Stories from the Dark Earth: Meet the Ancestors Revisited

Right across Britain,

archaeologists are unearthing the relics of ancient lives.

But so much of modern archaeology is what happens after excavation.

Today, forensic analysis and cutting-edge science,

as well as brand-new finds,

are overturning what we once thought

about entire eras of our ancient history.

I'm Julian Richards, and over the years

I've been lucky enough

to have taken part in some of our most important digs.

You've not! A lead coffin?

Now I'm going back to some of my favourites

to discover the very latest stories of our most ancient ancestors.

No period of Britain's deep history

has left a greater legacy than the centuries of Roman rule.

Right from the moment of their violent invasion,

the Romans left their mark on this island,

shaping who we are today.

Even giving us our name - Britannia.

What often doesn't spring to mind

is late-Roman Britain, the fourth century AD,

when Rome had started to decline,

the world's greatest empire heading for extinction.

Now, as an archaeologist, it's these hidden bits of history

that really fascinate me, and the questions that they raise -

what was life like in the cities of Roman Britain

on the edge of a dying empire?

More than a decade ago, I took part in two remarkable discoveries

which offered the chance to find out more.

In 1998, I helped reveal a burial from Roman Winchester -

a local man who died early in the 4th century AD.

Now, over a decade later,

new science has challenged long-held assumptions,

changing our understanding of the world he lived in.

I've looked at a lot of decapitated burials,

and it's much more common

to find individuals where they've had their head chopped off.

Then, just a year later, a fantastically rich burial

of an aristocratic woman from 4th-century London.

Back in 1999, she seemed to be foreign,

a holder of unusual new beliefs.

But it's only now that new studies and a decade of research

have finally solved the mystery of just who she was.

It was just so exciting, I was...I was dancing around the room,

much to the amusement of the builders who were on the opposite roof.

Together, these two burials

have opened up windows into the lives and beliefs

of people who were living through some turbulent times.

It was an era of political instability

where usurpers and rebels vied for power.

And also, a time of spiritual uncertainty

where Christianity - a new religion from the East -

challenged traditional Roman values.

So I'm returning to these two finds

to see what science and archaeology have revealed

in the dozen years since they were unearthed.

By the 4th century, Roman influence had spread throughout Britain.

Roads had brought prosperity,

linking the countryside with its abundance of food

to the new towns and cities.

I've always been aware of one of those Roman towns in particular -

Winchester.

It's a civitas, or regional capital,

and one of the largest towns in Roman Britain.

So when, in 1998, I heard about excavation starting up

at the Eagle Hotel just to the north of the city,

I was very keen to get involved.

And now, more than a decade on from that dig,

I'm heading back to the city

to find out how our understanding

of 4th century Roman Winchester has moved on.

This is where we were digging all those years ago,

where we found our Winchester man.

The weather's certainly nicer than it was then

because it hailed, it snowed.

On top of that, the back wall of the hotel

threatened to fall into the site.

It was...quite challenging.

But I do remember being down one of the graves and getting very excited

about finding some Roman coffin nails,

when suddenly, we heard this shout

from over the other side of the site.

Let me take you back 15 years to 1998.

Oh, wow! You've not!

A lead coffin!

Oh, you're joking!

'That shout was to mark the discovery

'of something very special.' Oh!

Just uncovering...what appears to be a lead coffin.

Just removing...

some of the stained chalk from around the edges.

Does this mean you're working over the weekend?! Guess so!

This is a really great discovery, so I'm excited about it, yeah!

Despite well over a century of excavations,

only one lead coffin had previously been found in Roman Winchester.

But with a grave this deep,

we needed something bigger than our trowels.

After the JCB had done the heavy work,

we finally exposed the whole coffin.

It was aligned north-south, a Romano-British pagan tradition.

And there, in the gloom, was the rounded shape of a skull.

A week after it was first discovered,

the heavy coffin was finally lifted from its chalky resting place.

Now this is the moment of truth.

We peeked through the lid so we know there are SOME bones.

We still don't know if there's a whole skeleton. We'll find out!

OK. You ready? ALL: Ready! I've got it!

Oh, bloody hell!

LAUGHTER

And there he was, as daylight spilled into the coffin

for the first time since the lid was closed,

over 1,600 years ago.

The fragile bones entombed in lead were those of a well-built man.

But then we came across something else.

Halfway down where the Roman's hand had lain...

was a coin.

Hopefully, eventually, we'll be able to identify that.

Nearly 15 years after the dig,

the remains of our man are now in the care of Winchester City Council.

This is our man from Winchester.

See, I remember the state of his bones when we found him.

Because of the lead coffin, they were peculiarly eroded -

all the surfaces were very flaky.

And of course, when we first opened that coffin,

we were all completely covered up in masks and suits

because we weren't sure

what the effect of all that lead was going to be,

because lead's very toxic,

but we now know that it's quite safe,

although I'm still wearing gloves

because that's a good idea when handling human bones anyway.

So these are some of his long bones that are better preserved.

But they've all got this peculiar flaky surface on them.

Rather strange bone growth with them as well.

All these sort of...they remind me of just how tall this chap was.

Oh, right, here's the...here's one of the thigh bones, a femur.

It's terrible condition, but it's big.

It's very chunky.

And actually putting that together,

that was what suggested that he was particularly tall,

he was about 5 foot 9", taller than me,

and tall for the time as well.

So somebody that gave us the impression as soon as we found him

that he was strong, chunky.

In some ways, typically British.

The Britons were famed for their strength and their height.

They made good slaves.

What's this? Box three. Ah!

OK. This is the skull.

Right.

Oh, yes.

That's...that's a very male skull - strong jaw,

prominent ridges over his brows,

big muscle attachments to the back,

a strong neck, a very powerful-looking man.

And of course, what we found out since then by looking at his teeth

is that he actually came from the Winchester area.

He was born on the chalk.

He was a bit of a Roman townie really.

A very British Roman.

It IS complete, isn't it? Yes. Isn't that nice?!

'Back in 1998, his well-preserved skull provided a good foundation

'for forensic artist Richard Neave.'

Now, out you come, young man!

Now, that is a big, powerful skull, isn't it? My goodness!

A big mastoid process.

Quite a prominent chin.

Not particularly full lips.

Not a very deep upper lip.

'It was up to medical artist Denise Smith to rebuild every detail

'of our man's face.'

He's going to have quite a wide nose,

and...

..he may have a slightly heavier brow

making his eyes look more deep set.

But...er...he's going to have quite a strong, powerful face.

The reconstruction brought the dig team face-to-face with our Roman.

A man who was local, British and physically very strong.

And here's another strong, powerful face

that can tell us something about our man -

the impress on the coin that we found in the coffin.

Now, coins are great clues because not only can they tell us

about trade and about the spread of Roman influence,

but above all, they make great dating evidence.

What we had was a coin from the reign of Emperor Constantine,

issued around 313 AD.

What this tells us is that he had to have been buried after 313 AD,

the year that the coin was minted.

But it could have been in circulation in the markets

of Winchester for years before it ended up in the coffin.

The coin though provides us with more than just a date,

it marks a landmark, because the year before it was minted,

Emperor Constantine had converted to Christianity,

paving the way for this to become the official religion of the empire.

But ironically, our man certainly wasn't a Christian.

Not only was he buried in a North-South direction,

but this was in his hand.

The fare to pay the ferryman to take his soul across the River Styx

and into the afterlife.

All this points to good, traditional Romano-British paganism.