The Story Unfolds

This burial was found a few miles away from the excavation we're following but she is part of our story because she was Durotrigan. As you can see, she was buried with some pretty impressive Iron Age bling so she was a young woman of considerable wealth and status. She is not what prompted my interest in this story BUT I am very interested, after all my time picking Miles Russell's brain, in Iron Age women and the theory that they were bossing it in ancient times, at least in Britain. I'll be pursuing this angle more in this story and have a hunch that this angle may even develop into its own film. We'll see.

The is the first interview I undertook with Dr Miles Russell, who I had met before during my time working on the BBC's Digging for Britain series. It's brilliant news that he runs the Durotriges Project as he's incredibly knowledgeable and always very engaging. This was an extensive fact-finding chat about the whole project, full of interesting facts and stories about Iron Age Britain and Dorset in particular.

This set of images represents the very beginning of my interest in this story and this archaeological project. In 2010 the BBC series I helped to create, Digging for Britain, was in production for the first time. One of the featured stories was the discovery of this skeleton by Dr MIles Russell and his Bournemouth University colleagues. It's an arresting sight, even now that (or maybe precisely because) I've seen so many more graves from this site. Unlike the more typical crouch burials, where skeletons are found curled up in a foetal position, this one is sprawled face down, surrounded by animal bones. On its own it is interesting enough - a victim of sacrifice, probably deliberately placed on a mound of dead animals. If you want to hear the more detailed and fascinating details of this ritual killing, we will soon be sharing Dr Miles Russell's interview about this discovery with you.

On a personal level, the skeleton also beautifully embodies my motivation for starting History Makers. When we covered this story for the BBC, the burial was newly discovered and the archaeologists were interviewed about their theories at the time. Fourteen years later, their theories have changed because they have had time to complete more research. Archaeology takes time. Theories change. Stories move on. And with History Makers, we have the flexibility and freedom to evolve with them. I don't want to give everything away about this burial here. Much more interesting for you to listen to Miles Russell telling you himself. Keep an eye out on our short films section.