Archaeologists Find 97 Ancient Remains Buried Beneath A Roman Villa | Digging For Britain
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- Опубліковано 26 чер 2024
- When a high-status Roman villa called Yewden was discovered in southern England, it came with a sinister discovery. 97 infant skeletons were uncovered, all mysteriously around 40 weeks old, and likely buried all at once in a hurry. It raises many questions about systematic infanticide during the Roman period. The show also uncovers evidence of Roman expansion in Kent and trade with the Romans in Dorset, along with a significant coin hoard found in Somerset.
00:00 Intro
01:15 Vindolanda
07:30 Yewden Roman Villa
12:00 97 Ancient Remains
18:00 Roman Invasion
25:40 Iron Age Farm
31:40 Roman Treasure
40:20 Roman Shipwreck
44:15 Roman Temple
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Want to follow up on the mystery of the 97 bodies? Check out the episode that dives into what caused their demise here: ua-cam.com/video/ZEvjjjePgfI/v-deo.html
As an American, this show is new to me. Fascinating. And Dr Alice Roberts is just wonderful, and a great communicator.
Mainly because Americas history only started in the 17th century 😂
@@maverick4177There's been people here for 20k years plus.
97 infant burials. Brothel. Also,, never to be discounted, infants have an unusually high mortality to common ailments. A woman, being fetile frequently, has the capacity for 15 to 30 births during her productive years,, but,, equally,, only two or three reach adulthood. In many cultures,, children were not even gven a name until they were one or two years old. Biologically,, an infant is an extra-uterine fetus until the age of about 10 months. Human children are borne early of need because of skull size vs pelvis width. The 97 infant skeletons thus have many possible explanations, hospital to brothel.
Buried roman treasure and Alice Roberts is a winning combination! 😍
So pretty much, England has archeology EVERYWHERE. Pretty cool.
Fascinating documentary even if it is years old! I lived in England years ago for four years and was amazed by all of the archaeology wherever you went. Loved my time there and now am a dedicated Anglophile.
The history of the R1b is fascinating
Can you explain why the British believe everything to be symbolic? Nothing is just as it seems, if it were. The man thrown face down to rot with animals is some sort of positive symbolism to the archaeologist rather than what it appears, which is a man was discarded with beasts for likely violating some law or rules.
The coin horde is a symbolic pot that people just donate their money into? If that’s so, further examples would be found and it would’ve undoubtedly have been noted by Tacitus or in some other Roman accounts.
Someone probably played Robin Hood, stole the money and had to bury it in a hurry with the intent to return.
Either the British or weird or there are some serious mental gymnastics going on in British academia.
@@EricsaidfulThere was an undoubted overuse of the word 'ritual' in archaeological circles in the 1970s and perhaps still is. However, the Romans and peoples of prehistory viewed everything so differently from ourselves that archaeologists are often rightly wary of ascribing motives based on modern assumptions. That said, a Roman burial face down is indeed likely to indicate an outsider to Roman society such as slaves, gladiators, or criminals. Coin hordes can be abandoned troves that the owner was unable to come back to, but votive offerings are also definitely a thing. You must also remember that such as Tacitus are not historians as we think of that term now. They weren't recording a warts and all picture for the future but writing a at least semi-political tome for a contemporary audience. What people outside of the equestrian ranks did with their coins was no part of that and just because Tacitus didn't note something doesn't mean it didn't happen. It's archaeology's job to shed light on unrecorded history.
Fascinating stuff, but the programme is from the summer of 2010. Would love an update on what has been discovered about these sites/finds since the programme was made.
Time team dug an almost an identical coin hoard, burried in a large pot just like that. It was also believed to have been pot buried first, then coins added.
Alice Robert’s and Neil Oliver are apart some of the best documentaries … they actually cared about facts, truth and objectivity.. I recommend everyone to watch both of their documentaries they have been apart of..
Alice Roberts and Neil Oliver are two of my favourite people
Dr Alice Roberts is the thinking man's crumpet 😍
Neil Oliver...facts...spare me
its a pity neither do much documentary work now, but ten years ago they were both at the top of the presenting world, brilliant.
Ms. Robert’s is such a delightful host & expert. Makes it easier to believe her!😎
My face hurts from smiling. So interesting and beautiful and is a story that will never end so long as there's such things as shovels. And brushes and sifters and all of those hands, young and old committed to the work. Every once in a while this internet thing is actually worth the trouble.
I got an idea that guy in the pit was the very last one to bury anybody he didn't have no one to bury him he just jumped in the hole and mother nature covered him up
I hope everybody realizes this is meant to be a joke
The opening line is so true. Small island(s) HUGE HISTORY!! Can’t wait to get back to GB and see more of it!
Outstanding show and presenter. As someone who loves ancient coins it's always nice to see some featured in an archaeology show.
Every time you dig a hole in Great Britain you have at least a 50% chance of finding some history. 🙂👍👍
An EXCELLENT presentation by one of the best-ever old Time Team members Dr Alice Roberts
You forgot also one of the hottest 😊
I watched all of the older one’s they were entertaining and good I don’t like the newer episode’s they aren’t like the way they were before and although I don’t have anything against the person in Tony’s place I don’t really like him replacing him it’s just not the same as Tony.
I am watching her on TV the latest docu is about fortresses in Britain.
Dr Alice. Gorgeous and bloody intelligent.
@@ihatethisjobbutitpaysthebi4463 professor*
The freshness of the doctors voice is an absolute aural delight.
The presentation of this, your other sites is so well organized. I enjoy them so much. Thank you!
how fascinating really enjoyed it thank you
How absolutely fascinating thank you for putting this on youtube. To have stumbled across that coin haul, well I can't imagine it's so amazing. I realised that this programme was made some years ago. However, it is still very interesting and gives me the shivers just to think of all the marvelous things that lie just beneath our feet and beneath the sea. And, I do hope that the ship made its way back to Guernsey in the end. Thank you again for sharing this.❤😊
I metal detect all over the BRITISH ISLES for over 35+ years and I've got bags and bags of stuff in the loft .And I've found some amazing stuff which I'm not going to mention here because there's eye's and ears watching.But I'll have to get my relic's looked at by professional the most typical things you find are ROMAN CLASPS,MUSKET BALLS,VIKING,ROMAN,CELT & PAGAN stuff...
@@ORDEROFTHEKNIGHTSTEMPLAR13 Sounds like you might be one of those detectorists who give the law-abiding members of the hobby a bad reputation...
Brilliant! Loved every moment of this documentary. Love from Canada!
Brilliant! Such a treat to see Michael's devilish carefree smile that we so rarely get to glimpse. Dear Michael, you shouldn't start taking requests unless you can find some way to monetize it! ❤ to see you smiling! Warms me.
Such a gripping presentation and explanations of things, some of which I was aware of back in the 1970's in Northumberland, but did not understand the significance. Our lives are consumed by employment and only now, in retirement, is there time for me to learn all this new information. You can work for too long in intense work and miss out.
I have an hypothesis concerning the adult male buried in one of the storage pits atop "a pile of meat" of cattle, horse, pig, etc., excavated in Dorset by Bournemouth University in this video. We likely have a similar burial in mid-17th century Massachusetts (USA) of an offender for "bestiality," if Early Modern British examples are anything to go on. The historic record describes a public execution of a young adult male for bestiality with an array of livestock described, if I recall correctly, as similar to that found in Dorset. At the execution, the animals were all killed, thrown into a grave pit, and the executed convicted man's body thrown in on top of the carcasses before burial. Though early modern era, mid-17th C Massachusetts was at its most reactive Puritan period. Following Biblical interpretations was the order of the day. The Old Testament specified just such an execution: "And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death, and ye shall slay the beast." (Leviticus 20: 13, 15-16).
That's highly unlikely! This burial was about 2000 years ago, as they state, before or just around when emperor Claudius invaded - 1700 years before the one you are talking about.
Back then there was hardly any Christianity around, in fact those early Christians were persecuted by the Romans.
Anyway, nothing in the show dates after the Romans, who abandoned Britain in 383 AD, and Constantine was the first Christian emperor.
Puritans were a subgroup of Anglican Christians, and the Anglican church was only started by Henry VIII, 1700 or so years after this burial here.
All that's shown here is either pre Christian or some very very early Christian influence.
I'm not suggesting it has ANYTHING to do with Christianity. Perhaps it's an echo of a traditional taboo. What I'm saying is that it has archaeological similarities. @@WernerKaffl
@@nonsibi1087 I gathered that, but a gap of some 1700 years and this having been discovered in 2 very distant locations makes it highly unlikely.
This person could have just stumbled into the pit, got trapped and found a bad end. Point is, we don’t know. Bridging 2 so distant events based on assumption is just that, an assumption, and imo a rather far fetched one.
As for Christianity, the Old Testament quote describes the penalty for bestiality, of course. It's not New Testament. There's much in Leviticus that is not consistent with modern Christian behavior. The mid-17thC Massachusetts Bay Puritan leaders, however, were very much into the Old Testament and criminal penalties were enacted accordingly for about a decade before the populace rejected such thinking. @@WernerKaffl
@@nonsibi1087 that may well have been the case in Massachusetts, but not in roman or pre roman britain.
There was no Old Testament around like a book. Back then the Old Testament was part of the Jewish faith. We’re talking bronze and iron age, this stuff did travel slow in those times, let alone it being implemented into an entirely different culture.
Apart from that, I’m not aware of this having happened even in the regions where it’s been written down.
No offense, but this british pit is simply unexplained, because thereno evidence for what really happened. Using a scripture that’s even older doesn’t create a link.
Apart from that, we don’t even know if sodomy was even a thing back in iron age time Britain, and if it were, we have no inkling if it was frowned upon or not.
Honestly, you have a skeleton in ironage Britain, in a rather unusual place wino evidence how it got there. Then you have an obviously documented case of someone having been punished by religious zealots , half a world away and 1700 years later. And last you have an even older text, in a religious book that’s been adopted by another religious group many centuries later, which has been translated numerous times in antiquity and which credibility is questionable at best in many of its contents. The latter actively changed by christian clerics to fit their narrative (there’s not a single bible out there containing all originsl texts)…
Tbh, a connection here is more than very far fetched.
Human remains have been found mixed up with animal remains on other occasions too, reaching back to way earlier, like stone age. None were linked to each other and it didn’t come out as anything intentional, none of those seem to have any connection to each other.
Assuming a connection just because something looks sort of similar to something else, without any supporting fact whatsoever (because there are no such facts in the British case), paints a wrong picture and misleads. Yoh can’t just go and make it look like there’s a fact where there simply is none.
I want to visit Vindolanda at some point. One of the best preserved Ancient Roman forts in the world, if not the best, for the preservation of ancient artefacts, I believe.
Hadrian's Wall is literally within easy walking distance of my home. Over my 65 years I've visited all the sites and have even walked the entire length. It's well worth the effort to visit but make sure you are here for a week. Make it in the summer, July or August are best for the weather. Months named after Roman Emperors.
brilliant really enjoyed it thank you
Always good history shows.
I'm so glad I found this channel. New subscriber. ! 👍
thank you for the wonderful trip in history
THESE DOCUS ARE WONDERFUL...❤
Nicely done!!
Excellent program.
The show was quite good and informative.
Enjoyed this one Alice 😊
I love Alice’s enthusiasm, she is to archeology what Brian Cox is to Astronomy.
Excellent!
THANK U, SHARE,SHARE
Sad to see our modern roads destroying archeology like this. Atleast they get to save what they can, and record it. Also...I thought Egypt was the bread basket of the Roman empire? Also...Alice is absolutely gorgeous.
Fantastic
I am now smitten by Dr Alice Roberts after watching this. What a lovely, eloquent lady she is.
👍👌👏 Extremely interesting!
Alice Robers in Unearthed History is a better successor of Tony Robinson of TimeTeam as no artificial time limitations were set but full work is being documented. Same enthusiasm and clear presentation.
Thank you very much, I havn`t seen this particular episode before - but anything presented by Prof, Alice Roberts is always worth watching - anything !!!!!! :)
🤣🤣🤣
Wonderfull documetary which bring the Romans back to live for us.
😊to Alice Roberts once again a great tour of britan mostly covering Roman occupation very interesting a lot of the comments made were a little on Alice but no one has mentioned that she is a paleantologist and deals mainly with human bones and skulls found all over the world and is a expert in her field you will notice when she was shown some of the 97 remains of babies bagged up she accurately picked out a thin piece of bone and she said that it was a babies skull and was correct kind regards and can’t wait for more of the same
i live in the next town over on the isle of thanet and i remember this going on.. awesomely interesting and wish i could of been involved .. amazing that its right on my doorstep
wow what a great and interesting programme gotta love the Roman era
I'm going to propose the deceased infant number is so high perhaps because the large estate may of had a very large number of slaves over multiple generations who were not permitted to keep children, maybe they could had been either subject to forced liaison's with an owner or high profile guests, family of the slave owner or even direct forced prostitution commercially, any one of these could produce the high number of 97 over decades or generations.
In case anyone is interested...... This is Season 1, Episode 1......
I just love listening to Alice Roberts.
I have such a girl crush on Alice Roberts. Anyhoo, it must be amazing to live in the multi-layered U.K. Just putting in some roses and you find a Roman villa. Great show for the archeology nerds out there. Very well produced, informative and fun.
Yeah. Alice is the complete package. Isn't she, just? No wonder you have a crush. Join the crowd.
Has she had "chest enhancements" since last time we saw her?
Lol just imagine what a crush a straight guy has on her; ever since her pink hair days.
There was a village we stopped off on a road trip riding around europe where we entered a little museum, they had uncovered a lot of baby remains which they said were due to a brothel at roman camp. It has to be the same.
I think they might have been playing baby ball
Just shows u that human nature still hasn't changed at all. Unbelievable. Same thing is happening now
murder means unlawful killing. killing those neonates wasn't murder. -
Ancient Roman society had different attitudes and practices regarding childbirth and child-rearing compared to contemporary standards. While infanticide was not openly condoned or encouraged, it was not uncommon for unwanted or unhealthy newborns to be abandoned or exposed, particularly in times of hardship or among disadvantaged populations.
Exposure, the act of leaving an infant in a public place to die or be taken in by someone else, was practiced in various cultures throughout antiquity, including ancient Rome. The decision to expose a newborn might be motivated by factors such as poverty, illegitimacy, disability, or the desire to control family size.
It's worth noting that there were some attempts in ancient Rome to regulate and address the issue of infanticide and abandonment. For example, the Roman emperor Augustus implemented laws known as the "Lex Julia" and the "Lex Papia Poppaea," which aimed to encourage marriage and childbearing among Roman citizens while penalizing celibacy and childlessness. These laws also imposed penalties on those who abandoned or killed their offspring.
However, despite these efforts, infanticide and abandonment continued to occur, especially among marginalized and vulnerable segments of society. Over time, as societal attitudes changed and Christianity became more influential in the Roman Empire, there was a gradual shift towards greater recognition of the sanctity of human life, including the lives of newborns.
In summary, while there was no specific Roman law explicitly forbidding the killing of neonates, there were cultural norms and occasional legal measures aimed at addressing the issue of infant abandonment and infanticide within the broader context of Roman society.
nice introduction to some interesting finds, presented by a very well spoken and attractive woman, great combination, thanks
The large vessel with a small neck could be a theft deterrent, making it hard for a robber to extract a large number quickly and increasing the likelihood of discovery the longer they took. Worn coins were used to pay taxes, only the newer coins stayed in circulation. The administrator would be tasked with grading coins and storing them prior to shipping them back to be recycled. That hoard could be such a store that for whatever reason never left England.
Was the manufacture of the vessel in Britain or from the continent?
This one is beyond saving
Our History is something else
You are one remarkable woman amazing this is 54 year old man from Virginia USA Spotsylvania va
Wow...
So, so, cool 👍🏻💖💗💕💞💓👍🏻
That first find of Cock’s that the museum showed Alice, the label didn’t say 35 INCHES it said 35’!! That’s 35 FEET. Inches are labelled “, feet are’. Just saying.
I could listen to Alice read the dictionary
🤣🤣🤣
Actually she has already. She began with "aarseholes" . Definition: "tedious simping middle-aged men who should know better" eg : " I know I'm a complete aarsehole, but that Alice Roberts prof....cor!!"
‘2 mo ago’, I believe, refers to when it was posted, not when it was made. A younger Alice Roberts can be found on some TimeTeam episodes
The surreptitiously buried infants all being found in the one area to me suggests that what they were excavating was likely an ancient Roman brothel that was ran by a cruel pimp.
If for the hoard they catalogued the layers of coin in bags in stead of takin clumps out they could have dated the the coin of say every year they threw coin in the pot. And see if they were just randomly put in or yearly
It looked as though they bagged them layer by layer and washed and sorted them one bag at a time. I expect as they sorted them they would have made note of emperors per bag/per layer. It's over 52,000 coins after all.
If I recall correctly, the 'Time Team' crew replicated the Frome Hoard during one episode.
Woman make great archeologists as they never forget the past 😮
Great stuff, pleased this documentary spared us of the American drama scenes, silly animations and reenactments along with their usual fingertip informative delivery.
Curious what Dr, alice Roberts looks like today? Enjoyed her trek thru Bril History of Roman occupation
Really glad they illustrated fire at 42:31, I didn't know what fire looked like.
If a record was kept of the depth at which the coins were in the pot it might be possible to date their deposit by emperor. Was such a record maintained, say by bag? This fits one of the theories mentioned, gradual deposit as part of a long-term ritual?
Bags (layers )get numbered and recorded .However Roman coins were kept in circulation until they were completely worn out . Even republican coins (for example )where still accepted in the time of the late Empire. So finding older coins doesn't mean they came from the era they where minted. Only the newest coin can tell us when they stopped hoarding. Obviously many coins from a certain era and the state they'r in can give us some indications, .
I recognize Miles from Time Team.
So nice to hear English on YT. My dear Queen could do a super 'My husband and I'.
Dave Crisp is a detectorist of the highest rank. Made a discovery, exercised caution, went straight to representatives of the portable antiquities scheme; and deferred to the archaeologists. Wish that all detectorists had the same selfless attitude, but instead of contributing to a holistic understanding of the nation's archaeological heritage, prefer to make themselves a bit of money on the side. I wonder why the detectorist chose that particular field to survey
Spot on. Some detectorists are simply looters, criminals whose tool is a metal detector. One commenter above alludes to engaging in such practices themselves!
I wish as a detector that all archaeologists would use us to help on their digs but sadly through prejudices known only to themselves they don't
@@user-vd9tg6zv6l Archaeological sites absolutely should be metal detected. Sometimes that means inviting detectorists to help out or, more often, archaeologists themselves will metal detect subsoil during machine stripping, unexcavated features and spoil from excavations.
Could archaeologists and detectorists work together more productively? Definitely. Does the responsibility for improving this relationship fall solely upon archaeologists? Definitely not.
10:52 “35 inches” should be 35 feet. Cox used the common mark for foot (‘); the mark for inches is (“). The speaker is of course more accustomed to SI.
Cocks.
Seems like England is second only to Egypt in rich archeology.
I'd say even more so.
If only I had the means to fund digs, boy oh boy would I!
This film was made in 2010.
The man on the meat was murdered 😮
It’s not uncommon for channels to replay popular videos, and put current dates on them. Some channels break-up longer, popular videos into multiple videos and post them separately, with current dates. It’s a bit unfair, but not exactly fraudulent.
Have you ever wondered why the Romans could build straight roads when nobody else, either before or after the Roman occupation did. Could it be because the Romans, as an occupying power with an invincible army, just didn't care about local ownership rights? Thoughts anybody?
Is it known how early people were allowed to “own” real estate? Probably differed from territory to territory. Perhaps territory was held by the local “king”. In any case, if he wanted to award a significant stretch of land to a friend or ally, the people who lived there didn’t own much of anything.
So in Roman times, the legions could out-power any local tribal authority and take the right-of-way without any compensation whatever. The Romans would have seen the road as an improvement to existing infrastructure.
The farmer farmed what he and his children could handle. But if his children died, or if he died while they were young, the use of the land would be handed over to someone who had the forces to work it. The widow’s choices were limited. She would not have “inherited” either the land, or even the cottage. Personal ownership of property was centuries in the future.
What is someone buried the coins but did not know what they were doing. Or was in a hurry and found an easily accessible pot.
Perhaps the horde of cash was a communal type of deal maybe they wanted to build a monument statue Church something like that kind of like an early version of taxes LOL
😊❤
When did Roman soldiers wear " HOB NAIL " boots ? Let alone boots considering your talking about Roman soldiers. Wow wonders never cease!!
Caligae.
Has anyone uncovered why 97 14-week-old infants were killed? I want to understand why at that particular age they died????
I thought they said 40 weeks, which is full term gestation. This would indicate they died at birth.
I concur with 40 weeks. Newborns, killed at birth. Since herbs to induce abortions in the first trimester were well known back then (with iffy efficacy), that suggests the brothel had a substantial number of young women who might not have had the ability to care for themselves and likely didn't have any say in what happened to their infants.
Alice is a treasure herself.
Since this is an older show, do any of you know the final conclusions were regarding the 97 infant children?
Yes.
Yes, any new information on the 97 baby bones found in the archeological site
I looked it up as best I could. Though Cocks noted that he found 97 remains, the archives have only 35 and there are questions about whether he counted fragments as well as whole skeletons and thus overcounted.
The villa was occupied for a long time and was an operational farm and sometimes administrative center. Romans practiced infanticide of deformed children and children who weren't wanted, so, over some 200 years, the infants could have been the unwanted children of slaves, unmarried women, or prostitutes. The Romans did have contraceptives, but they had a significant failure rate. The brothel hypothesis comes from the location, handy for travelers and soldiers, and from the discovery of the remains of over a hundred infants in the sewer near a Roman brothel excavated in Israel.
You cant tell me that there wasnt cross channel trade in these days 😊
Britain the bread basket of the Romans? I seem to recall that Egypt was the bread basket of Rome, with grain ships arriving regularly throughout the milder seasons of the year.
Of the Roman army in North Western Europe.
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I'm in love that woman is glowing
The young lady speaking, is so wonderful and beautiful. I love You
What are the rules about the ownership of the coins?
If the museum want to keep the coins they have to give the finder and landowner full market value.
@@hetrodoxlysonov-wh9oo Thanks.
I’ve always wondered if the Romans gave us four walls that are now ubiquitous.
Well ADRIAN WALL was to keep the PIC'S OUT (SAVAGE SCOTS) 😂😂😂
as ugly as it may sound those baby remains may well have been unwanted bits from a nearby bordello etc. as we know there were such in proximity to Roman forts so it could be a logical answer to the number of infant burials.
I think the coins were hidden to take them out of circulation because of rampant inflation. I think a lot of useless coins were treated like that.
In the last king James bible edition unknown stated how to turn stone to jewelry with heat of lave state there would be a coldren center somewhere where they would add stone to the pot. Removing of the liquid lava rock quickly cold freezing the stone tons old glass state of shape.
Are majority of the population stuck in rigamortis imagine the state of a body to where the classified bones after the deterioration state of flesh was removed in place in some of these. As if the lower edge of the vertebrae of rib cage would be deteriorated more towards the lower section of where the belly would be towards the floor indicating a natural cause death of the deterioration of not only flesh but blown the capability of it going from the calcified state of green bone marrow structure to the solid stone form as it absorbed other materials as it stoned.
My first thought for the baby skeletons was that there was a doctor or midwife living there, and a lot of babies were dying in childbirth?