EXA: What's it all about?

A new Channel 4 series takes archaeology to the edge as a team of experts tackles sites across the country that are beyond the reach of normal investigations. In Extreme Archaeology, an eight-part series starting on 20 June, a team of archaeologists – with help from top climbers, cavers and divers – investigates amazing and unique archaeological sites throughout the UK.

Many archaeological locations are beyond the reach of your average archaeologist. They are found in inaccessible caves, on treacherous cliffs, deep under water and in locations simply too remote or dangerous for normal investigation. Their remoteness often means that their secrets are unique, but they can also be under threat from erosion or other factors and this adds a rescue element to any investigation.

Using some of the most advanced scientific equipment available, and high-tech miniature cameras and communication systems to record the action, Extreme Archaeology's experts are dropped into extreme and inaccessible environments under time and other pressures that test their personal and professional skills to the limit.

The Extreme Archaeology team members are all experts in their fields and have to show real determination to get into these inhospitable places to assess, survey and extract the evidence. The team consists of:

• Katie Hirst in charge of excavation
• Alice Roberts, doctor and bones expert
• Meg Watters, geophysicist and digital imaging specialist

The expedition leader is the volcanologist, climber, caver and diver, Mark Davies.

Each programme is a race against time for the team to get to the location, extract crucial evidence, and then get it – and themselves – out intact. State-of-the-art camera and sound technology allows viewers to share the experience and discoveries.

Made by the producers of Time Team, the series takes armchair archaeologists to places they could never normally experience and helps to solve historical mysteries before remains are lost forever to the elements.