Secrets of the Dead

Ancient hominid fossils ignite controversy over the origins of humankind.

Did a genetic mutation save an English village from the Great Plague -- and could it help save the world from the scourge of AIDS?

Almost a hundred years later, investigators are employing new DNA forensic techniques to name the unidentified victims of the Titanic disaster.

Experts explore ancient Rome's great fire and question who was responsible -- the emperor Nero or the Christians he blamed the disaster on.

In March 1912, on their return trip from the South Pole, Captain Robert F. Scott and his team froze to death in Antarctica just 11 miles from a depot of food and heating oil. Scott's fatal journey has become the stuff of legend, and some have labeled him an incompetent leader whose mistakes cost him and his team their lives. But are the criticisms fair, or has history judged him too harshly?

In 1943, a British aircraft designer developed a weapon that would allow the Allies to deliver a blow to the very heart of Nazi Germany.

The Battle of Towton in North Yorkshire, fought during the Wars of the Roses, was reputedly the bloodiest battle ever seen on English soil. In 1996 a mass grave of soldiers was discovered there by chance. This was the catalyst for a multi-disciplinary research project, still unique in Britain ten years after the initial discovery, which included a study of the skeletal remains, the battlefield landscape, the historical evidence and contemporary arms and armour. The discoveries were dramatic and moving; the individuals had clearly suffered traumatic deaths and subsequent research highlighted the often multiple wounds each individual had received before and, in some cases, after they had died. As well as the exciting forensic work the project also revealed much about medieval weaponry and fighting. Blood Red Roses contains all the information about this fascinating discovery, as well as discussing its wider historical, heritage and archaeological implications.