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Day is breaking over the Salisbury Plain. We're about 75 miles west of London.

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It's very early and it's very cold, but I for once certainly don't mind being up

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because today I've been given a very rare permission to hike up here before

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anybody else and to walk among giants.

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Stonehenge. Just the name is iconic. They're 13 or 14 feet tall. They're 7 feet wide.

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They weigh 25 tons each and you know, whole generations of people are going to

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be born and live and die and yet these stones will still be here. They are a

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monument to time and yet we still don't fully understand the mysteries of

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Stonehenge. Who built them and why? But I'm here to find out.

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Stonehenge. Myth and legend have always surrounded its origins. It's been called

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both a healing site and a place of human sacrifice. Was it a calendar or a stellar

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observatory? Its construction has been attributed to druids, the wizard Merlin,

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and even aliens.

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For centuries historians have fiercely debated the site's true purpose, but now

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for the first time ever they're coming close to solving the enigma. Cutting-edge

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technology is revealing secret markings etched into the stones. Nearby the

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revelation of other hidden monuments is rewriting everything we thought we knew

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and a stunning discovery in the most remote reaches of Great Britain may

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finally reveal where the idea for Stonehenge came from and expose the

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identity of those who built it. So get ready to join an expedition to tackle

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the ultimate ancient mystery, solving the riddle of Stonehenge.

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My name is Josh Gates. With a degree in archaeology and a passion for

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exploration, I have a tendency to end up in some very strange situations. It's just

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straight down! Unbelievable! My travels have taken me to the ends of the earth

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as I investigate the greatest legends in history. This is Expedition Unknown.

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To kick off my investigation into Stonehenge, I begin in the surrounding

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area of Wiltshire County, England. These are some of the most charming towns to

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ever thatch a roof and in case the cafes, hotels, and bars don't tip you off,

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folks around here are in the Stonehenge business. One shop catering to the

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crystal and tree worshiping set appears to have been built for hobbits. I'm

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officially too tall for this shop. Here you can find a small rock to set any

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mood. Red Tiger's Eye said to be a stimulating stone. You know what that

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means? Hard as a rock. The New Age shop is just one sign of the eclectic crowd

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that the Stonehenge area seems to attract. But it seems that everyone has a

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different opinion about where the town's main tourist attraction came from.

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It's like a meteorite and it just blew up and went...

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It's like a big massive time clock. Big massive time clock. The people who built Stonehenge

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at like a logical analogue of Lewis Carroll's rabbit hole or the mirror, how do you

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go through a mirror when the silvering's on the back? Big party up there, lots of

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roast hog. Clumie and who built Stonehenge? Extraterrestrials that the ancient

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Britons worshipped as gods basically. That settles that. I'm also admiring this

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staff here. If you hold him like that on the ground... You want me to hold this?

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I'd love you to. Okay. How do you feel holding him? Uncomfortable. Oh dear.

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Though these guys definitely have some interesting ideas, I'm eager to hear what the

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experts have to say about why Stonehenge was built. And to do that, I'm joining forces

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with an all-star team of scholars back at the site. Hello. Josh. Hi Josh. I'm Mike.

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Mike, nice to meet you. Hi. Susan. Susan. Hi Rupert. Rupert, pleasure.

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Mike Parker Pearson is a leading expert in the archaeology of Stonehenge and his recent

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findings are the reason I'm here. But first, I ask him for a bit of Stonehenge 101. So

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what is ahenge? It's not the stones, right? No, ahenge is actually an earthen enclosure

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with a ditch and a bank. So if these stones weren't here, this would still be ahenge?

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It's still ahenge because there is a bank and ditch outside of it. So that's one mystery

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solved. Stonehenge isn't just a name. It's a description of a stone circle inside a

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henge that ancient peoples managed to plan and construct in stages between 4 and 5,000

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years ago. Historian Susan Greeney has studied how they might have done it. The smallest stones

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you can see around us here, these have been bought from South-West Wales about 180 miles

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away. And we think they've been bought by the sea, by boats, and then overland Stonehenge.

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That's crazy. Considering the complexity and the difficulty of the engineering, do you

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think there was some centralized power conducting this? I think there has to be. This is a work

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of genius. There's so much thought that has gone into every single bit of it. The evidence

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we have is that this may well have been a moment of cohesion where people are bringing autonomous

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groups together to all act in synchrony.

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Mike tells me that 5 millennia ago, Britain was populated by disparate groups of people

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who were finally making the transition from hunting and gathering to farming. These weren't

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rogue druids like Spinal Tap would have you believe. Druids didn't even exist until thousands

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of years later. No, these were surprisingly advanced Stonehenge or Neolithic people who

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started working together on this massive project. But its biggest mystery remains.

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What the hell is it for? For decades, many focused on the site's entrance. It's aligned

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with the rising sun on the summer solstice, so many believed it was intended as an astronomical

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worship or celebration site. But recently, an investigation turned up a macabre find that

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began to change the accepted view of Stonehenge. When we dug here, what we found was human

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remains. That was just a fraction of the number of people who were buried here. This place

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was full of the cremated remains of the dead. It's basically the largest cemetery within

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Britain for the whole of the 3rd millennium BC. Incredible.

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So Stonehenge was much more than some ancient stargazing site. It also appears to be a massive

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graveyard. The connection between the two functions has remained elusive, but in recent

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years, the magic of technology has helped experts crack the code. English Heritage, which maintains

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the site, has been working on the most detailed scans of the monument ever conducted. The team

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behind the tech is here today. This is Stephen. Hi, Antonio. Nice to meet you, Josh. How are

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you? Pleasure to meet you. They've been using 3D scanners that shower the area with lasers,

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mapping and measuring every detail of the landscape down to fractions of a millimeter. Some are

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mounted on tripods, but others, like the Leica Pegasus backpack, are a bit more mobile. That's

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a Dalek from Dr. Who, correct? Correct, yes. Wearable Dalek. What is this thing? It's a mobile

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mapping unit. Do you want to have a go? Oh, for sure. I'd love to. This is the coolest backpack

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I've ever seen. So if I were to break this, what is the value of this thing I'm wearing? It's about

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$200,000. Well, it sounded a lot like you said $200,000. I didn't eat. This is literally worth more

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than everything that I own. I walk through the monument with a laser scanner. Talk about doing

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work on the go. This thing has 32 individual lasers on board that are capable of capturing half

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a million data points every second. And the onboard cameras are able to see every single time I take a

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step, generating 25 megs of data every meter that I walk forward. In other words, this thing is able to

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see everything. In the most recent rounds of scans, English Heritage generated an incredible 850

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gigabytes of data, which has started to settle long simmering debates about the site's original

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function. The scan showed us that particularly in this direction where the sun sets in midwinter

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along the Solstice alignment, the stones were shaped much more carefully than some of the other stones.

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The scans reveal that special care was used in constructing and refining a specific viewing

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alignment, not just the summer Solstice, but in fact, completely the opposite. Stonehenge seems to

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instead have been built to channel the sunset on the shortest day of the year. We've all been thinking

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about the midsummer sunrise, but it now looks as though the most important direction of sight is through

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that gap towards the midwinter sunset. Far from being an altar to worship the gods who brought the

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light and warmth of summer, Stonehenge appears to have been made for the dark cold of an English winter.

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And that's not all the data has shown. One of the things the laser scanner also shows us is the detail of the

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dressing of the stones. When I say dressing, what we mean is the way that the stones are worked and they were

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shaped using hammerstone. You can see here these mushroom shapes. So these are all axes. Look at that.

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That is spectacular. The amazing detail uncovered 72 never before seen symbols carved into the stones. Oh, here.

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That's right. Though more recent than the original construction, the carvings here serve as a sort of nail in the coffin

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for what Stonehenge was really for. We only find carved axes on slabs associated with burials.

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This, along with the winter solstice alignment, supports Mike's theory that Stonehenge was actually built as a monument to the ancestors,

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a so-called land of the dead. In and of itself, this is a bombshell revelation for a site once thought to be a simple calendar

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or a place of celebrations. But the question remains, why was Stonehenge built in this particular spot?

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What makes this place special? Mike leads me outside the stone circle to reveal another amazing find. Do you notice anything weird out here?

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Well, you've got this kind of ditch mound here. That's it. These banks are natural landforms. The natural formation that was here sits in

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an alignment with the stars and sun above. To the builders of Stonehenge, this made for the perfect spot to erect their monument.

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What they did when they built Stonehenge was to embellish this natural feature that matches the movement of the heavens.

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This may have been the center of their cosmos. Does it lead anywhere? Down to the valley over that ridge. There, we found another

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henge, which has come to be known as Superhenge. I'm sorry, did he just say Superhenge?

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I'm on a quest to discover the meaning of Stonehenge, and I've just learned that the site was actually a massive burial area.

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Now, archaeologist Mike Parker Pearson is leading me away from the site along a secret avenue that points to another hidden henge.

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Josh, this is Superhenge.

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Look at that. It's massive.

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Yes, it is the largest henge in the world. Incredible.

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Nearly two miles away, northeast of Stonehenge, is an enormous bank and ditch construction, with walls nearly 10 feet tall and a diameter of 1,600 feet across.

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It's more than five times the size of the earthworks at Stonehenge.

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But what I do not see are any stones.

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Yeah, this is all about timber.

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Archaeologists here discovered a timber circle, then another, then a third.

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And then this last year, we discovered that the whole thing was surrounded by a giant timber circle.

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Wow.

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1,200 feet in diameter, probably more than 300 giant posts.

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Posts the size of totem poles.

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That is extraordinary.

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The wood posts may be long gone, but excavations inside this massive henge have unearthed proof that the site wasn't just for rituals or burials like Stonehenge.

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They were surrounded by houses. This is where people were living in their thousands.

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So these are the people that are constructing Stonehenge?

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Yes, linking natural landforms with these great monuments.

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But to understand it best, you've really got to see it from the air.

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From the air.

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To show me the super side of Superhenge, Mike takes me to a nearby airfield where a helicopter awaits.

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Okay, up and out.

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Once we get airborne, we arrive over Superhenge. The scale of the construction finally hits home.

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Wow, look at that. You can really see the shape of it from up here. And it's massive.

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It is. This was a sophisticated civilization, but it's just one small part of what's going on in this landscape back in prehistory.

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From Superhenge, we fly on to Silbury Hill, the tallest man-made mound in Europe.

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Finally, we come upon the site that Mike is most excited about showing me.

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Josh, you see this town up ahead of us?

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Yes.

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Do you notice anything strange about it?

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It's got a circle around it.

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It's sucked inside a henge.

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Oh my God, look at that.

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This is the town of Avebury, which sits inside the largest stone circle in the world, 16 times bigger than Stonehenge.

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It originally had 98 sarson slabs running around the edge.

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In terms of understanding the origins of Stonehenge, where does this idea come from?

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I think we need to look to the west. To Wales.

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Wales?

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That's probably where the Stone Circle tradition originated.

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Stonehenge, a site that we think of as being without equal, is actually part of a much larger network of circular monuments.

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There's the bank and ditch in nearby Superhenge, and a larger stone circle at Avebury.

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So the question is, where did the idea for these henges and stone circles originate?

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Answering this question will mean taking a journey back in time.

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To get there, I'm riding in my own piece of English history.

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To learn more about the mysteries of Stonehenge, as well as the people who built it,

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I'm traveling to meet archaeologists working at a much lesser known but equally mysterious site, known as Bryn Kecklidde.

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And to reach them, I'm traveling about five hours west, out of England, and into Wales.

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From majestic castles to quaint village streets, it's easy to see why this region is said to have inspired Lewis Carroll to dream up Alice in Wonderland.

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It's littered with beautiful sights and signs, both short and really long.

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That might even push the mad hatter over the edge. What do you think the Welsh national spelling bee looks like?

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Soon after crossing onto the island of Anglesey in north Wales, I finally reach the site I'm looking for.

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The ancient passage tomb of Bryn Kecklidde, at archaeologist Saren Griffiths.

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Hello, I'm Josh. Nice to meet you. How are you doing? Nice to meet you too. I'm doing great.

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This, I'm assuming, is the site.

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This is the site. This is Bryn Kecklidde.

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It's really beautiful. It's obviously a tomb. And so what are you investigating here? What are you trying to figure out?

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Prior to the passage tomb, there was a stone circle within it. And the big research question is whether the earliest phase of it comprises a hench monument.

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And if it is a hench, why is that significant?

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Because that would be about 500 years earlier than the stone hench.

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Incredible.

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If this is a hench, it will be much older than stone hench and offer potential insight into the origins of the world-famous landmark.

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But to unlock the secrets of Bryn Kecklidde, Saren tells me we need a different point of view.

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Mythic entrance.

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This is awesome.

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Awesome.

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So on the solstice, the sun would have come right through here and shined on this back wall.

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Yeah.

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That's outstanding. And so to your mind, what went on in this room?

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So we know that the cremated remains of a group of people were deposited within the chamber.

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Behind this chamber, we have a range of very weird and wonderful things.

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A human ear bone and a bit of frog.

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Wow.

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Kind of witches, brood.

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Yeah, so this was a place of magic.

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Yes.

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This is Macbeth stuff, yeah.

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Absolutely. That kind of ritual and ceremony.

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Yeah.

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There are so many dots here that connect to stone hench.

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A resting place of the dead, arranged with the solstice alignment and used for arcane magic rituals.

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There's even a ditch around the tomb.

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To find out if there's an adjacent bank hidden underneath, which would make this place a hench,

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Saren has enlisted the support of her partner, archaeologist Ben Edwards.

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Hi.

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Hi, yeah.

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Josh, nice to meet you.

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This looks crazy.

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It's not too crazy.

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What is this?

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This is a resistivity meter.

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Oh, of course.

208
00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:37,320
That's what I was going to say, a resistivity meter.

209
00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:41,320
You know, for those who don't know exactly what a resistivity meter is, how does it work?

210
00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:42,320
All it does is measure resistance.

211
00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:43,320
Got it.

212
00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:46,320
So you put current into the ground and it measures the resistance to that current.

213
00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:49,320
Say the bank of our hench, if there's one underneath, that'll be high resistance.

214
00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:50,320
Got it.

215
00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:51,320
You can have a go if you'd like.

216
00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:52,320
Yeah?

217
00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:53,320
Yeah.

218
00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:54,320
Oh, I would love to.

219
00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:55,320
Okay.

220
00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:56,320
So all you have to do is press start.

221
00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:58,320
It takes a reading, lift it up.

222
00:19:58,320 --> 00:19:59,320
Okay.

223
00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:00,320
That's it.

224
00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:01,320
Put it in by the meter mark on the tape.

225
00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:02,320
There's your next reading.

226
00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:03,320
Great.

227
00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:04,320
Do it again.

228
00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:05,320
Okay.

229
00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:07,320
So just every meter, okay.

230
00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:08,320
That's it.

231
00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:09,320
It's done.

232
00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:10,320
You've done the line.

233
00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:11,320
So now we go have a pint?

234
00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:12,320
No.

235
00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:13,320
No.

236
00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:14,320
Do the rest of the square on my square.

237
00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:15,320
We go back the other way.

238
00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:19,320
Oh, this suddenly got a lot less fun.

239
00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:24,320
Ben has marked out the test path with a measuring tape, so I don't take this resistivity meter

240
00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:25,320
too far astray.

241
00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:30,320
No, I'm not sure how much trouble I can get into looking like an old man with a tricked

242
00:20:30,320 --> 00:20:31,320
out walker.

243
00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:32,320
Okay.

244
00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:34,320
So moment of truth.

245
00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:36,320
Lighter gray, high resistance.

246
00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:39,320
So if we've got a light gray area, that should be the hench bank.

247
00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:40,320
Got it.

248
00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:42,320
The results are in and they are typically Welsh.

249
00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:45,320
In other words, hard for me to read.

250
00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:49,320
But to Sarin and Ben, this pixelated image is as clear as day.

251
00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:50,320
What's that?

252
00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:54,320
That in there is a lighter gray area right where the hench bank should be.

253
00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:56,320
Is that a hench?

254
00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:09,320
I'm at a Stone Age tomb in Northern Wales using state of the art geophysics technology

255
00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:13,320
to determine if this monument was once surrounded by a hench.

256
00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:19,320
That in there is a lighter gray area right where the hench bank should be.

257
00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:20,320
Is that a hench?

258
00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:21,320
Yeah.

259
00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:22,320
Yeah, that's a hench.

260
00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:24,320
Doesn't look like much, but it is.

261
00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:26,320
Ten gray pixels.

262
00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:28,320
That looks like it's confirming your theory.

263
00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:29,320
Yeah.

264
00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:30,320
Wait, that's a huge deal.

265
00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:31,320
Yeah, yeah.

266
00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:35,320
Then Ben shows me another visual reading of the same spot.

267
00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:37,320
And there it is.

268
00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:38,320
That is as clear as day.

269
00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:39,320
That looks like a hench.

270
00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:41,320
Yeah, so that makes it really old.

271
00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:43,320
Yeah, significantly old.

272
00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:48,320
This is maybe 500 years older than Stonehenge.

273
00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:49,320
That's incredible.

274
00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:51,320
So could it be the oldest hench?

275
00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:54,320
There's one other significant contender for that.

276
00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:55,320
And where's that?

277
00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:56,320
That's an Orkney.

278
00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:57,320
An Orkney is...

279
00:21:57,320 --> 00:21:58,320
Very far north.

280
00:21:58,320 --> 00:21:59,320
The North.

281
00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:00,320
The North.

282
00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:03,320
North, north, north, the coast of Scotland.

283
00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:04,320
Okay.

284
00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:11,320
The builders of Bryn Kethly-D appear to have brought their influence down to Stonehenge.

285
00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:18,320
The Stone Circle incorporated surrounding landforms, advanced engineering, and ritual burials.

286
00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:24,320
But further north could be an even older hench and evidence of the people that started it all.

287
00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:31,320
The next morning I hop back into my Britmobile and embark on a 10-hour road trip toward Orkney.

288
00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:36,320
Three and a half hours in, I cross the border into Bonnie's Scotland.

289
00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:41,320
I always think of Scotland as England's slightly edgy older brother.

290
00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:46,320
Bit rowdy-er, bit drunker, been to jail a few times, but a lot of fun.

291
00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:51,320
My first mandatory pit stop is Urquhart Castle.

292
00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:54,320
Which dates back to the 13th century.

293
00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:59,320
As castles go, this one's a little run down.

294
00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:07,320
But since it's perched over Loch Ness, I'm more interested in it as the best viewing spot for the world's most famous monster.

295
00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:08,320
Sorry, Bigfoot.

296
00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:13,320
It says here there is a million-dollar reward, Bryn, if you capture evidence of Nessie.

297
00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:16,320
So, pretty much the episode took a hard turn.

298
00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:18,320
We're just going to be staying here now.

299
00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:21,320
We're staying here, Bryn. It's a million dollars.

300
00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:23,320
You keep looking through that camera.

301
00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:25,320
Burn yourself a suite. 10 grand.

302
00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:26,320
10 grand?

303
00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:27,320
15 grand, maybe.

304
00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:28,320
We can talk about it, Bryn.

305
00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:31,320
The point is, keep your eye on that lens.

306
00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:33,320
You're Nessie, Nessie, Nessie, Nessie.

307
00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:37,320
You can't stay underwater forever.

308
00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:44,320
And from there, it's onward up the North Coast 500.

309
00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:47,320
A.K.A. Scotland's Route 66.

310
00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:57,320
The scenery is a quintessentially Scottish mix of very old buildings, medieval cathedrals, and quirky roadside attractions.

311
00:23:57,320 --> 00:23:59,320
Oh my God, there it is.

312
00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:00,320
Yard hinge.

313
00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:02,320
Very rare.

314
00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:06,320
Unless you have a subscription to an English Skymall catalogue.

315
00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:18,320
With the sun starting to set, I finally arrive at the end of the road.

316
00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:21,320
Literally, there's no more land.

317
00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:29,320
This is the very tiny village of John O'Groats, population about 300.

318
00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:32,320
We're at the very northeastern tip of Great Britain here.

319
00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:37,320
This place has the unfortunate honour of being named the most dismal town in Scotland.

320
00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:40,320
Sure, it seems a little bit lonely, but what do you want?

321
00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:42,320
We're at the end of the world.

322
00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:47,320
What's not to like here?

323
00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:51,320
From stunning seaside cliffs to a damn fine fish and ship stand.

324
00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:52,320
That's it.

325
00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:54,320
Oh man, is that good.

326
00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:56,320
John O'Groats is my kind of dismal.

327
00:24:56,320 --> 00:25:01,320
They even have a charming inn at Land's End that looks like it was plucked out of a Wes Anderson film.

328
00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:04,320
And it affords me a cozy room to spend the night.

329
00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:08,320
The next morning, I hop aboard a ferry to the remote archipelago of Orkney.

330
00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:09,320
Thank you.

331
00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:15,320
Passage from mainland Scotland to Orkney's Port of Stromnes is just 24 miles as the crow flies.

332
00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:21,320
But this stretch of sea has bested even the world's most seasoned seafarers.

333
00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:23,320
This is known as the Pendlin Firth.

334
00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:26,320
The Viking sagas talk about this sea continent.

335
00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:30,320
The Orkney River is the most beautiful and most beautiful river in the world.

336
00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:32,320
And this is known as the Pendlin Firth.

337
00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:35,320
The Viking sagas talk about this sea consuming their ships.

338
00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:40,320
And just a couple of years ago, it swallowed a cargo freighter that's even larger than this ferry.

339
00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:47,320
This is going to be pukey.

340
00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:52,320
Beautiful out here.

341
00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:54,320
Beautiful North Sea weather.

342
00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:10,320
My search for the hidden origin of Stonehenge has brought me from a tomb in Wales to a treacherous ferry crossing.

343
00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:15,320
We're sailing from the northern tip of Scotland to the remote islands of Orkney.

344
00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:18,320
That is, if the waves don't get us first.

345
00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:19,320
Woo!

346
00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:22,320
He has just keep your eye on the horizon.

347
00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:26,320
Once inside the breakwaters of Orkney, the seas calm.

348
00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:31,320
And we dock at the charming, if isolated, town of Stromnes.

349
00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:38,320
From here, I'm crossing the island to meet with archaeologist Caroline Wickham-Jones,

350
00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:42,320
who has been studying Stonehenge structures in the far northern edge of Britain.

351
00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:47,320
She's revealing to me a little known but jaw-dropping sea-sweeping rock.

352
00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:52,320
This is the best preserved Stonehenge village in Europe.

353
00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:54,320
This is insane.

354
00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:04,320
This is like hobbit Middle-Earth stuff.

355
00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:11,320
You're seeing a house that is, as it was left by Stonehenge village.

356
00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:17,320
Caroline has secured special permission for us to get inside for a closer look.

357
00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:20,320
This is not going to be the most glamorous entrance.

358
00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:24,320
There have definitely been advances in doorframe technology since the Stonehenge.

359
00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:30,320
After a quick crawl through a prehistoric portal, we emerge in a Stonehenge domicile.

360
00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:34,320
This is one of the most beautiful places in the world.

361
00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:40,320
After a quick crawl through a prehistoric portal, we emerge in a Stonehenge domicile.

362
00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:42,320
This is awesome.

363
00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:46,320
Literally, we're in someone's home.

364
00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:47,320
Yes.

365
00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:48,320
Are these beds?

366
00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:50,320
Yes. Furniture made of stone.

367
00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:52,320
And this awesome storage area here?

368
00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:57,320
We think that they've probably used them to keep things fresh as a sort of Stonehenge fridge.

369
00:27:57,320 --> 00:27:59,320
You could rent this place in Manhattan tomorrow.

370
00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:01,320
You'd get a lot of money for it.

371
00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:04,320
This homey one bedroom isn't just a fixer-upper with a view.

372
00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:10,320
It's also the key to learning about how the people here ended up influencing the building of Stonehenge.

373
00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:15,320
One of the things that we find here is highly decorated pottery.

374
00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:19,320
The very early estates for this pottery are here in Orkney.

375
00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:23,320
So it's being developed by the people who are living in these sort of communities.

376
00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:28,320
We also find pieces of this pottery down at Stonehenge.

377
00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:29,320
Really?

378
00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:37,320
It shows us that there must be people travelling from the north to the south.

379
00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:39,320
That's a proof positive linkage.

380
00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:41,320
Absolutely, yes.

381
00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:47,320
As we've seen in Wales, the people migrating south to present-day England didn't just bring pottery.

382
00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:53,320
They brought ideas, advanced engineering know-how, and their sacred rituals.

383
00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:56,320
But what about stone circles and henges?

384
00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:59,320
Turns out, those are here too.

385
00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:06,320
Caroline brings me a few miles up the road to a stone circle that may be the oldest henge in the UK.

386
00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:08,320
The Stones of Stennis.

387
00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:11,320
Everything out here is so Game of Thrones.

388
00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:24,320
Look at these stones. I mean, they're enormous.

389
00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:25,320
Yes.

390
00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:32,320
This site is 3,200 BC.

391
00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:34,320
So more than 5,000 years old.

392
00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:39,320
We may have finally zeroed in on the earliest known henge.

393
00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:44,320
Centuries older than Stonehenge, and older even than Bryn Ketley-D in Wales.

394
00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:48,320
But even if we've found the part of the world where these stone circles originated,

395
00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:51,320
there's still one big question in my mind.

396
00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:54,320
If this is the earliest henge, where did that idea come from?

397
00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:56,320
Why put anything in a circular form?

398
00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:59,320
We think we may have the answer to that.

399
00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:07,320
Caroline has been part of a research project that may have turned up a site that predates all of these.

400
00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:10,320
And that could be the henge that started it all.

401
00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:16,320
And when she introduces me to her research partner, I know getting there will be interesting.

402
00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:19,320
Josh, I think you know Richard.

403
00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:20,320
Richard Bates.

404
00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:22,320
Josh, great to see you again.

405
00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:23,320
How you been?

406
00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:24,320
Not too bad, yourself?

407
00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:25,320
I've been well.

408
00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:27,320
Good old Dicky Bates.

409
00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:30,320
The renowned geophysicists and I have shared some amazing adventures.

410
00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:37,320
Searching for a lost mythical city in India, and hunting for a chest of World War I gold in Namibia.

411
00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:43,320
And now we meet in yet another remote corner of the world, this time on his home turf of Scotland.

412
00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:47,320
I'm told there's a special site that I need to look at.

413
00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:48,320
I think so.

414
00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:53,320
And one that very few people have ever even heard of, let alone seen.

415
00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:54,320
And where is it?

416
00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:55,320
It's out there.

417
00:30:57,320 --> 00:30:58,320
In the bay.

418
00:30:58,320 --> 00:30:59,320
In the bay.

419
00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:02,320
This water there today, but if you go further back in time, that was land.

420
00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:03,320
You could have walked here.

421
00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:07,320
And we think it could relate to a lot of the early monuments.

422
00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:08,320
Well, let's go look at it.

423
00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:09,320
How do we get out there?

424
00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:11,320
Well, we've got to find ourselves a boat.

425
00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:12,320
Oh boy.

426
00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:13,320
Have you been in boats with Richard before?

427
00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:14,320
All right, come on.

428
00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:15,320
Let's go.

429
00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:17,320
Let's see what you got for us now.

430
00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:25,320
I never would have expected that my quest to find the origins of Stonehenge would take me below the surface of the frigid North Sea.

431
00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:27,320
But here we are.

432
00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:33,320
And if my past work with Bates is any indication, this investigation will be one wild ride.

433
00:31:33,320 --> 00:32:00,320
At the Bay of Firth in the remote Scottish archipelago of Orkney, I've joined geophysicist Richard Bates and archaeologist Caroline Wickham-Jones on a potentially groundbreaking diving expedition to explore an ancient underwater feature that may be the original inspiration for sites like Stonehenge.

434
00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:02,320
The boat just down here on the left, Josh.

435
00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:03,320
Yep.

436
00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:06,320
But at the moment, there is one thing that's dampening my excitement.

437
00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:09,320
I feel as though I need to point out that it is snowing.

438
00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:10,320
Yeah.

439
00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:11,320
Perfect diving weather.

440
00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:25,320
Today, Caroline and Richard have enlisted the help of Teledyne Blueview, a company that's developed pioneering underwater sonar technology, often used on deep sea shipwrecks.

441
00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:28,320
I'm hoping our boat isn't their next project.

442
00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:37,320
After gearing up, we venture out to sea.

443
00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:40,320
And Richard tells me we've got a bit of a ride ahead of us.

444
00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:42,320
It's about half an hour out here.

445
00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:43,320
We're going to get out into the bay.

446
00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:45,320
It's a bit a little bit rough because the northerlies are blowing.

447
00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:46,320
How rough?

448
00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:47,320
You know.

449
00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:48,320
Scottish rough.

450
00:32:48,320 --> 00:32:49,320
Scottish rough.

451
00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:50,320
All right.

452
00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:51,320
Hang on to something, boys.

453
00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:05,320
Beautiful out here, Richard.

454
00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:07,320
Where else would you want to be on a day like today?

455
00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:08,320
Oh, I don't know.

456
00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:12,320
In indoors, in dry clothes, at the movies.

457
00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:17,320
The farther out we get, the more the weather starts to clear.

458
00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:22,320
And Caroline gives me the lay of the land as it was over 5,000 years ago.

459
00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:27,320
When the receding glaciers of the last Ice Age would have given the North Sea a much different look.

460
00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:32,320
What you have to do is drip the water away, get your mind's eye back 5,000, 6,000 years.

461
00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:34,320
Would have been a gentle valley.

462
00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:36,320
The sea would have been somewhere in that direction.

463
00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:37,320
This would have been dry.

464
00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:39,320
This would have been dry.

465
00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:43,320
Richard tells me that over the years, divers have explored these waters.

466
00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:48,320
Just a few years ago, one finding in particular really grabbed his and Caroline's attention.

467
00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:51,320
For reasons I'm about to understand.

468
00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:54,320
OK, Josh, we're coming up on the site now in the middle of the bay here.

469
00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:58,320
We're going to get a high resolution sonar image of what's on the bottom.

470
00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:00,320
All right, great. Let's see it.

471
00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:01,320
OK, off you go.

472
00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:08,320
Our first move is to break out Teledyne's boat-mounted sonar imaging scanner

473
00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:11,320
to get an initial overview of the site.

474
00:34:11,320 --> 00:34:13,320
Some assembly is required.

475
00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:17,320
But once we've got it all rigged up, it's an impressive piece of kit.

476
00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:21,320
Sonar generates high resolution 3D point clouds.

477
00:34:21,320 --> 00:34:24,320
So we're hoping to get some very good details of the area of interest.

478
00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:26,320
We should see individual stones.

479
00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:27,320
Awesome.

480
00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:32,320
The scanner is able to stitch together 3D sonar scans in real time,

481
00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:34,320
creating an image of the site from above.

482
00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:39,320
But first, we'll need to generate the data by taking the boat back and forth.

483
00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:41,320
Zamboni style.

484
00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:47,320
We are following where we are actually sending these sonar signals onto the sea floor.

485
00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:48,320
Right.

486
00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:52,320
So each little dot on there is a real reflection from the sea floor.

487
00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:53,320
Got it.

488
00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:58,320
As we navigate back and forth over the site, the computer begins stitching together the data.

489
00:34:58,320 --> 00:35:02,320
Before long, something unusual starts to take shape.

490
00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:05,320
So no question there's a feature down there.

491
00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:08,320
There's a definite step in the landscape here.

492
00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:11,320
That's fabulous. It's really clear.

493
00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:13,320
Look at that. Look at the curve there. It's circular.

494
00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:15,320
That's not ordinary.

495
00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:20,320
So I might understand that this is a monument. Is this a henge?

496
00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:22,320
Well, that's the million dollar question.

497
00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:27,320
If Caroline and Richard can prove that people made or even modified this site,

498
00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:33,320
it would mean that this is the earliest man made henge and stone circle monument ever found.

499
00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:36,320
Perhaps the inspiration for all others that followed.

500
00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:40,320
The only way for us to continue studying that is to get in the water.

501
00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:44,320
Boy, you better have some seriously warm gear on this boat.

502
00:35:45,320 --> 00:35:50,320
So against my better judgment, an open ocean dive in near arctic waters is on.

503
00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:55,320
John's brought another scanning setup to document the site in even richer detail.

504
00:35:55,320 --> 00:36:01,320
But first, we'll need to squeeze into specialty diving suits capable of keeping us alive in freezing water.

505
00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:05,320
I feel like I look like the Michelin man and Richard looks like James Bond.

506
00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:12,320
We drop the anchor in to mark the spot.

507
00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:15,320
And then bombs away.

508
00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:24,320
Richard, it is so cold down here.

509
00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:29,320
The feature is only about 15 feet deep, but it feels like we're on another planet.

510
00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:33,320
First impression, it's not really a flat sandy bottom.

511
00:36:33,320 --> 00:36:36,320
A lot of kelp down here and a lot of stones.

512
00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:40,320
Yeah, stones is what we're off to. Going to see around in that kelp.

513
00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:45,320
We swim closer to the center and the ground beneath us starts to rise.

514
00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:50,320
Just like this. Start to tip more to the vertical.

515
00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:56,320
Oh, it looks like a hatch.

516
00:37:03,320 --> 00:37:08,320
I'm in Scotland's frigid Bay of Firth, below the surface and getting up close and personal

517
00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:13,320
with a strange formation that we hope is the inspiration for all Henge monuments.

518
00:37:13,320 --> 00:37:18,320
So, John, look at this. Start to tip more to the vertical.

519
00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:21,320
Oh, it looks like a hatch.

520
00:37:23,320 --> 00:37:26,320
It has this perfectly circular outer edge.

521
00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:29,320
I mean, and you can see how it rises up in the middle.

522
00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:31,320
You see what looks like a platform.

523
00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:34,320
Really wild.

524
00:37:34,320 --> 00:37:39,320
Yeah, it's one of a kind. We just haven't seen anything like this anywhere else.

525
00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:43,320
Okay, what's the plan now?

526
00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:47,320
Crop the sonar unit, bring it down here. We can get even more resolution.

527
00:37:49,320 --> 00:37:56,320
We have the surface team lower the sonar unit to the ocean floor and we prepare for a hyper detailed scan of the site.

528
00:37:56,320 --> 00:38:00,320
Okay, tripod in position, commercial 360 scan.

529
00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:01,320
Okay, we're starting to scan.

530
00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:05,320
John, my head is about two feet from this thing. Is that going to be a problem?

531
00:38:05,320 --> 00:38:07,320
It's not recommended, but it is safe.

532
00:38:09,320 --> 00:38:13,320
Richard and I swim out of the way to let the scanner do its job.

533
00:38:13,320 --> 00:38:19,320
So as the sonar scans around, it will build up the 3D point cloud of that area.

534
00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:25,320
It only takes minutes for the machine to collect millions of data points, rendering an image in real time.

535
00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:27,320
So the scan is completed now.

536
00:38:28,320 --> 00:38:35,320
That's amazing, guys. There's fabulous detail just even so quickly. That's just incredible.

537
00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:44,320
After hours in near freezing water, we're eager to make our way topside, far out and examine the scan.

538
00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:49,320
What do we got?

539
00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:52,320
How cool is that?

540
00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:54,320
Hey, work.

541
00:38:55,320 --> 00:39:05,320
The combined scans from above and below have come through crystal clear, giving Caroline and Richard the most accurate model yet of the mysterious underwater feature.

542
00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:08,320
You can really see the pattern of it, really.

543
00:39:08,320 --> 00:39:12,320
Absolutely, it is. It's that very distinct outer part of the circle.

544
00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:17,320
The oldest henges, they occur in Orkney. They have to be inspired by something.

545
00:39:17,320 --> 00:39:22,320
Our work here tells us that they would have seen this on a land surface.

546
00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:31,320
The formation we saw underwater, so reminiscent of the banks and ditches of Stonehenge and Stennis, may in fact have been the reason for their existence,

547
00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:35,320
as the people migrating south sought to emulate the site here.

548
00:39:37,320 --> 00:39:43,320
It's impossible to ignore how similar it is in some ways to these henges we see on Orkney and other places.

549
00:39:43,320 --> 00:39:45,320
Do you think this is a part of that story?

550
00:39:45,320 --> 00:39:54,320
The henges mimic it so closely. It's got the platform, the ditch, it's the same sort of size, but natural.

551
00:39:54,320 --> 00:39:55,320
Yeah.

552
00:39:55,320 --> 00:40:03,320
Is it a coincidence that we get something like this where these sites are developed? It could be a mother henge.

553
00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:12,320
It turns everything on its head. You wouldn't think it would be the genesis of something as magnificent as Stonehenge.

554
00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:20,320
In search of Stonehenge's origins, I've gone all around the United Kingdom, travelling through time in the process.

555
00:40:22,320 --> 00:40:27,320
I've seen how technology is settling long, simmering debates about the site's purpose.

556
00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:32,320
While Stonehenge is a place of ritual, it wasn't just used for celebrations.

557
00:40:32,320 --> 00:40:36,320
This appears to be a cemetery, a land of the dead.

558
00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:40,320
But it's also part of a much larger story.

559
00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:48,320
It's connected to super henges and to monuments in Wales and in Orkney that are older than we once thought possible.

560
00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:54,320
And in cold Scottish waters, the origins of all henge monuments might finally be coming into view.

561
00:40:54,320 --> 00:41:01,320
All of it tells a tale far richer than the popular myths and legends let on of arrestless and inventive people

562
00:41:02,320 --> 00:41:10,320
whose perseverance, ingenuity and creativity would pave the way for the Britain that so many love and cherish today.

563
00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:18,320
Stonehenge will be here long after we're gone, and as the sun continues to rise and set across these mysterious stones,

564
00:41:18,320 --> 00:41:26,320
I'm left marveling not just at the monuments, but at the people who lived, died and endured here.

565
00:41:26,320 --> 00:41:32,320
On the next Expedition Unknown.

566
00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:34,320
We're getting rich today.

567
00:41:36,320 --> 00:41:38,320
If you look here, there's a windmill.

568
00:41:38,320 --> 00:41:40,320
That's the Chicago Water Tower.

569
00:41:40,320 --> 00:41:43,320
My dad thought that people would find it very quickly.

570
00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:48,320
If you look here, you can see the state of Florida.

571
00:41:48,320 --> 00:41:49,320
She's the lion.

572
00:41:49,320 --> 00:41:51,320
Nobody's figured that out before.

573
00:41:51,320 --> 00:41:52,320
It's buried under a lion.

574
00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:53,320
Something.

575
00:41:53,320 --> 00:41:54,320
Hold on.

576
00:41:54,320 --> 00:41:55,320
Oh, come on.

577
00:41:55,320 --> 00:41:56,320
Wait, is that it?