Mummy Autopsy

All Episodes 2005

  • Ended
  • 2005-02-15T00:00:00Z
  • 45m
  • 7h 30m (10 episodes)
  • Documentary
Mummy Autopsy is a new series that uses forensic science and the latest investigative techniques to unlock the human stories of mummies around the world, examining their deaths - from disease, murder and even ritual sacrifice - and exploring their lives. Each episode features two investigations into the secrets locked within ancient remains, each led by two 'Mummy Investigators' (MIs), whose skills range from forensic osteology and pathology to radiology and bio-archeology. With clear story-telling and serious science explained with the help of dramatic CGI, Mummy Autopsy reveals fascinating insights into the past

17 episodes

Series Premiere

2005-02-15T00:00:00Z

1x01 The Emperor's Mummy and Death of a Warrior

Series Premiere

1x01 The Emperor's Mummy and Death of a Warrior

  • 2005-02-15T00:00:00Z45m

A 3,000-year-old Egyptian sarcophagus lies in the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, mummy detectives James and Ken return to investigate. Experts previously believed it had never been opened. Can the Museum confirm that is the case and that the person inside was not switched in antiquity when it was common to re-use coffins - or much later, before it was given to the Emperor of Brazil in the nineteenth century? But now it is speculated that it contains the body of one of the two Brazilian emperors from the 19th century. An endoscopy and an X-ray examination can provide information. And in our second investigation, the corpse of a Peruvian native who died around 1000 AD also raises questions.

1x02 A Lost Queen and Mummy Island

  • 2005-04-08T00:00:00Z45m

The bodies of three men and two children have been found entombed in a cave in one of the most inhospitable places on earth, the edge of Bolivia 's vast salt plain - the Salar de Uyuni. James and Tiffiny discover that at least three of the skeletons show signs of blows to the head powerful enough to kill them. Is this a case of piracy on the salt plain? Human sacrifice? Or possibly even both? In Part 2: London 's Greenwich Naval Hospital , used from 1750 to 1840 for retired sailors, was the resting place of some 20,000 souls - vital skeleton clues to life in the ...

The Chinchorro mummies of Chile are the oldest ever found, the oldest being over 9000 years old. Many of them are children, but some are so small archaeologists aren't sure if they are dolls, or statuettes, or if in fact they are real mummified babies. Tiffany and Ken travel to Africa in Chile where the mummies are conserved to test whether these are real mummified. Between 1100 and 1400 AD, Armatambo was one of the most important centers of the Peruvian Ichma culture. Where the rich city once stood is now the poor district of Virgen del Morro on the outskirts of Lima. Archaeologists have dug up around 200 mummies there. Now one of them is to be "unwrapped". And in our second investigation, a 3,500-year-old cemetery was discovered in Granada, southern Spain. But are the mummies lying there that old?

The bodies of three men and two children have been found entombed in a cave in one of the most inhospitable places on earth, the edge of Bolivia 's vast salt plain - the Salar de Uyuni. James and Tiffiny discover that at least three of the skeletons show signs of blows to the head powerful enough to kill them. Is this a case of piracy on the salt plain? Human sacrifice? Or possibly even both? In Part 2: London 's Greenwich Naval Hospital , used from 1750 to 1840 for retired sailors, was the resting place of some 20,000 souls - vital skeleton clues to life in the Georgian Navy. John and James examine a skeleton to unlock the story of one dead sailor: a black male with an amputated leg. On board HMS Victory, they explore how he might have sustained his injuries and how an amputation before the age of anesthesia would have been performed on board a ship.

1x06 Double murder in Peru

  • no air date45m

On March 19, 2004, four bundles of mummy were found in Cocoracha in southern Peru. While three were from the Inca period, the fourth bundle was two soldiers in uniforms like those worn in the 1879 War of the Pacific between Chile, Peru and Bolivia. What had happened? (Text: Sky)

A mummy is discovered in the Andes of southern Peru. The first signs indicated that it dates back to the time of the Incas. It is to be investigated with the help of the C14 method. In the 80s of the 20th century, archaeologists discovered a family grave in Canterbury. Were these people Anglo-Saxons or Romans? (Text: Sky)

1x08 The Heads of Nazca

  • no air date45m

Four skulls severed from the bodies, all of which have a hole in the forehead, are the work of the scientists in Nasca, Peru. In Scotland, a magnificent tomb from the Iron Age raises many questions. This episode accompanies the researchers on their journey into the past. (Text: Sky)

A 3,000-year-old Egyptian sarcophagus lies in the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, mummy detectives James and Ken return to investigate. Experts previously believed it had never been opened. Can the Museum confirm that is the case and that the person inside was not switched in antiquity when it was common to re-use coffins - or much later, before it was given to the Emperor of Brazil in the nineteenth century? But now it is speculated that it contains the body of one of the two Brazilian emperors from the 19th century. An endoscopy and an X-ray examination can provide information. And in our second investigation, the corpse of a Peruvian native who died around 1000 AD also raises questions.

A DNA analysis is expected to shed light on a 19th-century body found in the Wyoming desert. In Turin, two Egyptian mummies are being investigated. What else can researchers find out about the dead today? (Text: Sky)

In the 19th century, the mummy of a man named Jimmy Garlic was discovered in a church in London. Now it is to be determined when he lived and why his body is so well preserved. Near the Peruvian capital Lima lies the grave of a cruelly murdered man. Archaeologists are trying to find out the reason for his death. The skeleton of a condor, which lies in the grave, is a mystery. (Text: Sky)

In a tomb in the northern Peruvian Lambayeque Valley, skeletons and remains of several people several hundred years old have been found. There are many indications that the people died a violent death. What could have been the reason for her gruesome death? (Text: Sky)

1x14

  • no air date45m

The body of a white man in an Indian cemetery has raised questions to which archaeologists are looking for answers. Similarly interesting are the remains of perhaps the first Vikings to land in Ireland. – The beginning of an exciting journey back into history.

1x16 The Macedonian Secret

  • no air date45m

Several richly decorated warrior tombs from the time of Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great, arouse the interest of archaeologists in northern Greece. One grave in particular stands out. Was the warrior murdered? The documentary gets to the bottom of the mystery. (Text: Sky)

1x17 A Lost Queen?/Mummy Island

  • 2005-04-08T00:00:00Z45m

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