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Secrets of the Dead

Voyage of the Courtesans

Season 5 Episode 3 | 55m 18s

In 1789, more than 200 female thieves, prostitutes and con-artists were rounded up from London's prisons and shipped off to an Australian penal colony aboard the leaky vessel, Lady Juliana. But once aboard, the women turned banishment into opportunity, transforming their ship into a floating brothel on a journey that ended with the women as the founding mothers of Australia.

Aired: 11/22/05 | Expires: 12/14/15
SECRETS OF THE DEAD is made possible, in part, by public television viewers.
Extras
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An archaeological team recreates the ascent that Khmer kings would have made up the holy mountain.
Clip: S22 E4 | 2:08
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Signs of Human Habitation in Kurukshetra
Archaeologists dig through layers of earth in search of evidence of pre-Angkorian habitation.
Clip: S22 E4 | 2:11
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Cymbal Found at Ancient Khmer Temple Site
Archaeologists find a small cymbal dating back to the 7th century.
Clip: S22 E3 | 1:30
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A Gruesome Discovery in Rural Poland
In 2022, a team of archaeologists unearthed a strange burial in the Polish village of Pień.
Clip: S22 E2 | 2:50
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Secrets of the Dead
Reconstructing the Face of a 17-Century Woman
A forensic artist reconstructs the face of a woman buried as a vampire in 17-century Poland.
Clip: S22 E2 | 1:44
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Secrets of the Dead
Radar Technologies Aid in Search for Civil War Burial Site
A team searches for the remains of the soldiers slain in the Simpsonville Massacre.
Clip: S22 E1 | 2:48
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Remembering the Fallen Soldiers of the Simpsonville Massacre
The search for the remains of 5th U.S. Colored Cavalry in Kentucky begins.
Clip: S22 E1 | 2:17
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Secrets of the Dead
How Technology Revived Seneca the Elder
Researcher Valeria Piano discovers long-lost history of Rome written by Seneca the Elder.
Clip: S21 E6 | 2:53
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Secrets of the Dead
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Artificial intelligence is used to find out what some carbonized Herculaneum scrolls say.
Clip: S21 E6 | 3:34
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Another Composer in the Mozart Family?
Letters between siblings Wolfgang and Maria Anna Mozart suggest she, too, composed music.
Clip: S21 E5 | 2:25
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