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00:06This land we call home has a rich and varied history stretching back thousands of years.
00:15But hidden below the surface are some amazing treasures just waiting to be found.
00:22Oh my gosh, that's insane. That's really cool.
00:25So each year across the country archaeologists dig underground and dive underwater.
00:35Searching for fresh discoveries.
00:38The most amazing thing in British archaeology.
00:41Uncovering traces of ancient lives.
00:44Somebody's played in joy I'm sure.
00:46And finding fascinating objects.
00:49Such exquisite detail.
00:53This year I'll be meeting the archaeologists and looking at some of their most incredible finds.
00:59I mean that is stunning.
01:02While Dr Tori Herridge is travelling the length of the country to some spectacular locations.
01:09Or I'll be dropping in on some of this year's most fascinating digs.
01:15Oh my gosh, can you see that?
01:17It's just brilliant.
01:19Oh my goodness.
01:21Every dig provides a new piece in the puzzle of Britain's forgotten past.
01:27This is the epic and unfolding story of our islands.
01:34Welcome to Digging for Britain.
01:47In this episode, archaeologists go searching for the fabled ancient Tin Isles.
01:53Oh my gosh.
01:55That is a Bronze Age fingerprint.
01:56Yeah.
01:58Shining a light on the crucial role Cornwall played in the Bronze Age.
02:03It's just destroyed the thing completely.
02:05Two huge Roman swords.
02:08What's the chances of me on my second time detecting to find such a wonderful item?
02:13Wow.
02:14Give us a new insight into life in Roman Gloucestershire.
02:18What incredible objects.
02:20And an ancient fort surprises the archaeologists.
02:25What seems obvious often isn't and there's truth is lying in the soil.
02:29Oh my gosh.
02:57The West has some of our most dramatic stretches of coastline.
03:03Places that were once connected into ancient trade routes.
03:09Linking Britain across the seas with the wider world.
03:17For our first dig, Torrey heads to the Cornish coast to St Michael's Mount.
03:23Three miles east of Penzance.
03:32This island has been a medieval monastery.
03:35A Norman fortress and the site of a civil war siege.
03:43But long before it became a symbol of faith or power,
03:47some archaeologists think it may have played a very different role.
03:51As a vital hub in an ancient trading network of tin.
03:56A resource that fuelled the Bronze Age.
04:06Tin ore is the crucial material ancient metal workers refined to create tin.
04:11Which, when mixed with soft copper, creates bronze.
04:15A harder, more durable alloy that shaped daily life in the ancient world.
04:22Cornwall was once home to some of the richest tin ore deposits in Europe.
04:26And Cornish ore was in demand across the Mediterranean.
04:30But the true location of one of the main centres where this ore was processed and traded remains a mystery.
04:39For years, people have claimed that St Michael's Mount is the lost island Ictis.
04:45The legendary trading hub for tin in the ancient world.
04:49It all hinges on the writings of Pythias, an ancient Greek explorer who visited Britain in around 320 BC.
04:56He wrote of locals carting tin across to an island called Ictis over a sandbar that appeared at low tide.
05:05And the similarities with this island are uncanny.
05:19Now, in the first research excavation ever carried out on the island,
05:23a team from Durham University and the National Trust is investigating what role St Michael's Mount may have played in
05:31the Cornish tin trade.
05:33In particular, they're looking for evidence that tin ore was processed, refined into tin ingots and then traded here during
05:41the Bronze Age.
05:43Leading the dig is archaeologist Ben Roberts.
05:46What was it that was so special about Cornish tin?
05:50Cornish tin was prized because of its purity and this would have been valued by bronze smiths all over Europe.
05:56The time we're talking about when there's a huge boom in bronze use, where everyone has apparently got access to
06:03as much bronze as they want.
06:05That seems to have been driven by these incredibly rich tin sources that we're getting in Cornwall and Devon.
06:13The archaeologists think tin ore mined on the mainland was hauled across to the island at low tide when the
06:20causeway was exposed.
06:22Why on St Michael's Mount and not on the mainland where all of the tin ore deposits are?
06:28You can get tin ore almost anywhere in Cornwall and so there's no central production but the distribution points have
06:37to be central
06:37because your traders had to find the place to trade and this is easily the most visible place from the
06:44sea to reach.
06:45Here you've got the ideal mooring place for your boats.
06:48And the fact that we're on a tidal island is going to make everyone feel a bit safer.
06:53When the tide has gone out you can bring the tin across the land to St Michael's Mount in quantity
06:58and then when the tide came in again everyone is feeling that little bit safer, negotiations can begin
07:06and then the boats can be loaded up with tin and sail off.
07:11Ben's theory is strengthened by a discovery made in 2009 when head gardener Darren Little uncovered a remarkable horde of
07:21Bronze Age artefacts.
07:24Darren, along with Jim Parry from the National Trust, has brought some of those finds to show me.
07:31Look at this!
07:33This is some really rather beautiful Bronze Age metalwork, what's called a Meldrift socketed axe
07:38that Darren did an amazing job in finding.
07:41But this piece here in particular is what really stumped us and stumped some of the other metalwork professionals
07:47because there's nothing that we know like this that's been found.
07:50Well it's obviously a buckle and it looks modern.
07:52Exactly, so considering we're on St Michael's Mount the thinking was that could this be a Civil War buckle
07:57but hang on, why is it with something that's so clearly Bronze Age?
08:01So with a bit more research, in other hordes they've found small bits of something very similar
08:07but nothing with these beautifully pin-in sized decoration lines that run around the edges.
08:15So really rather special piece.
08:17How did you feel? I mean my heart would have been racing.
08:19My heart was racing, yeah, it was, um, I remember calling the wife, you know, she was saying an old
08:23teaser
08:24and I said I can't come out at the moment, you know, I'm still working, you know, found a few
08:27things
08:28and I'll be home shortly and yeah, so it's a one in a lifetime chance of finding something like that.
08:32It is.
08:33Found another 50 odd items of chisels, axe heads, pommels, bits of swords, ingots.
08:42While the horde is intriguing, the archaeologists need to find more than finished bronze items
08:48to prove their theory that tin oil was processed into tin here.
08:54The team are concentrating on two areas where earlier geophysical surveys revealed features
09:00that might be ancient structures.
09:04And almost immediately the first trench begins to deliver.
09:10The team's pottery specialist is Imogen Morris.
09:15We've got lots of Bronze Age pottery.
09:17Here we've got a rimshed.
09:18Oh yes, I can see the rim.
09:20It's got no decoration and this sort of pottery is called plainware because it's pretty plain.
09:26And this would have been quite a large vessel, quite a simple vessel, so it would have been for cooking.
09:33Yeah.
09:34Everyday uses, yeah, perhaps about that high.
09:36A solid cooking pot.
09:38But not all of the pottery is plainware.
09:42We've got quite a beautiful shirt.
09:44So put your fingers in there.
09:47Oh my gosh.
09:48That is a Bronze Age fingerprint.
09:50And they would have gone all the way around the edge?
09:51That's it, yeah.
09:52It's quite unusual to get decoration, so we're quite lucky to get one that's got those finger pinches.
09:56Incredible.
09:56Really connect with you.
09:58That's so cool.
09:58Yes.
10:02The discovery of the pottery suggests there was considerable activity on the island during the Bronze Age.
10:09But the team still need evidence of tin ore processing.
10:14Nearby, archaeologist Alan Williams is taking a closer look at some of the finds.
10:20Wonderful stone tools.
10:22Now I do like the look of these.
10:23Some of the most exciting finds we've made at St. Michael's Mount.
10:27Can I pick it up?
10:28Absolutely.
10:28Oh.
10:29And you can see it fits really nicely in the hand.
10:32Yes.
10:32So if this has been used for crushing tin ore, we would expect that it would be embedded in between
10:38the grains.
10:38Because it's really, really hard.
10:40But to show that, we need to analyse the edge of the rock and compare it to the general background
10:47in the rock.
10:49Geologist Sean Cleveland has been working on the analysis of the stone tools using a specialist X-ray machine.
10:57It can detect the amount of tin on specific parts of the stone.
11:02If they were used to crush tin ore, he should see significantly higher readings along the working edge of the
11:09stone.
11:11The result we got from the general background in this rock was what, Sean?
11:15100 to 150 ppm.
11:17OK, amazing.
11:18Where's the edge of the rock and Sean?
11:211,884 ppm.
11:23Oh, OK.
11:23So like a whole ten times more.
11:25At least.
11:26And we've seen even higher values on other stones.
11:29So it's very strong evidence that this is used for tin ore processing.
11:33You got it.
11:34Absolutely.
11:35It's the first evidence ever that the St Michael's Mount was processing tin ore and was part of the tin
11:42trade of the Bronze Age.
11:44It's magical that someone used this to grind tin ore on this island 3,000 years ago.
11:55The high levels of tin found on the edges of the crushing stones is evidence that tin ore was being
12:02processed here on the island.
12:08Could this spot on St Michael's Mount mark the origin of the ictus myth?
12:15Not just a name from legend, but a real place.
12:19And for Cornish tin, the gateway to the ancient world.
12:27Cornish tin helped usher in a new age, transforming tools, farming and society itself.
12:36Professor Stuart Pryor is finding out why tin was so important, with an experiment that takes us back thousands of
12:44years to reveal the knowledge and skills of the ancient metal workers.
12:54I'm fascinated by experimental archaeology, recreating how things were made in the past.
13:03So I've asked metalworking expert Mark Vivian Penny to help me cast a set of bronze axe heads to see
13:10if we can create a tool that's genuinely strong and durable.
13:15Mark, I see there's a lot of raw materials on the floor in front of you.
13:18What have we got?
13:19So this is copper.
13:22Wow.
13:23In order to make that copper stronger, because copper bends, you would need tin.
13:29So this is tin.
13:30I'll hand you some gravelly bits.
13:32So again, the search for raw materials.
13:34Add a bit of tin.
13:36Tin will make good working bronze, which is what the Bronze Age people use to make all their tools and
13:42their weapons.
13:43And this is bronze.
13:47That's much heavier, isn't it?
13:48It is, isn't it?
13:49And obviously much stronger, right?
13:50Very strong material.
13:52And you can sharpen it up really sharp, and it will keep its edge quite a long time.
13:56So if we start with copper, and then we want to add tin, how do we know what the proportion
14:03is that they need to add to make the perfect axe?
14:07The best working tool bronze is made with 10% tin.
14:12And they would have tried and tested different ways of doing it, and you'd know when you've got it wrong,
14:17because the metal becomes brittle if there's too much in it.
14:20And if it's just too little in it, it won't make any difference at all.
14:23So it's not just a case of adding copper and tin together.
14:26You've got to get those proportions right.
14:28Exactly.
14:31How it's on?
14:32How it's on.
14:37We're casting three different types of axe heads.
14:40One with too little tin, one with too much, and one with just the right amount, 10%.
14:49Using a modern furnace to speed things up, the metals are heated to over 1,000 degrees Celsius.
14:56It is unbelievably hot.
14:59It's going to get hotter.
15:01Once molten, the mix is poured into moulds.
15:04Here comes the crucible, which has melted to the bottom of the furnace.
15:10It's so hot.
15:14You can see why they thought it was magical.
15:17That is beautiful.
15:24Once the metal has hardened, the axe head can be removed from the mould.
15:29Wow.
15:30This is the bronze one.
15:32Look at that.
15:35That's the axe, which I'm now going to put in that bucket to cool.
15:43There we go.
15:44Look at that lovely gloss.
15:46It's almost golden, isn't it?
15:48So all that heat and all that work, and you get this beautiful axe head at the end.
15:53Well done.
15:55Can't wait to see the finished product.
16:00Whilst I sharpen the bronze axe head, Mark is busy casting more.
16:07Some are just pure copper, and the others are laden with tin.
16:12We've got the axes.
16:13What's the next step?
16:15How do we test to see what's the strongest?
16:17Well, if we hit them with a hammer...
16:19Bronze-age hammer.
16:20Bronze-age hammer.
16:21We can find out how much damage they would take.
16:24So this is the copper one.
16:26We'll try that one.
16:28So...
16:33A few dents.
16:34A few dents in it, yeah.
16:35So this has almost no tin in it.
16:37That one's almost pure copper.
16:39But it does make a serviceable axe, but not a very hard-wearing, resistant one.
16:44Don't want to hit the next one.
16:45Well, this one's got just the right amount of tin in it.
16:49So let's have a go with the hammer.
16:53You can really hear that ringing, can't you?
16:55That's a beautiful axe, that one.
16:58It's virtually no dents in this.
17:00You can really see that it rings like a bell.
17:03It's a much more sturdier material.
17:05It's a beautiful golden colour.
17:07You can imagine this in the hands of the warriors at the time.
17:10Exactly.
17:10Yeah?
17:11It's amazing.
17:12We did this experiment to find out what's the right proportion of copper and tin.
17:18This one's got no tin in it, and this one's got far too much tin in it.
17:22We'll do the hammer test, and we'll see what happens.
17:27Oh, no!
17:29It's just destroyed the thing completely.
17:32Yeah.
17:33My God, it's incredible.
17:34It is.
17:34That is completely useless.
17:36It is.
17:37Chocolate axe.
17:38Yeah?
17:38Chocolate axe.
17:39Waste of time.
17:40You'd be very disappointed if you'd been sold that, wouldn't you?
17:44So you've got to get that mixture right.
17:46You've got to get that 10%, or you've got something that's not functional at all.
17:50Exactly.
17:51Yeah?
17:52Can I try the other one?
17:53See how bad that one is?
17:54Yeah.
17:55We'll see if we've done a better job.
17:56Ready?
17:57Yeah.
17:59No, it's destroyed as well.
18:01Destroyed as well.
18:01That is hopeless.
18:02Yeah.
18:03It's amazing.
18:04That sounds great.
18:05So we've done a really good job with this one.
18:08But this one, you can see, if you don't get that 10% mixture right, you get complete dross.
18:12Yeah.
18:13Yeah?
18:13It's just amazing.
18:15But I do feel like I'm a bronze smith, eh?
18:17Hey!
18:19Congratulations.
18:38You can take a road to take a seat to the stars.
18:48Throughout the west of Britain, archaeologists have long uncovered fragments of the lives
18:54that have gone before us.
18:57But the dig itself is only ever the beginning of the story.
19:04Next, we follow up on an excavation that took place in the town of Haverford West in Wales,
19:1110 miles north of Pembroke.
19:19Archaeology is an evidence-based discipline, and sometimes that evidence challenges our preconceptions.
19:24In fact, that's when I find it most exciting.
19:28Now, some years ago, I visited a medieval priory site in Haverford West, and we thought we knew
19:34what was going on there.
19:35But Professor Naomi Sykes is visiting the lab where the analysis is revealing an unexpected story.
19:48As a zoo archaeologist and scientist, I'm interested in those moments when science begins to challenge
19:54what we think archaeology is telling us.
19:58And it's in the lab, during post-excavation analysis, that the real story often emerges.
20:08And this one begins...
20:12..in the medieval.
20:19When Digging for Britain visited Haverford West, an incredible story was emerging.
20:24That is beautiful. Look at that.
20:29Evidence for the long-lost Dominican friary of St Saviour's, which had been hidden for centuries.
20:35The whole building would have been impressive, indicative of a high-status monastic building.
20:41Almost 300 burials were recovered, giving us our first glimpse into the lives of the medieval friars and the local
20:47townsfolk that they serve.
20:50But at the time, archaeologists thought that they were looking at a friary and its cemetery.
20:56But now, post-excavation research at Cardiff University is rewriting the story,
21:02revealing a site that may have been far more than just a burial ground.
21:10Lab analysis of the skeletons reveals that several individuals had endured serious, life-threatening injuries.
21:18That raises new questions about who they were and why they were buried in this friary cemetery.
21:33This is a male, a middle-aged male, who has suffered severe sharp-force trauma that is nearly sliced off
21:40the back of the skull there.
21:41This one is a sharp-force trauma as well, probably from a projectile.
21:45So they've survived these injuries for quite some time after.
21:48Wait, they survived this?
21:50Yes, yes. So this is healed.
21:51It has kind of reattached to the back of the skull there.
21:54And they've lived for possibly years after these injuries occurred.
21:58And that's not the only thing they have that's healed.
22:01They broke their jaw at some point in their life as well.
22:03So look at this.
22:04There's quite severe trauma there as well that's totally changed the angle of the jaw.
22:09Would this have affected their ability to eat?
22:11Yes, definitely, I think.
22:13But interestingly, despite this, we still have some evidence for quite a rich diet in this individual.
22:17So we have some pathology of the vertebrae there called DISH, where these two vertebrae have fused.
22:24And it happened all up the spine as well.
22:26This is associated in modern clinical practice with diabetes and obesity.
22:30And in the past, we associate it with monastic diets.
22:33So quite rich, fatty foods, alcohol consumption, red meat.
22:37They could have been at the site and enjoying a similar diet, being looked after by the monks.
22:41OK, so is this an isolated instance amongst the population that you've been looking at?
22:45No.
22:46So we have a lot of evidence for traumatic injuries and care in this population.
22:50This individual has a bit of iron embedded in the back of their femur, so the back of their upper
22:55thigh.
22:56That likely is from a projectile.
22:57And we can see the bone is healing.
22:59They also had lots of healed fractures throughout the rest of their skeleton.
23:02So healed fractures of the feet, ribs, and also of the hands.
23:07And so evidence for quite rough lives, but some healing as well.
23:14Kira believes the fact that these people survived such severe injuries and showed signs of a rich, fatty diet
23:21suggests they were being cared for and supported within the community.
23:27But who were they, where had they come from, and how had they ended up in a friary cemetery?
23:34To find more answers, the team at Cardiff University is using isotope analysis.
23:40The technique examines chemical traces in bones and teeth to reveal clues about a person's origins and movements.
23:48Leading the work is archaeological scientist, Professor Richard Madgwick.
23:55The isotope analysis can tell us a whole range of aspects about human lives.
24:00Whilst the science behind it can be a bit complex, the principles are really very simple.
24:05You are what you eat, you are where you eat, and to some degree you are how you eat.
24:09So every time humans consume food and drink, chemical signals from those products enter the body,
24:14enter our skin, our hair, our nails, and, handily for archaeologists, our bones and our teeth.
24:20So by analysing tiny fragments, we can reconstruct all sorts of aspects about movement, diet and health in the past.
24:30Different chemical elements preserved in bones and teeth can reveal detailed clues about past lives.
24:38In particular, strontium and oxygen can be analysed together to show where a person was born and grew up.
24:47Strontium gives us a geological signal for where individuals were during the development of their teeth.
24:54And oxygen gives us a climatic signal relating to temperature and rainfall.
24:58So they work together well in terms of looking at origins.
25:01We've boxed the approximate local range here for not just Haverford West, but probably more broadly Wales.
25:10And we can see the diversity within that local range hints that they're not all directly from Pembrokeshire.
25:15We've got quite a few individuals that sit outside of that local range, and they must have come from further
25:22afield.
25:22So do we have any idea where they might have come from?
25:25The fact that these oxygen values are really very high, they're beyond what we would think could be achieved in
25:32Wales,
25:33hints that they come from a more westerly zone like Ireland.
25:37And we know historically that there are some strong links between Pembrokeshire and Ireland.
25:42So, I mean, it's tantalising, but I think it's highly likely these individuals have come from there originally.
25:51The lab has transformed the story of the Dominican friary of St. Saviour's.
25:57The bones, once thought to tell a simple monastic tale, now reveal lives touched by trauma, care and resilience.
26:05Far from just a cemetery, the evidence suggests that this was a place where Dominican friars treated the sick and
26:12injured,
26:13welcoming people from across Britain and beyond.
26:16And it's only due to the power of science, by combining osteology, isotopes and history,
26:23that we can build a more complete picture of a medieval community.
26:52Every year, seasoned archaeologists across Britain unearth objects,
26:56that tell stories of the past.
27:01But some remarkable discoveries are made by enthusiastic amateurs.
27:09Now we're catching up with a spectacular discovery, a chance find that turned out to be something of national importance.
27:22The story began in 2023, in a quiet field on the edge of the village of Willersie, 30 miles northeast
27:32of Gloucester.
27:35Novice metal detectorist Glenn Manning was looking forward to his day.
27:42As he began his afternoon sweep, he had no idea he was about to make a discovery that would offer
27:49a rare glimpse into the Roman period.
27:56Just after lunch, I came up here and I remember the organiser shouting to me,
28:01people have already done that, you need to go over to that part of the field and have a look.
28:05But something just told me, just carry on doing what you're doing.
28:10The metal detector all of a sudden picked up a signal, but it was a little bit jumpy.
28:14So I dug down into the ground, probably about 8 to 10 inches.
28:18And using my handheld pinpointer, I came across what just looked like old metal that had a slight point to
28:26it.
28:27But the patina on it told me that it was something like copper.
28:32I thought this looks like a sword, but what's the chances of me, on my second time detecting, to find
28:39such a wonderful item?
28:41And in fact, Glenn had uncovered not one, but two ancient swords.
28:49Far longer than the gladius, the short stabbing sword usually associated with Roman soldiers,
28:54Glenn had found something remarkable.
28:58I didn't know how to feel.
29:00That's the funny thing. I was quite calm.
29:03My feelings obviously have changed now because I understand how rare it is to find something like that.
29:08There's a lot of historic value. There's a lot of learning to be done in relation to these swords.
29:14When Glenn first discovered the swords, they were so muddied and corroded,
29:18it was impossible to tell much about them.
29:21But now, after being carefully conserved and x-rayed, the weapons are finally giving up their story.
29:34Historic England conservator Carla Graham and Carinian Museum director Emma Stewart have brought them to the Digging for Britain tent.
29:45Oh, Carla. Hello. Hello.
29:48I've been looking forward to this. I mean, what incredible objects.
29:51These are very long swords, aren't they? I mean, obviously Romans had lots of different types of swords.
29:56The gladius was a short one, wasn't it? Yes.
29:57This isn't a gladius. No, so these are spather, so they're kind of much longer.
30:02They would have been carried by cavalrymen on horseback.
30:04OK. And what we still have, which you can see on the surface here, is that we've got the remains
30:10of the wooden scabbard.
30:11The wood's decayed away, but the rust has preserved the wood grain, so we've got it on here and on
30:17the hills as well.
30:18And on this particular sword, the much, kind of very bright orange, that's the remains of the wood there as
30:23well.
30:23And we've also got, at the ends here, these beautiful shapes that were attached to the wooden scabbards and would
30:29have protected the soldiers from getting stabbed by their own.
30:33It's very lethal when you're on a horse. Yes.
30:35You don't want that, do you? So, yes.
30:37So, these are obviously copper alloy. They would have been bright and shiny, wouldn't they?
30:40Very bright and shiny, and they're decorated.
30:43And the swords themselves, the Carinian Museum asked us if we could x-ray them.
30:48And what was really exciting about the x-rays is it shows that they're quite different.
30:52Have you got the x-rays?
30:53I have got the x-rays. Can you have a look at them?
30:54Yes, you certainly can.
30:56So, we did a little bit of enhancement.
30:59So, there are some lines coming through here.
31:01Yes, you can see some lines going down, a bit like a herringbone pattern.
31:06Yeah.
31:06And that shows that this one is pattern welded.
31:09It would have looked amazing.
31:12It's basically lots of either strips or rods of metal, which were woven, hammered together, and then a cutting edge
31:18put on the outside.
31:19And the reason that we're seeing it in the x-ray is because there's a differential corrosion, which is fantastic
31:25because it shows up this pattern very well.
31:27Isn't that amazing? Because, I mean, you cannot see that, can you, here?
31:29There's nothing to see that. You really can't see it.
31:31It's not grooving down the centre, but that's not the pattern. The only way you can see it is in
31:36this x-ray.
31:37And what's interesting is one is pattern welded and the other one isn't. So, it's higher status, this one.
31:43Are we looking at objects that seem to have gone into the ground in a fairly pristine condition?
31:49Yes. They've been deliberately buried. They're very carefully placed so they've not been lost. They haven't been bent and destroyed.
31:57You can see some potential textile remains, so we're not quite sure if they were bound together.
32:01So, they could have been wrapped in fabric as well.
32:03Could have been wrapped in fabric, could have been part of the scabbard.
32:06In the ground, they were lying one on top of the other, next to the fragments of a bowl here.
32:12Tell me about this bowl, because, I mean, this is part of the same group of objects. What does this
32:17tell us?
32:18This is quite high status in the same way as the pattern welded sword. It's really beautifully decorated.
32:23It's obviously quite fragmentary now because this was slightly above the swords, so this suffered the damage first.
32:29Some of the pieces were ploughed out, unfortunately.
32:31But you can see some beautiful decoration in this deliberate circular pattern. There's no need to do this for functionality.
32:38Can I handle these things?
32:40You are more than welcome to, yes.
32:41Thank you very much.
32:42So, it looks like it would have had quite high sides.
32:45Yes. This is a fragment of the rim, so you can see that lovely lip around the edge there.
32:50And it's got some pattern or some ghost of something here.
32:53Yes, that's right. This was revealed at conservation and the conservators had to clean off the mud and the earth
32:58and everything.
32:59Yeah, yeah.
32:59And it would appear that this piece, which we originally thought was part of the scabbard, actually fits perfectly in
33:05that piece there.
33:06So, just like that.
33:07So, I saw that and I thought it was a coin. It's not a coin then?
33:10It's not a coin. It's a piece of decoration by the looks of things around this rim area.
33:14Given that it's decorated and you can tell a certain amount about its style, does that help you to date
33:19it as well?
33:20It's probably contemporary with the swords, so late 3rd century, around 290.
33:25And then what's that?
33:27So, this piece, it's a different type of metal. So, you've just felt the rim. If you have a feel
33:32of that, you can feel it's thicker.
33:33Oh, it's thicker and heavier. It's not as beautifully polished.
33:36This would have been a lidded bowl with something inside it, deposited inside it.
33:41It may have been sort of ceremonial deposit, with these being deliberately buried. That's a possibility.
33:47Yeah. You've got to think about all the possibilities, haven't you?
33:49And you've got a find like this, where you don't know the wider context.
33:52It's kind of delightfully mysterious. I really, I want to know.
33:56Yes.
33:56I really want to know why these objects are buried together.
33:59And wonderfully well pursued. And even though they look like rusty objects, there's quite a lot of metal still in
34:05there.
34:05And you can tell by the weight.
34:07I can let you feel the weight of this sword here.
34:13That is heavier than I expected. That actually is quite a lot heavier.
34:18And that's this beautiful pattern-welded sword, isn't it?
34:21It is. Yeah.
34:22Nearly 2,000 years old.
34:25It is curious, because they are objects on their own. They don't have a context.
34:29I mean, do we even know if there was any Roman cavalry in the area?
34:32There were. There was a Roman cavalry base just outside of Carinium, which is Simon Sester, which is not too
34:37far away.
34:38Later in the Roman period, there is evidence of Roman military.
34:42But there is an interesting shift, because there was quite a lot of banditry along the Foss Way.
34:47And civilians were known to carry cavalry swords.
34:50It's possible that two soldiers may have been killed, and this is the wares that were dumped.
34:55Because if civilians were found with this type of material, and there were two soldiers dead, then you can trace
35:01it to them.
35:02They're hiding the evidence.
35:03That's a possibility.
35:05But it's looking like, in terms of the whole context, you've clearly got Roman military kit here.
35:11There was something special about these swords, something special about this bowl, for somebody to deposit them all together.
35:17Yeah.
35:17Why did they do it?
35:18I mean, we'll never know, will we?
35:20But what we do know is that they never came back.
35:32I'll hold something right cold.
35:41You've accused my love.
35:51I am sold
35:55And the story of the girl who told me
35:59That you made us from gold
36:11Each new artefact can be a source of insight
36:15Into ancient lives and technologies
36:18But sometimes researchers face a challenge
36:21With objects that are so fragile
36:24That they're actually impossible to handle
36:31Archaeology isn't just about making new discoveries
36:35We can employ technology now
36:38To study, recreate and even handle objects
36:42That were dug up a long time ago
36:43Archaeologist Meg Russell is looking at how cutting-edge techniques
36:48Are helping to unlock secrets about Roman surgery
36:56I'm fascinated by objects from the past
36:59And it's only natural to want to pick them up
37:02But some artefacts are so fragile
37:04That even the lightest touch can cause damage
37:07And when you can't handle them safely
37:09It becomes much harder to understand how they worked
37:12Or what they were used for
37:16125 years ago, a remarkable set of Roman surgical tools
37:21Was pulled from a river
37:22After spending centuries submerged
37:25The bronze instruments are now so corroded and fragile
37:28That touching them risks further deterioration
37:33At the University of Exeter
37:35Researchers are pioneering techniques
37:37That let them peer beneath those corroded layers
37:39To reveal the metalwork underneath
37:43Clues that could transform our understanding
37:45Of how these tools were designed, manufactured and used
37:52Professor Rebecca Fleming is on hand to explain
37:56These Roman surgical instruments
37:58Were found in the river Walbrook in London
38:01And we've got a scalpel handle
38:03We've got two needles
38:05And we've got two very thin probes
38:09And a slightly larger spoon as well
38:12Wow, some of these are so delicate and tiny
38:15I'm starting to see a few little details
38:18How difficult is it to work with artefacts
38:22That you can't touch yourself?
38:24I think it's particularly difficult in this case
38:25Because these are tools that we use for surgical operations
38:28And if we can't get the feel of them
38:30And try them out in various ways
38:33And really get a sense of exactly how they were constructed
38:35That limits our possibilities
38:37In terms of understanding them in various ways
38:39What methods can we use to understand them better?
38:42The technique that we use more particularly here
38:44Is 3D scanning, like a CT scan
38:47A sort of 3D x-ray for objects
38:50Which really gives you a very detailed picture of the surface
38:54All of its different imperfections
38:56Any details of crafting, which is invaluable for us
39:00And is there anything that you specifically hope
39:02The CT scans might show us today?
39:05Yes, definitely
39:05So as you can see this scalpel handle
39:08Would have originally been an iron or steel blade
39:11And clearly that is replaced pretty regularly
39:14So a lot of attention would have gone into thinking about
39:17How to make the holder
39:19And then thinking about these two needles
39:20This looks very straightforward
39:23This one has something quite different going on
39:26In terms of where it might have been threaded
39:28So it would be interesting to look at that
39:32Curator Megan Woolley from the Devon and Exeter Medical Heritage Trust
39:37Is the only person permitted to handle these fragile instruments
39:45She is securing each one in inert foam
39:48And covering with acid-free tissue
39:49To create a custom support
39:51So it can be scanned safely
39:57Placed on a rotating platform
39:59This high-resolution scanner will capture every tiny detail
40:05It's a painstaking process
40:07With each scan taking more than seven and a half hours
40:14These look fantastic, Rebecca
40:17This is a full-on grayscale image
40:20Containing all of the data
40:21You can already start to see some of the detail
40:24In terms of the scoop of the spoon
40:26And the different sort of eyes of the needle
40:29Things that are darker are denser
40:31And we can visualise that much more clearly
40:34In different colours
40:35Look at that!
40:37That's fantastic!
40:38The blue is the densest
40:40And then green
40:41And then going less dense
40:42Orange and yellow
40:44There are two things that are of significance
40:47One of which is about the object
40:50In its original form
40:51And maybe it was actually intentional
40:53That parts of it were less dense
40:55Parts of it were more dense
40:57In terms of strength
40:58Or in terms of balance
40:59Particularly for scalpels
41:01Balance is very important
41:03And then the other thing is conservation
41:05And looking after these objects now
41:07You can see if there's a particular area of weakness
41:10So it's obviously valuable information for the curators
41:16And that's not all
41:17These scans are so data-rich
41:19That they can be sent straight to the engineering lab
41:22Oh my gosh, look at these!
41:26Where 3D printers machine precise replicas
41:28Allowing us to finally get hands-on
41:32With incredibly detailed copies
41:35It's really fascinating to see the processes at work
41:38And even more interesting to see the results in various ways
41:41This is that complex needle that we talked about
41:44Now you can get really to grips with the complexities of it
41:47So it's got a sizable hole there
41:49Which you could thread in various different ways
41:51And then it's also got a hole here
41:52That second hole is a surprise
41:56You couldn't see it in the actual artefact itself at all
41:59We haven't been able to find anything that looks exactly the same
42:03There's clearly more to that than just sewing up bandages
42:08I love that now you can tell a little bit more potentially about function of these objects
42:13I mean this must just lift a lot of limitations for you
42:17With what you can and can't see with the real thing
42:19Yeah, exactly
42:19And you can start to think about the scalpel handle
42:23You can see the sort of thought that's gone into this
42:25You have the flat and then you have something that you can hold
42:27The blades would have been put there
42:29This would have opened and you'd use this to pull it apart
42:33And then it would snap back together
42:34And this is obviously very practical
42:36So this is in a resin but you can do 3D printing in metal
42:41So you could try and print it in bronze
42:44And then get a nice scalpel blade
42:47Put it in the hand of a surgeon practicing today
42:49And see what they made of it
42:51We've got the text that talk about different sorts of operations
42:54So do the tools seem to be appropriate for the kind of practices that are being described
43:04The more I handle these tools
43:06The more I see how technology is bridging the gap between the past and present
43:13And it's not just medical instruments
43:15This technology can be applied to all kinds of items
43:20By recreating them and putting them to use
43:23We bring multiple disciplines together
43:25Opening up endless possibilities to explore and understand ancient artefacts in entirely new ways
43:39Trabening the edge
43:44Trabening the edge
43:46Oh, oh, oh, raise in the dead, raise in the dead, raise in the dead.
44:01Every year, across the West, archaeologists embark on new digs.
44:10Sometimes they set out with a good idea of what they might find.
44:14But when the digging starts, they have to be ready for their theories to be turned on their heads.
44:22For our next dig, Torrey is heading to the wild south-west coast of Wales, to Buckspool in Pembrokeshire.
44:44This has to be one of the most spectacular and precarious sites I've ever filmed at.
44:49This whole area is an active military training zone, and because it's off limits to the public, the archaeology here
44:55has stayed remarkably intact.
45:00Perched on a headland jutting into the Celtic Sea, a team of archaeologists and military veterans are investigating two circular
45:10structures.
45:16From the air, the site shows all the hallmarks of a promontory fort dating back over 2,000 years to
45:25the Iron Age.
45:34This stretch of coastline was once dotted with promontory forts, remote and exposed to the elements.
45:43But what were they for, and who might have lived in a place like this?
45:49Archaeologist Richard Osgood is leading the dig.
45:53Richard.
45:55This is properly spectacular.
45:57This is just gorgeous.
46:00It's such an elemental place, isn't it?
46:02Really, really beautiful.
46:03This is Buckspool Promontory Fort.
46:04That has an awful lot of information in the name.
46:08Yeah.
46:08On a promontory.
46:09Yep.
46:10We can't argue with that.
46:11That's true.
46:11Is it a fort?
46:13Good question.
46:13I think it's more about impressing your neighbours, having big ditches and ramparts for sure, but this is a showy
46:18thing, so I think it's much more than defensive and military.
46:22So this is the way in?
46:24It is the way in.
46:24You can see the big ditch here and the embankment behind it.
46:28It would have been, I think, quite a bit deeper, and you would have had a higher rampart behind with
46:32a big timber palisade and the massive timber gateway that we're standing under at the moment.
46:37So this would have been hugely impressive.
46:38When you paint that picture there, you just realise, you know, not only how monumental that would have felt, but
46:44coming in from this kind of relatively flat land to dramatic deep-sided ditches.
46:49Yeah.
46:49Towering gates, great wall in front.
46:53You wouldn't be able to see anything ahead of you.
46:54You have no idea what's coming next.
46:56Everything from this point onwards is a surprise when you get into the settlement.
47:05Because of its location, the archaeology here has remained largely unexplored.
47:13But early surveys and aerial imagery suggest that this is the footprint of two Iron Age roundhouses.
47:24We're now, within the settlement area, we've come through these Iron Age defences and we're into the excavation proper of
47:28these structures.
47:29So you've got this circle defined by these blocks of limestone, but it cuts through a little passageway into a
47:34second one.
47:35So you're looking at a figure of eight of these two circular structures.
47:38They seem big.
47:39Is that big for a roundhouse?
47:41Not especially big for a roundhouse.
47:42There are two courses, at least, going around there, sat on top of the bedrock and forming this arc, presumably
47:48once of a circle.
47:49There's a big tumble of rock there.
47:51That's bedrock.
47:51So this is where it gets confusing, because if this is a roundhouse, the last thing you want is that
47:57as your floor.
47:58So I'm not entirely convinced, even if there's a scree of earth put over it, that that is a floor.
48:07Iron Age roundhouses typically had a single entrance and a stone hearth in the centre.
48:12For cooking and heating.
48:15We've not got those elements that would just scream roundhouse at you.
48:19I think it's more than that, because you've got this arc of stones in a couple of courses, but I've
48:24not got that half.
48:25The entranceway is probably there, but is it actually connecting you with a third structure, in which case you've got
48:30three cells connected to another.
48:32But is that the sort of thing you get in the living structure?
48:34I don't think it is.
48:39And the mystery deepens, as none of the small finds appear to have any connection to the Iron Age.
48:49What have you been finding, then?
48:51Coins.
48:51Lots of coins here today.
48:52It's unbelievable.
48:53I found nine this morning.
48:55I found a couple around here and some over there.
48:57It's just odd that they're, like, around here.
49:01It's really odd, isn't it?
49:02If this is some kind of roundhouse, this would be where the door would be, roughly, isn't it?
49:07Sort of coming in here.
49:08Yeah, that way, yeah.
49:09Yeah, coming in that way.
49:10So it's a bit of a mystery.
49:12I mean, it does feel like this place is turning up unexpected things.
49:18And even more unexpected is that these coins all date from the Roman occupation of Britain.
49:26It's a twist that changes the story.
49:30Archaeologist Fran Murphy is trying to piece together the puzzle.
49:35Oh, wow.
49:36OK.
49:36It's just, like, bag after bag of coins.
49:38So those are just some of the selection that have been found.
49:43This coin is Emperor Constantine, and he is 4th century.
49:49Also, we've had coins of Corrosius.
49:51OK, and when's Corrosius?
49:52Um, late third.
49:54This is a lovely coin.
49:56You can really see the profile of the head there.
49:58And is that one next to it also?
49:59Well, this is a little minim.
50:02What's a minim?
50:02This is the smallest denomination, just a few millimetres in diameter.
50:09What is interesting is that we don't normally find these coins.
50:11One, they're difficult to find.
50:13But equally, the numbers that we're finding them.
50:15So if you were coming here to ask the gods to help you in something, you use your lowest denomination
50:21coin.
50:22It's like throwing a penny or a 2p into a wishing well.
50:26Is that what they're doing?
50:27Is that why we're getting this big concentration of coins?
50:33Alongside the coins, the team is unearthing a considerable amount of pottery.
50:41We have probably now got one of the biggest assemblages of Roman pot from south-west Wales, from this small
50:47site.
50:47The quantity itself is gobsmacking.
50:50The number of rim sherds.
50:52A lot of it is black burnished ware.
50:54Some of the wares we just don't see around here.
50:58One thing that's really interesting is all these objects are broken.
51:02And there is a theory that you're planting materials in pits as an offering for future prosperity.
51:09Depositing bits of everything they need for life as an offering with a coin.
51:14Bringing goods which they want to deposit in this area because it has some significance.
51:20Having uncovered the pottery and more than 160 coins, the team is beginning to think this place may have held
51:28a special spiritual significance long after the Iron Age, during the later Roman period.
51:36And the landscape itself may help explain why this spot held such power.
51:46Archaeologist Toby Driver is a specialist in Welsh hillforts.
51:51It's just so dramatically vertical on either side.
51:56It's a different life you have here.
51:58It's a cultural phenomenon, living on the coast in prehistory and Roman times here.
52:03We know Celts saw their gods residing in remote, dangerous places.
52:10And nowhere is that more dramatic than at the coast.
52:15We have antiquarian writers describing this.
52:19The slam of waves into these coastal chasms being like gunshots.
52:23And these enormous sprays of foam with rainbows being cast.
52:26Now we understand what a rainbow is today, but 2,000 years ago, what on earth do they think about
52:31that?
52:31Were the gods angry at particular times of year, particular seasons?
52:38In most of the ancient world, people are chucking stuff into chasms, sacrifices, offerings as well.
52:44And that may have been a very important part of what Buxpool was 2,000 years ago.
52:50Imagine walking over that rock arch.
52:54The waves are booming, the spray is coming up and catching the lights.
52:59It would feel like you're passing into a different world here.
53:01Yep.
53:02We've just learned more about Buxpool in the last two weeks than we have in decades.
53:07But all that new knowledge, we've got to process it, we've got to think of new ways to understand this
53:13life at the edge of the coast.
53:22So what seemed like quite a simple story is actually turning out to be far more complicated, mysterious.
53:28Absolutely.
53:29And that is why you dig.
53:31Because it looked really logical.
53:33You've got a promontory fort, you've got geophysics, you've got LiDAR, motor circles, roundhouses, people living in here in the
53:38Iron Age, job done.
53:39And it's not like that.
53:41There's so much more complexity here.
53:43That's what really excites about archaeology, isn't it?
53:45Because what seems obvious often isn't, and there's truth, is lying in the soil.
53:55While the promontory fort may still have its roots in the Iron Age, Richard now thinks that by the Roman
54:01period, this place was evolving into something different.
54:09A place where offerings may have been made to the gods, all perched on the very edge between the known
54:16world and the spiritual realm.
54:26The promontory fort at Buxpool is a great example of how archaeology can challenge our expectations and our ideas about
54:34the past.
54:36Turning a simple story into something more complex and compelling.
54:49Richard went in with an idea.
54:51He thought he was going to be excavating Iron Age roundhouses.
54:54In this promontory fort, and it would help them understand the nature of what was going on there.
54:58And then they started digging, and the finds were Roman.
55:04Overwhelmingly Roman.
55:05Nothing that could be definitively tied to the Iron Age.
55:08I always enjoy it when archaeologists find something they're not expecting.
55:12The richness of this site astounded all of the archaeologists working there.
55:18All of these Roman coins, a really huge number of them, including really small denominations.
55:24This is not like a wealthy horde that has been stashed somewhere.
55:27It's small change stuff.
55:28But of course, that Roman date doesn't mean that that site didn't exist and wasn't occupied in the Iron Age.
55:35So the crucial thing here will be all of the post-excavation analysis that Richard and his team will do.
55:42And then we'll get a much bigger picture and we'll know how long that settlement lasted, how far back in
55:46time it goes, whether it does extend right back into the Iron Age as well.
55:49Yeah, and what it was.
55:50I mean, I think that's the big overwhelming question is like, still, what was it?
55:55Definitely a watch this space situation, I think, with this promontory fort.
56:08Here on Digging for Britain, we're not accustomed to blowing our own trumpet.
56:14It's more tuneful than I thought it would be.
56:18But what a year it's been.
56:20The most amazing thing in British archaeology.
56:24We've seen evidence of life here stretching back further than ever before.
56:30This stuff was already fossilised by the time dinosaurs were walking around.
56:33Some finds were a privilege to uncover.
56:35You were the first person to see that for 1,400 years.
56:39That is phenomenal.
56:40Others were best left alone.
56:42This is a bottle of 85-year-old beer.
56:44Yeah, I think that can stay in there.
56:45But each one sheds new light on the stories of people who lived and died on these shores.
56:52We live through those whose stories lie, we've buried by the future's one.
57:00It really brings back a lot of humanity to what we're studying.
57:04Thinking about how they may have lived, how they may have died.
57:08It's a child buried with weapons as the man that he would have become.
57:12He's been subjected to surgery.
57:14Yes.
57:15I wonder who he was.
57:24It's amazing to touch the past in such a personal way.
57:35We've discovered that our ancient ancestors weren't all that dissimilar to us.
57:40They liked to kick back and relax.
57:43In their leisure time, they're sitting beside the hearth, they're playing games.
57:47They had a sense of the aesthetic.
57:48Such a poignant connection to this person, all that's surviving in the grave of them, is their incredible style.
57:54And they entrusted their legacy to those who followed them.
57:58It's a treasured item that has passed down through the generations.
58:02It's an heirloom.
58:03Yeah.
58:05All across Britain, archaeologists continue to dig for clues to past lives.
58:11Who knows what treasures are waiting to be unearthed next year.
58:36To lay us dead out in the sun.
58:45To lay us dead across modelling.
58:46Bye.