All language subtitles for remux-M.I.2024.S01E04.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH.eng

-One body without a coffin
maybe isn’t that strange,

but six of them together?

-Most of these victims
were shot one by one.

[Narrator] Paleontologists
uncover a massive find on the

shores of a British Isle.

-These are absolutely
enormous bones.

-There are only a few creatures
in the world that would have

bones this big.

[Narrator] Unidentified
aircrafts are observed over

the islands of
Washington state.

-It looked like they’re
in some sort of formation.

[Narrator] Isolated.

Scarce on resources.

Islands are worlds
unto themselves.

Bizarre creatures.

Ancient gods
and haunting ruins.

Baffling murders
and deadly spirits.

What will be discovered on
Earth's mysterious islands?

[rolling thunder]

[Narrator] The
Elaphite Archipelago,

north of the
ancient city of Dubrovnik.

The thirteen islands
lie roughly parallel to the

Croatian coast and have,

over the course of
hundreds of years,

been the home to
mariners, aristocrats,

and monks.

-Even though most of the
islands are uninhabited now,

abandoned monasteries
and churches are found

across several of them.

And you see the ruins of
old farmhouses and villas,

all of which are clues
about the archipelago’s past.

-The smallest island in
the archipelago is Daksa.

But despite its size,

it was home to a
monastery as well as a farm.

-It’s incredibly beautiful,

so it's strange that Daksa
sees so few tourists today.

It was even recently
put on the market for

a cool 2 million euros,
but there were no takers.

Why didn’t anyone want
this little piece of paradise?

[Dan Riskin] When this island
was part of Yugoslavia,

people were not allowed
to come here at all.

It was only in 1990,

when Yugoslavia started
breaking up that Croatia had

its first parliamentary
elections since the

Second World War.

That’s when citizens were
allowed to visit Daksa again.

[Narrator] In 2009,
one of a few visitors to

the island was walking
along its southern end

when they stumbled
upon human remains

emerging from the soil
next to the old farmhouse.

[Alison Leonard] They
were found right next to a

wall of the farmhouse.

So maybe this was an
enclosed family graveyard

at some point?

[Narrator] Local investigators
are called to the site.

While exhuming the
rest of the skeleton,

they discover the remains
of five other people,

lying very close to each other.

-None of these remains
were buried in a coffin and

there are no old tombstones
found at the site either.

One body without a coffin
maybe isn’t that strange,

but six of them together?

[Alison Leonard] One of
the quickest ways to determine

the sex of an
individual is by looking

at the pelvis.

Judging by their size,

these were all adults
when they died.

And the pelvis's heavy,

thick bones and their
narrower shape identify

all six as male.

The bodies appear to
have just been left here.

But why here?

[Narrator] Lying among the
skeletons are also rosaries,

a crucifix, and two narrow,
curved bands of fabric.

[Anthony Cantor] These are
quite stiff, made out of cotton,

and are perfect for fitting
around someone’s neck.

It’s likely that they’re
clerical collars,

which would also
explain what the crucifix and

rosaries are doing here.

Could these six men have
been monks from the monastery?

[Narrator] The discovery of
remains belonging to six people

prompted a forensic unit
to travel to Daksa Island.

During their
examinations of the skeletons,

they find evidence
that their deaths were

far from natural.

-Some of the skulls have
round holes in the back of

the head that
were made by bullets.

And the holes are at an
angle that indicates the

victims were probably
kneeling at the time of death.

[James Ellis] There are
also thin bands of wire lying

among the skeletons.

So it’s pretty clear
what happened here,

their wrists were tied with
wire and they were forced to

kneel with their hands
behind their back while their

executioners stood above them.

[Alison Leonard] Some
of the bodies were found

next to an underground wall,

in what was actually the
basement of the old farmhouse.

It looks like the victims
were led down there and shot.

[Narrator] As
excavations continue,

the forensic team begins
unearthing bullets of a very

specific caliber.

[Anthony Cantor] These
are nine-millimeter bullets,

which tells us a few
different things.

The first is that they
were fired from a handgun,

meaning that the executioners
shot the victims one by one.

[Dan Riskin] The holes in the
back of the skulls measure

about a centimeter across,
so that suggests that the

murderers used nine-millimeter
handguns and that number,

nine-millimeters, gives
us huge insight into when

these murders took place.

[James Ellis] The
nine-millimeter handgun was

only invented and brought
to market in the first few

years of the 20th century.

Considering that some of
Daksa’s buildings are almost

1,000 years old,

these remains are
relatively recent,

from the last 100 years or so.

[Narrator] The forensic
team widens the search to

cover 860 square feet.

About 16 yards from
the original site and

at a depth of up to six
and a half feet are the

remains of dozens of
people lying every which way.

[Alison Leonard] In total,
around 10,000 bones and bone

fragments are collected
from the island.

It’s concluded that they
belong to 53 men who were

executed on Daksa and
buried in two mass graves.

-22 of the 53 skeletons
were found with gunshot wounds

to the back of the head,

numbering between
one to three per person.

[Anthony Cantor] And the
fact that these people were

shot in a basement,
on an island,

also suggests
that it was done in secret.

[James Ellis] We know
that some monks are among the

unfortunate to be lying here.

But because there is no
military insignia or equipment

found at the grave site,
it’s highly likely that the

rest were civilians.

-If you look at this
region’s history,

it's quite volatile
to say the least.

It was the Balkans
that provided the spark for

World War I and the region
experienced a tremendous amount

of fighting and tragedy
in World War II.

-The bones and artifacts
found here are way too degraded

to have been
from the more recent war,

which was in the nineties,

when former Yugoslavia
dissolved into civil war.

-It’s likely that they’re
from the Second World War

when the region was torn
apart by rivaling political and

nationalist factions.

[Narrator] In April of 1941,

Hitler invaded the
Balkans and seized control

over Yugoslavia,
exploiting existing ethnic and

political tensions to
his presumed advantage.

-He allowed Croatia to proclaim
itself an independent state,

but only because they
did so under the leadership

of the Ustasa, a
fascist party that went on

to brutalize the country
for the next four years.

Under the leadership
of Ante Pavelic,

they set about murdering those
they didn’t consider Croatian,

meaning hundreds
of thousands of

Serbians, Jews and Roma.

-German occupation and
the Ustasha’s genocidal campaign

were resisted by partisans
led by Josip Broz Tito,

head of the
Yugoslav Communist Party.

He waged a highly effective
campaign against the fascists,

and when the
Germans pulled out of the

region in 1944,

it was Tito and his partisans
who liberated Croatia and

the rest of Yugoslavia.

As a result, he
became Yugoslavia's leader

after the war.

-When Tito’s Communist Partisans
swept through the region

liberating occupied areas,

they took absolutely
merciless revenge on thousands

of Ustasha militia and
anyone associated with them.

-The history
surrounding these islands is

full of tragic stories of war,

including several
mass executions.

So trying to figure out
who these specific 53 people

are isn’t easy at all.

-There aren’t any dental records
that can be used to

identify the victims,

or even any personal
effects that could help.

But what we can make
use of is DNA testing.

If any relatives of the victims
are still alive and can provide

a sample, it's possible
that a match can be found.

[Narrator] The forensic
team obtains DNA profiles from

49 of the 53 skeletal remains.

Their task is to cross-match
them with the DNA of the

victims’ living relatives.

-Now this is really amazing,

researchers manage to
match one of the skeletons

with the great-grandson
of the victim's brother.

That’s pretty astonishing
considering how far removed

that man would be from
the victim himself.

[James Ellis] The name of
the victim is a well-known one,

Father Petar Perica,

a Jesuit priest
and the author of two

famous Croatian hymns.

He was arrested by
communist partisans on the

night of October 24th, 1944.

[Anthony Cantor] This
was less than a week after

Tito’s partisans had
entered and liberated Dubrovnik.

Once in
control of the city,

they began arresting all those
accused of collaborating with

Once in
the Nazis and Ustasha.

Who is a collaborator?

And what constitutes
collaboration?

[Narrator] In the
months leading up to the

end of the war,

Tito's partisans killed
and injured countless Yugoslavs.

These were not only limited
to Ustasha and collaborators

but also prominent people
who weren't pro-Communist,

making it easier for Tito to
assume power after the war.

-Maybe Father Perica was
one of these unfortunates.

There certainly isn’t
any evidence that he was

a fascist collaborator.

He was one among many
innocent businessmen,

political leaders, and others

of the social elite
who were perceived to pose an

ideological challenge
to Tito after the war.

[Anthony Cantor] Five days
after Perica's arrest,

a poster appeared in
the streets of Dubrovnik

announcing that the

"Court of Military Command
for the South Dalmatian Region

had sentenced 36 people
to death by firing squad."

Most of these men were
well-known intellectuals and

Father Perica was one of them.

-But as we know,
the number wasn’t 36,

it was 53,

and they were all
transported to Daksa Island

where they were murdered
on October 25th, 1944.

They were shot in the back
of the head and thrown into

a pit where they lay
anonymously for six decades.

[Anthony Cantor] It makes
sense now that Daksa was closed

to the public until Yugoslavia
started breaking apart in 1990.

The country had
been governed by the

Communist Party until then,

and they certainly
didn’t want their crimes

coming to light,

preferring to focus
on the crimes of the fascists

committed during World War II.

[Dan Riskin] The DNA testing
eventually obtained positive

identifications for 18 of
the skeletons on Daksa island.

[Narrator] Today Daksa
is a peaceful place,

where a memorial has
been erected to honor the

53 men buried
on the island.

Daksa is not only a
reminder of the horrors of

the Second World War,

but also a lesson in what
happens when people try to

resolve ethnic and political
rivalries with blood.

The Pacific Northwest
is well known for its

towering trees, the
near-constant rain,

and its eerie beauty.

-From Northern California
up to British Columbia this

region has an eerie
vibe so rainy and grey,

it can make things seem
a little bit... otherworldly.

[Narrator] Maury Island
certainly fits this profile.

The small island is tucked
away in Puget Sound,

an inlet on the coast
of Washington state,

surrounded by
the Salish Sea.

-The island has an
abundance of wildlife thanks

to its 275 acres of
beautiful nature preserves.

[Narrator] Its beauty aside,

Maury Island hasn’t
always been known for its

natural charms but rather,
its unnatural ones.

-On June 21st, 1947,

the boat, the
North Queen was in the

waters of Puget Sound just
off the coast of Maury Island.

[James Ellis] Captain
Harold Dahl was out salvaging

orphan logs in the area,
joined by two crew members,

as well as his
teenage son, Charles,

and the family dog, Sparky.

[Narrator] It was a
day like any other,

that is till Dahl saw a
silvery gold flash in the

sky above him.

-When he looked up,

Dahl spied six large
doughnut-shaped objects

above his boat they
appeared suddenly hovering

about 2,000 feet above him.

-As Dahl was trying
to figure out what these

things really were,

they started to
move in slow circles.

But they didn't seem to
be moving independently,

it looked like they're in some
sort of formation which brings

the military to mind, could
it be that these things had

something to do
with the Air Force?

-40 miles away is Indian Island
a US military base,

and there's another
base in Spokane.

-With all that activity in
the area it makes sense that

these things were
military aircraft.

[Narrator] As Dahl watched,

one of the objects
dropped to about 500 feet

above his head which meant
he could get a good look at it.

-It looked like a
silvery doughnut with no

visible wings or propellers,

and he could make out
something that looked like an

observation window that
ran along the bottom of the

craft which makes you wonder
who is doing the observing and

what are they looking for?

-One thing is certain,

these crafts looked nothing
like the military planes locals

generally saw flying around.

[Narrator] It seems
unlikely that these were

normal military exercises.

The aircrafts looked and
behaved unlike anything Dahl

had ever seen before,
but that may be the point.

-In the 1940s, both
during and after the war,

the US Military was heavily
invested in the research and

development of novel aircraft.

[Anthony Cantor] Some of
these purpose-built planes

were focused on
speed like the Bell X-1

that broke the
sound barrier in 1947,

but there were other,
more unusual designs that

the military was also exploring.

[Anthea Nardi] There was an
aeronautics designer named

Charles Zimmerman, known
for his experimental designs.

As the war raged, he was
working on a plane that could

take off vertically
designed for things like the

short runway on
an aircraft carrier.

[Narrator] Zimmerman
developed the Vought V-173,

known as the "Flying Pancake."

This plane was a
radical departure from

conventional aircraft design,

featuring a unique
circular wing with a flat,

disc-like shape,
hence the pancake nickname.

-While it was able to
catch air from a short runway,

it didn’t have true vertical
takeoff capacity and certainly

wasn’t able to hover
silently like the things

above Dahl's head.

So Dahl clearly wasn’t
looking at a pancake.

[Narrator] The other five
aircraft were still flying

in circular patterns high
in the sky when one of them

lowered to join the sixth
and they appeared to collide.

[dull thud]

-Shortly after they touched,
Dahl heard what he described

as being “a dull thud,

like an underground
explosion or a thud similar

to a man stamping his
heel on damp ground.”

-The craft started dropping
newspaper-like pieces of metal

that fluttered to the ground,
then it began raining hot

liquified metal some of
which smashed a hole in the

wheelhouse and
apparently broke a searchlight

on the deck of the boat.

-Panicking, they made a
run for a cliff overhang

on the beach,
hoping it would keep them safe.

Sadly, they weren’t
fast enough,

and while Dahl’s son
sustained a minor injury,

the dog was killed.

[Narrator] When the
metal rain stopped moments

later the aircraft
returned to their formation

and flew out
over the Pacific.

Dahl and his crew emerged
from their hiding place and

found pieces of
hot metal scattered

across the deck of the boat,

which they brought with
them back to the mainland.

-Now, Dahl and his friends
were beside themselves.

But they also knew if they
started talking about UFOs,

people would think
they’re crazy.

So they decided to stay
mute on the matter.

But apparently, their
silence wasn’t good enough.

-Allegedly, the next morning,
a "Man in Black" appeared

at Dahl's house.

That’s right, a "Man in Black."

Just like the movie.

[Narrator] Dahl claimed
that the man told him to

keep his mouth shut
or harm will come to him

and his family.

-But Dahl and others
shared the story and

the news spread like wildfire.

But what did Dahl really see?

-The thing with the term
UFO is that it just means an

Unidentified Flying Object.

So any normal thing in the sky
that someone can’t quite make

out is literally a UFO to them.

The question was
not are these UFOs,

the question is are
these Alien spacecrafts?

[Narrator] For the US military
the question was perhaps less

about aliens than a much
more terrestrial threat.

-The United States
is wholly dedicated to

the cause of peace.

We have no purpose
of going to war,

except in the
defense of freedom.

[Anthony Cantor] In 1947,
with the Cold War

in its early stages,

the US was very much
on the lookout for Russian

surveillance craft.

So while Dahl's story seemed
like it could be pure fantasy

it still had to be investigated.

-About six weeks
after the incident,

the Air Corps sent out
two intelligence officers to

interview Dahl, both armed
with a bunch of questions,

primarily is he
crazy is this some kind of

Russian surveillance,

or is it actually
a close encounter?

-After the interview,
the intelligence officers,

themselves pilots,

boarded a B-25 plane
and charted a course for

an airbase in California.

Some say the plane was
carrying some of the metal

slag Dahl collected
from Maury Island.

[Narrator] On route,
the plane’s left engine

caught fire and
the plane crashed.

Two of the four
passengers survived,

but not the intelligence
officers who interviewed Dahl.

[Amma Wakefield] The military
sealed off the area and

restricted entry,
even to civilian police.

The crash was
clearly a tragedy,

but was it really an accident?

-An anonymous source
called authorities to say

that the crash was intentional,

and that this plane
had been shot down by a

20-millimeter cannon.

Sounds like a prank
but FBI files reveal that

the caller knew the names
of the intelligence officers

who died and this was
all before that information

had been released to the press.

[Narrator] Two weeks later,

the military issued a
statement saying it had found

a flying disc at a crash
site in Roswell, New Mexico,

but later said it was actually
a weather balloon that crashed.

-At this point,

the whole country was
in the grip of UFO fever

a wave of sightings
would sweep the nation

in the following months.

The media called it the
"Summer of the Saucer."

Basically, this was the
start of the real-life X-files.

-But then there’s a plot twist,
Dahl said he’d made the

whole thing up.

[Narrator] Most people
accepted this confession because

the story was so dramatic,

but others believed
the real lie was the claim

it was a hoax.

-If you think about it
there may be a good reason

for Dahl to lie about lying.

With his story splashed over
magazines and newspapers,

he was apparently getting
harassed and mocked,

and his business and
boat were vandalized.

-From what you
can gather from the heavily

redacted documents released
40 years after the incident it

seems the FBI investigators
believed that he claimed it was

a hoax simply to avoid
further public attention.

[Narrator] To this day,

no one really knows what
happened on Maury Island,

but more than
75 years later,

people still
talk about it.

Just off England's
south coast sits the

Isle of Wight a small,

diamond-shaped island defined
by its white chalk cliffs

overlooking the
English Channel.

-It’s not very big,

only about 23 by 13 miles but
it is exceptionally beautiful.

-It’s not very big,
It’s got these beaches,

and these cliffs and rolling
green hills that are tourist

attractions for
people all over the world.

In fact, this island has
actually has even been

designated a UNESCO
Biosphere Reserve.

[Narrator] In 2018,

on the southwest
coast of the island,

near an area called
Compton Chine,

a group of amateur
paleontologists are excavating

a site when they come across
something entirely distinct.

-These are
absolutely enormous bones.

One of them appears to be
from the pelvis of an animal,

whereas the other appears to
be some form of vertebrae.

-There are only a few
creatures in the world that

would have bones this big.

Perhaps where
these bones were found can

help us date them.

[Narrator] The Isle of Wight
is composed of several

different layers of
geological history.

These large bone deposits
were found in what is known

as the Vectis Formation,

a 220-foot-wide
bed of shale that

was formed during
what is known as the

Early Cretaceous Period.

-The Vectis Formation
was formed around

125 million years ago,

so I’m pretty sure what
kind of bones these are!

-These bones are from a

125-million-year-old
dinosaur!

But what makes this even
more interesting is that

even though we all know
dinosaurs can get pretty big,

we have never ever
seen anything this big,

at least not in Europe.

[Narrator] The Isle of Wight
is one of the richest

dinosaur fossil sites
in the United Kingdom.

Over the last 200 years,
fossils have been uncovered

across the island,

throughout different
geological layers,

signifying vastly
different timeframes.

-The number of dinosaur fossils
found here is astounding,

so much so that
the Isle of Wight has

actually been nicknamed
“Dinosaur Island.”

-You can even find what
are called "Trace Fossils" here.

Now trace fossils aren’t bones,

those are what
result from an animal moving,

like for example an ancient
burrow that got dug out and

then fossilized over time.

-You can actually see
dinosaur footprints!

They’re like a little
map of dinosaur movement,

frozen in time.

-These footprints are
absolutely incredible.

You can see their huge feet,

some of which
have three toes,

imprinted over 100 million
years ago into the ground!

[Narrator] During the
Early Cretaceous Period,

the Isle of Wight
was a floodplain,

defined by rivers
and streams cutting

across the landscape.

The climate was milder,

much like
today’s Mediterranean,

and the rivers would have
contained a multitude of fish,

sharks and ancient reptiles.

-This is what makes
this find so incredible.

It's very rare to find dinosaur
fossils in the Vectis Formation

because millions of years ago,

this sediment was part
of an aquatic environment,

but because dinosaurs
were terrestrial animals,

they’re usually found
in terrestrial deposits.

[Alison Leonard] But now
that it has been found,

the real question is,

what kind of dinosaur is it?

[roaring]

[Dan Riskin] The three-pronged
feet suggest that this dinosaur

was a theropod.

That is a large
subgroup made up mostly

of carnivorous dinosaurs.

Theropods ran on
their two hind legs,

and they had three
toes on each foot.

They also had these
short and stubby arms with

razor-sharp claws,

and they came in a broad
range of sizes everything from

Microraptor about
the size of a crow,

all the way up to
the king of them all,

Tyrannosaurus rex,
which could weigh over six tons.

-So whichever
dinosaur this is,

it must have adapted
to the environment.

The thing is, it's
really big and the only

other theropod dinosaur
we have on record that could

maybe match up with these
fossils is Megalosaurus.

-As its name suggests,

Megalosaurus was
absolutely massive!

It weighed about a ton,

and if you include its tail,

it could grow to
around 30 feet long.

It was a carnivore with short,
clawed arms and big,

jagged blade-like teeth.

-But Megalosaurus
lived around 176

to 161 million years ago.

That is way older than
the sediments here on the

Isle of Wight.

So our dinosaur is too big and
too young to be Megalosaurus!

It’s gotta be somebody else.

-There were some
absurdly large dinosaur fossils

discovered at a site nearby.

Could it be that they’re
related to our mystery dinosaur

at Compton Chine?

[Narrator] About three
miles away from Compton Chine,

a fossil collector
discovered the gigantic remains

of two other dinosaurs on
a beach near Chilton Chine.

-These are actually
two pieces of what would

have been quite long snouts,

as well as the
caudal vertebrae of what

amounts to two very
large dinosaurs.

-Caudal vertebrae,

that's the technical
term for the bones in the tail,

and the portion of
the skull also includes

these scary-looking,
crocodile-like teeth.

-The cylindrical pointed teeth
and the long muzzle of these

dinosaurs tell us
that they were likely reliant

on fish for food,

because they are perfect for
holding on to slippery fish

once the teeth have
penetrated the flesh.

-So it's possible that these
two dinosaurs stalked the

floodplains of the
Isle of Wight just like

modern-day herons do.

Meaning in order
to catch their prey,

they stood motionless
in shallower water and

waited for a fish to pass by,

then they drove their
face down into the water.

-They could also
have been lying in wait

like crocodiles
with only their snouts peeking

above the water’s surface.

When their target
came close enough,

they would strike.

[Narrator] The two
dinosaurs discovered by the

fossil collector are
identified as being from

the family known
as Spinosauridae,

a group of theropods that
roamed the earth during

the Cretaceous period.

-Spinosaurids were on the
larger end of the spectrum.

some of them could get
up to 49 feet long!

Now, the remains of the
Spinosaurids found near

Chilton Chine are estimated
to be about 30 feet long.

So they’re not
the biggest ever,

but they’re still plenty
big to be terrifying.

[Narrator] They have been
given the very descriptive name

Ceratosuchops inferodios,

meaning “horned
crocodile-faced hell heron”

and Riparovenator milnerae,

meaning “Milner’s
riverbank hunter.”

-So the horn-faced hell heron
and the riverbank hunter were

also adapted to the same
environment that our mystery

dinosaur lived in.

-But what's strange is
that the geologic layer they

were found in known
as the Wessex Formation,

is found just beneath
the Vectis Formation,

and it’s also where the
vast majority of dinosaur

fossils on the
island have been found.

-So the Wessex Formation is
older than the Vectis Formation.

That means the fossil first
discovered in Compton Chine

is from a dinosaur that
lived more recently.

[Dan Riskin] The real
revelation is that there’s this

three-quarter-inch thick
webbed texture on the inside

of the tail vertebrae.

That suggests that the
dinosaur found at Compton Chine

is also a Spinosaurid!

And If it is,
that’s a big deal,

because a Spinosaurid this
young has never been found

anywhere in Britain.

[Narrator] By comparing
the dimensions of the

dinosaur's pelvis and
vertebrae to other Spinosaurids,

it’s determined that the
Compton Chine fossil is,

in fact, a Spinosaurid.

It measured over 33 feet long
and weighed several tons.

making it not just
one of the biggest

Spinosaurids in Britain,

but also one
of the largest carnivorous

dinosaurs ever
found in Europe.

-This newly discovered dinosaur

has been given the name
the White Rock Spinosaurid,

after the white rock
sandstone that it was found in.

[Alison Leonard] Fossilized
Spinosaurid footprints have

been found in the same
geological layer as the

White Rock dinosaur.

These footprints show that
these dinosaurs would have

stalked the shoreline
together hunting for food in

the tidal flats.

-All of these finds,

the three new dinosaurs
as well as these beautiful

footprints confirm that the
Isle of Wight was an important

site for the evolution of
Spinosaurids in Europe.

[Narrator] What more may
lie buried in the island's

ancient rock formations
is yet to be seen,

but one thing is certain,

the Isle of Wight really
lives up to its reputation

as being Dinosaur Island.

A little over 150 miles
south of Stockholm,

Sweden's capital city,
lies Bla Jungfrun, a tiny,

seemingly
insignificant island

steeped in the country's lore.

-This Baltic island is
only about a mile long but

rises to almost 300 feet
at its highest point.

It's a craggy, granite
outcropping covered in very

old, gnarled oak trees,

giving it a dark
and mystical feeling.

-The Swedish coastline was
formed by the retreating

glaciers of the Ice Age,
and along the shore,

there is evidence of
this glacial activity,

beautifully rounded,

enormous granite cauldrons
known as “Giant’s Kettles.”

-These strange formations
seem otherworldly,

which is why they
have received the

name Giant’s Kettles,

as it was thought that only
something immensely powerful

like a giant or a troll could
have created such a shape.

-Something immensely
powerful did create them,

but it wasn’t a giant.

It was actually melting water
from these retreating glaciers.

But the other more
dramatic and storied explanation

does speak to the
island’s mystical reputation.

[Narrator] For centuries,
the island has been a

source of both
fear and mystique.

As early as the 16th century,

passing seafarers
would avoid calling the

island by name, otherwise

“a tremendous storm
would immediately brew.”

-The fear was
so real that they actually

renamed the island.

It used to be called Blakulla,
but they changed it to

Blue Virgin Island.

[Anthea Nardi] But the
island seems pretty benign.

How did this unassuming island
even get such a reputation?

[Narrator] Curious about the
origins of these superstitions,

archaeologists decide
to investigate,

hoping that there may
be some artifacts that can

speak to its past.

-Close to the island’s highest
point there is a narrow opening

in a massive granite wall.

[Alison Leonard] If you
venture into this crack,

you enter a narrow
passageway that brings you

to an almost
perfectly rectangular room

that’s partially covered by
another massive rock.

[Narrator] Archaeologists
notice a large oval depression

on one side of the
cave measuring two by

two and a half feet,

and four and a
half inches deep.

-At the base of the
oval shape there is

also a piece of
semi-circular ground that

is slightly elevated.

[Narrator] Archaeological
investigation reveals the

slightly elevated area
is found to be made of a

four-inch-deep
bed of charcoal.

-This clearly indicates
that there was a fire going

here over an
extended period of time.

And the oval shape
was likely man-made

for that purpose.

-This space is partially
covered by another massive rock.

From above, people could look
down into this narrow grotto.

illuminated by the fire,

it would have created
a very interesting

and mystical effect.

-It's possible
that people gathered above the

cave and looked down
into it in order to observe

a form of ritual or performance.

So the island may have
had a ceremonial role at

one point in time.

What exactly this could
have been we don't know,

but we may be able to
answer who was doing it.

[Narrator] Roughly 150 yards
west of the ceremonial cave,

archaeologists notice what
looks to be a shelter,

a massive granite boulder
overhanging a flat piece of

ground measuring 20 by 26 feet.

-And to make things
even more interesting,

worked stones and
burnt bones are lying at

the shelter's mouth,
right on the surface!

[Narrator] The archaeologists
excavate the area in order to

assess what may be found
beneath the surface.

-Evidence of human
activity extends two feet

down into the soil.

To find such a deep layer
means that this place has

likely been used over
quite a long period of time.

-But more importantly,

in three of the excavation
zones there are over 200 bones

and bone fragments,

most of which are found at
the mouth of the overhang.

-These bones show
signs of having been burnt.

And there are three
indentations running parallel

to each other.

[Narrator] The grooves
were created by teeth,

and an analysis of the
bones reveal that they are

from the skulls
and flippers of seals.

-These aren’t,
by any means,

the juiciest, fattiest
pieces of the animal.

So they were probably
gnawed like this to get

every last piece
of flesh off of them.

[Anthea Nardi] Under this
overhang is probably where they

butchered these animals and
fed the scraps to their hounds.

These grooves are likely
from a dog chewing happily away

at the bones following
a successful hunt.

[Narrator] Radiocarbon
dating of the bones reveal

that they are from
around the year 7000 BCE,

a time corresponding
to the Mesolithic Era.

-But this was long
before any fixed settlements

appeared in Scandinavia.

Life at the time was
nomadic with groups of

hunter-gatherers
moving from one site

to the next.

[Narrator] Sites were
chosen based on the season and

the resources available to them.

The summer would have
allowed them to fish and

hunt marine animals,

while the winter would
have seen them rely more on

those living on the mainland.

-So the island was
likely a seasonal outpost

for hunters of the time,

a place where they
could hunt and butcher seal,

before eventually moving on.

Considering that the island
represented a very important

resource for them,

it makes sense that
they could have had some

ceremonial space here too.

-But all this was happening
thousands of years before

people even had the
concept of organized religion,

so how did this island
get a bad reputation?

[Narrator] As the
archaeologists search for

more evidence of the
island's early settlers,

they reach the southern end
of the island and discover

hundreds of stones
laid out in an intricate,

circular pattern.

[James Ellis] It's a labyrinth,
but it's a unicursal labyrinth

meaning there is only one
point of entry and exit and

only one path that
leads to the center.

Similar ones are known
to have been built in the

14 and 15th centuries in
northern Sweden,

so maybe this was
built around the same time,

if not before.

-There are dozens of
these labyrinths all across

Sweden’s eastern seaboard.

They were built at a time
when people were much more

vulnerable to a change in
weather or a poor harvest,

and walking them was
said to bring good luck.

[Narrator] Fishermen used
to enter these labyrinths,

believing that trolls,
who brought bad luck,

would be following them.

Once they were all inside,

the fishermen would
make a dash for the harbor

leaving the mischievous
trolls stuck in the labyrinth

allowing the fishermen
to fish without fear.

But they have also
been used symbolically for

thousands of
years as ceremonial

and ritualistic sites.

-The association of
evil spirits with the

island makes sense.

Sweden was overtaken by a
witch hysteria throughout

the 16th and 17th centuries.

At the time it was believed
that witches would fly

to the island on the
backs of goats or dogs,

where they would then
meet with the Devil.

[James Ellis] The island
played a central role in

actual witch hunts.

In 1671, 139 people were
put on trial and accused

of having taken children
to the Blue Virgin Islands.

Fourteen of the accused
were found guilty and burnt

at the stake.

-Because the island may
have had a spiritual importance

to the people
of pre-Christian Sweden,

perhaps its uses were
remembered in the form of

superstition and fear following
the adoption of Christianity.

But until we have
more evidence,

this will only be speculation.

[Narrator] Today the island
of the Blue Virgin no longer

strikes dread into the hearts
and minds of the locals.

It's a peaceful place, where
people can imagine what life

was like for their Stone Age
ancestors and perhaps even take

a walk through the labyrinth.