Buried Truth of the Maya (2019) - full transcript

Corey jaskolski: On a scale

from one to ten,

If those anomalies

are voids or passageways,

It's an absolute ten.

Narrator: A revolution

in technology

Is opening up a golden age

of archaeological discovery.

Corey: This is it,

this hole here drops off

A good 60 feet deep,

totally fatal to fall down.

Guillermo "memo" de anda:

Let's do it.

Narrator:

And national geographic

has exclusive access

To document

this groundbreaking journey.

Corey: Anytime you do a dive

with a bunch of new technology

And you come back with all the

technology, that's a win, right?

Narrator:

This team of explorers,

Led by one of the world's

foremost experts on the maya,

Are embarking on

an unprecedented expedition...

Chris millbern:

I'm definitely seeing stuff.

I'm pretty wildly excited

right now.

Narrator: ...On a quest

to stare deep underneath

The hallowed grounds

of chichén itzá...

Using lasers, drones,

and digital 3d modeling.

Corey: That's a big anomaly that

I didn't expect to be there.

Narrator: All in an effort

to unearth

One of the world's

most epic mysteries

Beneath one of the greatest

civilizations:

The buried truth of the maya.

65 million years ago,

An asteroid

careened toward earth,

And smashed into

mexico's yucatán peninsula.

Its apocalyptic impact

wiped out the dinosaurs

And killed 75%

of all life on earth.

Over time

thousands of sinkholes

And underground caverns formed

Through the cracks

in the limestone.

Filled with water,

these cenotes set the stage

For life to take hold

once more.

Many millions of years later,

a highly advanced civilization

Formed around

these water sources.

This life-sustaining resource

fueled the rise of the maya,

The largest civilization in the

western hemisphere at the time.

One of the most central

and sacred sites

In the entire maya kingdom

was called...

Chichén itzá.

Memo: Maya is a fascinating

civilization.

They're in the middle

of the jungle,

They were so wise,

they did astronomical science,

And they do sacrifices

or they do offerings into caves.

Narrator: Perhaps

the ancient maya understood

This region's cataclysmic past.

Because they also thought

that to bring about water,

And life itself,

Chaac, the maya god of rain,

Required offerings

such as jewels, bloodletting,

And sometimes human sacrifice.

Memo: Scholars have said

that this is the place

To deposit the hearts

of victims.

Narrator: Today,

we're in a rare moment

Of archaeological discovery in

the world of the ancient maya.

Recent scientific surveys

suggest that the maya

Could have built

secret underground tunnels

And chambers

beneath chichén itzá.

According to maya folklore,

the most sacred cave,

Possibly full of generations

worth of jewels, gold, bones,

And other lost treasures

sacrificed to the gods,

Could lie beneath one of their

holiest temples, el castillo.

But to this day,

this underground cave remains

One of the greatest

unsolved mysteries

At the heart of chichén itzá.

Finding an entrance

into this potential crypt

Under el castillo

Would be one of

the biggest discoveries

Of the 21st century,

And could yield

untold discoveries

And archaeological treasures.

Corey: This is a massive cavern.

Chris: Yeah, no, that's huge.

Corey: Memo!

Memo: Hey, what's up?

Chris: Hey, man!

Corey: How's it going?

Good, buddy. Good to see you.

Chris: Long time no see, man!

Narrator: Uncovering it

is bringing two teams

Of archaeologists and

technologists together.

Chris: Hey, we got

something to show you.

Corey: Yeah, yeah.

Check this out.

Narrator: Guillermo de anda,

aka "memo,"

Is an inah archaeologist,

a national geographic explorer,

And one of the world's foremost

experts on maya archaeology

And their underground secrets.

Memo: I have been told

for years in this area

That there is a huge cavern

beneath el castillo.

We know that caves have

this big preservation factor.

It's going to be big news

for the world,

It's going to be

big news for mayanists,

If we find a way to get into

the cave beneath el castillo.

Corey: This is from the droning,

the lidar and the camera work

Around el castillo.

Memo: This is an amazing model,

huh? The detail.

Corey: Yeah, it's really

coming together, hey?

Narrator: Joining memo is the

pioneering technology company

Virtual wonders.

Together, they're creating

a high-tech 3d model

Of chichén itzá, in the hopes

of pinpointing an entrance

Into the hidden well

beneath the central pyramid.

Corey: My name is

corey jaskolski.

At virtual wonders I'm

the chief technology officer,

So, responsible for getting

all these crazy technologies

To work and come together

and play well in the field.

Virtual wonders

goes around the world

To cultural and natural places,

and tries to 3d scan them,

So that we can preserve

and share these places

With the entire world.

Working in these ancient sites

that are thousands of years old,

With a ground-penetrating radar

or laser scanner

That scans

a million points per second,

You can only imagine what

the people of those times

Would have thought

of these technologies.

They would've thought we brought

down gifts from the gods

To help understand

the world better,

And, in a way, that's true.

Things that I get probably

most excited about,

Even far more than this data,

Is el castillo not being aligned

Between cenote sagrado

and xtoloc.

Memo: And we know the maya

didn't leave anything to chance.

What we believe is they are

trying to put el castillo...

Corey: On top of

something important.

Narrator: The city planners

erected the pyramids

At the proximate intersection

Between four giant underground

water wells called "cenotes,"

To the north, south,

east, and west.

Curiously,

the maya built this pyramid

52 and a half feet off center,

Leaving it mysteriously

unaligned,

Which is unimaginable,

Given the maya's legendary

Mathematical and

architectural precision.

Some scientists believe that

the maya built this pyramid

Off-center to tower above

a pre-existing sacred cave,

Forming a link to the spirits

of the underworld.

Could this cave be filled

with undiscovered treasures

And sacrificial offerings

left for the gods?

Corey: I would have put this,

El castillo right between

Xtoloc and sagrado,

Not, you know,

Not offset between the two.

The fact that el castillo

is not well aligned

With cenote sagrado and xtoloc,

Which as an engineer, I look

at that and I say to myself,

You know, if you asked me

to build our biggest,

Most important building

for our culture,

I would have aligned it well

between the cenotes.

It's off by about 16 meters,

Which is a pretty big

margin of error for the maya.

Memo: We have to look

very, very hard on this

And work very hard on this

because, corey, I want us there.

♪ ♪

Narrator: The ancient maya's

prowess in engineering,

Mathematics, and astronomy

is legendary.

They invented the mathematical

concept of zero,

And they designed

their buildings

With the heavens in mind.

This can be seen twice a year

during the equinox,

When, on the northern staircase

of el castillo,

The movement of shadows gives

the impression of a serpent

Slithering down

into the underworld.

Corey: Not everyone

would climb this, right?

It was only the priests would

have, or the rulers, right?

Memo: Yes, yes. Only them.

Narrator: Towering

to impressive heights,

Each of the pyramid's sides

has 91 perilous steps.

Including all four sides,

the number of steps totals 364.

The final step into the sacred

temple on top totals 365,

The same number of days

in the year.

Memo: Wow!

Corey: This is something.

You really get a sense of its

power, which is why it existed,

To get closer to the gods

And show the power

of the civilization.

Memo: We're closer to heaven.

We're on top of the big,

sacred mountain of the maya.

Holtun right in front of us,

sacred cenote to the north,

Xtoloc to the south,

xkanjuyum to the east.

Corey: To go up there with memo

And to, you know,

survey the land

And look at what we're doing

is incredibly important.

So, I think there's definitely

something under el castillo,

We don't know what,

and I think a lot more studies

Need to be done in order

to tell us for sure.

Narrator: To dig deeper

into this mystery,

Memo and the virtual wonders

team are looking

To a recent study for clues

to find any entrance

Into the potential cave

under el castillo.

With their new technology,

Can they crack the code

and find an entry point?

Corey: Memo, you'll remember

this data,

This is from rene chavez.

Memo: I remember this well,

this is what started it all.

Corey: They put probes all over

the ground around el castillo,

And they measured the,

basically how well

Electricity flowed

through the ground.

Narrator:

Modern electrical systems

Generally employ metal wire

to conduct electricity,

But depending

on the circumstances,

Electricity can also

conduct through soil.

Corey: What he found was

these, these anomalies.

What he shows is an area

of higher conductivity,

They think maybe a cenote

under el castillo.

This is what sort of started it,

all this was the...

There were a lot of media

that were saying,

"they found a cenote for sure

under el castillo."

Memo: Yes, I know, I know,

this was a big thing.

Narrator: Various materials

Conduct electricity

differently,

So what could be causing these

areas of higher conductivity?

And could this be connected

to an actual subsurface world

Beneath el castillo?

Memo: It's not confirmed data,

But it makes sense

under the perspective

Of the oral tradition,

the legends,

The myths around here

That have always said there's

something under castillo.

Corey: Right.

Memo: If we can find the cenote,

If there is a cenote

or a cave down there,

Which I personally

believe it is,

We are going to find

an amazing offering.

Narrator: Because of chichén

itzá's historic standing,

The team can't physically

excavate the grounds.

However,

by analyzing these data,

The teams develop a strategy

To search for

a long-lost entrance.

Memo: The best chance is to go

Right to the center

of el castillo.

Corey: I agree.

Memo: And see if we can get

better results

And find a way to understand

this thing better.

Corey: It needs

a lot more exploration

To figure out what it really is.

♪ ♪

Akasha sutherland: Today's the

gpr, ground-penetrating radar.

You're moving this lawn mower

back and forth,

And so while we're moving,

Then at the end we get this

nice, clear picture of voids,

Or if there are any

reflective spaces

That we don't know exactly

what's below there.

Corey: So, we're actually,

we're looking about 25 feet deep

Through the ground

here right now.

Akasha: Yeah.

Narrator: With the hopes

of tracking down an entrance,

This device gives them

basically x-ray vision

Below the earth

without physically altering it.

Akasha: Slow?

Corey: Yeah, a little slower,

yup, there you go,

There's the pace, yeah.

Akasha is our

chief communications

And outreach officer.

She's the reason that a lot

of our field stuff runs smooth.

Akasha: I know how to use

the lidar systems.

I am a strobe goddess.

So this takes

thousands of images

To create a perfect 3d model

of the structure.

It's all about

hitting the ground,

Just feeling comfortable

with yourself,

And once you have

that established,

Then everything else

is kind of cake.

Corey: I mean, her spirit

is just unstoppable,

She is always happy,

always smiling.

It doesn't matter

what's happening,

It doesn't matter if,

you know, we're injured

And going to the er, she's got

a big smile on her face

And is trying to lift

everybody up around her.

Akasha: How's it looking?

Corey: Looking good.

Akasha: Yeah?

Corey: There's actually

a little anomaly

At the beginning

of those stairs.

Akasha: Alright,

I'm marking it right now.

Corey: Alright. Cool.

Got the mark.

Akasha: Got it?

Narrator: The gpr

immediately finds something.

Hints of a mysterious

subterranean world rise up.

Akasha: We don't know exactly

what's below there.

We get this nice, clear picture

of voids or reflective spaces.

Corey: Alright!

And now we can go inside

and catch the inside bit.

Akasha: Let's go in!

Corey: Cool!

Try to bang that right up

against the wall.

Just nice and slow,

nice and slow!

(beep)

cool.

Whoa, I'm seeing stuff,

keep going.

(akasha gasps)

Narrator: This mysterious void,

Found only a few feet away

from el castillo,

Might connect to

the hidden chamber below.

And if it does,

could this void lead the team

To an undiscovered entrance?

And possibly generations'

worth of ancient treasures

Sacrificed to the maya gods?

Narrator: Chichén itzá...

Was a dominant capital

of the maya world.

Recent scientific evidence

suggests the existence

Of a mysterious chamber

Beneath the massive ruin

of el castillo.

Corey: Whoa, I'm seeing stuff,

keep going.

(akasha gasps)

Narrator:

And using high-tech tools,

The virtual wonders team,

alongside maya experts,

Are trying to find

an entrance into it.

Corey: The biggest anomaly

was definitely

On the entry over there.

Akasha: Ok.

Corey: We are indeed

the first to do the gpr

Directly under el castillo,

that's a huge deal.

Nice and slow and steady,

if you can.

Yeah, we're seeing real good

about 15 feet deep or so.

Past that it gets

a little noisy,

But there's a lot we can do

To clean this up

in the software, too.

Akasha: Awesome.

Corey: Yeah, it seems like

maybe three feet down or so

There's probably a layer of rock

that might be either natural

Or it might be like

the base that they built on.

Akasha: Like the substructure?

Corey: Right.

Corey: To be able to actually

image what's beneath that floor

Is amazing.

You know, on a scale

of one to ten,

If those anomalies

are voids or passageways,

It's an absolute ten.

So we'll have to analyze the

data and see what it looks like.

Akasha: Check it out.

Narrator: While corey

processes the data,

Memo brings another member

of virtual wonders

Into the restricted areas

of el castillo...

Kenny broad: When was the last

time you were in here?

Memo: Well, it was about

a month ago, I believe.

Narrator: ...Looking for any

clues about the chamber below.

Memo: It's magical

just to be here,

And thinking about how many

thousands of stone

Are on top of our heads, man.

So, let's not think

a lot about that. (laughs)

Kenny: My name is kenny broad.

I'm the mission specialist.

Narrator: Kenny broad is

a national geographic explorer

And chief exploration officer

of the virtual wonders team.

Corey: I would describe

kenny broad as a mad scientist.

Narrator: As an expert caver,

He and memo may be able

to add crucial insight

On how to access the chamber

below the pyramid.

Memo: There's very few people

That have the privilege

to go in here.

Kenny: I don't wanna wait.

Memo: Alright, let's go!

Kenny: Being involved

in a new discovery,

It gives you this feeling

that you're doing something

Larger than just yourself.

Narrator: While there are

no portals to the underworld

On the ground floor, they hike

up to a sacred chamber,

Which holds some

intriguing clues.

Memo: And this is the...

Amazing room.

Kenny: Oh!

Memo: Here we are.

Kenny: Wow! Oh, my gosh,

that's incredible.

Memo: Yeah, this is where

the king use to sit.

Narrator: This is

the jaguar throne.

Kenny: So the king

used to sit here?

I mean, it really sticks out,

Because it still has, I assume,

the original paint?

Memo: Yes.

Narrator: From this

royal throne,

Kings watched countless humans

Sacrificed to the rain god,

chaac, at this nearby altar.

Could their remains lie

in the veiled crypt below?

Kenny: And those are the

original insets. Is that jade?

Memo: This is jade.

Narrator: To the maya,

jade was a royal resource

Used to communicate

with the gods.

Kenny: But there's

no local jade, so.

Memo: Exactly, yeah.

They bring it all the way

from guatemala.

It was one very important item,

only royalty had access to it.

This context is not only

a royal context

Where the king used to rest and

sit, it's also a funerary one.

There's a relationship

with death here, and life.

Kenny: Resurrection.

Memo: Resurrection.

Kenny: The cycle.

Memo: The jaguar is a cycle.

Narrator: The ornate

jaguar throne sits in front

Of something even more

grim and ominous.

Memo: This is an amazing wall

for a number of reasons,

And what we see here,

it's embedded bones.

They are long, long human bones

that are embedded on the wall.

There's one there,

another one here, and there.

My assumption

as a bioarchaeologist,

I believe these are leg bones.

Kenny: Looks like it would be

a femur or maybe...

Memo: Exactly, or tibias.

If you ask me I would say, yeah,

That might represent

bones of ancestors.

Kenny: Right.

Memo: Or people very powerful.

Kenny: What's your sense of

what could be behind this wall?

Memo: Well, I do really believe

that there is something

Intentionally deposited there,

Given the sacredness

of the site,

The importance of the place

within chichén itzá,

I believe it could be

a burial back there.

Kenny: I mean,

it makes logical sense.

Memo: It makes sense, yes.

Yeah, if somebody is buried here

It was for sure

a very important person, a king.

Narrator: Could the chamber

behind this wall of bones

Have once provided a gateway

to the cave below?

Kenny: I can feel the wind

coming through here.

It's like you've...

Memo: Oh, yeah.

You feel that? You feel that?

Kenny: Yeah.

Memo: That could be

a caving system down there.

Kenny: No, and right,

when we explore caves,

We look for that kind of breeze

as a, it's a sign.

Memo: When we feel that breeze,

it's, "let's go."

Kenny: Yeah.

Some more evidence that

there's something beneath.

Memo: And I think this means

that the cenote

That we're looking for

might be down there.

Kenny: Wow.

Memo: Or maybe an entrance.

Kenny: Right.

Memo: And you can see

some, some voids.

Kenny: Right.

Narrator: Because they can't

physically alter anything

Inside el castillo,

kenny and memo carry on

Looking for other ways in,

to no avail.

But back at the

virtual wonders headquarters,

Corey and akasha have processed

their gpr findings

And discover

something promising.

Corey: So we did this north face

first and went along this way,

Right along the fence line,

about about a half meter

From the fence line,

and then this way and this way.

But what we're seeing here,

These areas of

black-white-black like this

Are very strong radar returns.

I don't think they indicate

a void to me,

But I think they indicate rock.

There's nothing that interesting

on the north side to me.

We then started over here

and dragged the south side

Of the gpr

right on the corner here.

Again, seems like

there's a rock base,

But what's really interesting

to me is this return.

So this is in the southeast

corner of el castillo,

'cause this is between three

and four meters deep over here.

Memo: Oh, wow,

that's deep enough.

Corey: And there is what looks

like a really strong return.

Memo: It looks like

a very irregular cavity, right?

Corey: It looks, I mean, from a

single gpr radar-gram like that,

Yeah, I would say

that looks like a cavity.

Memo: So, like,

a natural cavity, I mean?

Corey: It's hard to say,

It's hard to say if

it's natural or man-made.

All you can really say is

it's a really strong return

That looks like a void.

Memo: How far actually

from the corner?

Corey: It's almost

exactly on the corner.

Memo: Ok, that's

very, very interesting.

Corey: Yeah.

Memo: Wow.

Corey: What I now want

to show you,

Kash and I took the gpr in this

excavated archaeology part

Underneath here, this doorway,

and we dragged it back,

And then the hallway turns

and goes into el castillo

Towards that rock fall.

Memo: Towards the center

of el castillo?

Corey: Right.

This right here is the brightest

radar reflection I've seen

Anywhere in chichén itzá.

Memo: It looks amazing.

Corey: I've been dragging

this radar around.

This to me is

a pretty clear void

At, look at that,

three to four meters deep.

Memo: Corey, I think

this is amazing,

But what I think

what amazes me even more

Is that both anomalies

are the same depth.

Corey: Yup.

Memo: So it might be a tunnel,

and that's very promising.

Narrator: Could this potential

tunnel be the gateway

To the proposed cenote below?

If so, where is its entrance?

Corey: The thing with gpr

that I always think about is,

If you see something

And you don't see anything

like that anywhere else,

Then you're like,

"ok, one weird anomaly."

But the whole thing is with gpr

When you start

building up a story,

When you start saying, whoa,

we're seeing weird stuff

At three and a half

to four meters here.

Memo: Might have comparison.

Corey: Maybe, you know, I think

it builds more meaning to me.

That's a big anomaly that

I didn't expect to be there.

None of the rest of the area

looks like that.

The other side that

goes up the substructure

Doesn't have any returns

that look like this.

This is a,

this is a big neon sign

Saying there's

something interesting.

Memo: Yes! That might be it.

Narrator: This possible tunnel

may lead in the direction

Of another chichén itzá

landmark: El osario.

El osario is also known as

the tomb of the high priest.

Another temple on the grounds

of chichén itzá,

Archaeologists have

traditionally thought

That el osario

was built in 980 ad

And modeled after

its bigger sister, el castillo.

But there's an even more

stunning parallel.

Memo: El osario

kind of replicates

What we see in el castillo.

Corey: Yeah, it looks

very much similar, yeah.

Memo: It's a radial pyramid,

four access stairways,

Snakes, snake heads at the end,

so the similarities are amazing,

Why not thinking there's

a cavern also in el castillo.

Corey: Yup.

Memo: Guess what,

el osario was built

Right on top

of a natural cavern.

We think that this cavern might

have tunnels or passageways

To get into this other tunnel.

That makes sense because

they are very close,

So it sounds like

a logical place

To find a passageway

to el castillo.

Narrator: The question is do

these underground passageways

Connect to the chamber

beneath el castillo?

Corey: They clearly

built the osario

To be over that important cave.

Narrator:

Because of the danger,

Climbing el osario

is restricted

To the general public.

Corey: It's a set of mayan

stairs, and they're super steep,

They're probably at like

a 45-degree angle,

Like the stairs

outside of el castillo.

Chris: Alright!

So, we'll connect this up?

Corey: Yeah, get it in there.

(speaking spanish)

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Memo: We're looking

for tunnels here.

Corey: Yes.

Memo: I want you guys to look

for possible areas or gaps,

And see if there's

a passageway behind.

Corey: Totally. Yep.

Narrator: To find any tunnels,

The team must use

their high-tech tools

In a difficult-to-reach spot.

Memo: Very few people

have been here

And nobody has been here

with technology.

Corey:

Has used technology, right.

Chris: Yeah.

Corey: I guess they had 1800s

technology last time they...

(laughter)

Chris: Still counts,

it still counts.

My name is chris millbern,

And I'm the director

of field operations.

Anything that has to do

with tech or gear

Is under my purview,

Or at the very least

is me messing around

And running around

to make sure that it works.

Corey: Robot, cable, tablet.

Chris: Yeah.

Chris: Only three giant things,

it will be fine.

Corey: Yeah.

Chris: I'm definitely

the one sweating the most

If nobody's noticed.

Let's go! Let's do it!

Corey: Right!

Memo: Ok.

Narrator: To get

underneath el osario,

They must risk life and limb.

(speaking spanish)

Corey: Memo's about

to come down. Are you ready?

That hole is about

a 60-foot drop straight down,

Going down into this

little tiny cave.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Jeez!

Chris: Corey's on the way down!

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Corey: Right, coming down.

Not a lot of room, hey?

Memo: Not a lot of room, man.

Corey: What's the drop?

Memo: 60 feet.

Corey: 60 feet. Yeah, cool.

But this is it.

We're, we're crammed in here.

Memo: How dangerous

this place is?

Corey: Yeah, man.

Memo: Any rock...

Corey: Yeah, you're dead.

Memo: ...And you're dead.

Woo!

Corey: It's this tiny,

tiny little room.

I mean, you feel like

you're in the womb.

You're just crushed in there

with guillermo.

This must've been such

an important place for the maya

To build this massive monument

on top of it.

Narrator: To find any

undiscovered passageways,

And where they might lead,

The team breaks out one of

its most versatile devices.

Chris: Alright, corey,

borescope's on its way!

Narrator: The borescope

has a small camera

That can snake around

nooks and crannies.

Corey: Ok, so, I'm going to

feed out the borescope cable.

Memo: Ok.

Corey: And, guillermo, so we'll

have to straighten this out

So the borescope can articulate,

so be careful.

Alright, memo, start going.

Go a little bit more in.

Yeah, we got something

interesting.

Hey, look at this. What is this?

Memo: I think this is the

original entrance to this cave.

Corey: Oh, right there. Right!

Memo: Yes.

Corey: Yeah. Oh, my god!

Narrator: But there's something

even more intriguing

About this

underground entrance.

The passageway has been

mysteriously blocked

By something man-made.

Corey: Do you think

they're cave-in,

Or do you think they were

blocked by the maya?

Memo: No, no, I think

it was the maya.

Corey: Right.

Memo: The ancient maya

sealed it.

Corey: Ok.

Memo: It was like

completely blocked.

Narrator: Memo believes

the ancient maya did this

Because of where

the passage points.

Corey: Wow.

Memo: Yeah.

Narrator: But why would

the maya have blocked off

An underground passageway

Between el osario and

the chamber below el castillo?

The team carries on

its investigation

And stumbles upon

a relevant clue.

Corey: I'm seeing something

on the walls.

See the white?

Stop there for a second.

What's that?

Memo: Right there

we see a piece of pottery.

Corey: Oh, that's pottery?

Memo: Yeah, oh, yeah.

Corey: Wow, wow,

hold on there for a second.

Memo: You see all

the ceramic there?

Corey: Where? Is that? Oh, yeah!

Narrator: The maya ritually

broke ceramic pottery

As sacrificial offerings

Alongside the people

they buried,

In order to free their spirit.

But the place the team has

found these ceramic sherds

Is even more mystifying.

Corey: The ceramic is on

a little shelf up there, right?

Is that what you're looking at?

Memo: No, it's not a shelf.

It's on the ceiling.

Corey: The ceramic's

on the ceiling?

Memo: Yeah.

Corey: You find pottery all over

the floor of the caves

All the time, but shards

of pottery, you know,

Hanging down like they could

fall on you like knives

From the ceiling, and,

you know, that's weird.

And that's the ceiling

we're pointed towards,

Right, you said?

Memo: Yes, exactly.

Corey: That's crazy.

Narrator: What would have

prompted the maya

To affix broken pottery

to the ceiling

Of this sacred

underground chamber?

Corey: Is it ritually

sacrificed pottery?

Memo: Yeah, this is

ritually sacrificed.

They used fire

as part of their ritual.

It's charcoal, mud and ceramics.

Corey: Wow!

Memo: And then they

mix it all together.

Corey: You think

they filled this in,

So that's the floor, really?

We're looking at maybe the floor

of what they filled in?

But it's our ceiling. Wow!

They mixed pottery,

charcoal and dirt

And filled that in

from the outside

To close off a passageway,

So that the osario shaft

was the only passage

Into this sacred cave.

You know, that's weird.

Narrator: But why did the maya

intentionally block

This underground tunnel?

Before they can investigate

any further...

(thunder)

Chris: Ooh, boy,

that's gonna be a big one.

Oh, (bleep)!

Lightning is probably

my least favorite.

(thunder)

Narrator: An unexpected storm

threatens

Not just the investigation,

but the lives of the men below.

Chris: A storm of that size

Is not something

I like to be around,

Next to a metal structure,

With my friends in a wet hole

right down below.

Hold on one second.

Corey: We can't tell

it's raining at all,

But we hear chris from the top

yelling down,

"guys, you better hurry up!

The lightning's coming in."

And we're like, "oh, no!"

Let's go!

(thunder)

Narrator: At chichén itzá's

pyramid el osario,

Archaeologist guillermo de anda

And cutting-edge technologists

virtual wonders

Are trying to unearth

an access point

To the tunnel that could

connect to the chamber

Below el castillo.

(thunder)

chris: Oh, boy!

Corey: Let's go!

Narrator: But their search

comes to a grinding halt

When lightning strikes.

Chris: So, lightning's coming in

and so is the rain,

So we're trying to get

these guys out of the hole

As soon as possible.

This is a little scary.

Narrator: Trapped in this tomb,

60 feet below,

They must evacuate

before it's too late.

Corey: Alright. Gracias.

Chris: There you go! Nice.

Corey: Gracias.

Corey: People have died

being hit by lightning.

We've got this big, metal frame

around it

That's being used

to lower people.

Ooh!

Man: How'd it go?

Corey: That was, that was crazy.

The lightning's just

ripping down all around.

Let's get out of here before

we're hit by lightning!

Man: Yes!

Corey: Yeah, yeah, chaac is, uh,

chaac is with us.

Narrator:

Safely out of harm's way,

The whole team reviews what

they found beneath el osario,

To try and work out

why the maya blocked off

This underground passageway.

Corey: Basically,

we put the borescope in

Everywhere it would fit.

Narrator: To help resolve

this mystery,

Maya archaeologist

dr. Jim brady joins the team.

Jim brady:

That's really terrific!

Corey: The pottery's right here.

Chris: Oh, is it that structure?

Corey: Those are

all the shards there.

Narrator: Dr. Brady is one

of the few archaeologists

Who have really explored

the mysteries of el osario.

His expertise could yield

crucial insight

Into this enigmatic

blocked passageway.

Corey: Which is crazy, right?

I mean, having the pottery

shards on the ceiling

Was a surprise to me.

I didn't know

that was down there.

And here's, here's charcoal.

And is that, that's charcoal,

and that is charcoal, too?

Dr. Brady: Yes, those

are bits of charcoal.

Corey: Ok.

Brady: We sampled that charcoal

And have gotten

the radiocarbon dates back

That come out about,

oh, 725, 728 ad.

Corey: 725? Wow.

Narrator: Traditionally, most

scholars believed el osario

Was built in 980 ad.

But recent research is turning

this notion on its head.

Brady: The osario was built

much earlier than people think.

This is about two and a half

centuries earlier than...

Corey: Really?

Brady: Yes.

Memo: Wow, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Chris: How much earlier

does that place it

In comparison

to other buildings?

Corey: Like what's

el castillo, do you think?

Brady: The castillo

would be later,

And so this is gonna

change everything.

Corey: Oh, wow!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Brady: And this is gonna

change everything,

Because rather than the osario

being a model of the castillo,

It might be

the other way around.

Corey: Yeah. Totally. Wow.

Narrator: The carbon dating

of the charcoal

Is changing history,

And proves el osario was likely

built before el castillo.

And for the team,

the ritual use of charcoal

Beneath el osario also provides

A significant piece

of the puzzle.

Memo: The pot shards and

the charcoal, you know,

That might be indicating

some kind of a ritual.

Kenny: Is this

sort of the same idea

That how they packed everything

off, closed something off?

Memo: Like termination ritual,

you mean?

Kenny: Exactly.

Memo: What you think, dr. Brady?

Brady: It looks like

it was terminated.

Narrator: A termination ritual

is the act of killing

A building's spiritual force.

This exorcism

typically happened

When the maya abandoned

their temples.

The termination ritual not only

closed off a building

To the living,

It also stopped the temple

from being visited by the dead.

Akasha: That's crazy!

Corey: Right?

Narrator: El osario may have

once had an entranceway

To this now blocked

underground tunnel,

Leading to the subterranean

chamber beneath el castillo,

And even been part of

a sprawling subterranean world.

But because this possible

passage is now blocked,

The team must regroup.

Memo: That's very interesting,

you know,

We've been desperately

trying to get,

To find an entrance

to this cavern or cenote

If there is one

right under el castillo.

Narrator: Memo, who knows

the chichén itzá underground

Better than anyone on earth,

Knows of one possible opening

to the maya underworld

That could provide

an underground gateway

To el castillo.

The only way to access it is

by using advanced technology

And facing extreme dangers.

Memo: Watch out

for snakes, please.

Yeah, the cenote is right there.

Narrator: The cenotes,

Ceremonial sacred sites

of the maya,

Could provide

concealed entranceways

To a sprawling underground

network of long-lost passages.

But flooded with water,

They're notoriously difficult

to explore, even deadly.

Memo: It's going to become

a little bit more slippery,

So careful with that,

we're gonna use the rope

Just to help ourselves

going down there.

Narrator: Despite this, memo

and the virtual wonders team

Are trekking to one

of the four cenotes

That surround the central

pyramid of el castillo.

The treacherous and seldom

explored underground cavern,

Called holtun.

Memo: This is the amazing thing

about technology,

That we can see things

that the eye can't.

I'm so glad that today

we have this little robot,

Because there is a huge tunnel

That turns a little bit to

the north, which el castillo is,

So that might be

a very good chance

To maybe connect

to the cenote under it.

Every time I go down there,

I find something new.

Let's go diving.

Narrator: For the team,

Searching these

underexplored chambers

Might be their best chance

At making

a groundbreaking discovery,

That could unlock

One of the ancient maya's

greatest secrets.

And if so, what riches

could they find?

Narrator: In their quest

to reveal

A secret underground passageway

And resolve the mystery

at the heart of chichén itzá,

Virtual wonders and maya

archaeologist guillermo de anda

Are making their way to

one of the four major cenotes

That surround chichén itzá's

main pyramid.

Deploying the most advanced

exploration tools available,

They plan to investigate

the westernmost cenote,

Called holtun.

Memo: This is the entrance, we

can go to the south side wall.

Narrator: Searching for

an underground passageway

That could lead to undiscovered

treasures beneath el castillo.

Memo: Cenotes have this mystery.

There is a passageway

that goes who knows where.

Memo: Ok. On rope!

(speaking spanish)

Narrator: It's a potentially

fatal 72-foot drop,

Perilous not just

for the divers,

But also for the pricey gear.

Corey: You good, chris?

Chris: Yeah.

Corey: Alright.

Chris: Ok.

Narrator: Corey and memo

will scuba dive

To look for any

concealed passageways.

Chris: Ok, we're in business.

Narrator: While field

specialist chris millbern

Pilots the rov from a raft

inside the cenote.

This small robot submarine

fits places that humans,

With their bulky scuba gear,

are just too big to go.

Man: You're going down

with a bag?

Chris: Si.

It is exactly as insane

as you would expect.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

This is not a carved-out cave

that's really comfortable,

It's not a place that

a lot of people have been.

Ok!

It's some place that you have

to really know your stuff

To get down into,

and you have to take some risks

To make sure that

you're able to see it.

Corey: Is that you?

Chris: Yep, that's me.

Corey: Alright, go.

Cool. Props are turning.

There you go. You have video?

Chris: Yep.

Corey: Alright!

Are you on the slowest mode

possible?

Chris: I'm on

the slowest mode possible.

Stabilization's off,

'cause I want it to be off.

Corey: Ok.

Chris: Have a good dive, man.

Corey: Yeah. Thanks, buddy!

We'll see you soon.

Chris: Go find something.

Corey: Generally I'm against

using technology like rovs

In cenotes, and the reason is

'cause they have little

propellers that spin,

And that kicks up sediment

and silt in a lot of places,

And that sediment or silt

could contain little bones

Or bits of mayan incense,

charcoal, offerings like that.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Chris: I apologize

for being silent.

I'm just,

I am so intently focused.

Corey: But being able to have

a talented rov pilot

Maneuver it through to see

where that passage goes,

It's critical because

this place has become

Incredibly sacred to me.

Narrator: In this underground

lair of the maya gods,

The team finds

extensive evidence

That holtun was a primary

repository for human sacrifice.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Chris: Oh, oh, oh.

Come on.

Come on, baby! Keep moving.

My mom said that video games

weren't a career.

♪ ♪

I'm definitely seeing stuff.

Wow! This is beautiful.

We found a new cave.

I am, I'm pretty

wildly excited right now.

I think this keeps continuing.

Narrator: At the iconic

chichén itzá,

Virtual wonders

and memo de anda

Have found an undiscovered,

underwater passageway...

Chris: I'm definitely

seeing stuff.

Narrator: ...That could lead

to a hidden chamber

Below el castillo.

Chris: Wow! This is beautiful.

♪ ♪

We found a new cave.

I am, I'm pretty

wildly excited right now.

This is definitely its own cave

passage worthy of exploration.

There's the entrance.

I'm very afraid

of getting stuck,

But, you know, that's how

cave exploration goes.

Corey: Back in mayan times that

passage would have been dry,

So it would have been pretty

easy to go through on your belly

And crawl through the cave

and to go make offerings.

Chris: Ok, let's turn.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

We're definitely

in a large passage

That could have artifacts.

I'm checking all the shelves

that I can see,

To see if there's anything

that looks man-made.

This is spectacular!

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

What I'm trying to do is

fight buoyancy essentially

And go a little bit farther.

I'm trying to be very careful,

So that if there is anything in

here, that I don't disturb it.

The difference between

rock and artifact

Is gonna be something that

we might have to look at later.

So I'm checking all of

the shelves that I can see,

To see if there's

anything man-made.

I actually see fish

way deep there

In the cave, which is amazing.

I'm really hoping not

to disturb anything,

So I have to be really careful,

But this is spectacular,

I honestly can't believe it.

I had no idea that this was

gonna be on the other side.

Narrator: The question is:

Where does it lead?

Could it lead all the way to

a crypt beneath el castillo?

Chris: It definitely goes.

Corey: In cave terminology we

know that that passage "goes,"

Meaning that it continues on

past what we can see.

Corey: How big did you think

the passage was?

Chris: It could be 10 to even

30 feet up, I mean, it was tall.

It's hard to get scale

on this video,

So before, you know,

I make a grand claim,

But it was big enough to fit

a person definitely,

And it looked like

it went up pretty tall.

Corey: Wow!

Chris: We'll have to review

the video, though,

Because again I can't get scale

out of this video.

Corey: That's awesome!

Memo: These passageways

never go straight.

Corey: Right.

Memo: I mean, very seldom.

Corey: This one

definitely doesn't.

Chris: This one

didn't go straight,

This one went up, left,

right and down.

It could have gone in

any direction, absolutely.

There was a lot more to it

than what we saw.

Memo: We found a passageway.

Corey: Really successful dive.

Gracias. Alright.

Anytime you do a dive with

a bunch of new technology

And you come back with

all the technology

And everything looks

like it worked...

Man: Yeah.

Corey: It's a win, right?

Memo: (laughs) oh, yeah.

Chris: We gotta check it out

on video, man, I'm excited.

Memo: (laughs) yeah.

I feel amazed

and with a lot of hope

That this can take us towards

chichén, but chris said it's...

Corey: It bends.

Chris: Multiple directions.

I think we had options,

so, who knows?

It certainly is really lucky

that we had this tool with us,

Because there was no other way

we were seeing it today.

Narrator: Back at

tech headquarters,

The team scrubs through

the rov's footage together,

Hoping to gain more insight

into this newly discovered

Passageway deep inside holtun.

Chris: Alright, so wait until

this just goes over,

I want to show you

something really cool.

So this was the constriction

That was hardest for me

to get through.

Memo: Yeah, that was a hard one.

Corey: No one's ever been

back there, right, memo?

This is unexplored caves?

Memo: No, no, this is

completely unexplored.

Chris: So, obviously,

it extends up this way,

And there's actually

a little bit of passages

That come back around

on the back.

And then, when it

drops down here,

You'll see openings

all across the bottom.

I mean, it's huge

compared to the crevice

That it actually started at,

you know?

Memo: Yes. Yes, yes.

Corey: Yeah. Right, right, yeah.

Chris: Look down here.

You've got a passage

that comes here

And it also goes

in this direction.

Corey: Wow!

Narrator: Though they can't

tell if the passageway

Ultimately extends

to the potential cenote

Below el castillo, they do

collect important evidence.

Chris: So, zoom it back

just a little bit.

Corey: Zooming it back.

Chris: Now, here's where

I want you to check out.

Memo: Oh, that looks like bones.

Narrator: These bones

could be the remains

Of offerings to the gods.

But that's not all

the team discovers.

Corey: Oh, (bleep)!

Hey, hey, hey, hey, memo!

What is that?

What is that green bit

right there?

Memo: Oh, yeah?

Chris: Oh, man!

Akasha: Oh, my god!

Memo: Looks like a jade bead.

Corey: That was jade.

Narrator: Jade.

Memo: Wow!

Corey: Yeah, totally.

Chris: Wow!

Narrator: In the ancient world

of the maya,

Jade was a royal resource

and a precious commodity

Used to communicate

with the gods.

Corey: That's an offering, yeah.

Chris: Good eye, corey!

Memo: Yes!

Narrator: Only the elite

could make

A sacrificial offering of jade.

Inside this cenote

That had mysteriously run

catastrophically low

Through a prolonged drought,

The rulers may have believed

That the end of the world

was near.

Corey: I would suspect when

there's the worst droughts,

There were probably

the most sacrifices.

Narrator: Finding jade here, in

this newly discovered passage,

Could be a momentous

breakthrough.

In a desperate plea

to the gods,

The maya elite could

have used this place

To offer their

greatest treasures,

All for the sake of rain.

Memo: There's another one.

Chris: Yeah.

Memo: This one,

look, this, this. Wow!

Narrator: These offerings may

have been a last-ditch appeal

To the gods to save

the city of chichén itzá

From apocalyptic doom.

Gradually,

by the 11th century ad,

This maya capital collapsed,

Largely due to an epic drought

that lasted over 15 years,

Causing the nearby cenotes that

sustained the city to run dry.

The effects of this drought

Gradually undermined

the city of chichén itzá,

And it was

eventually abandoned.

But this newly discovered

passageway,

Riddled with evidence

of sacrifice,

Could someday lead to even

more offerings and treasures

And into the mysterious cave

below el castillo.

Captioned by

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