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--> YouTube-Generated Transcript <--
0:00 · [Julian Richards] I went to see the British Museum's Iron Age curator, JD Hill.
0:04 · [JD Hill] One of the odd things about this gallery is that it's full of objects from graves.
0:09 · And when people think of a typical Iron Age burial, we often see pictures of this,
0:13 · the Welwyn Garden City burial. - This looks pretty wealthy to me!
0:16 · - This is an extremely wealthy burial.
0:17 · But the bulk of Britain from 1000BC onwards,
0:20 · we don't actually find enough dead people to represent the population.
0:26 · The funerals in Iron Age Britain, for the bulk of the population,
0:30 · involves not putting dead people in the ground.
0:36 · - But this is a whole skeleton
0:38 · and a whole skeleton buried in a pit with a load of rubbish.
0:41 · So how do we explain that?
0:43 · - There must be something about the way that person died,
0:46 · or who that person was, which was special,
0:50 · which marked them out to being
0:54 · buried – disposed of, potentially – in a very, very different way
0:59 · than anyone else living in that village or community.
1:03 · Are they people who have something
1:06 · about them in terms of their personality,
1:10 · perhaps in terms of their physical appearance,
1:13 · which marks them out as somehow different?
1:16 · Are they some person who's met their death in a strange and unusual way?
1:20 · Are they suicides?
1:22 · Are they struck by lightning?
1:27 · But the other possibility is that these are not people
1:30 · who've died of natural causes
1:33 · or of illness or of accidents,
1:35 · but these are people who have been deliberately killed
1:39 · by their community – sacrifices.
1:50 · [Julian] So why was our person marked out as being special?
1:53 · Perhaps there's a clue in the bones,
1:55 · which have now been examined by Durham University's Charlotte Roberts.
1:59 · [Charlotte] I think this is a woman.
2:03 · I think...
2:04 · Why do you say you think that it's a woman?
2:05 · Well, we've got a skeleton here that is not fully mature.
2:10 · And here in the pelvis, if you look at the sciatic notch,
2:13 · it's quite wide, which you'd expect in a female, but
2:16 · the pelvis isn't totally developed and fused,
2:18 · so it's a bit dangerous to say it's positively female.
2:22 · - But I thought that we were probably dealing with what, a teenager?
2:25 · Somebody of that sort of age here? - I think she's about 16, 17.
2:29 · - So is there anything on the skeleton that would tell us how she died?
2:32 · Absolutely nothing. But a lot of things that would cause people's death
2:36 · would be related just to soft tissues.
2:39 · The only thing that I can see on the skeleton that gives an indication of her health
2:45 · are on these ribs.
2:46 · And what we've got here is some bone formation down here.
2:53 · And also along here.
2:54 · It's actual new bone that's been formed as a response to inflammation.
2:58 · It could be pleurisy, inflammation of the pleural cavity.
3:03 · It could be an infectious disease like tuberculosis.
3:06 · It could be the result of pneumonia.
3:08 · It could be the result of chronic bronchitis.
3:10 · - And there's no way that we can tell whether or not
3:13 · this girl was sacrificed or died a natural death?
3:16 · No. Well, there's certainly nothing here to tell me that.
3:18 · Right.
3:20 · So the bones give no indication of why this girl was special.
3:23 · But perhaps there's something about her appearance that's out of the ordinary.
3:27 · At Manchester University, her face is going to be reconstructed by Caroline Wilkinson.
3:33 · Well, this is the girl's skull from Bourton-on-the-Water.
3:37 · You can see some of it's missing.
3:39 · Part of the nasal bone is missing, but the majority of the skull is intact.
3:43 · There is some asymmetry in the lower jaw.
3:46 · You can see when you view it from the front
3:49 · that the centre of her chin is heading off to her right,
3:53 · although her teeth are in a central position.
3:57 · The asymmetry has to be quite marked
3:59 · on the skull for it to show up noticeably on the face.
4:03 · All of us have asymmetrical faces.
4:05 · Her asymmetry isn't marked enough
4:08 · that she would be particularly unusual.
4:11 · You can see here there's quite a lot of pegs showing above the muscle,
4:15 · which is where the subcutaneous fat will be held in the face.
4:21 · So this layer of clay represents
4:25 · these buccal fat pads that fill out an adolescent face
4:31 · and make it appear more chubby and more smooth-skinned
4:34 · and rounded than an adult face.

nope

Serial Killer?

Or just murdered.

Maybe she saw the Chief's wife going down on someone who was not the Chief.

1:59 · [Charlotte] I think this is a woman.
2:03 · I think...
2:04 · Why do you say you think that it’s a woman?
2:05 · Well, we’ve got a skeleton here that is not fully mature.
2:10 · And here in the pelvis, if you look at the sciatic notch,
2:13 · it’s quite wide, which you’d expect in a female, but
2:16 · the pelvis isn’t totally developed and fused,
2:18 · so it’s a bit dangerous to say it’s positively female.

Ahah! Obviously, they were murdered because they were transgender!

Help! Help! We’re being repressed!

Did they sock her in the jaw?

Could it be Wolverine’s long dead ancestor?

Ran a 5K at Bourton on the water in 1990. I must have missed her. Was deployed to RAF Little Rissington in support of Desert Storm.

Sad story. Why didn’t they finish the facial reconstruction? She has an odd nose. Did they retrieve any DNA.

You TRY to educate this rowdy crowd and you get NO RESPECT! ;)

--> YouTube-Generated Transcript <--
0:00	·	[Julian Richards] I went to see the British Museum's Iron Age curator, JD Hill.
0:04	·	[JD Hill] One of the odd things about this gallery is that it's full of objects from graves.
0:09	·	And when people think of a typical Iron Age burial, we often see pictures of this,
0:13	·	the Welwyn Garden City burial. - This looks pretty wealthy to me!
0:16	·	- This is an extremely wealthy burial.
0:17	·	But the bulk of Britain from 1000BC onwards,
0:20	·	we don't actually find enough dead people to represent the population.
0:26	·	The funerals in Iron Age Britain, for the bulk of the population,
0:30	·	involves not putting dead people in the ground.
0:36	·	- But this is a whole skeleton
0:38	·	and a whole skeleton buried in a pit with a load of rubbish.
0:41	·	So how do we explain that?
0:43	·	- There must be something about the way that person died,
0:46	·	or who that person was, which was special,
0:50	·	which marked them out to being
0:54	·	buried – disposed of, potentially – in a very, very different way
0:59	·	than anyone else living in that village or community.
1:03	·	Are they people who have something
1:06	·	about them in terms of their personality,
1:10	·	perhaps in terms of their physical appearance,
1:13	·	which marks them out as somehow different?
1:16	·	Are they some person who's met their death in a strange and unusual way?
1:20	·	Are they suicides?
1:22	·	Are they struck by lightning?
1:27	·	But the other possibility is that these are not people
1:30	·	who've died of natural causes
1:33	·	or of illness or of accidents,
1:35	·	but these are people who have been deliberately killed
1:39	·	by their community – sacrifices.
1:50	·	[Julian] So why was our person marked out as being special?
1:53	·	Perhaps there's a clue in the bones,
1:55	·	which have now been examined by Durham University's Charlotte Roberts.
1:59	·	[Charlotte] I think this is a woman.
2:03	·	I think...
2:04	·	Why do you say you think that it's a woman?
2:05	·	Well, we've got a skeleton here that is not fully mature.
2:10	·	And here in the pelvis, if you look at the sciatic notch,
2:13	·	it's quite wide, which you'd expect in a female, but
2:16	·	the pelvis isn't totally developed and fused,
2:18	·	so it's a bit dangerous to say it's positively female.
2:22	·	- But I thought that we were probably dealing with what, a teenager?
2:25	·	Somebody of that sort of age here? - I think she's about 16, 17.
2:29	·	- So is there anything on the skeleton that would tell us how she died?
2:32	·	Absolutely nothing. But a lot of things that would cause people's death
2:36	·	would be related just to soft tissues.
2:39	·	The only thing that I can see on the skeleton that gives an indication of her health
2:45	·	are on these ribs.
2:46	·	And what we've got here is some bone formation down here.
2:53	·	And also along here.
2:54	·	It's actual new bone that's been formed as a response to inflammation.
2:58	·	It could be pleurisy, inflammation of the pleural cavity.
3:03	·	It could be an infectious disease like tuberculosis.
3:06	·	It could be the result of pneumonia.
3:08	·	It could be the result of chronic bronchitis.
3:10	·	- And there's no way that we can tell whether or not
3:13	·	this girl was sacrificed or died a natural death?
3:16	·	No. Well, there's certainly nothing here to tell me that.
3:18	·	Right.
3:20	·	So the bones give no indication of why this girl was special.
3:23	·	But perhaps there's something about her appearance that's out of the ordinary.
3:27	·	At Manchester University, her face is going to be reconstructed by Caroline Wilkinson.
3:33	·	Well, this is the girl's skull from Bourton-on-the-Water.
3:37	·	You can see some of it's missing.
3:39	·	Part of the nasal bone is missing, but the majority of the skull is intact.
3:43	·	There is some asymmetry in the lower jaw.
3:46	·	You can see when you view it from the front
3:49	·	that the centre of her chin is heading off to her right,
3:53	·	although her teeth are in a central position.
3:57	·	The asymmetry has to be quite marked
3:59	·	on the skull for it to show up noticeably on the face.
4:03	·	All of us have asymmetrical faces.
4:05	·	Her asymmetry isn't marked enough
4:08	·	that she would be particularly unusual.
4:11	·	You can see here there's quite a lot of pegs showing above the muscle,
4:15	·	which is where the subcutaneous fat will be held in the face.
4:21	·	So this layer of clay represents
4:25	·	these buccal fat pads that fill out an adolescent face
4:31	·	and make it appear more chubby and more smooth-skinned
4:34	·	and rounded than an adult face.