All language subtitles for Unearthed.(2016).S08E06.Secrets.of.Seahenge.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-Cinefeel_track3_[eng]

Narrator:
Hidden for centuries,

A strange mega structure
Emerges from beneath the sea

And sand.

An ancient timber circle --
Seahenge.

I think it's
An upside down tree.

It was huge,
And it went down so far.

Narrator: lost beneath the waves
For thousands of years,

This submerged wooden circle
Conceals many

Prehistoric secrets.

Something peculiar
Is going on here.

And could hold
Clues that marked

The beginning of
The bronze age.

Knight: this is a period
Where we see

The first metal objects
Being produced.

Society is getting very
Technologically savvy

At this point.

Narrator: today, experts use
Pioneering technology

And 3d scan analysis

To shed new light on who
Builds this unique monument.

What dark rituals are
Performed here?

What secrets does it share
With the iconic stonehenge?

To solve these mysteries,
We blow apart

This bronze age monument
Piece by piece.

We investigate a second
Submerged prehistoric circle,

Unearth ancient skeletons,

And digitally rebuild
The lost mega structure

To uncover the truth behind
This strange sunken wonder.

Holme beach,

A remote stretch of coast
In eastern england.

Today,
It is a peaceful haven,

But the discovery of
A strange relic reveals

A dark macabre past

And could transform
Our understanding

Of our prehistoric world.

One summer's day,
Coastal sands shift

And reveal
An ancient secret.

Hidden in the silt is
A mysterious structure --

55 timber posts

Arranged in a wide circle.

They're made from tree trunks
Split down

The middle and covered
In strange markings.

And in the center of
The circle,

Erupting from the sand

Sits a colossal,
Strangely shaped object.

What is
This peculiar structure?

♪♪

Maisie taylor
Investigates the wood

Of this submerged edifice.

You had these quite stunted,

Obviously very damaged timbers
In the circle.

Narrator: the
Extraordinarily-shaped object at

The center of the circle
Captures maisie's attention.

At first, it appears this
Object is a huge tree branch,

But closer inspection turns
This theory on its head.

Taylor:
The more you looked at it,

The more you thought
They're roots.

I think it's

On upside down tree.

Narrator:
With the threat of the sea

Washing the newly exposed
Structure away,

Maisie and an 11-strong team

Of archaeologists race to
Excavate the site.

They dig 4 feet down
Into the mud

To carefully extract
Each timber.

They use heavy
Lifting equipment

To finally remove
The central tree.

Taylor: the most extraordinary
Thing we found was it was huge,

And it went down so far.

Narrator: with the timber circle
Safely extracted

And preserved
In tanks of fresh water,

Experts can investigate clues
To its age and origins.

When scientists examine
The tree rings of

The wood, they discover it
Dates back to 2049 b.C.

It means the structure
Is 4,000 years old

And dates to the bronze age.

At this time,

Monumental circles of
Different types

Stand proudly across
The country.

The best surviving
Is stonehenge,

Built 1,000 years earlier.

Used by prehistoric people
For centuries,

This stone landmark is
A monumental reminder of

Our ancestral past.

Originally in the center,
Five archways stand in

A horseshoe shape,

Surrounded by two concentric
Circles of rock.

With the layout of the timber
Circle resembling britain's

Iconic stone circle,

Local press coined
The name seahenge.

All that remains
On the beach today is

A metal pole that marks
The spot where it once stands.

What does the mysterious
Structure look like

In its prime?

Maisie believes
Measurements from

The excavation could
Provide evidence.

If you start looking at
Those depths below ground,

It gives you
The height above ground.

Narrator: the timbers
They discover at seahenge

Plunge 3 to 4 feet
Into the sand.

Taylor: the rule of thumb
Is that a third of

The wood needs to be in
The ground to make it stable.

Narrator: maisie tests this
Theory at a smaller scale

To calculate the original
Height of the structure.

It really is quite stable,

So I think we can get on
With our calculations

Assuming roughly a third
Is underground.

Let's have a look.

Yeah, it's about a third.

Narrator: maisie's calculations
Reveal the original timber

Circle is a staggering
10 feet tall.

Taylor: this amazing wall would
Have been pretty impressive.

I'm 5-foot tall,
So the timbers are

Going to be twice
As tall as me.

Narrator:
When they're unearthed,

The timbers are worn
And weathered,

But in their prime,

The trunks tower
Up to 10 feet high

And stand shoulder to shoulder
To form a circular fence.

At the front,

A y-shaped post
Creates a gap,

An entrance
That gives access

To the tree stump
In the center.

To close the circle,
A final

Post stands in front of
The entrance,

Which perfectly aligns with

The rising sun
On the summer solstice.

What is the purpose
Of seahenge?

This solar alignment is
Similar to stonehenge, where

The heel stone aligns
With the rising sun.

Each year on the solstice,

Ancient people host
Sacred rituals here.

But the central stump in
The heart of this circle

Is a clue that seahenge has
A different purpose.

John collis is on a mission to
Solve this mystery.

The tides
At seahenge have swept

Away any loose evidence
Around the circle,

But john spots
A similarity with

Another prehistoric site
70 miles inland.

It's called wigber low,

A 16-yard stone circle
Surrounded by colossal

Limestone blocks.

Its layout is similar
To seahenge.

It offers
A unique window into

The lost world
Of the bronze age.

When john excavates the site,

He discovers multiple
Fragments of bone and pottery

Dating back to the time
Of seahenge.

Could human remains scattered
Within the mounds of wigber low

Reveal the purpose
Of these strange structures

And give us
A rare insight into

The fascinating lives
Of these ancient people?

Right away across the mound,
We were picking up teeth,

Finger bones, toe bones,

But also very noticeably
Absent were any traces of

The larger bones.

So immediately,
We began to think

That something peculiar
Is going on here.

Narrator: john suspects the
Presence of small human bones,

But the lack of large ones,
Could be a sign wigber low

Is used as a dark
Prehistoric ritual called

Excarnation.

Collis: excarnation
Is a burial rite.

When somebody dies,
They are laid out,

Exposed to scavenging birds.

The flesh is removed,

And many of the
Bones are left behind.

Narrator: excarnation is also
Known as a sky burial.

Once complete,
The large bones are

Removed and buried in a grave.

But traces of
The ritual remain in

The form of tiny bones
That fall from the body.

Collis: excarnation seems
To be the most

Sensible interpretation.

Very small bones are simply
Trickled down through

The mound,
But larger bones,

One would expect,
Are just missing.

Narrator: john's discovery of
Pottery and small human bones

At wigber low prove people of
The bronze age performed rituals

For their dead.

Is seahenge an excarnation
Site like wigber low?

Collis: we know in other
Societies that exposure of

The dead can be taking place
In trees.

This is one interpretation for

The upturned tree trunk
In seahenge.

Narrator: when someone dies,

The community carries their
Body to the timber circle.

They lay the body out
On the upturned stump,

Expose it to the elements,

And let the flesh decompose.

Visible for the surrounding
Communities to see,

Scavenging animals move in
To strip down the corpse.

Once the excarnation
Is complete,

The remaining bones
Are gathered to be

Buried elsewhere.

Maisie believes the inverted
Tree trunk at seahenge

Is a clear sign of excarnation
Taking place.

Taylor:
The central tree

Is precisely the right shape
And size to place

A -- what we call a crouched
Body in the embryo position.

Narrator:
The discovery of seahenge

Reveals that people of
The bronze age celebrate

The dead in the form of
Elaborate sky burials.

But what can another
Mysterious object

Imprisoned beneath the sands

Reveal about this 4,000-year-old
Burial rite?

Narrator: seahenge,
An ancient sky burial site

Where scavenging birds eat
The flesh of the dead

Unearthed from the sand
After 4,000 years.

But just weeks after
Its discovery,

Another mysterious
Monument emerges.

Seahenge is not alone.

Just 300 feet east
Of their first find,

Archaeologists uncover a series
Of ancient flat timbers.

Now decayed, they once form
A huge second circle.

Over 40 feet wide,

It covers an even bigger area
Than seahenge.

On the inside,

Up to 60 smaller posts
Mark out an inner circle.

Finally,
In the very center,

A woven wicker fence surrounds
Two logs lying side by side.

Could this second circle
Mean seahenge is

Part of an even bigger ritual?

Today, the second timber
Circle lies hidden

Beneath the sands,

But all is not lost.

Before it is
Completely reburied,

Archaeologists take
A sample from the monument.

Cathy tyers believes dating
The wood can reveal.

If seahenge
And the second timber circle

Are constructed at
The same time.

To do this, she observes
Ring patterns on

Wood that form over
The lifespan of the tree,

A snapshot of
The climate conditions

In which the tree grew.

The wide rings
Are actually where

The tree was very happy
That year.

It wasn't short of nutrients,

Whereas some of these rings in
This sample are actually very,

Very narrow,

So it shows that the tree was
Actually under stress.

So those wide and narrow rings
That pattern through

Time is giving us some
Information about the climate.

Narrator: cathy compares
The ring patterns from

The second circle timber
To those from seahenge.

If the ring patterns match,
This is proof

Both circles are built
At the same time.

Tyers:
The black line was seahenge.

The red line is actually from

The other timber circle
That was discovered.

And what we can see here is

That the ring pattern is
Very similar.

We've got peaks
And troughs -- so wide

And narrow rings
In the same place.

And because that outermost
Ring on

A lot of those timbers
Is only partially formed,

What we can actually say is
That they were

Felled in spring or very
Early summer 2049 b.C.

Narrator: this evidence reveals
The second timber circle is

Built within just a few months
Of seahenge.

This could mean that both
These monuments are

Part of a complex and
Intricate burial practice.

Archaeologist maisie taylor
Believes the two central beams

Of the second timber circle are

The key to understanding
The role each monument plays in

This 4,000-year-old ritual.

Taylor: in the very center are
Two huge logs.

They were about 6 feet apart
And precisely aligned so that

The most logical and sensible
Explanation is that a coffin

Would have sat on them,
And this site

Was the final resting place

For somebody.

Narrator: maisie thinks
That when the excarnation

Of the body
At seahenge is complete,

The bones are placed into
A coffin made from

A hollowed-out tree trunk.

The mourners then carry it
300 feet

In a ceremonial procession
To the second circle.

Here they lay the coffin
Across two central stumps

And bury it with earth,

Cementing the transition
To the afterlife.

4,000 years ago,

The inhabitants
Of this area build

Not one but two monumental
Timber circles.

Here they host elaborate
Ceremonies to

Commemorate the death
Of their loved ones.

These practices are
Not unique to seahenge.

At stonehenge,
Cremated human remains

And hundreds of
Skeletons are buried around

The outside of the circle.

But in holme beach,
The bones remain

Inside the second
Timber circle.

Are the people
That build stonehenge

And seahenge related?

Could clues unearthed
Two miles from seahenge

Reveal the answer?

Narrator:
4,000 years ago,

Two mysterious circles
300 feet apart

And twice the height
Of a human

Are built with colossal tree
Trunks at their center.

Archaeologists believe
They are used

In complex burial rituals,

But who are the groundbreaking

Ancient engineers
Behind these monuments?

David robertson is on
A mission to track them down.

He heads
To thornham village,

Just two miles from seahenge,
To investigate.

Robertson: this location is
Really interesting,

Because looking straight out
There is where the sight of

Seahenge and the second
Timber circle

At holme beach would
Have bean.

Narrator: but this hilltop
Overlooking seahenge

Is more than just
A vantage point.

David thinks it could hold
Clues to identifying

The builders of the seahenge
Ritual complex.

Robertson: one of the reasons
This site is so important

Is that we have
Aerial photographs

By the raf that show
Crop marks.

Narrator: distinct lines
In the fields are

A clear sign that something
Hides beneath the ground

And needs investigation.

When archaeologists
Excavate the site,

They uncover the remains
Of a fort

Dating back to the romans,
And in the center,

They unearth dozens of
Skeletons buried

In shallow graves.

But it's what they find
Beneath the foundation,

Which most excites them --

Evidence of a much
Older settlement.

They unearth eight fragments
Of pottery

That date back
To the early bronze age

And are delicately
And distinctively decorated.

Can this pottery help identify
The builders of seahenge?

David believes that the unique
Style of pottery is

A direct link to a particular
Group of highly skilled people.

It is the signature of
The beaker people,

Named after their unique,

Bell-shaped drinking vessels
Known as beakers,

But they are from
Mainland europe.

What is their distinctive
Pottery doing here?

Is it imported?

Or is it evidence the beaker
People are in britain

And could be the builders
Of seahenge?

Matt knight believes
An ancient skeleton

Holds the key to unlocking
This mystery.

Archaeologists excavated
The grave of a young woman

Buried at sorisdale on
The west coast of scotland,

And she was buried with a very
Small, ornately-decorated pot.

The style of the pot
Suggests to us

That she is one of
The beaker people.

Narrator: radiocarbon dating of
The skeleton shows

She dates back to 2470 b.C.,

400 years before
Seahenge is built.

She is proof
The beaker people are

In britain in time
To build seahenge.

Is there more evidence
They build it?

Matt believes the answer lies
With the technology used

To fell the timber
And construct

The magnificent wood circle.

Knight: this is a period
Where we see

The first metal objects
Being produced.

We start off with copper
Daggers and copper axes

And over time,
That transforms

And is alloyed with tin
To make bronze styles

Of axes.

Narrator:
By the time seahenge is built,

Bronze tools are
Spreading across the country.

Matt believes the beaker
People are responsible.

They come to britain for
Copper and tin to make bronze.

Metal would have been a key
Part of why people moved.

This is the first metal age
Of britain.

Narrator: the beaker people
Make their way across europe

And arrive in britain
By 2500 b.C.

They are skilled metal workers

And bring their bronze-making
Technology with them.

Here they mine
And smelt british copper

And tin to make
Their bronze.

This marks the beginning of
The british bronze age.

They forge bronze tools that
Are sharper

And stronger than any used
In britain before.

Knight: this period where
Bronze becomes adopted

Is around the time that seahenge
Was being built,

And we can link all
These different ideas

Relating to metal-working,
Pottery, and monument building.

Narrator: the beaker people
Introduce bronze technology

To britain and build
Magnificent monuments.

They set about constructing

Seahenge and the second
Timber circle,

And they travel inland
To erect 20-ton sarsen boulders,

Adding a third circle to
Britain's iconic stonehenge.

They add the finishing touches
To the colossal

Avebury stone circle

And build thousands of
Settlements across britain's

Rolling landscape.

How do the revolutionary,
Bronze-wielding beaker people

Bring about such
Dramatic change to britain?

Studying the dna of 400 european
Skeletons from before

And after
The beaker people arrive,

Matt discovers
Something astonishing.

The dna was particularly
Remarkable in showing this 90%

Turnover in genetic material
Over the course of 1,000 years.

Narrator: incredibly,
Within just 1,000 years

Of the first beaker people
Arriving in britain,

They make up 90%
Of the entire population.

Is this evidence that
The beaker people

Violently overthrow
The indigenous inhabitants

Of britain?

Matt believes
The long transition period of

1,000 years shows a different,
More surprising story.

We suspect that over
The course of 1,000 years,

You get this integration of
Communities, intermarriage of

People, and that slowly produces
The genetic makeup.

Narrator: matt's research shows
That these new people are not

A threat
To the indigenous communities,

But instead are
A welcome addition.

4,500 years ago,
The beaker people migrate

To britain and mix with
The indigenous people.

They integrate with them,

Forming a new british culture
And build monuments to

Celebrate the dead.

Can their bronze tools tell us
More secrets of seahenge?

What can discoveries
On its timbers

Reveal about life
In these prehistoric times?

Narrator:
Seahenge is a mysterious

4,000-year-old structure found
On the english coast.

Archaeologists discover
It is built by

The migrants who bring
Bronze to britain.

Can clues found at seahenge
Reveal more

About these pioneering people
And how they live?

When archaeologists extract
The ancient timbers,

They make
A remarkable discovery.

At the base, where the logs
Are best preserved,

They find dozens of scars
In the wood,

The marks of bronze tools,

Most likely the axes the
Builders used to fell the trees.

Other timbers carry shaving
Marks where branches

And twigs have been stripped --
These incredible

Ancient records etched into
The wood reveal remarkable

Evidence about bronze age
People and how they live.

Archaeologist
And ancient wood specialist

Maisie taylor is

Conducting a forensic analysis
Of the seahenge timbers.

To examine the axe markings

In the microscopic details
She needs,

Maisie uses ultra high
Resolution 3d scans.

This point here, an axe has
Completely bitten in and stuck,

And they've had to pull
It out.

We've got the whole shape
Of the axe

And the complete
Width, as well.

That is the precise shape of
The axe.

Narrator: but when maisie
Inspects another seahenge

Timber, she discovers
Different axe markings.

When we look at
The axe marks on here,

They look quite different.

They're definitely
Wider, flatter.

So whoever cut this down
Was using a different axe.

Narrator: maisie believes that
By studying the variation of

Axe marks on the timbers,

She can calculate the size of
The workforce involved in

The construction of seahenge.

I've got a bronze-bladed tool.

One of things
That isn't so clear

Is blemishes on
The edge of the blade,

And so when the axe bites in,

It will leave the pattern
Of the blemishes.

Narrator: the blemishes create
A unique fingerprint for each

Axe used in the construction
Of seahenge.

Maisie uses
This information to count

The total number
Of axes.

Taylor: there has to be at least
50 different axes,

And so you've got at least 50,
50 plus people just working on

The trees
And the timbers.

Narrator: this realization
Uproots historical

Assumptions about
Bronze age communities.

Far from being
Primitive tribes,

The builders of seahenge are,
In fact, a highly organized

And skilled society.

Taylor: somebody has decided
What they're going to build,

Rounded up the people who've
Got the right skills,

And got them all working

And ending up with a carefully
Worked-out structure.

Narrator: but with seahenge
Surrounded by

Two miles of flat sands
And dunes,

Where do the beaker
People source the wood?

Analysis of the timbers reveal

Seahenge is built
From solid oak.

Taylor: it's absolutely clear
That the wood could not have

Been growing
Immediately alongside

Where the monument was made,
Because they're healthy young

Oak trees,
And they don't grow in water,

And they certainly don't grow
On the edge of the tide.

Narrator:
The oak must come from inland.

How do they transport tons of
Timber to this coastal site?

Maisie turns her attention
To the 3d scans

Of the upturned
Tree trunk.

You can see two holes
Cut really

Quite precisely
On either side.

Narrator:
But close examination of

The holes reveals
Something extraordinary.

There are still traces of
Where the rope went through.

Narrator: and maisie suspects
These holes

And rope markings could reveal

How they position
This two-ton tree trunk.

Taylor: it was obvious there was
Still rope in place.

Narrator:
Scientific tests reveal

The rope is made
From honeysuckle,

A plant commonly growing
In woodland.

Honeysuckle grows
By winding itself around

Anything it can get hold of,
Including itself,

And they exploited that
To make

Very strong rope.

Narrator: but how did
The builders of seahenge move

A two-ton tree trunk using
Just strands of honeysuckle?

Taylor: well,
The rope, originally,

Would have
Encircled the trunk.

Presumably when
They were towing it,

The ropes trailed up, and they
Were still attached through

The holes, proving

Once and for all that these
Holes were used for towing.

Narrator: first,
Workers cut down trees

And uproot one large oak stump.

They drill holes
Into the stump

And attach ropes
Made from honeysuckle.

Then they haul the timber
Through the woodland

To where they build
Their magnificent monument

For the dead.

Here they dig a hole
And a circular trench so they

Can install the central altar
And the timber fence around it.

But one mystery
Remains unsolved.

Why bring all the materials
To this site

Rather than building
Near the woodland?

With the discovery
Of over 1,000

Prehistoric circular
Formations across

Britain's landscape,

Why are the seahenge circles
The only ones found by the sea?

Narrator:
4,000 years ago,

Not long after stonehenge
Is built, two more

Strange prehistoric monuments
Rise up

On the english coastline --

Seahenge and a second
Timber circle.

But why do
The bronze age people

Build these monuments here
On this remote beach?

David robertson believes
The clues lie

In the sand around seahenge.

The sand that's in
My hand at the moment,

That's the modern
Beach deposit.

But these weren't here
When seahenge

Was built
In the bronze age.

Narrator: what does this beach
Look like back then?

Not far away,
There are sediments just

Like those that seahenge
Was built within.

Narrator:
3 feet beneath the sand

Lies a completely
Different sediment.

In parts of the beach,

This sediment is
Visible today.

If I just scrape off a little
Bit of the clays and silts,

Run them through my hand,

You can see how soft
And sticky they are

All over my fingers.

And if I pick up
Some of the sand

That's on the beach,
Lays around,

You can see how different
The two are.

Narrator:
The ancient clays are formed

From very fine particles,

Unlike the larger grains of
Modern beach sand.

We know from
The seahenge excavations

And from work
On the second circle

That both structures were built
In the environment that -- that

Silts and the clays
Were laid down in.

Narrator: both timber circles
Are built in

These sticky gray clays
And silts.

David surveys the coast to
Look for a modern equivalent.

If he can find
The matching soil,

It will reveal
The original environment

The timber circles
Are built in.

I'm just having
A very gentle scrape

Around in these modern salt
Marsh deposits.

Having a look
At the color.

Having a look at
The consistency,

Narrator:
David compares the sediment

From this modern salt marsh to

The clay and silt samples
From seahenge.

Although you can see
The colors are

Slightly different,

The modern salt marsh sediment
Is slightly darker,

There is a lot of similarity
In consistency,

Both are silts and clays,
Both are very, very sticky.

Narrator: from this sticky soil,
David can deduce that

Seahenge is built
In a salt marsh.

I believe this is just like

The environment in which
The two circles

Were constructed.

Narrator: a surprising
Discovery just yards from

Seahenge makes it possible
To piece together

This ancient environment.

When archaeologists extract
The timbers of seahenge,

They find an antler
Buried in the peat

Dating to the same period
As seahenge.

It comes from a red deer,

A clue this area
Is not always a beach.

This unexpected discovery lets
Scientists paint a clear

Picture of the prehistoric
Landscape around seahenge.

In its prime,

The would circle sits in
A grassy marshland

Teeming with life,
Miles away from the sea.

Why is this landscape
So different from today?

Robertson:
At some point in the past,

Potentially in the iron age
Or maybe later,

The sea engulfed this area.

Narrator:
Over thousands of years,

The north sea
Inundates the region,

Destroying the timber circles
And burying them

Beneath the sand.

But how do the remnants
Survive to be discovered?

As plants growing in
The marshland die,

They decompose into a thick
Layer of peat that builds up

Around seahenge.

When a protective sand dune
Moves inland,

It exposes seahenge
To the ocean.

Now the tide submerges
Seahenge twice a day,

And its timber begins to decay.

But sealed in
The water-logged peat,

The bases survive

To be discovered
4,000 years later.

Robertson: without
The peat beds, seahenge

And the second circle wouldn't
Have survived.

Narrator:
Over 4,000 years,

The sea, peat, and environment
All work in perfect harmony

To preserve the two timber
Circles for us today.

Why do the people
Choose this remote,

Seemingly uninhabitable,

Marshy location
For their great monument?

Can an ancient settlement
40 miles away reveal clues?

Narrator: on the eastern coast
Of england,

Investigations at seahenge
Reveal a tribe of people

From europe

Who bring bronze to britain.

Why do they build
Their monumental timber circle

In this netherworld
Between land and sea?

Francis pryor believes
A bronze age settlement

Discovered in
A vast marshy basin

40 miles from seahenge
Could hold clues.

The fen base is very
Low-lying landing.

It covers about
A million acres,

Which used to flood from
The sea.

Narrator:
It's identical to the original

Environment
Around seahenge.

Here, francis discovers
A surprising structure

Beneath the mud.

This, then, is
The bronze age causeway,

Constructed from about 1300 b.C.

Narrator:
700 years after seahenge,

People here construct
This colossal wooden

Causeway on the edge of
The fen basin in an area

Known today as flag fen.

It stretches almost a mile
Through dense marshland

Connecting two
Bronze age settlements.

Pryor: we estimate
That there are about

60,000 timbers
In the flag fen causeway,

So it was a major
Engineering undertaking.

Narrator:
This community uses

The same building
Techniques for their causeway

As the builders of
The sacred timber circles,

Working in great teams to
Build the enormous structures.

But unlike seahenge
On the coast,

This sheltered basin is
Littered with hundreds of

Extra clues.

Francis's team
Finds hundreds

Of bronze artifacts
Alongside the causeway.

The causeway,
Like a modern road,

Was used for carrying goods.

We actually found a wheel,
We found pieces of axles,

So society is getting very
Technologically savvy

At this point.

Narrator: discoveries here
Reveal the huge efforts

Bronze age people make
To settle marshy wetlands.

But why are they
So determined

To live and bury
Their dead here?

Francis believes the people
Are fascinated by water.

Pryor: every day,
We look in the mirror,

But in the bronze age,
People didn't have mirrors,

So they didn't know what
Their faces looked like,

Unless they look down
Into the water,

But you pass below the water,
And you drown.

It's the world of death,
It's the world of the ancestors.

Narrator: just like the people
At flag fen,

The people of seahenge are
Drawn to water.

What can this ancient
Fascination tell us

About seahenge?

You get a similar feeling
At seahenge,

Where the tree is placed
Upside down,

And it's going down into

The world below the surface.

They also had a vision of

The afterlife being below
The ground, below water.

Narrator: francis's
Investigations reveal

That people of the bronze age

Have a deep spiritual
Connection with the afterlife,

And the monuments they build
Form a direct

Link from their world
To the spiritual world.

Pryor: and that's why sites
Like flag fen

And seahenge were so
Important to people,

Because those sites
Gave structure

And meaning to their lives.

Narrator: 4,500 years ago,
A sophisticated people

Migrate to britain

And kickstart
The british bronze age.

They build
Two colossal timber circles

To commemorate
Their dead.

Over time, these people
Thrive in britain.

These unique timber circles
Finally reveal secrets that

Revolutionize
Our understanding

Of the bronze age and
The people who make it possible.

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