Naked History – Unearthed

It’s a building that’s recognised across the world – the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy. It’s stood in Miracle Square, Pisa, for over eight hundred years. But why does it lean? Did its medieval architects get their calculations spectacularly wrong? How did they attempt to fix the problem? And will it one day finally topple over – or will it continue to defy the laws of gravity? Investigators uncover the reasons for its famous tilt – and discover that it remains standing due to a combination of medieval engineering, a modern-day rescue plan and sheer luck. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s one of the most notorious buildings of the Second World War – the top-secret underground Berlin bunker of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. But where is it really located? What engineering challenges did Hitler face building it? Was it completely impregnable, as its architects hoped? And what happens to the bunker once Nazi Germany is defeated and the war is over? Today, investigators are uncovering the true story – and revealing that Hitler’s Berlin bunker was just one of a several secret bunkers dotted around occupied Europe, each bigger and better-protected than its predecessor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hadrian’s Wall in northern England is one of the most astonishing mega-structures of the ancient world. This mighty barrier was the largest structure in the Roman Empire, running from coast to coast and dividing the island of Britain in two. Why did the Romans build such an impressive fortification? Today archaeologists are investigating the wall’s hidden history and uncovering its buried defences. At Vindolanda fort, hundreds of wooden tablets reveal the harsh reality of life as a soldier on the edge of the Roman Empire. This was an untamed frontier - what dangers lay beyond Rome’s great wall? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 79 AD the devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried the tiny Roman town of Herculaneum in Italy. Today archaeologists are exploring its incredible secrets. Herculaneum is one of the most perfectly preserved Roman towns in the world. Fine townhouses contain wooden furniture, the remains of food and a library with thousands of papyrus scrolls. How did so much of this town survive the apocalyptic force of a volcano? Archaeologists have also discovered hundreds of bodies all huddled together in boathouses on the seafront. Who were these people and what can their remains tell us about Herculaneum’s final, terrifying hours? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Egypt’s desert sands hide a remarkable secret - Amarna, an entire city buried for more than 3000 years. This metropolis was the vision of a revolutionary pharaoh called Akhenaten; home to two of the most famous Egyptians in history, Queen Nefertiti and her son the boy king Tutankhamun. Why is this city in the middle of a desert? Today archaeologists are uncovering the city’s forgotten ruins and the dark secrets that hide within them. Amarna’s skeletons reveal a life of hardship and forbidden gods. Could these clues help explain why the city disappears? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Empire State Building in New York is an American icon - one of the most famous structures on the planet. This soaring skyscraper was the tallest building in the world when it opened in 1931; a title it held into for more than 40 years. But how much do we really know about this modern mega-structure? There are many surprisingly stories about the Empire State Building. How was it built so fast? What is the secret to its incredible stability? What happened when an airship tried to moor at the top of the world’s tallest building? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thermopylae in Greece is the site of an iconic battle. Legend says that in 480 BC, 300 Spartan warriors - at the head of a small Greek army - died holding off a million invading Persian troops. Their courageous last stand is famous - but how much of this epic tale is true? Today investigators hunt for the real story of the 300 and try to reconstruct the lost battlefield at Thermopylae. Weapons testing reveals the terrifying reality of ancient warfare. Who were the Spartans and did they really face such impossible odds? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The sunken town of Baiae in Italy is one of the most extraordinary Roman sites in the world. Many of its grand villas remain frozen in time, lying on the seabed of the Bay of Naples. Geologists think this town was drowned by a super volcano. Today marine archaeologists are diving beneath the waves to uncover its secrets. They’re using laser scanning to map Baiae’s beautiful mosaics, cobbled streets and fabulous statues. Ancient writers say that Baiae was an emperor’s playground and exclusive resort for Rome’s rich and famous. Is there more to this underwater metropolis than meets the eye? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Dead Sea Scrolls in Israel are the oldest biblical texts in the world. These fragile Hebrew manuscripts were discovered in 1946, inside desert caves at Qumran in the West Bank. Who wrote the scrolls and why did they disappear? The investigation leads to a spectacular mountain fortress of Masada. Here archaeologists are discovering intriguing clues that suggest the authors of the scrolls fled here during the great Jewish revolt against Rome. Did they come to Masada to escape an ancient apocalypse that destroyed their world? Did they bring with them their precious scrolls? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Ancient Greek writers say that this tower was so tall that the beacon at the summit could be seen for hundreds of miles. Today archaeologists and engineers investigate the truth behind this lost wonder – how tall was it, what did it really look like and how did a stone skyscraper survive earthquakes for more than a thousand years? Did this remarkable structure also contain a mysterious ancient weapon – a so-called death-ray that could supposedly set enemy ships on fire? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 64 AD the Emperor Nero built a breathtaking palace in the heart of ancient Rome - the ‘Domus Aurea’ (the ‘Golden House’). Today little remains of this magnificent residence but it supposedly covered a quarter of the city. Archaeologists are discovering that the palace was covered with beautiful frescoes and even had a water-powered rotating dining room. This vast complex was only possible thanks to a terrible catastrophe that destroyed much of the capital – the Great Fire of Rome. Ancient writers blame Nero for starting the inferno. Did he burn down Rome to build a magnificent new metropolis? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Otzi the Iceman is one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time. He is a perfectly preserved ice ‘mummy’, frozen high in the Alps for 5000 years. Investigators have discovered that he lived and died before the Pyramids and Stonehenge. Who was the iceman, was he murdered and what can his remains tell us about the world he comes from? Now fresh investigations of his possessions – including an astonishing copper axe – are revealing a world far more sophisticated that we imagined. Otzi lived at a time of great change – did this contribute to his untimely death in the mountains? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alcatraz is one of the most famous prisons in the world. Known as the Rock, for decades it was home to the most wanted criminals in America. Men like Al Capone, ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly and Robert Stroud, the so-called ‘Birdman of Alcatraz’, all do time on the island. Why did this prison become an icon and crime and punishment? What really lies behind its unbreakable reputation? Today experts are investigating Alcatraz’s remarkable engineering secrets. They’re uncovering the Rock’s forgotten past, protecting its concrete cells and exploring why so many convicts tried and failed to escape the toughest jail in America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Nazca Lines in Peru are mysterious giant symbols; hundreds of alien looking drawings etched into the arid Atacama Desert, more than a thousand years ago. Why did their creators make vast images that only make sense from the air, centuries before the invention of aircraft? Today investigators use pioneering drone technology to hunt for new lines and to solve the enduring riddle of why they were created. Some of the images such as the Hummingbird and the Condor are stunningly beautiful, many are made with incredible precision. Who were the mysterious Nazca people and why did their civilization disappear? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Abu Simbel is the largest rock-cut temple in the world. Inside are giant halls and passages cut by hand 60 metres into a cliff face. Dominating its façade – four 20-metre-tall sandstone statues of pharaoh Ramses II, known as Ancient Egypt’s greatest ever ruler. How did Ramses win this title? Decoding the clues he built into Abu Simbel reveal his strategy for eclipsing his predecessors’ achievements. Why did he align the temple with the sunrise on two specific dates? What was the reason he dedicated a second temple to his wife? Does Abu Simbel reveal Ramses’ plans for a project unprecedented in Egyptian history? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Mexico’s Gulf coast, archaeologists uncover strange stone heads beside a concealed 100-foot tall mud pyramid. They mark the site of La Venta – the lost capital city of the mysterious Olmec. Who were these people? Why did they vanish 1000 years after founding this mighty metropolis? In the search for answers, brand new research reveals the Olmec built the very first giant structures in North America; and a recently-unearthed artefact proves they communicated using the continent’s first written language. Piecing together the evidence reveals an incredible possibility: before they disappeared, the Olmec laid the foundations for the whole of Mesoamerican civilisation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices