1 00:00:02,869 --> 00:00:06,105 -In the rich recorded history of Great Britain, 2 00:00:06,173 --> 00:00:10,709 one period is shrouded in mystery and clouded by myth. 3 00:00:13,214 --> 00:00:16,982 After an occupation lasting nearly 400 years, 4 00:00:17,051 --> 00:00:22,855 in 410 AD, the Roman army abandoned the island. 5 00:00:22,923 --> 00:00:26,525 History holds that Britain then plunged into two centuries 6 00:00:26,594 --> 00:00:29,728 of turmoil and violence... 7 00:00:29,797 --> 00:00:32,965 known as the Dark Ages. 8 00:00:33,034 --> 00:00:37,169 Legends tell of a great leader who unites the lawless land 9 00:00:37,238 --> 00:00:40,372 to fight off an invading horde -- 10 00:00:40,441 --> 00:00:41,540 King Arthur. 11 00:00:44,912 --> 00:00:48,881 But how much truth is there to the story? 12 00:00:48,949 --> 00:00:56,688 ♪♪ 13 00:00:56,757 --> 00:00:59,391 Now, new archaeological discoveries 14 00:00:59,460 --> 00:01:02,561 are rewriting this chapter in Britain's history. 15 00:01:02,630 --> 00:01:05,697 -It's really clear! 16 00:01:05,766 --> 00:01:09,968 -With exclusive access to unprecedented new finds... 17 00:01:10,037 --> 00:01:13,272 -When you look at their bones, you find a very, 18 00:01:13,340 --> 00:01:16,642 very low incidence of weapon injury, sword cuts. 19 00:01:19,046 --> 00:01:23,649 -...and using groundbreaking science... 20 00:01:23,717 --> 00:01:25,751 -It was one of those total wow moments. 21 00:01:27,988 --> 00:01:29,721 -...Professor Alice Roberts 22 00:01:29,790 --> 00:01:32,991 pieces together the real story... 23 00:01:33,060 --> 00:01:35,494 -It's just absolutely phenomenal. 24 00:01:35,563 --> 00:01:38,630 We've got continuous occupation all along this strip 25 00:01:38,699 --> 00:01:40,232 which is immense. 26 00:01:44,105 --> 00:01:47,039 -...to reveal how 5th and 6th century Britain 27 00:01:47,108 --> 00:01:49,675 was anything but dark. 28 00:01:49,743 --> 00:01:53,078 -We're not looking at an abandoned landscape 29 00:01:53,147 --> 00:01:55,747 of desperate poverty. 30 00:01:55,816 --> 00:01:58,584 -It's not necessarily the truth. 31 00:01:58,652 --> 00:02:01,086 -It's about as far removed from history as you can get. 32 00:02:01,155 --> 00:02:05,491 -Modern archaeology could finally uncover the true story 33 00:02:05,559 --> 00:02:08,227 of King Arthur's Lost Kingdom. 34 00:02:08,295 --> 00:02:13,832 ♪♪ 35 00:02:13,901 --> 00:02:19,404 ♪♪ 36 00:02:24,944 --> 00:02:29,915 -In 410 AD, Britain suffered a political catastrophe. 37 00:02:33,587 --> 00:02:36,855 The Roman Empire that covered most of Western Europe 38 00:02:36,924 --> 00:02:39,124 had become over-stretched, 39 00:02:39,193 --> 00:02:43,662 weakened by infighting and external attacks. 40 00:02:43,731 --> 00:02:48,433 After 400 years of prosperity, the Roman aristocracy, 41 00:02:48,502 --> 00:02:51,937 troops and bureaucrats left the island. 42 00:02:52,006 --> 00:02:59,211 ♪♪ 43 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:03,482 -Dies tenebrosa sicut nox. 44 00:03:03,551 --> 00:03:07,452 It's a brilliant, evocative way of saying 45 00:03:07,521 --> 00:03:10,255 "Welcome to the Dark Ages." 46 00:03:10,324 --> 00:03:12,791 -The common belief is that the Roman departure 47 00:03:12,860 --> 00:03:17,396 had a devastating impact across Britain. 48 00:03:17,464 --> 00:03:21,500 Without Roman authority, society collapses. 49 00:03:21,569 --> 00:03:24,703 The roads and towns fall into ruin. 50 00:03:24,772 --> 00:03:27,673 Civilization crumbles. 51 00:03:27,741 --> 00:03:33,045 The era after Roman rule became known as the Dark Ages. 52 00:03:33,113 --> 00:03:35,814 But the truth is, almost nothing is known about 53 00:03:35,883 --> 00:03:38,650 what life was really like. 54 00:03:38,719 --> 00:03:42,688 -For the period 400 to 600 -- that's 200 years, 55 00:03:42,756 --> 00:03:49,528 that's 8, 10 generations -- we know the names of... 56 00:03:49,597 --> 00:03:53,632 you can kind of count them on two hands. 57 00:03:53,701 --> 00:03:57,302 For the whole of the period 400 to 600, in the British Isles 58 00:03:57,371 --> 00:04:01,306 we have 2 or 3 people 59 00:04:01,375 --> 00:04:05,244 whose writing we have fragments of. 60 00:04:05,312 --> 00:04:07,779 -In the absence of recorded history, 61 00:04:07,848 --> 00:04:13,118 stories about one powerful leader became popular -- 62 00:04:13,187 --> 00:04:15,287 The great King Arthur. 63 00:04:18,959 --> 00:04:24,563 But what truth, if any, lies behind the legend? 64 00:04:24,632 --> 00:04:28,667 What was 5th-century Britain really like? 65 00:04:28,736 --> 00:04:30,602 Professor Alice Roberts, 66 00:04:30,671 --> 00:04:34,006 an expert in archaeology and human remains, 67 00:04:34,074 --> 00:04:36,842 wants to separate fact from fiction 68 00:04:36,910 --> 00:04:40,078 using scientific discoveries- 69 00:04:40,147 --> 00:04:42,781 and find out what really happened 70 00:04:42,850 --> 00:04:45,050 at this pivotal moment in history. 71 00:04:48,656 --> 00:04:52,758 ♪♪ 72 00:04:52,826 --> 00:04:56,194 Her journey to uncover the truth about King Arthur's Britain 73 00:04:56,263 --> 00:05:01,133 begins at the British Library in London. 74 00:05:01,201 --> 00:05:03,535 She's meeting Julian Harrison, 75 00:05:03,604 --> 00:05:06,738 the Curator of Medieval Manuscripts. 76 00:05:06,807 --> 00:05:08,373 -So this is Geoffrey. 77 00:05:08,442 --> 00:05:11,343 -Here we have one of the earliest copies 78 00:05:11,412 --> 00:05:13,412 of Geoffrey of Monmouth's 79 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:16,848 "History of the Kings of Britain." 80 00:05:20,554 --> 00:05:23,755 -It's a copy of a 12th-century bestseller. 81 00:05:26,493 --> 00:05:28,827 The writing on the animal-skin parchment 82 00:05:28,896 --> 00:05:31,663 is still crystal clear. 83 00:05:31,732 --> 00:05:34,399 -The script is so beautiful. It's so regular. 84 00:05:36,503 --> 00:05:38,003 That's fantastic. 85 00:05:38,072 --> 00:05:42,708 -900 years ago, a Welsh monk, Geoffrey of Monmouth, 86 00:05:42,776 --> 00:05:47,045 wrote his own account of the history of Britain. 87 00:05:47,114 --> 00:05:49,114 His chronicle told of a King Arthur 88 00:05:49,183 --> 00:05:54,653 who ruled 600 years before Geoffrey's time. 89 00:05:54,722 --> 00:05:58,290 -Here we are. Here's the page I want to show you. 90 00:05:58,359 --> 00:06:00,859 -Geoffrey's manuscript is in Latin, 91 00:06:00,928 --> 00:06:03,628 the written language of medieval Britain. 92 00:06:03,697 --> 00:06:06,131 -I can recognize the odd word here. 93 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:09,000 I can see concept 94 00:06:09,069 --> 00:06:10,736 and then "eadem nocte." -"Eadem nocte." 95 00:06:10,804 --> 00:06:14,806 So, this tells you that on this night, "eadem nocte," 96 00:06:14,875 --> 00:06:18,744 was conceived, celebrated, King Arthur, 97 00:06:18,812 --> 00:06:21,513 "Arturus," "Arturum." 98 00:06:21,582 --> 00:06:22,948 -According to Geoffrey, 99 00:06:23,016 --> 00:06:26,485 the mythical king has a rather bizarre conception. 100 00:06:26,553 --> 00:06:30,155 Arthur's father asked the wizard Merlin to cast a spell 101 00:06:30,224 --> 00:06:32,791 to disguise him as the Duke of Cornwall, 102 00:06:32,860 --> 00:06:36,261 so he could seduce the Duke's wife. 103 00:06:36,330 --> 00:06:38,263 -He's in the appearance of her husband 104 00:06:38,332 --> 00:06:40,132 and he satisfies himself, 105 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:43,068 and as a result on that particular night, 106 00:06:43,137 --> 00:06:45,871 on that particular occasion Arthur was conceived. 107 00:06:45,939 --> 00:06:48,440 -That moment as those words appear on the page, 108 00:06:48,509 --> 00:06:51,576 that's the beginning of King Arthur as we know him. 109 00:06:51,645 --> 00:06:57,382 ♪♪ 110 00:06:57,451 --> 00:06:59,951 -A remote rocky outcrop called Tintagel 111 00:07:00,020 --> 00:07:04,990 in the far west of Britain is where Arthur's story begins. 112 00:07:05,058 --> 00:07:08,994 -It's in the top line there. -That looks like "dece" to me. 113 00:07:09,062 --> 00:07:10,862 -It says "dei" and then there's a new word. 114 00:07:10,931 --> 00:07:15,400 -Tin-ta-gol. -"Tintagol." Exactly. 115 00:07:15,469 --> 00:07:19,237 -Is this the first association of Tintagel 116 00:07:19,306 --> 00:07:24,075 as a place with Arthur? -It is indeed. 117 00:07:24,144 --> 00:07:26,611 -Packed with sex and violence, 118 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:30,615 Geoffrey's account unfolds like a modern-day action movie. 119 00:07:30,684 --> 00:07:32,350 -It's full of excitement, it's full of horror, 120 00:07:32,419 --> 00:07:37,456 it's full of lots of things that an audience would love. 121 00:07:37,524 --> 00:07:40,192 -And eager to please his Christian audience, 122 00:07:40,260 --> 00:07:43,495 Geoffrey came up with the perfect bad guys. 123 00:07:46,467 --> 00:07:48,033 With the Romans gone, 124 00:07:48,101 --> 00:07:50,969 the ancient Britons are vulnerable to attack. 125 00:07:54,541 --> 00:07:58,443 In Geoffrey's retelling, pagan tribes known as the Angles 126 00:07:58,512 --> 00:08:02,080 and the Saxons swarm in from modern-day Holland, 127 00:08:02,149 --> 00:08:04,716 Germany and Denmark. 128 00:08:04,785 --> 00:08:08,019 Their armies invade the east coast of Great Britain, 129 00:08:08,088 --> 00:08:11,356 destroying everything in their path. 130 00:08:11,425 --> 00:08:13,158 -I suppose he gives us this idea today 131 00:08:13,227 --> 00:08:15,627 that the Romans abandoned Britain to its fate 132 00:08:15,696 --> 00:08:17,362 and when the Romans go it is just chaos. 133 00:08:17,431 --> 00:08:19,464 There's plagues, there's civil war, 134 00:08:19,533 --> 00:08:21,466 there's the Saxons just slaughtering everybody. 135 00:08:21,535 --> 00:08:24,436 So it's real blood and thunder stuff. 136 00:08:24,505 --> 00:08:28,106 -But according to Geoffrey, Arthur comes out of the West, 137 00:08:28,175 --> 00:08:31,943 unites the Britons, and leads the counter attack. 138 00:08:32,012 --> 00:08:34,946 The result is a split country. 139 00:08:35,015 --> 00:08:37,516 Embattled Britons in the west 140 00:08:37,584 --> 00:08:41,386 and in the east, new Angle and Saxon hordes, 141 00:08:41,455 --> 00:08:45,323 that later historians combine into a single entity -- 142 00:08:45,392 --> 00:08:48,126 the Anglo-Saxons. 143 00:08:48,195 --> 00:08:51,363 This is King Arthur's Britain. 144 00:08:51,431 --> 00:08:53,999 -In his account to simplify it, yes, you get, 145 00:08:54,067 --> 00:08:55,767 you get this sense of the Britons are the ones 146 00:08:55,836 --> 00:08:58,370 who are defending everything that is right and good. 147 00:08:58,438 --> 00:09:00,238 You get this sort of frontier line 148 00:09:00,307 --> 00:09:03,108 between these two constantly warring factions. 149 00:09:03,176 --> 00:09:04,543 It is "us against them." 150 00:09:04,611 --> 00:09:07,045 It is Britons against the Anglo-Saxons. 151 00:09:07,114 --> 00:09:08,613 The Anglo-Saxons are the forces of evil 152 00:09:08,682 --> 00:09:10,815 that need to be destroyed. 153 00:09:10,884 --> 00:09:13,919 Britons and Saxons are killing one another, 154 00:09:13,987 --> 00:09:17,989 and that's Arthur's world, that is where he existed. 155 00:09:18,058 --> 00:09:22,160 -Here it talks about his sword, "gladio optimo." 156 00:09:22,229 --> 00:09:23,828 -The best sword. 157 00:09:23,897 --> 00:09:27,966 -And that was called Caliburno. 158 00:09:28,035 --> 00:09:30,101 -Caliburn-- Is that Excalibur? 159 00:09:30,170 --> 00:09:31,937 -This is Excalibur. -Yes! 160 00:09:32,005 --> 00:09:35,774 -But in the original it was called Caliburn. 161 00:09:35,842 --> 00:09:41,179 -Arthur's sword is a weapon of mass destruction. 162 00:09:41,248 --> 00:09:44,049 -It tells you that with Caliburn alone, 163 00:09:44,117 --> 00:09:49,588 Arthur killed some 470 men single-handedly. 164 00:09:52,292 --> 00:09:55,293 He went berserk, essentially. 165 00:09:55,362 --> 00:09:59,598 -470 victims in a single rush. 166 00:09:59,666 --> 00:10:00,899 I mean that is -- 167 00:10:00,968 --> 00:10:02,667 it's too extraordinary to believe, obviously. 168 00:10:02,736 --> 00:10:04,102 I mean, he's being portrayed here as... 169 00:10:04,171 --> 00:10:06,271 -He's a superhero essentially. -Yeah, yeah. 170 00:10:08,742 --> 00:10:10,675 -Geoffrey's book is the first reference 171 00:10:10,744 --> 00:10:13,144 to a King Arthur that we have. 172 00:10:13,213 --> 00:10:16,281 Earlier accounts written closer to the Dark Ages 173 00:10:16,350 --> 00:10:18,717 don't mention a king named Arthur, 174 00:10:18,785 --> 00:10:22,554 but they do describe a violent invasion. 175 00:10:22,623 --> 00:10:26,925 The earliest description was written by a monk named Gildas. 176 00:10:26,994 --> 00:10:30,195 A few fragments of his text are still legible. 177 00:10:30,263 --> 00:10:31,796 -He's writing in the 6th century. 178 00:10:31,865 --> 00:10:33,965 And he isn't writing so much a work of history. 179 00:10:34,034 --> 00:10:36,267 It's more a polemical text, 180 00:10:36,336 --> 00:10:40,005 criticizing the Britons and blaming their evil ways, 181 00:10:40,073 --> 00:10:42,874 their bad ways of living with 182 00:10:42,943 --> 00:10:44,776 that's why they were conquered by the Saxons. 183 00:10:44,845 --> 00:10:47,512 This is one of the few passages we can still read now 184 00:10:47,581 --> 00:10:51,316 but he talks about the -- like ravishing wolves. 185 00:10:51,385 --> 00:10:53,084 The Saxons are loopy. 186 00:10:53,153 --> 00:10:56,354 -Loopy yeah. -They are obviously destroying. 187 00:10:56,423 --> 00:10:58,790 In Gildas' terminology, 188 00:10:58,859 --> 00:11:01,593 they are destroying everything in their wake. 189 00:11:01,662 --> 00:11:04,362 -So, again this is a, this is an invading force. 190 00:11:04,431 --> 00:11:06,598 This is the arrival of the enemy essentially. 191 00:11:06,667 --> 00:11:08,366 -Precisely. 192 00:11:08,435 --> 00:11:10,935 -And the difficulty with these kind of accounts 193 00:11:11,004 --> 00:11:13,838 I think is that, is that you're almost getting 194 00:11:13,907 --> 00:11:18,376 a single view of how this happened. 195 00:11:18,445 --> 00:11:23,448 -Both Geoffrey and Gildas's histories are highly subjective, 196 00:11:23,517 --> 00:11:27,385 making it difficult to take them at face value. 197 00:11:27,454 --> 00:11:29,921 They can't be trusted as fact, 198 00:11:29,990 --> 00:11:32,023 but they have given Professor Roberts 199 00:11:32,092 --> 00:11:34,726 something specific to investigate. 200 00:11:37,130 --> 00:11:40,799 They both describe a massive invasion from the east 201 00:11:40,867 --> 00:11:46,137 and the native Britons resisting in the west. 202 00:11:46,206 --> 00:11:49,774 And the archaeological evidence supports this idea -- 203 00:11:49,843 --> 00:11:51,509 Anglo-Saxon artifacts 204 00:11:51,578 --> 00:11:54,479 have primarily been found in eastern Britain. 205 00:11:57,918 --> 00:12:01,486 If great wars were fought, evidence of mass slaughter 206 00:12:01,555 --> 00:12:04,989 and conflict should lie along this frontier line 207 00:12:05,058 --> 00:12:07,892 of their supposed occupation. 208 00:12:07,961 --> 00:12:11,496 Archaeologist Dominic Powlesland has been flying, 209 00:12:11,565 --> 00:12:14,499 digging and mapping a vast area 210 00:12:14,568 --> 00:12:17,402 on the eastern side of this imagined border, 211 00:12:17,471 --> 00:12:20,105 near the village of West Heslerton in Yorkshire. 212 00:12:23,110 --> 00:12:24,709 -Clear prop. 213 00:12:27,748 --> 00:12:30,715 Okay, ready Dominic? -Yeah, I'm ready. 214 00:12:30,784 --> 00:12:33,184 -Right, hold on tight here we go. 215 00:12:33,253 --> 00:12:35,120 Golf-Romeo-Romeo rolling. 216 00:12:38,258 --> 00:12:41,826 -Will Dominic's research confirm the written accounts 217 00:12:41,895 --> 00:12:46,030 of a full-scale foreign invasion? 218 00:12:46,099 --> 00:12:47,365 -These fields underneath us 219 00:12:47,434 --> 00:12:49,300 are entirely filled with archaeology. 220 00:12:49,369 --> 00:12:51,703 There's archaeology in every single one. 221 00:12:54,341 --> 00:12:56,775 -Dominic uses modern technology 222 00:12:56,843 --> 00:13:01,079 to map every single artifact relating to the Anglo-Saxons 223 00:13:01,148 --> 00:13:07,218 found over 25 square miles of what is today farmland. 224 00:13:07,287 --> 00:13:10,955 It's taken an army of volunteers 40 years 225 00:13:11,024 --> 00:13:13,024 to complete their survey. 226 00:13:13,093 --> 00:13:16,628 -We've surveyed all these fields. 227 00:13:16,696 --> 00:13:19,130 -Roberts is here to find out what the hard work 228 00:13:19,199 --> 00:13:21,032 reveals about life 229 00:13:21,101 --> 00:13:25,103 on the alleged frontier of King Arthur's Britain. 230 00:13:25,172 --> 00:13:28,907 Key to the process is geophysical surveying -- 231 00:13:28,975 --> 00:13:32,210 a technique that uses ground-penetrating radar 232 00:13:32,279 --> 00:13:35,079 to map traces of ancient structures. 233 00:13:35,148 --> 00:13:36,147 -So, every single spot 234 00:13:36,216 --> 00:13:37,448 here is a feature? -Yeah. 235 00:13:37,517 --> 00:13:39,784 So, all those dots are individual features. 236 00:13:39,853 --> 00:13:41,786 You can zoom in to this area here. 237 00:13:41,855 --> 00:13:45,490 -Click on that we get all the finds information. 238 00:13:45,559 --> 00:13:46,991 -Oh, wow! -That's the plan, 239 00:13:47,060 --> 00:13:49,494 this is the distribution of finds within it. 240 00:13:49,563 --> 00:13:51,129 -It just goes on and on! 241 00:13:51,198 --> 00:13:53,231 You've got thousands of finds coming out of every single 242 00:13:53,300 --> 00:13:55,500 one of these features, and hundreds of these features. 243 00:13:55,569 --> 00:13:57,936 I mean, that's a phenomenal amount of data. 244 00:13:58,004 --> 00:14:00,004 -Yeah. About a million finds altogether. 245 00:14:02,809 --> 00:14:07,078 -What Dominic has found is extraordinary. 246 00:14:07,147 --> 00:14:10,515 But even more amazing is what he hasn't found. 247 00:14:15,322 --> 00:14:19,591 There are no mass graves of defeated warriors. 248 00:14:19,659 --> 00:14:22,393 No signs of battle or conquest... 249 00:14:22,462 --> 00:14:24,429 anywhere. 250 00:14:24,497 --> 00:14:28,499 There is no evidence here for mass slaughter of local Britons 251 00:14:28,568 --> 00:14:32,537 by violent Angle and Saxon tribes. 252 00:14:32,606 --> 00:14:35,006 -I have never seen any evidence of an invasion. 253 00:14:35,075 --> 00:14:41,446 ♪♪ 254 00:14:41,514 --> 00:14:46,651 -And the Anglo-Saxon skeletons show few signs of violence. 255 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:48,887 -Once you start killing people in large numbers 256 00:14:48,955 --> 00:14:51,422 they leave themselves lying around, you can't avoid them. 257 00:14:51,491 --> 00:14:53,391 So, we don't see lots of Anglo-Saxons 258 00:14:53,460 --> 00:14:56,060 with massive injuries. 259 00:14:56,129 --> 00:14:59,364 -When you look at their bones you find a very, 260 00:14:59,432 --> 00:15:03,868 very low incidence of weapon injuries, sword cuts. 261 00:15:03,937 --> 00:15:05,336 This is a society 262 00:15:05,405 --> 00:15:10,275 that is playing with the idea of a military world, 263 00:15:10,343 --> 00:15:14,345 but doesn't actually seem to be engaging with physical conflict 264 00:15:14,414 --> 00:15:17,048 to a huge degree. 265 00:15:17,117 --> 00:15:20,218 -And the findings here are backed up elsewhere. 266 00:15:24,224 --> 00:15:28,059 -Here's a very, very good piece of science -- 267 00:15:28,128 --> 00:15:30,228 of all the dead bodies dug up 268 00:15:30,297 --> 00:15:32,630 that may belong to the period 400 to 600 -- 269 00:15:32,699 --> 00:15:35,066 and we have thousands of them -- 270 00:15:35,135 --> 00:15:38,136 men and women, children, old people, young people. 271 00:15:40,941 --> 00:15:42,941 But of all those thousands of bodies, 272 00:15:43,009 --> 00:15:45,243 if you ask the number of those bodies 273 00:15:45,312 --> 00:15:48,379 that have sharp-edge weapon injuries, 274 00:15:48,448 --> 00:15:49,614 it's less than two percent. 275 00:15:49,683 --> 00:15:52,583 Where do battles fit into that? 276 00:15:55,522 --> 00:15:58,289 -The archaeology makes it very clear -- 277 00:15:58,358 --> 00:16:01,492 there was no large-scale conflict. 278 00:16:01,561 --> 00:16:03,628 It's a stark departure from Geoffrey 279 00:16:03,697 --> 00:16:07,966 and Gildas's written accounts -- the idea of native Britons 280 00:16:08,034 --> 00:16:10,635 fighting the invading Angles and Saxons 281 00:16:10,704 --> 00:16:14,539 doesn't reflect what's being found on the ground. 282 00:16:14,607 --> 00:16:17,709 Instead, the archaeology reveals exactly what 283 00:16:17,777 --> 00:16:19,344 the Angles and Saxons 284 00:16:19,412 --> 00:16:22,447 who came to Britain were doing. 285 00:16:22,515 --> 00:16:24,816 Dominic has pulled together all the data 286 00:16:24,884 --> 00:16:27,218 in what he calls The Wallpaper. 287 00:16:30,390 --> 00:16:33,858 -It's just phenomenal because all of that work comes together 288 00:16:33,927 --> 00:16:35,626 to give you a picture of a landscape 289 00:16:35,695 --> 00:16:39,897 which is so densely settled. -Yeah. 290 00:16:39,966 --> 00:16:43,935 -The Anglo-Saxons weren't blood-thirsty warriors. 291 00:16:44,004 --> 00:16:46,571 They were farmers. 292 00:16:46,639 --> 00:16:48,573 -We've got settlements here. 293 00:16:48,641 --> 00:16:50,308 There's one here. There's one here. 294 00:16:50,377 --> 00:16:52,643 There, of course there's this large one at West Heslerton. 295 00:16:52,712 --> 00:16:56,881 We've identified 14, probably now 15 settlements. 296 00:16:56,950 --> 00:17:01,085 -Anglo-Saxon buildings dominated the landscape. 297 00:17:01,154 --> 00:17:03,221 The settlers imported their traditional, 298 00:17:03,289 --> 00:17:05,990 northern European building style. 299 00:17:06,059 --> 00:17:09,327 Structures were built in wood with thatch roofs -- 300 00:17:09,396 --> 00:17:12,330 a style known as Grubenhauser. 301 00:17:12,399 --> 00:17:14,265 -So, these blobs here are the Grubenhauser. 302 00:17:14,334 --> 00:17:15,733 -All of these little blobs? 303 00:17:15,802 --> 00:17:18,069 -You see big houses there, big houses here, 304 00:17:18,138 --> 00:17:19,537 and lots of these Grubenhauser. 305 00:17:19,606 --> 00:17:22,640 You will also see this hamlet here, 306 00:17:22,709 --> 00:17:24,509 a hamlet there, 307 00:17:24,577 --> 00:17:27,578 a load of buildings there, a load here. 308 00:17:27,647 --> 00:17:28,813 You see -- it's all joined up. 309 00:17:28,882 --> 00:17:32,283 There's stuff everywhere. 310 00:17:32,352 --> 00:17:36,921 -In the Anglo-Saxon period, this area was densely settled -- 311 00:17:36,990 --> 00:17:38,222 hundreds of buildings 312 00:17:38,291 --> 00:17:40,858 in more than a dozen separate communities. 313 00:17:40,927 --> 00:17:50,268 ♪♪ 314 00:17:50,336 --> 00:17:52,336 -Roger Lima. Standby to land. 315 00:17:54,441 --> 00:17:58,076 -I think that might be Alice down there. 316 00:17:58,144 --> 00:18:02,413 -Dominic's meticulous research tells a very different story 317 00:18:02,482 --> 00:18:06,050 from the common understanding of a violent invasion. 318 00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:11,322 ♪♪ 319 00:18:11,391 --> 00:18:13,091 -Bit of a bumpy landing there. -That's okay. 320 00:18:13,159 --> 00:18:17,128 -Are you all right? -Yeah, I'm fine. 321 00:18:17,197 --> 00:18:19,330 -The picture that's emerging in the east 322 00:18:19,399 --> 00:18:23,234 is of a peaceful society, not a violent one. 323 00:18:28,174 --> 00:18:30,641 But what about in the west? 324 00:18:30,710 --> 00:18:32,977 Will archaeologists find any evidence 325 00:18:33,046 --> 00:18:35,146 of either violent conflict 326 00:18:35,215 --> 00:18:40,284 or a legendary king on this side of Britons' Dark Age Divide? 327 00:18:43,690 --> 00:18:47,525 Professor Roberts has access to a new excavation 328 00:18:47,594 --> 00:18:49,994 on the far west coast of Britain. 329 00:18:50,063 --> 00:18:56,167 ♪♪ 330 00:18:56,236 --> 00:18:59,670 -And it's at Tintagel, the very site where, 331 00:18:59,739 --> 00:19:01,939 according to Geoffrey of Monmouth, 332 00:19:02,008 --> 00:19:04,842 Arthur is supposed to have been conceived. 333 00:19:04,911 --> 00:19:10,548 ♪♪ 334 00:19:10,617 --> 00:19:16,220 ♪♪ 335 00:19:16,289 --> 00:19:19,891 A major archaeological dig is underway here, 336 00:19:19,959 --> 00:19:23,828 on a part of the island that has never been excavated before. 337 00:19:23,897 --> 00:19:29,934 ♪♪ 338 00:19:30,003 --> 00:19:34,205 Archaeologist Win Scutt is the site's curator. 339 00:19:34,274 --> 00:19:37,041 -So, Win, introduce me to Tintagel from the air then. 340 00:19:37,110 --> 00:19:38,409 What are we looking at? 341 00:19:38,478 --> 00:19:40,578 -Well, it's fantastic, you can already see 342 00:19:40,647 --> 00:19:42,446 one of the rectangular buildings 343 00:19:42,515 --> 00:19:44,282 that dates to the 5th, 6th Century. 344 00:19:44,350 --> 00:19:47,318 -So, this is the period you're specifically interested in here. 345 00:19:47,387 --> 00:19:49,020 -Absolutely, yes. 346 00:19:52,659 --> 00:19:54,358 -In contrast to the wood 347 00:19:54,427 --> 00:19:56,928 and thatch buildings in the east, 348 00:19:56,996 --> 00:20:00,865 there were more than 100 stone buildings here. 349 00:20:00,934 --> 00:20:02,066 -Is that more? 350 00:20:02,135 --> 00:20:05,970 -Some more over there, absolutely. 351 00:20:06,039 --> 00:20:09,106 It's a settlement of hundreds of people. 352 00:20:09,175 --> 00:20:11,576 -These simple dwellings were first excavated 353 00:20:11,644 --> 00:20:13,444 more than 80 years ago. 354 00:20:16,516 --> 00:20:19,217 But in the summer of 2017, 355 00:20:19,285 --> 00:20:22,153 a much grander complex was discovered. 356 00:20:22,222 --> 00:20:24,855 -We're excavating behind these cliffs on -- 357 00:20:24,924 --> 00:20:26,757 these are the Southern cliffs and there we are, 358 00:20:26,826 --> 00:20:28,159 it's coming into view. -Oh, there are the trenches. 359 00:20:28,228 --> 00:20:30,428 -There are the trenches. Fantastic, yes. 360 00:20:30,496 --> 00:20:33,231 -And they're at work. We can spy on them. That's brilliant. 361 00:20:33,299 --> 00:20:37,668 -Really exciting. -With only five weeks to dig, 362 00:20:37,737 --> 00:20:41,105 the archaeologists rush to gather all the evidence needed 363 00:20:41,174 --> 00:20:46,677 to create a detailed portrait of life in the 5th century. 364 00:20:46,746 --> 00:20:50,114 Alice joins site director Jacky Novakowski 365 00:20:50,183 --> 00:20:53,417 to understand the significance of the new excavation. 366 00:20:56,089 --> 00:20:57,955 -Once we started taking off the turf, 367 00:20:58,024 --> 00:21:00,491 the stone walls started to appear quite quickly. 368 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:03,694 So, it's been buried over 1,400 years ago 369 00:21:03,763 --> 00:21:05,930 and now we are uncovering it for the first time. 370 00:21:05,999 --> 00:21:10,301 -They look very different to me, to the remains of the buildings 371 00:21:10,370 --> 00:21:12,603 that I have seen on the eastern side, 372 00:21:12,672 --> 00:21:14,805 which again are fifth, sixth century 373 00:21:14,874 --> 00:21:19,010 but much smaller stones and much thinner walls. 374 00:21:19,078 --> 00:21:21,379 -They're completely different in terms of build character 375 00:21:21,447 --> 00:21:22,913 and the amount of sheer investment 376 00:21:22,982 --> 00:21:24,548 that has gone into their build. 377 00:21:24,617 --> 00:21:27,385 I mean, they are substantial. -Well-built walls, aren't they? 378 00:21:27,453 --> 00:21:29,020 -Yeah, they're extraordinary. 379 00:21:29,088 --> 00:21:30,921 They are over a meter wide, and you can see 380 00:21:30,990 --> 00:21:34,125 that they are made of large blocks of slate. 381 00:21:34,193 --> 00:21:36,794 Very blocky material and you've got them laid 382 00:21:36,863 --> 00:21:40,298 horizontally forming a really nice coursed wall. 383 00:21:44,370 --> 00:21:46,504 -These buildings were built to impress, I think. 384 00:21:46,572 --> 00:21:49,940 And they're part of this larger complex of other buildings 385 00:21:50,009 --> 00:21:52,777 that go off in that direction, and in that direction, 386 00:21:52,845 --> 00:21:55,446 so you can see we've got our work cut out. 387 00:21:55,515 --> 00:21:57,715 -The team's findings will be used to create 388 00:21:57,784 --> 00:22:01,819 a 3D model of this apparent 5th-century citadel... 389 00:22:01,888 --> 00:22:06,857 bringing Tintagel out of the Dark Ages and back to life. 390 00:22:06,926 --> 00:22:11,162 The buildings occupy a natural terrace with a stunning vista. 391 00:22:11,230 --> 00:22:14,198 Their prominent position, substantial size 392 00:22:14,267 --> 00:22:17,702 and thick walls indicate a great deal of time 393 00:22:17,770 --> 00:22:20,571 and effort was taken in their construction. 394 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:23,407 There are strong hints that whoever lived here 395 00:22:23,476 --> 00:22:25,376 was someone important. 396 00:22:25,445 --> 00:22:28,713 These people weren't farmers like in the east of Britain. 397 00:22:28,781 --> 00:22:30,314 -They do look like they're high status. 398 00:22:30,383 --> 00:22:32,149 This isn't people eking out 399 00:22:32,218 --> 00:22:34,051 an existence up here on top of Tintagel. 400 00:22:34,120 --> 00:22:35,586 This is people living well. 401 00:22:35,655 --> 00:22:37,722 -This is people living very well, I think. 402 00:22:37,790 --> 00:22:39,056 A lot more care has gone 403 00:22:39,125 --> 00:22:40,825 into the construction of these buildings. 404 00:22:40,893 --> 00:22:42,827 We're working on the idea that these buildings 405 00:22:42,895 --> 00:22:46,230 are probably residences, high-status residences. 406 00:22:46,299 --> 00:22:50,568 It's all got the feel of an extraordinary large settlement. 407 00:22:50,636 --> 00:22:55,139 Which is maybe the place where the most powerful person 408 00:22:55,208 --> 00:22:58,542 who is living in this area was resident at the time. 409 00:23:01,414 --> 00:23:05,383 -A powerful Dark Ages leader perhaps, 410 00:23:05,451 --> 00:23:07,318 but it's still a huge leap to say 411 00:23:07,387 --> 00:23:09,053 that it could be King Arthur. 412 00:23:12,525 --> 00:23:14,759 In fact, no one has ever found 413 00:23:14,827 --> 00:23:19,497 any proof of the legendary leader's existence, 414 00:23:19,565 --> 00:23:21,866 let alone whether he lived at Tintagel. 415 00:23:25,938 --> 00:23:27,505 Just like in the east, 416 00:23:27,573 --> 00:23:31,709 the team is unearthing evidence of a peaceful lifestyle. 417 00:23:31,778 --> 00:23:34,845 But it's a much, much more extravagant one. 418 00:23:38,918 --> 00:23:41,886 -That's a good piece. 419 00:23:41,954 --> 00:23:44,889 -Ah, nice. 420 00:23:44,957 --> 00:23:48,025 That is a nice high-quality piece of tableware I'd guess. 421 00:23:48,094 --> 00:23:50,728 There's a rim on the bottom. That's sat on the table. 422 00:23:50,797 --> 00:23:53,431 Beautiful. 423 00:23:53,499 --> 00:23:56,967 -We've been finding a lot of the fine tablewares. 424 00:23:57,036 --> 00:23:58,602 And even some of the dinner plates, 425 00:23:58,671 --> 00:24:01,338 and the storage vessels containing the wine 426 00:24:01,407 --> 00:24:05,509 and olive oil are being broken and just discarded around here. 427 00:24:09,649 --> 00:24:12,082 -Whoever lived here was rich. 428 00:24:14,821 --> 00:24:17,655 This is the biggest hoard of this type of high-value 429 00:24:17,723 --> 00:24:19,957 pottery dating from the Dark Ages 430 00:24:20,026 --> 00:24:23,360 that's ever been found in Britain. 431 00:24:23,429 --> 00:24:25,663 -That is really beautiful. 432 00:24:29,535 --> 00:24:31,869 -And there are even pieces of fine glassware 433 00:24:31,938 --> 00:24:33,604 for drinking wine. 434 00:24:33,673 --> 00:24:41,278 ♪♪ 435 00:24:41,347 --> 00:24:43,347 The artifacts being unearthed at Tintagel 436 00:24:43,416 --> 00:24:46,450 are completely different from the Anglo-Saxon ones 437 00:24:46,519 --> 00:24:50,888 found all over the eastern side of the country. 438 00:24:50,957 --> 00:24:54,091 In this sense at least, the archaeological evidence 439 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:57,795 and historical accounts are matching up. 440 00:24:57,864 --> 00:25:02,333 5th-century Britain does seem to be a very divided country. 441 00:25:02,401 --> 00:25:05,836 But divided by culture, not violence. 442 00:25:08,274 --> 00:25:09,773 But what happened to the Britons 443 00:25:09,842 --> 00:25:12,042 in the eastern half of the country 444 00:25:12,111 --> 00:25:15,746 if the Saxons and Angles did not invade or conquer? 445 00:25:20,286 --> 00:25:21,785 In the last decade, 446 00:25:21,854 --> 00:25:23,954 more than 100 skeletons have been unearthed 447 00:25:24,023 --> 00:25:27,858 in an Anglo-Saxon cemetery in the eastern half of Britain. 448 00:25:27,927 --> 00:25:31,395 And with them, some important new clues. 449 00:25:31,464 --> 00:25:37,434 ♪♪ 450 00:25:37,503 --> 00:25:39,870 The remains of one of the female skeletons 451 00:25:39,939 --> 00:25:42,273 give Professor Roberts a better understanding 452 00:25:42,341 --> 00:25:46,744 of everyday 5th-century life. 453 00:25:46,812 --> 00:25:49,079 -My first impressions looking at this skeleton 454 00:25:49,148 --> 00:25:52,349 is that this is somebody who was quite gracile, 455 00:25:52,418 --> 00:25:53,784 quite slightly built. 456 00:25:53,853 --> 00:25:56,620 I'm looking at these teeth really carefully. 457 00:25:56,689 --> 00:25:57,888 If I look at the molars, 458 00:25:57,957 --> 00:26:00,424 she's quite clearly a young woman. 459 00:26:00,493 --> 00:26:03,327 The third molar, the wisdom tooth, comes through 18 to 460 00:26:03,396 --> 00:26:06,997 21 years, and there's just a little bit of wear on that, 461 00:26:07,066 --> 00:26:08,699 But then if you look at the front teeth 462 00:26:08,768 --> 00:26:10,267 it's completely different. 463 00:26:10,336 --> 00:26:11,769 The enamel has been completely worn away 464 00:26:11,837 --> 00:26:14,204 and they're flat on the surface. 465 00:26:14,273 --> 00:26:16,240 So that suggests she's doing something with her front teeth, 466 00:26:16,309 --> 00:26:18,309 which isn't just about food processing. 467 00:26:18,377 --> 00:26:20,711 So perhaps using her teeth as a tool, 468 00:26:20,780 --> 00:26:22,746 maybe leather working. 469 00:26:22,815 --> 00:26:26,083 Definite use of the teeth just there. 470 00:26:26,152 --> 00:26:30,187 -A fascinating glimpse of life and work in the Dark Ages. 471 00:26:32,692 --> 00:26:35,759 But it's the objects found with her and other skeletons 472 00:26:35,828 --> 00:26:39,029 that provide fresh insight. 473 00:26:39,098 --> 00:26:42,399 Alice meets lead investigator Duncan Sayer. 474 00:26:42,468 --> 00:26:44,034 -So, we've got an adult in the middle 475 00:26:44,103 --> 00:26:46,637 with two brooches on her shoulder 476 00:26:46,706 --> 00:26:49,073 and a load of amber beads. 477 00:26:49,141 --> 00:26:51,275 And next to her is an adolescent. 478 00:26:51,344 --> 00:26:52,576 And we have a child. 479 00:26:52,645 --> 00:26:54,211 -Yes, a small child. -Small child, yeah. 480 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:55,412 -It makes you wonder happened, 481 00:26:55,481 --> 00:26:56,547 how they ended up in the same grave. 482 00:26:56,616 --> 00:26:59,049 -Well, it does doesn't it? 483 00:26:59,118 --> 00:27:01,652 We've got round brooches and we've got long brooches, 484 00:27:01,721 --> 00:27:03,220 we've got cruciform brooches. 485 00:27:03,289 --> 00:27:04,955 We've got all the works really. 486 00:27:05,024 --> 00:27:07,424 -All what you'd expect from an Anglo-Saxon cemetery. 487 00:27:07,493 --> 00:27:08,993 No surprises there. -No surprises. 488 00:27:09,061 --> 00:27:11,629 Absolutely typical in every way. 489 00:27:11,697 --> 00:27:14,131 -The grave goods suggest these people were part 490 00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:17,935 of the newly arrived Anglo-Saxon group. 491 00:27:18,004 --> 00:27:21,839 But archaeological evidence, just like written history, 492 00:27:21,907 --> 00:27:24,074 is open to misinterpretation. 493 00:27:26,312 --> 00:27:29,046 So Duncan is using high-energy physics 494 00:27:29,115 --> 00:27:32,416 to examine one of the brooches in greater detail. 495 00:27:32,485 --> 00:27:37,988 ♪♪ 496 00:27:38,057 --> 00:27:40,190 Here at the UK's national facility 497 00:27:40,259 --> 00:27:43,861 for synchrotron radiation, a beam of electrons 498 00:27:43,929 --> 00:27:46,897 is accelerated almost to the speed of light 499 00:27:46,966 --> 00:27:50,234 as it travels around a 600-yard loop. 500 00:27:50,302 --> 00:27:56,206 ♪♪ 501 00:27:56,275 --> 00:27:58,642 As the electrons move, they throw off 502 00:27:58,711 --> 00:28:01,311 intensely-focused X-ray beams 503 00:28:01,380 --> 00:28:04,181 that allow for compositional data gathering. 504 00:28:08,554 --> 00:28:12,156 The X-rays let Duncan probe the chemical make-up 505 00:28:12,224 --> 00:28:14,525 of a tiny part of the brooch. 506 00:28:14,593 --> 00:28:19,797 ♪♪ 507 00:28:19,865 --> 00:28:25,035 ♪♪ 508 00:28:25,104 --> 00:28:27,404 The results are unexpected. 509 00:28:32,344 --> 00:28:34,111 -Okay. So, do the blue areas 510 00:28:34,180 --> 00:28:36,380 and green areas represent different elements? 511 00:28:36,449 --> 00:28:37,347 -Exactly. 512 00:28:37,416 --> 00:28:40,384 The green bits highlight iron, 513 00:28:40,453 --> 00:28:42,986 and the blue bits highlight lead. 514 00:28:43,055 --> 00:28:45,522 The lead tells us that this is glass. 515 00:28:45,591 --> 00:28:49,393 -It's a style of glass work that's been seen before... 516 00:28:49,462 --> 00:28:50,894 typical of Britons, 517 00:28:50,963 --> 00:28:53,230 not the Angles or Saxons. 518 00:28:53,299 --> 00:28:56,834 The brooch was made locally, not imported. 519 00:28:56,902 --> 00:29:01,171 -What you're doing is you're taking out a glass, 520 00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:04,041 grinding it up, and grinding into it 521 00:29:04,110 --> 00:29:06,376 the scrapings from the inside of a crucible. 522 00:29:06,445 --> 00:29:09,413 And then you bake it into the holes into the object 523 00:29:09,482 --> 00:29:12,449 and it makes enamel. 524 00:29:12,518 --> 00:29:13,717 -Enamel like this was 525 00:29:13,786 --> 00:29:16,720 a specifically British production technique. 526 00:29:16,789 --> 00:29:18,322 So although the style of the brooch 527 00:29:18,390 --> 00:29:21,692 is typical of continental Angle and Saxon tribes, 528 00:29:21,761 --> 00:29:24,261 it's either been made by British hands 529 00:29:24,330 --> 00:29:26,597 or by someone who learned from a local. 530 00:29:26,665 --> 00:29:28,232 -So, this is fascinating, because it means 531 00:29:28,300 --> 00:29:31,201 that this is not an import from the continent. 532 00:29:31,270 --> 00:29:33,470 It's an imported idea, it's an imported style, 533 00:29:33,539 --> 00:29:36,006 but it's a locally made object. 534 00:29:36,075 --> 00:29:39,610 -Exactly. -What appears to be jewelry 535 00:29:39,678 --> 00:29:43,313 imported from Europe was more likely made in Britain. 536 00:29:46,986 --> 00:29:49,052 The results suggest assumptions 537 00:29:49,121 --> 00:29:54,458 that these are all Anglo-Saxon skeletons might be wrong. 538 00:29:54,527 --> 00:29:57,327 Something more complicated is going on. 539 00:30:00,366 --> 00:30:06,470 The team needs a way to identify the skeletons scientifically, 540 00:30:06,539 --> 00:30:09,439 so they turn to another modern technology -- 541 00:30:09,508 --> 00:30:13,143 DNA analysis. 542 00:30:13,212 --> 00:30:16,947 Skeleton 82's DNA is a close match to the DNA 543 00:30:17,016 --> 00:30:20,584 found in today's Dutch citizens... 544 00:30:20,653 --> 00:30:24,721 She's genetically Anglo-Saxon. 545 00:30:24,790 --> 00:30:28,125 But Skeleton 1 is genetically indigenous -- 546 00:30:28,194 --> 00:30:30,194 a match with ancient Britons. 547 00:30:33,432 --> 00:30:37,034 Skeleton 96 is an even bigger surprise -- 548 00:30:37,102 --> 00:30:41,972 a hybrid of British and Anglo-Saxon ancestry. 549 00:30:42,041 --> 00:30:44,975 It's a very small sample, but it suggests 550 00:30:45,044 --> 00:30:48,345 the Angles and Saxons who arrived from northern Europe 551 00:30:48,414 --> 00:30:53,183 didn't suddenly replace the Britons in the east -- 552 00:30:53,252 --> 00:30:54,985 they mixed with them. 553 00:30:55,054 --> 00:30:59,289 -People would probably not have thought of themselves as Britons 554 00:30:59,358 --> 00:31:01,191 or Anglo-Saxons. 555 00:31:01,260 --> 00:31:02,626 They would probably have thought of themselves 556 00:31:02,695 --> 00:31:06,964 in a much more local way than that. 557 00:31:07,032 --> 00:31:10,300 -This is not a period when people would have known 558 00:31:10,369 --> 00:31:13,303 that they were members of a particular nation state. 559 00:31:13,372 --> 00:31:16,206 Nation states didn't exist, people didn't have passports, 560 00:31:16,275 --> 00:31:18,876 they weren't citizens of one country or another. 561 00:31:21,947 --> 00:31:24,448 -The story of Arthur defending the ancient Britons 562 00:31:24,516 --> 00:31:28,752 against an invading army is likely a myth. 563 00:31:28,821 --> 00:31:31,722 Despite Geoffrey and Gildas's accounts, 564 00:31:31,790 --> 00:31:34,258 the archaeology shows the Anglo Saxons 565 00:31:34,326 --> 00:31:37,160 didn't arrive overnight en masse. 566 00:31:37,229 --> 00:31:40,864 Instead, it was a slow and gradual process, 567 00:31:40,933 --> 00:31:45,402 probably over a very long period of time, 568 00:31:45,471 --> 00:31:49,773 not murdering the locals, but merging with them. 569 00:31:49,842 --> 00:31:52,109 -There are people coming across the North Sea. 570 00:31:52,177 --> 00:31:54,411 But they're not entirely replacing 571 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:55,846 the group that are here. 572 00:31:55,915 --> 00:31:57,848 They're bringing new styles, new ideas, 573 00:31:57,917 --> 00:31:59,917 new ways of talking, new religions 574 00:31:59,985 --> 00:32:02,920 which are adding to the mix that's already here. 575 00:32:05,958 --> 00:32:08,025 -It's not a full-scale, you know, 576 00:32:08,093 --> 00:32:11,795 replacement of one culture by another. 577 00:32:11,864 --> 00:32:14,498 -Over time, people are trading, intermarrying, 578 00:32:14,566 --> 00:32:17,034 even swapping fashions. 579 00:32:17,102 --> 00:32:20,270 -We're seeing Britons adopting Saxon-style brooches. 580 00:32:20,339 --> 00:32:24,608 We're seeing Saxons adopting Roman-style brooches. 581 00:32:24,677 --> 00:32:27,678 -These things wouldn't have been in these very clear-cut 582 00:32:27,746 --> 00:32:31,148 identities that we ascribe to today. 583 00:32:31,216 --> 00:32:33,984 It would have been much, much more complex than that. 584 00:32:34,053 --> 00:32:36,753 -Eastern Britain is trading with the Germanic world, 585 00:32:36,822 --> 00:32:38,322 with the Saxon world, with Scandinavia. 586 00:32:38,390 --> 00:32:40,390 That's where their fashions, 587 00:32:40,459 --> 00:32:43,593 that's where their trade is being connected to. 588 00:32:43,662 --> 00:32:45,629 -Given their geographical proximity, 589 00:32:45,698 --> 00:32:47,698 it makes sense that Northern Europeans 590 00:32:47,766 --> 00:32:49,533 would have formed connections with Britons 591 00:32:49,601 --> 00:32:53,537 in the east rather than the west. 592 00:32:53,605 --> 00:32:56,740 This is a radical new understanding of life 593 00:32:56,809 --> 00:33:00,544 after the Romans left Britain. 594 00:33:00,612 --> 00:33:03,647 Far from being conquered, the native Britons 595 00:33:03,716 --> 00:33:05,515 in the eastern half of the country 596 00:33:05,584 --> 00:33:10,053 seem to have absorbed the incoming Northern Europeans. 597 00:33:10,122 --> 00:33:14,024 It was a time of trade and integration. 598 00:33:14,093 --> 00:33:18,495 But in terms of daily life, little changed. 599 00:33:18,564 --> 00:33:19,963 -I suppose if you think of a sense like 600 00:33:20,032 --> 00:33:21,565 if you take America as an example 601 00:33:21,633 --> 00:33:24,301 you've got African-Americans, Italian-Americans. 602 00:33:24,370 --> 00:33:27,471 People are adding things to the various pot that is America. 603 00:33:27,539 --> 00:33:29,106 That's what happening in, in Britain in the 5th 604 00:33:29,174 --> 00:33:31,808 and 6th century. 605 00:33:31,877 --> 00:33:34,111 -And proof of the true story of the Dark Ages 606 00:33:34,179 --> 00:33:35,846 can be found today 607 00:33:35,914 --> 00:33:38,181 in modern Britain's DNA. 608 00:33:41,086 --> 00:33:43,620 Researchers at the University of Oxford 609 00:33:43,689 --> 00:33:46,156 have collected thousands of DNA samples 610 00:33:46,225 --> 00:33:47,758 from people across Britain 611 00:33:47,826 --> 00:33:52,496 whose families have lived in the same area for generations. 612 00:33:52,564 --> 00:33:54,698 -We tried to focus on individuals, 613 00:33:54,767 --> 00:33:57,334 all of whose grandparents were born in the same area. 614 00:33:57,403 --> 00:33:59,169 So in that sense their DNA had been there 615 00:33:59,238 --> 00:34:00,971 at least for two generations 616 00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:04,074 and probably quite a long time before that. 617 00:34:04,143 --> 00:34:08,145 -Peter Donnelly's work maps regional variations in British 618 00:34:08,213 --> 00:34:12,215 people's genetics in greater detail than ever before. 619 00:34:14,787 --> 00:34:18,388 Alice wants to understand what modern genetics can reveal 620 00:34:18,457 --> 00:34:20,724 about Britain's past. 621 00:34:20,793 --> 00:34:22,292 -So, what do we see on this map then? 622 00:34:22,361 --> 00:34:25,062 What do the different colors and different shapes represent? 623 00:34:25,130 --> 00:34:29,099 -So each circle or square or or triangle 624 00:34:29,168 --> 00:34:31,968 represents one of the 2,000 individuals we sampled. 625 00:34:32,037 --> 00:34:35,238 And then the combination of color and shape 626 00:34:35,307 --> 00:34:36,807 represents a genetic group. 627 00:34:36,875 --> 00:34:39,609 There's a group represented here in pink squares 628 00:34:39,678 --> 00:34:40,911 that's one of the genetic groups we saw. 629 00:34:40,979 --> 00:34:43,246 There's another group in blue circles. 630 00:34:43,315 --> 00:34:44,981 There's a large group across much of central 631 00:34:45,050 --> 00:34:46,316 and southern England, 632 00:34:46,385 --> 00:34:48,452 groups in, in South Wales and North Wales 633 00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:50,120 and so on as, as we look through the country. 634 00:34:50,189 --> 00:34:51,955 -And what I find utterly extraordinary about it 635 00:34:52,024 --> 00:34:54,691 is you've got all of these different colored clusters, 636 00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:56,793 which do seem to be quite localized, 637 00:34:56,862 --> 00:34:59,096 and I would just have expected 638 00:34:59,164 --> 00:35:01,565 the whole thing to be much more homogeneous. 639 00:35:01,633 --> 00:35:04,367 -It was one of those total wow moments that we don't have 640 00:35:04,436 --> 00:35:07,571 too often in our career, but it was really exciting. 641 00:35:07,639 --> 00:35:10,373 -At first, it looks like the genetic map supports 642 00:35:10,442 --> 00:35:12,909 the historical accounts of Anglo-Saxons 643 00:35:12,978 --> 00:35:16,446 decimating the local population. 644 00:35:16,515 --> 00:35:20,550 -Do you think this pattern of red squares is explained 645 00:35:20,619 --> 00:35:23,787 by a massive Anglo-Saxon invasion, 646 00:35:23,856 --> 00:35:25,856 replacing everything that was there before? 647 00:35:25,924 --> 00:35:27,691 -That's absolutely not the case. 648 00:35:27,759 --> 00:35:29,326 What's interesting is if you take a typical person 649 00:35:29,394 --> 00:35:30,861 in Central and Southern England, 650 00:35:30,929 --> 00:35:32,729 that accounts for about 10% of their DNA. 651 00:35:32,798 --> 00:35:35,465 So, we do see evidence of the Anglo-Saxon migration, 652 00:35:35,534 --> 00:35:38,401 I think clear evidence of that. 653 00:35:38,470 --> 00:35:39,703 But it certainly wasn't the case 654 00:35:39,771 --> 00:35:41,171 that they replaced existing populations. 655 00:35:41,240 --> 00:35:43,373 They contributed to the DNA of modern English people 656 00:35:43,442 --> 00:35:45,709 but in the minority of the DNA that's there now. 657 00:35:49,882 --> 00:35:53,683 -The surprise is that Anglo-Saxon DNA has contributed 658 00:35:53,752 --> 00:35:58,121 only around 10 percent of the genetic variation. 659 00:35:58,190 --> 00:36:01,324 -What's very clear is that most of the DNA that's carried 660 00:36:01,393 --> 00:36:03,093 by someone in Central and Southern England 661 00:36:03,162 --> 00:36:06,096 now is DNA that was there before the Saxons arrived. 662 00:36:06,165 --> 00:36:08,598 Not only did they not replace the existing populations, 663 00:36:08,667 --> 00:36:09,666 they mixed with them, 664 00:36:09,735 --> 00:36:12,102 but they're a relatively small proportion 665 00:36:12,171 --> 00:36:13,970 of the ancestry of the people now have. 666 00:36:14,039 --> 00:36:15,705 -Even though the archaeological record 667 00:36:15,774 --> 00:36:17,774 now suggests differently, 668 00:36:17,843 --> 00:36:22,212 the Anglo-Saxon invasion story still fills the history books, 669 00:36:22,281 --> 00:36:26,249 and Anglo-Saxon ideas shaped British culture, 670 00:36:26,318 --> 00:36:29,452 not least by inspiring the English language 671 00:36:29,521 --> 00:36:32,389 that's spoken all over the world today. 672 00:36:32,457 --> 00:36:34,491 But despite popular belief, 673 00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:37,460 the genetics indicate Anglo-Saxon immigrants 674 00:36:37,529 --> 00:36:40,597 probably never outnumbered the native Britons. 675 00:36:40,666 --> 00:36:44,401 -Historians and archaeologists have argued for decades 676 00:36:44,469 --> 00:36:48,538 if not centuries over whether the appearance of a new culture 677 00:36:48,607 --> 00:36:52,075 really means that a whole load of new people came in. 678 00:36:52,144 --> 00:36:55,645 And we've actually never been able to resolve that question 679 00:36:55,714 --> 00:36:58,081 and now we're starting to be able to do that. 680 00:36:58,150 --> 00:37:00,650 -What's interesting about genetics is it, 681 00:37:00,719 --> 00:37:03,420 by definition it's reflecting what happened to the masses. 682 00:37:03,488 --> 00:37:05,722 Whereas often some of those other sources are colored 683 00:37:05,791 --> 00:37:08,158 by the successful elites who impose languages 684 00:37:08,227 --> 00:37:11,928 or impose political systems. 685 00:37:11,997 --> 00:37:15,365 -In the east, the native British and Anglo-Saxon people 686 00:37:15,434 --> 00:37:17,734 merged on a large scale. 687 00:37:17,803 --> 00:37:23,640 ♪♪ 688 00:37:23,709 --> 00:37:26,509 But what about the west? 689 00:37:26,578 --> 00:37:30,480 Why does Tintagel seem so wealthy in comparison? 690 00:37:30,549 --> 00:37:36,052 And why is King Arthur so strongly connected to the site? 691 00:37:36,121 --> 00:37:38,421 This is Fort Cumberland, 692 00:37:38,490 --> 00:37:43,593 the home of Historic England's Archaeology labs. 693 00:37:43,662 --> 00:37:46,896 Many of the finds from Tintagel are analyzed here. 694 00:37:46,965 --> 00:37:52,602 ♪♪ 695 00:37:52,671 --> 00:37:55,739 The fort is a scientific production line, 696 00:37:55,807 --> 00:37:58,842 turning excavation into information. 697 00:37:58,910 --> 00:38:03,947 ♪♪ 698 00:38:04,016 --> 00:38:08,518 From the new site at Tintagel, 130 gallons of soil filter 699 00:38:08,587 --> 00:38:11,488 through the flotation tanks. 700 00:38:11,556 --> 00:38:15,458 The experts can finally separate the Arthur legend 701 00:38:15,527 --> 00:38:17,594 from archaeological fact. 702 00:38:20,032 --> 00:38:23,500 Alice has come to meet pottery specialist Maria Duggan. 703 00:38:25,871 --> 00:38:29,873 She is one of the experts examining the unprecedented haul 704 00:38:29,941 --> 00:38:33,877 of pottery shards unearthed at Tintagel... 705 00:38:33,945 --> 00:38:36,746 and looking for clues about the lives and identity 706 00:38:36,815 --> 00:38:39,182 of the people who lived there. 707 00:38:39,251 --> 00:38:42,452 -So, this is our really characteristic fine-ware form 708 00:38:42,521 --> 00:38:44,988 for that late 5th Century, early 6th Century. 709 00:38:45,057 --> 00:38:48,224 And we've got about 14 vessels of the same form. 710 00:38:48,293 --> 00:38:49,826 All slightly different. 711 00:38:49,895 --> 00:38:51,494 -So, that's a bowl is it? -Yeah, it's a big dish. 712 00:38:51,563 --> 00:38:55,865 So it's actually quite big, it's probably about 30 centimeters. 713 00:38:55,934 --> 00:39:01,805 -The distinctive shape indicates the bowl was not made locally. 714 00:39:01,873 --> 00:39:03,306 -So that's coming from Turkey? 715 00:39:03,375 --> 00:39:05,342 -Sort of Western Turkey. -Yes, yeah. 716 00:39:05,410 --> 00:39:07,077 -It's come a long way. 717 00:39:09,348 --> 00:39:12,349 -This fragment of pottery connects Tintagel to what 718 00:39:12,417 --> 00:39:17,220 would then have been Byzantium in the Eastern Roman Empire. 719 00:39:17,289 --> 00:39:21,658 There are hundreds of pieces to examine. 720 00:39:21,727 --> 00:39:23,793 -The vast majority of the finds are amphorae, 721 00:39:23,862 --> 00:39:26,696 so they're storage vessels for transport of wine 722 00:39:26,765 --> 00:39:28,331 or olive oil, things like that. 723 00:39:28,400 --> 00:39:30,033 Also other fine wares. 724 00:39:30,102 --> 00:39:32,102 So we've got some North African material. 725 00:39:32,170 --> 00:39:35,338 And also, from southwest France so from the Bordeaux region. 726 00:39:35,407 --> 00:39:37,741 -Right. So, it's coming in from all over the place. 727 00:39:37,809 --> 00:39:40,343 -Yeah. -When you find 728 00:39:40,412 --> 00:39:43,446 a blooming great sherd of Roman amphorae, 729 00:39:43,515 --> 00:39:45,415 and not just one sherd of amphorae, 730 00:39:45,484 --> 00:39:49,285 but buckets of the stuff, that tells you 731 00:39:49,354 --> 00:39:53,957 that there's trade and diplomacy and interaction 732 00:39:54,025 --> 00:40:00,296 and people are moving across the European landscape and seascape. 733 00:40:00,365 --> 00:40:03,466 -These artifacts demonstrate that the Mediterranean 734 00:40:03,535 --> 00:40:05,335 and the Atlantic coasts 735 00:40:05,404 --> 00:40:10,273 were incredibly well connected to Tintagel. 736 00:40:10,342 --> 00:40:14,544 -Tintagel is producing evidence that's showing us 737 00:40:14,613 --> 00:40:17,614 how active those trade routes were in the -- 738 00:40:17,682 --> 00:40:19,149 the 5th and 6th centuries, 739 00:40:19,217 --> 00:40:20,583 that you do have this material 740 00:40:20,652 --> 00:40:22,752 that's coming up from the Mediterranean 741 00:40:22,821 --> 00:40:27,690 up the Atlantic Coast and is clearly being valued 742 00:40:27,759 --> 00:40:33,229 and perhaps traded up that Atlantic seaboard. 743 00:40:33,298 --> 00:40:36,933 -While eastern Britain interacted with northern Europe, 744 00:40:37,002 --> 00:40:42,572 western Britain traded with Byzantium in the Mediterranean. 745 00:40:42,641 --> 00:40:44,441 Tintagel was clearly 746 00:40:44,509 --> 00:40:48,678 an important international port of call. 747 00:40:48,747 --> 00:40:51,648 So, what would it have looked like in its heyday? 748 00:40:51,716 --> 00:40:53,750 -Yeah. 749 00:40:53,819 --> 00:40:56,352 -Co-director of the site, James Gossip, 750 00:40:56,421 --> 00:41:00,356 has made a detailed architectural survey of the dig. 751 00:41:00,425 --> 00:41:03,660 -Okay. Can we have a spot height on the hearth, Martin? 752 00:41:07,365 --> 00:41:10,300 -Combining measurements with thousands of photographs 753 00:41:10,368 --> 00:41:13,570 creates a perfect virtual record of the new site. 754 00:41:17,108 --> 00:41:18,875 -So, this is towards 755 00:41:18,944 --> 00:41:20,210 the sea, isn't it? -Yup. 756 00:41:20,278 --> 00:41:23,680 You can really see how the buildings are part 757 00:41:23,748 --> 00:41:27,183 of a planned design, with shared spaces. 758 00:41:27,252 --> 00:41:30,687 -The complex is laid out over upper and lower terraces. 759 00:41:33,925 --> 00:41:36,893 The upper building has a 32-foot room 760 00:41:36,962 --> 00:41:40,663 with a 16-foot side-room. 761 00:41:40,732 --> 00:41:43,666 There's a smaller building next door 762 00:41:43,735 --> 00:41:45,802 and a large open courtyard -- 763 00:41:45,871 --> 00:41:49,005 all connected by a central path. 764 00:41:49,074 --> 00:41:52,442 -What you can see is a series of steps leading up 765 00:41:52,511 --> 00:41:55,311 into this opening in our upper building, 766 00:41:55,380 --> 00:41:57,780 connecting the building with the trackway 767 00:41:57,849 --> 00:42:01,985 that runs between the two terraces. 768 00:42:02,053 --> 00:42:05,855 -An area of carefully-laid stone floor strongly suggests 769 00:42:05,924 --> 00:42:10,093 some rooms may have had a special function. 770 00:42:10,161 --> 00:42:14,464 -It's a really nicely laid surface of fairly thin slates. 771 00:42:14,533 --> 00:42:18,601 What's noticeable about that is how fragile and delicate it was. 772 00:42:18,670 --> 00:42:21,004 When we walked on it, we noticed that, you know, 773 00:42:21,072 --> 00:42:23,540 some of the slates might break pretty easily. 774 00:42:23,608 --> 00:42:25,608 -You do wear big boots though, to be fair. 775 00:42:25,677 --> 00:42:28,811 -True, but I tried it out in bare feet as well. 776 00:42:28,880 --> 00:42:32,282 -Unlike the well-worn floors in the rest of the settlement, 777 00:42:32,350 --> 00:42:34,384 this section is much more delicate 778 00:42:34,452 --> 00:42:36,719 and in pristine condition. 779 00:42:36,788 --> 00:42:38,555 -That suggests that perhaps it's, 780 00:42:38,623 --> 00:42:40,256 it's a really quite special floor. 781 00:42:40,325 --> 00:42:42,425 Perhaps it was a space that wasn't really designed 782 00:42:42,494 --> 00:42:44,394 to be walked on very often. 783 00:42:44,462 --> 00:42:45,895 What that means about the function of the building 784 00:42:45,964 --> 00:42:47,297 we don't really know. 785 00:42:47,365 --> 00:42:48,965 -But I suppose it suggests 786 00:42:49,034 --> 00:42:51,467 that it's not an ordinary domestic dwelling. 787 00:42:51,536 --> 00:42:57,707 ♪♪ 788 00:42:57,776 --> 00:43:01,277 -This new data helps generate the first 3D model 789 00:43:01,346 --> 00:43:03,613 of the entire Tintagel site. 790 00:43:06,418 --> 00:43:09,519 The complex may not look opulent to modern eyes, 791 00:43:09,588 --> 00:43:13,323 but to Dark Age visitors, it would have felt palatial. 792 00:43:18,163 --> 00:43:20,897 It's among the most substantial post-Roman buildings 793 00:43:20,966 --> 00:43:22,999 found in southwest Britain... 794 00:43:27,405 --> 00:43:28,838 ...and a complete departure 795 00:43:28,907 --> 00:43:32,075 from how we thought people were living at the time. 796 00:43:32,143 --> 00:43:38,982 ♪♪ 797 00:43:39,050 --> 00:43:41,217 But people weren't just sailing to Tintagel 798 00:43:41,286 --> 00:43:44,387 to sell exotic goods. 799 00:43:44,456 --> 00:43:49,025 Tintagel must have had something worth buying. 800 00:43:49,094 --> 00:43:51,961 -For the people who are coming up the Atlantic seaboard 801 00:43:52,030 --> 00:43:54,030 they would see Tintagel in the distance, 802 00:43:54,099 --> 00:43:55,698 that is the place that they are aiming for, 803 00:43:55,767 --> 00:43:57,834 that is their destination. 804 00:43:57,902 --> 00:43:59,669 It's an important harbor 805 00:43:59,738 --> 00:44:03,940 that will give them the resources that they want. 806 00:44:04,009 --> 00:44:08,177 -Whoever ruled Tintagel, had access to a rare commodity 807 00:44:08,246 --> 00:44:11,681 in high demand across Europe. 808 00:44:11,750 --> 00:44:15,351 The secret to Tintagel's Dark Age wealth and power 809 00:44:15,420 --> 00:44:19,522 lies at the end of a quiet country track. 810 00:44:19,591 --> 00:44:26,529 This is a vast tin mine -- just 15 miles away. 811 00:44:26,598 --> 00:44:30,033 Exploited by the Romans, it was still in business 812 00:44:30,101 --> 00:44:33,436 at the beginning of the 20th century. 813 00:44:33,505 --> 00:44:38,474 What looks like a natural gorge was once a massive mine -- 814 00:44:38,543 --> 00:44:45,415 120 feet deep, 130 feet wide, and 900 feet long. 815 00:44:45,483 --> 00:44:52,588 ♪♪ 816 00:44:52,657 --> 00:44:57,627 Tintagel lies on the larger peninsula of Cornwall. 817 00:44:57,696 --> 00:45:01,364 The rocks in this area are one of only three sources of tin 818 00:45:01,433 --> 00:45:03,032 in Western Europe. 819 00:45:06,171 --> 00:45:07,870 The metal was one of the reasons 820 00:45:07,939 --> 00:45:11,974 the Romans came to Britain in the first place. 821 00:45:12,043 --> 00:45:15,278 -Whoever's been mining that stuff for hundreds of years 822 00:45:15,346 --> 00:45:17,580 is going to get rich because the Mediterranean 823 00:45:17,649 --> 00:45:19,215 needs those resources. 824 00:45:19,284 --> 00:45:21,417 They will come to you to get them. 825 00:45:21,486 --> 00:45:25,888 -Tin, when mixed with copper, makes bronze -- 826 00:45:25,957 --> 00:45:30,359 vital metal for Roman weapons. 827 00:45:30,428 --> 00:45:32,762 Even after the Romans left Britain, 828 00:45:32,831 --> 00:45:35,732 Europe continued to buy Cornish tin. 829 00:45:35,800 --> 00:45:38,668 -Whoever controls Tintagel is at the head 830 00:45:38,737 --> 00:45:40,837 of a large financial empire. 831 00:45:40,905 --> 00:45:42,004 We mustn't think of them 832 00:45:42,073 --> 00:45:43,239 as being on the margins of anything. 833 00:45:43,308 --> 00:45:46,075 They are at the center of a very sort of dominant, 834 00:45:46,144 --> 00:45:48,211 successful political world. 835 00:45:48,279 --> 00:45:49,645 -In dramatic contrast 836 00:45:49,714 --> 00:45:52,448 to the traditional view of the Dark Ages, 837 00:45:52,517 --> 00:45:57,286 trade in the west does not collapse after the Romans leave. 838 00:45:57,355 --> 00:46:00,223 The connections to the continent remain, 839 00:46:00,291 --> 00:46:04,060 and they continue to influence every aspect of life. 840 00:46:07,699 --> 00:46:09,365 Evidence for this influence 841 00:46:09,434 --> 00:46:13,603 is found on the very last day of the Tintagel dig. 842 00:46:13,671 --> 00:46:15,772 Jacky Novakowski's team 843 00:46:15,840 --> 00:46:20,409 makes the most exciting discovery of all. 844 00:46:20,478 --> 00:46:25,748 It's a stone, used to make a windowsill in Building 94. 845 00:46:25,817 --> 00:46:28,251 And someone's been writing on it. 846 00:46:28,319 --> 00:46:30,386 -There's at least three lines. 847 00:46:30,455 --> 00:46:32,054 It's either an "A," with a hat on. 848 00:46:35,560 --> 00:46:37,693 ♪♪ 849 00:46:37,762 --> 00:46:39,562 -I think it's okay actually. 850 00:46:39,631 --> 00:46:44,267 ♪♪ 851 00:46:44,335 --> 00:46:47,003 I'll wrap it up first. 852 00:46:47,071 --> 00:46:48,671 It's very heavy, yeah. 853 00:46:52,410 --> 00:46:54,410 -The stone is transported to the labs 854 00:46:54,479 --> 00:46:56,946 at Fort Cumberland for closer study. 855 00:47:01,219 --> 00:47:06,222 James Gossip gives Alice access to this rare find. 856 00:47:06,291 --> 00:47:08,291 -So, this is it? -This is it. 857 00:47:12,463 --> 00:47:16,232 -It's really clear. That's amazing. 858 00:47:16,301 --> 00:47:20,203 -The letters were scratched with a sharp tool, 859 00:47:20,271 --> 00:47:23,406 roughly, as if for practice. 860 00:47:23,474 --> 00:47:25,541 -It's not in its original position. 861 00:47:25,610 --> 00:47:27,944 Probably only ever a trial piece anyway. 862 00:47:28,012 --> 00:47:31,380 Just somebody practicing their inscription. 863 00:47:31,449 --> 00:47:34,083 So presumably, once this was created as a trial piece 864 00:47:34,152 --> 00:47:35,885 it wasn't that important anymore 865 00:47:35,954 --> 00:47:40,156 and it was incorporated into this wall where we found it. 866 00:47:40,225 --> 00:47:42,158 -It's one of only a handful of inscriptions 867 00:47:42,227 --> 00:47:45,761 from this period ever found. 868 00:47:45,830 --> 00:47:48,731 The Dark Age etching gives precious insight 869 00:47:48,800 --> 00:47:52,501 into the lives of the people living at Tintagel. 870 00:47:52,570 --> 00:47:56,672 First, there's a distinct flavor of Roman Latin. 871 00:47:56,741 --> 00:47:58,841 -So, the top line is here, 872 00:47:58,910 --> 00:48:02,612 possibly "Tito," which could refer to Titus. 873 00:48:02,680 --> 00:48:04,914 -So that's a Roman name. -That's a Roman name, yep, 874 00:48:04,983 --> 00:48:08,217 popular in the Roman and post-Roman world. 875 00:48:08,286 --> 00:48:12,822 Here we've got a word which could be "Viridius." 876 00:48:12,891 --> 00:48:14,891 Another name, another Latin name. 877 00:48:14,959 --> 00:48:16,592 Or "Viri duo." 878 00:48:16,661 --> 00:48:18,294 -I think I can make out the letters here. 879 00:48:18,363 --> 00:48:19,929 I mean that looks like "Fili." -Yup. 880 00:48:19,998 --> 00:48:23,566 That's right. 881 00:48:23,635 --> 00:48:26,535 -But there's also local dialect. 882 00:48:26,604 --> 00:48:28,037 -What does this say here? 883 00:48:28,106 --> 00:48:33,075 -We think this is perhaps "Budic" -- B-U-D-I-C. 884 00:48:33,144 --> 00:48:36,812 There's a word that's common in Welsh, 885 00:48:36,881 --> 00:48:39,415 Breton and Cornish contexts. 886 00:48:39,484 --> 00:48:41,350 -Ah, so this, so this isn't Latin? 887 00:48:41,419 --> 00:48:42,485 -That is not Latin, no. 888 00:48:42,553 --> 00:48:44,253 That's Bretonic or... -Yeah. 889 00:48:44,322 --> 00:48:47,423 -It's the Cornish word form basically. 890 00:48:47,492 --> 00:48:49,325 -The people here seem to be fluent 891 00:48:49,394 --> 00:48:53,396 in more than just one language. 892 00:48:53,464 --> 00:48:54,964 -And then a "T" here? -Yeah. 893 00:48:55,033 --> 00:48:59,468 Perhaps, um, T-U-D. "Tud." 894 00:48:59,537 --> 00:49:02,838 -A possible translation is... 895 00:49:02,907 --> 00:49:07,009 "From Titus, to Viridius, the son of Budic Tuda." 896 00:49:09,180 --> 00:49:11,814 The text's layout and few legible words 897 00:49:11,883 --> 00:49:16,218 indicate the inscription was for a monument. 898 00:49:16,287 --> 00:49:20,156 It was discarded at the time, but centuries later, 899 00:49:20,224 --> 00:49:23,926 it's exciting proof of a sophisticated culture. 900 00:49:23,995 --> 00:49:27,930 -This is a lovely "A." That's a really nice style. 901 00:49:27,999 --> 00:49:30,533 -This is the style of lettering 902 00:49:30,601 --> 00:49:33,035 that they're using in manuscript at the time. 903 00:49:33,104 --> 00:49:34,670 It might even have been designed 904 00:49:34,739 --> 00:49:38,140 to be a deliberate Biblical connotation. 905 00:49:38,209 --> 00:49:41,844 -It takes time and skill to inscribe stone, 906 00:49:41,913 --> 00:49:44,714 and money to pay for it. 907 00:49:44,782 --> 00:49:48,718 The writer was part of a complex and wealthy society 908 00:49:48,786 --> 00:49:52,388 that valued both faith and craftsmanship. 909 00:49:56,294 --> 00:49:58,094 -And this coming out of the Dark Ages 910 00:49:58,162 --> 00:50:00,896 when we used to think people were living in hovels, 911 00:50:00,965 --> 00:50:03,466 scratching around, illiterate. 912 00:50:03,534 --> 00:50:05,134 -Yeah. But actually created 913 00:50:05,203 --> 00:50:08,170 by a literate Christian elite at Tintagel. 914 00:50:08,239 --> 00:50:11,407 -I wonder who did it? I want to know. 915 00:50:11,476 --> 00:50:13,075 -Perhaps Titus. 916 00:50:17,482 --> 00:50:19,915 -So we're seeing these sort of debased forms 917 00:50:19,984 --> 00:50:22,084 of Latin inscription surviving in Cornwall. 918 00:50:22,153 --> 00:50:23,919 But it does tell us that what we've got there 919 00:50:23,988 --> 00:50:25,621 is a literate society. 920 00:50:25,690 --> 00:50:28,524 They're not at the margins of anything. 921 00:50:28,593 --> 00:50:32,028 -Civilization didn't collapse when the Romans left Britain. 922 00:50:34,232 --> 00:50:37,800 Tintagel in the west stayed connected, thriving 923 00:50:37,869 --> 00:50:39,435 and interacting with Europe 924 00:50:39,504 --> 00:50:44,006 as it had probably done for centuries. 925 00:50:44,075 --> 00:50:47,476 The archaeology has revealed so much about Tintagel 926 00:50:47,545 --> 00:50:49,712 in the Dark Ages. 927 00:50:49,781 --> 00:50:51,914 The prominence and stature of the buildings 928 00:50:51,983 --> 00:50:53,516 being unearthed here, 929 00:50:53,584 --> 00:50:55,518 along with the high-value pottery 930 00:50:55,586 --> 00:50:58,854 indicating the apparent wealth of their residents, 931 00:50:58,923 --> 00:51:02,124 may help explain another mystery -- 932 00:51:02,193 --> 00:51:05,528 the connection to Geoffrey of Monmouth's King Arthur. 933 00:51:05,596 --> 00:51:09,265 -The dig at Tintagel is showing us that this rocky promontory 934 00:51:09,333 --> 00:51:14,570 sticking out into the Atlantic was not only a trading hub, 935 00:51:14,639 --> 00:51:18,574 but also a remarkably high-status site. 936 00:51:18,643 --> 00:51:21,243 So perhaps there was someone, 937 00:51:21,312 --> 00:51:25,381 someone powerful, who much later would inspire 938 00:51:25,450 --> 00:51:27,883 that myth of King Arthur. 939 00:51:31,022 --> 00:51:33,422 -King Arthur was a construct, 940 00:51:33,491 --> 00:51:37,827 created from fragments of the written historical past. 941 00:51:37,895 --> 00:51:40,863 But Geoffrey chose Tintagel for his birthplace 942 00:51:40,932 --> 00:51:44,834 because it really was a seat of power in the Dark Ages. 943 00:51:49,006 --> 00:51:51,640 -And that in a way is what we're talking about 944 00:51:51,709 --> 00:51:52,808 when we're discussing Arthur. 945 00:51:52,877 --> 00:51:55,144 He is the literary creation 946 00:51:55,213 --> 00:51:57,980 based on that kind of primary evidence. 947 00:52:00,818 --> 00:52:04,353 Whether or not he was real I think is irrelevant. 948 00:52:04,422 --> 00:52:06,522 It's the period itself that -- that is essential. 949 00:52:06,591 --> 00:52:09,125 That's what draws archaeologists and historians to it. 950 00:52:12,930 --> 00:52:14,663 It's so important for understanding 951 00:52:14,732 --> 00:52:18,267 what made Britain today. 952 00:52:18,336 --> 00:52:21,203 -The biggest revolution in Dark Age archaeology 953 00:52:21,272 --> 00:52:24,073 has been this recognition that Britain is fully connected 954 00:52:24,142 --> 00:52:26,208 to the continent all the way through. 955 00:52:26,277 --> 00:52:31,947 ♪♪ 956 00:52:32,016 --> 00:52:35,751 -The maritime connections are absolutely crucial here. 957 00:52:35,820 --> 00:52:40,055 Tintagel is connected down to France and Spain 958 00:52:40,124 --> 00:52:42,558 and up to Wales, Scotland and Ireland. 959 00:52:42,627 --> 00:52:47,096 It's right at the center of this Atlantic trading network. 960 00:52:49,400 --> 00:52:51,400 -But in the east of the country, 961 00:52:51,469 --> 00:52:55,571 the connections were to Northern Europe -- the Angles and Saxons, 962 00:52:55,640 --> 00:52:58,440 with their very different beliefs and culture. 963 00:52:58,509 --> 00:53:03,579 ♪♪ 964 00:53:03,648 --> 00:53:08,384 All the archaeological evidence points to two societies 965 00:53:08,452 --> 00:53:11,353 not facing each other across a battlefield, 966 00:53:11,422 --> 00:53:14,490 but living very different lives. 967 00:53:14,559 --> 00:53:17,159 -It's an economic divide between two halves of Britain, 968 00:53:17,228 --> 00:53:18,861 two distinct trade outlooks. 969 00:53:18,930 --> 00:53:21,830 It's not a picture of conflict. 970 00:53:26,871 --> 00:53:31,707 -The two halves of Britain are looking in different directions, 971 00:53:31,776 --> 00:53:35,077 going outwards rather than clashing in the middle. 972 00:53:38,449 --> 00:53:41,817 -I think if you look at the sea instead of the land, 973 00:53:41,886 --> 00:53:44,453 and the rivers instead of the land, 974 00:53:44,522 --> 00:53:47,156 I think you have a much better chance of understanding 975 00:53:47,225 --> 00:53:49,225 where people are coming from. 976 00:53:49,293 --> 00:53:54,430 ♪♪ 977 00:53:54,498 --> 00:53:58,567 -At Tintagel, the excavations are complete. 978 00:53:58,636 --> 00:54:00,169 The new discoveries have revealed 979 00:54:00,238 --> 00:54:01,570 that rather than being filled 980 00:54:01,639 --> 00:54:04,340 with violent conflict and turmoil, 981 00:54:04,408 --> 00:54:08,544 the Dark Ages were a time of trade and continuity. 982 00:54:08,613 --> 00:54:10,879 Somewhere between the archaeology, 983 00:54:10,948 --> 00:54:15,317 written history and myth, a new truth has emerged. 984 00:54:15,386 --> 00:54:17,019 -There are elements in there that all feed 985 00:54:17,088 --> 00:54:18,654 into one another and all help -- 986 00:54:18,723 --> 00:54:21,824 help us to understand the past, and you've got to try and master 987 00:54:21,892 --> 00:54:24,226 all these things to really get a clear understanding 988 00:54:24,295 --> 00:54:26,362 of what's going on, 989 00:54:26,430 --> 00:54:30,266 especially something like the 5th or 6th century. 990 00:54:30,334 --> 00:54:34,103 -But the myth of King Arthur endures. 991 00:54:34,171 --> 00:54:40,909 ♪♪ 992 00:54:40,978 --> 00:54:42,077 -It's a myth. 993 00:54:42,146 --> 00:54:44,446 But it's such a wonderful myth. 994 00:54:47,718 --> 00:54:52,254 -He's a literary invention -- a romantic hero 995 00:54:52,323 --> 00:54:55,190 who embodies the ideal of kingship, 996 00:54:55,259 --> 00:54:59,295 and not a real historical figure. 997 00:54:59,363 --> 00:55:01,730 -It's still something that resonates today 998 00:55:01,799 --> 00:55:04,199 because we all sort of need an heroic character 999 00:55:04,268 --> 00:55:07,002 to defend what we think is right and good, 1000 00:55:07,071 --> 00:55:09,405 and it's Arthur who sort of fills that void.