''History Cold Case'' is a British

documentary television Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

series in which scientists use modern

forensic techniques Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal p ...

to investigate ancient remains. Two series of ''History Cold Case'' aired on BBC Two between 6 May 2010 and 21 July 2011. The television series is recommended for age 17 and above due to graphic images and maturity.

Overview

Anthropologist Sue Black and her team at the Centre for Anatomy & Human Identification (CAHID) at the

University of Dundee , mottoeng = "My soul doth magnify the Lord" , established = 1967 – gained independent university status by Royal Charter1897 – Constituent college of the University of St Andrews1881 – University College , ...

investigate human remains. They use forensic science, including radiocarbon dating, DNA and isotope analysis, to find out about the life and death of each set of remains, which range in date from the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

to the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

. In some cases, they search through historic records to try to locate a name. In each episode, the team travels to a different location in Great Britain and set up a mobile lab to do their work. At the conclusion, they present their findings, including facial reconstruction, to the local community.

Cast

* Sue Black, forensic anthropologist * Xanthé Mallett, forensic anthropologist and criminologist *

Caroline Wilkinson Caroline M. Wilkinson Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (born 27 October 1965) is a British anthropologist who has been a professor at the Liverpool John Moores University's School of Art and Design since 2014. She is best known fo ...

, anthropologist who creates facial reconstructions * Wolfram Meier-Augenstein, expert in isotope analysis (series 1)

Episodes

Series 1 (2010)

Series 2 (2011)

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, id=1642373, title=History Cold Case BBC reality television shows 2010 British television series debuts 2011 British television series endings British documentary television series Television series by Endemol English-language television shows Archaeology of the United Kingdom