I'm fascinated by archaeology and the study of the past. I'm equally fascinated by family history and the study of our previous generations and how they lived and coped with life. So it‘s been really interesting to see those two things combined in a programme recently called something like History Cold Case Files. A team of forensic archaeologists and medical experts work together on an archaeological find to try and piece together the person's life and history and circumstances. One of the programmes was about a skeleton found buried in the centre of a castle and another was from a pauper's grave in London. It was amazing to see how modern forensic techniques could accurately analyse their diet, diseases, nutrition or lack of it and even accurately facially reconstruct their faces to almost lifelike reality.

It also struck me the tremendous amount of respect that each scientist had for the person who was now represented by a pile of old bones. But what struck me most was that these bones often told the story of horrendous wounds and injuries and abscesses and bone deformities that would have been painful in the extreme for many years not just days. There were fierce wounds that obviously the victim had somehow survived because there was fresh bone growth. Most of these injuries or diseases were inflicted by their fellow mankind.

It made me realise how for granted I take all the medical research and advancement that has made many of these things a thing of the past. When I get toothache I take a pill or some antibiotics and it is gone. Vitamins and minerals keep our bodies healthy. Our bodies are the most miraculous and amazing things that exist on this planet. We are indeed fearfully and wonderfully made.

The daft thing is that most people seem to think it all just somehow evolved. Now that does take a leap of faith into the dark.