Meet the ancestors

The ancestors lie all around the British, sometimes in obvious places, such as graveyards or under ancient burial mounds, but sometimes in the most unexpected places. For over 200 generations the ancestors dead were buried with care and ceremony and in a way that ensured the survival of their remains. Every year in the British Isles thousands of these burial places are unearthed and because of recent scientific advances not only can physical remains be pieced together but also an amazingly accurate portrait of their day to day lives, and the kind of environment in which they lived. In this book we share the excitement of finding and investigating nine ancient burial sites which span nearly 4000 years of the British past: prehistoric; Roman; Saxon; and medieval. Archaeologist Julian Richards is our detective, piecing together ancient and fragile clues to reveal the secrets behind the bones. Using the tools of modern science X-rays, radiocarbon dating, isotopes and DNA - he builds up an extraordinary detailed picture of ancient people and the lives they led. Finally, experts in facial reconstruction give shape to the often shattered skulls and we can literally Meet The Ancestors!