History Cold Case

An apparently African skeleton, unearthed near a medieval English monastery, pushes the forensic team to its limits; the historical trail points to new evidence about British ancestry, and reveals the tragic truth about his death.

A skeleton unearthed in an archaeological dig in the historic borough of Southwark in London sparks a new cold case when it is found to be covered with disfiguring scars. The team use facial reconstruction techniques to find answers.

For decades experts have remained baffled by a jumble of human bones discovered in a unique series of caves on the North York Moors; one discovery in particular stands out - a tangle of bones that might belong to a family from two thousand years ago.

In 2008, construction workers just beyond York's city walls uncovered 113 bodies in a mass grave; the team spots an incredibly rare genetic peculiarity in two of the skeletons and wonders whether they have stumbled on a pair of brothers.

The remains of 17 people are discovered in a dry well shaft in the village of Norwich, England; thought to date from the early 1200s, this becomes a case of suspected medieval murder, but the identity of the dead is the biggest shock of all.

In the town of Baldock in Hertfordshire, the team investigates the discovery of a skeleton dating from around 100 A.D.; it is buried in a bizarre position, along with the remains of three babies.