Aired on BBC Two, History Cold Case is a series that sees the skeletons of everyday people from across the ages analysed in staggering detail, opening new windows on the history of our forebears by literally revealing the person behind the skeleton.
This is a fabulous series, with each episode bringing the daily lives, times and history surrounding each skeleton to life. Wonderful for history lovers and medical enthusiasts. Many thanks to Jo Manning for bringing this to our attention!
You’ll find the link to the full playlist here.
More about the series:
The fascinating work of world-renowned Professor Sue Black OBE and her team at the Center for Human Anatomy and Identification at the University of Dundee comes under the spotlight as the team works on answering three big questions from the skeleton.
Who were they? Why did they die? What does their life story tell us that we didn’t know before? Using the full arsenal of modern forensic anthropology, remarkable stories emerge from long forgotten bones, along with the faces of people who haven’t been seen for hundreds of years.
Ipswich Man. An apparently African skeleton, unearthed near a medieval English monastery, pushes Professor Sue Black’s forensics team to its limits.
Mummified Child. This time the team heads back into a dark corner of the 19th century, to a time when corpses were turned into trophies and children were sold by the inch.
Stirling Man. Mysterious skeleton discovered by accident in a series of forgotten rooms in Scotland’s Stirling Castle.
Crossbones Girl. 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 Skeletons of Windy Pits. For decades experts have remained baffled by a jumble of human bones discovered in a unique series of caves on the North York Moors, known as the Windypits.
The York 113. In 2008, construction workers just beyond York’s city walls uncovered 113 bodies in a mass grave.
The Bodies in the Well. When the remains of 17 people – men, women and 11 children, one as young as two years old – were discovered in a dry well shaft in Norwich city centre, the local community were keen for answers about who these people were and what happened to them.
The Woman and Three Babies. In the sleepy commuter town of Baldock in Hertfordshire the History Cold Case team is called in to investigate the discovery of a skeleton dating from around 100AD, buried in a bizarre position, along with the remains of three babies.
Fabulous series! Yes, hour-long segments, but well worth your time!