Meet the Ancestors

Adam Hart-Davies profiles the 10 most important treasures ever unearthed in Britain as voted by a panel of experts from the British Museum.

Richards investigates the remains of the soldiers of Napoleon's army, discovered in a mass grave near Vilnius provide a new perspective on the final days of the dictator's military forces as they attempted to conquer Russia in 1812. Modern technology reveals the varied nationalities of many of the fallen soldiers, while lavish reconstructions of the final battles illustrate one of the greatest disasters in military history.

Richards investigates a grave found a few miles from Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, believed to be the richest Bronze Age burial ever found, owing to the quantity of riches with which the man was buried. The team attempt to find more clues to his identity, and with the haul including the earliest metal objects found in Britain, piece together clues about life for people so far back in time.

Richards uncovers the mysteries of the recently-discovered missing city of Calleva Atrebatum in Hampshire. All that now remains of it is a wall enclosing 100 hectares of empty fields, but with advanced computer graphics to fill in the gaps, the programme rebuilds Calleva, asking why it was abandoned. Supported by current findings, it proves that in its time, Calleva was a city of significance and then goes in search of the reasons for its ultimate demise.

One of the UK's foremost archaeologists reveals what he claims are the first British mummies ever discovered, dating back 3,000 years to the Bronze Age. Overcoming conventional thinking will prove a major problem, but, if his evidence stands up to scientific scrutiny, the perspective on the ancient Britons will be changed for ever.