Vikings: The Lost Realm

A quarry full of decapitated skeletons, evidence of a mass execution. How did 54 Viking raiders meet their gruesome end? The English did not warmly welcome their Viking visitors. Conflict appears to have been common. There is dramatic evidence for this at several places in southern England, especially at a site called Ridgeway near Weymouth, Dorset.

Two buried Viking Age ships were uncovered at Salme, Estonia, between 2008 and 2012. Dated to around AD 750, these are the earliest known Viking ships to have crossed the Baltic. How and why did 41 strong young men from Sweden die? What does Tim make of the new theory that they were not warriors but diplomats on a peaceful mission? What can the bones of the dead men tell us?

The skeletons of an old lady and a younger woman found in a burial mound...does the evidence point to a ritual sacrifice or a high-status funeral? Were they a Queen and her daughter? How can their bones help Tim piece together the story? It's over to Tim to sift through the evidence and find out.

The Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, Denmark, holds the salvaged and reconstructed remains of five ships deliberately scuttled around AD 1070 to block the shipping channel and protect the Viking town. An extraordinary 'lost' fleet of Viking ships are a treasure trove of information and insights into Viking life. Tim and the team join the quest to discover the very latest theories and findings.

There were four known, almost identical Viking ring fortresses in Denmark before the summer of 2012, including the namesake tourist destination at Trelleborg on the island of Zealand. All were built around AD 980. The brand new discovery of a 'missing' Viking fortress - what secrets about Viking life and history can it reveal?