Original subtitles

[narrator] In what is known as the Garden of Egypt,

an excavation reveals evidence

that seems to clash with history.

There was a series of shafts below the surface.

It was a hidden cemetery, crowded with bodies.

But who were these people?

And where do they all come from?

In France, shifting sand uncovers a baffling structure

lost for centuries.

After more of the sand was cleared away, it was possible

to get a visual on the entire structure.

It forms the shape of a massive bowtie.

On the banks of the legendary Indus River,

surrounded by desert,

archaeologists unearth an enormous gravesite.

Dozens of human skeletons, many found in groups,

almost as though they'd been buried in mass graves.

Others were disarticulated, with many of their bones simply missing.

Ancient lost cities.

Forgotten treasures.

Mysterious structures.

As new technology uncovers remarkable tales

hidden beneath the deserts of the world,

the secrets in the sand will finally be revealed.

West of Egypt's Nile River Valley,

just 55 miles south of Cairo,

the Faiyum Basin sits in a natural depression spread

of over 12,000 square miles of desert.

The region has long, hot, arid summers

and short, dry winters.

While the bottom layer of the basin is fed by canals

connected to the Nile, the upper layer of Faiyum is

a desert-like terrain, with escarpments separated by

plateaus and plains.

In ancient times, Faiyum was a desert oasis,

referred to as the Garden of Egypt.

This is from a time when a branch of the Nile River

silted up and fresh water was diverted to the basin,

attracting vegetation, wildlife,

and a human population.

As Faiyum grew, it became home to

several large and thriving villages,

like Crocodilopolis, Karanis, and Kahun.

The region was most prosperous and stable from 2040 BCE to 1782 BCE,

and that's generally called Egypt's Golden Age.

The Roman Empire swept into Egypt around 30 BCE

and eventually brought Christianity with it

in the next century.

So it was a cultural and religious invasion

as much as a military one.

However, the people of Faiyum and elsewhere in Roman Egypt

continued many of their own traditions,

such as embalming and burying their dead,

despite the Roman preference for cremation.

A group of archaeologists is excavating a dig site on

the eastern edge of Faiyum when they come across a surprise

six to eight feet below the surface.

There was a series of shafts below the surface,

but underneath that was a second layer of sand

where the mummified remains of at least 40 individuals

were packed tightly together.

It was a hidden cemetery crowded with bodies.

[Dan] Initial carbon dating of the mummies put them

somewhere in the first to the seventh century CE.

That's the Roman to late-Roman and Byzantine era.

And while it isn't entirely unusual to come across ancient

burial sites in the Egyptian desert, these mummies were

unique for several reasons.

[Alison] They exhibited no evidence of the embalming that was

the common practice.

Egyptians believed the mummified body was the home

of the soul, and if the body was destroyed,

then the soul or spirit might be lost.

It was important to preserve the body with special resins

and oils so it could enter the afterlife

in the same physical form.

Even more striking, despite the lack of embalming fluid,

the Faiyum mummies were extremely well preserved.

The dry conditions of the Egyptian desert

had slowed the decomposition process.

But who were these individuals?

And why were they all packed tightly together in a way

that defies what we think we know about

Egyptian funeral rights?

Embalming was just one of the highly-ritualized

burial practices of ancient Egypt.

[Anthea] Everything about the Egyptian funeral was about preparing

for the afterlife, including the tomb,

which was a haven for the soul.

Egyptian tombs typically reflected the status or wealth

of the individual, which is why kings and pharaohs

were given the full pyramid treatment.

Inside the tomb, hieroglyphics and paintings

depicted scenes from daily life, religious rituals,

and the afterlife journey.

Egyptians also believed that the deceased would need certain

items in the next world.

These grave goods included food, clothing,

ceramics, furniture, and fancy things to wear.

Everything from simple bracelets and amulets

to luxurious jewelry.

Unlike the grand and well-appointed tombs of

pharaohs, almost none of these mummies were buried

with any kind of grave goods.

And what little there was was made up of everyday items,

such as reed mats, broken bits of ceramic,

wooden and terracotta figures, and date seeds and pits.

[Dan] Technically, you couldn't even call these burial sites tombs.

There were very few coffins, and aside from some textile

wrappings and some shrouds, it looked like not a lot of

care had been given to each body's preparation.

But that's not a dead end.

It just means this is different from what we're used to

finding, and maybe that's what makes it great.

Maybe the fact that these mummies were placed in graves

this way suggests they were ordinary citizens,

or maybe they were people with even lower status than that.

As the archaeologists expand their excavation,

they come across something truly astounding.

The cemetery turned out to be much, much larger

than originally believed. It was a staggering 300 acres.

That's just under half a square mile.

Even more shocking, the high concentration of

bodies was consistent throughout.

[Anthea] To find a single burial site containing what was

suddenly estimated to be hundreds of thousands of

mummified remains is incredible, but who were these people?

And where do they all come from?

It wouldn't be the first time a massive burial was discovered

in the Egyptian desert.

200 miles south of Cairo, archaeologists excavating

an area near the ancient city of Amarna discovered a cemetery

estimated to contain over 6,000 individuals.

[Alison] During Egypt's 18th dynasty, Amarna was declared

the new capital of Egypt by an eccentric pharaoh

named Akhenaten.

He pushed to have the city completed in just five years,

an extreme pace that was only achievable on the backs

of enslaved laborers.

In other words, consistent with the profile of

the Amarna individuals.

As with the Faiyum site, the bodies at Amarna

were stacked closely together with little ceremony.

There were very few grave goods and most of them were simply

wrapped or bagged in a rough, mat-like material.

The origin of the bodies at Amarna was almost certainly

the city itself.

And while the cemetery at Faiyum is relatively isolated,

there were two pyramids nearby, the Meidum and the Seila.

I mean, the Seila was less than a mile from there,

so maybe the Faiyum burial site was the final resting place

for workers who built the pyramids.

There is still an element of mystery surrounding

the creation of Egypt's pyramids,

but even a conservative estimate puts the workforce in

the tens of thousands.

[Alison[ It's believed the backbreaking work was performed mostly

by work gangs and agricultural laborers,

and not by enslaved workers, as is often portrayed.

To get the job done, massive blocks of

limestone were quarried and ferried close to the site

on barges along the Nile River.

From there, it was a matter of transporting the blocks up

and onto the pyramid base using ramps, ropes, and pulleys.

[Anthony] Not much is known about the daily life

of the pyramid builders, but there are records

of some workers' graves found near existing pyramids.

Analysis of their bones and teeth suggests that

they were well fed and may have even received medical care

for injuries.

[Anthea] While the idea of the Faiyum Cemetery being filled

with the remains of local pyramid builders

is an intriguing one,

the math doesn't work out.

The Seila and Meidum pyramids were built in Egypt's

fourth dynasty, which was just over 2,000 years before

the Roman and Byzantine era.

Such a huge number of bodies had to come from somewhere.

The nearest big city is Cairo, or Memphis,

as it was called back then,

but that's more than 40 miles away.

So is it possible another ancient town or city existed

2,000 years ago closer to where this cemetery is now?

A deep dive into the Faiyum historical records

reveals a potential clue.

[Dan] As it turns out, there were a few villages between

the eastern edge of the Faiyum Basin and the Nile River.

As soon as the Egyptians figured out it was possible to

divert the Nile's freshwater to the west with a series of

canals, populations began to thrive in the desert.

The villages of Tanis and Seila were established close to

the main road that connected the Nile in the Faiyum Basin,

which became an important trade route.

So not only did merchants and tradespeople travel from

all over these villages, but they stayed there

and raised families.

What evolved over time was a population of

ethnically-diverse individuals, all living in the same location,

evidently in harmony.

So if the Faiyum mummies as a group were discovered to

have a diverse genetic makeup, that would strongly suggest

that they were from one of the local villages.

Samples of teeth, bone, and hair are collected

from the mummies for analysis.

37 burials were selected from across the entire cemetery

to best represent a cross-section of the population.

The first observation, and the most striking,

was connected to hair color.

Of the 37 samples, 5 had dark brown or black hair,

12 had light or medium brown hair, 16 were blonde,

and 4 had red hair.

That's pretty strong evidence that we've got substantial

ethnic diversity, but here's the kicker.

The bodies with the same-colored hair

get buried together.

So in other words, mummies with blonde hair were discovered

clustered in the same place, and so on.

[Alison] There are several possible explanations for this.

It might be that members of the same ethnic group

were buried together as an organizing principle

of the cemetery.

It's also possible they were all members of the same family.

But continued work on the site leads to further revelations.

[Anthony] Many of the graves were essentially pits,

and they were both narrow and deep.

As a cross-section, they resembled an elevator

shaft with mummies stacked on top of one another.

Strangely, the heads of the older mummies,

those on the lower half, were facing west,

and the more recently deceased mummies' heads

were facing east.

Given the timeline, it may be that the 180-degree shift

was due to the spread of Christianity through Egypt.

According to Christian scripture, Jesus was to return

from the east, so the bodies might have been reoriented

to prepare for his arrival.

This was backed up by symbols of the cross found woven

into many of the mummies' tunics and shrouds.

While the true origin of the thousands of mummies

remains a mystery, each discovery,

no matter how small, is a potential clue

for unlocking the secret.

The Faiyum cemetery represents a compelling snapshot of

ancient Egypt and a rare glimpse into the lives

and deaths of those who lived there.

The peaceful and picturesque commune of Marliens

lies near the heart of France's Côte D'Or district,

just 12 miles east of Dijon.

Marliens is a mostly rural township, made up of rolling

hills and patchwork fields.

While there is agricultural activity, including the famous

Cote D'Or vineyards, the farming is limited by

the arid conditions.

Marliens gets a lot of sunshine, 1,900 hours per year.

And the land can get extremely dry in the spring and summer

months, which turns the soil into loose sand.

As with most of Western Europe, France later fell to

the expanding Roman Empire in the second century BC.

Known as Gaul at the time,

France was under Roman occupation

until the 5th century AD.

Dijon was originally a Roman settlement called Divio,

as it was located on the main road dividing the route to

Paris and the route to Lyon.

Archaeologists are surveying the construction site of

a future gravel pit when they uncover something unusual.

Just below the surface, there was what appeared to be

a mysterious shape.

And after brushing aside a section of the surrounding

sand, an unusual structure emerged made from raised

and densely packed earth measuring at least

50 feet across.

After more of the sand was cleared away, it was possible

to get a visual on the entire structure.

From above, it forms the shape of a massive bowtie.

The middle section is a circle of raised earth measuring

36 feet in diameter.

On either side of the circle, two curved lines form

a horseshoe shape about 25 feet across.

One of the horseshoes is a complete enclosure,

but the other is broken up by a series of gaps or dashes.

A survey of the surrounding area is conducted to search for

possible clues connected to the bowtie formation.

An area of roughly 15 acres was cordoned off,

and within this, three different sample

excavations sites were laid out.

The first site was located about 1,300 feet from

the initial discovery,

A grave site was discovered just below the surface.

The grave site, or necropolis, contained six ceramic cremation urns

that were dated to the first Iron Age,

the period from roughly 800 BCE to 100 CE.

Each of the urns was covered by a lid.

And inside, there was evidence of cremated bone remains

within the ash.

Some of the bone deposits were accompanied by rings

and bracelets made from copper alloy and iron.

The addition of these ceremonial items was consistent

with other Iron Age burial sites discovered in France.

But does that mean the mysterious horseshoe

structure is an Iron Age creation?

Also in the Côte D'Or district, a burial mound near

the village of Vix was discovered to contain human remains

along with a wealth of funeral adornments.

The burial took place around 500 BCE, and although most of

the organic matter had decomposed, the sex of

the deceased was believed to be female, based on the jewelry

found at the site, as well as the lack of weapons.

The body had been placed in a square chamber

measuring almost 100 square feet.

Along with it, there was a small treasure that included

a 24 carat gold necklace, a bronze anklet,

and several imported artifacts from Greece and Italy.

Based on this, it was assumed the deceased was a woman

of high social status.

[Anthea] The gravesite is a perfect symbol of the Iron Age

as a period of great change, especially the development

of social hierarchies and a class system.

Many of the aristocracy rose to the top thanks to the growing

importance of the iron trade.

[Amma] But while the burial trinkets discovered in the first

excavation site at Marliens were dated to the Iron Age,

there's still nothing from the bowtie structure that bears

any of the Iron Age design hallmarks.

The researchers focused their efforts on the second

excavation site with surprising results.

The second site was only 1,300 feet from the first one,

and it was also revealed to be a necropolis.

When the surface of the second site's layer of sand was

cleared, five large circular enclosures were discovered

encased in the earth.

One of them was open, and four of them were

covered with lids.

But all of them contained human remains.

The open one, which was also the largest one at 75 feet

across, contained a funeral pyre inside.

Several ceramic shards were recovered from inside

the containers, as well as five copper alloy pins

and a necklace made of amber beads,

which were found just outside the open container.

Carbon dating analysis puts all the collected evidence

somewhere between 1500 and 1300 BCE,

which corresponds to the Bronze Age.

Clearly, there's something about this small patch of land

that holds incredible significance for it to

be a dedicated burial ground.

Not just once, but by two different civilizations

who lived a thousand years apart.

It's definitely possible that this bowtie structure could

also be connected to a burial rite of some kind.

But whose? And from what era?

As the team works on their third and final

excavation site, the area immediately

surrounding the bowtie, more surprises are unearthed.

Several artifacts were collected from below the surface,

including several cut flint artifacts,

a copper alloy dagger, and a pair of armbands that

were likely worn by an archer.

One of the armbands was discovered to have residues of

iron oxide corresponding to a substance called pyrite,

an ingredient for igniting fire.

So, in one relatively contained space, there were several

weapons which may or may not have been used as weapons since

they might simply have been ceremonial, plus the tools of

fire making possibly for a funeral pyre.

Adding it up, all signs point to the remains

of an ancient grave site or necropolis.

[Anthony] But the real surprise was that the cut flint artifacts

were identified as having been created in the Neolithic period,

which began 9,000 years ago.

Is it possible that the origins of the bowtie structure

go back as far as the 8th or 7th millennium BCE?

Several regions of France are home to Neolithic monuments,

such as the stone megaliths of Brittany and Auvergne.

[Teddy] Whether they formed a circle, a large chamber, or were simply

placed upright along the landscape,

the purpose and construction of these enormous stone

structures is still a topic of great debate.

The most famous, of course, is the Stonehenge Monument on

England's Salisbury Plain.

[Anthea] Stonehenge and circular Neolithic structures like it

are believed to be inspired by shapes in nature,

such as the sun and the moon.

The passing of the seasons and the almost God-like

appearance of the sun may have been central to the religious

beliefs of the Neolithic people.

Although the true purpose of Stonehenge is still open to

interpretation, there's no doubt about the precision of

its layout and design, which is impressive

even by today's standards.

Stonehenge functions as an ancient calendar,

tracking the position of the sun and the stars

throughout the year.

[Teddy] Looking at the overall design of the bowtie structure,

it's possible that the central circle and curving horseshoe

pattern had a similar significance for

the prehistoric people who created it.

But at this point, we just don't know.

Exploration and analysis of the bowtie site is ongoing,

as researchers continue to uncover new clues.

But one thing is for certain.

As a burial ground for at least two and possibly three

different groups living hundreds to thousands years

apart, the monument at Marliens is a remarkable testament to

what was once ancient hallowed ground.

The Indus River is one of the longest in the world,

flowing over 2,000 miles through Tibet, India,

Kashmir, and Pakistan.

This powerful current begins in the tallest peaks of

the Himalayan Mountains before plunging into one of

the driest valleys on Earth.

The Indus River Valley is one of the most inhospitable places

in the world.

The temperatures alone make it incredibly difficult for any

living thing to survive here, ranging from near freezing in

the winter to over 110 degrees Fahrenheit in summer.

[Alison] It's not surprising that the desert itself

is virtually uninhabited.

Only very small human settlements can survive here

under the extreme desert conditions.

But this wasn't always the case.

In the arid plains stretching out from the Indus riverbanks,

archaeologists are excavating a cluster of strange mounds

rising from the desert floor

when they make a surprising discovery.

They uncover dozens of unusual wax seals,

each one remarkably well-crafted and adorned with intricate carvings of animals.

Cows, buffalo, tigers, some of them even depict mythical

creatures including what looks an awful lot like a unicorn.

To an untrained eye, they might seem purely

ornamental, but they aren't just pictures.

They're part of an ancient language.

[Teddy] They sort of look like Sumerian, a pictorial language

that used images to represent words or phrases,

which dates back to just over 5,000 years

to the people of ancient Mesopotamia.

But they lived hundreds of miles from the Indus River

in modern-day Iraq.

So what are these seals doing here?

Archaeologists working at the site continue to dig

and soon make a disturbing discovery.

They begin turning up dozens of human skeletons.

Many of these bodies were found in groups,

almost as though they'd been buried in mass graves.

Others were eerily disarticulated,

with many of their bones simply missing.

[Dan] In total, they find the remains of more

than 30 skeletons.

And unlike organized burials, where all the bodies are laid

down in these deliberate poses and look like they're sleeping

or something, most of these bodies are twisted

into these contorted positions.

At first glance, it might seem as though these people died

violently, but that might not be the whole story.

Over the years, shifting desert sands may have

disturbed the remains, causing the skeletons to move

and settle in unnatural positions.

Considering the sheer number of bodies, this site could

very well be a long forgotten cemetery.

If so, it's possible that an ancient civilization

once stood nearby.

But who were these people, and when did they live here?

As the excavation continues, the team unearths a series

of items that offer tantalizing clues.

They discovered a metal statue of a woman dubbed

the Dancing Girl.

She's small, standing roughly four inches tall,

and made with breathtaking detail.

Her arms and legs are exaggeratedly long,

and a total of 28 bangles have been individually sculpted

onto her body.

Other copper objects recovered

from the site are more practical.

Things like axes, knives, arrowheads,

and vessels like bowls made out of hammered metal.

[Amma] Analysis shows that many of these artifacts were made

by combining tin and copper to create bronze.

Some even contain traces of arsenic, which is known to

harden bronze and make it even more durable.

Taken together, the seals, the human remains,

and these bronze objects, it's possible we're looking at

a settlement from the Bronze Age, which would date the site

to between roughly 3300 and 1200 BCE.

As the excavations at this site, now known as

Mohenjo-daro, expand dramatically, the team makes

an astounding breakthrough.

They unearth the ruins of an entire city,

lost for thousands of years -- the scale is remarkable,

spanning over 250 acres of land.

Not only is it enormous, it's also meticulously

engineered, with the buildings laid out in a grid system,

just like we see in modern cities.

[Alison] The city is divided into two halves,

with the western side comprising larger buildings,

and the eastern side believed to have housed many of

the city's residents.

Based on the size of these ancient foundations,

we can estimate that up to 40,000 people lived here,

which would make it one of the largest cities in the world

at that time.

400 miles northeast of Mohenjo-daro,

archaeologists had uncovered the remains of

a second ancient city known today as Harappa.

Despite the distance between the two settlements,

they share several striking features.

Harappa's design and construction mirror those

of Mohenjo-daro.

Both cities follow a grid-like layout.

They have buildings made from bricks.

They have advanced infrastructure,

like an elaborate sewer system.

And they have washing platforms in virtually every home.

[Amma] The artifacts discovered here also bear

a clear resemblance to those found at Mohenjo-daro.

Among them is a statue known as "The Other Dancing Girl,"

depicting a woman in a pose remarkably similar to

what was found at Mohenjo-daro.

Bronze tools and weapons were also recovered,

crafted using the same techniques seen in Mohenjo-daro,

suggesting a strong cultural connection between

the two sites.

Excavations also revealed more wax seals made of soapstone.

They show similar etchings and animal figures as the ones

from Mohenjo-daro, meaning that these two cities communicated

using the same language.

[Alison] The civilization discovered at Harappa

was a previously unknown one.

And while we don't know what these people called themselves,

they were dubbed the Indus Valley Civilization.

Based on the similarities between Harappa

and Mohenjo-daro, it's safe to say that the two cities

were connected, and that Mohenjo-daro was also a part of

the Indus Valley civilization.

While Harappa and Mohenjo-daro may be the largest cities left

behind by the Indus Valley Civilization,

they are far from the only ones.

[Dan] Over the last century, more than 1,500 settlements

have been discovered, scattered all across

modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.

That is larger than ancient Egypt

and ancient Mesopotamia combined.

[Amma] At its height, it's thought the Indus Valley

civilization had a population of more than five million people.

But over the span of just two centuries, a culture that

thrived for hundreds of years basically disappeared.

So how could a civilization that spanned such a vast region,

contained such advanced cities, and was inhabited by

millions of people just disappear?

During the Late Bronze Age, the shores of the Mediterranean

were terrorized by a ruthless confederacy of fighters

known today as the Sea People.

[Tommy] We don't know much about who the Sea People were,

but we do know they did not back down from a fight.

And almost everything we do know comes from ancient

Egyptian writings, where early historians recorded

several violent clashes.

[Alison] The Egyptians told of a people who came from the sea

in their warships, and none could stand against them.

These fearsome fighters repeatedly attacked

ancient Egypt with devastating consequences.

One inscription from the reign of Pharaoh Merneptah recounts

an epic battle where Egyptian archers, charioteers,

infantrymen reportedly killed over 6,000 Sea People.

[Dan] The Sea People may have been trying to establish

settlements on land.

One hypothesis is that they went up the Indus River to

the banks of Mohenjo-daro and then wiped that city out.

And once that city was conquered, the rest of

the Indus Valley civilization may have fallen like dominoes.

[Amma] The collapse of the civilization coincides

with the rise of another powerful nomadic people known

as the Aryans, an Indo-Iranian people

who began to expand into the Indus Valley

and the Ganges land around 1800 BCE,

right when the Indus Valley civilization

started to disappear.

One theory suggests that the Aryans arrived so fast

and in such great numbers that they overwhelmed many of

the Indus Valley settlements, including the larger cities.

[Alison] But despite multiple threats from invading forces,

the theory that a violent war caused the downfall of

the Indus Valley civilization is missing a major piece

of the puzzle.

Neither Mohenjo-daro nor Harappa show any evidence of

military fortifications, nor are there any depictions of

war or conquest in their artwork.

Determined to find the reason for the civilization's collapse,

a team of intrepid researchers ventures into

the Himalayan mountains to the Dharamjali Cave.

[Amma] Rock formations like caves

are incredible sources of information.

Over the course of thousands of years, water flowing into

the caves carries debris from the ground above.

This debris, or sediment,

then becomes compressed into rock.

By looking at these sedimentary rock structures,

we can reverse engineer entire environments

that no longer exist.

[Tommy] In this case, the study focused on

a single stalagmite, roughly 10 inches long,

located at the back of the cave.

They were able to reconstruct Western India's rainfall

patterns, stretching back thousands of years,

using trace elements, along with oxygen, carbon,

and calcium isotopes trapped inside the stalagmite.

[Alison] The analysis revealed that around 2200 BCE,

the intensity of summer monsoons

in the Indus River Valley began to decrease.

As the monsoon pattern shifted, droughts grew longer and longer.

These droughts lasted anywhere between 25 and 90 years,

and continued for nearly two centuries.

The changing climate made large cities like Mohenjo-daro

and Harappa completely unsustainable.

Residents basically had to choose between migrating

or starving, and that's not a very hard choice

to pick between.

As the cities dried up, populations were forced to

move to the foothills of the mountains, and so they had

to set up smaller but more sustainable communities

that could rely on fewer crops.

While we can't say with total certainty that climate change

brought down the Indus Valley civilization,

it certainly seems the most plausible explanation to date.

Today, the collapse of the Indus Valley people acts

as a haunting reminder that even the most powerful

civilizations in the world are not immune to

Mother Nature's whims,

and the effects of a changing environment

can have devastating consequences.

In South Wales, just west of Cardiff,

the yellow and grey cliffs of the Vale of Glamorgan

run more than 30 miles along

the coast of the Bristol Channel.

The Vale, as it's known,

is part of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast,

renowned for its stunning coastline and sandy beaches.

One of the most popular beaches is nestled into a curve

called Dunraven Bay.

The cooler ocean temperatures ensure that only the brave

and hardy will attempt to swim in the bay,

but the surrounding cliffs offer a spectacular view for hikers.

The living history of the Vale goes back as far as

the Stone Age,

when the area was used as a fortified trading post.

During the Roman Empire, its strategic location led

the Roman army to build a second fortress,

and this was transformed over the years

and used as a convalescent hospital during both world wars.

Thanks to the Bay's geology, a lot of that history just

keeps offering itself up.

The stratified, eroding cliffs and constantly shifting sands

continually kick up hidden treasures from the past,

and every item that gets recovered offers this glimpse

into the lives of the people who lived here before,

and in some cases, thousands of years before.

A local resident is walking along the beach when he makes

a startling discovery.

The man was strolling with his seven-year-old son and dog

when they spotted three bones in the sand, a small circular

one and two larger bones.

At first, they assumed the bones were from an animal,

but they took them home to have a look.

And after further examination, the family realized

they might be human.

Or there's a third possibility, too.

Maybe it's not an animal bone or a human bone, but a fossil.

After all, dinosaurs did live here millions of years ago.

There have been many discoveries along

the Welsh coast that led to direct proof

of dinosaur activity.

The red siltstone rock at Lavernock Point,

between Cardiff and the town of Barry, was known to contain

many prehistoric fossils.

On one occasion, a young girl spotted five giant footprints

on the rock surface, each spaced about

30 inches apart.

The National Museum of Wales confirmed the footprints

belonged to a herbivore from the late Triassic period

called a camelodea.

It was known for its long body and small head,

and it likely stood only 10 feet tall and 16 feet long.

And close to Cardiff, two brothers discovered

the skull, teeth, claws, and foot bones

of a small dinosaur embedded right in a cliff face.

They turned out to have discovered the remains of

a Dracorapid, or dragon thief, a small meat-eating species

that likely lived on a nearby island 200 million years ago,

but whose remains washed onto the shore.

Given the concentration of dinosaurs in this region,

it's entirely possible that the Dunraven bones could be

dinosaurs, but judging by their size

and judging by the shape, they look an awful lot more

like they're human leg bones. So now the question is, whose?

And from how long ago?

Throughout its history, the Bristol Channel has served

as a trade route for merchant ships.

The area was particularly busy in the 16th and 17th centuries,

as vessels from all over would pass in and out of

the Channel's estuary.

[Anthony] But the Bristol Channel was also known for having an extremely

high and low tide range, up to 45 feet.

Combined with the rough Atlantic waters,

this made for dangerous sailing conditions

and resulted in many shipwrecks and many deaths at sea.

[Dan] The prevailing winds and currents would push

the debris from the wrecks right up to the Welsh shoreline,

including the bodies of dead sailors.

So in the days that followed, the local community would give

those sailors a proper burial either in existing cemeteries

or, occasionally, in newly created ones dedicated

specifically to the victims of the shipwrecks.

One of the more recent discoveries took place at

Monknash, less than five miles from Dunraven Bay.

[Dan] Monknash has this beautiful beach with this dramatic cliff

for a backdrop.

This one day, when there were really high tides

and especially strong winter winds, a big chunk of that

cliffside got eroded, and that left these

human skeletal remains sticking out.

I mean, you can see them from the beach.

[Alison] The cliff made it extra challenging to reach the bodies

and attempt any kind of excavation.

And to make matters worse,

the loose, sandy earth gave way easily.

The excavation took eight days to complete, and by the time it

was finished, the remains of six different individuals

were identified.

Bioarchaeological analysis placed the remains as

dating from the late 16th or early 17th century.

Historical records show that the earliest burial license

in the parish of Monknash was granted in 1609,

which means these six individuals could easily

have been buried together after a single event,

such as a shipwreck.

[Anthony] If the Dunraven bones belonged to one of the many

shipwrecked sailors from over the centuries,

then their actual identity and country of origin would be

difficult, if not impossible, to trace.

But it's also possible that the bones have a more

local connection.

Behind the cliffs of Dunraven Bay lies the original site of

Dunraven Castle, a fortress with ghostly

sightings and origins going back millennia.

Dunraven Castle was built from 1802 to 1806

for a Glamorgan Member of Parliament named Thomas Wyndham.

Wyndham and his descendants frequently hosted dignitaries

and diplomats in the castle's great halls, and they used to

throw these big annual balls for the Conservative Party.

But long before that, the castle grounds

were the site of an Iron Age fortress.

Some of the defensive ditches and banks remained for

centuries, but most were destroyed by coastal erosion.

Over the years, that same erosion led to the discovery of

ancient human burials.

[Anthea] Before it was ultimately demolished in 1962,

Dunraven Castle was used as a Red Cross hospital in

both World Wars.

It's unlikely that the patients who died in the hospital were

buried on site, but hospital staff and visitors

all reported seeing the ghost of a woman

dressed in blue at the castle.

But while the story of the blue ghost certainly adds an element

of spooky otherworldliness, there's another all too real

story from the late Middle Ages that might solve the riddle,

and it's the story of bloodshed.

In 1400 AD, there was a Welsh-led rebellion against

the King of England, Henry IV.

[Dan] The Welsh Revolt was the last major phase of

Welsh independence before the annexation of Wales into

England in 1542.

It began when a Owain Glendower, a descendant of several Welsh

royal dynasties, declared himself the Prince of Wales.

After many successful castle sieges and battlefield

victories, Glendower was crowned Prince in the presence of

Scottish, French, Spanish, and Breton envoys.

He summoned a national parliament, traditional Welsh

laws and established a Welsh church and two universities.

But the British retaliated with another series of battles,

including the Battle of Stalling Down,

which took place on the Vale of Glamorgan.

However, it didn't end well for the Brits.

After an 18-hour fight, the Glendower-led Welsh army,

along with the allied French army, decimated the English,

who retreated through Cardiff.

Given the reputed death toll of this battle, is it possible

that the Dunraven bones belong to one of the fallen soldiers?

Evidence found in a local village supports that theory.

[Dan] Just three miles from the battle site, a church in

the town of Llanblethian was found to have an oak plank

on the floor, which covered a hidden passageway.

So when that plank was lifted, it revealed this stone stairway

leading to a crypt -- it wasn't very big.

It was just 17 feet by 15 feet, but it held the bodies of

more than 300 men, none of which had coffins.

[Alison] Stalling Down was the only battle known to have

taken place in the vicinity, so it was believed the bodies

were all casualties of war.

Once discovered, they were given a proper burial

in the church graveyard, which was only six miles

from Dunraven.

With the amount of erosion to the coast

over the past 200 years, it's definitely possible

that some of those remains ended up at the beach.

For now, all we know for sure is that it's just one of

the potential explanations.

The investigation into the origins of the bones of Dunraven

is ongoing and will no doubt add layers to

Glamorgan's rich history.

Who knows what hidden secrets remain buried in the shifting

sands of the coast of Wales?