XTombs
The Mystery of the X Tombs aired on BBC TWO on Sunday 28th July at 9pm.

This documentary has been shortlisted for the ABSW awards for the best scripted/edited television programme or online video!

This programme follows the investigations ongoing since 2003 into a mysterious chamber found deep within one of Rome’s catacombs. 2500 bodies piled neatly on top of one another in several chambers of mass death. Working with the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology, archaeologists from CNRS in France who are specialists in working with mass graves, as well as with experts in ancient genetics at the University of Tubingen in Germany, this programme investigates who these people were, where they were from and what they died of.

Directed and Produced by Dr Paul Olding (with thanks also for the photos on the left). Executive Producer Chris Granlund.

Fore more information see the BBC Website: BBC 2 Website:The Mystery of the X Tombs.

The programme was co-produced with NOVA in the USA.

This admirably lucid investigation into an ancient Roman mass grave is presented by the author and academic on a mission to explain Michael Scott…He is assistant professor in classics and ancient history at Warwick University – and if his lectures are this clear then he has lucky students. The Sunday Times
The Mystery of Rome’s X Tombs was a quietly breathtaking exercise in archaeological detection.The Independent