Archaeologists Find A Mysterious 5,000-Year-Old Cathedral

Significant archaeological discoveries across Northern Britain include a well-preserved Roman fort, a Viking boat burial, and the Ness of Brodgar, a critical Neolithic site. At the Ness of Brodgar, findings suggest it was a ritualistic center, with evidence like decorated stones and fragmented mace heads hinting at ceremonial practices. The Roman site of Binchester reveals new insights into Roman life in Britain, including a communal toilet and bathhouse, as well as artifacts like an early Christian ring, reflecting the religious transition from paganism to Christianity.

00:00 Intro
03:00 Ness of Brodgar
12:42 Hadrian's Wall
22:30 Mesolithic Bones
33:34 Rescuing Ancient Sites
37:14 Buried Viking Chieftan
43:37 Bloody Tudor Attack

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[karinpeterson]

How refreshing to see so many archeological experts commenting on this! And with so much positivity. You are really such a happy bunch of knowledgable folks. Such a joy to be around, I'm sure.😁

[gerardhogan]

Greetings from Australia. Of course Professor Alice Roberts is looking just absolutely stunning as always, but mostly your enthusiasm is infectious. The respectful and humble way in which you interact with everybody is admirable.

[pcoristi]

Please add the year these programs were made? Helps with context. And is something history buffs care about.

[darrelld.paveyjr.]

Matthew & Alice another excellent episode of Digging For Briton, I am so glad your careers have flourished!!

[tgmickey]

Two of my favorite TimeTeam alums still feeding my brain!

[williamsoltes]

Thank you for this video. Not only was a lot of content of knowledge, but the production value was outstanding. Hello from the United States. Really great work guys.

[DarthSpectros-ioir]

Did any of these finds happen to be re-digs of the excavations Time Team did in Orkney during the 90's? I have I remember them finding a ship burial with the iron rivets still in situational context. Also remember a dig done on one of the stone circles in that complex as well.

[MaryAmesMitchell]

I was particularly interested in the Conyers family. My ancestor Leonard Conyers was the rector of Kirby Misperton in Yorkshire from 1670 to 1707. Wish I could find his family.

[lizzietheoldbiddy]

Absolutely fascinating! Thank you both so much 😊

[hughbean]

Thanks Alice and all involved great sites and history

[gariusjarfar]

We always look at neolithic lives through 19th century religious eyes. It's always a ceremonial site with ceremonial objects. We never interpret theses sites and objects as indications of a scientific view of neolithic people.

[AntPDC]

Cathedrals are the seats of Christian Bishops. There is no such thing as a "5000 year-old Cathedral". Silly title.

[pttpforever]

Lots of educated guesses in this video. And not many likes despite over 27, 000 views, so far. Frankly, I'm quite bored and even irritated by the narrator's poshy accent. Seems to me a lot of professionals in the field make the mistake of anthropomorphizing their own cultural norms onto the remains of ancient civilizations. It's a mistake because of course Western Civilization (so-called) is far removed from the times and cultures in which the structures on Orkney and the Salisbury Plain were built.
It's anybody's guess what was really going on in this particular structure, so here's mine: It was a multipurpose room. It was where the locals went when they weren't hunting, eating or sleeping. It was where they got together to stay warm while they worked on those arts and useful crafts and did a bit of trading on those chilly, rainy days when there wasn't much else they could be doing. Maybe they honored their dead there. Maybe they had regular market days there, as well. If it wasn't the climate that made them leave en masse, perhaps it was some marauders from across the water they knew were coming. So they slaughtered all their livestock, ate and took away all they could so the marauders couldn't have it and went elsewhere.

[Junyo]

Just remember that if an archeologist doesn't understand something the automatic (almost 'knee jerk') answer is "it must be religious".

[saberx]

Was cool to see Matt briefly. He didn't do much presenting, so I wonder if he was just hanging out with Alice and decided to just sit in during the taping. 😄

[jamesharper]

I found this extremely informative. Keep up the good work guys and don't let all the trolls in the comment section get you down.

[Watcher]

Always great to see you Matt. Hope things are going well for you. You're looking good. Be safe out there.

[MichaelSimpsonLegal]

Matt seems used as a prop, using his popularity and pleasing face rather than involving him for his knowledge and experience to be a leader in the narration of the story. I hoped for more information and details coming directly from him. Has he never been tried out as a younger Sir Tony?

[darthkittenn]

To everyone: Religion and a belief in something more has always been a huge part human life because there was so little we knew about the why and how of the universe and earth. Religion and spiritual belief gave us answers to things we didn’t understand, so usually, yeah a lot of archeological finds are connected to religion, symbolism and spiritualism.

[artificercreator]

Game dev here at 6:18 those objects resemble utility objects used in a game. The thing the scientist hold like a weapon (6:48), could be like a pin that is designed to be set on the ground and stay there to mark a spot, maybe some sort of bowling-curling game. Just look at the set, it is a pair of each one except for the ball and the "pedestal" (for the ball maybe?) A score counter? Unless there is one missing from the set in wich it could be working more like a dice.