University of Dundee unearths the past with BBC's History Cold Case
Date: (04/05/2010)
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Image: BBC
A revelatory documentary series featuring ground-breaking forensic techniques is set to shed new light on the history of our forebears, by unearthing the remarkable life stories of human skeletons from across the ages.
History Cold Case follows the fascinating work of world-renowned Professor Sue Black at the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification at the University of Dundee.
Sue and her team run Britain’s finest forensic investigation unit, where they specialise in dead bodies, crime scenes and human identification. But now, for the first time, they are going to use their extraordinary talents to delve into the past 2,000 years of history and, quite literally, give unidentified human skeletons their identities back.
The remains have been found in a range of circumstances: from a medieval knight with an arrow in his back found under a floor of a Scottish castle, to a heavily scarred Georgian woman discovered in a mass burial pit in London, to a mummified child from Victorian Britain.
All are everyday people from across the ages, whose extraordinary stories would have died with them if it weren’t for Sue Black and her colleagues.
With forensic science techniques such as carbon dating, bone chemical analysis and facial reconstruction, the remains are analysed in staggering detail and the team find new layers to add to the knowledge of Britain’s past.
Remarkable stories of everyday people are painstakingly reconstructed, along with their faces – which haven’t been seen for hundreds of years. Much more than just historical remains, the skeletons pose three big questions for the team: Who were they? Why did they die? What does their life story tell us that we didn't know before?
In programme one an apparently African skeleton, unearthed near a medieval English monastery, pushes Professor Black’s forensics team to their limits. Bone analysis offers clues about the true origins of the mysterious skeleton and facial reconstruction meticulously reveals his face, not seen for centuries. The historical trail points to new evidence about British ancestry and the case takes an unexpected twist when they discover the tragic truth about how he died.
The first programme will be shown at 8.55pm on Thursday 6th May on BBC Two, and will follow the team as they examine a skeleton excavated from a burial ground in Ipswich in the Nineties which has been identified as that of an African man dating back to medieval times. Further programmes will follow the team as they examine a mummified child (8.55pm Thursday 13th May), the skeleton of a Stirling man (8.55pm Thursday 20th May) and a crossbones girl (8.55pm Thursday 27th May).
Make sure to tune in, or if you miss a programme you can catch up with BBC iPlayer
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