showing me what your ancestors would have done on this, on this earth, way back in Estonia's history.
44:56It's really special.
44:57So thank you.
44:58I am full of gratitude for being here.
45:01Thank you so much.
45:02Thank you for coming.
45:05Tenna vaika.
45:07Do I say that back?
45:08Yes.
45:09Tenna vaika.
45:10Tenna vaika.
45:11Tenna vaika.
45:12And I hope I survive the viper gym.
45:19This amazing journey has immersed me in a world of medieval shipwrecks, DNA from our ancestors and age-old rituals.
45:32Beneath the surface, Estonia is brimming with magical surprises.
45:38The human stories in this land of forests and sea and steam and ice are incredibly rich.
45:52And they connect us back to ancient cultures that still live today, as well as to the secret histories that live within our bodies.
46:02So the hidden treasures here tell us not just about this country, but about us as a species.
46:10No save for us.
46:11Make a place for us as full.
46:12Amen.
46:13The human space is back.
46:14We will take care of our bodies.
46:15Well, thank you.
46:16Great.
46:19Then, take us.
46:20We shall find you.
46:21The eam.
46:22Our house is a place for us.
46:23The eam.
46:24The engine is a place for us.
46:25The eam.
46:26Our house, when the eam.
46:27The eam.
46:28We shall bend even.
46:29The eam.
46:30We shall be.
46:31The eam.
46:32The eam.
46:33We shall find you.
46:34We shall be.
46:35One.
46:36The eam.
46:37We shall be.
46:38We shall be.
46:39Go.
46:40Transcription by CastingWords
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