All language subtitles for Secrets in the Ice S02E10 The Ancient Oland Massacre 1080p WEB h264-KOMPOST_track3_[eng]

[announcer reading]

[wind whistling]

[narrator] The macabre
discovery of a human skeleton

launches
a murder investigation.

What are sheep's teeth
doing inside a man's mouth?

This seems a lot darker
than was initially thought.

[narrator] Fall out
from a military plane crash

raises suspicions.

This site has some
strange anomalies.

Did they lose control
of the plane

and die in a fiery crash?

[explosion booms]

[narrator] The remains
of a mysterious creature

emerges from the permafrost.

[Alison] At first,
he thinks that it could be
a dead reindeer,

but he quickly realizes

this is something
he's never seen before.

What could it be?

[narrator] These are
the strangest mysteries

trapped
in the coldest places.

Lost relics.

Forgotten treasures.

Dark secrets.

Locked in their icy tombs
for ages.

But now, as ice melts
around the world,

their stories
will finally be exposed.

[tense music plays]

[wind whistles]

[narrator] On the Swedish
island of Oland,

the ruins of ancient
stone forts rise up

above the frigid Baltic Sea.

The climate here
can be absolutely brutal.

With bitter temperatures
and the raw winds

coming in off the sea.

It can be a hard place
to live at any time.

[Anthony] It's not just
the weather that's intense,

the history of this place
is also wrought with term.

The island has played
a central role
in the region's history.

And you can still see over
a dozen ancient forts there

that predate the Vikings.

One of these forts
is called Sandby borg,

and it dates
from the 5th century.

[Anthony] This was the era
just before the Vikings.

It was a dangerous time.

So, you can imagine
that living in one of these

would have provided
a greater measure of security
for the people.

The fort is classified as what
we now call a "ringfort."

Basically, it was
a fortified settlement,

meaning entire communities
lived behind the stone walls.

[narrator] In 2011, a group
of archaeologists

from Linnaeus University

and the local
Kalmar County Museum

are conducting
a full-scale excavation

in order to find out what may
lie below the soil.

Shortly after
their work begins,

they discovered a human tooth
and then a jawbone.

[Anthony] Then suddenly,
two skeletal feet
sticking up out of the soil

makes them realize
that this is not gonna be
your average dig.

[narrator] The initial
excavation yields
26 skeletons

almost all intact.

Their bones exposed to
the light for the first time

in over 1,000 years.

Twenty-six bodies.
That's astonishing.

Especially considering
the people lived here.

So, it's not a place where
they wanna bury their dead.

So, what could have
happened to them?

[suspenseful music plays]

[narrator] This fort was
in use in the 5th Century,

around the same period
as the Justinian plague
was ravaging Europe.

This horrific disease
killed up to 50 million
people worldwide,

which was about
half the global population
at the time.

This part of Scandinavia
was not spared the ravages
of the disease.

If 2 to 300 people were
living here all at once,

it's likely
they're all packed together
like sardines,

living in somewhat
unsanitary conditions.

If it was densely populated
and there was an outbreak,

conditions would have been
right for a disease
like the plague to spread.

So, could this be
what killed them?

[narrator] Archaeologists
working this site

discover more bodies
lying in strange positions

on top of each other.

They find one skeleton
of an adolescent

lying with his feet
across the midsection

of another grown man.

In another area,
the body of an elderly man

is found lying across the
central hearth of a house.

His pelvis is charged
but the rest of his body

has been spared the flames.

Because only part
of his skeleton is burned,

it means that his soft
tissue was present

and intact
when he felt across the fire.

And he would have either
been dead or unconscious
when he did so.

[Anthony]
If they died of disease,

they wouldn't have
ended up like this.

Maybe they would have been
found in their beds,

or maybe buried
or properly cremated.

But these skeletons
seem to be lying

in the same contorted
positions they died in.

Some 1,500 years ago.

[Jamie]
So, if it wasn't disease

that killed
these poor people,

could it have been
something else?

A battle perhaps.

[narrator] Archaeologists
examine the skeletons,

looking for any signs of what
might have happened to them.

[Alison] Some of their heads
have been smashed
with a blunt object,

while others show signs
of sharp force trauma
to their heads,

to their shoulders
and to their hips.

[Anthony] What
the archaeologists noticed

is that these wounds have all
been efficiently distributed.

That means that the attackers
have targeted the same place
on their body

and done so to full effect.

[Jamie] The evidence of trauma

doesn't seem consistent
with the fight.

Usually,
if there's been a battle,

then you'd see fractures
on people's arms

from trying
to block the blows,

as well as more facial
trauma than we see here.

[Alison] Also, some of the
skeletons exhibit trauma

on their sides and backs,

meaning that some of them were
likely attacked from behind.

This seems a lot darker
than was initially thought.

[Amma] These archaeologists
are quite literally standing

on top of an ancient
murder site.

[narrator] Both the positions
of the bodies

and the specific
signs of trauma

point to this act
being carried out

by a large group
attacking simultaneously

and ensuring that none
of the victims

could defend themselves.

So, if it wasn't a battle
between two opponents,

maybe this tragedy
was the result of a robbery.

[narrator] With a
population of 2 to 300,

a fort this size would have
contained a lot of valuables

such as gold and animals
within its walls,

making it a target
for marauding thieves.

Searching for clues,

the archaeologists
make some astonishing finds.

They ordered five separate
deposits of some exquisite,

gilded silver brooches.

[Alison] These were used as
a means to fasten one's tunic

around the neckline,

but they could also be used
to denote status.

[Amma] These brooches
would have definitely
been valuable.

So, if this was a robbery,
it would have made no sense

to not steal them.

[Alison]
The archaeologists also find

silver attachments
for necklaces,

cowrie shells
and glass beads.

Jewelry like this is something
you would want to keep.

There were also plenty of
bones from domestic animals

like sheep and dogs.

This doesn't really add up.

If it's a robbery,
you take what is available.

And they didn't take valuable
jewelry or animals. Why not?

[narrator] Looking at
the massacre site
of Sandby borg,

the archaeologists
are struck by the fact

that not a single victim
was ever buried

neither immediately
nor long after the massacre.

[Alison] This is strange.

Why did no one ever bury
these bodies? I mean ever.

No one touched this place
after the massacre.

[narrator] The team considers
the burial customs
of the time.

Pre-Viking burials
in the region
were usually comprised

of bodies placed in stone
and wood lined graves,

or in pits covered
with stone slabs.

A proper burial would've been
considered an essential right.

One that all men,
women and children

would've needed in order
to access the afterlife.

[Jamie] According
to the beliefs of the time,

if a body remained unburied,

he or she would remain
stranded in this world,

neither dead nor alive,
with no place to go,

and no grave for their
community to pay homage to.

Maybe this way, they're
destroyed not only physically,

but perhaps more importantly,
spiritually as well.

[narrator] As archaeologists
pour over the bodies,

they make a peculiar
discovery

in one of the skulls.

Inside the mouth of the old
man who had fallen across

the fire they find teeth,

sheep's teeth, four of them.

[Jamie] What are sheep's
teeth doing inside
a man's mouth?

Someone must have placed
them there. But why?

[narrator] Archaeologists
on the Swedish
island of Oland

uncovered the grisly remains
of a 5th Century massacre

that left behind
26 skeletons.

After finding sheep's teeth
deliberately placed

in the mouth
of one of the skulls,

they consult
the history books.

Looking for information
about the burial practices
of this time.

They come across something
known as "Charon's obol,"

which was common
practice at the time.

When people died,
their relatives sometimes

placed a coin in their mouth,
symbolizing the payment

that they would need
to pay the ferryman

when crossing the river
from the world of the living

into the world of the dead.

So, instead of coins to help
the poor man cross over

to the afterlife, the killers
placed sheep's teeth there.

This would be a sign
of ultimate humiliation.

He would have gone like
a beggar to the ferryman

with nothing to show for
his life, but sheep's teeth.

For someone to do
something like this,

they would really need to be
filled with anger

or maybe desperate ambition.

[narrator] Puzzled
by this question,

the team continues to dig

and discover a cache
of beautiful gold coins.

But on closer inspection,
they realized that these
aren't just any gold coins.

They're what's known
as "solidi."

Roman coins that are minted
far away in the Roman Empire.

This is potentially
a huge clue.

It means that this community,
or more likely,

the entire island of Oland,

had a link
with the Roman Empire.

[narrator] The Roman Empire
at its peak stretched

from today's Spain to Syria,

as far south
as the Nile River Valley

and on
the European continent,

as far north
as the Rhine River.

An empire that powerful
would have had influence

even in areas which
they didn't directly control.

[Alison] So, despite being
outside the boundaries
of the Roman Empire,

it's pretty much guaranteed
that the people on the island

would have sought to develop
relationships with Rome.

And these coins prove it.

It makes sense,
because after all,

Rome was where most
of Europe's riches

were concentrated
at the time.

[narrator] Archaeologists
conclude that the inhabitants
of Sandby borg

as well as the rest
of the island

were indeed reliant
upon patronage networks

that linked
to the Roman Empire.

The wealth flowing into Oland
would have been vital

to the economic
and political stability

of the different communities
on the island.

But if that stability
were disrupted,

say by the collapse
of the Roman Empire,

well, that would be
likely to have

far reaching consequences.

[narrator] While analyzing
the coins,

an archaeologist notices
something interesting.

Many of the Roman coins
found at Sandby borg

are dated to the 460s.

But excavations
on the eastern side
of the island

have found coins
minted in the 470s.

This means that Sandby borg
had been receiving payments

that came to a sudden halt.

Based on the dates
of these coins,

so when payments
picked up again,

it appears that they went
to the eastern side

of the island instead.

This all happened at a time
leading up to the massacre,

meaning something
had transpired

to spark this drastic shift.

The archaeologists conclude
that the massacre

was likely the result
of inter-island conflict.

Someone, maybe from
the eastern side,

murdered all of these people

likely to seize
or to maintain power.

[narrator] Access to this
stream of Roman wealth

would have been highly
coveted on the entire island.

This could have motivated
the vicious attack

on Sandby borg by one
of the rivaling neighbors.

It could be but as of now,
we just don't know.

Archaeologists on the island

are still conducting
excavations at Sandby borg
and the rest of Oland.

However, one thing is certain,
and that is the human beings.

Whether they live
1,500 years ago or today,

will go
to extraordinary lengths

to acquire
and maintain power.

[tense music plays]

[narrator] Home to
over 300 volcanoes.

The Kamchatka Peninsula
in eastern Russia

is known as the land
of fire and ice.

The epic dome
of the Mutnovskiy volcano

is one of the most
active in the region.

The volcano is about 45 miles

from the Russian city
of Petropavlovsk.

And the area is only
for true adventurers

who can survive by their wits
if the weather turns bad.

[narrator] In 2000,

researchers investigate
an unusual site.

Scattered across
a rocky volcanic slope

is the mangled remains
of an airplane.

Upon inspection, the wreckage
is a PV-1 Ventura

twin-engine, patrol bomber.

An airplane used
by the United States Navy

in World War II.

[Anthony] The PV-1
was a long-range bomber

with a crew of seven.

It had a maximum speed
similar to that of the Zero,

a Japanese fighter plane.

And it could carry up
to six 500-pound bombs.

But the crash
has researcher's puzzle.

There's something weird about
the shape of the debris field.

It's not a typical
crash site pattern.

And weirdest yet, the bodies
of the crew are missing.

What is an American
World War II aero plane

doing on a remote
Russian coast?

[suspenseful music plays]

[Amma] On the tail fin,

researchers find
the serial number

which allows them
to match the plane

to U.S. Navy records.

The discover the plane
was known as "Bomber 31."

[narrator] In the early
days of World War II,

America took a pounding
in the Pacific.

But by 1943 the tide
had turned

with the U.S.
having seized the initiative.

They attacked
the Japanese positions

in the Aleutian Islands
off Alaska

and took back
the tiny island of Attu.

[Anthony] The U.S.
quickly builds a naval base
on the island,

which puts their bombers
within reach

of Japan's northern
territory islands.

[Morgan]
But this was no easy task.

I mean, they were
plenty of dangers.

Weather over the Bering Sea
can be brutal to fly in.

Plus, there were
3,000 pounds overweight

carrying extra fuel
for the long flights.

[narrator]
On March 25th, 1944,

a seven-man crew in Bomber 31
took off from Attu.

They were headed
for the Japanese islands

of Shumshu and Paramushiro.

The round trip will take nine
hours in subzero temperatures.

The route is known
as the "Empire Express,"

and it was so cold
they greased their faces

to prevent them
from getting frostbite.

[Jamie] They never returned.

But the mystery
of what happened to the crew
of Bomber 31

might still lie
in the crash site.

[narrator] Researchers
wonder if the plane

could have exploded
in midair,

killing the crew aboard.

As they search
the Bomber 31 crash site

for evidence
of human remains,

they realize everything
is not what it seems.

[Amma] There are several
common debris field patterns

that air accidents
can be grouped into.

This depends on the speed
of the crash

and the angle of impact.

But this site
has some strange anomalies.

[Morgan]
An explosion in the air

would send debris falling
down in a scatter pattern.

But when they start checking
off key components

of the wreckage
to map the site,

they find something
really strange.

[Jamie]
The Plexiglas has vanished

from the gunner's nest.

The 250 caliber machine
guns are missing.

The cockpit instruments
have been taken.

And five out of six bombs
are gone.

[Amma]
This can only mean one thing,

someone has been here before

and has removed these things
from this area.

[Anthony] Nearby the wreckage
there are three craters found

where it looks like
someone detonated these bombs

at a later date.

And nearby that another
live bomb is found.

[Jamie] We know this area was
top secret during the 1960s

and completely off limits
to civilians.

It's highly possible
that the KGB came in here,

tampered with the site
and cut up the fuselage.

[Anthony] The scattered
debris pattern
is not the result

of the plane having
exploded in the sky.

This was the time
when superpowers

were trying to spy
on each other from the air.

So, maybe the KGB move things
around to hide the fact

that this was
an American crash site.

[narrator] Undeterred,

investigators focus
their search on finding

any evidence
of what happened to the men.

[Amma] There are large
caliber holes

and heavy battle damage
to both engines.

The damage is consistent
with being shot at

by fighter planes.

[Jamie] But the angle
of these holes are not

in the usual place
you would see damage.

Fighter jets usually
sit themselves

in the six o'clock position
which is behind their target.

Then, they shoot.

These holes were
made from above.

Judging by the location
of the damage,

it looks like these men
could've been injured

by the bullets
or by the engine
bursting into flames.

We just don't know for sure.

[Anthony] If the engines
were disabled,

did they lose control
of the plane

and die in a fiery crash?

[narrator] The wreckage
of a World War II bomber

that vanished along
with their crew in 1944

is discovered
on the side of a volcano

on Russia's
Kamchatka Peninsula.

But some strange anomalies
at the site

leave investigators wondering
not only how they crashed,

but what happened
to the crew.

Careful inspection of
the underside of the wreckage

reveals heavy scraping,

but there was no sign
of a significant impact

on the ground
or damage to the wings.

And strangely,
the engines have been ripped

from their mouths and are
lying halfway up the slope.

[Amma] They determined
that the propellers

spun naturally to a halt.

This gives them a huge clue.

[narrator] Now
they have a picture

of what might have happened
to Bomber 31.

Near Shumshu Island,

they get attacked
by Japanese fighters.

Tracers hit the engines and
may have knocked them out.

They try to make
Russia's Petropavlovsk
airport

and allied territory.

Engine failure means
they can't make it,

but they spot a fairly even
slope on a nearby volcano.

They land the plane in deep
snow on an uphill slope.

The touchdown rips
the engines off,

and they land in one piece
coming naturally to a halt.

[Jamie] But if the plane made
a successful crash landing,

where are the crew?

Yes, some could have
been injured or killed

before they landed,
or even killed by the landing.

But one thing is for sure,
someone landed the plane.

They had a good chance
of surviving the crash.

And so that means if none
of them had any
life-threatening injuries,

some of them
could've walked away.

[narrator] Unable to find
obvious signs of the crew,

researchers go over the site
with a fine-tooth comb.

[Amma] In the cockpit area,
they discover a finger bone.

But this is such a strange
thing to find on its own

when there are
seven crew members.

[Jamie] About 300 yards
north of the crash site,

they find a boot

bearing navigator
Donald Lewallen's name.

But if he walked away
from the crash,

he would've probably
been wearing his boots.

[Morgan] Under a piece
of the forward wing,

they discovered a fragment
of human remains

in some cloth
and some vertebrae.

Then, nearby they discovered
two right collarbones.

[narrator] DNA testing
confirms they are the remains

of only three men,

machinist, Clarence Fridley,

navigator, Donald Lewallen,

an ordinance man,
James Palko.

The other four,
pilot, Walter Whitman,

co-pilot, John Hanlon,

radio man, Samuel Crown,

and aerographer,
Jack Parlier,

are still unaccounted for.

The radio was missing,

so they don't know if the crew
could have called for help.

We do know the U.S.
send six aircrafts

to search for several days
after the plane disappeared.

But they found nothing.

[Anthony]
It was in March of 1944

and the Kamchatka Peninsula
may have had dense fog

or snow at that time of year,

which would have made it
very difficult

to see anything.

And if the rescue party
was also attacked,

it would have made
for a very difficult search.

[Morgan] If any of the crew
had life-threatening
injuries,

it wouldn't have been easy
to take care of them.

Especially in below
freezing temperatures.

Exposure to the elements
is a big factor in survival.

[Amma] Their rations would
not have lasted them more

than a few days,

so they could have
just slowly starved to death.

[narrator] When researchers
expand their study

of the surroundings,

they discover evidence
of a fire on a hill

that overlooks
the crash site.

[Anthony] They find bullet
casings in the charred ground

and think that maybe
the crew set them on fire

as an attempt to send
an SOS signal.

[narrator] But evidence
of the KGB moving

some of the wreckage
has some experts wondering

if the four missing men could
have been taken prisoner.

A few days after
they went missing,

there's a report
of a U.S. airman

hearing the names
of the Bomber 31 crew

reported as captured

on the Tokyo Rose
propaganda broadcast.

A captured crew could be
a highly valuable source

of top-secret information.

If they had been rescued
by the Russians

or made the trek
to Petropavlovsk,

they would have been taken
prisoner or interned.

We do know that some
U.S. airmen were imprisoned

in Soviet labor camps

and later executed

or forced to renounce
their U.S. citizenship.

The lucky ones might
have been interrogated

and then smuggled
out of the country.

[narrator] But none of the
Bomber 31 crew made it home.

The Russians played
a central role

in defeating the access
during World War II.

But despite being
allied with the U.S.,

they entered some 22,000
American troops

over the course
of the war.

Mostly as a result
of having liberated them

from German POW camps.

While the vast majority
of them

were repatriated back
to the U.S.,

an unfortunate few were
held as prisoners

by the Soviet Union,
and some were even executed.

There's one theory above
all others that strikes fear

in the hearts
of many adventurers

who get lost or crash land
in the wilderness.

[Morgan] The remains
are so scamp and scattered

across this debris field
that it could have been
done by wild animals.

And there are definitely
some menacing predators

roaming around
on the Kamchatka peninsula.

I mean, bears, wolves...

In the 1940s, there were
even Siberian tigers.

[Amma] Imagine facing
a Siberian tiger

after being shot down
over foreign territory

and surviving a crash landing.

I can't even begin
to imagine the hardship.

[Jamie] If any of them
were injured or dead,

the smell of blood would
easily have been picked up

by local wildlife,

and they would have
come to investigate.

[narrator] We don't know
for sure,

but it is likely that
the crew lost their lives

while trying to seek help
after the crash.

The difficulties
they would have encountered,

and the bravery required
to face them are remarkable.

But this legacy endures
is the story of Bomber 31

passes on into history.

[tense music plays]

[narrator] The Gulf
of Bothnia, Western Finland

is known for its long,
cold winters.

The land here is very flat,

and the marshy
spring-fed fields

often freeze completely
over during the winter.

[Jill] In the mid-1880s,
a few miles from the coast,

farmers building
drainage ditches

in a buggy field uncover
an astonishing scene.

[Anthony] Buried in the mud,
they find bones,

and multiple human remains

submerged
in their lush fields.

[narrator] Over
the next century,

multiple teams
of archaeologists

investigate the site
known as Levanluhta.

All together hundreds
of broken pieces of bones

and multiple skulls were
eventually found

scattered and mixed together
in the soft, muddy soil.

After through search,
a total of 153 pounds

of human bones were
recovered from the field.

Researchers painstakingly
count and analyze the bones

piecing fragments together,

and they determined
that the field contains

the remains of at least
98 different individuals.

How could these people
end up buried in the mud

in a farmer's field?

[wind whistles]

[Jill] This area has been
farmland for centuries.

There are no grave
markers or memorials

that give any indication
of who they are.

And the locals have
no knowledge
of a cemetery nearby.

Whoever these people are,
they've been here a long time.

[narrator] Carbon dating on
the bones reveals they date

sometime between
the 4th and 9th centuries.

[Morgan] So, these people
are from the early Iron Age.

They predate the Vikings.

Could this be the remains
of an ancient cemetery?

[wind whistles]

[narrator] Archaeologists
in western Finland

uncover the remains
of nearly 100 people.

Their bones are revealed
to be centuries old

and predate the Vikings
in this area.

Could they be evidence
of an ancient cemetery?

[Jill] Other early Iron Age
cemetery sites in Finland

show that at the time, bodies
were primarily cremated.

So, finding the bones
of this many bodies

from that period
is highly unusual.

[Alison] The bones are
scattered and mixed together

and don't appear to be laid
out in an ordered way

like you'd expect
if this was a cemetery.

[Anthony] When bones
are found scattered like this
at a site,

sometimes it's determined to
be the remains of a battle.

The bodies lie
where the soldiers fall,

and over time,
they get mixed together.

[Morgan] But if this was
the site of a battle,

and these were
our fallen heroes,

then, where are all
the weapons?

I mean, there's no armor,
there are no buckles.

There are very few artifacts
here other than bones.

[narrator] Five metal broaches
and ten decorative arm rings

had been found
in the mud at the site.

Not exactly the cache of
weapons you'd expect to find

if this was the site
of a battle.

[Jill] The armbands
are all made in styles

that were popular from
the 5th to 8th centuries.

So, it's possible that these
people didn't all die at once,

and that they were placed
there intentionally

over a span of many years.

[narrator] In some ancient
Nordic cultures,

boggy and marshy areas
were considered scary

and mystical places.

Bogs were used as places
to sacrifice people

to appease the gods,
or to bury someone

as a form
of demeaning punishment.

They were thought to be the
gateway to a dark afterworld.

The idea was
that the dark spirits

would torment the deceased
as a punishment.

Many individual well preserved
bodies have been found in bogs

across England, Denmark, and
many areas of Northern Europe.

[narrator] The chemicals
from the peat moss

and the lack of oxygen
in most bogs,

prevent bacterial decay
in organic matter

and preserve
the bodies perfectly.

[Anthony] It's incredible.

We can see every
minute detail
of these people's faces

and every injury
revealing how they died,

whether it's by slit throat,

or by a blow to the head
from behind.

But in this site,
only the bones remain.

[Alison] So, perhaps
Levanluhta was a place

where people in the community
were buried or sacrificed.

The population in the area
at that time

wouldn't have been that large.

So, 98 would have been a
considerable number of people

to be sacrificed
or punished for wrongdoing.

Even over a period
of many years.

[narrator] The archaeologist
noticed that the deceased

show no signs of trauma
or head injuries

that would indicate they were
killed or injured on purpose.

And while studying the bones
and skulls further,

they make
a startling discovery.

[Anthony] The length
of the femur bones

and the shape of the pelvis

suggest what age
and gender the deceased are.

And of the 98 bodies,

they determine that only
a small percentage are men.

[Alison] The bones
here are predominantly

those of women and children.

It's really unusual
to find a site like this.

Separating the women
and children is intentional.

It wouldn't have just
happened randomly.

[Morgan] If the bodies
were brought to the site
intentionally,

then why are the bones
all jumbled up?

I mean, it's almost like
they just dumped them
on top of each other.

[narrator] Biologists look
at samples of the muddy soil

and discovered
that it contains

interesting plant remains.

White lilies and other plants
that live in water

were present at the time

some of the bodies
were placed here.

So, it's possible
that during the Iron Age,

this area wouldn't have
been a marshy field,

but actually a lake
or a large pond.

It's likely that the water's
freezing and thawing cycle

moved and mix
the bones around

over hundreds of years.

But if it was a lake,

why would they choose
to bury their dead in it?

[narrator] Archaeologists
see a number

of large wooden poles

made of birch wood planted
vertically like flag poles.

The poles were found
amongst the bones,

and they were clearly
placed there in the earth

in a very specific manner.

But why?

[Jill] If this was a lake,
and you're trying to keep

a body underwater, you'd need
something to hold it down.

[Anthony] There is evidence
of trees and branches

being used to weigh
the bodies down in the water.

So, perhaps the same thing
is going on here.

[narrator] Researchers
determined that in Levanluhta

multiple poles were used
to hold the bodies down

under the water.

Whoever did this
was going to great lengths

to keep the dead submerged.

The archaeologists suggest
this place wasn't a site

for unceremonious bog burials

but was instead
a unique graveyard

for women and children.

[Morgan] This tradition
is like nothing else found

in that area during
that time period.

So, who were the people
with such complex

and unusual burial practices?

[tense music plays]

[narrator] In a marshy
spring-fed field

in western Finland,

archeologists discovered
the remains of nearly
100 people,

mostly women and children.

They wonder if there
was a sinister reason

for this underwater
entombment.

Or was it just a unique
burial practice?

DNA analysis of bones
reveals the background

of some of the people
whose remains were found.

They appear to be most
closely related to the Sami,

the indigenous people
from Northern Scandinavia.

[Alison] This is fascinating.

It means that the Sami,
who today live mostly

in the north of Scandinavia

have been living much further
south 1,500 years ago.

[narrator] The Sami
have a belief

that some spring-fed lakes

are sacred places
called "saiva."

These magical lakes
have a double bottom

and underneath
access through the water

is an identical
upside-down lake

in the world of the spirits.

[Jill] The field of
Levanluhta is currently drier,

but there are a number
of springs in the area

that create
the marshy conditions.

So, it's entirely possible

that this was a spring-fed
lake at one time.

[Anthony] Saiva were
thought to be the homes

of the spirits and the dead.

So, sacrificial offerings
were made to the water.

So, as these people
were related to the Sami,

perhaps these unusual
water burials

were carried out for religious
or ritual purposes.

[narrator] Researchers
continue to investigate

the site and the bones
testing their DNA,

hoping there may
still be answers

buried in the frozen marsh.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] In May 2007,
in Russia's Yamal Peninsula,

a Nenets reindeer herder
walks alongside

the thawing Yuribey River.

An unusual scene
catches his attention.

Parts of a frozen animal
are stuck in the permafrost

and arising
out of a damp snow.

[Alison] At first,
he thinks that it could be
a dead reindeer,

and he approaches the remains
to get a better look.

But he quickly realizes
this is something
he's never seen before.

What could it be?

[narrator] The creature is
removed from the permafrost,

and its remains
were taken to a lab

for deeper analysis
to confirm what species

it actually is.

The frozen ground
has mummified

this creature incredibly well.

That includes
a treasure trove of DNA

that is very useable.

[narrator] Analysis
of its well-preserved DNA

reveals that the animal
is a baby mammoth.

The DNA sample is so strong
scientists can even tell

it belong
to a distinct population

of the species called
Mammuthus primigenius.

[Alison] Mammoths roamed
the northern hemisphere
for millions of years.

But what's shocking
about this discovery

is just how well preserved
this baby mammoth is.

[narrator] Other than some
damage to her right ear
and tail,

the flesh, the muscles,
the internal organs,

the milk tusks,
and teeth are all untouched.

[Morgan] Even the eyelashes
are intact.

This baby mammoth calf

looks like it just
drifted off to sleep

and never woke up.

[narrator] Radiocarbon
dating reveals

that this baby mammoth
died some 40,000 years ago.

[mammoth yowls]

This was a time
when humans and mammoths

coexisted in Siberia.

To survive the long
winter months,

mammoths became
the prime target

for Paleolithic hunters.

[Alison]
They would gather in groups

and use their long spears
to attack and kill them.

[Jill] But there are
no wounds of any kind

on this mammoth's body.

This suggests it wasn't
killed by Stone Age hunters.

There's no evidence of human
interference at all.

So, what happened to it?

[narrator] After
performing DNA analysis,

Russian researchers
identify the calf as female

and call her Lyuba,

after the wife
of the reindeer herder
who discovered her.

To learn more about
this miraculous baby mammoth,

the scientists
began an autopsy.

By studying her premolars
and milk tusks,

they learned that she was
born in the late spring.

She was only one month old
when she died.

[tense music plays]

[Kim] She was an infant.

Completely dependent
on her mother for survival.

And like most mammals,

her mother would have done
anything to protect her baby.

Did she become separated
from her mother
and starve to death?

[narrator] The pristine
remains of an infant
woolly mammoth

found in the Siberian
permafrost

raises questions
about how she died.

The scientists examined
Lyuba's 40,000-year-old
stomach and intestine.

They find traces
of her mother's milk.

The discovery
of fresh milk in her stomach

means Lyuba
didn't die of starvation.

[Morgan] But milk is
the least strange substance

found in this baby mammoth's
stomach.

Researchers also found poop.

[Alison] Specifically,
its adult mammoth feces,

and quite likely
to be Lyuba's mother's.

Interestingly,
this is actually behavior

that we see
in elephants today.

[narrator] Modern-day elephant
calves eat
their mother's feces

to inoculate their guts
with their microbes

in preparation for digesting
plants as they grow.

[Alison]
From this mummified baby,

the researchers are
getting a vivid image

of how mammoths lived
40,000 years ago.

It's astonishing.

[narrator] The researchers
continue to examine Lyuba.

Determined to uncover
as much detail as possible.

They examine a hump of fat
on the back of her neck.

Using an electric drill,

they take a sample
for further analysis.

[Morgan] The scientists
believe that the fat

is actually brown fat, which
is a great store of energy

similar to a camel's hump.

This fat would have helped
keep the infant mammoth warm

in the freezing Arctic.

Some researchers even believe
it would have allowed mammoths

to be born earlier
in the spring,

allowing them to be
in better condition

to survive their first
brutal Arctic winter.

[narrator] For general
appearance and the healthy

hump of fat on the back
of her neck

suggests Lyuba was
in excellent health

at the time of her death.

If she didn't die
of starvation,

perhaps she died
from a disease?

[Jill] Another baby mammoth
had been excavated

around the same time as Lyuba
in northeastern Russia.

Scientists suspected
that mammoth possibly died

from an anthrax infection.

It's possible Lyuba
met a similar fate.

[narrator] Anthrax bacteria

are known to have infected
animals on the tundra

going back hundreds
of thousands of years.

The scientists know that
with an anthrax infection,

sores or lesions can appear
on the bodies

of infected animals.

[Alison] But Lyuba
doesn't have any lesions
like that at all.

In fact, her appearance for
full stomach and back fat hump

indicates she was as healthy
as she could be.

So, what killed Lyuba?

[narrator] Puzzled by
the possible cause

of Lyuba's death, scientists
performed CT scans on her.

With a 3D model of her body,

researchers could see
Lyuba's internal anatomy

without cutting her apart.

The scans revealed
something extraordinary.

Parts of her trunk
and trachea
were filled with sediment.

It seems like she inhaled
a great deal of mud.

[narrator] Researchers
extract minerals

from the inhaled sediment

and conclude that it came
from a cold,

oxygen-deprived environment,
like a riverbed.

[Morgan] Now we're getting
a pretty graphic idea

of what probably
killed Lyuba.

She probably drowned.

And in the process,
she panicked

inhaling a bunch of water
and mud.

[Alison] But there's still
one lingering question

the scientists want answered.

Lyuba's body
is so well preserved,

it really looks like
she just drowned yesterday.

It's incredible.

But how is her body
in such good condition?

[narrator] Scientists reason
that after Lyuba drowned,

the sediment heavy river
or swamp froze around her.

[Kim] And that's a stable,

physical chemical
environments

in which oxygen is deprived.

And the bacterial process
that normally degrades

organic tissue are slowed
to a complete pause.

[Morgan] But again,
that's relatively common.

And something unique
happened to Lyuba.

So, what was it?

[narrator] The scientists
take another look

at the evidence
collected so far.

Something about
the thawing mammoth

had caught their attention.

A slightly sour smell
as it warmed.

It reminds them of microbes
called lactobacilli,

which produce lactic acid

from the fermentation
of carbohydrates.

So, in the sediment,
there was this additional

acidic material
which surrounded Lyuba

and preserved her
after she died.

That pickling effect
prevented her body

and everything inside it

from degrading
for over 40,000 years.

[Alison] So, the remarkable
preservation of Lyuba

is owed to a quirk
of geography and timing.

The freezing water
and the mud she drowned in

was rich
in a very specific chemical.

And thanks to that,
we can see that mammoths

and today's modern elephant
have similarities

that go way beyond
just their looks.