Death alwasy gets the final word no matter how we mock it. Sworn to eternal silence the dead seem beyond our reach yet to some scientists they speak volumes. Through the lens of modern science the grave has become a window on the past. Today we can learn intimate detail about how the ancients lived and how they died. Bit by bit their portraits emerge from flesh, bones and DNA. The unearthing of the past reveals the tangled roots of vour family tree. But some see only the desecration of our ancestors. As the living defend the dead battle lines are drawn. In truth those who passed here long ago still dwell among us from fragile remains their life stories unfold and as we hear them they become a part of us all. Through this documentary listen to the voices of the dead. Ancient human grave sites speak volumes to those who listen. These haunting human “time capsules” have been uncovered all over the world. Some even reach a certain level of fameThe Ampato maiden sacrificed on an Andes peak. The Alpine Ice Man, the oldest frozen mummy ever found. England’s 9,000 year old Cheddar Man. Others’ stories are known only to the ages, like a cache of elaborately adorned 7,000 year old mummies unearthed in Chile, and the thousands of Egyptian mummies actually burned as train fuel in the 19th century. Modern science now allows us to explore these human treasures without destroying them, and connects us all to the secrets of the ancient dead.
