The programmes

Grid reference: SX 057 884

Filmed 1-7 November 2003, first screened 18 July 2004

On the trail of King Arthur

This programme saw the Extreme Archaeology team head to Tintagel in Cornwall to tackle parts of the famous site that other archaeologists haven't been able to reach – until now.

Located on the north Cornish coast, Tintagel – a romantic offshore island with medieval ruined castle – has fascinated visitors for generations, not least because it's home to legends of King Arthur and the powerful wizard Merlin. Tantalising scatters of exotic Dark Age pottery from Greece, Turkey and as far away as North Africa have been found across the island, puzzling historians for decades.

Just who was living on the island in the Dark Ages? Was Tintagel a royal citadel from which the ancient kings of Cornwall controlled a major trade route to the Mediterranean? And, controversially, could this mean there's a grain of truth behind the King Arthur legends?

Inaccessible cliffs

With crumbling cliffs and precariously steep slopes, parts of the rocky island have proved inaccessible for normal archaeological excavation. Exposed to the full force of Atlantic weather systems and constantly subject to rock falls and soil slippages, the archaeology is eroding every year. So part of the Extreme Archaeology team's task was to try to find answers about Dark-Age Tintagel before the evidence disappears forever.

The expedition saw the team tackle the unstable cliffs and slopes to try to locate the Dark Age settlement, and explore beneath the turbulent Atlantic waters around the island for a jetty where goods such as oil, spices, and the ubiquitous pottery could have been unloaded. And as their remote camera links allowed Dark Age experts to view parts of the island for the very first time, they revealed surprising answers to some of the questions about legendary Tintagel.