Digging up History

Digging up History

Documentaries about archaeology.

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Digging up History
  • Inside Windsor Castle: The State Rooms

    Windsor Castle has a legendary connection to the British monarchy: the longest-serving royal palace in the whole of Europe. Ever since the days of William the Conqueror, the Castle has dominated this strategic point on the banks of the Thames, overlooking west London. Over the next 1,000 years ki...

  • The Treasure in the Tin Cup: Artefacts and Archive from Auschwitz

    In the Holocaust, also referred to as the Shoah, Nazis systematically murdered some 6 million European Jews. Between 1941 and 1945, around two-thirds of the Jewish population in Europe were killed. Jews were part of a larger group that included anyone the Nazis considered to be ‘Untermenschen’, o...

  • Fortress Britain: Ardoch Roman Fort

    Join Tristan Hughes in this short documentary as he explores the fascinating history of Ardoch Roman Fort in Scotland. Featuring historians Rebecca Jones and Andrew Tibbs.

  • Access All Areas

    1 season

    History Hit gets AAA permission to head behind the scenes at top history locations!

  • Secrets of Hitler's Island Fortress

    Guernsey and its neighbouring islands have a unique distinction which sets them apart from the rest of the British Isles. Together with the rest of the Channel Islands, they were the only part of the British Isles to fall to Nazi Germany in the Second World War. In this documentary Dan Snow disco...

  • Great Excavations! Digging Charles Dickens' Workhouse with Sir Tony Robinson

    Sir Tony Robinson comes to History Hit to present a special film about a remarkable excavation in central London, the workhouse that inspired Charles Dickens to write his famous novel, “Oliver Twist”.

    In the middle of the capital, archaeologists are digging deep to find out more about the lives ...

  • The World of Stonehenge Revealed: Decoding the Find of the Century

    Described as the "most important piece of prehistoric art to be found in Britain in the last 100 years", an elaborately decorated 5000 year-old chalk cylinder, discovered buried with 3 child skeletons in Yorkshire and as old as the first phase of Stonehenge, is going on display at the British Mus...

  • The Traces of War

    1 season

    Dr James Rogers, Assistant Professor of War Studies, is fascinated by these remains and exactly what they can tell us about not just the changing nature of war through time - but the stories of the people who lived through those events.

  • Mudlarking

    Dan joins author and mudlark expert Lara Maiklem for a spot of mudlarking.

  • Shackleton: The Story of Endurance

    Part 1 of 3.

    Explorers called it the 'Great White Silence', an inhospitable continent of rock, ice and snow on which no human has stepped until just over 100 years ago. Girdled by an ocean packed with shifting ice and beyond that, the roughest oceans on the planet with waves as tall as apartment...

  • Hieroglyphs: Unlocking Ancient Egypt

    2022 isn't just 100 years since the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. It's also exactly 200 years since one of history's greatest linguistic puzzles was cracked: when Jean-Francois Champollion made the ultimate breakthrough and deciphered the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic code. To mark this very s...

  • Life and Death in Roman London

    1 season

    Dr Simon Elliott explores the rise and fall of Roman London.

  • The Pursuit of Endurance: On the Shoulders of Shackleton

    In the heart of the Antarctic, nine adventurers are about to live an extraordinary story. They come from very different backgrounds, but one thing brings them together: a passion for adventure and testing the limits.

    Their goal: to follow in the footsteps of one of the greatest legends of the go...

  • Fortress Britain: Red Sands Forts

    During the Second World War, the City of London was a major target for both naval and aerial bombardment. In 1943, numerous towers were built in the Thames Estuary as anti-aircraft defences to protect the capital. Known as the Red Sands Forts, these Star Wars Walker-like constructions were initia...

  • The Mystery of the Headless Man

    This story has everything: war, politics, betrayal, scandal, murder and at its heart a cracking forensic science mystery. This is the story of Simon Fraser, the 11th Lord Lovat of the Highland, also known as the Fox. In the late 1660s, Simon Fraser was born in a house on the banks of a burn in th...

  • The Unheard Tapes of Bomber Command

    Over 55,500 men died flying with Bomber Command during World War Two; more than the number who serve in the Royal Air Force today. Flying at night over occupied Europe and battling German night fighters, anti-aircraft fire and mid-air collisions, they showed astonishing courage and resilience in ...

  • The History of Westminster Abbey

    Sir David Cannadine shows Dan around the iconic Westminster Abbey, in the heart of London. With an unrivalled arrange of monuments - ranging from grand royal tombs to the grave of The Unknown Warrior - and spectacular architecture spanning nearly 1,000 years, join the two historians as they explo...

  • Hunt for the U-576

    A team of maritime archaeologists descends 700 feet off the coast of North Carolina in search of the U-576, a German submarine that went down in a historic 1942 battle, possibly trapping 45 Nazi sailors inside.

  • Tutankhamun: A Century of Discovery

    On November 4th 1922 a breathless archaeologist, who had spent his life working in Egypt, wrote a hurried diary entry: “First steps of Tomb Found”. This was the very moment that Howard Carter found the entrance to the tomb of Tutankhamun.

    In this very special film, shot in Egypt and England, Dan...

  • The Ancient Americas: Teotihuacan

    A jewel of Mesoamerica, Teotihuacan was a vibrant, painted city - but who built it? And who actually lived there?

    In the second episode of our August series 'The Ancient Americas', Tristan is joined by professor Annabeth Headrick to help shine a light on one of ancient history's most marvellous ...

  • Lost and Found: The Search for USS Lagarto

    A fierce WWII battle at sea, unreported for more than 60 years is revealed at the bottom of the Gulf of Thailand in HD underwater video. There lay the US submarine Lagarto and the remains of her 86 crewmen, whose families share how their husbands’ and fathers' disappearance shaped their lives. Wr...

  • The National Trust: Reimagining Our Past

    Here at History Hit, we love exploring the historic sites managed by the National Trust. In this special film we participate in a major National Trust event, the first Octavia Hill lecture, delivered by renowned art historian and museum director, Neil McGregor. Neil delves into two magnificent ho...

  • The Stuka

    More famously known as the ‘Stuka’, the Ju 87 is perhaps the most recognisable dive bomber of the Second World War, made famous by its infamous Jericho trumpet. During the Battle of Britain, squadrons of Stukas gained some success destroying ground targets. On 13 August 1940 – Eagle Day – Stukas ...

  • The Military Maps of George III

    Though perhaps better-remembered today for his late-reign madness and the slight issue of losing the Thirteen Colonies, King George III was also one of the world's greatest collectors of military maps. Preserved in excellent condition within Windsor Castle, these highly-detailed maps cover a rang...