- 2 days ago
Digging for Britain - Season 13 - Episode 03: A Mysterious Bone Box and Admiral Nelson's Favourite Ship
Category
📺
TVTranscript
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.
01:09Where 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.
01:47This week on Digging for Britain.
01:50Archaeologists in the Cotswolds.
01:52Wow, it's definitely open, doesn't it?
01:54Unearth a unique find.
01:57We could see this carved bone object.
01:59I've never seen anything like it before.
02:03A dig at the University of Oxford.
02:05We've just been uncovering loads and loads of pure untouched medieval archaeology.
02:10Shows student life hasn't changed much.
02:13We have a pier and we're calling it currently Smoker's Corner.
02:16And in Kent.
02:17Wow, that is a plated gold disc brooch.
02:23Archaeologists discover spectacular Anglo-Saxon burials.
02:27A child with weapons, which is extraordinary.
02:30It is extraordinary.
02:37A family with memory,
02:37and a home being the same.
02:38And so it is extraordinary.
02:41Just look now,
02:43just a little bit so empty.
02:44And so this is extraordinary.
02:45A family with friends with friends with family with friends.
02:48And so on.
02:48If you look at the family,
02:59And so,
03:00we have a family with families.
03:00Over the centuries, the sea has shaped so much of the story in these islands.
03:08And it was in the shipyards of the south coast that Britain's position as a naval power was forged, as
03:16our first dig shows.
03:18We're heading to the New Forest and the village of Bucklers Hard, 12 miles south of Southampton.
03:33The Bucklers Hard sits on the banks of the River Bewley, surrounded by ancient woodland.
03:41It was perfectly positioned to become a vital centre of shipbuilding.
03:47When Britain's imperial ambitions were expanding at the end of the 18th century.
03:56Tory is finding out more.
04:02This place is beautiful.
04:05These two lines of idyllic cottages run straight down to the river.
04:10But had you come here just two or three hundred years ago,
04:15and this quaint and sleepy little scene would have looked totally different.
04:18A bustling hive of activity.
04:21A centre of modern manufacturing, where some of Britain's most important and famous ships were built.
04:33By the 18th century, Bucklers Hard was a thriving shipbuilding hub.
04:39And at the centre of it all was master shipwright, Henry Adams.
04:43He and his sons oversaw the building of an incredible 55 ships.
04:49Perhaps the most famous was the HMS Agamemnon, captained by a young Horatio Nelson early in his career.
04:58It was while on this ship that he'd lost the sight, in his right eye, at the Battle of Calvi.
05:06Nelson would be reunited with the Agamemnon when it formed part of his fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar in
05:131805.
05:15Four years later, while on a mission in South America, the Agamemnon ran aground off the coast of Uruguay and
05:22was abandoned.
05:25Archaeologist John Adams is leading a team investigating the construction and later demise of this mighty ship.
05:32To do this, they're excavating the slipway where the HMS Agamemnon was built.
05:41They do say that to build a really big ship in the Great Age of Sail, it needed a hundred
05:46trains and crafts to come together to produce all the components of a big warship.
05:51And so building ships here set in train a whole load of satellite industries.
05:55And of course it needed a huge labour force.
05:57You give a hundred trains to build a ship, but how many trees do you need?
06:0030, 40 acres of mature oak forest for a 64 gallon ship.
06:04And so a lot of the timber that built HMS Agamemnon, for instance, came from the new forest.
06:09So this slipway here, it's under the water now.
06:11It is.
06:12Would it have gone into the water deliberately for tidal purposes?
06:16It would.
06:16Because as you're building the ship on a slipway, you've got to then slide the ship into the water.
06:20So the slope has got to be precise so that you don't have the ship breaking away on its own
06:25halfway through building.
06:27Conversely, that it will move when you want it to at the end of the building process.
06:31And both of the things happened.
06:32So by experience, they've worked out the right angle.
06:36OK, so what could this tell us that you don't already know?
06:39Well, we've got slipway structures from this period in other shipyards, but most of them are under bricks and concrete.
06:45So here we've got the entire structure that has essentially been left since the major shipbuilding finished after the end
06:52of the Napoleonic Wars.
06:54But is there anything that this can tell you that a historical document can't?
06:59Ah, well, what they proposed and what they actually did are two different things.
07:03And we see that all the time.
07:05When they actually come to do it, the real world imposes.
07:09So the archaeological reality is always slightly and interestingly different from a lot of the historical, theoretical stuff.
07:22Rodrigo Ortiz-Vasquez is part of the team excavating the slipway,
07:26with the aim of working out how such vast ships could be supported in the soft clay riverbed.
07:34So one of the things that you look at this timber is that it's been really, really nicely worked underneath.
07:38It's very flat.
07:39It's been laid on top of a gravel layer that they've been digging out.
07:43So they've really thought how to keep it from sinking.
07:46It's so much more than just hacking down some massive trees and shoving it in the mud.
07:50Oh, absolutely.
07:50And if this goes wrong, if this is not laid properly, the whole ship is not going to be built
07:54correctly.
07:55So this is really important stuff.
07:57And it's still in place, you know.
07:58This is from the 1700s and it's still there.
08:04The architecture of the slipway is helping the archaeologists understand how the Agamemnon was built.
08:12And some of the smaller finds offer a tantalising connection to the ship, including copper plating that would have been
08:20used to protect wooden holes from shipworm and barnacles.
08:24Yes.
08:24Square nails would be going through.
08:26So this would be fastened to the side of the ship to basically create an anti-fowl layer.
08:32So this is definitely contemporary to all the shipbuilding.
08:34How do you know this is contemporary with the Agamemnon period?
08:37Well, this has got like a very particular way of being rolled out.
08:40And you've got marks that look like old tool marks.
08:43And also the main giveaway is these square nail holes that are those there.
08:49We've got this bundle of square nails that were found together.
08:52So it would have gone in something like that.
08:54Exactly.
08:55Yeah.
08:55You have other big finds.
08:57This is definitely, you know, shipwright related like this.
08:59That's a big iron fastening nail.
09:02Fastening nail.
09:03Some of them would have been even longer.
09:05You know, they had to fasten two things together, two big timbers.
09:07Double layer timber.
09:08Exactly.
09:11Other small finds are helping Rodrigo build a picture of the industry and who was working here.
09:18Other stuff that we have contemporary are these clay pipes.
09:21Yes.
09:21This was definitely being, you know, smoked by somebody who was working on a ship.
09:25Other really exciting things here is this.
09:28This is called part of an onion bottle.
09:30What was in it?
09:31Well, it could have been port.
09:32It could have been wine.
09:33So this is all coming out of the mud around the slipway.
09:36Exactly.
09:37And what you're seeing here is a workforce that seems to be smoking and drinking on the job.
09:41Well, it did happen.
09:43Yes.
09:43And also, you've got to think, it was quite a big workforce.
09:46So you have hundreds of people working at the same time.
09:48So unavoidably, they would break stuff and just throw it on the side.
09:54The slipway is helping archaeologists understand the Agamemnon's origins.
09:58But they also want to learn more about her end.
10:04Her remains have lain off the coast of Uruguay since 1809.
10:08It's the only surviving wreck of a ship built at Buckler's Hard.
10:13So diving this piece of maritime heritage has been crucial to the archaeologist's research.
10:21This is the timber.
10:22This is the famous timber.
10:23And I'm touching history here.
10:26Mary Montague Scott, director of Buckler's Hard Maritime Museum, was part of the dive team.
10:34So you're on a mission to piece together the history of the Agamemnon, I guess.
10:40Absolutely.
10:41So this is to honour this incredible ship that was Nelson's favourite.
10:45And he was on it for three and a half years.
10:46It's where he lost his eye at the Battle of Calvi.
10:49And he writes about it as his favourite ship.
10:52It was the one where he had success.
10:54And then he took that success on to become our leading, you know, admiral in history.
11:06What kind of ship was the Agamemnon?
11:08She is a 64-gun Ardent class ship.
11:12And they were designed by the famous designer Thomas Slade.
11:15And he produced these drawings.
11:17And they were given this same set of plans to all the shipyards to build from,
11:22which is amazing because they're not that detailed, but they just knew how to build ships.
11:26So you have this plan.
11:27This is almost like the basic blueprint, but it's not the whole story.
11:31Yeah, and that's where the archaeology comes in.
11:32Exactly where the archaeology comes in.
11:35Mary and the team were able to map out key features of the Agamemnon on the dive.
11:42This is the cannonballs.
11:43Look at those.
11:44You can see these big concentric balls.
11:46And they all concreted together by age of time.
11:54The dive was a rare chance to gather as much information about the ship as possible because the wreck is
12:01under threat.
12:03It was covered by mussels that have been recently eaten by an invasive whelp.
12:10And so that has uncovered the wood for the first time.
12:12OK, so that's exposed again.
12:14It's more exposed.
12:25Mary was able to rescue some incredible artefacts from the decaying Hulk, helping us understand how the Agamemnon was constructed.
12:36This is a piece of the copper plating that covered the entire hull of the ship.
12:41And there were 3,000 pieces of copper sheet that went onto the Agamemnon.
12:46These little broad arrow marks are just, they're so fresh.
12:51It was 200 years ago that was cut in there.
12:54This is sitting on the seafloor and it's still there now.
12:56Brilliant.
12:56It's just lovely.
13:00The finds, both on land and at sea, are certainly helping us understand the construction of this mighty gunship.
13:11But with further dives of the wreck planned, the investigation into how the Agamemnon was built is far from over.
13:45The British landscape is peppered with reminders
13:49of how our ancestors honoured their dead through the ages.
13:59Burials are not just about death.
14:02They tell us a lot about how people lived.
14:05And now we're returning to a site that I visited last year
14:09where some incredible new finds have been discovered
14:11that cast light on people's status, their identity and even family connections.
14:23For our next dig, we're returning to rural Kent,
14:2810 miles south of Canterbury.
14:33In the centuries after the Roman army left Britain in 410 CE,
14:39new kingdoms would emerge across Britain
14:43in the early medieval period.
14:51There are so few written records from this time
14:54that historians used to call it the Dark Ages.
14:59But archaeology can illuminate this period.
15:02In Kent, a team from the University of Lancaster
15:05has been excavating this extraordinarily rich cemetery
15:09for the last three years.
15:15Hi, Alice.
15:16Hi, how are you?
15:17I'm good, yes.
15:18You've been hunting Anglo-Saxons again?
15:19We've been hunting Anglo-Saxons again, and we've found some.
15:25Last year, I joined lead archaeologist Duncan Sayre and his team
15:29as they uncovered some astonishing finds.
15:33There you go, there's a knife.
15:37Isn't this the best Anglo-Saxon soldier you've ever seen?
15:40I've never seen anything like that.
15:41That's so well preserved.
15:44Wow, she's got so many objects buried with her.
15:46I can see beads.
15:48There's grass beads here.
15:54The team shone a light on the Anglo-Saxon people who lived here.
16:01It's been a bit of a black hole as far as history is concerned.
16:04It's often called the Dark Ages.
16:06It is, yeah.
16:06Yeah, exactly.
16:07Yeah.
16:07We're really getting close to these people, aren't we?
16:15This year, Duncan and the team are back at the same site,
16:19excavating an even larger area,
16:21revealing several high-status burials
16:24spanning the 5th to 7th centuries.
16:28They're starting to suspect that these graves
16:31could have contained members of one powerful Anglo-Saxon dynasty.
16:36And this extraordinary burial is the first piece of evidence.
16:41So if the size of anything is to go by,
16:43this grave is massive.
16:45So he's an important guy.
16:50You can see that he is not much shorter than I am.
16:54He is probably around 6 foot in height,
16:57which is an astonishing thing for the 6th century.
17:02He is quite an old chap,
17:05and I think that's part of why
17:06he is so well-furnished with weapons.
17:09We've got a shield boss,
17:11but what's astonishing about this shield boss
17:14is that we've got a series of rivets here and here.
17:18So these go through the shield board.
17:20We don't see those.
17:21They're not very common at all.
17:22So it's a decorated shield.
17:28And next to him,
17:30with his arm over the top of it,
17:32all the way across here,
17:33we can see this sword.
17:38Anglo-Saxon swords are quite rare
17:40and considered to be a marker of status.
17:44But Duncan is also interested
17:46in the placement of the weapons in the grave.
17:53The spear across that line of his body
17:56all the way down here
17:57and that emotive almost hugging of the sword there
18:01is a real characteristic of these 6th century burials.
18:04I think it shows how important that object was to him
18:08and to the community.
18:14So we're probably looking at an elder,
18:17a leader,
18:17a significant member of this other elite family
18:20that are buried here.
18:20And of course in this cemetery
18:22we've got probably 6, 7, even 8 generations.
18:31Not far from this grave
18:33of what seems to be a significant individual,
18:36the team find a smaller burial.
18:39It's a young person.
18:41It's a child.
18:43But we can age it quite specifically
18:45because we've got these unfused ends here
18:48to the long bones.
18:48So we can suggest that this probably boy
18:52is aged between about 12 and 14.
18:55It's a child with weapons,
18:56which is extraordinary.
18:58Is this about rites of passage
19:00or is he buried as the man
19:02that he would have become?
19:10Most of the individuals in this cemetery are male,
19:13but in one grave,
19:15the skeleton of a young woman
19:16is found with impressive grave goods.
19:19The archaeologists are wondering
19:21if all of these people
19:22could have belonged to the same prominent family.
19:26Student River Busby
19:27and archaeologist Andrew Richardson
19:29are just lifting an object
19:31that looks very special.
19:34OK.
19:36Wow.
19:37Wow.
19:37OK.
19:38That is a plated disc roach.
19:41That is stunning.
19:42That is going to be very late 6th century
19:45or very early 7th century,
19:48around about 600.
19:49It's just incredible to see
19:51and to get the chance to excavate
19:54and it's just truly incredible.
19:56You were the first person
19:57to see the front of that
19:58for 1,400 years.
20:00Yeah.
20:01That is phenomenal
20:02to get to experience that.
20:03It's once in a lifetime.
20:08So they're using exotic raw materials,
20:11garnets,
20:11which might come from
20:12as far afield as Sri Lanka,
20:14gold, silver,
20:15none of this can be
20:16naturally sourced in Kent,
20:18but they're making
20:19a distinctively Kentish object
20:21and almost certainly
20:23they're being distributed
20:24as gifts
20:25by the Kentish royal dynasty.
20:27So her wearing that
20:29is a symbol
20:30of her connection
20:31to that dynasty.
20:33Oh, wow.
20:36That's amazing.
20:38You've got all the little
20:38gold circles in there.
20:40Yeah.
20:41And you've got the three garnets.
20:43Wow.
20:46What a magnificent find.
20:48First skeleton.
20:49Yeah.
20:49First ever dig.
20:51Yeah.
20:54Yeah, it's all downhill from there.
21:02Duncan and site supervisor
21:04Gemma Sweeney
21:05have brought
21:06some of this year's
21:06remarkable finds
21:07to the tent.
21:10What have we got here?
21:11We've got a child's burial.
21:13Yeah, he's between
21:15six to eight years old
21:16and he's still got
21:16a lot of baby teeth.
21:17What, by the lick of the sign?
21:18Yeah, he's up
21:19this individual's turn.
21:21But what he's got,
21:22or what they have got here
21:23is this absolutely massive...
21:24That's a buckle.
21:25That is a belt buckle.
21:25Can I hold that?
21:26You can, absolutely.
21:27What's it made of, Duncan?
21:28It's made of silver.
21:29Oh.
21:30It's a solid silver belt buckle.
21:32So it's not only a big buckle
21:33for a small child,
21:35it's got a precious metal artefact.
21:37And you can see this is decorated.
21:39Yeah.
21:39There's little ring and dots
21:40all the way around
21:41the interior placement
21:42of that enamel,
21:44which is lovely.
21:44So it's really unusual
21:45to get grave goods
21:47and status grave goods.
21:49Absolutely.
21:50Precious metal artefacts
21:51like that with a child
21:52is really interesting.
21:53And it's part of the same story
21:54that we have
21:55with this child.
21:56How old is this individual
21:58to begin with?
21:59Between 10 to 12.
22:00From 10 to 12, yeah.
22:01And you've got weaponry.
22:03We've got weaponry.
22:04So we've got a shield boss
22:05with studs.
22:06It's a decorated shield boss.
22:08So it's the kind of grave goods
22:09that you would expect
22:10with an adult male burial.
22:12Exactly.
22:13Yeah.
22:13So this is going to have
22:15to be the question.
22:16Were these people buried
22:17with the artefacts
22:18of the families
22:19they're associated with
22:20or the people
22:22that they were going to become
22:22if they became adults?
22:24Yeah, this is...
22:25So there's a symbolic role
22:26here to these decorated weapons.
22:28And you've got three swords.
22:29We also have three swords.
22:30So one last year.
22:32One from last year
22:33to shame.
22:34So this here
22:36is the scabbard mouth
22:38effectively,
22:39the scabbard opening.
22:40Okay.
22:41That's made of copper
22:42and it's gilt.
22:43So it's got this gold
22:45over the top of it.
22:46Yeah, just gleaming through.
22:47Exactly.
22:49So what's interesting about this,
22:51we've got objects
22:52with different dates.
22:53Cool.
22:54So probably something
22:55that is 6th century
22:56and something that's a bit earlier,
22:58maybe late 5th or early 6th century.
23:00Yeah.
23:00Coming together to make
23:01one composite object
23:02that is a sword.
23:03So an old sword
23:04with a new scabbard maybe?
23:05They really like old swords.
23:06So do you think
23:07the blade of the sword
23:08would have been you
23:08and then it's got
23:09old decoration on it?
23:11I wouldn't be surprised
23:12if they wanted to make it
23:13look like it was Grandad's sword
23:15because Grandad's sword
23:15was given down
23:16through that line.
23:18Maybe Grandad's sword
23:19is with him in the grave.
23:20Oh, okay.
23:21So he could be buried
23:22with a sword
23:22and take the bits of it off
23:25and put it on a new sword.
23:26So a sword almost
23:27has two lives,
23:28one in the afterlife
23:29in the grave
23:30and one of them
23:30in the above ground community
23:32as well.
23:33I mean,
23:33you start to think
23:34about dynasties,
23:35don't you?
23:36You start to wonder
23:36whether you've got
23:37an extended family
23:38through time
23:39in that cemetery.
23:40We often forget that,
23:41don't we?
23:41We accidentally call it
23:42the Dark Ages
23:43a generation or two ago
23:44but there's nothing dark
23:46about any of this.
23:47It's dark historically
23:48but not archaeologically.
23:50It's amazing.
23:51Yeah.
24:01I dreamt
24:02I flew
24:02with the saints
24:04last night
24:05I know them all
24:08by wingsides
24:10And up there
24:11it just doesn't count
24:14for long
24:15Whether you're clever
24:18or wise
24:21From historic cathedral cities
24:24to spa
24:26and university towns,
24:28the South has plenty
24:29of historic urban centres
24:33And beneath their streets
24:35are traces of the people
24:37who once lived there.
24:42Our next dig
24:43is a really unusual one
24:45taking place
24:46in an Oxford college
24:47and the archaeologists
24:49were really limited
24:51in terms of
24:52where they could dig
24:53and how big
24:55the trenches could be.
24:56It was a bit like
24:57keyhole surgery
24:58but
24:59they got an astonishing
25:01glimpse
25:02of student life
25:03through the centuries.
25:07This dig
25:08takes us
25:09right into the heart
25:10of Oxford's
25:11dreaming spires.
25:14Today
25:15Trinity College
25:16is part of the university
25:18a thriving centre
25:19of learning
25:20just as it was
25:22700 years ago
25:27in the medieval period.
25:35When it was first
25:36established
25:37in the late
25:3813th century
25:39this site
25:40was known
25:40as Durham College
25:42and was a place
25:43of learning
25:43for Benedictine monks.
25:47The college's
25:48heating system
25:49is being updated
25:50which involves
25:51drilling boreholes
25:52into its iconic lawns.
25:55But before
25:56they can make changes
25:57to these historic grounds
25:58archaeologist
25:59Jamie Williams
26:00has been given
26:01a rare opportunity
26:02to find out
26:04how student life
26:05has changed
26:06over the centuries.
26:09In the last few weeks
26:10we've just been
26:11uncovering
26:11loads and loads
26:12of pure
26:13untouched medieval
26:14archaeology
26:14in the centre of Oxford
26:15which is pretty rare
26:16pretty cool.
26:21Jamie filmed
26:22his discovery
26:23of medieval finds
26:24including
26:25thimbles
26:27clasps
26:27used to protect
26:28the pages
26:29of valuable books
26:30pottery
26:31and even
26:32some jewellery.
26:35The medieval ring
26:35was just amazing.
26:38It's very personal
26:39the ring
26:39it's such a personal
26:40piece of history.
26:42I'm sure
26:42they were gutted
26:43that they lost it
26:44but I'm very happy
26:44that I found it.
26:51But the peaceful order
26:53of Oxford's
26:54religious colleges
26:55would eventually
26:56would eventually
26:56be disrupted.
26:57The Reformation
26:58saw the closure
26:59of this Benedictine
27:01monastery
27:01in 1538.
27:04Then in 1555
27:06wealthy landowner
27:08Thomas Pope
27:08established
27:09Trinity College
27:10on the same site.
27:14Jamie wants
27:14to find out
27:15how daily life
27:17might have changed
27:17for Trinity's
27:18new students.
27:22With the gap
27:23of the Reformation
27:23the college
27:24went from being
27:24almost like
27:25closed off place
27:26for monks
27:26to a place
27:27of learning
27:28with Trinity College
27:29and the finds
27:30kind of represent
27:31that because
27:31you can have
27:32these imported wares
27:33and students
27:34coming in
27:34from all over Europe
27:35and you start
27:36to feel like
27:37this closed off world
27:38has just become
27:39an open place
27:40for learning
27:40than it was before
27:42when it was a monastery.
27:48And Jamie's
27:49finding plenty
27:50of evidence
27:50that the students
27:51of 17th century Oxford
27:53were quick
27:54to jump on
27:55a new trend.
27:58Some of the finds
27:59we're finding
27:59in huge quantities
28:00are some of the
28:01clay tobacco pipes
28:02which basically
28:03are like
28:04single use vapes
28:04now, you know
28:05they would have
28:05put the pipe
28:06broken off
28:07the length
28:07they wanted
28:07thrown that
28:08on the floor.
28:09We actually
28:09have a pier
28:10which is just
28:10outside the college gates
28:12and it is
28:13just completely filled
28:14and we're calling
28:15it currently
28:15Smoker's Corner
28:16because it's
28:17the closest point
28:17you can get
28:18to the grass
28:18where you would
28:19just chuck your
28:20which are
28:21effectively
28:21single use vapes
28:22just into the
28:22into the orchard pit
28:23so that probably
28:23would have been
28:24where they were
28:24doing a lot
28:25of the smoking
28:25back in the day.
28:32Now that he's
28:32carried out
28:33some post-excavation
28:34research
28:35Jamie has brought
28:36his finds
28:37to the tent
28:38to tell me more
28:39about Trinity College's
28:40past residence.
28:44We had a lot
28:45of layers
28:45and it was
28:46kind of like
28:46an urban
28:47archaeology dig
28:48on a rural site
28:49but in the
28:49centre of Oxford
28:50so it was
28:51kind of an
28:52odd one
28:52but it was
28:52really fun
28:53to untangle.
28:54Yeah
28:54and you've
28:54got some
28:55amazing objects
28:56so take me
28:57through them
28:58then.
28:58What have you
28:58got here?
28:59Are these
28:59the earliest
28:59ones?
29:00We've got
29:00some lovely
29:01little book
29:02clasps.
29:03That is so
29:04sweet.
29:05Might still
29:05have some
29:06remnants of
29:06some wood
29:07in this one
29:08as well.
29:08Wow that was
29:09amazing.
29:09Which is really
29:09cool.
29:10Do you know
29:11when within
29:11the medieval
29:12period these
29:12might date
29:13to?
29:1313th century
29:14but obviously
29:14the book
29:15could have
29:15deteriorated
29:16or they
29:16could have
29:17fallen off
29:17years later
29:17you know
29:18so.
29:18It's just
29:19this amazing
29:19history of
29:20learning
29:20at Oxford.
29:22I love it
29:22I love it.
29:23So do you
29:23think that was
29:24a fairly
29:24smooth transition
29:25then from
29:26it being
29:26a Benedictine
29:28college
29:28you know
29:28a place of
29:29learning
29:29to then
29:31being
29:31re-founded?
29:32Well there's
29:33a ten year
29:33gap between
29:33when it was
29:34re-founded
29:34but it's
29:35definitely
29:35gone from
29:35this
29:36ecclesiastical
29:37closed off
29:37space
29:38where monks
29:38would have
29:38learned
29:38and then
29:39you have
29:39Trinity
29:40College
29:41which would
29:41be more
29:41open to
29:41the public.
29:42What's that?
29:43Is that a
29:43glass?
29:44Yeah so this
29:44is just
29:44an example
29:45of some
29:45of the
29:46high status
29:46glass
29:46that you
29:47had on
29:47site
29:47that
29:47probably
29:47would
29:48have
29:48been
29:48somewhere
29:48around
29:4917,
29:4918th,
29:5019th century.
29:50There's some
29:51fine dining
29:51going on.
29:52There's a lot
29:52of fine dining
29:53yeah.
29:55Some of
29:55the artefacts
29:56Jamie found
29:57shone a
29:58light on
29:58Trinity
29:59College's
29:59enterprising
30:00neighbours.
30:02These are
30:02glass
30:03bottle
30:03seals
30:04so they
30:04would have
30:05been
30:05stamped
30:06onto the
30:06bottle
30:07when the
30:07bottle
30:08was
30:08made
30:08and
30:08they
30:09have
30:09some
30:09initials
30:09in.
30:09So this
30:10is WMA
30:11it's
30:11William
30:11and Anne
30:12Morell
30:12and the
30:13crown
30:14represents
30:14the
30:14crown
30:15tavern
30:15which is
30:15the pub
30:16it actually
30:16came from.
30:16How do
30:17you know
30:17these names?
30:18Because
30:18they are
30:19documented
30:20on
30:20licences
30:21so Anne
30:22Morell
30:22she actually
30:23applied for
30:24a 10 year
30:24licence
30:25to sell
30:25wine
30:26in Oxford
30:26in
30:281659.
30:29So you've
30:29matched this
30:30up with
30:30historical
30:31records?
30:31Yes because
30:32she took
30:33out a
30:33liquor licence
30:34in her
30:34own name
30:35she was
30:35a widow
30:35at the
30:35time
30:36and then
30:36she married
30:37William
30:38Morell
30:38and in
30:391660
30:39with the
30:40restoration
30:40of the
30:40monarchy
30:41they changed
30:41the name
30:41to the
30:42crown
30:42tavern.
30:4319
30:43years
30:44after
30:44so in
30:451679
30:46Anne
30:46was
30:47widowed
30:47again
30:47she ended
30:48up
30:48this is
30:49lovely
30:49this is
30:50a glass
30:50seal
30:50this is
30:51from when
30:51she was
30:52widowed
30:52for the
30:53second
30:53time.
30:53Oh my
30:53goodness
30:54so we're
30:54getting
30:54these
30:55snapshots
30:55of her
30:55life
30:56here.
30:56Yeah so
30:56she's
30:56still running
30:57the pub
30:57this is
30:581687
30:59she died
31:00in either
31:011695
31:02and 96
31:02and she
31:03ended up
31:03handing the
31:04pub down
31:05to her
31:06daughter-in-law.
31:07I love this
31:08sort of stuff
31:08I love the
31:09history
31:09it's something
31:10that you can
31:11actually like
31:11grasp and
31:12go home and
31:13look at
31:13and just
31:14yeah.
31:14Amazing to
31:15have so many
31:15beautiful finds
31:16that give us
31:17a little
31:17wind day
31:18into this
31:18history of
31:19the Oxford
31:20colleges
31:20yeah
31:21yeah
31:26let blisters
31:28be
31:29teachers
31:30with
31:31blessings
31:33bestow
31:34let the
31:36darkness
31:36restore
31:38us
31:39as
31:42I'll
31:44make
31:44these
31:45pathways
31:46my
31:47companion
31:50be
31:51witness
31:52by what
31:54cannot
31:55be seen
31:59be
32:00peregrine
32:02be
32:03pasture
32:03be
32:05tiny
32:05be
32:06vasta
32:10be
32:11as
32:12soft
32:12as
32:14green
32:15moss
32:17and
32:17be
32:18free
32:26I am
32:28fascinated
32:28by
32:29burial
32:30archaeology
32:31by what
32:31human
32:32remains
32:32human
32:33bones
32:33can tell
32:34us
32:34about
32:34people
32:34in
32:34the
32:35past
32:35and
32:36then
32:36the
32:36objects
32:37that
32:37are
32:37buried
32:38with
32:38individuals
32:39as
32:39well
32:39they
32:40can
32:40tell
32:40us
32:40about
32:40culture
32:41community
32:42and
32:43individuals
32:44and
32:45at
32:45this
32:46next
32:46dig
32:46one
32:47person
32:48was
32:48buried
32:49with
32:49an
32:49object
32:50that
32:50is
32:50so
32:51special
32:51that
32:52at
32:52this
32:52point
32:53in
32:53the
32:53investigation
32:53we
32:55think
32:55it's
32:55completely
32:56unique
33:01our
33:02next
33:02dig
33:02takes
33:03us
33:03to
33:03the
33:03village
33:04of
33:04Broadway
33:04in
33:05the
33:05Cotswolds
33:0520
33:07miles
33:07south
33:08of
33:08Worcester
33:11Broadway
33:12is
33:12often
33:13called
33:13the
33:13Jewel
33:14of
33:14the
33:14Cotswolds
33:15and
33:16it
33:16was
33:16in
33:16this
33:17idyllic
33:17village
33:17that
33:18just
33:18over
33:18a
33:19century
33:19ago
33:19pioneering
33:21female
33:21archaeologist
33:22Nancy
33:22Smith
33:23led
33:24the
33:24discovery
33:25of
33:25the
33:25remains
33:25of
33:26ancient
33:26ditches
33:27buildings
33:28and
33:28burials
33:29thought
33:29to date
33:31to the
33:32Roman
33:32period
33:38the
33:38site
33:39excavated
33:39by
33:40Nancy
33:40Smith
33:40is
33:41now
33:41earmarked
33:42for
33:42development
33:43but
33:43before
33:44construction
33:44can
33:45begin
33:45a team
33:46from
33:46Worcester
33:47Archaeology
33:47are
33:48investigating
33:48what may
33:49still be
33:50hidden
33:50underground
33:55Initial
33:55surveys
33:56suggested
33:57that they
33:57might find
33:58a handful
33:59of
33:59isolated
33:59burials
34:00but the
34:01archaeologists
34:02soon
34:03realised
34:03that they
34:04were dealing
34:04with a
34:05vast
34:05Roman
34:06cemetery
34:07cemetery
34:08Jamie
34:08Wilkins
34:08has been
34:09leading
34:09the
34:09investigation
34:11in total
34:11we've had
34:1276 graves
34:13but most
34:14of them
34:15have been
34:15localised
34:16to this
34:16area
34:16here
34:17and as
34:17you can
34:17see
34:18some
34:18of the
34:18grave
34:18cuts
34:19around
34:19us
34:26this
34:27is really
34:27really
34:28significant
34:28to have
34:29such
34:29a dense
34:30cemetery
34:31nothing's been
34:32seen in the
34:33county
34:33before like
34:34this
34:38to find
34:38such a
34:39large
34:39cemetery
34:40on this
34:41site
34:41is really
34:42interesting
34:42because it
34:43gives us
34:44quite a
34:44large
34:44population
34:45sample
34:46of the
34:46people
34:47who were
34:47living
34:47and working
34:48in this
34:49settlement
34:51some of
34:52these burials
34:52seemed very
34:53unusual
34:55we've also
34:56had a really
34:57high number
34:57of what we'd
34:58class as
34:58deviant
34:58burials
34:59some of
35:00our
35:00deviant
35:01burials
35:01have been
35:02decapitations
35:02and we
35:04might have
35:04seen the
35:04skull
35:04placed by
35:05the feet
35:05or by
35:06the knees
35:06and some
35:07where the
35:08skull
35:08hasn't been
35:08in the
35:09grave
35:09at all
35:15deviant
35:15or irregular
35:16burials
35:16are simply
35:17those
35:18considered
35:18to be
35:19unusual
35:20that
35:21might
35:21include
35:21decapitated
35:22remains
35:23or a
35:24body
35:24buried
35:25face
35:25down
35:25it's
35:27easy
35:27to assume
35:28this relates
35:28to punishment
35:29in some
35:30way
35:31but
35:32some of
35:33these
35:33graves
35:33suggest
35:33that
35:34something
35:34different
35:35may have
35:35been
35:35happening
35:36here
35:36and
35:37one
35:37particular
35:38burial
35:38has
35:39grabbed
35:39Jamie's
35:40attention
35:42when we
35:43first started
35:44excavating
35:44that grave
35:45we could
35:45see this
35:46carved
35:47bone
35:48object
35:48underneath
35:49the skull
35:52this
35:53is
35:53and we could
36:09see this
36:10circle
36:10dot
36:10pattern
36:11and it
36:11was really
36:12quite exciting
36:17to find an
36:18object like
36:19that does
36:19not happen
36:20every day
36:20I've never
36:21seen anything
36:22like it
36:22before
36:23what we could
36:24see on site
36:25was that this
36:25box was still
36:26sealed
36:26and so we
36:27weren't prepared
36:28to open the
36:29box on site
36:31Jamie knew
36:32this mysterious
36:33box was something
36:34very special
36:36and in fact
36:37it's unique
36:38nothing like it
36:40has been seen
36:41in British
36:42archaeology before
36:44and in the lab
36:45it was finally
36:46time to open it
36:48and look inside
36:54Jamie and his
36:55colleague Laura
36:56Griffin have
36:57brought in that
36:58extraordinary find
37:00and a few others
37:04where should we
37:05start do you
37:06think
37:06should we
37:07start with the
37:08centrepiece
37:08with this
37:09incredible
37:10artefact
37:11I've never seen
37:12a box like this
37:13before
37:13I can't find
37:14any other
37:14examples that
37:16look similar
37:17at all
37:17really
37:18you get
37:18wooden boxes
37:19that have
37:20bone veneer
37:21strips on them
37:21that are decorated
37:22with ring and dot
37:23decoration
37:23but we haven't
37:24found any
37:25examples of a
37:25solid bone box
37:27it comes
37:28really quite
37:29smoothly
37:29yeah it slides
37:30backwards
37:31it's really got
37:31a smooth action
37:32on it
37:32isn't that amazing
37:33yeah
37:34I mean it's
37:35so beautifully
37:35made
37:36was there anything
37:37in it
37:37we had it
37:38x-rayed
37:38yeah
37:39and it looked
37:39like there
37:39might be
37:40something in it
37:40but it turned
37:41out just to be
37:41soil
37:42I mean you
37:43imagine there
37:43must have been
37:44something that
37:44meant something
37:45to somebody
37:46just something
37:46special
37:46yeah
37:47absolutely
37:47and what's
37:48really interesting
37:49about the box
37:50is it was deposited
37:50as a grave good
37:51it has meaning
37:53then doesn't it
37:53absolutely
37:54it was definitely
37:54special to that
37:55individual
37:56and we believe
37:57that they were
37:57a young female
37:5825 to 30
38:00right
38:00and the pathology
38:02on the skeleton
38:03indicated that
38:04this female
38:05had some
38:06inflammatory reactions
38:07on the arm
38:08and the leg
38:08okay
38:09so it's tempting
38:10to think that
38:11maybe this box
38:12contained like
38:12an ointment
38:13or something
38:14that maybe
38:15they would have
38:15been using
38:16on themselves
38:17I mean we can
38:17only speculate
38:18in the absence
38:19of evidence
38:19from the box
38:20itself
38:20absolutely
38:21but it's a good
38:22suggestion
38:23if she's got
38:24inflammatory changes
38:25in the bones
38:25absolutely
38:26and because the box
38:27was empty
38:27and the soil
38:29was described
38:30as being quite
38:30greasy
38:31you know we're not
38:32sure whether there
38:32might be a link
38:33there
38:33oh who knows
38:35it's so curious
38:36isn't it
38:36and it's a beautiful
38:37thing and then
38:38you've always got
38:38more questions
38:39and you can't
38:40answer them
38:40can I pick it up
38:42yeah
38:43so it is actually
38:44really robust
38:45and robustly made
38:47yeah
38:47out of a single bone
38:49so I can see that
38:49actually it's not
38:50panels joined together
38:51is it
38:52no it's a single
38:52and do we know
38:53what kind of bone
38:54it is
38:54we've had it tested
38:55and it's come back
38:56as roe deer
38:57oh it's absolutely
38:58gorgeous
38:58let's have a look
38:59at some of the
39:00other artefacts
39:00though
39:01I mean it
39:01it does look
39:02stylistically connected
39:03with things like
39:05bone combs
39:05this comb was also
39:06from the cemetery
39:07we think it's
39:08a similar date
39:09to the box
39:10these bone combs
39:11I absolutely love them
39:11and they do go
39:12through time
39:13but this one is
39:14actually quite ornate
39:15isn't it
39:15compared with others
39:16it's got stylised
39:17horse heads
39:17on the end plates
39:18and do we know
39:20when that dates to
39:21from the sort of
39:23later 4th century
39:24so late Roman
39:25yeah
39:25yeah
39:26and then you've got
39:27some copper alloy
39:29objects as well
39:30this brooch was
39:31from a grave
39:32next to the grave
39:33that this one was in
39:33and there's some idea
39:34that they're associated
39:35with each other
39:36right
39:36but brooch is
39:37much earlier in date
39:38okay
39:39so the brooch
39:39is 1st to 2nd century
39:41oh wow
39:42in a 4th century cemetery
39:43which would suggest
39:44that it's a treasured item
39:46again that has passed down
39:47it's an antique
39:48it's an heirloom
39:49yeah
39:49over generations
39:50now the cemetery
39:52has already thrown up
39:53some surprises
39:53but you've got
39:54some unusual burials
39:56too
39:56around 20%
39:58of our burials
39:59in the cemetery
39:59are what we might call
40:01alternative burials
40:02yeah
40:02and this includes
40:03decapitations
40:04but also prone burials
40:07where the individual
40:08has been buried
40:08lying face down
40:09it's very easy
40:10to assume
40:11that there's something
40:12about those burials
40:13which is odd
40:14and perhaps even sinister
40:15absolutely
40:16but actually
40:17we're seeing a lot
40:18of these alternative burials
40:19with grave goods
40:21which might indicate
40:22that it's not a punishment
40:23it's just a practice
40:25yeah
40:25so for example
40:26the grave
40:27which contained
40:28the box here
40:29this was a prone burial
40:30that young woman
40:31was buried face down
40:32and that box
40:33had been deliberately placed
40:34under her right cheek
40:36underneath the skull
40:37yeah
40:37burial which contained
40:39that lovely bone comb
40:40this was a decapitation burial
40:42the comb
40:43had been placed
40:44at the top of the vertebrae
40:45where the skull should be
40:46it seems to be
40:48that it's part of
40:48a respectful way
40:49of burying somebody
40:50if you've got grave goods
40:52in there as well
40:52potentially yeah
40:54and what's interesting
40:55is that whilst it's not
40:56exclusive to Britain
40:58it does seem to be
40:59something that
41:01characterises
41:02Romano-British
41:03cemeteries
41:04yeah
41:04which is really interesting
41:05it's absolutely fascinating
41:08and there will be
41:09more fascinating details
41:10to emerge
41:20and indeed
41:21more details
41:23did emerge
41:24when Worcester archaeology
41:25expanded their dig
41:29right next to the cemetery
41:30they uncovered
41:32a vast Roman settlement
41:36it covers quite a large area
41:38over four football pitches
41:40in total
41:41the sheer density
41:42and quantity
41:43of the archaeology
41:44was massively unexpected
41:49and another mysterious bone object
41:52has appeared from the ground
41:55a couple of days ago
41:57we made this really exciting find
41:59this was caked in mud
42:00and we couldn't really see anything
42:02other than it's just been
42:03another fragment of animal bone
42:05but then as it started to dry out
42:07the holes were revealed
42:08and what we actually think this is
42:10is a carved bone flute
42:13I've never discovered
42:15a musical instrument
42:16on site before
42:17it's really quite special
42:18and it gives us
42:19that human connection
42:20perhaps this was played
42:22more in leisure
42:23and for fun
42:24rather than
42:25what we see across
42:26the rest of the site
42:27which is just work
42:34with just a fragment
42:36of this ancient instrument
42:37surviving
42:38Professor Stuart Pryor
42:40is investigating
42:41how it would have been made
42:43and how it might have sounded
42:50I'm interested in
42:51experimental archaeology
42:52recreating how artifacts
42:54might have been made
42:55in the past
42:57it's amazing
42:59and I've got plenty of experts
43:01to call upon
43:02to lend a hand
43:06Dr Simon Wyatt
43:07an expert in ancient music
43:09is going to help me explore
43:10how this piece of bone
43:11was turned into
43:12an instrument
43:18with this end missing
43:20we cannot be sure
43:21how it was sounded at all
43:23but we can
43:24do some experiments
43:25with the bones we have
43:26with us
43:26and we can demonstrate
43:28several different methods
43:29of using it
43:30as an instrument
43:31so we can actually hear
43:33what it may have sounded like
43:34absolutely
43:35for the first time in
43:371500 years maybe
43:38amazing
43:42the find
43:43is made from a metacarpal
43:45the foot bone of a sheep
43:46and Simon has pre-boiled
43:48a leg from the butchers
43:49to soften the sinews
43:51allowing him to cut off
43:53the meat
43:56this end should come off easier
43:57and it will demonstrate
43:58that hole at the end
43:59which is part of the
44:01artefact
44:02and so
44:03that hole in the end
44:04is actually part of the
44:05structure of the bone
44:06rather than anything to do
44:08with water
44:08so that happens naturally
44:09as part of the growth
44:10of the animal
44:10absolutely
44:11rather than it being
44:12something that's been drilled
44:13as part of the manufacture
44:14process of the flutes
44:16it's make
44:16I guess it makes the job
44:17a bit easier
44:18it does yeah
44:21next we will need to drill
44:22our finger holes
44:23employing the same technology
44:25that was available
44:26at the time
44:28working on the premise
44:29that this is
44:30either late roman
44:31or anglo-saxon
44:32and so we're going to
44:35try and do it
44:36with a bow drill
44:37okay
44:42it's not too difficult
44:43actually
44:43it's quite easy to do
44:45isn't it
44:46as long as you've got
44:47the technique
44:47and the technology
44:50yep
44:50oh yes
44:52and then you have
44:53a little loop
44:55cool look at that
44:59now that we have
45:00our finger holes
45:01we need to investigate
45:02how the flute
45:03may have sounded
45:05one way to create a note
45:07is by blowing it
45:08across the top
45:09the most simple
45:11form of wind instrument
45:12is known as an end
45:14blowing flute
45:14where you are
45:15blowing against
45:17the edge
45:18what a bit like
45:19blowing across the top
45:19of a milk bottle
45:20or a bottle
45:20absolutely
45:21yes yes yes
45:22it's easy to make
45:23but hard to play
45:27oh
45:29so that's it
45:30that is now potentially
45:33an instrument
45:33as the simplest version
45:35yes
45:35go for it
45:36let's do this in action
45:40almost there
45:41it hadn't got a proper tone
45:42but what I could do
45:44is show you it
45:45with one that is
45:45almost the same
45:46except slightly larger bone
45:53yeah
45:54the end blown flute
45:56does make a sound
45:57but it isn't very loud
45:59so Simon is going to show me
46:01some other ways
46:02this bone flute
46:03may have been played
46:04in the late Roman period
46:05it could have had
46:06a little duct
46:08like a modern day recorder
46:10which would look like this
46:12more familiar
46:12you've got a piece of wood
46:13that is cut at an angle
46:15so it directs your breath
46:17exactly where you want
46:19so it's not as hard to play
46:30the duct flute
46:31certainly produces
46:32a clearer sound
46:33but there's one last way
46:34this instrument
46:35might have been played
46:37and it involves
46:38inserting a reed
46:40okay
46:40I've cut
46:41a tiny notch
46:42and if you look
46:44it lifts up
46:45and when you put it
46:46in your mouth
46:47it vibrates
46:49so it's like a
46:50clarinet reed
46:51held in place there
46:52just simply with
46:53a little bit of beeswax
46:54so
46:55you're going to
46:56encapsulate the reed
46:58and seal your lips
46:59yep
46:59and then blow
47:00hard
47:04lift your finger
47:07once you've lifted
47:09yes
47:09you can feel the vibration
47:11in your mouth
47:11yeah I can feel the vibration
47:12I can see how it works
47:13it's just amazing
47:25that was an amazing experiment
47:27I'm amazed at how versatile
47:29this piece of bone could be
47:31I can just imagine a shepherd
47:33playing music to his sheep
47:34in the late Roman
47:35or early Saxon period
47:37using a bone flute
47:38just like this
47:53field archaeology brings evidence to light
47:57excavations reveal the physical traces
48:00of ancient lives
48:05but then
48:06analysis
48:07using the latest
48:08scientific techniques
48:10can help build
48:11an even more vivid picture
48:13of the past
48:20modern archaeological sciences
48:23and conservation
48:24allow us to extract
48:26so much more information
48:28from sites now
48:29than we could in the past
48:31we can see details
48:32that would have been
48:33overlooked
48:34sometimes even
48:34destroyed
48:35so when archaeologists
48:37came across
48:38a very high status
48:40iron age burial
48:41with a strange lump
48:44in it
48:44that clearly contained metal
48:46they knew
48:47that these precision techniques
48:49would be essential
48:50to untangling
48:52the mystery
48:57our next story
48:58takes us to
48:59Hearn Bay
49:02just 10 miles north
49:03of Canterbury
49:04where archaeologists
49:06were excavating
49:07a site
49:08before work
49:08could begin
49:09on a new housing development
49:10in this seaside town
49:13they discovered
49:14a settlement
49:15and cemetery
49:16that dated
49:17all the way back
49:18to the iron age
49:22back in 2024
49:24the archaeologists
49:26were using metal detectors
49:27on site
49:28and picked up
49:29strong signals
49:30from one grave
49:32so it was clear
49:34that metal grave goods
49:35were present
49:36alongside these pots
49:38and the archaeologists
49:39decided to block lift
49:41a whole segment
49:42and carried out
49:43an x-ray
49:43the images revealed
49:46an incredible knot
49:47of metal items
49:48mingled with
49:49cremated human remains
49:55now conservationist
49:57Dana Goodburn-Brown
49:58is carrying out
49:59a detailed
50:00micro-excavation
50:04this process
50:06is like taking apart
50:07a very complicated puzzle
50:08and Dana's keeping
50:10her eye out
50:10for tiny clues
50:11as she works
50:12on the block
50:14like here
50:15there is
50:15a structure
50:16like that
50:16well Dana
50:18and her colleague
50:19Marie Lasseau
50:20work for hours
50:21every day
50:22peeling off
50:23layers of soil
50:24deciphering
50:25this archaeological riddle
50:31after two weeks
50:32the grave goods
50:33are exposed
50:34for the first time
50:36in 2000 years
50:42this is a big
50:44copper alloy
50:45scabbard
50:46in the iron age
50:47they had
50:48bronze scabbards
50:50for their iron swords
50:51and we can see
50:52it sort of bends
50:54back here
50:54and comes up
50:56bends down
50:57comes around here
50:58and out
50:58to the other side
50:59of this
50:59and then
51:00the iron sword
51:02seems to be
51:03beneath it
51:07Dana suspects
51:08the sword
51:09and scabbard
51:10might have been
51:10deliberately bent
51:12as part of an iron age
51:13funeral rite
51:14where weapons
51:16would have been
51:16decommissioned
51:17or killed
51:18before being buried
51:19this decoration
51:21is on the scabbard
51:23on the outer portion
51:24of the top
51:24bit here
51:25of the scabbard
51:26doesn't seem to follow
51:27all the way around
51:28but it's just
51:28ever so
51:29beautiful
51:30and special
51:31and this is on a weapon
51:33but it's obviously
51:35they cherished this
51:37and it was felt
51:37to be worthy
51:39of high status
51:39decoration
51:44Dana and Marie
51:45record every
51:46layer that they
51:47excavate
51:48and they keep
51:49samples for analysis
51:51each tiny piece
51:52of information
51:53will tell us more
51:54about the items
51:55in this burial
52:00say if I observe
52:01textile
52:02or preserve
52:03leather
52:04that's telling us
52:05that this person
52:06was laid to rest
52:07with either
52:07folded textiles
52:09or a leather
52:10bag perhaps
52:11that held
52:11the cremated
52:12remains
52:16that's why
52:16it's so important
52:17why we're saving
52:18and labeling
52:18every little bit
52:20as we go down
52:20because the scientists
52:22and other teammates
52:23might be able
52:24to help piece
52:25together the jigsaw
52:26from their specialism
52:30other people
52:31other people
52:31will maybe say
52:32something different
52:33about the soil
52:33and the plant
52:35and pull out
52:35seeds that flowers
52:36were involved
52:37or something like that
52:38so yeah
52:39it's from that
52:39moment in time
52:40where the cremated bones
52:42are interred
52:42with objects
52:43that was felt
52:45important to go
52:45to the afterlife
52:46with this person
52:52Marie has found
52:53some delicate
52:53fragments of wood
52:55which could have
52:56been part
52:56of a scabbard
52:57taking them
52:58into this
52:59acid-free tissue paper
53:01and then we will
53:02be able to bring
53:03it to the lab
53:03and look at it
53:04under microscope
53:05so fingers crossed
53:08these tiny fragments
53:09I collected
53:11can tell us
53:12a lot more
53:13if that's
53:15really wood grain
53:16preserved in the
53:17corrosion
53:17it could tell us
53:19about the way
53:19the scabbard was
53:21built
53:23it's like an
53:24untold story
53:26that is slowly
53:27being revealed
53:28under your eyes
53:29and it's
53:30like a dialogue
53:32a discussion
53:32with the past
53:34and that's
53:35really the beauty
53:36of this work
53:39as Dana and Marie
53:41continue working
53:42they encounter
53:43a problem
53:44the scabbard
53:45can't be lifted
53:46without damaging
53:47the iron sword
53:48and cremated bone
53:49there's bones
53:51over here
53:51and bone there
53:53but it's coming
53:54under
53:57but again
53:58as the sword
53:59and the scabbard
54:00are bent
54:01it could be
54:02that there was
54:02a gap under
54:03and the bones
54:04have slid under
54:07they can't risk
54:08excavating down
54:10any further
54:11so they try
54:12a different approach
54:16rather than
54:17trying to lift
54:17out the scabbard
54:19and the sword
54:20I'm going to use
54:21polyurethane foam
54:22that expands
54:23that people use
54:23in buildings
54:24sometimes as installation
54:25so we're going to
54:26spray that all over
54:27and then put a
54:28board on top of that
54:30we're going to put
54:30ratchet tape all around
54:32this is the scary bit
54:34we're going to flip it
54:36and then we're going to
54:37excavate it
54:38from the other side
54:42by flipping over
54:43the block
54:43it will be possible
54:44to safely unearth
54:46more of the artifacts
54:53we've been days
54:54at this
54:55and really
54:56I don't feel
54:56very much closer to it
54:57so if we turn it over
54:58I'm hoping we can
55:00maybe find
55:01some of the missing elements
55:02that help us
55:02understand what was here
55:06the plan works
55:08they can now
55:09excavate from the
55:10other side
55:11safely revealing
55:13more precious items
55:14and preserving
55:15the bone fragments
55:23Dana and Dan Worsley
55:26who originally
55:26found the burial deposit
55:28have brought the block
55:29into the tent
55:30to show me
55:31what they've discovered
55:32so far
55:37Dan
55:37Dana
55:38do we know
55:39when this dates to
55:40have you got an idea
55:41we're thinking
55:41at the moment
55:42about 30 BC
55:44through to 60 AD
55:45late Iron Age
55:46into when actually
55:47the Romans arrive
55:48and we become part
55:49of the Roman Empire
55:50yeah
55:50so you obviously
55:51came across this
55:52and decided to
55:53block lift it
55:55so it was part of
55:56a larger cremation
55:58so there's eight vessels
55:59that are surrounding
56:00this in the centre of it
56:01and so once we'd
56:02excavated everything
56:03down to what we were
56:04comfortable dealing
56:05with in the field
56:06we then decided
56:07to block lift
56:08it's so complicated
56:09as well because
56:09everything's lying
56:10one on top of another
56:12and you know
56:13if you were to move
56:13something you might
56:14damage the thing
56:15it's lying next to
56:16so what can we see here
56:18then we've got a vessel
56:19here
56:19so this is flipped
56:21we're under the grave
56:22we're underneath
56:23looking up
56:24yeah
56:25we've done one side
56:26and then we've
56:26flipped it over
56:27we've got a picture
56:28of the actual pit
56:30so Dan show us
56:31what it looked like
56:31an excavation then
56:32so yes
56:34lots of vessels
56:34yeah so that's the
56:36vessel that's still
56:37attached to the block lift
56:38so that was in the
56:40centre of a cremation
56:41cemetery with 14
56:42other cremations
56:43but they were all
56:44either unearned
56:45or single
56:46or two vessels
56:47per grave
56:48nothing compared
56:49to this
56:49so this is the
56:50richest one
56:51do you think
56:51it's a founder
56:52grave
56:53you know sometimes
56:54you get these
56:54kind of founder
56:55burials and then
56:56other burials
56:56placed around them
56:57it's certainly
56:58a high status
57:00grave in that
57:01cemetery
57:02and all the others
57:02were centred around
57:03it
57:03yeah
57:04so
57:04this is the sword
57:05we're looking at
57:06is it
57:06the handle of the
57:07hilt is here
57:08yeah
57:08and it comes this
57:10way
57:10and then it comes
57:11around there
57:12and then it bends
57:13back here
57:13then it bends
57:14down there
57:14so that's been
57:15deliberately bent
57:16yeah
57:16yeah it's a killing
57:17of the sword
57:19killing the sword
57:20but that's as far as
57:21they've bent it around
57:22they've bent it around
57:22again and then back
57:23on itself
57:23yeah
57:25so the sword
57:26is iron
57:28or steel
57:28then what about
57:30this copper alloy
57:31what's that
57:31that's a scabbard
57:32that's a scabbard
57:34so the sword is
57:35out of the scabbard
57:35as well
57:36so it's been taken
57:37out and both of them
57:38bent
57:40really strange
57:42but fascinating
57:51next time on
57:52digging for britain
57:53a forgotten royal estate
57:55yields hidden treasures
57:56never seen anything like it
57:58in my 30 years of digging
58:00in fife
58:01a pictish stronghold
58:03the best thing i've ever found
58:04on a dig
58:05i've never found anything
58:06this cool
58:06reveals a chapter
58:08lost to history
58:09this site is incredible
58:11and tory finds
58:13that sunderland's
58:14industrial heritage
58:15we've officially got
58:16our very first roman
58:18point
58:18goes back further
58:19than anyone thought
58:21the romans were here
58:23you come and search
58:26for we who search
58:28and look in for us
58:30gather land
58:31i dig for those
58:34whose stories
58:35lie in very past
58:38the future's one
58:40and dig for us
58:42as we have done
58:44to lay the dead out
58:47in the sun
58:48to lay us dead
58:51out in the sun
58:53if theyense
58:53to lay them
58:53and to lay there
58:54and to lay us
58:54getting
Comments