Ancient Unexplained Files (2021–…): Season 1, Episode 9 - Legend of the Cursed Temple - full transcript

[josh] a digital autopsy

Reveals the origins of
two mysterious mummies.

But that flips this case on its head.

[josh] a groundbreaking survey

Uncovers a macabre of iron age practice.

[jacob] these are, kind of,
like, frankenstein creations.

And who did this? And why did they do it?

[josh] and a sinister roman legend

Is explained by 21st century science.

Terrifying tales aren't always
a figment of the imagination.

[josh] in a digital
technology lab of the future,



Experts uncover clues
invisible to the naked eye.

I've never seen anything like that before.

[josh] and solve mysteries

That have baffled for centuries.

That right there is what
scientists have been missing.

All the evidence points
to an incredible discovery.

This could be a game changer.

[josh] state-of-the-art digital technology

Closes the toughest cases.

This mystery finally makes sense.

[josh] from the ancient unexplained files.

[theme music playing]

[josh] denver, colorado,

Where two ancient egyptian mummies



Begin an unusual journey.

[michele] we loaded the mummies up

Into the ambulance

And drove very, very slowly

Down to the hospital.

[josh] the details of their stories

Have long been elusive.

[michele] their origin is a bit sketchy.

We don't know who they are

Or even which egyptian
dynasty they belong to.

[josh] now, in our forensics lab,

We study new evidence

Revealed by cutting-edge digital analysis.

You can see that they removed the septum,

The bone behind her nose,

So that they could extract the brain.

[josh] as experts attempt
to crack the mystery

Of these mummies.

Who were these people?

How did they wind up in
these two different conditions?

[josh] denver's museum of nature & science,

How is this a pair of egyptian mummies

That have been on display in colorado

For over a century

But there are few details about them

Or where they came from?

[andrew] it's crazy.

These mummies are
center staged at the museum

But we know very little about them.

[josh] high-tech investigations

First began in the 1990s,

But the limits of scanning technology

Meant progress was painfully slow.

[michele] in the 1990s,
ct scanning is really just

Getting going for the study of mummies.

[josh] the early scanner
takes two full days

To acquire images of the mummy

But it uncovers some basic information.

The scans reveal that
both mummies are females

And they're both around 30 years old,

But there are critical
differences between them.

[carla] the mummy in
the colorful sarcophagus

Appears to have undergone

A much more high-level mummification.

And it's wrapped in good quality

Linens and amulets.

The other mummy is actually wrapped in like

A much poorer quality of linen.

The sarcophagus itself
is in rather poor condition.

The well-preserved mummy

Must be from a wealthy background

While her partner is not.

[josh] for 20 years, they are known simply

As rich mummy and poor mummy.

But experts always believe
there is more to their story.

If only they could find the clues.

It is a lot of mystery
associated with these mummies.

There's surely more to
this than meets the eye.

[josh] then, in 2016,

New advances in scanning technology

Offer an opportunity to look deeper.

Archeologist, michele koons,
begins a new investigation

With the help of denver
children's hospital.

[michele] ct scanning is in high demand

For actual patients,

But we were fortunately
able to reserve a spot

Really late at night.

We loaded the mummies up

And drove very, very slowly

Down to the hospital.

[josh] this time, the powerful scanner

Takes just a few minutes

To create a full 3d digital
image of each mummy.

-[man] wow. -[woman] there you go.

[michele] the results are staggering.

We can see every layer of the mummy,

From the outer wrappings,

The inner layers of the linens,

The skin, the bone, And everything inside.

It's really like a modern-day autopsy.

[josh] now, dr. Koons
has shared the results

With biomedical scientist, greg szulgit,

To analyze in our digital forensics lab.

These scans are such
a powerful analytic tool.

They allow us to explore these mummies

In new and exciting ways.

Let's dissolve away some
of rich mummy's wrappings.

Ah, right away, I can see some classic

Egyptian preparation.

This yellow area here is
where she was cut open

And her organs would have been removed

And wrapped in linen before being put back

Here in her body.

These linen bundles were
placed back inside the body

To keep it from collapsing,

Giving the mummy a
more life-like appearance.

This is poor mummy by comparison.

Now, she has not had
that special treatment.

So, her body cavity has actually collapsed.

What if we look at both
these mummies in a side view?

So, this is rich mummy

And you can see that
they removed the septum,

The bone behind her nose,

So that they could extract the brain.

And the brain would have been thought

To be useless to the egyptians.

They thought the center of
intelligence was the heart.

If we compare this with poor mummy,

You can see that she still has her brain,

Though much of it's wasted away.

But there's another important difference

We should look at.

You see these three red
blobs on rich mummy?

These are wax figurines

Actually put inside of the mummy.

Let's call one up.

So these represent the sons of horus

And they would be placed
against the important organs

To protect them in the afterlife.

As you can imagine,

Poor mummy has no such divine protections.

So, it seems that poor old poor mummy

Had bargain-basement treatment.

But there is one more
important thing to consider.

Her wrappings are exceptionally thin.

Her face is actually exposed.

This isn't how mummies, even poor ones,

Would have been presented.

This tells me that this mummy
may have had a death mask.

Something like this.

And this would be in place
so that the soul could recognize

The body when it left.

Luxurious death masks made of gold

Were only found on wealthy mummies.

Now, the death mask was missing.

So, it must have been
stolen. And that's not a surprise

Because these were
prime targets for looters,

But that flips this case on its head.

It suggests that maybe this poor mummy

Wasn't so poor after all.

[josh] experts now look
for an alternative reason

To explain the differences
in the mummies' presentation.

They begin by calculating
when the women died.

[michele] radiocarbon dating of the linens,

Associated with this
mummy reveal that she is from

Around 894 to 825 bc.

This is when mummification reaches its peak

In egyptian society.

And more emphasis is really paid

On the internal body

And making that appear very life-like

And less on the tomb around it.

This would explain why the figurines

Of the four sons of horus
are found inside the body.

[josh] the results confirm

The rich mummy was indeed affluent.

Experts now turn to the poor mummy

And discover she was mummified

Much later in history.

[michele] we radiocarbon
date the linens of this mummy

And discover that she dates to

398 to 260 bc.

[andrew] this mummy
is from the late period.

Egypt's last gasps before it finally fall.

It's around now that
alexander the great invades.

Bodies are starting to pile up

And the elaborate mummification process

Is simplified.

[josh] these results
offer a brand-new theory

To explain the mummies'
contrasting appearances.

The differences between the two mummies

Are due to the period in which they died

Not due to their economic status.

[michele] so instead of
rich mummy, poor mummy,

It is now 2,900 year-old mummy
and 2,400 year-old mummy.

[josh] it's a revelation
that forces scientists

To rethink so-called poor mummy's story.

What other secrets could
her remains be hiding?

[sheila] these two women
perhaps have more in common

Than we originally thought.

[josh] two mysterious mummies.

One thought to be rich, The other poor

But who are, in fact,

Buried 500 years apart.

Now, experts reconsider
the simple sarcophagus,

The so-called poor mummy was buried in

And analyzed its surface

Using x-rays fluorescents.

[sheila] what's remarkable is,

With modern technology,

What looks to be very shabby at first,

When we look at it with x-ray fluorescence,

We can see trace chemicals

Of very rare and precious minerals.

[michele] we do reveal the presence

Of copper calcium silicate

Or better known as egyptian blue.

This is a synthetic blue pigment

With really important significance

In egyptian culture.

It symbolizes fertility,

Birth, rebirth, and life.

[josh] the results confirm
the archeologist's theory,

That the so-called poor mummy

Did in fact live a wealthy life.

[michele] throughout ancient civilizations

And throughout ancient egypt,

Looting was rife.

The evidence suggests that the family

Who commissioned the coffin

Knew that it wouldn't
last necessarily very long

But the decorations were done in such a way

So that it would ensure that the occupant

Would pass on to the
afterlife appropriately.

[josh] the discovery
offers further insights

Into the ancient egyptian fascination

With the afterlife.

[michele] the length
that the ancient egyptians

Went through to preserve the bodies

For their passage into the afterworld

Is really quite incredible.

And fortunately for us,

It gives us a time capsule

To really understand
the lives of these people

Who lived and died thousands of years ago.

[josh] meanwhile, thanks to modern science,

The mystery of the denver museum mummies

Has finally been solved.

[sheila] ultimately, these two women

Buried 500 years apart

Perhaps have more in common
than we originally thought.

[upbeat music playing]

[josh] pamukkale, western turkey,

Amongst the ruins of the ancient city

Of hierapolis,

Archeologists uncover
the remains of a temple

Lost for over a thousand years.

[prof. Jacob] the temple
was built to worship pluto,

The god of death.

[josh] according to legend,

This was the site of supernatural events

In the ancient world.

[karen] the priests
performed sinister rituals.

Hundreds of animals just dropped dead.

[sarah] christians were
so disturbed by this temple

That they buried it and kept it hidden.

[josh] with the temple now unearthed,

Can new technology finally explain

The dark practices that went on here?

[karen] it was believed
to contain the gateway

To the underworld.

Well now we can find out.

[ominous music playing]

[josh] in 2013,

A structure built above
the entrance to a cave

Is unearthed.

The evidence suggests
they've discovered a monument

Famous from legend.

[prof. Jacob] carved into
the top of one of the columns

Is an inscription, A dedication to pluto,

God of the underworld.

[josh] 2000 years ago,

The rituals performed
at the temple of pluto

Were notorious across the ancient world.

[sarah] the city of hierapolis

Was founded in the 2nd century bc.

And we believe that
pilgrims would have come

From all over the greco-roman world

To this temple of pluto

Where they would participate
in these very sinister rituals

That were meant to honor
the god of the underworld.

[josh] further excavations
reveal an amphitheater

Surrounding the entrance to the cave.

From here, worshippers
could view the strange rituals

Performed by the priests below.

[karen] legend has it that bulls,

Led for sacrifice,

Would go into the cave
and lie down and perish,

But the eunuch priests who led them in

Would emerge unscathed.

[jacob] there are no signs, however,

That the animals have been attacked

By the ancient priests.

For centuries, for the greeks and romans,

The only explanation for this phenomenon

Was a supernatural one.

[josh] as christianity spread,

The disturbing rituals fell out of favor.

And in 600 ce, The pagan temple was sealed,

But reports of sinister events

At the mouth of the cave persist

Right up to the present day.

Near the entrance to the temple,

The ground is littered with dead insects,

Several dead birds,

And we know that large animals

Are frequently found dead here, too.

[josh] scientists now ask

Whether these latest fatalities

Could hold clues to the deathly rituals

Of roman legend.

But a visual examination
of these fallen creatures

Draws a blank.

We can't see any evidence
of how these animals died.

There are no broken bones.

They haven't been crushed in any way.

What killed them?

[josh] could hierapolis itself

Hold the answer?

The city has been destroyed
by earthquakes many times,

And the area overflows
with hot water springs.

It's a clue to a unique
underground geology.

[sian] geological maps
show that parts of hierapolis

Were actively built directly

On tectonic fracture zones.

And fracture zones allow water and gas

To rise up to the surface
from deep within the earth.

[josh] for the first time,

An astonishing possibility is considered.

We can't see any evidence
of how these animals died,

But perhaps that's
because the killer is invisible

And silent.

Maybe it could be some kind of gas.

[josh] to finally explain

Why the animals collapsed and died,

Researchers will have to brave

The temple's dark depths themselves.

This cave is deadly.

[josh] this ancient temple in turkey

Was where roman priests
made sacrifices to pluto,

God of the underworld.

Animals led into the cave
would collapse and die.

Scientists think deadly
vapors could be responsible.

They use a portable gas analyzer

To test the cave.

Fingers all point to one culprit,

Its carbon dioxide.

[greg] in normal air,

Concentrations of carbon
dioxide are very low,

About 0.04%, But levels above 10%

Are enough to asphyxiate
a person in minutes.

Readings within this cave registered 91%.

[greg] the scientific evidence shows

That there is some
truth to the roman stories.

Animals taken inside of the cave

Would have asphyxiated
due to the carbon dioxide.

[josh] it's an extraordinary conclusion

To an ancient mystery,

But one question remains,

How did the ancient priests
survive the deadly gases?

They consider the
qualities of carbon dioxide.

Carbon dioxide is about
one and a half times heavier

Than oxygen, so it naturally sinks

Down towards the ground.

This means that you end up

With a concentrated pool of carbon dioxide

Waiting to kill something.

[karen] animals being led into the temple

Would have been closer
to the carbon dioxide lake.

They might have become dizzy.

Their heads would have dipped lower,

They would have been exposed

To ever higher concentrations
of the carbon dioxide

And eventually be overcome.

[josh] while the lake was a death sentence

For the animals,

The priests use the phenomenon

To their advantage.

[sian] the priests survive

Because they keep their head
above the dangerous gases.

They were either tall enough
to avoid the carbon dioxide

Or they stood on stones
to add to their height.

[greg] watching them emerge from the temple

Must have been like they
were blessed by the gods.

Two-thousand years ago,

Only supernatural forces
could have explained

The deadly vapors of the gates of hell.

[josh] now, modern scientists

Finally revealed the secrets

Behind a dark ritual
practice of roman legend.

[greg] it's a seemingly
fantastic supernatural mystery

Actually based on fact.

Animals asphyxiated by natural gases

And clever priests who knew the tricks

To keep themselves safe.

[upbeat music playing]

[josh] dorset, united kingdom.

In 2009, a team of archeologists

From bournemouth university

Make a baffling discovery.

[greg] they find a sheep with two heads

And on its rear is a bull.

[josh] as they dig deeper,

They discover more bizarre animal remains.

[adam] there's a horse with a cow's horn

Protruding from its forehead

Like some kind of unicorn.

These are crazy mutant monsters,

Like, something out of, like,
your most twisted nightmare.

[darius] you've got no
kind of discovery like this

In any other place in britain.

[adam] these frankenstein creatures

Are seriously freaky,

So who created them and why?

[tense music playing]

[josh] all totaled,

More than 30 mysterious pits are discovered

Spread over a 40-acre site.

The trenches are filled
with strange collections

Of animal bones.

Experts begin by looking for clues

To discover when the graves were dug.

[greg] excavating the site,
they find shards of pottery

That go back to 200 to 50 bc,

So this is the late iron age period.

[josh] this explains the wealth

And variety of animals found in the pits.

[allan] the iron age is
a really interesting time

Because it's a time when you've got this

Really incredible metal for making tools

So that you can expand farming techniques,

Which means growing more crops,

But also raising the amount of livestock.

[adam] iron age britons had access

To lots of different farm animals,

But that doesn't explain

Why they ended up looking like

Some bizarre crossbreeding experiment

At the bottom of these pits.

[josh] why were these strange arrangements

Of bones created?

Investigators turn to analysis of the soil

Used to fill the pits

And make an intriguing discovery.

[adam] the soil is dark
and really stands out

Against the chalk pits.

And the soil inside
the pits is not layered,

Which suggests that it
was all backfilled in one go.

An initial, potentially plausible idea

Is that waste meat or waste bones

Were just thrown into these pits

And then buried kind of
like detritus or garbage.

[josh] they test the theory by analyzing

The bones themselves.

[greg] there are no signs
of teeth marks or knife marks

On any of these bones, so
these were not butchered.

These aren't pieces of animals

With the meat stripped to the bone.

These animals were placed in there

With the chunks essentially whole.

[josh] the discovery
indicates the carcasses

Were not simply discarded.

[greg] now horse, cow and sheep

Are important and valuable animals.

There's a lot of great protein there.

Burying them in this way
implies a lot of food waste.

The picture that's
emerging from all of this

Is that the work that went into this

And the sacrificing of all of this meat

Was done for a very powerful reason.

[josh] but that reason remains elusive.

As the arrangement of
the skeletons is studied

In more detail, the mystery
gets increasingly bizarre.

[adam] an analysis to the bones

Shows that this is not just
a random jumble of animals,

The bones are actually
articulated the same way

They would be in the animal's body.

The bones are so nicely
aligned that it actually

Implies that these may
have been sewn together

At the skin and the flesh areas

To make complete creatures.

These are, kind of, like
frankenstein creations.

Who did this?

And why did they do it?

[josh] the team excavates further pits

And make another shocking discovery.

They reveal what is unmistakably

A human skeleton.

[allan] the discovery is very interesting

Because it doesn't
conform with the typical way

That iron age people would bury their dead

Which was usually in a fetal position

In relatively shallow graves.

[greg] the hip bones clearly
reveal that this is a woman

And by her size, she's probably young.

[josh] then more startling
evidence comes to light.

[allan] there's a very unusual cut mark

Across her collarbone.

This is the kind of thing
you would expect to see

When someone's had their throat cut.

[allan] as if this isn't enough,

Below her we find buried
another combination

Of different parts of different animals,

But laid out to mimic
the position of her body.

So, for example, there are animal leg bones

Where her leg bones were,

There's an animal head where her head was.

[josh] the positioning
of the bones could begin

To explain the mysterious hybrid skeletons.

[allan] when we take into
consideration the effort

That's gone into burying these animals

And burying this woman,

I don't think there's really
any other explanation

Than that this was an intentional

Sacrificial ritual.

[tense music playing]

[josh] now, science could reveal

Who made these gruesome offerings.

Our lab analysis confirms
that this community

Is behind our bone pits.

[josh] in britain, archeologists

Excavating an iron age site

Have unearthed a catalog
of animal body parts

Arranged in grotesque hybrid forms,

And a human victim of ritual murder.

Now, they ask who could
have been responsible,

And turn to the latest scanning techniques

To create a unique image of the site.

[mark] the next stage is to do

What we call a geophysical survey.

These methods essentially measure

The earth's magnetic field

At regular intervals on a grid,

So we'll take the readings
every 50 centimeters

And we can then plot that onto a computer,

And then that gives us
a very, very clear image

Of what is literally buried
beneath the ground.

[josh] now, the results
of this digital survey

Have been loaded into our tech lab,

Ready for analysis by
historian sascha auerbach.

[sascha] at first glance,

It looks like a kind of ground x-ray.

Look at these crazy
indecipherable patterns.

There's clearly a lot of information

To be gleaned here.

Let's zoom in.

The most distinctive feature

Are these dark, round circles,

Lunar-like craters,

These areas of significant
ground disturbance.

And judging by their size, they resemble

Those weird hybrid
animal pits we found earlier.

It's interesting, and I
wonder what other hidden

Manmade secrets we can find buried here.

There are these dark ring-like structures.

Let's magnify one and measure it.

We get something that's a hundred

And fifty-four feet in circumference.

Since this whole site
dates to the iron age,

My money as to what we're looking at

Is the impression of a roundhouse.

These are the typical wood

And thatched dwellings from the period.

And there's a whole lot of them.

When we plot them,
look, there are hundreds.

This is really large for
an iron age settlement.

But what's really
interesting about this site

Is that it represents the transition

From barricaded hill
forts to open settlements.

It really is one of the largest, oldest,

And most significant archeological sites

In southern britain.

[josh] the scan has revealed

A never before seen settlement

On an unparalleled scale.

[sascha] so, I think our
lab analysis shows us

That this is the community
responsible for our bone pits.

But why would they sacrifice a young woman,

And why would they carve up these animals

Into these weird hybrid forms?

[thunder rumbling]

[allan] I think we see through a lot

Of human history
sacrificial rituals are done

To appease divine spirits,

And gods, divinities,

Usually in times of scarcity
or when there's a lack

Of fertility of the soil or it won't rain.

To sacrifice valuable farm animals,

And to sacrifice a human,
shows that this community

Must have been going through
some truly desperate times.

[josh] but what could
explain the bizarre collection

Of body parts?

We have many stories, a lot of mythology

Around the world of these strange,

Kind of manufactured
mythological creatures,

Like the chimera in the greek world.

We've never had any kind of evidence

Or linking into such
beliefs or ideas in britain,

Until now.

[josh] ancient greeks and egyptians

Believed fusing parts of different animals

Created a more powerful creature.

This discovery now suggests similar beliefs

Were held in iron age britain.

For a long time, we've known very little

About the british iron
age culture and ideology,

That these assemblages
of different animal bones

And the sacrifice of these young woman

Are giving us lots of new clues

To understand just how people thought.

[mark] I think this deposition

Needs to be seen in terms of,

As it were, late celtic religion

And it's engagement with the animal world

And mythical animal world,

Assembling mythical beasts together

May well be the reason

For these rather bizarre practices.

It's possible that these folks

Are putting together different animals

To make these strange chimera,

To make a more valuable
sacrifice to their gods.

[dramatic music playing]

[josh] kostyonki, russia.

In 2020,

Archaeologists hunting for evidence

Of prehistoric man

Unearthed a curious ring of giant bones.

[sian] this pile of bones is huge.

It's over 40 feet across

And contains thousands of bones,

Comprising hundreds of separate skeletons.

[allan] what's really
intriguing is that the vast

Majority of the bones are
from the wooly mammoth.

[josh] more puzzling,

These bones seem far
too ordered to be random.

[kiki] this is a huge circle.

Sixty-four mammoths with their bones

Jammed in on top of each
other is extremely bizarre.

[sian] what forces have
drawn these bones together?

[josh] this new investigation
reveals a story of survival

Against extraordinary odds.

[kiki] it helped humans
right out the ice age

In a way that we did not expect.

[josh] located 250 miles south of moscow,

Kostyonki is home to
one of eastern europe's

Most important archaeological sites.

The complex has unearthed tools, artwork,

And weapons, carved by
humans 40,000 years ago.

But most baffling is this
vast circle of mammoth bones.

[allan] archaeologists
have nicknamed this find

"bonehenge" in reference
to the circular pattern

Of stones at stonehenge in England.

The reasons for this
archaeological phenomenon

Remains a mystery.

[josh] initially, experts wonder

If ancient humans are responsible

For creating bonehenge.

Radio carbon dating is used to uncover

When the structure was built.

[sascha] and here's
where the mystery deepens.

Samples from the soil show that bonehenge

Was built over 22,500 years ago.

[sian] this is a critical period in time

Because it puts the age of these bones

At the height of the last ice age

When our planet was in a deep freeze.

[adam] during this period,
the area around kostyonki

Regularly sees temperatures

Of minus four degrees fahrenheit,

And that keeps a thick layer
of permafrost on the earth.

[josh] it's always been
believed the ice age

Forced early humans to abandon the area

Around kostyonki.

But if that's true,

Then how could this
structure have been built?

Experts now entertain a radical theory,

That early humans
purposely stayed this far north

And endured the ice age.

To test out this idea, they begin a search

For evidence of human
activity at bonehenge.

[allan] as the archaeologists excavate

Around the mammoth bones,

They also find in the soils

That there are bits and chips of stone.

[sascha] there are over
300 of these rock flakes.

And this is really amazing.

This is surefire evidence of humans.

[josh] when humans
first created stone tools,

They did so by smashing rocks together

To make cutting blades.

It's a primitive process that leaves behind

Distinctively shaped rock flakes.

The flakes are like a calling
card from early humans,

And are found right
across the bonehenge site.

[allan] the clear conclusion here

Is that humans created this site,

Which is astounding

Because it was never imagined that humans

Could sustain themselves
in such a harsh area

During an ice age.

[josh] what could have
driven humans to create

Such a complex arrangement of bones

In such a hostile environment?

Soil samples offer further clues.

[allan] the archaeologists
discovered bits and pieces

Of charred wood and bone, that shows

That there were cooking fires at this site.

[sascha] this evidence,
taking with the arrangement

Of the bones, finally reveals
the truth about bonehenge.

It might look like a mammoth graveyard,

But this is a building.

[allan] it might have
been for meat processing

Or perhaps for storage,
but one thing is for sure,

Ice age humans built an incredibly

Commanding structure.

[sian] this place could
have been a crucial site

For our ancestors as
they rode out the ice age,

Feasting on mammoths.

[josh] bonehenge is
the remains of a structure

Built over 20,000 years ago

And revolutionary
evidence of human survival

In nature's harshest environment.

This is an incredible find,

And one that rewrites ice age history.

[dramatic music playing]

[josh] la democracia, guatemala.

Squatting in the town square
are 11 potbellied sculptures

With unusual powers.

[peggy] these sculptures, these figurines,

Seem to have this weird magnetic power.

[george] these sculptures date to a time

Prior to mesoamerican people

Having an understanding of magnetism.

This is really weird.

[andrew] why they carved
them and why they are magnetic

Has been a mystery since their discovery.

[josh] now, scientists
from harvard university

Hope to unlock these
statues' mysterious powers

And reveal the secret of their magnetism.

[dramatic music playing]

[josh] in guatemala,
11 potbellied sculptures

Display mysterious powers.

They came to the world's
attention almost 50 years ago

Via geography professor, vincent malmstrom.

It was his assistant who first noticed

Something unusual.

[peggy] malmstrom's assistant
is stunned to see his compass

Go haywire as he passes
over a particular area.

[alexei] malmstrom
concludes that these strange

And unique sculptures have somehow acquired

Magnetic properties.

[josh] intrigued, academics dig through

Mesoamerican records and discover

These enigmatic sculptures were carved

By the ancient monte alto culture.

The monte alto people were hierarchical.

They built temples, palaces,
compounds while the majority

Of the other people were simple farmers.

[josh] the monte alto lived
around 500 to 100 bce.

This sculpture discovery is astounding

As it suggests magnetism was known

In this part of the world

Centuries earlier than previously thought.

[alexei] we know that the ancient greeks

Understood magnetism.

But if the monte alto people
also understood magnetism,

This would be far earlier than the greeks.

[josh] in 2019, a team
from harvard university

Searches for evidence

To explain this baffling conundrum.

They use a sensitive magnetometer

To map the sculpture's magnetic signatures.

[sian] not only are the
rock sculptures magnetic,

But they find the cheeks and navel areas

Of some potbellied sculptures
displayed the most magnetism.

[josh] but weirder still,

Magnetometry picks up a strange anomaly.

[sian] it appears the
orientation of iron grains

Within the rock are all
facing the same direction.

This only happens along the path

Of a lightning discharge.

[josh] many rocks contain
iron-based mineral grains,

Which act as miniscule magnets,

Each with a north pole and a south pole.

But they are aligned randomly in the rock,

So they cancel out each
other's magnetic pole.

[sian] when lightning
strikes, it's powerful enough

To realign the orientation
of these iron grains

Within the rock.

So what happens is you
end up with a lot of grains

All facing the same direction,

Along the path of the lightning discharge.

And their cumulative power
creates a magnetic field

Strong enough to move a compass.

[lightning crackles]

[josh] the subtropical region
inhabited by the monte alto

Was frequently hit by lightning storms.

Experts conclude
craftsmen were intentionally

Selecting rocks struck by lightning,

And then using them to carve statues.

But this theory poses a problem.

It appears the monte alto people

Had a very sophisticated way

Of detecting magnetism in the rock.

Now, how did they do it?

[josh] could they have
had one of the oldest

And simplest magnetic detectors,

The compass?

[peggy] the compass was
first used around 200 bce,

Which happens to be around the same time

That these sculptures were created.

But the first compass
was invented in china,

8,000 miles away.

The chinese and the monte alto people

Were never in contact with each other.

[josh] instead, guatemalan geology

May hold the answer, in the form

Of a naturally occurring magnetic detector,

Known as a lodestone.

[sian] a lodestone is a magnetized piece

Of iron ore called magnetite.

They are naturally occurring
magnets which attract iron.

The monte alto people could have used

Magnetic lodestones to identify

The magnetic parts of the basaltic rock.

[josh] records of mesoamerican artifacts

Show magnetite

Was considered a precious resource.

We do know that the people of mesoamerica

Valued lodestones, and
the monte alto people

Had access to magnetite,

Which they used to pound into mirrors.

A number of middle classic
period maya sculptures

Show women wearing these magnetite mirrors

Around their neck. So is it possible

They made a lodestone magnetic detector?

[josh] lodestones may
explain how the monte alto

Exploited the magnetic
properties of the rock.

But why carve the material

Into such unusually shaped figurines?

Theories on what these
potbellied sculptures

Represent vary wildly.

One possibility is that
they represent the god,

Xochipilli, whom the local peoples

Give offerings to in the
form of alcohol and corn.

[peggy] others think that
the sculptures represent

The deceased high-ranking ancestors

Of the communities.

These could be representations

Of dead ancestors in the post-mortem state,

With the distended bellies,

Closed eyes, and puffed out face.

[josh] the inspiration
behind the potbelly shape

May forever remain a mystery.

But what was the significance
of their magnetic properties?

[peggy] the sculptors, or more importantly,

Those who commission the sculptors,

Would have used these magnetic properties

In displays to impress the public.

[andrew] the ability to deflect a lodestone

Off this sculpture would
have appeared like magic.

[josh] the monte alto people's
command of magnetism

Gives us brand-new insight
into this mysterious culture.

[andrew] this potbelly sculpture show

That this ancient mesoamerican community

Was much more advanced
than previously thought.

These people had the ability

To not only detect magnetism

But manipulate it to their own advantage.