Dr Lindsey Buster reveals ‘Mystic Britain’

A new series on the Smithsonian Channel explores the secrets of the UK’s most mysterious sites, and features Dr Lindsey Büster, Teaching Fellow in European Iron Age Archaeology at the School of History, Classics and Archaeology.

In a new 10-part series, Clive Anderson and anthropologist Mary-Ann Ochota go on a journey through some of the country’s most mysterious sites, including the Covesea Caves in Moray.

The Covesea Caves Project, co-directed by Dr Lindsey Büster and Professor Ian Armit (University of Leicester), is featured in episode 6 of the series which looks at mummies. The caves, which would never have been easy to reach, appear to have been used for the laying out and post-mortem processing of the dead as part of normal funerary rites, but the landscape itself appears to have played an important role in the treatment of bodies.

‘Mummification of bodies is little known but increasingly recognised in later prehistoric Britain,’ said Dr Büster, ‘The unique preservational environment of this enigmatic set of sea caves created very tangible links between the living and the dead.’

The series will repeat on the Smithsonian Channel (Freeview 99, Freesat 175, Sky 195, 889, Virgin Media 295) from 2^nd July.