BBC - Britain,s Ancient Capital Secrets of Orkney (2017) Part 2

Britain’s Ancient Capital Secrets of Orkney

Orkney - seven miles off the coast of Scotland and cut off by the tumultuous Pentland Firth, the fastest flowing tidal race in Europe, is often viewed as being remote. But recent discoveries there are turning the Stone Age map of Britain upside down. Rather than an outpost at the edge of the world, recent finds suggest an extraordinary theory - that Orkney was the cultural capital of our ancient world and the origin of the stone circle cult which culminated in Stonehenge. Neil Oliver, Chris Packham, Andy Torbet and Dr Shini Somara join hundreds of archaeologists from around the world who have gathered in Orkney to investigate at one of Europe's biggest digs.

Part 2

In the second of this three-part series, Andy Torbet and some local seafaring volunteers build a boat made of just willow and cow hide and set out to cross the dangerous Pentland Firth as the ancient Orcadians would have done. Neil Oliver investigates the extraordinary discovery of some human bones, Chris Packham goes in search of whales and Shini Somara uncovers the powers of the tides.

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