Of how our land, and its people,

00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:09,600

This is the story of

how Britain came to be.

00:00:11,120 --> 00:00:16,760

Of how our land, and its people,

were forged over thousands

of years of ancient history.

00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:23,880

This Britain

is a strange and alien world.

00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:30,320

A world that contains the epic story

of our distant, pre-historic past.

00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:37,360

We began as hunters

who came from mainland Europe

00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:40,800

before Britain was an island...

00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:45,680

Instead of hunting

mammoth and reindeer in the snow

00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:50,560

he hunted red deer in the wild wood.

00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:57,560

..And continued into a new age,

as the first farmers built

monumental tombs to their ancestors.

00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:01,480

Nothing like this had ever

been seen before in Britain.

00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:05,160

Now the journey continues

00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:08,520

with the next chapter

in our epic story.

00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:12,200

What everybody is waiting for

is the sunrise!

00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:19,920

An age of cosmology when our lives

were ruled by the sun and the stars.

00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:25,720

The birth of earthly power

and social class,

00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:30,040

set against some of the greatest

wonders of the ancient world.

00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,320

I'm going back almost 6,000 years

00:01:47,320 --> 00:01:51,440

to a Britain in the throes of

the Neolithic revolution.

00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:01,080

The first farmers were forging

a whole new relationship

with the land,

00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:07,400

a land that was alive

with spiritual meaning.

00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:10,120

The wild wood

that bordered their fields...

00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:13,360

The boundary between land and sea...

00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:18,000

And mountains

00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:19,840

that touched the very sky.

00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:24,360

Places like the Lake District,

00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:28,800

with its dramatic valleys and crags,

held a special power.

00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:33,040

If your understanding of the world

was rooted in stone,

00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:37,320

then this landscape, that seems

to shout the very word "stone",

00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:39,560

would have seemed

especially important.

00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:44,080

And here in the central fells

the shout is particularly clear.

00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:50,200

Archaeologist Mark Edmonds

has spent 30 years on the trail

00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:55,480

of the ancient people who came here

in search of something very special.

00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:59,440

5,000, 6,000 years ago, chances are

no-one is living here full time.

00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:02,680

They come here because the highest

ground probably has good grazing.

00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:06,360

But what drew them up here was not

the chance of living here full time,

00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:08,360

that would happen many years later.

00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:11,520

It was the stone that

brought them up, that they came for.

00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:21,360

Over 5,000 years ago,

Neolithic people

climbed these same precarious paths.

00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:26,960

What they were heading for

were high outcrops of volcanic rock

called Greenstone.

00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:32,880

The crags that are worked the most

are some of their highest

and most difficult to get to.

00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:38,440

I think that's part of

the attraction of the place,

that it involves risk and danger.

00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:41,840

OK, so nearly there. Mmm-hmm.

Nearly there.

00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:47,920

The debris of ancient stone-working

still lies all around.

00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:51,800

Hundreds of off-cuts

of very special stone axes.

00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:00,880

This is what we've climbed for.

Look at this stuff, this is amazing!

00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:04,040

I know, it's ridiculous, isn't it?

It's the volume of it.

00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:08,000

So every single bit of this is

the result of people making tools?

00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,640

There was stone to be had that

could be worked to a fine finish.

00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:15,280

This was a must have raw material?

It's an extraordinary raw material.

00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:20,560

So this whole area

was an axe factory? Yep.

00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:25,960

You don't find many of the axes

themselves up here,

00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:28,640

but fortunately

I have brought some with me.

00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:32,160

And this is what we call

in the trade a rough-out.

00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:35,400

So that's halfway through

the process of making?

00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:37,880

Yeah. It's absolutely exquisite.

00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:41,040

It's a thing of beauty,

unfinished or not.

00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:45,960

This is what they looked like

when they left the crags.

00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:47,600

Pop that down there.

00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:52,680

Once you get into the Lowlands

where people would have been living,

00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:57,320

that's when the more glacial,

slow process of grinding, polishing

00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:00,840

would be undertaken to

get them down to something like that.

00:05:00,840 --> 00:05:04,360

How long does it take

to get from that

00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:07,480

to the finished article?

You can see in the two forms

00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:10,560

already the idea of what it's

going to look like is there.

00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:16,200

In accustomed hands you can make

one of these in about 45 minutes,

flaking as you go.

00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:20,560

This, at least several hundred hours,

possibly even thousands of hours

00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:24,560

to get a good lustre and polish which

brings out the colour of the stone.

00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:28,000

Why go to that effort? It doesn't

make it a better axe, does it?

00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:32,520

It doesn't, it doesn't improve

the effect of the tool.

00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:35,880

I think what's important about these

things is not that they're tools,

00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:39,360

but they were also important because

they were tokens of identity.

00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:42,960

They said something about the people

who made them and used them.

00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:47,600

It wasn't just the stone

that made these axes special,

00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:49,680

but where it came from -

00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:51,600

the sky.

00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:55,920

Although it's a mountain, what we're

dealing with here is a monument,

00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:58,880

a place that draws people up,

draws people together,

00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:01,000

at which they can work the stone

00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:04,000

to produce objects that matter

to them,

00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:06,640

because they say something

about who they are.

00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:11,400

So in sense the journey from the low

country up here, takes several days,

00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:17,120

exposing yourself to danger,

to the risk of falling, to come up

into the clouds sometimes as well,

00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:19,880

is as much a rite of passage

as anything else,

00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:24,480

an activity

that's as much ceremonial, possibly

spiritual as it is practical.

00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:32,520

The Cumbrian axe factory reveals

a relationship between people,

00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:35,560

their landscape, and stone itself.

00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:39,960

This belief system

would change over time.

00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:46,680

It would develop into something

more complex, and for us,

something fantastically enigmatic.

00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:51,800

Something that represents

the beginning of

a whole new age in our history.

00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:55,880

A time experts refer to as

the Age of Astronomy -

00:06:55,880 --> 00:07:00,640

when we moved away from this

more earthly ancestor worship

00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:03,720

towards something much more cosmic.

00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:27,160

What we see is a radical change

in thinking

00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:30,480

that manifested itself

in something staggering -

00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:33,600

the construction of

monuments in stone

00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:37,400

on an unprecedented

and massive scale,

00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:40,320

some of them astronomically aligned.

00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:51,040

What's becoming clear is that for

people living 5,000 years ago,

00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:56,440

this new age

wasn't bringing a new way of

thinking about their ancestors.

00:07:56,440 --> 00:08:00,720

Rather it was a new way of

thinking about themselves

00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:05,320

as individuals within

an increasingly complicated society

00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:08,520

and an internationally

connected world.

00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:12,680

All of that,

and the universe itself.

00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:18,120

Where did we fit into time

and into the cosmos?

00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:27,520

In a valley just beneath

the greenstone axe factory,

00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:30,440

there's evidence of

these new ideas.

00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:44,240

Places like this

have an atmosphere.

00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:46,800

When you happen across one

in the landscape

00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:51,240

it makes you pause and think

and wonder -

00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:53,600

you know, what's going on?

00:08:55,800 --> 00:09:01,760

Stone circles are almost unknown

outside Britain and Ireland,

00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:04,520

but we have hundreds of them.

00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:08,000

And they're often found in

the most dramatic of locations.

00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:14,120

First of all, this place,

these stones, mattered.

00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:18,680

This is quite a small stone circle,

but still the effort involved

00:09:18,680 --> 00:09:22,920

suggests you don't go moving things

this size just for fun.

00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:25,400

And building monumental

structures like this

00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:28,760

was part of a tradition that lasted

for over a thousand years.

00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:37,680

5,000 years ago, people living here

in Cumbria, and all over Britain,

00:09:37,680 --> 00:09:41,200

were making spiritual connections

that had never been made before,

00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:45,760

not just between their

lives and the land,

00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:48,360

but between their lives

and the sky,

00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:50,240

the cosmos as well.

00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:56,640

Perhaps the very idea of heaven.

00:10:01,560 --> 00:10:05,760

This is a new Britain, the Neolithic

reaching its very height,

00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:09,600

and it's one of the most

mysterious and glorious periods

00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:11,200

in all of pre-history.

00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:20,360

Welcome to the Orkney islands,

off the northern tip of Scotland.

00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:23,040

I've come here

to explore a landscape that holds

00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:27,320

some of the best-preserved

Stone Age structures in Britain.

00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:31,320

Here there are relics of the lives

and the beliefs

00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:34,720

of people who lived here

at the very height of the Neolithic.

00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:44,920

Orkney is a wild place,

whipped by North Atlantic winds.

00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:48,040

Even from the air

there's not a tree to be seen.

00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:53,480

But it's more than the wind

that's responsible.

00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:00,400

There were trees on Orkney,

once upon a time.

00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:03,360

But it's thought that

the first farmers cut them down

00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:06,200

to prepare fields for crops

and keeping animals

00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:10,440

and given that Orkney's

not a big place, it didn't

take long to clear the lot.

00:11:14,680 --> 00:11:20,520

Fortunately, though, Orkney was rich

in another building material.

00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:23,520

The whole island is made of

this - horizontally bedded,

00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:29,800

fractured sandstone that splits very

easily into useful slabs and sheets.

00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:35,760

And around 3,300 BC the people

living here began to use this stuff

00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:39,920

to build some of the most enduring

structures of the ancient world.

00:11:45,280 --> 00:11:49,800

Magnificent stone tombs

and vast stone circles

00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:53,640

give us a unique insight into an

extraordinary moment in our history,

00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:59,440

When we first turned our

spiritual gaze towards the heavens.

00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:05,920

Here, even domestic houses

have been preserved in stone,

00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:09,640

the very homes of the people

who were pioneering this new age.

00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:21,040

Some of the most special are perched

on the far west coast of Orkney.

00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:25,560

Here it is, Skara Brae.

00:12:25,560 --> 00:12:27,440

It's an extraordinary place,

00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:30,760

and it lets us get as close

as we could possibly hope to

00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:35,120

to the way domestic life was lived

on Orkney in the Stone Age.

00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:49,400

The village was occupied for

over 600 years, from about 3,100BC.

00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:55,240

What you've got are eight houses

arranged on either side of

a long winding passage,

00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:58,760

and because the whole thing is

semi-subterranean,

00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:03,680

it does a great job of keeping the

wind out, cutting down the draughts.

00:13:03,680 --> 00:13:07,240

'And because there wasn't any

wood available, it wasn't just

00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:11,440

'the houses

that were built of stone,

but everything inside as well.'

00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:14,800

Right.

00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:19,600

This is the inside

of one of the houses.

00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:23,600

What you notice right away

is a big square hearth

for a big roaring fire.

00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:28,200

And these are bed recesses,

places where people would have

laid out their bedding.

00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:30,640

And this arrangement here

00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:33,440

looks a bit like a dresser

because it is a dresser.

00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:36,080

It's directly opposite

the only entrance

00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:39,440

so it's the first thing

that guests see as they enter,

00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:43,200

and on these shelves you would put

the things that mattered,

00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:46,880

the equivalent of somewhere to

put the good wedding china.

00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:51,840

Everything about this design, this

house, is so clever and so human.

00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:59,400

But wonderful and evocative

though this place undoubtedly is,

00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:03,560

it's all a bit too neat and tidy, a

bit sterile, the grass is too mown.

00:14:03,560 --> 00:14:06,440

The first time I came here

I heard a song in my head,

00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:09,320

and I've heard it every time since -

it's Flintstones,

00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:12,000

meet the Flintstones,

modern Stone Age famil-ee.

00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:15,120

What you want here

in addition to the sights

00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:18,320

are the sounds of conversation

and lives being lived,

00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:20,520

the smells of that human activity.

00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:24,200

But we can get closer.

00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:28,120

You all right? Yeah, lead on!

00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:33,560

'Alison Sheridan, a specialist

in pre-historic artefacts,

is showing me one house

00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:37,920

'that's so well-preserved people

aren't usually allowed inside.'

00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:40,320

It's not the easiest place

to get into, is it?

00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:43,120

No, but it's cosy!

00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:48,440

So what would life have been like

for the Skara Brae residents,

do you think?

00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:52,080

It would've been pretty comfortable

by the standards of the age,

00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:54,800

because you've got

this wonderful central hearth,

00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:58,880

so it may have been dark

because of the roof

but it would have been warm.

00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:02,040

They've also got a convenience,

they have a toilet.

00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:05,560

How do you know that's a toilet

and not a storage space?

00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:09,480

Well, there's a drain underneath it.

00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:12,240

And they did find poo! Really?

00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:15,360

So the hard evidence is there?

Yes.

00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:20,640

'Remarkably, these houses

also contained artefacts,

00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:24,880

'the precious possessions

of the people who were

living here 5,000 years ago.'

00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:29,760

I never found anything

like this in my entire life.

00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:32,800

Miserable bits of broken stone

was all I ever found.

00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:38,000

So what have we got?

Anything but miserable bits of

stone. These are absolutely amazing.

00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:41,320

What are they generally called,

if you were to group them

as a class of find?

00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:43,240

Enigmatic carved stone objects.

00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:47,520

Only because archaeologists

haven't worked out what they are.

00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:51,600

And in the absence of materials

we would consider precious,

00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:55,120

like gold or silver, these have to

be the equivalent of it.

00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:58,320

Because of the time

and the skill they represent.

00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:01,800

Yes, we're in an age

before the earliest metal.

00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:05,000

So the stone itself

is not intrinsically valuable

00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:07,000

but as an object it meant a lot.

00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:08,640

What about the rest?

00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:10,800

These pieces of jewellery...

00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:16,560

They found something like

8,000 beads in this structure.

In this house?! Yes.

00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:23,080

Right. So on a practical level it

says someone has the time to do this

00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:26,880

rather then being out growing,

herding, whatever.

00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:31,360

Someone can set aside part of

their day, perhaps all of their time

to specialising,

00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:37,040

and being provided with

everything else they need by the

rest of the village? That's right.

00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:40,760

These are just wonders -

which one can I have?

00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:42,760

Take them all!

00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:44,120

We know where you live!

00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:50,880

But as well as jewellery

and carved stones,

00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:53,960

this house also revealed

a darker secret.

00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:59,560

Intriguingly, two adult women's

skeletons were found under the bed.

00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:02,680

Uniquely. Below floor level?

00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:07,120

Yes, it's as if during the lifetime

of the house, they lived here,

00:17:07,120 --> 00:17:10,520

they died here,

they were buried here.

And put under the bed?

00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:15,080

Like Granny under the bed.

It was a house for the living,

but also a house for the dead.

00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:26,000

The precious artefacts

and the presence of human remains

00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:28,720

might mean

that these houses were special.

00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:34,280

No-one can be sure,

but the people who lived here

00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:37,280

might not have been

ordinary farmers

00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:41,320

but some of the earliest priests

of a new religion.

00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:51,920

Within just a few miles

of Skara Brae, built

around the same time, is this...

00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:03,240

A stone tomb

constructed on a truly grand scale.

00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:13,560

Fantastic.

00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:17,360

Already you get the sense

that you've left one world behind

00:18:17,360 --> 00:18:20,240

and come somewhere different.

00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:22,120

And what you're rewarded with

00:18:22,120 --> 00:18:25,920

after bending down

and struggling through

00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:28,760

is access to a masterpiece,

in every sense of the word.

00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:34,920

What you also see right away is the

similarity between the interior of

00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:38,440

this tomb and the interiors

of the houses in Skara Brae.

00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:43,200

And in fact there was a house here

once upon a time.

00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:48,200

And a circle of standing stones,

all before the tomb was ever built.

00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:52,840

It's a classic example of

somewhere domestic being altered,

00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:55,320

becoming something other,

something ritual.

00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:57,280

Over here,

00:18:57,280 --> 00:19:01,640

again,

a shadow of something domestic -

00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:04,480

it's a recess, similar to a bed,

00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:10,640

but of course

the people put away in there are

having a much, much deeper sleep.

00:19:17,360 --> 00:19:20,920

Maeshowe is a triumph

of ancient architecture,

00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:22,400

not only in its stonework,

00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,440

but in the way it's been

positioned in the landscape.

00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:30,200

For a few days each midwinter,

00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:34,240

the setting sun is framed by two

distant hills

00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:37,280

on the neighbouring island of Hoy.

00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:40,240

And as the sun drops

onto the horizon,

00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:44,280

it shines through the passage,

lighting up the inner chamber.

00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:49,360

Maeshowe was aligned to the heavens

00:19:49,360 --> 00:19:52,560

and to the dramatic features

of the Orcadian landscape.

00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:00,320

When you look around here,

00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:05,160

you realise that you're surrounded

by hills and water.

00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:07,440

It's a natural amphitheatre.

00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:10,560

It's a stage set for drama.

00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:13,720

And it's here,

across the promontory from Maeshowe,

00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:16,280

that the Neolithic people of Orkney

00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:20,640

decided to build another

extraordinary monument in stone.

00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:40,640

The Ring of Brodgar

is one of the biggest stone circles

we know about anywhere.

00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:45,960

It's over 100m across, and while

there are 21 stones standing today,

00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:50,360

in its original form

there would have been as many as 60.

00:20:50,360 --> 00:20:52,920

And that's not all...

00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:57,000

This stone circle

was also surrounded by a ditch -

00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:02,360

not just any ditch,

this is ten metres across

00:21:02,360 --> 00:21:07,400

and over three metres deep

and it's not just cut into the soil,

00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:10,520

it's been cut into

the living bedrock.

00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:16,440

It's been estimated that it would

have taken 100 men six months

just to cut the ditch.

00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:19,840

This is on an epic scale.

00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:23,640

The Ring of Brodgar is vast,

00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:28,440

but incredibly, it actually forms

part of something even bigger.

00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:32,760

And here's a clue...

00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:35,960

The ditch isn't actually complete.

00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:40,160

There's a causeway right here

and another one on the other side.

00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:43,520

It's thought that these are

an entrance and an exit.

00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:48,160

Which means perhaps the stone circle

isn't itself a destination,

00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:50,400

it's some kind of portal maybe,

00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:53,400

something you pass through

on the way to something else.

00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:57,520

And that somewhere else is down

there, just across the peninsula.

00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:06,760

The Ring of Brodgar points you

across a narrow land-bridge

00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:11,520

towards another even older stone

circle, the Stones of Stenness.

00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:22,200

Few of the original stones survive,

but those that do

00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:26,160

reveal yet more connections

to this monumental landscape.

00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:34,760

What's striking here is the way

some of the stone are positioned.

00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:38,200

This pair here are aligned so that

when you look through the gap,

00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:42,640

Maeshowe is perfectly framed

against the hillside.

00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:52,000

Originally there would have been

a complete ditch

encircling the monument.

00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:56,840

And the thinking is that that

ditch would have held water,

so it would have appeared as a moat.

00:22:56,840 --> 00:23:01,680

So maybe what you have

5,000 years ago is the builders,

00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:04,640

the architects of this monument

00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:07,560

creating an island within an island,

00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:12,160

a miniature, a microcosm

of their world as they saw it.

00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:28,440

The creation of monumental

architecture around 5,000 years ago

00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:33,720

can be seen in a sense

as an evolution of

earlier Neolithic culture.

00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:36,120

After all, these people

had been building

00:23:36,120 --> 00:23:41,000

huge earthen enclosures and vast

cursus monuments for generations.

00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:44,280

It was the connections

between the monuments

00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:47,400

and astronomical alignments

that was new.

00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:52,160

The earth, the landscape, was

as important as it had always been.

00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:55,920

But now it was being seen

as part of a bigger picture.

00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:59,720

The skies, the sun and the moon,

the heavens.

00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:04,400

That's what this Age of Astronomy

seems to have been all about.

00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:15,240

Our human need to understand

our place in the cosmos

00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:17,520

still resonates today.

00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:22,720

This is midsummer,

00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:27,880

just before dawn at the most famous

stone age monument of them all.

00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:33,840

This place, Salisbury Plain,

00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:38,600

has been attracting people for

millennia, and it still does.

00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:42,160

There are literally

thousands of people here.

00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:46,400

Some of them have come to

worship ancient gods,

00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:48,880

some to connect with Mother Earth.

00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:52,200

Some have come in search of

themselves.

00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:57,920

But to be honest I think a lot of

them are here just because everyone

else is, just for the spectacle.

00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:14,240

DRUMMING

00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:17,600

Of course, what everybody's

waiting for is the sunrise,

00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:21,040

which will be over there,

and by my reckoning,

00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:24,120

will be in, oh,

several minutes' time.

00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:28,200

Can't wait!

00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:40,360

Funny thing is that it's actually

very hard to see the sunrise

00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:43,640

because of all these stones

and all these people.

00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:58,280

Oh, there she blows.

00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:13,480

Presumably, its arrival today means,

00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:17,120

well, something different to

every one of these people here.

00:26:17,120 --> 00:26:21,400

There's several thousand of them,

so that's several thousand meanings.

00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:23,680

Take your pick.

00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:33,320

But what did Stonehenge

mean to the people who

gathered here 5,000 years ago?

00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:39,760

To begin to answer that, you have

to go back to the stones themselves.

00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:44,560

And I don't mean

the most obvious ones.

00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:47,760

The sarsen stones,

and the huge trilithons,

00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:50,840

they weren't part of

the original monument.

00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:54,320

If you want to get back to the start

of Stonehenge, you have to look at

00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:58,440

these smaller stones

that are all around the interior.

00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:03,200

Unlike the sarsens,

which were dragged here from

just 20 or so miles up the road,

00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:08,120

these are from much, much

further away, off to the west.

00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:26,920

The wild south-west of Wales.

00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:30,240

High in the Preseli Hills,

the rolling landscape

00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:35,080

is broken by huge outcrops

of a very distinctive stone.

00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:44,560

Now, the thing is, studies

have shown that this kind of stone

00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:48,280

is identical to

the original boulders of Stonehenge,

00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:51,520

built over 200 miles away

in that direction.

00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:54,840

'Geologists call this

a spotted dolerite.

00:27:54,840 --> 00:28:00,480

'And this is

the only place in Britain

where this particular type exists.'

00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:03,800

This has been amazing to me

for more than half of my life.

00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:05,680

I mean, why do it at all?

00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:09,880

What motivated them?

Why these stones, from here?

00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:16,280

Now, it does have to be said

there are a couple of things

about this rock that are unusual.

00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:19,560

First of all, I'm going to

don my Stone Age goggles.

00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:22,960

And hit this as hard as I can.

00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:30,240

Now, on that fresh face there,

00:28:32,120 --> 00:28:35,680

if I wet that freshly broken face,

00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:37,760

look at that, isn't that lovely?

00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:42,120

See how it changes colour?

It goes this soft blue shade.

00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:46,360

Obviously, it's why this stuff

is known as bluestone.

00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:50,640

And it's speckled throughout with

these little flecks of feldspar.

00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:56,600

These properties,

these unique freckles, would have

made this rock seem very special.

00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:59,000

It might even have seemed magical.

00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:06,880

We might never know exactly why this

place and these crags were chosen.

00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:13,560

But it reminds me of

the Lake District axe-makers

on a much grander scale.

00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:17,600

What we do know for certain, though,

is that this place was important.

00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:22,120

So important that it filled ancient

people with an urge so powerful

00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:27,560

that they were able to find

the strength and the will

to move over 200 tons of this rock

00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:32,400

and use it to set up the first

stone circle of Stonehenge.

00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:34,680

Now THAT takes some belief.

00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:47,760

5,000 years ago, the Stonehenge

we see today simply didn't exist.

00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:52,560

Instead,

there was a much simpler circle.

00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:01,560

After their long journey from

Preseli, the bluestones were

put up in a great big circle,

00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:04,640

round the outside,

on the inner edge of this bank.

00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:09,760

So for 500 years or so,

the bluestone circle WAS Stonehenge.

00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:13,160

And then, for some reason,

the people living around here

00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:16,360

decided to give themselves

an even bigger challenge.

00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:26,280

Around 2,500 BC,

a new generation of builders

00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:29,680

created their ultimate monument.

00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:35,320

Using massive blocks of

local sandstone, they constructed

something unprecedented -

00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:38,840

a ring of standing stones

capped with lintels.

00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:45,320

Inside, a horseshoe

of yet more stones.

00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:49,680

And at the same time,

for good measure,

00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:55,600

they moved the original boulders of

bluestone right into the centre.

00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:59,560

Unlike the bluestones,

these gigantic sarsens

00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:03,200

were only transported

20 miles or so, from up the road.

00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:06,320

But given that each one

weighs anything up to 40 tonnes,

00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:10,160

well, the effort required

to shift them was phenomenal.

00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:19,880

This new Stonehenge marked special

days in the cosmic calendar -

00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:22,200

spring and autumn,

00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:26,280

as well as the well known alignment

on the midsummer sunrise.

00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:37,040

But the midsummer sunrise

exactly matches another event -

00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:42,680

the setting sun at midwinter.

00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:48,480

The latest evidence

suggests that our most famous

prehistoric monument of all

00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:53,920

might not have been

a celebration of summer and life,

00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:58,720

but a commemoration

of winter...and death.

00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:10,960

Like the Orkney monuments,

Stonehenge is not alone.

00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:14,640

Nearby, this field contains

all that remains of

00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:17,520

an ancient site of winter gathering.

00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:25,280

Have a look at these!

00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:27,200

Animal bones and teeth.

00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:31,560

Just a sample of the thousands

of animal remains

00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:34,680

found scattered across the site.

00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:36,200

These are pig bones.

00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:38,920

Piglets are usually born

in the springtime

00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:43,040

and the vast majority of

the pig remains at Durrington Walls

00:32:43,040 --> 00:32:46,560

show that adult animals were

slaughtered at around nine months -

00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:48,760

that's in midwinter.

00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:54,720

Also, the teeth reveal

that the animals had been

00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:58,280

specifically fattened up

prior to the feasting,

00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:01,800

and we can tell this

because the teeth are rotten.

00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:05,400

What we have here

isn't just casual feasting.

00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:12,280

This is one final commemoration,

one big celebration of life,

00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:16,120

before the ancestors commenced

their journey to Stonehenge

00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:17,640

and the land of the dead.

00:33:19,760 --> 00:33:21,680

It's thought that each winter,

00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:24,680

people would come here

from hundreds of miles around

00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:27,480

to commemorate

the lives of their ancestors...

00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:31,280

and to ensure the souls of

the recently dead

00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:35,960

reached the safety of the afterlife

at Stonehenge itself.

00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:46,400

I think it's fascinating

that everyone believes

they know Stonehenge.

00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:49,160

It's like the Mona Lisa

or the Pyramids.

00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:53,520

It's so familiar,

it's hard to see it with fresh eyes.

00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:57,520

I think we've discovered

something by coming here.

00:33:57,520 --> 00:33:59,840

I think we've discovered

a new Stonehenge,

00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:04,680

and it's as far from the golden

warmth of a midsummer sunrise

00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:06,920

as it's possible to get.

00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:11,640

It's somewhere

that still carries a charge.

00:34:11,640 --> 00:34:13,240

You can feel it.

00:34:13,240 --> 00:34:15,320

And if you come here at midwinter,

00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:18,360

you can feel that charge

just a little bit more.

00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:24,080

The coldness of the stones,

the open landscape.

00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:26,320

It's not hard to believe

00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:31,560

that this place is

somewhere that belongs to the dead.

00:34:56,840 --> 00:35:00,760

When we look back to the time of the

great monuments of the Neolithic,

00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:06,600

we see a whole new age dawning,

in belief, but also in society.

00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:13,840

There's no doubt that the creation

of these vast monuments

was a religious act.

00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:17,000

It's about finding and defining

a place in the universe,

00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:20,240

in time, in life and in death.

00:35:20,240 --> 00:35:22,880

The special objects found at Orkney,

00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:25,800

the arrangement of

the temple complex,

00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:29,400

these things imply the existence of

a priestly class

00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:33,040

that the farmers themselves

were supporting.

00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:35,760

And the sheer scale of

these enterprises,

00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:39,320

the planning and engineering

required by Stonehenge,

00:35:39,320 --> 00:35:43,720

by the Ring of Brodgar, suggests

that some group was in charge,

00:35:43,720 --> 00:35:45,800

and they were out to impress.

00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:49,720

Because these monuments themselves

were connected.

00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:55,000

We know people were moving between

these great monuments

00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:57,080

because of this.

00:35:57,080 --> 00:35:59,240

It's a style of pottery.

00:35:59,240 --> 00:36:05,800

It's called grooved ware

because of the grooves

that decorate the surface.

00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:08,760

It was made first of all in Orkney.

00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:13,840

It's also the first pottery we

know of in Britain and Ireland

00:36:13,840 --> 00:36:15,960

with a proper flat base.

00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:19,120

This style of pottery was

subsequently found at Stonehenge,

00:36:19,120 --> 00:36:24,160

in the south of England, and it's

found at all points in between.

00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:29,760

What the experts are now imagining

is a kind of elite world travel,

if you like,

00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:31,760

where important people

00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:37,560

moved between the great Neolithic

monuments on a kind of Grand Tour.

00:36:37,560 --> 00:36:39,360

On three, lads.

00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:41,480

Hun, do, three!

00:36:44,840 --> 00:36:47,920

'5,000 years ago,

00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:52,960

'there was only one way

for a serious Neolithic traveller

to get around.'

00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:55,600

Is she doing what

she's supposed to, Clive?

00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:58,960

She's doing exactly what she's

meant to do, so very impressed.

00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:01,800

And it's completely dry. She is.

00:37:01,800 --> 00:37:07,840

'I'm joining the crew of

a sea-going currach, built by

Irish boat-builder Clive O'Gibney,

00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:11,800

'using 5,000-year-old technology -

00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:17,600

'a frame of hazel, covered with

cow hide, and sealed with pitch.'

00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:20,920

It's as smooth as spreading

a nice piece of butter on bread.

00:37:20,920 --> 00:37:25,000

Every now and again I can convince

myself I'm in time with somebody.

That's it.

00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:28,280

If it's with me, Neil,

we're in trouble. We're both out.

00:37:29,240 --> 00:37:32,880

'Rowing's all very well...'

All right, lads, give it a crack.

00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:37,480

'but Clive believes that

longer voyages would have

required some sort of sail.'

00:37:37,480 --> 00:37:40,840

I'm going to go overboard

if we do this.

00:37:40,840 --> 00:37:45,120

In the Neolithic,

there was no cloth technology,

00:37:45,120 --> 00:37:49,560

so Clive has used hazel rods

and strips of cow hide.

00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:54,840

No-one has ever attempted

anything remotely like this before.

00:37:54,840 --> 00:37:57,920

We need everybody to be calm.

00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:01,600

I'm going to move that way

with the sail, over towards you.

00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:03,800

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:06,600

You're all right, lads, sit down.

00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:10,040

Do you hear it?

00:38:10,040 --> 00:38:11,640

All the way.

00:38:15,080 --> 00:38:19,400

'It's a heavy and cumbersome rig,

00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:23,760

'but amazingly,

it actually seems to work!'

00:38:32,240 --> 00:38:35,120

So how does it feel, Clive,

seeing this for the first time?

00:38:35,120 --> 00:38:36,800

I'm delighted with myself.

00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:41,320

It's one thing imagining it, but to

actually feel it working... Feel it.

00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:45,120

I wanted to hear it,

I wanted to feel it

and that's what we're getting now.

00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:48,880

It's one of the best experiences

I've had in my life.

It's definitely a sailing currach.

00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:52,200

It's definitely a sailing currach,

there you go, Neil.

00:38:52,200 --> 00:38:55,360

Will we just go to England?

Aye, come on.

00:38:55,360 --> 00:38:59,240

I've got the lunch,

and a dram of something in there.

00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:03,960

It's easy to imagine boats like this

00:39:03,960 --> 00:39:07,800

sailing between the great sites

of Neolithic Britain,

00:39:07,800 --> 00:39:15,480

carrying people, ideas, beliefs,

and precious objects.

00:39:23,280 --> 00:39:28,320

One remarkable find

epitomises this age of elite travel.

00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:30,800

It was discovered

just north of Dublin,

00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:35,680

but it's thought it was

made across the sea in Britain.

00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:46,880

This is a ceremonial macehead.

00:39:46,880 --> 00:39:50,080

It's 5,000 years old,

there or thereabouts,

00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:55,160

and it's made from a single piece

of beautifully worked flint.

00:39:55,160 --> 00:39:59,280

In every possible way,

it's an object of wonder.

00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:04,080

Now, the person who made this

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