''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 combines principles of law and science to investigate criminal activity. Through crime scene investigations and laboratory analysis, forensic scientists are able to link suspects to evidence. An example is determining the time and ...

to investigate ancient remains. Two series of ''History Cold Case'' aired on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

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 The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...

investigate human remains. They use forensic science, including

radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for Chronological dating, determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of carbon-14, radiocarbon, a radioactive Isotop ...

, 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 () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

to the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

. 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, anthropologist who creates facial reconstructions * Wolfram Meier-Augenstein, expert in

isotope analysis Isotope analysis is the identification of isotopic signature, abundance of certain stable isotopes of chemical elements within organic and inorganic compounds. Isotopic analysis can be used to understand the flow of energy through a food we ...

(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 British English-language television shows Archaeology of the United Kingdom