The Cambridgeshire Crucifixion

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BBC Four - The Cambridgeshire Crucifixion

The story of the extremely rare discovery, in England, of evidence of Roman crucifixion.

A documentary telling the story of the extremely rare discovery of evidence of Roman crucifixion, unearthed in a routine archaeological dig in the Cambridgeshire Fens.

In 2017, a routine archaeological dig was taking place on the site of a proposed housing development in the village of Fenstanton in the Cambridgeshire Fens. When human remains were found alongside a variety of Roman artefacts, none of the team at Albion Archaeology saw anything out of the ordinary. But once the bones were washed back at HQ, something highly unusual was uncovered: a nail through the heelbone of one of the individuals. Could this be evidence of a Roman crucifixion? When they did some research, they found that only one confirmed example had ever been unearthed before, discovered in the 1960s in Jerusalem. To find out more, they called in renowned osteoarchaeologist Dr Corinne Duhig to investigate. 

With exclusive access to Corinne’s investigation and the remains themselves, The Cambridgeshire Crucifixion sets out to find out who this person was, how they lived and why they were put to death in this notoriously gruesome way. We perform a CT scan, DNA and isotope analysis of the remains, and use them to create a cutting-edge virtual autopsy of the skeleton, conducted by Corinne and one of her former students, biologist Prof Ben Garrod. 

A supporting cast of expert contributors help to analyse the artefacts found at the Fenstanton site and reveal a compelling picture of life in Roman Britain in the 1st century CE. The film culminates in a world first: a full forensic facial reconstruction of a victim of Roman crucifixion, conducted by world-leading expert Joe Mullins.

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