The holy temple of Vat Phou sits at the foot of Mt. Phu Kao. Evidence suggests ancient Khmer kings made grand processions to worship at the temple -- and then continued up the mountain, by foot, to pray at the summit. Christophe Pottier and his archaeological team are recreating the challenging ascent, in search of evidence of religious ceremonies from the pre-Angkorian era.

A team of archaeologists led by Christine Hawixbrock is excavating a site in what was the ancient Khmer city of Kurukshetra. And after digging through multiple "cultural layers" of earth, they make a breakthrough -- a clear sign of human occupation of this ancient royal city.

The discovery of gold and silver artifacts in Laos, dating to the early days of the Khmer Empire, leads scientists to investigate how the priceless objects were made and where they might have originated. On their journey, they retrace the steps of the ancient kings and explore the sacred landscape around Vat Phou to learn more about this ancient civilization.

Archaeologist Christine Hawixbrock and her team discover a small cymbal during the excavation of an ancient Khmer temple complex. Artifacts like this would have been used as part of a religious ceremony, and suggest the presence of a royal elite here during the pre-Angkorian period.

Angkor was the capital of the Khmer empire, which controlled much of the region between the 9th and 15th centuries. The stunning accomplishments of Angkor’s great kings are clear to see—but the period preceding the foundation of their great city is shrouded in mystery. Now, the discovery of an incredible hoard of stunning artifacts is providing surprising new clues about this early Khmer society.

In 2022, a terrifying discovery: a female skeleton dating from 1650, buried with a sickle across her neck and giant padlock on her toe — double protection to keep her from rising from the dead. All the evidence points to her being buried as a vampire... and she’s not alone, with more than 50 deviant burials around her. Who was she and what did these burial rituals mean?

Forensic artist Oscar Nilsson has worked alongside Swedish police forces for decades, modelling the faces of crime scene victims. Now, he is tasked with reconstructing the face of “Zosia,” a woman buried as a vampire in 17-century Poland – and hopes to restore her human dignity in the process.

Residents of the rural Polish town of Pień have long avoided a particular hill in the village – and in 2022, a team of archaeologists led by Dariusz Poliński and Magdalena Zagrodzka learned why. They discovered the body of a woman buried with a sickle across her neck, and a triangular padlock attached to her toe. Had they dug up a gruesome crime scene – or evidence of the supernatural?

Aided by University of Kentucky archaeologist Dr. Philip Mink and the university’s EduceLab Mobile Team, researchers examine the land around where the Simpsonville Massacre occurred, hoping to find the lost burial grounds of the slain soldiers.

Originally a supply depot for Union forces in Kentucky, Camp Nelson became the site where 10,000 Black soldiers trained in the Civil War. But in the war’s last months, these soldiers were attacked by bitter Southerners. Their remains have never been found, and a team is dedicated to finding them to memorialize their service and heroism.

Meet the investigators determined to find and memorialize the 22 Civil War soldiers from the 5th United States Colored Cavalry, who were ambushed and slain by racist outlaws outside of Camp Nelson, Kentucky.

Researcher Valeria Piano employs two different technological methods to decipher a carbonized scroll from Herculaneum. First, she uses a microscope to examine the texts, and then she studies images of the scrolls produced with infrared light. Her work has brought to light a history of Rome written by Seneca the Elder, long thought to have been lost forever.

Reading the Herculaneum scrolls required multiple scientific steps that started with taking extremely high-resolution X-rays with a photon beam. Next, computer scientist Brent Seales created a deep-learning artificial intelligence program capable of examining the X-rays in minute detail. This examination identified which elements of the image were papyrus and which were ink.

Making headlines around the world, Brent Seales and his team of computer scientists set out on a mission to read the 2,000-year-old carbonized scrolls found in the remains of a villa in Herculaneum. Mt. Vesuvius’s eruption in 79 AD transformed the papyri, fusing together the layers of the scrolls and making them impossible to read. Can particle physics and AI finally reveal what the scrolls say?

Roughly 700 letters written by members of the Mozart family have been preserved. Siblings Wolfgang and Maria Anna Mozart kept up regular correspondence while he was touring Europe, but only fragments of a handful written by Maria Anna still exist today. In at least one letter, Wolfgang praises his sister’s musical compositions — but written copies have never been found.

For researcher Martin Jarvis OAM, the childhood notebook Leopold Mozart used to teach his children, Maria Anna and Wolfgang, how to write and play music is the key to solving two ongoing mysteries: Did Maria Anna contribute to Mozart’s earliest work? And did she, too, compose music?

Maria Anna Mozart was a musical prodigy just like her younger brother Wolfgang. Although the children toured Europe together, once Maria Anna came of age, she was left behind while her brother became a star. But controversial new evidence suggests she may have contributed to her brother’s earliest works while a global search for her compositions continues.

In war-torn Mosul, archaeologists unearth the largest-known image of the ancient Assyrian king Ashurbanipal. This is the first time an image of a major god has been discovered inside an Assyrian palace.

More than 2,500 years ago, the Assyrians in Nineveh built the first great empire in human history. Excelling in science, engineering and warfare, they were the beginnings of modern civilization. But Daesh occupied the Iraqi city of Mosul for three years and destroyed many ancient Assyrian treasures. Can archaeologists unearth new discoveries among the wreckage?

A new season of Secrets of the Dead premieres Fall 2024.