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00:00A rich and varied history stretching back thousands of years.
00:05But hidden below the surface are...
00:10...some amazing treasures just waiting to be found.
00:14Oh my gosh!
00:15That's insane!
00:16That's really cool!
00:17So each year across the country...
00:20...archaeologists dig underground...
00:23...and dive underwater.
00:25Searching for fresh discoveries.
00:29The most amazing...
00:30...amazing thing in British archaeology.
00:32Uncovering traces of ancient lives.
00:35Somebody's pride and joy, I'm sure.
00:37And finding fascinating objects.
00:40Such exquisite detail.
00:45This year I'll be meeting the archaeologists...
00:47...and looking at some of their most incredible finds.
00:50I mean that is stunning!
00:53Well, Dr. Tori Harris...
00:55...the carriage is travelling the length of the country...
00:57...to some spectacular locations.
01:00Where I'll be dropping in...
01:02...on some of this year's most fascinating digs.
01:05Oh my gosh!
01:07Oh my gosh!
01:08Can you see that?
01:09It's just...
01:10Brilliant!
01:11Oh my goodness!
01:12Every dig provides a new piece...
01:14...in the puzzle.
01:15...of Britain's forgotten past.
01:19This is the...
01:20...epic and unfolding story...
01:22...of our islands.
01:25Welcome to Digging for Britain.
01:30This is the island.
01:31You
01:36This week on Digging for Britain
01:41Hidden treasures are discovered on a forgotten royal estate
01:46Fantastically well preserved
01:47Linked to the last Anglo-Saxon King of England
01:51I've never seen anything like it in 30 years of digging
01:53While in Fife, a hilltop dig
01:56I've never found anything this cool
01:58It's made my year
01:59Somebody's proud and joy, I'm sure
02:01Reveals precious insights into the ancient Picts
02:04Oh wow, this
02:06This site is incredible
02:08And Tori discovers that Sunderland's industrial
02:11heritage
02:12Look who it is!
02:13It's exactly what a heritage was!
02:16Has very ancient roots
02:18You can't argue with that, can you?
02:20The Romans
02:21As we're here
02:22Music
02:26The Romans
02:27The Romans
02:28The Romans
02:29The Romans
02:31The Romans
02:32The Romans
02:33The Romans
02:34The Romans
02:35The Romans
02:36The Romans
02:37The Romans
02:38The Romans
02:39The Romans
02:40The Romans
02:41The Romans
02:42The Romans
02:43The Romans
02:44The Romans
02:45The Romans
02:46The Romans
02:47The Romans
02:48The Romans
02:49The Romans
02:50The Romans
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02:55The Romans
02:56The Romans
02:57The Romans
02:58The Romans
02:59The Romans
03:00landmarks themselves, but the surrounding countryside that can reveal
03:05important clues to Britain's tumultuous past.
03:10Our first
03:15dig takes us to Skipsey, 16 miles north of Hull.
03:20Here, a huge
03:25mound of earth marks where Skipsey Castle once stood.
03:30Built by a Norman knight, Drogo de la Bervariere, to enforce his
03:35claim to this territory.
03:37The Doomsday Book states that Drogo
03:40was granted huge swathes of land here after the Norman Conquest in 1060.
03:45But it also reveals who owns this area.
03:50Before the invasion, during the early medieval period.
03:55The Doomsday Book
04:00This land once included a settlement called Cleeton, belonging to the
04:05last Anglo-Saxon King of England, Harold Godwinson.
04:10After Harold was defeated by William the Conquest,
04:15this estate disappeared without a trace.
04:20Now, a team of students from the University of York
04:25are excavating in the fields surrounding Skipsey Castle, hoping to...
04:30find Harold Godwinson's lost estate.
04:33And for some of them...
04:35it's their very first time on a dig.
04:40You're like, wow, this piece of wood is like...
04:43100 years old and I'm...
04:45I'm touching it.
04:46It's so funny.
04:47We found a few pieces of pottery around.
04:50And one right here as well.
04:52So we're thinking, you know, people could have lived around here.
04:55Jim Leary is leading the dig and they're already finding...
05:00traces of early medieval life here.
05:03When we first...
05:05excavated this area, we found a long building and what's clear is...
05:10that we have an oven at one end of the building.
05:13The oven has been fired to...
05:15to such a high degree, in fact, that the dome structure has gone a bright...
05:20red colour, like modern bricks.
05:22And you can see it all around.
05:23The stone which would have...
05:25been the floor of the oven is burned to such a high degree...
05:28that it's thermally fractured.
05:30The question is, what were they using the oven for?
05:35The answer actually came from the floor over here.
05:40So we've just moved into the other end of the building and...
05:45all throughout this area, we have really interesting sea...
05:50seeds.
05:51These are little charred grains.
05:52They look a little bit like mouse poos in my hand, but...
05:55actually, these give us the answer because every one of these cereal grains are...
06:00sprouting just slightly.
06:01This is a molting oven and this floor here is...
06:05most likely the germinating floor to go with it.
06:08So this is a malt house.
06:09In other words, they were making...
06:10beer here.
06:11In molting, grain is allowed to...
06:15germinate, then growth is arrested by drying the grain in a kiln.
06:19It was...
06:20a common process, but actual evidence of Anglo-Saxon malt houses is rare.
06:25I think this is only the second one to have been excavated in the country.
06:30Not only does it tell us about the brewing process, but it also tells us...
06:35that this settlement is no ordinary settlement.
06:37It has got to be high status.
06:40We've got to be in the middle of a large, important estate.
06:44Maybe.
06:45Maybe.
06:46Even a royal estate.
06:50But this large malt house isn't the only indication that this might be the princely...
06:55estate the archaeologists are hunting for.
07:00There's another, more mysterious building emerging.
07:05It's not fair but the даже where it's named James Jankton.
07:10This is...
07:10a square building that's been cut down into the ground and what we're looking at is effectively
07:15a cellar for it. Post holes are beginning to appear in the corners and
07:20we think that we might well be looking at a tower which once again points
07:25to this being a high status site the floor is just coming through here
07:30what's amazing is it was actually a really well-made mortared floor
07:35so this is a well-made building so we've got a mortar lined cellar
07:40fantastically well preserved never seen anything like it in my 30 years of digging
07:45so
07:50It's so tempting to try and relate some of these high-status
07:55structures to Harold Godwinson himself, maybe with radiocarbon.
08:00If we're updating and further work on this, we will get there.
08:05The lighthouse and tower are indicative of a high-status site, but Jim is
08:10particularly excited by one much smaller find.
08:15This is one of my absolute favourite finds from the site.
08:20This is a piece of amber.
08:23The only reason they would...
08:25...be working this piece of amber is to turn it into some jewellery, into a bead.
08:30For a necklace or whatever.
08:32So this is a piece of jewellery in the process...
08:35...of being made, but for some reason was lost.
08:38Which is our fortune because we...
08:40...we found it over a thousand years later.
08:46We don't find pieces of amber like this.
08:48This is the real standout...
08:50...we found from this season and I will remember it for a very long time.
08:55It's...
09:00It's another small piece of evidence which alongside the Malt House and Tower...
09:05...suggest this was an important place.
09:07It could be that lost royal...
09:10...of real estate.
09:13Professor Stuart Pryor...
09:15...is investigating how a fragment of amber might have been turned into...
09:20...anglo-saxon jewellery.
09:23I'm interested in...
09:25experimental archaeology recreating how artifacts may have been made in the past.
09:30That's amazing and I've got plenty of experts.
09:35I've got plenty of experts to call upon to lend me a hand.
09:40I've invited Sue Heezer, an expert on Anglo-Saxon jewellery, to help me invest...
09:45..and investigate how the piece of amber from Holden S might have been worked.
09:50Amber is one of the glories of the Anglo-Saxons, the early Anglo-Saxons in particular.
09:55And it just makes this glorious colour.
09:57You've got an amazing collection of amber...
10:00..in front of me here. Where does it all come from?
10:03It's almost certain that most of the amber...
10:05..the amber used by the Anglo-Saxons came from the Baltic.
10:07It's the biggest area.
10:10And it's the resin of pine trees around about 35 million years ago.
10:15These trees fell, they exuded sap.
10:18And amber floats in water.
10:20And they would float ashore.
10:22And you can pick it up on the beach at North North.
10:25And you can write up the Northumbrian coast.
10:27And what a delight to pick up a piece like that.
10:30How do we turn this raw material...
10:35..into something that you'd want to wear on your necklace?
10:38You can cut it. It's quite...
10:40It's quite soft.
10:41So you can see that just with an ordinary knife, you can actually...
10:45shape it quite successfully.
10:48I then move on to...
10:50a finer...
10:51Finer file.
10:52...file.
10:53And do it again.
10:55So here it is.
10:58And you can see now...
11:00That area is now beginning to look...
11:02Shiny.
11:03Quite polished.
11:04Quite shiny.
11:05It's sort of more satin.
11:05But we want to go to a glass.
11:06OK.
11:07So one more trick up our sleeves.
11:10Charcoal dust.
11:11OK.
11:12This is very messy.
11:13You sprinkle a bit...
11:14And then you take this out.
11:15And then you get your piece of amber.
11:17And you rub it.
11:18Ooh.
11:19Ooh.
11:20Like that.
11:21Or you could use ash.
11:22Ash does it too.
11:23Wow.
11:24Once the amber is nice and shiny, the hole is drilled so that it...
11:29can be threaded onto a necklace.
11:32Doing this by hand would have been...
11:34painstaking.
11:35But Sue has experimented with another Anglo-Saxon innovation.
11:40Basically you're using a bit of ancient technology again.
11:42The Anglo-Saxons would have had bone...
11:44drills, wouldn't they?
11:45Yes.
11:46Oh yes.
11:47Quite easily done it this way.
11:48Yes.
11:49The Anglo-Saxons would have set...
11:52The Anglo-Saxons would have set...
11:53The Anglo-Saxons would have set...
11:54their amber alongside decorative glass beads.
11:57So to finish our next...
11:59exterminate necklace...
12:00Sue starts making some...
12:02tsn CMN
12:03Gallery
12:04TsnL
12:05L
12:18TsnL
12:23L
12:25TsnL
12:26L
12:27she then starts to wind the glass around the mandrill
12:32before plunging it into a pot of sand to cool
12:37right so now time
12:42to have a look and see what it's like
12:43I can't wait to see
12:45uh-huh
12:45and that's
12:47still hot right
12:48no no all fine
12:49okay
12:50yes
12:50well that is so beautiful
12:52that almost looks amber coloured doesn't it
12:54it does yes
12:55yes
12:56and there's the
12:57dark green one with the yellow wave going all around it
13:00you are so clever
13:02so now what we do is we soak them in water
13:07okay
13:07to get rid of the slip
13:08right
13:09so we pop them in there
13:10once they've soaked
13:12the slip will have dissolved away
13:13and out
13:15the bead will come off
13:16you can put it
13:16I used some plastic
13:17wires
13:17and I
13:18rubber gloves handy
13:19there
13:20hey
13:21okay
13:22and
13:23and there is your finished
13:24there's the finished bead
13:26early medieval bead
13:27거랑
13:29and
13:30there
13:30okay
13:31and
13:31to
13:32and
13:32that
13:34and
13:34that
13:36of
13:36three
13:36as
13:37and
13:38and
13:39So
13:39you
13:40and
13:40both
13:49you
13:51can
13:53with
13:54the
13:55with
13:56right
13:57that can be passed down through your family for years.
14:00These are just so beautiful.
14:02And it really brings the past and the colour of the past to life.
14:12Amen.
14:17Amen.
14:22Amen.
14:27Archaeology can help us.
14:32To write the histories of people who left little in the way of written records.
14:37People like the Picts, whose name comes from a robot.
14:42It was a human description.
14:44Picty, meaning painted ones.
14:47It was...
14:47It was a generic term used for anyone living beyond the northern border of...
14:52...of the Roman Empire in Britain.
14:55These people successfully defeated...
14:57...and defended their land against Roman invaders...
15:00...and laid the foundations for Medi...
15:02...of the medieval Scotland.
15:04And yet, they remain mysterious in Medi...
15:07...in many ways.
15:11Our next digs...
15:12...sees us travelling right up to the north into what's now Scotland...
15:16...to try...
15:17...to track down those ancient people...
15:19...the Picts.
15:20Now, they are famous...
15:22...which is actually elusive in archaeology.
15:25We often only find...
15:27...scans...
15:27...the ancient remains.
15:29But this site...
15:30...yielded...
15:31...a wealth...
15:32...of the finds.
15:35This investigation is taking...
15:37...place on East Lomond Hill...
15:39...in Fife...
15:40...just over 20 miles north...
15:42...of Edinburgh.
15:44This hill is strategically located...
15:47...and from its windswept heights...
15:48...you can see for miles across the surrounding landscape.
15:53In the Iron Age...
15:54...a hill fort was built here...
15:55...but the team are focusing on...
15:57...and evidence of its continued occupation.
16:01Into the Roman period...
16:02...and beyond.
16:07The Picts are assumed to be the descendants...
16:09...of Iron Age people...
16:10...with various Pictish kings...
16:12...vying for power...
16:13...throughout the first millennium.
16:16Up to...
16:17...on East Lomond Hill...
16:18...a team from Aberdeen University...
16:21...a lot of...
16:22...along with local volunteers...
16:24...have been working in all conditions.
16:27...and you're having a good time for you.
16:28Oh, I'm having a wonderful day.
16:30Love it!
16:31Searching...
16:32...for a Pictish settlement.
16:34Oh, look at that.
16:35We've just found a nail.
16:36Oh, wow!
16:37Really?
16:37That's the nail head.
16:38That's so cool.
16:42Most of what we know about the early Picts...
16:44...comes from what the Romans wrote...
16:46...of their military...
16:47...counters.
16:48But what's emerging here...
16:50...is precious evidence of...
16:52...a daily life...
16:53...in a Pictish settlement?
16:54I think I've found...
16:55...an incredible...
16:56I think I've found...
16:57...an incredible...
16:57...polished bead...
16:58...and it's got...
16:59...sort of incised...
17:00...design on it as well.
17:01It's complete...
17:02...absolutely stunning.
17:03It's absolutely beautiful, Jamie.
17:04Well done.
17:05Are you excited by that?
17:07It's made my year, I think.
17:10The site hasn't disappointed...
17:12...more and more evidence...
17:15...of Pictish life is emerging.
17:17Gordon Noble...
17:21...is leading...
17:22...the dig.
17:25So this site is an amazing...
17:27...vantaged point...
17:28...so we can see across...
17:29...to the Firth of Forth...
17:30...where the Romans have...
17:32...at their northernmost frontier...
17:34...and in the post-Roman period...
17:35...this would have been...
17:36...a really strict...
17:37...strategic location...
17:38...looking over to the area...
17:40...where the Northumbrians...
17:42...and the Britons occupied.
17:45It's hard to appreciate today...
17:47...in such a quiet, serene location...
17:48...but this would have been...
17:49...a really, really busy...
17:50...thriving settlement...
17:51...in this picture.
17:52So this site is really special...
17:54...and really interesting...
17:55...because we still have...
17:57...still few settlements...
17:58...from this time period...
17:59...but to have this site here...
18:00...where we've got...
18:01...dozens and...
18:02...dozens of buildings...
18:03...it's really super exciting.
18:07This is Trench 7...
18:09...our largest trench...
18:10...and we're quite...
18:12...excited about what's...
18:13...showing up here.
18:14So we've got a large...
18:15...stone foundation...
18:16...coming around here.
18:17...up this way...
18:18...and then arcing...
18:19...back around.
18:20So there seems to be...
18:21...one end of a...
18:22...very large stone building.
18:24So that's really, really exciting.
18:25And then we've got...
18:26...traces of...
18:27...peaving...
18:28...beginning to show up...
18:29...in the centre.
18:30And then just over here...
18:32...we've got the...
18:33...stone built...
18:35...fireplace.
18:36You can just see the...
18:37...carob stones here...
18:38...beginning to emerge...
18:39...and this is where...
18:40...people...
18:41...in the...
18:42...pictitious period...
18:43...would have sat around...
18:44...with their fire.
18:45We've had quite a few...
18:46...exciting finds.
18:47...beginning to show up...
18:48...in the floor layers...
18:49...of this building.
18:51Mhm.
18:52It's really unusual to uncover quite...
18:57yet so many artefacts in a Pictish site.
19:00But this dig is revealing a...
19:02a wealth of clues.
19:06And one...
19:07what you find is particularly evocative.
19:10So it's a little piece of stone.
19:12And it's one of the most exciting finds we've had on the dig so far.
19:17So we can see an eye here, a second eye, the nose...
19:22here.
19:23And what we think might be here, just represented by these little notches.
19:27at the top of the stone.
19:29So it appears to be a little face, a human face.
19:32And this came just from the floor layers inside the building here.
19:37So we can just imagine someone in the Pictish period sitting around the...
19:42the hearth inside this building.
19:44Maybe just doing a little practice piece to create this...
19:47a human-like appearance.
19:49Face of a Pict, potentially.
19:52find specialist Leanne Demey is...
19:57bringing the evidence together...
19:59and getting close to the lives of the ancient Picts.
20:02There's been lots of things coming up from this trench...
20:05and lots of evidence of...
20:07domestic activities.
20:08This is just one of many game encounters we have from the site.
20:12They come in all different shapes and sizes.
20:14Some have been intentionally shaped, just like this one.
20:17here.
20:18Others are just more like polished pebbles.
20:20We have some really lovely polished...
20:22foam balls as well.
20:23So it's just given us an idea that in their leisure time...
20:26they're sitting beside...
20:27at the hearth, they're playing games.
20:31This is possibly...
20:32the star find from this year.
20:35So this is an Ibex-headed pin.
20:37It's really rare.
20:38And it's possibly only the second one we know from Scotland.
20:41And it would have been...
20:42worn to fasten a garment.
20:45Somebody's prayed and joy, I'm sure.
20:47We're...
20:52Site directors Gordon Noble and Joe Fitzpatrick
20:57have brought more of their impressive pictish finds to the tent.
21:02So I can get a closer look.
21:06Oh wow.
21:07This site is incredible, isn't it?
21:09I mean, I'm so excited to see these finds.
21:11It is.
21:12I've been in search of the picts again, which is what I expect.
21:15Yeah, this is a wonderful...
21:17It's a wonderful site, a wonderful range of finds that really tell us everything from...
21:22the domestic life of the picts through to warfare.
21:27Geeming and dress accessories.
21:30So what have we got there?
21:31What's that?
21:32Yeah.
21:32So...
21:33That's pretty special.
21:34This is in two pieces.
21:36So...
21:37One of the students found this bottom bit of a pin.
21:40Yeah.
21:41And two days later, one of our local...
21:42co-volunteers, Mike, found the top part.
21:45And hey Presto, it's one premise.
21:47The dress pin.
21:48And actually, the detail on that top is quite...
21:52Incredible.
21:53Let's have a look at that now.
21:54And you can only see it close up.
21:55Oh wow.
21:56Oh wow.
21:57That is lovely.
21:58Is it copper alloy?
22:00No, it's silver.
22:01It's silver.
22:02Silver.
22:03Silver objects in sight which tells you a bit about the wealth of the...
22:07people who are living there.
22:08Oh my goodness.
22:09They have these objects and they lose them and you know...
22:12they don't spend that much time actually recovering them.
22:15But these are incredibly rare.
22:17I mean there's only a few handful of these silver pins known and they're usually from Horde.
22:22Right.
22:23So to actually find them in a settlement site again shows you just how important...
22:27the site is.
22:28Right.
22:29Tell me about this metal work then.
22:30It's from a really well sealed...
22:32context from the floor layer of a probably 6th, 7th century building...
22:36Really?
22:37...in the next few...
22:37a few other objects and we've got no parallels from Scotland on this time period.
22:42Yeah.
22:43So probably largely an agricultural tool, a construction...
22:47tool but you know maybe a weapon as well.
22:49You could do someone some damage with it.
22:50You certainly could.
22:51Yeah.
22:52With the weight of that you could do something.
22:53Yeah.
22:54Yeah.
22:55What is that?
22:56It looks like a door knob.
22:57Well...
22:58It's funny you just say that because it's called a door knob...
23:02a spear butt and these are iconic artifacts of this time period.
23:07So again it does literally look like a door knob.
23:10But it's the bottom of a spear?
23:11The bottom of a spear.
23:12And it's got a real weight to it.
23:13And it's also hollow but it has been used.
23:16We found traces...
23:17as a wood.
23:18So when does this date to?
23:19Do we know?
23:20Probably the 3rd, 4th century.
23:21So it's in that kind of late...
23:22Roman phase.
23:23Yeah.
23:24And the Romans were causing some trouble.
23:25Oh yes.
23:26Absolutely.
23:27This site seems to emerge in the kind of mid 3rd century.
23:30Just you know a generation or so.
23:32before that first mention of the picks.
23:35So it could be a kind of centralized...
23:37settlement that's emerging after that kind of Roman...
23:40military influence begins to wave...
23:42Yeah.
23:43This kind of northern frontier.
23:44Yeah.
23:45But it happens again doesn't it?
23:46It keeps on happening.
23:47Yeah.
23:48I mean there are...
23:49The Ravens keep thinking we need to go and sort this out.
23:50Yeah.
23:51Absolutely.
23:52And the picks...
23:52Yeah.
23:53I mean there are still campaigns mentioned into the 4th century.
23:55Yeah.
23:56And the picks are there.
23:57You know the real enemies by that time period.
24:00But essentially because the Romans actually...
24:02mentioned the Caledoni which are the kind of predecessors of the picks having...
24:07spheres with these kind of spheres at the base.
24:09Do they?
24:10And they rattle during...
24:12battles.
24:13But it is a hollow object.
24:14Do you think they're beating their shields at them?
24:16They're putting things in...
24:17Yeah.
24:18They're making a noise.
24:19So you can imagine lots of these.
24:20Shhh shhh shhh shhh.
24:22Yeah.
24:23You can't see them.
24:24But you know they're coming.
24:25But you could hit it on your shield as well.
24:26Yeah.
24:27Yeah.
24:27It's like psychological warfare wasn't it?
24:28Yeah.
24:29Yeah.
24:30Adding some noise to the battlefield.
24:32So it is this mysterious period of time where you don't have much in the way of written records.
24:37But now we're getting more and more archaeological evidence of these.
24:42People are getting closer to the Pictish kings.
24:47And now we're getting closer to the Pictish kings.
24:52And now we're getting closer to the Pictish kings.
24:57And now we're getting closer to the Pictish kings.
25:02And now we're getting closer to the Pictish kings.
25:07Archaeology shows
25:12us how our ancestors adapted to these lands.
25:17Thriving in the harsh windswept uplands of the North East.
25:22And making the most of the fertile lowlands.
25:27¶¶
25:32as one community certainly did on the banks of the River Tay in East
25:37and Scotland home to the tumbling ruins
25:42of Lindor's Abbey
25:47this was a centre of faith
25:52but also a thriving agricultural and industrial landscape
25:57in the medieval period
26:02Dr Tori Herridge is finding out more
26:07when we think of medieval monks
26:11we often
26:12picture men of quiet devotion
26:14faith, simplicity
26:15perhaps a bit of chanting
26:17cut off though from the outside world
26:19but within these ivy clad
26:22walls lies a very different story
26:24the monks of Lindor's Abbey
26:26were no ordinary
26:27holy men
26:32in 1494 the monastery entered the history books
26:36when
26:37friar John Corr was listed in tax records as a maker of aqua vitae
26:42it's the first written record of whisky making in Scotland
26:47the men here were tyrannensian monks
26:51and unlike
26:52many other religious orders
26:53they believe that hard work cleansed the soul
26:57now archaeologists are looking for the evidence that the medieval monks here were
27:01for
27:02war runners
27:03of the whisky trade
27:04trench supervisor
27:06Zan Wojci
27:07is excavating down to the medieval layers
27:10hey
27:11hello
27:12what cool is this?
27:13ah so this
27:14is
27:15a
27:16coin
27:17so hopefully
27:17when we pull this out
27:18we can get a date
27:19on when potentially this was built
27:20and what layer we're at
27:22so you'd be happy with the 14th century
27:24yeah that's our hope
27:25is it fragile?
27:26it's very fragile
27:27hence why I'm wearing gloves here
27:29oil from the human skin can affect copper
27:32oil
27:33so we're going to try to take it out without touching it with our hands
27:37it's coming
27:39it's coming
27:42and then here we go
27:43okay
27:44if we can get that clay off
27:46it should give us a
27:47better face than this guy
27:48and then we just slowly
27:50put it in
27:52into our bag here
27:53the coin was confirmed to be from the rain
27:57of James the third
27:58who ruled Scotland in the late 15th century
28:01shortly before
28:02that first written mention
28:04of the monks making whiskey
28:07the tyrannensians were known to be astute businessmen
28:12involved in trade and commerce
28:14well we found some very very interesting pieces
28:17site director Alison Beach is talking me through the evidence
28:22so this is an object that is probably
28:27from the 12th or the 13th century
28:29oh wow a lot older
28:30a lot older
28:31and if I wanted to
28:32to make a wild interpretation
28:34maybe a little bit of evidence that this room had been used
28:37for business even earlier
28:39if it's a short cross coin
28:40they should say
28:41Henrico
28:42rex on it
28:43because all proper short cross coins have that inscription
28:46Henrique is rex
28:47being
28:48King Henry the first
28:49so that gives us nice dating
28:51it has to come
28:52after the very end of the 12th century
28:55so as we've gone down in that
28:57nice trench behind us
28:58we found continued evidence of the monastery
29:02the monastery's involvement in commerce
29:04or at least in accounting
29:05the monastery is business
29:06the monastery is business
29:07the monastery is business
29:07these are always big business
29:08and so we know from 15th century documents
29:10that the monks here were in
29:12engaging really actively on a large scale
29:15in distilled spirits
29:17whilst evidence that the monks were trading is a murder
29:22and emerging
29:23the evidence for whiskey making itself
29:25is still scarce
29:27so
29:29archaeologist Darlene Brooks-Hedstrom
29:31has unearthed
29:32an intriguing find
29:35hello
29:36hiya
29:37this
29:38looks
29:39cool
29:40it is
29:41this
29:42is
29:42is
29:43a
29:44barrel band
29:45and we've spent the morning exposing it
29:47and
29:48it's
29:49it's complete
29:50yeah it is complete
29:51that's the barrel
29:52well
29:52okay that's not there
29:53unfortunately
29:54that's not there
29:55so
29:56it's a
29:57it's a
29:57it's just one band
29:58around
29:59so far
30:00more than one
30:01so far
30:02so maybe
30:02as we
30:03we go down below
30:04we might have other ones
30:05it's very odd to just have one band
30:07so
30:07maybe there's more underneath the deposit
30:09is it fragile
30:10is it gonna come out in one piece
30:11I think it's
30:12it's gonna come out in one piece
30:13we've worked pretty carefully with it
30:17oh
30:18oh
30:20oh
30:21oh
30:27You did it!
30:32You need to pick a tray.
30:36We are.
30:37You're going to need a bigger tray.
30:38There we go.
30:39There we go.
30:40The first barrel bag.
30:42It is the first barrel bag.
30:43It is.
30:44It is.
30:45Hopefully not the last.
30:47Hopefully not the last.
30:48So then we'll go down and maybe we'll find some more, which I hope we will.
30:52It is.
30:53It is.
30:54It is.
30:55It is.
30:56It is.
30:57It is.
30:58It is.
30:59It is.
31:00It is.
31:01It is.
31:02It is.
31:03It is.
31:04It is.
31:05It is.
31:07It is.
31:08It is.
31:09It is.
31:10It is.
31:11It is.
31:12It is.
31:13It is.
31:14It is.
31:15It is.
31:16It is.
31:17It is.
31:18It is.
31:19It is.
31:20It is.
31:21It is.
31:22It is.
31:23It is.
31:24It is.
31:25It is.
31:26It is.
31:27It is.
31:28It is.
31:29It is.
31:30It is.
31:31It is.
31:32It is.
31:33It is.
31:34It is.
31:35It is.
31:36It is.
31:37It is.
31:38It is.
31:39It is.
31:40It is.
31:41It is.
31:42It is.
31:43It is.
31:44It is.
31:45He said we were landlocked and stuck to the ground
31:50Guess they never heard of her swingin'
31:55He said we're landlocked
32:00Across the northeast and beyond, archaeology is transforming
32:05The way we understand the past
32:10Every find adds to an increasingly detailed picture
32:15Finding an archaeological artefact is only ever the beginning
32:20Because then we have to work out how to look after it, how to curate it
32:25How to conserve it, to make it accessible to the public and for future research
32:30But with decades of archaeological discoveries piling up
32:35Museums have reached a crisis point
32:40And archaeologist Meg Russell is looking at a bold new project
32:43Tackling this challenge
32:45Across the country, about 60...
32:5025% of local museums have declared themselves full
32:53And Gloucester Museums
32:55is one of them.
33:00Curator Lizzie Johansson-Hart
33:05hasn't been able to accept any new items for over three years.
33:15Wow, literally boxes to the ceiling in here.
33:20Is everything that we're looking at formally catalogued?
33:23In the 160 years of the museum,
33:25we've never had a full inventory of everything.
33:28We don't often know exactly what is.
33:30In every single box, so that is what we need to do.
33:33And how does it get...
33:35When we get to this state, how are we here?
33:37There are hundreds of boxes being found.
33:40Through commercial development and archaeology.
33:42And in planning law, it says that they have to...
33:45to go somewhere publicly accessible.
33:47About 40 years ago, everyone went museums.
33:50But actually, we don't have the space or funding
33:52to be able to continue accepting in perpetuity.
33:55There's got to be a limit somewhere.
34:00How much material do you have here?
34:03We're talking over $750,000.
34:05We're talking about the objects as a whole.
34:06And the boxes falling apart.
34:08Unfortunately...
34:10Some of them are full to the brim and overflowing.
34:12Others are half full and some of them have one...
34:15tiny little shard of pottery inside them.
34:17And it's a massive box.
34:18So the use of space...
34:20isn't great.
34:21.
34:22.
34:25If museums are unable to accept more archaeological material...
34:28.
34:29.
34:30.
34:31.
34:32.
34:33.
34:34.
34:35.
34:36.
34:37.
34:38.
34:39.
34:40.
34:41.
34:42.
34:43.
34:44.
34:45.
34:46.
34:47.
34:48.
34:49.
34:50.
34:51.
34:52.
34:53.
34:54.
34:30.
34:31.
34:35.
34:36.
34:35.
34:40.
34:41.
34:40.
34:41.
34:42.
34:43.
34:44.
34:45.
34:46.
34:47.
34:48.
34:49.
34:50.
34:51.
34:52.
34:53.
34:54has begun.
34:56Lizzie has enlisted an army of volunteers.
34:59Who are painstakingly repacking every item.
35:04I didn't expect there to be this much stuff like I've never seen so many finds in one place.
35:09These boxes are from 1969 and we do find things.
35:14From 1969 like newspapers that we always give a read through.
35:18And so they are just.
35:19Yeah they're nuggets of history and you're understanding the archaeologists that.
35:24And they put them there in the first place.
35:29I'm currently on summer break from uni where I study archaeology.
35:34And wanted to get some practical work.
35:37And it's not very often that you get an offer.
35:39Opportunity to see the archival side of things.
35:42Yeah well it's building responsibility.
35:44You're an accessible archaeologist.
35:45Because you're understanding what you are excavating.
35:49What's going to happen to it.
35:50And you know we're not just treasure hunting.
35:52We're wanting to understand the art.
35:54How many people with archive.
35:55How many people with archives.
35:56How many things.
35:59How many things.
36:01How many things.
36:02How many things.
36:19How many love you Momentoei.
35:59The sorting process isn't just helping the museum rediscover and catalogue priceless
36:03artists.
36:04It's also benefiting the volunteers.
36:09What is the point for you to be a part of this project?
36:11What does it mean to you?
36:12I've come back home to Gloucester after a long, long time.
36:14And it feels like it's being part of a community and understanding my roots.
36:19It's somebody that grew up here, so it's just lovely.
36:24From a very young age, I really liked history.
36:27I've just got a really...
36:29I've got a really good mind for remembering things.
36:31And since leaving college, no one would give a...
36:34Give me a chance to work.
36:36And then I came here with my mum and they were happy to have me.
36:39And I've been going ever since.
36:40So coming here has given me the chance to prove my...
36:44myself to people.
36:45And it shows that I'm dedicated to this process because I've been going for such a long time.
36:49I'm sure one day you'll be able to go into a museum and say, that was one bit that I...
36:54Bye-bye to myself.
36:55Mm-hmm.
36:56And how...
36:59How does this help long term with your storage?
37:02We believe that we are going to be...
37:04hitting about a 50% space saving of boxes by the end of the project.
37:08Wow.
37:0950%.
37:10That would be brilliant.
37:13Across the UK...
37:14Today, archaeological material is piling up and with nowhere to go, it's a challenge.
37:19That we can no longer ignore.
37:21But Gloucester are proving that the...
37:24answer is not just more shelves.
37:26It's about rethinking the system involving community.
37:29And treating stored collections, not as a burden, but as a vital resource for the...
37:34future of archaeology.
37:39So...
37:40...
37:41...
37:42...
37:44At the edge of time
37:49The silent cry
37:54When they blocked off the road
37:59Nowhere to go
38:04The landscape of the North East
38:08Is
38:09Traces of an earlier way of life
38:14From patterns of farming
38:16To burial mines
38:18And ancient monuments
38:19Music
38:24Archaeology can be wonderfully democratising.
38:29You can look at the lives of kings and queens, the nobility, the so...
38:34social elite, but we can also see ordinary people.
38:39In the past, our next dig takes us...
38:44to move back into prehistory, to meet a community in the uplands that...
38:49battle the border between England and Scotland.
38:54In the Cheviot Hills.
38:57These hills were created...
38:59by volcanic activity some 400 million years ago.
39:04The igneous rocks here include granite and tuff,
39:07as well as a fine-grained...
39:09rock called Felsite.
39:11And the red Felsite here is quite special.
39:14It's perhaps most recognisable as the red surface of the Mao.
39:19leading up to Buckingham Palace.
39:24Felsite has been extracted from this quarry for more than 80 years.
39:29and there are plans to expand.
39:32Before that can happen...
39:34a team of archaeologists is investigating the site.
39:38Finding...
39:39evidence going back 4,000 years...
39:41evidence going back 4,000 years.
39:44Essence going back 7,000 years.
39:46To the Bronze Age.
39:47To the Bronze Age.
39:48Brought to my
39:49The archaeologists have been working on
39:54this hillside for 17 years, uncovering traces of prehistoric settlements.
39:59The discoveries include a Bronze Age
40:04monument called a Ring Cairn.
40:09The archaeologist Clive Waddington is leading the dig.
40:13You can see it's...
40:14There's a particular shape and there's a very rough kerb
40:17and this is the original entrance.
40:19So you would have entered in, in this direction.
40:23What we've got here...
40:24Here is a pit.
40:25This is just inside the entrance
40:27and there was some burnt human bone just to the side.
40:29of it here.
40:30And we think this is a threshold deposit.
40:32So when people come in to...
40:34ceremonial monuments or religious monuments,
40:37they pass through in...
40:39into the world of the spirits, the world beyond.
40:44We'd pass over the threshold deposit.
40:47And you can see there's quite...
40:49a large pit here.
40:50And although we didn't find any human remains in it...
40:54we did find this Flint tool.
40:56And of course, Flint's very hard.
40:58It's non-perishable.
40:59And it looked like it was chipped yesterday.
41:03I think what...
41:04what we're learning from this archaeology
41:06is that people are moving into these uplands.
41:09They're investing a huge amount of time and energy and labour.
41:14And I think what that's reflecting is...
41:16social stability, but also...
41:18probably quite...
41:19quite a wealthy population.
41:20They're investing a lot in the landscape and for the long term.
41:24trying to access it can get to this.
41:25Now, for almost none...
41:29Okay, we'll pop it on there.
41:33Just 20 minutes.
41:34Three metres from the ring cairn, Clive and his team find more evidence.
41:39This time in the form of pottery.
41:49This pot's a puzzle at the moment.
41:51It's very coarse.
41:53It doesn't appear...
41:54It's not here to be decorated, but it's substantial.
41:56I suspect it could be...
41:58It could be some kind of urn and they're usually associated...
42:03...with burials.
42:03They often contain cremations.
42:05Yeah.
42:09So...
42:10There's some bone fragments coming through now, sort of below the pot, which...
42:15means it does look like it's containing a cremation.
42:20Yep, that's bone.
42:23We've got another cremation gun...
42:24The remains of these people...
42:29...have lain here for 4,000 years.
42:32And it's quite amazing, really, to be able to...
42:34...touch the past, you know, in such a personal way.
42:37Clive captured the moment...
42:42...that he and his team had been waiting for.
42:44What's going on?
42:49What's going on?
42:49To...
42:50To...
42:50To...
42:51To...
42:51To...
42:55To...
42:54Oh, he's got a look. Oh, wow. Definitely information
42:59standing there. You get the camera.
43:04There was two cremations in that one, one above the other, and the beautiful...
43:09the pot, the complete pot, is out of that far pit.
43:14Clive has brought that extraordinarily...
43:19the complete cremation urn to the tent.
43:24Look at this incredible urn.
43:26That's completely intact, isn't it?
43:28Yeah, that is...
43:29pretty much how it came out the ground, except it was inverted,
43:31so it was the other way round. But it was incredible.
43:34It's perfectly well preserved. It's about 4,000 years old.
43:36You can see it's decorated. It's got this cord in...
43:39pressed decoration that's been twisted.
43:41Is it just a piece of string, or is it on a stick?
43:43I think it's...
43:44probably wrapped around a stick, and then they pressed it in.
43:47So, we've got some of the human remains.
43:49How many individuals are in there?
43:51One, I'm afraid.
43:52Have you done everything you need to do?
43:54It doesn't matter...
43:54Once you touch them.
43:55Okay. I mean, there's no DNA anyway, is there?
43:57Because it's cremated.
43:58It's cremated.
43:59Yeah.
44:00Okay, so it's a ball and socket joint. It's part of the ball.
44:03And it's small.
44:04And it's got a fovea, so it's the femur.
44:07That's quite small.
44:09Mmm.
44:10So, we think this is probably a teenager.
44:12Yeah.
44:13A young teenager.
44:14It's unfused.
44:14So, the cartilage plate would have been there still.
44:17So, yeah, it's definitely a youngster.
44:19And this is what I like about cremations.
44:21You've only got small pieces, but you can still tell something.
44:24On these remains here, you can probably see little bits of green...
44:29on them, which suggests there was some copper in there.
44:32This is a piece of scum.
44:34Oh!
44:35And there's a little green spot just there.
44:37Yeah.
44:38Probably from some copper...
44:39that was an object that was on the burial.
44:40Yeah.
44:41And, you know, during the cremation process, it may have burnt away.
44:44or got lost in a funeral pyre.
44:46Yeah.
44:47But I think what it suggests is that the individual...
44:49people had some kind of amulet or ornamentation...
44:52to help them on their journey in the afterlife.
44:53Yeah.
44:54Maybe almost a magical item.
44:56Yeah.
44:57It's the sort of ghost of an object, isn't it?
44:59Yeah.
44:59Yeah.
45:00I'm intrigued by this.
45:01You've got a young person buried in what we could say...
45:04is a fairly high-status burial context in this beautiful urn.
45:09Is this pushing it too far?
45:10But does it suggest that this young person was somebody in...
45:14important, had relatively high status?
45:16And that if it's a young person with high status, that must...
45:19be inherited, surely?
45:20They haven't earned it yet, I presume?
45:22I...
45:23Well, I think you're probably...
45:24going on with that.
45:25But also, I think it's just showing the extent to which...
45:27you know, parents want to...
45:29to ensure that their children...
45:31that they give them the maximum protection and help in their...
45:34their journey into the afterlife.
45:35Yeah.
45:39Only radio.
45:40Just to make a shift show in town.
45:42Playing out the...
45:43I...
45:44you've got a는데요.
45:45... sometimes, the most unfound.
45:47The all who left it.
45:48Just to make it all the time they passed.
45:49I've listened to your time with Ray Aranye.
45:50A wonderfulcontrol.
45:51Having fang buzz to let me know we can go where the god was.
45:52Sorry.
45:53This year is a mini-like sen Tschalupun اlyper.
45:54This year is not when I could put my child to therix.
45:55It's time game...
45:56For these days...
45:57It's time you were going to take a row to...
45:58...this year's birthday.
45:59It's time you were going to belaud zum...
46:01By explore.
46:03It's time got the rest of the通ingеры.
46:04the northeast of Britain was a focus for heavy industry.
46:09Including steelworking and shipbuilding.
46:14But it turns out that the industrial routes here go much deeper.
46:19On the banks of the River Weir in Sunderland,
46:24the places of an unexpected past are emerging.
46:29Tory is following the winding riverbanks in search of a forgotten...
46:34...industry.
46:37Going back nearly 2000...
46:39...to the Roman period.
46:44...
46:49...
46:49Peace.
46:54These unassuming riverbanks have been overlooked by archaeologists for centuries.
46:58They're secret.
46:59They're hidden in mud and silt.
47:01But now, thanks to the local community, an extraordinary...
47:04...new site is being uncovered.
47:09And it all started with a series of mysterious stones.
47:14Found on the riverbank.
47:16Hey, Gary!
47:18Archaeologists...
47:19...Gary Bankhead has long suspected that the Romans occupied this area.
47:24And now he thinks he's found the evidence.
47:29What is so special about this place?
47:31Yeah, well, apart from being beautiful, it's these objects.
47:34And this one's literally just been found.
47:36It's a Romano-British period whetstone.
47:39That's wet with an H, right?
47:40It is.
47:41Wet for sharpening blades, yeah?
47:42So every farmstay...
47:44Every bed, every villa, every military complex.
47:46Every Roman fort is going to have a lot of blades to be sharpened.
47:49Absolutely.
47:50So what is so interesting and important about, you know, a Roman whetstone?
47:54Well, by itself, very little.
47:56However, this foreshore is littered with...
47:59Many, many, many more.
48:00And they are all over the place.
48:01There's one.
48:02Okay.
48:03There's a double one.
48:04There's another single one.
48:04Hundreds.
48:05Literally hundreds.
48:06How many?
48:07When you say hundreds, how many?
48:08765.
48:09So that one there is the 765th whetstone that we found here, which is incredible.
48:14That's a small number.
48:15How does that compare to other sites?
48:16Of the known whetstones found in the British...
48:19If you're a child, you can probably total about 350.
48:22Across the whole country?
48:23Yep.
48:24Yep.
48:24Okay, that is big.
48:25That's a lot, right?
48:26So what does that tell you?
48:27We're pretty sure we've stumbled upon...
48:29a Romano British whetstone production site.
48:31Across the river, that's sandstone rock out.
48:34The sandstone crop is where we believe they were being manufactured.
48:36The quality of the sandstone itself, it has to be...
48:39The amount of quartz in there, and probably feldspar as well, that just lends itself to being...
48:44The perfect material to sharpen bladed weapons and tools.
48:48These ones...
48:49are the broken ones.
48:50So the second they drop on the floor and snap in half, they are...
48:54They're useless.
48:55So these are all the discards effectively from what must have been a much larger...
48:59opportunity then.
49:00So if you're throwing away these ones, you must have plenty of other ones to send off
49:03in good nick.
49:04That's right.
49:04And we believe that because of this location in the river, seagoing vessels would have...
49:09been coming up the northeast coast during the Roman period.
49:12But this landing area that seems...
49:14seems to be where seagoing vessels could reach at low water.
49:18They would then be...
49:19be an exchange of goods.
49:20And these would be shipped perhaps down to London where they would be traded.
49:24across the Roman Empire.
49:25What is it then that you're hoping to find?
49:27You've got all the whetstones.
49:28You...
49:29Why are you here now?
49:30What are you digging for?
49:31You need to find the whetstones being produced in situ.
49:34in a context that we can sort of date and that will inform whether or not it's Romano.
49:39British.
49:40Yeah.
49:41If there was a massive factory here producing these whetstones in Roman Britain...
49:44it should have left its mark and that's what you're looking for.
49:47This has to be the missing piece of the jigsaw.
49:49If Gary and his team are to...
49:53If Gary and his team are to...
49:54to prove this was a Roman whetstone production site...
49:57they'll need to find other signs.
49:59of Roman activity.
50:00So archaeologists from Durham University...
50:04along with local volunteers...
50:05have dug trenches along the river banks.
50:09But they're at the mercy of the tides...
50:11and can only dig four days every month.
50:14So I'm lending Orla a hand in the trenches...
50:17before the tide comes...
50:19back in.
50:20Who does?
50:22Who does?
50:23Yeah, exactly. What's that?
50:28It's like ceramic to me, isn't it? Yeah.
50:31It's very thick.
50:33Gary? Yeah?
50:35I promise we didn't fix it, but...
50:38Aura's just uncovered this.
50:40Wow.
50:41She just said we need a bit of pottery.
50:43And then this turned up.
50:44Yeah, wow. Look at that. Look at the curve. Look at the angle.
50:48We have so little data and evidence. This is fantastic. Thanks.
50:51Well done, Aura.
50:52Yeah, good job.
50:53But it's not just on the river bank that the team...
50:58...are finding evidence of Roman industry.
51:02Down on the...
51:03...foreshore, they are discovering ancient stone anchors. Suggesting that...
51:08...this place was a stopping point for boats.
51:11Yes!
51:13What's going on?
51:14I'll get this from you.
51:17Having already...
51:18...found a surprising number of anchors at this spot. Gary and his team have...
51:23...experienced divers...
51:25...are extending their search...
51:27...deeper.
51:28...into the river.
51:32And for that...
51:33...I've got to kit up...
51:34...myself.
51:37Really exciting.
51:38One moment.
51:39We had a prearranged signal with the two...
51:41...divers who have gone in.
51:42And a boy...
51:43...he has popped up.
51:44And they were instructed...
51:45...if they found something significant...
51:47...almost...
51:48...certainly an anchor.
51:49That's what they were briefed to search for.
51:51Pop up a boy...
51:52...and let me know.
51:53...and I will go across...
51:54...and examine it.
51:55So what is the significance...
51:56...of these stone anchors?
51:57How many have you found?
51:58To date we found 10.
51:59And that is an incredible amount.
52:00That's double...
52:01...anything that's being found.
52:03...in the whole of Europe.
52:04So in themselves...
52:05...they are incredibly important.
52:07This...
52:08...I would represent the 11th.
52:09And I can't wait to find out.
52:11Okay.
52:12I've got coms on.
52:13So if you want...
52:14...I can give you an update...
52:15...as we're going.
52:16I can guide you through the discovery.
52:18Yes.
52:22Gary is actually...
52:23...connected...
52:24...to the shore...
52:25...via a cable...
52:26...where I can actually listen in.
52:27But it's a little bit...
52:28...but it's really like...
52:29...having him on a tether.
52:33All right.
52:34Here we go.
52:39It's quite hard to hear Gary.
52:40It's a slightly distorted lime.
52:42Oh!
52:43It's not.
52:44Oh!
52:45He said...
52:46He just said it looks like an anchor...
52:47...but it's not.
52:48He said...
52:49He said...
52:53There's three divers out there.
52:54You can just see their bubbles...
52:55...all homing in onto that buoy.
52:58There's three divers out there.
52:59No!
53:00No!
53:01No!
53:02No!
53:03No!
53:03We just said wow
53:08Exactly what I hoped it was
53:10Yes
53:12I'm gonna
53:13Stored anchor
53:15Ancient anchor
53:17You got
53:18Something
53:20Yeah
53:21Oh my gosh
53:22Can you see that?
53:23Look at this
53:28Yes
53:29How heavy is it?
53:30I reckon you could probably do it
53:32I got it
53:33You got it?
53:34Sure?
53:35Yes
53:36Okay, cool
53:37Woo
53:38I mean this could be 2,000 years old
53:41I mean look at that
53:43How does this compare then to the other ones you found?
53:46It's shape, it's size, it's
53:48To form that single large hole
53:50The chisel marks, the tool marks
53:52It's almost identical
53:53Yeah, it's pretty hefty
53:54That's for sure
53:55Shall I wake it up while you get yourself out?
53:57That'd be great
53:58Okay
53:58Let's do that
53:59Take care of that mud
54:00Yes
54:03The stone anchors like this have been in years
54:06The stone anchors like this have been in years
54:08Since when?
54:09The Bronze Age, right?
54:10Earlier?
54:11Probably earlier, yes
54:12Probably earlier, right?
54:13So it's probably
54:13It's on its own quite hard to date
54:15By themselves, these have the form of a bronze age
54:18Anchor
54:19The typology suggests they are late bronze age
54:21And that would be, you know, wonderful
54:23But it's sitting in amongst all of these wet stones
54:26And the two have to be linked
54:28It just speaks of this industry
54:30This huge production site of Roman period
54:33The red stones
54:34This perfect mix of everything coming together
54:36There would have been ample manpower
54:38We have Hadrian's Wall
54:39Only 20 miles to the north
54:41With the Roman forts
54:43There's sufficient wet stones made at this location
54:46To serve the entire
54:48Roman Empire
54:49And that's no exaggeration
54:50Of course the Romans had to have been here
54:52Yeah
54:53But you know
54:53You can speculate all you like
54:54But until you find the evidence
54:55Yes
54:56For it
54:57Then it's just a spec
54:58Absolutely
54:59Absolutely
55:00So it wasn't until we dug Trench 1
55:01Our 1am was to find
55:03Roman material culture
55:04And right at the very bottom
55:06After we've gone through all of the layers
55:08Of previous history
55:09Did we find our very first coin
55:11Our Roman period coin
55:13Look what Charlie's just found
55:15Well pleased with that
55:17You will be mate
55:18That's brilliant
55:19Guys
55:20We've officially got our very first Roman
55:23To find
55:24Look at that
55:25And there it is there
55:26And there it is there
55:28It's an A3 coin
55:29So a bronze coin
55:30And it has Emperor Valens on
55:32Which probably
55:33Did it about A340
55:34Okay
55:35So a 4th century coin
55:36See that is definitive
55:37You can't
55:38You can't argue with that
55:39Can you
55:40It's like the Romans were here
55:41Yes
55:42A gorgeous little find
55:43Yeah
55:48You can't
55:49I can't
55:50You can't
55:53So this was a very interesting story.
55:58And you got right stuck in.
56:01This was brilliant.
56:03How did that come to light?
56:05How did they know that there was archaeology?
56:06So this is a really interesting...
56:08The local archaeology group were convinced that there was a Roman bridge.
56:13In the area.
56:14Did not find the bridge but they spotted these...
56:18...rather unusual rectangular stones.
56:21And these weren't known of before?
56:23No one had bothered looking.
56:24Very quickly became clear that what they had here was something that was...
56:28...is completely out of the ordinary.
56:29And so you know a whetstone is a really fundamental tool.
56:33If you are using iron knives you have to sharpen them.
56:36And here they had not just one but...
56:38...several and not just finished whetstones in every single stage of the production.
56:43It's quite exciting.
56:44It's always like the beginning of an investigation.
56:46A new discovery as it's emerged.
56:48Yeah.
56:49And that's just it.
56:50This is a very, very new story.
56:51There's definitely an interesting question to ask.
56:53What is the answer here?
56:54And I think it's exciting to tap into that at an early stage.
56:58In the investigation where it's been recognised that there is a focus of activity on the riverbank.
57:03There's something going on with the vessels in the river as well with all these stone anchors there as well.
57:07There's definitely a...
57:08There's a bigger story here.
57:09Yeah.
57:10Exactly.
57:11And I think also just like you know the whetstones in general...
57:13...deserve more attention.
57:14People get fixated on the kind of fancy pots.
57:17But it's a wet...
57:18...that is the fundamental tool in your talking.
57:20You cannot run an Iron Age industry.
57:23You cannot keep an Iron Age army, a Roman army...
57:26Yeah.
57:27...going without...
57:28...something that sharpens your blade.
57:30And I think that's...
57:31That's it to me.
57:32Like it's literally like...
57:33You're convincing me.
57:34It's all about the stone industries in the British Isles as well as I'm concerned.
57:38Ha ha ha!
57:39Ha ha!
57:40Ha ha!
57:41Ha ha!
57:42Ha ha!
57:43Ha ha!
57:44Ha ha!
57:45Ha ha!
57:46Ha ha!
57:47Ha ha!
57:48Ha ha!
57:49Ha ha!
57:50Ha ha!
57:51Ha ha!
57:52Ha ha!
57:53Ha ha!
57:54It does not look like it's 2,000 odd years old.
57:56No.
57:57Archaeologists...
57:58...to cover a mysterious mass grave.
58:01We're dealing with a very...
58:03traumatic event.
58:04And we journey back 300 million years.
58:08This stuff was already fossilized by the time dinosaurs were walking around.
58:11To uncover a lost preh...
58:13historic world that helped forge Britain's industrial past.
58:17Such exquisite...
58:18Is it detailed?
58:19Yep.
58:20And I'm in search for you to search...
58:23Every new life delivers a new drama.
58:25A current series of...
58:26Called The Midwife.
58:27So far...
58:28To watch now on BBC iPlayer.
58:30With secrets that many wanted to keep buried...
58:33Assume nothing.
58:34The Storm 1 spy ring is on sounds.
58:36Listen now.
58:37You know...
58:38Six survivors heard...
58:39And defenders exposed...
58:41By the cold case investigators...
58:43It's time to lay us dead out in the sun...
58:44It's time to lay us dead out in the sun...
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