Dead Body

Professor Sue Black has been dubbed the ‘corpse whisperer' for her role in deciphering the messages hidden within a dead body. In this first lecture in the Royal Institution's 2022 Christmas series, she is joined by Silent Witness's Emilia Fox to reveal the secrets of forensic science. 

Sue shows how the stories of our lives are hidden in the very fabric of our bodies by examining an archaeological skeleton, using techniques she uses in modern-day forensic investigations. She gradually builds up its identity until a pile of old bones once again becomes a real person. She explains how extraordinary clues in our bones can reveal everything from our age and our sex to our diets and our ancestry – there's even a bone in our ear that can reveal where our mother lived while she was pregnant. 

Professor Black's investigations into the trauma marks visible in the 1,000-year-old skeleton's bones reveal where this person died, and how they died. In the process, she tells this individual's extraordinary life story and sheds light on one of the darkest days in English history.