Naked History – Unearthed

The Colosseum is the greatest icon of the world’s most powerful Empire. It was an arena of death and glory, and the source of epic legends. Now archaeologists are using new techniques to solve ancient mysteries about this spectacular ruin. Why was it built here? And why did it collapse? With unique access to the only Gladiator bones ever discovered, we reveal astonishing new evidence of how they lived and died. The Colosseum’s most incredible legend of naval battles held inside its walls are uncovered and clues within the walls of the Colosseum answer ancient riddles about the rise and fall of the Roman empire itself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Terracotta Army in Xi’an, China is perhaps the greatest archaeological discovery in the last 50 years, but it remains shrouded in mystery. Historians reconstruct the shattered remains of the warriors and reveal the dark secrets of a super-tomb built at the birth of China. The discovery of real weapons and bizarre stone-plated armour amongst the statues reveals the supernatural enemy the army was designed to face. The discovery of dismembered skeletons thrown into the pits hint at the violent struggle for power that followed the death of China’s first emperor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Machu Picchu in Peru – the famous lost city of the Incas. Archaeologists discovered this mountaintop city one hundred years ago, but its purpose remains a hotly debated mystery. Was it a religious observatory or a holiday retreat for the emperor? Could religious carvings and gruesomely deformed skeletons found in the city hold a crucial clue as to why this city was built? A newly uncovered network of roads places Machu Picchu as a strategic outpost for the Inca Emperor Pachacuti, but mysterious rock art suggests the site’s origins may be far older. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Taj Mahal is famous as the world’s most beautiful building – but could this Indian ode to love hide dark secrets? The grieving Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan famously built the Taj Mahal as a tribute to his dead wife – but new investigations are writing a surprising story of power and betrayal. Is the layout of the mausoleum and its gardens a carefully concealed proclamation of religious beliefs? A team of top architects attempt to solve the riddle of the Taj’s towering dome and could a newly discovered flaw at the heart of Taj finally explain its impossible beauty? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stonehenge is the ancient world’s most famous and mysterious monument. Its origins and purpose have puzzled historians for centuries. Why was this extraordinary monument built on a seemingly ordinary plain? Who visited the stones? And what did they do there? Now, using laser scanning, carbon dating and forensic technologies, archaeologists are finally piecing together the full story of the stones. The result is a tale of ancient magic and arcane ritual, acts of remembrance and brutal murder, that reveals Stonehenge was more famous and more ancient than anyone ever imagined. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stirling Castle in Scotland - one of Europe’s most celebrated forts and the legendary home of King Arthur’s round table. Scotland’s great kings claimed to be descended from Arthur – but why? Historians follow the trail to France where they uncover how Arthur was used as a political weapon in Scotland’s bloody wars of independence. The gruesome discovery of a shattered skeleton inside the castle challenges the popular accounts of Stirling’s most famous battle, immortalized in the movie Braveheart. And could strange melted stones uncovered close to Stirling provide evidence that this famous site was the scene of a brutal thousand-year-old war crime? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Angkor Wat in Cambodia is the world’s largest temple, but why did the Khmer civilization build this enormous Hindu shrine in the middle of the jungle? Laser technology reveals the astonishing truth: Angkor Wat was the centre of a long-lost megacity and the beating heart of a mighty empire. Archaeologists hack through the jungle to reveal this sprawling metropolis and unearth how it thrived on the trade of rare iron. Blowing the temple apart exposes how water was the key to its success and how it’s secret true purpose may have been as a resurrection machine for a godlike King. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Egyptian site of Karnak was the largest religious complex in the ancient world. Constructed over three thousand five hundred years ago, this giant labyrinth of temples and halls was a political and religious powerbase for the pharaohs. But what weird rituals went on behind its high walls? Unearthing grisly human remains and using the latest technologies, archaeologists are finally revealing the truth: how a jealous pharaoh destroyed the legacy of his own father, how Karnak’s largest hall was designed to house the gods themselves and how the unstoppable rise of a new religion brought this monumental site to its knees. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New investigations are slowly uncovering the secret history of the world’s most iconic monument. The Sphinx has mystified historians for generations, but an extraordinary new investigation is about to reveal which pharaoh the Sphinx was built for. Forensic work at the nearby Sphinx temples has uncovered an astonishing religious connection to the Sun. Was the Sphinx part of an elaborate machine to resurrect the Pharaoh in the afterlife? Digging deep below the desert sand scientists find that the Sphinx once gazed over a vast artificial lake. Half carved shelves uncovered at the perimeter of the Sphinx enclosure suggest this famous sculpture was never finished – but why? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The tomb of Tutankhamun is unique in the Valley of the Kings and historians are desperate to understand why. For decades King Tut’s tomb was a complete mystery: why was it built so small, why was it so sparsely decorated compared to its neighbours and how did it escape the clutches of ancient grave robbers? Using the latest technology, teams of archaeologists are finally finding the answers. With rare access, Unearthed proves why a sudden death, a calamitous burial and an astonishing force of nature led to a minor king rising to become the most famous of them all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Uncover the secrets buried beneath history’s most astonishing monuments in Naked History – Unearthed. This electrifying podcast series delves into the mysteries behind legendary megastructures, from the hidden chambers of the Pyramids to the eerie mass graves sealed within Mexico’s ancient pyramids. Scientists, archaeologists, and historians reveal groundbreaking discoveries – how sticky rice reinforced the Great Wall of China, why Tutankhamun’s tomb defied tradition, and how a vast moat keeps Angkor Wat standing strong. With cutting-edge research and gripping storytelling, each episode unravels the untold truths behind architectural marvels, offering fresh insight into their forgotten builders, lost civilisations, and the secrets they left behind. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices