What Happened To The 97 Infants Buried Below Yewden Roman Villa? | Digging For Britain

The remains of 97 babies were discovered during the excavation of a Roman Villa; Professor Alice Roberts is on a mission to find out what happened to them. Meanwhile, archaeologists excavate a Roman Navy commander's villa on the cliffs of Folkestone, facing imminent destruction. Unearth forgotten towns, amphitheaters, and late Roman buildings, weaving a captivating tapestry of history.

00:00 Intro
02:00 Roman villa
10:15 97 Infants
21:45 Lost Roman town
28:45 Caerleon Roman Amphitheatre
35:30 Religious Roman finds
40:55 How did these people die?
43:10 Last days of Roman Britain

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[a.h.g.kokushibo]

Infant mortality was probably pretty high back then. Considering it's pretty high in some countries now.

[gregedmand]

There are slightly less horrible events that could, explain the trove of infant remains, that don't require deliberate intent: if it were near a brothal, the deaths could be linked to stillbirth and late-term abortions due to disease. It's still seen in farming in significant numbers of 5 to 10% of sheep pregnancies for example. It doesn't even have to be a venereal disease, many of which can cause infant death. Many insect-born viruses can contribute to outcomes that look perfectly formed to the untrained eye.

[meowwl]

I'd want to know the infant mortality rate for a typical roman villa at that time, before jumping to infanticide as a conclusion...My own great grandfather was the only one of six to survive to adutlhood...three of which were lost before their first year.

[davidgane]

52 minutes never wasted with Dr Alice .

[AAD]

No matter why there were women at the stie giving birth, the years given between 150 and 200 means that there were potential 50 years for those 97 babies to die. That is barely 2 a year! With death rates are birth very high, that seems like a LOW number! If it was a maternity/mother goddess center, they were doing good work!

[brianperry]

I’ve always thought that being sent to Gran Britannia was a very unpopular posting for most Roman soldiers, bearing in mind the climate…compered to what many would have been used to in the Mediterranean areas.

[susanturner]

We attended the Folkestone site in Roman reenactment kit on an open day. An American told one of our reenactors that Roman soldiers never came to Britain.

[EmbraceTheJourney]

love these videos. Dr Roberts is an amazing presence. Fantastic presentation.

[joannicholson]

Love alice, she makes archaeology so interesting.❤

[greganderson]

We are from the U.S. We visited the Binchester Roman fort in Sept. 2023. We walked up the unmarked road to the site and were the only tourists there for awhile. I would like to see Binchester grow and offer tours by trained archaeologists. Durham University has a good archaeology museum specializing in the underwater finds by Gary Bankhead.

[MrTorleon]

Another fascinating and informative episode, hosted by the ever mesmeric Prof. Alice Roberts. Although initially produced a little while ago now, the archeological evidence and conclusions drawn at the various sites are completely relevant today. The excitement is in what will continue to be discovered as the excavations are expanded !!!!
Thank you for uploading this very satisfying series :)

[marvellousmarvin]

Thanks Alice for another informative bit of history of your island. 🥰😀

[derekstocker]

What an amazing and revealing programme!
Fabulous finds and wonderfully filmed and narrated. I thought that the object at 30:50 looked very similar to a pommel of a gladius Roman sword.
Thanks for this, amazing work, lovely scenery and great background music as well!

[laetitiavisagie-ggkk]

I cannot help to think of the life of a prostitute in the Roman era - falling pregnant not knowing who the father is and knowing there is a possibility of the baby dying when being born or killed - it is heartbreaking

[laneoswego]

Brilliant and wonderful Dr Robert’s presentation is incredibly informative and entertaining

[shawroberts]

Perhaps babies were sold to the childless, much as happens today in some areas.

[alanatolstad]

Exciting to see a young Danni!---Lindsey Davis got so many things right in her historical fiction books.

[HappyBeezerStudios]

Considering trade has been a thing for longer than history, those coins might as well been traded. The same has happened here in Germany. the limes wasn't a locked down barrier, but a frontier that could be defended against raids. But traders and travellers could pass.

[headishome]

Very interesting, thank you for posting.

[tomhirons]

i found a gold roman signet ring on the beach there in 2015