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Digging for Britain - Season 13 - Episode 06: A Cornish Legend and an Ancient Wishing Well
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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.
02:30There's nothing there is.
02:31There's something there knows where being bilgeist is located in Rome.
02:50It's all very real.
02:50And it's always worked out.
02:50And it's always worked out.
02:51It's always worked out.
02:58It's always worked out.
02:58our most dramatic stretches of coastline places that were once connected into ancient trade routes
03:09linking britain across the seas with the wider world
03:17for our first dig tori heads to the cornish coast to st michael's mount three miles east of penzance
03:32this island has been a medieval monastery a norman fortress and the site of a civil war siege
03:43but long before it became a symbol of faith or power some archaeologists think it may have played
03:49a very different role as a vital hub in an ancient trading network of tin a resource
03:57that fueled the bronze age
04:05tin ore is the crucial material ancient metal workers refined to create tin which when mixed
04:13with soft copper creates bronze a 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 but the true location of one
04:32of the main centers where this all was processed and traded remains a mystery
04:39for years people have claimed that st michael's mount is the lost island ictus the legendary
04:46trading hub for tin in the ancient world it all hinges on the writings of pythius an ancient greek explorer
04:53who visited britain in around 320 bc he wrote of locals carting tin across to an island called ictus
05:02over a sandbar that appeared at low tide and the similarities with this island are uncanny
05:19now in the first research excavation ever carried out on the island a team from durham university
05:25and the national trust is investigating what role saint michael's mount may have played
05:30in the cornish tin trade in particular they're looking for evidence that tin ore was processed
05:37refined into tin ingots and then traded here during the bronze age leading the dig is archaeologist ben
05:45roberts what was it that was so special about cornish tin cornish tin was prized because of its purity
05:53and this would have been valued by bronze smiths all over europe the time we're talking about when
05:58there's a huge boom in bronze use where everyone has apparently got access to as much bronze as they want
06:05that seems to have been driven by these incredibly rich tin sources that were 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 why on st michael's mount and not on the mainland where all of the tin ore deposits
06:28are
06:28you can get tin ore almost anywhere in cornwall and so there's no central production but the distribution
06:36points have to be central because your traders had to find the place to trade and this is easily the
06:42most
06:42visible place from the sea to reach here you've got the ideal mooring place for your boats
06:49and 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
07:11how did you build it in our communities??
07:38Ben's theory is strengthened
07:39And Darren did an amazing job in finding.
07:41But this piece here in particular is what really stumped us
07:44and 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.
07:53So considering we're on St Michael's Mount,
07:55the 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,
08:03in other hoards they've found small bits of something very similar,
08:08but nothing with these beautifully pin-in-sized decoration lines
08:12that run around the edges.
08:15So really a rather special piece.
08:17How did you feel? I mean, my heart would have been racing.
08:19My heart was racing, yeah.
08:22I remember calling the wife, you know, she was saying,
08:23I'll tease her, and I said, I can't come out at the moment, you know.
08:26I'm still working, you know, found a few things and I'll be home shortly.
08:29And, yeah, so it's a one-in-a-lifetime chance of finding something like that.
08:32It is.
08:33I found another 50-odd items of chisels, axe heads, pommels,
08:38bits of swords, ingots.
08:43While the hoard is intriguing,
08:45the 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
08:57where earlier geophysical surveys revealed features
09:00that might be ancient structures.
09:04And almost immediately, the first trench begins to deliver.
09:08A little treat.
09:10The team's pottery specialist is Imogen Morris.
09:14We'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
09:22and this sort of pottery is called plainware
09:24because it's pretty plain, yeah.
09:27And this would have been quite a large vessel,
09:29quite a simple vessel,
09:31so it would have been for cooking,
09:33everyday uses, yeah, perhaps about that high.
09:36Solid cooking pot.
09:38But not all of the pottery is plainware.
09:41We'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,
09:53so we're quite lucky to get one that's got those finger pinches.
09:56That's incredible.
09:56It really connects you.
09:58Yes.
10:03The discovery of the pottery suggests
10:05there was considerable activity on the island
10:07during the Bronze Age.
10:09But the team still need evidence of tin ore processing.
10:14Nearby, archaeologist Alan Williams
10:16is taking a closer look at some of the finds.
10:20Wonderful stone tools.
10:22I do like the look of these.
10:23Some of the most exciting finds we've made
10:25at St Michael's Mount.
10:27Can I pick it up?
10:27Absolutely.
10:28Oh.
10:29And you can see it fits really nicely in the hand.
10:32So if this has been used for crushing tin ore,
10:34we would expect that it would be embedded
10:37in between the grains
10:38because it's really, really hard.
10:40But to show that, we need to analyse the edge of the rock
10:45and compare it to the general background in the rock.
10:49Geologist Sean Cleveland has been working on the analysis
10:53of 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,
11:05he should see significantly higher readings
11:07along the working edge of the stone.
11:11The result we got from the general background in this rock
11:14was 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, so 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
11:31that this is used for tin ore processing.
11:33You got it.
11:34Absolutely.
11:35It's the first evidence ever
11:36that the St Michael's Mount was processing tin ore
11:40and was part of the tin trade of the Bronze Age.
11:44It's magical that someone used this
11:46to grind tin ore
11:49on this island 3,000 years ago.
11:55The high levels of tin
11:57found on the edges of the crushing stones
11:59is evidence that tin ore
12:02was being processed here on the island.
12:08Could this spot on St Michael's Mount
12:11mark the origin of the ictus myth?
12:16Not just a name from legend,
12:17but a real place.
12:19And for Cornish tin,
12:20the gateway to the ancient world.
12:27Cornish tin helped usher in a new age,
12:31transforming tools,
12:33farming and society itself.
12:36Professor Stuart Pryor
12:38is finding out why tin was so important
12:40with an experiment
12:42that takes us back thousands of years
12:44to reveal the knowledge and skills
12:47of the ancient metal workers.
12:54I'm fascinated by experimental archaeology,
12:57recreating how things were made in the past.
13:02So I've asked metalworking expert
13:05Mark Vivian Penny
13:06to help me cast a set of bronze axe heads
13:09to see if we can create a tool
13:11that's genuinely strong and durable.
13:15Mark, I see there's a lot of raw materials
13:17on 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,
13:26because copper bends,
13:27you 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,
13:38which is what the Bronze Age people use
13:40to make all their tools and their weapons.
13:43And this is bronze.
13:46So...
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
13:55and it will keep its edge quite a long time.
13:56So if we start with copper
13:59and then we want to add tin,
14:01how do we know what the proportion is
14:04that they need to add
14:05to make the perfect axe?
14:07The best working tool bronze
14:09is made with 10% tin.
14:12And they would have tried and tested
14:14different ways of doing it
14:15and you'd know when you've got it wrong
14:17because the metal becomes brittle
14:19if there's too much in it.
14:20And if it's just too little in it,
14:22it won't make any difference at all.
14:23So it's not just a case of adding copper
14:25and 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,
14:42one with too much
14:44and one with just the right amount, 10%.
14:49Using a modern furnace to speed things up,
14:52the metals are heated
14:53to 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,
15:07which 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,
15:26the axe head can be removed from the mould.
15:29Wow.
15:30This is the bronze one.
15:32Look at that.
15:34So that's the axe,
15:36which I'm now going to put in that bucket
15:38to cool.
15:43There we go.
15:44Look at that lovely gloss.
15:46It's almost golden, isn't it?
15:47So all that heat and all that work
15:50and 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,
16:02Mark is busy casting more.
16:07Some are just pure copper
16:08and 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
16:23they 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
16:41but 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
17:15what's the right proportion of copper and tin.
17:18This one's got no tin in it
17:20and 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
17:42if 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%
17:48or 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
18:07but this one, you can see,
18:09if you don't get that 10% mixture right,
18:11you 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.
18:31You can say the sun is shining
18:33if you're any window
18:35I can see the moon
18:36and you see me so big
18:38You can take a road
18:39that takes you to the stars
18:41No, I can take a road
18:43I can see the moon
18:48Throughout the west of Britain
18:50archaeologists have long uncovered fragments
18:53of the lives that have gone before us.
18:57But the dig itself
18:59is only ever the beginning of the story
19:04Next, we follow up on an excavation
19:06that took place in the town of Haverford West
19:09in Wales
19:1110 miles north of Pembroke
19:19Archaeology is an evidence-based discipline
19:21and sometimes that evidence challenges our preconceptions
19:24In fact, that's when I find it most exciting
19:27Now, some years ago
19:29I visited a medieval priory site in Haverford West
19:33and we thought we knew what was going on there
19:35But Professor Naomi Sykes
19:37is visiting the lab
19:39where the analysis is revealing
19:41an unexpected story
19:48As a zoo archaeologist and scientist
19:50I'm interested in those moments
19:53when science begins to challenge
19:54what we think archaeology is telling us
19:58And it's in the lab
20:00during post-excavation analysis
20:02that the real story often emerges
20:07And this one begins
20:11in the medieval period
20:19When Digging for Britain
20:20visited Haverford West
20:21an incredible story was emerging
20:24That is beautiful, look at that
20:29Evidence for the long-lost Dominican friary
20:31of St Saviour's
20:32which had been hidden for centuries
20:34The whole building would have been impressive
20:37indicative of a high-status monastic building
20:41Almost 300 burials were recovered
20:43giving us our first glimpse
20:45into the lives of the medieval friars
20:47and the local townsfolk that they serve
20:50At the time, archaeologists thought
20:52that they were looking at a friary
20:54and its cemetery
20:56But now, post-excavation research
20:58at Cardiff University
21:00is rewriting the story
21:01revealing a site
21:03that may have been far more
21:04than just a burial ground
21:10Lab analysis of the skeletons
21:12reveals that several individuals
21:14had endured serious, life-threatening injuries
21:18That raises new questions
21:20about who they were
21:22and why they were buried
21:23in this friary cemetery
21:26Dr. Keira O'Brien Butler
21:28is part of the investigation team
21:34This is a male
21:35a middle-aged male
21:36who has suffered severe sharp force trauma
21:38that is nearly sliced off
21:40the back of the skull there
21:41This one is a sharp force trauma as well
21:43probably from a projectile
21:45So they've survived these injuries
21:46for quite some time after
21:48Wait, they survived this?
21:50Yes, so this is healed
21:51It has kind of reattached
21:53to the back of the skull there
21:54and they've lived for possibly years
21:56after these injuries occurred
21:58And that's not the only thing
22:00they have that's healed
22:01They broke their jaw
22:02at some point in their life as well
22:03So look at this
22:04There's quite severe trauma there as well
22:06that's totally changed
22:07the angle of the jaw
22:08Would this have affected
22:10their ability to eat?
22:11Yes, definitely, I think
22:12But interestingly, despite this
22:14we still have some evidence
22:15for quite a rich diet in this individual
22:17So we have some pathology
22:19of the vertebrae there
22:20called DISH
22:21where these two vertebrae have fused
22:23and it happened all up the spine as well
22:26This is associated
22:27in modern clinical practice
22:28with diabetes and obesity
22:30and in the past
22:31we associate it with monastic diets
22:33So quite rich, fatty foods
22:35alcohol consumption, red meat
22:36They could have been at the site
22:38and enjoying a similar diet
22:39being looked after by the monks
22:41OK, so is this an isolated instance
22:43amongst the population
22:45that you've been looking at?
22:45No, so we have a lot of evidence
22:47for traumatic injuries
22:48and care in this population
22:49This individual has a bit of iron
22:52embedded in the back of their femur
22:54so the back of their upper thigh
22:56that likely is from a projectile
22:57and we can see the bone is healing
22:59They also had lots of healed fractures
23:01throughout the rest of their skeleton
23:02so healed fractures of the feet
23:05ribs and also of the hands
23:07so evidence for quite rough lives
23:09but some healing as well
23:14Kira believes the fact
23:16that these people survived
23:17such severe injuries
23:18and showed signs of a rich, fatty diet
23:21suggests they were being cared for
23:23and supported within the community
23:27But who were they?
23:28Where had they come from?
23:30And how had they ended up
23:31in a friary cemetery?
23:34To find more answers
23:35the team at Cardiff University
23:37is using isotope analysis
23:40The technique examines chemical traces
23:43in bones and teeth
23:44to reveal clues about a person's origins
23:46and movements
23:48Leading the work
23:49is archaeological scientist
23:51Professor Richard Madgwick
23:54The isotope analysis
23:56can tell us a whole range of aspects
23:58about human lives
23:59whilst the science behind it
24:02can be a bit complex
24:03the principles are really very simple
24:05you are what you eat
24:06you are where you eat
24:07and to some degree
24:08you are how you eat
24:09so every time humans
24:10consume food and drink
24:12chemical signals
24:13from those products
24:13enter the body
24:14enter our skin
24:15our hair
24:16our nails
24:17and handily for archaeologists
24:19our bones and our teeth
24:20so by analysing tiny fragments
24:22we can reconstruct
24:23all sorts of aspects
24:25about movement
24:25diet
24:26and health
24:27in the past
24:30different chemical elements
24:31preserved in bones and teeth
24:33can reveal detailed clues
24:35about past lives
24:38in particular
24:39strontium and oxygen
24:40can be analysed together
24:41to show where a person
24:43was born and grew up
24:47strontium gives us
24:48a geological signal
24:50for where individuals were
24:52during the development
24:53of their teeth
24:53and oxygen gives us
24:55a climatic signal
24:56relating to temperature
24:57and rainfall
24:58so they work together well
24:59in terms of looking at origins
25:01we've boxed
25:03the approximate
25:03local range here
25:05for not just
25:07Haverford West
25:07but probably more broadly
25:09Wales
25:09and we can see
25:10the diversity
25:11within that local range
25:12hints that they're not all
25:13directly from Pembrokeshire
25:15we've got quite a few
25:16individuals
25:17that sit outside
25:18of that local range
25:20and they must have come
25:21from further afield
25:22so do we have any idea
25:24where they might have come from
25:25the fact that these oxygen values
25:28are really very high
25:29they're beyond what we would think
25:31could be achieved
25:31in Wales
25:33hints that they come from
25:35a more westerly zone
25:36like Ireland
25:37and we know historically
25:39that there are some
25:40strong links
25:40between Pembrokeshire
25:42and Ireland
25:42so I mean
25:43it's tantalising
25:44but I think it's highly likely
25:45these individuals
25:46have come from there
25:47originally
25:51the lab has transformed
25:53the story
25:54of the Dominican friary
25:55of St Saviars
25:56the bones
25:58once thought to tell
25:59a simple monastic tale
26:00now reveal lives
26:02touched by trauma
26:03care
26:03and resilience
26:04far from just
26:06a cemetery
26:07the evidence suggests
26:08that this was a place
26:09where Dominican friars
26:10treated the sick
26:11and injured
26:12welcoming people
26:14from across Britain
26:15and beyond
26:16and it's only due
26:18to the power of science
26:19by combining
26:20osteology
26:21isotopes
26:22and history
26:22that we can build
26:23a more complete picture
26:25of a medieval community
26:28dreams of stories
26:30reeled me in
26:33cocked my ear
26:35and hooked my chin
26:37a Friday dinner
26:39a fish truck sinner
26:41pulled me down
26:43Lord
26:44put me in
26:52every year
26:53seasoned archaeologists
26:55across Britain
26:55unearth objects
26:56that tell stories
26:58of the past
27:01but some remarkable
27:03discoveries
27:03are made by
27:04enthusiastic amateurs
27:09now we're catching up
27:11with a spectacular discovery
27:12a chance find
27:13that turned out
27:14to be something
27:15of national importance
27:22the story began
27:23in 2023
27:24in a quiet field
27:26on the edge
27:27of the village
27:28of Willersie
27:3030 miles
27:31northeast of Gloucester
27:35novice metal detectorist
27:37Glenn Manning
27:38was looking forward
27:39to his day
27:42as he began
27:43his afternoon sweep
27:45he had no idea
27:46he was about
27:47to make a discovery
27:48that would offer
27:49a rare glimpse
27:51into the Roman period
27:56just after lunch
27:57I came up here
27:58and I remember
27:59the organiser
28:00shouting to me
28:01people have already
28:02done that
28:02you need to go over
28:03to that part of the field
28:04and have a look
28:06but something just told me
28:08just carry on
28:09doing what you're doing
28:10the metal detector
28:11all of a sudden
28:12picked up a signal
28:13but it was a little bit
28:14jumpy
28:14so I dug down
28:16into the ground
28:17probably about
28:178 to 10 inches
28:18and using my
28:19handheld pin pointer
28:21I came across
28:22what just looked like
28:24old metal
28:25that had a slight
28:26point to it
28:27but the patina on it
28:29told me that it was
28:30something like copper
28:32I thought this
28:34looks like a sword
28:35but what's the chances
28:36of me
28:36on my second time
28:38detecting
28:38to find such a
28:39wonderful item
28:41and in fact
28:42Glenn had uncovered
28:43not one
28:44but two
28:45ancient swords
28:48far longer
28:49than the gladius
28:50the short
28:51stabbing sword
28:52usually associated
28:53with Roman soldiers
28:54Glenn had found
28:56something remarkable
28:58I didn't know
28:59how to feel
29:00that's the funny thing
29:01I was quite calm
29:03my feelings
29:04obviously have changed
29:05now because I
29:05understand how rare
29:07it is to find
29:08something like that
29:08there's a lot of
29:09historic value
29:10there's a lot of
29:10learning to be done
29:11in relation to
29:12these swords
29:14when Glenn first
29:16discovered the swords
29:17they were so
29:17muddied and corroded
29:18it was impossible
29:20to tell much
29:20about them
29:22but now
29:23after being
29:23carefully conserved
29:25and x-rayed
29:26the weapons
29:27are finally
29:28giving up their story
29:34Historic England
29:35conservator
29:36Carla Graham
29:37and Carinian
29:38Museum director
29:39Emma Stewart
29:39have brought them
29:40to the digging
29:41for Britain tent
29:45hello
29:46hello
29:47hello
29:48I've been looking
29:48forward to this
29:49I mean what
29:50incredible objects
29:51these are very long
29:52swords aren't they
29:53I mean obviously
29:54Romans had lots of
29:55different types of
29:55swords
29:56the gladius was a
29:57short one wasn't it
29:57this isn't a gladius
29:58no so these are spather
29:59so they're kind of
30:01much longer
30:01they would be carried
30:02by cavalry men
30:03on horseback
30:04okay
30:05and what we still have
30:06which you can see
30:07on the surface here
30:08is that we've got the
30:09remains of the wooden
30:10scabbard
30:11the woods decayed away
30:13but the rust has
30:13preserved the wood grain
30:15so we've got it on here
30:16and on the hills as well
30:17and on this
30:18this particular sword
30:19the much
30:20kind of very bright orange
30:21that's the remains
30:22of the wood there as well
30:23and we've also got
30:25at the ends here
30:26these beautiful shapes
30:27that were attached
30:28to the wooden scabbards
30:29and would have
30:30protected the soldiers
30:31from getting stabbed
30:31by their own
30:32it's very lethal
30:33when you're on a horse
30:34yes
30:35you don't want that
30:36do you
30:36so yes
30:37so these are obviously
30:38copper alloy
30:39they would have been
30:39bright and shiny
30:40wouldn't they
30:40very bright and shiny
30:41and they're decorated
30:43and the swords themselves
30:44the Carinean Museum
30:46asked us if we could
30:47x-ray them
30:47and what was really
30:49exciting about the x-rays
30:50is it shows that
30:51they're quite different
30:52have you got the x-rays
30:53I have got the x-rays
30:54can you have a look at them
30:54yes you certainly can
30:56so we did a little bit
30:58of enhancement
30:58so there are some lines
31:00coming through here
31:01yes
31:01you can see some lines
31:03going down
31:03a bit like a herringbone
31:05pattern
31:05yeah
31:06and that shows that
31:07this one is pattern welded
31:09it would have looked
31:10amazing
31:12it's basically lots of
31:13either strips
31:14or rods of metal
31:15which were woven
31:16hammered together
31:17and then a cutting edge
31:18put on the outside
31:19and the reason that we're
31:21seeing it in the x-ray
31:22is because
31:22there's a differential
31:23corrosion
31:24which is fantastic
31:25because it shows up
31:26this pattern very well
31:27isn't that amazing
31:27because you cannot see that
31:29can you hear
31:29there's nothing to see that
31:30you really can't see it
31:31you've got the grooving
31:32down the centre
31:33but that's not the pattern
31:34the only way you can see it
31:35is in this x-ray
31:37and what's interesting
31:38is one is pattern welded
31:40and the other one isn't
31:41so it's higher status
31:42this one
31:43are we looking at objects
31:44that seem to have gone
31:45into the ground
31:46in a fairly pristine condition
31:49yes
31:49they've been deliberately buried
31:51they're very carefully placed
31:53so they've not been lost
31:54they haven't been bent
31:56and destroyed
31:56you can see some potential
31:58textile remains
32:00so we're not quite sure
32:01if they were bound together
32:01could have been wrapped in fabric
32:02as well
32:03could have been wrapped in fabric
32:04could have been part of the scabbard
32:06in the ground
32:06they were lying
32:07one on top of the other
32:08yeah
32:09next to the fragments
32:10of a bowl here
32:12tell me about this bowl
32:14because I mean this is part
32:15of the same group of objects
32:16what does this tell us
32:18this is quite high status
32:19in the same way
32:20as the pattern welded sword
32:21it's really beautifully decorated
32:23it's obviously quite fragmentary now
32:25because this was slightly above the swords
32:27so this suffered the damage first
32:29some of the pieces were ploughed out
32:30unfortunately
32:31but you can see some beautiful decoration
32:33in this deliberate circular pattern
32:35there's no need to do this
32:37for functionality
32:38can I handle these things
32:39you are more than welcome to
32:41yes
32:41thank you very much
32:42so it looks like
32:43it would have had quite high sides
32:44yes
32:45this is a fragment of the rim
32:47so you can see that lovely lip
32:49around the edge there
32:50and it's got some pattern
32:51or some ghost of something here
32:53yes that's right
32:54this was revealed at conservation
32:55and the conservators had to clean off
32:58the mud and the earth
32:58and everything
32:59and it would appear that this piece
33:01which we originally thought
33:02was part of the scabbard
33:03actually fits perfectly
33:05in that piece there
33:06so
33:07so I saw that
33:08and I thought it was a coin
33:09it's not a coin then
33:10it's not a coin
33:10it's a piece of decoration
33:12by the looks of things
33:13around this rim area
33:14given that it's decorated
33:16and you can tell a certain amount
33:17about its style
33:18does that help you to date it as well
33:20it's probably contemporary
33:21with the swords
33:22so late 3rd century
33:24around 290
33:24and then what's that
33:27so this piece
33:28it's a different type of metal
33:29so you've just felt the rim
33:31if you have a feel of that
33:32you can feel it's thicker
33:33oh it's thicker and heavier
33:34it's not as beautifully polished
33:36this would have been a lidded bowl
33:37with something inside it
33:39deposited inside it
33:41it may have been
33:42sort of ceremonial deposit
33:43with these being deliberately buried
33:45that's a possibility
33:46yeah
33:47you've got to think about
33:48all the possibilities
33:48haven't you
33:49and you've got a find like this
33:50where you don't know
33:51the wider context
33:52it's kind of delightfully mysterious
33:54I really
33:54I want to know
33:56I really want to know
33:57why these objects
33:58are buried together
33:59and wonderfully well preserved
34:00and even though they look like rusty objects
34:03there's quite a lot of metal still in there
34:05and you can tell by the weight
34:06I can let you feel
34:09the weight of this sword here
34:13that is heavier than I expected
34:15that actually is quite a lot heavier
34:18and that's this beautiful pattern welded sword
34:21isn't it
34:21it is
34:22nearly 2,000 years old
34:25it is curious
34:26because they are objects on their own
34:28they don't have a context
34:29I mean do we even know
34:30if there was any Roman cavalry in the area
34:32there were
34:32there was a Roman cavalry base
34:34just outside of Carinium
34:35which is Simon Sester
34:36which is not too far away
34:38later in the Roman period
34:40there is evidence of Roman military
34:41but there is an interesting shift
34:44because there was quite a lot of banditry
34:46along the Foss Way
34:47and civilians were known to carry cavalry swords
34:50it's possible that two soldiers may have been killed
34:53and this is the wares that were dumped
34:55because if civilians were found with this type of material
34:58and there were two soldiers dead
34:59then you can trace it to them
35:02they're hiding the evidence
35:03that's a possibility
35:04but it's looking like
35:06in terms of the whole context
35:08you clearly got Roman military kit here
35:10there was something special about these swords
35:13something special about this bowl
35:14for somebody to deposit them all together
35:16why did they do it?
35:18I mean we'll never know will we?
35:20but what we do know
35:21is that they never came back
35:32how old
35:35so here I come
35:39you've achieved my love
36:11each new artifact
36:13can be a source of insights
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
36:40and even handle objects
36:42that were dug up a long time ago
36:44archaeologist Meg Russell
36:45is looking at how
36:47cutting edge techniques
36:48are helping to unlock secrets
36:50about Roman surgery
36:56I'm fascinated by objects from the past
36:59and it's only natural
37:01to want to pick them up
37:02but some artifacts are so fragile
37:04that even the lightest touch
37:06can cause damage
37:07and when you can't handle them safely
37:09it becomes much harder
37:10to understand
37:11how they worked
37:12or what they were used for
37:16125 years ago
37:18a remarkable set
37:19of Roman surgical tools
37:21was pulled from a river
37:22after spending centuries submerged
37:24the bronze instruments
37:26are now so corroded and fragile
37:28that touching them risks
37:30further deterioration
37:33at the University of Exeter
37:35researchers are pioneering techniques
37:37that let them peer beneath
37:38those corroded layers
37:39to reveal the metalwork underneath
37:43clues that could transform
37:44our understanding
37:45of how these tools were designed
37:47manufactured
37:48and used
37:51Professor Rebecca Fleming
37:53is on hand
37:54to explain
37:56These Roman surgical instruments
37:58were found
37:59in the river Walbrook
38:00in London
38:01and we've got a scalpel handle
38:03we've got two needles
38:05and we've got two
38:07very thin probes
38:09and a slightly larger spoon
38:11as well
38:12Wow
38:13some of these are so delicate
38:15and tiny
38:15I'm starting to see
38:17a few little details
38:18how difficult is it
38:20to work with artefacts
38:22that you can't touch yourself
38:23I think it's particularly
38:24difficult in this case
38:25because these are tools
38:27that we use
38:27for surgical operations
38:28and if we can't
38:29get the feel of them
38:30and try them out
38:32in various ways
38:33and really get a sense
38:34of exactly how
38:34they were constructed
38:35that limits our possibilities
38:37in terms of understanding
38:38them in various ways
38:39What methods can we use
38:41to understand them better?
38:42The technique that we use
38:43more particularly here
38:44is 3D scanning
38:45like a CT scan
38:47a sort of 3D x-ray
38:48for objects
38:50which really gives you
38:51a very detailed picture
38:53of the surface
38:54all of its different
38:55imperfections
38:56any details of crafting
38:58which is invaluable for us
39:00And is there anything
39:01that you specifically hope
39:02the CT scans
39:03might show us today?
39:05Yes definitely
39:05so as you can see
39:07this scalpel handle
39:08would have originally been
39:10an iron or steel blade
39:11and clearly that is replaced
39:13pretty regularly
39:14so a lot of attention
39:15would have gone into
39:16thinking about
39:17how to make the holder
39:19and then thinking about
39:20these two needles
39:20this looks very straightforward
39:23this one has something
39:24quite different going on
39:26in terms of
39:27where it might have been threaded
39:28so it would be interesting
39:29to look at that
39:32Curator Megan Woolley
39:34from the Devon and Exeter
39:35Medical Heritage Trust
39:37is the only person
39:38permitted to handle
39:39these fragile instruments
39:45She is securing each one
39:47in 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
40:01will capture every tiny detail
40:05It's a painstaking process
40:07with each scan
40:08taking more than
40:09seven 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
40:23some of the detail
40:24in terms of the scoop of the spoon
40:26and the different sort of eyes
40:28of the needle
40:29Things that are darker
40:31are denser
40:31and we can visualise that
40:33much 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
40:46that are of significance
40:47one of which is about
40:49the object in 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
41:12for the curators
41:16and that's not all
41:17these scans are so data rich
41:20that they can be sent straight
41:21to the engineering lab
41:22Oh my gosh
41:24look at these
41:25where 3D printers
41:27machine precise replicas
41:28allowing us to finally
41:31get hands on
41:32with incredibly detailed copies
41:35It's really fascinating
41:36to see the processes at work
41:38and even more interesting
41:39to see the results
41:40in various ways
41:41This is that complex needle
41:43that we talked about
41:44Now you can get really to grips
41:46with the complexities of it
41:47so it's got a sizable hole there
41:49which you could thread
41:50in various different ways
41:51and then it's also got a hole here
41:53that second hole
41:54is a surprise
41:56You couldn't see it
41:57in the actual artefact itself at all
41:59We haven't been able to find
42:01anything that looks exactly the same
42:03There's clearly more to that
42:05than just sewing up bandages
42:08I love that now you can tell
42:09a little bit more
42:10potentially about function
42:12of these objects
42:13I mean this must just lift
42:15a lot of limitations for you
42:17with what you can and can't see
42:18with the real thing
42:19Yeah, exactly
42:19and you can start to think about
42:21the scalpel handle
42:22You can see the sort of thought
42:24that's gone into this
42:25You have the flattener
42:26then you have something
42:26that you can hold
42:28The blades would have been put there
42:29This would have opened
42:30and you'd use this to pull it apart
42:33and then it would snap back together
42:34and this is obviously very practical
42:37So this is in a resin
42:38but 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
42:49practicing today
42:49and see what they made of it
42:51We've got the texts that talk about
42:53different sorts of operations
42:55So do the tools seem to be appropriate
42:58for the kind of practices
43:00that are being described?
43:04The more I handle these tools
43:06the more I see how technology
43:08is bridging the gap
43:09between the past and present
43:13And it's not just medical instruments
43:15This technology can be applied
43:17to all kinds of items
43:20By recreating them
43:22and putting them to use
43:23we bring multiple disciplines together
43:25opening up endless possibilities
43:28to explore and understand
43:29ancient artefacts
43:30in entirely new ways
43:44The more I see
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 tori 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
44:52and because it's off limits to the public the archaeology here has stayed remarkably intact
45:00perched on a headland jutting into the celtic sea a team of archaeologists and military veterans
45:07are investigating two circular structures
45:16from the air the site shows all the hallmarks of a promontory fort dating back over 2 000 years
45:33this 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 archaeologist richard osgood is
45:51leading the dig richard this this is properly spectacular this is just gorgeous it's such
46:01an elemental place isn't it really really beautiful this is buckspool promontory fort that has an awful lot
46:06of information in the name yeah on a promontory yep we can't argue with that that's true is it a
46:12fort
46:12good question i think it's more about impressing your neighbors having big ditches and ramparts for sure
46:17but this is a showy thing so i think it's much more than defensive and military so this is the
46:23way
46:23in it is the way in you can see the big ditch here and the embankment behind it it would
46:28have been
46:28i think quite a bit deeper and you would have had a higher rampart behind with a big timber palisade
46:34and the massive timber gateway that we're standing under at the moment so this would have been hugely
46:38impressive when you paint that picture there you just realize you know not only how monumental
46:42that would have felt but coming in from this coming a relatively flat land to dramatic deep-sided
46:48ditches yeah towering gates great wall in front you wouldn't be able to see anything ahead of you
46:54you have no idea what's coming next everything from this point onwards is a surprise when you get into the
46:59settlement because 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
47:23we're now within the settlement area we've come through these iron age defenses and we're into the
47:28excavation proper of these structures so you've got the circle defined by these blocks of limestone
47:32but it cuts through a little passageway into a second one so you're looking at a figure of eight
47:36of these two circular structures they seem big is that big for a roundhouse not especially big for a
47:42roundhouse the two courses at least going around there sat on top of the bedrock and forming this arc
47:47presumably once of a circle there's a big tumble of rock there that's bedrock so this is where it gets
47:52confusing because if this is a roundhouse the last thing you want is that as your floor so i'm not
47:59entirely 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 half in the center for cooking and heating
48:15we've not got those elements that would just scream roundhouse at you
48:18i 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 the entrance way is probably there but is it actually connecting you with a
48:28third structure in which case you've got three cells connected to another but is that the sort
48:33of thing you get in the living structure i don't think it is
48:39the mystery deepens as none of the small finds appear to have any connection to the iron age
48:49what have you been finding then coins lots of coins here today it's unbelievable i found nine
48:54this morning found a couple around here and some over there this is odd that they're like
49:00around here well it's really odd isn't it this is some kind of roundhouse this would be where the
49:06door would be roughly isn't it sort of coming in here yeah that way yeah yeah coming in that way
49:10so
49:11it's a bit of a mystery i mean it does feel like 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
49:25it's a twist that changes the story archaeologist fran murphy is trying to piece together the puzzle
49:34oh wow okay it's just that bag after bag of coins so those are just some of the selection
49:41that have been found this coin is emperor constantine and he is fourth century also we've
49:49had coins of corosius okay when's corosius um late third this is a lovely coin you can really see the
49:56profile of the head there and is that one next to it also well this is a little minim what's
50:02a minim
50:02this is the smallest denomination just a few millimeters in diameter what is interesting is
50:10that we don't normally find these coins one that difficult to find but equally the numbers that we're
50:15finding them so if you were coming here to ask the gods to help you in something you use your
50:20lowest
50:21denomination it's like throwing a penny or a 2p into a wishing well is 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 southwest wales
50:46from this small site the quantity itself is gobsmacking the number of rim sherds
50:52a lot of it is black burnished ware some of the wares we just don't see around here
50:59one thing that's really interesting is all these objects are broken and there is a theory that you're
51:04planting materials in pits as an offering for future prosperity depositing bits of everything
51:11they need for life as an offering with a coin bringing goods which they want to deposit in this
51:17area because it has some significance having uncovered the pottery and more than 160 coins the team is
51:26beginning to think this place may have held a special spiritual significance long after the iron age
51:33during the later roman period and the landscape itself may help explain why this spot held such power
51:46archaeologist toby driver is a specialist in welsh hillforts it's just so dramatically vertical on either side
51:56it's a different life you have here it's a cultural phenomenon living on the coast in prehistory and
52:02roman times here we know celts saw their gods residing in remote dangerous places and nowhere is that more dramatic
52:12than at the coast
52:15we have antiquarian writers describing this the slam of waves into these coastal chasms being like gunshots
52:23and these enormous sprays of foam with rainbows being passed now we understand what a rainbow is today
52:28but 2000 years ago what on earth do they think about that were the gods angry at particular times of
52:33year 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 buckspool was 2000 years ago
52:50imagine walking over that rock arch the waves are booming the spray is coming up and catching the lights
52:58it would feel like you're passing into a different world here yep we've just learned more about buckspool
53:04in the last two weeks than we have in decades but all that new knowledge we've got to process it
53:10we've got
53:10to think of new ways to understand this life at the edge of the coast
53:22so what seemed like quite a simple story is actually turning out to be far more complicated
53:27mysterious absolutely and that is why you dig because it looked really logical you've got a
53:33promontory fort you've got geophysics you've got lidar motor circles round houses people living in here in
53:38iron age job done and it's not like that there's so much more complexity here that's what what really
53:44excites about archaeology isn't it because what seems obvious often isn't and this truth is lying in the soil
53:55while the promontory fort may still have its roots in the iron age
53:59richard now thinks that by the roman period this place was evolving into something different
54:09a place where offerings may have been made to the gods
54:13all perched on the very edge between the known world and the spiritual realm
54:26the promontory fort at buckspool is a great example of how archaeology can challenge our expectations
54:33and our ideas about the past turning a simple story into something more complex and compelling
54:49richard went in with an idea he thought he was going to be excavating iron age roundhouses in this
54:55promontory fort and it would help them understand the nature of what was going on there and then they
54:59started digging and the fines were roman overwhelmingly roman nothing that could be definitively tied to
55:07the iron age i always enjoy it when archaeologists find something they're not expecting the richness of
55:13this site astounded all of the archaeologists working there all of these roman coins a really huge
55:20number of them including like really small denominations this is not like a kind of a wealthy
55:25hoard that has been stashed somewhere it's kind of small change stuff but of course that roman date
55:31doesn't mean that that site didn't exist and wasn't occupied in the iron age so the crucial thing
55:37here will be all of the post excavation analysis that richard and his team will do and then we'll
55:42get a much bigger picture and we'll know how long that settlement lasted how far back in time it goes
55:47whether it does extend right back into the iron age as well yeah and what it was i mean that's
55:51i think
55:51that's the the big overwhelming question is like still what was it definitely i watched this space
55:56yeah 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 but what a year it's been the most amazing thing in
56:22british archaeology we've seen evidence of life here stretching back further than ever before
56:30this stuff was already fossilized by the time dinosaurs were walking around some finds were a
56:34privilege to uncover you were the first person to see that for 1400 years that is phenomenal others were
56:41best left alone this is a bottle of 85 year old beer yeah i think that can stay in there
56:45but each
56:46one sheds new light on the stories of people who lived and died on these shores
57:00it really brings back a lot of humanity to what we're studying thinking about how they may have lived
57:06how they may have died as a child buried with weapons as the man that he would have become
57:12he's been subjected to surgery yes i wonder who he was
57:24it's amazing to touch the past in such a personal way
57:34we've discovered that our ancient ancestors weren't all that dissimilar to us they liked to kick back and
57:42relax in their leisure time they're sitting beside the hearth they're playing games they had a
57:47sense of the aesthetic such a poignant connection to this person all that's surviving in the grave of
57:52them is their incredible style and they entrusted their legacy to those who followed them it's a
57:59treasured item that has passed down through the generations it's an heirloom yeah all across britain
58:06archaeologists continue to dig for clues to past lives who knows what treasures are waiting to be
58:14unearthed next year
58:15and dig for those whose stories lie with very past the future's one
58:32and dig for us as we have done to lay the dead out in the sun to lay us dead
58:43out in the sun
58:44to lay us dead out in the sun
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