Unlocking the secrets of a Scottish Cave
The University of Bradford's archaeological expertise has been helping Channel 5 to unearth the ancient past, including tales of prehistoric executions and death rituals.
Underground Britain is a new series beginning on Thursday, 23 October at 8pm and features a project being led by Professor Ian Armit, Professor of Archaeology in the School of Archaeological Sciences.
Professor Armit and Dr Lindsey Büster have been carrying out research at the Sculptor’s Cave, Moray in Scotland, funded by Historic Scotland.
The sea cave has been excavated before, in the 1920s and 1970s, and part of the current project has been to document these excavations, including digitising and scanning the cave. Filming took place over the summer and included many of the artefacts found in the cave, housed at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.
Professor Armit said: “the Sculptor’s Cave is a fascinating location, known for decades for the richness of its archaeology and for the unusual Pictish carvings around its entrance. There were many human remains in the cave, mostly from the Bronze Age when the cave was a significant funerary site.
“Intriguingly, there are also the remains of several decapitated individuals from the Roman Iron Age, who seem to have been executed within the cave”
The hour-long programme is presented by Rob Bell and as well as Professor Armit’s project includes three other underground investigations.