Hadrian's Wall - Birdoswald, Cumbria
Episode 5 · 2000-01-30

- Documentary
- Mystery
Episode overview
The team carry out the first-ever excavation of a cemetery at a Roman fort. This one is a World Heritage Site on Hadrian's Wall, delineating Roman Britain's northern boundary. Dead soldiers would have been cremated, and Jackie makes an experimental funeral pyre with cuts of meat. Unfortunately a downpour extinguishes the flames; but a second attempt succeeds. Stewart is more interested in the erosion of the land, which may have been caused by flooding or an earthquake. After some frustrating dead ends, they eventually piece together a plausible description of the site, recovering some interesting finds before time runs out on the third day. They are joined by site director Tony Wilmott and Roman finds expert Lindsay Allason-Jones.
50 minutes
Season 7 episodes
1. A Muslim Port In Spain - Denia, Spain2000-01-02
2. The Mosaic at the Bottom of the Garden - Cirencester, Gloucestershire2000-01-09
3. One of the First Spitfires Lost in France - Wierre-Effroy, France2000-01-16
4. An Iron-Age Roundhouse and a Henge - Waddon, Dorset2000-01-23
5. Hadrian's Wall - Birdoswald, Cumbria2000-01-30
6. In Search of the Earliest Traces of Mankind - Elveden, Suffolk2000-02-06
7. The Missing Cathedral and the Diabetic Prior - Coventry, West Midlands2000-02-13
8. The Royalists' Last Stand - Basing House, Hampshire2000-02-20
9. A Bronze-Age Barrow and Walkway - Flag Fenn, Cambridgeshire2000-02-27
10. In Search of the Palace of King Offa - Sutton, Hereford2000-03-05
11. A Roman Temple in Sight of the Millennium Dome - Greenwich Park, London2000-03-12
12. Nuns in Northumbria - Hartlepool, County Durham2000-03-19
13. The Roman Fortress of Eboracum - York, Yorkshire2000-03-26