Raiders of the Lost Past with Janina Ramirez - Episode Guide

In the first episode, Janina explores the surprise discovery in a Suffolk garden of the Sutton Hoo Hoard, an incredible Anglo-Saxon ship-burial, dating from the early 7th century AD.

Dr Janina Ramirez looks back at the discovery of three extraordinary pre-war treasures, and the explorer-archaeologists who came across them. This time, she examines the discovery of the 40,000-year-old artwork known as The Lion Man, found in a remote cave in Germany in 1939 by Nazi party member and archaeologist, Robert Wetzel.

Janina Ramirez travels to Mexico, where, just before WWII, the discovery of giant stone heads led to a lost civilisation. Her journey is intercut with original technicolor footage.

Janina Ramirez travels to Mexico, where, just before the outbreak of WWII, American husband-and-wife explorer team Matthew and Marion Stirling were lured into the jungle by the legend of a colossal stone head. They found the head – and a lot more than they bargained for – because it turned out to be the first clue in a trail that led to the discovery of a lost civilisation, now known as the Olmecs.
As Janina follows their footsteps through the jungle, she discovers that the go-getting Stirlings embodied the adventurous determination of pre-war archaeological explorers. Breaking new ground, the Stirlings realised that it was the Olmecs – not the much-later Mayans or the Aztecs – who built the very first pyramids, palaces and planned cities for which Central America is now so famous.
Janina's journey takes her to some of the most stunning ancient sites in Mexico, as she pieces together the evidence that led the Stirlings to the controversial conclusion that the Olmecs flourished there 3,500 thousand years ago, the same period as ancient Egypt. It is extraordinary to think, before their finds, that we not only had no idea the Olmecs even existed, but no idea any civilisation this ancient existed in Central America. The Stirlings' work was so important that, very unusually, their expeditions and excavations continued during the war, shot in glorious technicolor by National Geographic. This fantastic archive features throughout the film, intercut with Janina's modern journey.

Janina is in Crete on the trail of the millionaire who discovered the mythical palace of the Minotaur and the first western civilisation, but who is now mired in controversy.

Janina is in Scandinavia, investigating the lost thousand-year-old ship that transformed the fierce reputation of the Vikings and became a symbol of a nation's fight for freedom.

Janina is in Turkey, tracking a young explorer who found the world's oldest city and rewrote the beginning of civilisation – until his reputation was destroyed by scandal.

On the 100th anniversary of the discovery of Tutankhamun's treasure-packed tomb, Dr Janina Ramirez turns detective and heads to Egypt to uncover the real story of how a Briton called Howard Carter unearthed a pharaoh's tomb when everyone else believed there were no more great Egyptian finds to be made.

She discovers that some of Tutankhamun's treasures are missing and reveals the name of the person responsible. She delves into the origins of the supposed pharaoh's curse, finds the surprising truth about the young king's brutal injuries, and digs out fresh evidence that Tutankhamun wasn't the delicate, powerless boy king of legend but was instead a powerful statesman.