Mysteries of the Deep (2020–…): Season 1, Episode 4 - Hunt for Noah's Ark - full transcript
Jeremy Wade goes inside a cutting-edge archaeological investigation that is unearthing brand-new discoveries about Noah's Ark; as experts get closer to finding its final resting place, they...
Wade: CAN FRESH INSIGHTS INTO
ANCIENT BOAT-BUILDING
TECHNIQUES SHED NEW LIGHT
ON THE TRUTH BEHIND
THE GREAT BIBLICAL FLOOD?
FOR MANY OF US,
THIS DOES NOT MAKE ANY SENSE.
YOU'VE GOTTA LOOK AT IT THROUGH
THE PRISM OF THE PEOPLES
OF THE PAST.
Wade: IS A MYSTERIOUS UNDERWATER
PHENOMENON BEING USED
AS A SECRET WEAPON OF WAR?
THE GLOW REVEALED THIS UNEARTHLY
SHAPE MOVING THROUGH
THE WATER.
THE SAILORS COULDN'T BELIEVE
WHAT THEY WERE SEEING.
Wade: AND DOES A SPINE-CHILLING
RIVER DISCOVERY
HOLD THE KEY TO A LOST WORLD?
THESE BONES ARE BROKEN
AND TWISTED AND CRACKED.
THERE'D BE THOUSANDS OF BODIES.
Wade: THE UNDERWATER REALM
IS ANOTHER DIMENSION.
IT'S A PHYSICALLY HOSTILE
PLACE WHERE DREAMS OF PROMISE
CAN SINK INTO DARKNESS.
I'M JEREMY WADE.
I'M SEARCHING THE WORLD
TO BRING YOU
THE MOST ICONIC AND BAFFLING
UNDERWATER MYSTERIES
KNOWN TO SCIENCE.
SHIPWRECKS CAN'T JUST
DISAPPEAR... OR CAN THEY?
Wade: IT'S A DANGEROUS,
UNEXPLORED FRONTIER THAT
SWALLOWS EVIDENCE.
WE KNOW MORE ABOUT THE FACE
OF MARS THAN WE DO
OUR DEEPEST OCEANS.
Wade:
WHERE UNKNOWN IS NORMAL
AND UNDERSTANDING IS RARE.
♪
THE STORY OF HOW NOAH SURVIVED
A GREAT FLOOD BY BUILDING
AN ARK IS ONE OF THE DEFINING
TALES OF THE HUMAN RACE.
FOR SOME, IT'S A MYTH.
FOR OTHERS,
IT'S A LITERAL TRUTH.
BUT COULD RECENT DISCOVERIES
TELL US ONCE AND FOR ALL
WHETHER THIS FAMOUS
BIBLICAL STORY
WAS BASED ON REAL-LIFE EVENTS?
♪
NOAH'S ARK IS ONE OF
THE MOST ICONIC TALES THERE IS.
Goodman: GOD COMES TO NOAH
AND EXPLAINS TO HIM
THAT HE NEEDS TO GO,
AND HE NEEDS TO BUILD
A GIGANTIC ARK.
IN THAT ARK,
HE NEEDS TO PUT IN THE ANIMALS
THAT ARE ON THE PLANET
TO SAVE THEM FROM A FLOOD,
WHICH IS GOING TO FOLLOW.
Rondeau: THE FLOOD, AS DESCRIBED
IN THE BIBLE, IS A STORM
THAT RAGES FOR 40 NIGHTS,
AND FOR 40 DAYS.
IT'S ALLEGED TO HAVE COVERED
THE ENTIRE GLOBE.
AND AT THE END,
ALL LIFE IS DESTROYED
EXCEPT FOR THOSE INDIVIDUALS
AND THOSE ANIMALS
THAT ARE ONBOARD THE ARK
WITH NOAH.
♪
Wade: IT'S A MUCH-LOVED STORY
THAT MOST OF US
HAVE GROWN UP WITH,
BUT IS IT BASED ON A REAL FLOOD?
ON THE ONE HAND, WE DON'T
EXPECT IT TO NECESSARILY BE
THE TRUTH,
BUT ON THE OTHER HAND,
MANY OF THESE THINGS
ARE ANCHORED IN
SOME REALITY.
Wade: IN FACT,
MANY CULTURES AND BELIEFS
HAVE A VERSION
OF THE NOAH STORY.
THE OLDEST COME FROM
ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA,
MORE THAN A MILLENNIUM BEFORE
THE OLD TESTAMENT ACCOUNT
WAS WRITTEN.
Elliott: MANY CULTURES HAVE
A MYTHOLOGICAL STORY
ABOUT A DELUGE,
SO IT SEEMS AS THOUGH THIS WAS
A VERY REAL EVENT IN SOME WAY,
SHAPE, OR FORM.
Wade: WHEN THE ICE AGE ENDS
AROUND 10,000 YEARS AGO,
IT BRINGS HUGE RISES
IN SEA LEVEL,
WHICH SEPARATES CONTINENTS
AND CHANGES THE WORLD MAP
TO THE ONE WE RECOGNIZE TODAY.
BUT THIS IS A GRADUAL CHANGE
OVER MANY YEARS.
THE BIBLICAL ACCOUNT DESCRIBES
NOAH'S FLOOD
AS BEING MUCH MORE SUDDEN.
THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT NOAH'S
FLOOD HAPPENED OVER A PERIOD
OF WEEKS, NOT HUNDREDS OF YEARS.
Wade: THERE IS ONE EVENT THAT
COULD BE BEHIND THE NOAH STORY,
A FLOOD OF TRULY
EPIC PROPORTIONS.
IT HAPPENS IN THE BLACK SEA
OVER 7,000 YEARS AGO.
THE BLACK SEA WAS
ORIGINALLY A GREAT LAKE,
AND IT WAS SEPARATED FROM
THE MEDITERRANEAN.
Wade: BUT RISING GLOBAL
SEA LEVELS FROM
THE MELTING ICE EVENTUALLY
REACH A CRUCIAL POINT.
THIS GOT TO THE POINT
WHEN THE PLUG,
WHICH SEPARATED THE BLACK SEA
FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN,
WAS BREACHED.
Wade:
ACCORDING TO SOME ESTIMATES,
THIS GLOBAL WARMING EVENT
POURS WATER INTO THE BLACK SEA
WITH A FORCE AROUND 200 TIMES
THAT OF NIAGARA FALLS.
SOMETHING WITH 200 TIMES
THE POWER OF
NIAGARA FALLS WOULD BE
A MONSTROUS EVENT
THAT WOULD BE EARTHSHAKING,
LITERALLY AND FIGURATIVELY.
Wade: BUT THERE'S A PROBLEM...
EVEN THE BLACK SEA DELUGE
DOESN'T COVER THE ENTIRE EARTH.
THERE IS NO GEOLOGICAL
EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT
A WORLDWIDE FLOOD
AS DESCRIBED IN THE NOAH STORY.
Wade: BUT TO PEOPLE LIVING
THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO,
IT COULD HAVE FELT LIKE THEIR
ENTIRE WORLD HAD DISAPPEARED.
WE UNDERSTAND
THE WORLD VERY DIFFERENTLY
THAN PEOPLE WOULD HAVE
AT THE TIME.
FOR PEOPLE LIVING IN
THAT PART OF THE WORLD,
IT WOULD HAVE LOOKED TO THEM
THAT EVERYTHING ON
THE HORIZON WOULD HAVE
BEEN SUBMERGED.
Wade: WITH THIS IN MIND, IT
SEEMS REASONABLE TO HYPOTHESIZE
THAT THE GREAT FLOOD WAS
BASED ON REAL-LIFE EVENTS,
LIKE THE BLACK SEA DELUGE.
AND IF THAT'S THE CASE,
WE WOULD EXPECT TO FIND OTHER
EVIDENCE THAT BACKS UP
THE BIBLICAL TALE,
SUCH AS CLUES TO
THE EXISTENCE OF NOAH'S
FABLED ARK.
A CHANCE DISCOVERY
IN A MIDDLE EASTERN
MARKETPLACE IN 1948
COULD BE THE MISSING LINK.
Elliot: A ROYAL AIR FORCE PILOT
GOES TO A LOCAL MARKET IN IRAQ
AND COMES ACROSS A CLAY TABLET
WITH VERY STRANGE WRITING
ON IT.
HE BUYS THE TABLET
AND TAKES IT HOME TO ENGLAND,
BUT THEN, IT STAYS THERE,
FORGOTTEN ABOUT FOR YEARS.
DECADES LATER,
HIS SON TAKES IT TO
THE BRITISH MUSEUM TO FIND OUT
IF IT'S OF INTEREST.
Wade: THE MUSEUM CURATOR
IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZES
THE STRANGE MARKINGS
AS ANCIENT CUNEIFORM TEXT,
THE WORLD'S OLDEST
FORM OF WRITING.
HE'S SEEN THOUSANDS OF TABLETS,
BUT THIS ONE IS SPECIAL.
Tuttle: HE STARTED READING IT,
WAS TOTALLY BLOWN AWAY
BY WHAT HE WAS READING.
Wade: IT REVEALS A SECRET
ABOUT NOAH'S ARK THAT HAS
BEEN HIDDEN FROM THE WORLD
FOR NEARLY 4,000 YEARS.
INSCRIBED ON IT IS
THE FAMILIAR STORY
OF THE GREAT FLOOD
WITH ONE INTRIGUING NEW DETAIL
ABOUT THE DESIGN OF THE ARK.
Elliot: NOT ONLY DOES IT TELL US
THE STORY OF THE DELUGE
FROM A TIME BEFORE NOAH,
BUT ALSO, CRUCIALLY,
AND HERE'S THE NEW THING...
IT SAYS THE BOAT
SHOULD BE ROUND.
Wade: THIS SIMPLE STATEMENT
GOES AGAINST
THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF
ANECDOTAL HISTORY.
NOAH'S ARK, THAT ICONIC
ANCIENT WOODEN BOAT,
IS ONE OF THE MOST FAMILIAR
AND ESTABLISHED IMAGES OF
ALL TIME.
SO HOW COULD IT
POSSIBLY BE ROUND?
THE BIBLICAL TALE OF NOAH
AND THE ARK IS
ONE OF THE BEST KNOWN
STORIES OF ALL TIME.
BUT COULD IT HAVE
A BASIS IN REAL EVENTS?
AN ANCIENT CLAY TABLET PREDATING
THE BIBLE CONTAINS A DETAILED
DESCRIPTION OF A HUGE ARK
BUILT TO SURVIVE
A CATASTROPHIC FLOOD,
BUT THERE'S ONE CRUCIALLY
IMPORTANT DETAIL
THAT'S DIFFERENT FROM
THE TRADITIONAL STORY.
ACCORDING TO THIS TABLET,
NOAH'S ARK IS ROUND.
I THINK FOR MANY OF US,
THIS DOES NOT MAKE ANY SENSE,
BECAUSE WHEN WE THINK OF
A SEAWORTHY CRAFT,
IT IS RECTANGULAR
OR CYLINDRICAL IN SHAPE...
IT'S NOT CIRCULAR.
Elliot: WE ASSOCIATE BOATS
WITH BEING WHAT
WE WOULD CALL BOAT-SHAPED,
SORT OF LONG, NOT ROUND.
SO HAVING A ROUND SHAPE LOOKS
TO US TO BE ODD,
BUT YOU'VE GOTTA LOOK AT IT
THROUGH THE PRISM OF
THE PEOPLES OF THE PAST.
Wade: RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT
AMONGST ANCIENT CULTURES
IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD,
CIRCULAR VESSELS
WERE NOT UNUSUAL.
Clarke: CIRCULAR BOATS WERE
A COMMON CONSTRUCTION,
SO IT ACTUALLY MAKES SENSE
COMING FROM THAT REGION
TO BUILD A CIRCULAR VESSEL,
BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE WHAT
THEY ALL KNEW HOW TO BUILD.
Wright: I THINK IF WE TRY TO GET
OUR MINDS OFF OF NOAH
AND HIS COMPANIONS HAVING TO
TRAVEL FROM POINT A TO POINT B,
IF WE THINK ABOUT THEM JUST
HAVING TO SURVIVE,
THEY JUST NEEDED
TO STAY ABOVE WATER,
AND IF WE THINK IN THAT WAY,
A CIRCULAR CRAFT STARTS
TO REALLY MAKE SENSE.
Wade: IN FACT, TODAY'S NAUTICAL
ENGINEERS ARE BEGINNING
TO UTILIZE THE UNIQUE
PROPERTIES OF
CIRCULAR-SHAPED VESSELS.
MODERN LIFEBOATS ON SHIPS ARE
OFTEN A ROUND SHAPE,
BECAUSE THE PURPOSE
OF IT IS TO PROTECT
THE PEOPLE AND TO KEEP THEM
FLOATING ON THE SURFACE,
NOT NECESSARILY TO TRAVEL
ANY DISTANCE.
Clarke: CIRCULAR LIFEBOATS ARE
SUPPOSED TO HAVE A FAR
HIGHER SURVIVABILITY RATE
THAN TRADITIONAL LIFEBOATS.
THESE SHAPES ARE
INCREDIBLY STRONG.
THEY'RE INCREDIBLY SUPPORTIVE.
Wade: IT'S ONE THING TO HAVE
A CIRCULAR BOAT,
WHICH OFFERS SHELTER TO
A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE.
BUT IT'S QUITE ANOTHER
TO BUILD ONE
BIG ENOUGH TO HOUSE
NOAH'S FAMILY,
PLUS A MENAGERIE OF ANIMALS.
THE TABLET ACCOUNT GIVES VERY
PRECISE MEASUREMENTS
FOR THE ARK.
AT 222 FEET ACROSS,
IT'S ABOUT 2/3
THE LENGTH OF A FOOTBALL FIELD.
A ROUND VESSEL OF
THESE DIMENSIONS WOULD HAVE BEEN
A HUGE UNDERTAKING THOUSANDS
OF YEARS AGO,
SO COULD IT ACTUALLY BE BUILT?
ONE MAN IS DETERMINED
TO FIND OUT.
WHEN I FIRST HEARD ABOUT IT,
I WAS THOUGHT, OH YEAH,
THAT'S AN EXAGGERATION.
BUT THE MORE I ACTUALLY
STARTED IT,
I ACTUALLY REALIZED THAT
THAT TABLET TELLS YOU EXACTLY
HOW TO BUILD A ROUND VESSEL.
THE TECHNOLOGY
AND THE CONSTRUCTION METHOD...
IT'S... IT'S REAL. IT'S GOOD.
Wade: IN FACT,
THE TABLET GIVES WHAT IS
EFFECTIVELY A 4,000-YEAR-OLD
CONSTRUCTION BLUEPRINT.
THESE TABLET, FOR THE FIRST
TIME, ACTUALLY TELLS US QUITE
VITAL INFORMATION
ABOUT THE BOAT,
THE SIZE, AND THE MATERIALS.
YOU HAVE, UH,
SPECIFIC FIGURES
ABOUT THE SHAPE,
WHICH IS THE MOST IMPORTANT
AND MOST INTERESTING ASPECT,
AND ALSO,
CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE
AND METHODS.
Wade: DR. ALESSANDRO GHIDONI
IS A LEADING EXPERT
ON ANCIENT
BOAT-BUILDING TECHNIQUES.
ALONG WITH A TEAM OF
OTHER SCIENTISTS,
HE PLANS TO FOLLOW
THE DIRECTIONS ON
THE TABLET AND CREATE
A REPLICA OF THE ARK.
THE INSTRUCTIONS ARE CLEAR.
THE VESSEL IS TO BE BUILT
PRIMARILY FROM REEDS.
SO REEDS ARE HOLLOW,
WHICH MAKES THEM BUOYANT.
THEY'RE EASY TO MANIPULATE,
THEY'RE EASY TO HANDLE.
YOU CAN MAKE ALMOST
WHATEVER YOU WANT.
Wade: THE TABLET MENTIONS
JUST TWO OTHER MATERIALS...
WOOD FOR THE SUPPORTING
FRAMEWORK AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY,
BITUMEN TO WATERPROOF
THE VESSEL.
BITUMEN IS A TYPE OF THICK OIL
THAT SEEPS OUT
OF THE GROUND, AND IT WAS
WIDELY USED BY ANCIENT PEOPLE.
Ghidoni: BITUMEN IS
A GREAT MATERIAL,
BECAUSE YOU CAN USE IT
FOR MULTIPLE PURPOSE,
AND WE KNOW THAT THEY HAD
BITUMEN FOR EVERY PURPOSE.
SO THEY HAD BITUMEN
FOR BIG BOAT BUILDING,
THEY HAD BITUMEN
FOR PLASTERING WALLS
OR BITUMEN JUST USED AS GLUE.
Wade: HARNESSING
ALL THEIR KNOWLEDGE
OF ANCIENT
BOAT-BUILDING TECHNIQUES,
GHIDONI AND HIS TEAM
SUCCESSFULLY BUILD
A CIRCULAR VESSEL 1/5
THE DIAMETER
OF THE TABLET SPECIFICATIONS.
AND IT FLOATS.
IT'S A HUGE STEP FORWARD
IN FINDING
SOLID EVIDENCE TO UNDERPIN
THE NOAH'S ARK STORY,
BUT SO FAR, GHIDONI HAS
STRUGGLED TO BUILD ANYTHING
EVEN CLOSE TO THE FULL SIZE
OF THE ARK.
WHEN YOU ACTUALLY START
INCREASING THE SIZE OF BOAT,
THEN IT'S WHERE...
WHEN YOU START HAVING PROBLEMS.
BITUMEN IS A GREAT MATERIAL,
BUT IT ALSO HAS LIMITS,
AND THE MAIN ISSUE IS THAT
USUALLY REEDS ARE MORE FLEXIBLE
THAN THE BITUMEN,
AND THAT CAN CAUSE
THE BITUMEN TO CRACK.
ONCE THE BITUMEN LAYER,
THIS COATING, CRACKS,
THEN YOU SINK.
Wade: SO DID ANCIENT PEOPLE HAVE
A SPECIAL BOAT-BUILDING
TECHNIQUE THAT HAS BEEN LOST
IN THE MISTS OF TIME?
THEY HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE... THEY
HAVE EXPERIENCE OF HUNDREDS,
IF NOT THOUSANDS, OF YEARS OF
USING THIS MATERIAL,
WHICH WE... WE DON'T HAVE.
SO NOW THE BIG QUESTION
IS LIKE HOW,
YOU KNOW, IN THE PAST
WOULD THEY MAKE SUCH A BIG ARK
AND ACTUALLY AVOIDING ALL THESE
ISSUES THAT WE ENCOUNTERED?
THAT'S THE MAIN QUESTION...
I DON'T KNOW...
NOT SURE I HAVE
AN ANSWER FOR THAT.
I'M STILL WORKING ON
PROTOTYPES JUST TO SEE IF
THIS TIME WE WILL BE ABLE
TO MAKE IT WORK.
GHIDONI BELIEVES THAT IF
HE CAN CRACK THE SECRETS OF
THE ANCIENT BOAT BUILDERS,
THE CIRCULAR ARK MIGHT FINALLY
BECOME ACCEPTED AS REALITY
AND CHANGE THE WAY
WE THINK ABOUT
ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC MARINE
MYSTERIES OF ALL TIME.
[ THUNDER CRASHING ]
ON MY TRAVELS AROUND THE GLOBE,
I SPENT MANY NIGHTS ON BOATS
OUT ON THE OCEAN.
LOOKING OUT ACROSS THE WATER,
I'VE OCCASIONALLY BEEN LUCKY
ENOUGH TO WITNESS
AN INCREDIBLE SPECTACLE,
A SPOOKY UNDERWATER FIREWORK
DISPLAY KNOWN
AS BIOLUMINESCENCE.
I'VE NEVER THOUGHT OF THIS AS
ANYTHING MORE THAN
A BIZARRE MARINE PHENOMENON,
BUT I'VE RECENTLY COME ACROSS
A MYSTERIOUS INCIDENT,
WHICH SUGGESTS
SOMETHING A LOT MORE SINISTER.
THE STORY COMES FROM
THE UKRAINIAN CITY
OF SEVASTOPOL.
UKRAINE'S SECRET SERVICE RAIDS
THE OFFICE OF THESE
UNSUSPECTING MARINE BIOLOGISTS.
Wade: THEY BREAK INTO
THE INSTITUTE OF BIOLOGY
OF THE SOUTHERN SEAS,
INTERROGATE FOUR OF
ITS SCIENTISTS,
AND SEARCH THEIR HOMES.
WHAT HAVE THESE MEN
GOT THAT THE GOVERNMENT
IS SO EAGER TO GET ITS HANDS ON?
PERHAPS THE ANSWER LIES
IN THE ONE THING THAT ALL FOUR
OF THESE MEN HAVE IN COMMON.
IT JUST SO HAPPENS THAT THEY
WERE STUDYING BIOLUMINESCENCE.
Wade: BIOLUMINESCENCE IS
THE LIGHT THAT MANY
MARINE CREATURES PRODUCE
TO HELP THEM FIND PREY,
AVOID PREDATORS, OR COMMUNICATE
IN THE DARKNESS.
WHY WOULD THE SECRET SERVICE BE
INTERESTED IN THE LIGHT
OF MARINE CREATURES?
IS THERE MORE
TO THIS BIZARRE OCEAN SPECTACLE
THAN MEETS THE EYE?
THE ANSWER COULD LIE IN
A LITTLE KNOWN EVENT
THAT ALLEGEDLY TOOK
PLACE DURING WORLD WAR I.
NOVEMBER 9, 1918.
THE STORY GOES THAT BRITISH
NAVY VESSEL, HMS PRIVET,
IS OUT AT NIGHT IN
THE STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR.
MANY VESSELS ARE STATIONED
IN THE STRAIGHT IN
AN EFFORT TO PREVENT
GERMAN SUBMARINES LEAVING
THE MEDITERRANEAN.
ALL OF A SUDDEN,
THERE'S AN EERIE SHAPE
GLOWING IN THE DEPTHS
BENEATH THE SHIP.
THE GLOW REVEALED
THIS UNEARTHLY SHAPE
MOVING THROUGH THE WATER.
THE SAILORS COULDN'T BELIEVE
WHAT THEY WERE SEEING.
Wade: THEY IDENTIFY IT
AS THE SILHOUETTE OF ONE OF
THE MOST DANGEROUS SUBMARINES
IN THE ENTIRE GERMAN FLEET.
SM U-34 WAS ONE OF
THE MOST SUCCESSFUL,
IF NOT THE MOST SUCCESSFUL,
SUBMARINES OF ALL TIME.
FOR 117 MISSIONS,
SHE SANK 119 SHIPS.
Wade: SM U-34 HAS ELUDED
DETECTION FOR YEARS,
BUT NOW, SHE'S EASY PICKINGS.
THE BRITISH NAVAL
RECORDS INDICATE
THAT THE SUBMARINE
WAS IDENTIFIED,
AND THAT IT WAS SUNK
BY DEPTH CHARGE.
NOW THE STORY GOES THAT
THE REASON THAT THEY WERE ABLE
TO FINALLY SEE
THIS SUBMARINE WAS
BECAUSE IT WENT THROUGH
A PATCH OF BIOLUMINESCING
ORGANISMS, WHICH LIGHTS UP
THE PATH OF THE SUBMARINE.
Wade: MORE SPECIFICALLY,
EXPERTS BELIEVE THAT
THE ORGANISMS
WHICH BETRAYED SM U-34
WERE BIOLUMINESCENT PLANKTON,
VAST SWARMS OF THEM.
THERE'S MILLIONS AND MILLIONS
OF PHYTOPLANKTON IN THE OCEAN,
AND WHEN THEY'RE DISTURBED,
THEY LIGHT UP.
Wade: MOST PLANKTON IS INVISIBLE
TO THE NAKED EYE
UNTIL SOMETHING MOVES THROUGH
THE WATER AND DISTURBS IT.
IF I WAS ON A SHIP IN THE MIDDLE
OF THE NIGHT, AND ALL OF
A SUDDEN I SEE
THIS... THIS LIGHT GLOWING,
THAT'S AN INDICATION TO ME
THAT THERE'S SOMETHING
LARGE IN THE OCEAN.
Wade: THE NAVY HAPPENED
TO SPOT SM U-34
AS IT PASSED THROUGH
A HUGE CLOUD OF
BIOLUMINESCENT PLANKTON.
BUT IT WAS PURE FLUKE...
A CASE OF RIGHT PLACE,
RIGHT TIME.
THE QUESTION IS,
HAS ANYBODY FOUND
A WAY TO HARNESS THIS
UNPREDICTABLE PHENOMENON
AND TURN IT INTO
A RELIABLE WEAPON OF WAR?
SCIENTISTS ARE INVESTIGATING
THE DARK SIDE OF THE MYSTERIOUS
OCEAN PHENOMENON KNOWN
AS BIOLUMINESCENCE.
HAS IT SECRETLY BEEN TURNED
INTO A WEAPON OF WAR?
BIOLUMINESCENCE GAVE AWAY
THE LOCATION OF THE SUBMARINE,
SO IF YOU CAN IMAGINE, IF YOU
COULD HARNESS THAT TECHNOLOGY,
IT WOULD BE ONE WAY TO EXPOSE
THE LOCATIONS OF YOUR ENEMY.
MILITARY POWERS
ARE INTERESTED IN ANY
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT
OR MILITARY APPLICATION
THAT WILL GIVE THEM
AN EDGE AGAINST THEIR ENEMY.
Wade: THERE'S EVIDENCE TO
SUGGEST THAT AFTER THE SINKING
OF SM U-34,
BIOLUMINESCENT PLANKTON
BECOMES A FOCUS
OF NAVAL ENGINEERS
AROUND THE GLOBE.
AND DURING THE COLD WAR,
THE STAKES ARE HIGHER
THAN EVER BEFORE.
THE COLD WAR WAS MOSTLY FOUGHT
UNDER THE WATER
WITH NUCLEAR SUBMARINES,
AND THESE NUCLEAR SUBMARINES
WERE GETTING MORE AND MORE
SOPHISTICATED
AND HARDER TO TRACK.
SO THERE WAS THIS IDEA OF
USING BIOLUMINESCENCE
TO DETECT SUBMARINES THAT WERE
UNDETECTABLE ANY OTHER WAY.
Wade: RAPID DEVELOPMENTS IN
SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY COULD
MAKE BIOLUMINESCENCE
AN EXTREMELY POWERFUL TOOL.
I SUSPECT, AND AGAIN, THIS IS
ONLY SPECULATION ON
MY PART, THAT YOU COULD USE
SATELLITES TO
DETECT BIOLUMINESCENCE.
Figueroa: SAY YOU'RE LOOKING
DOWN AT THE OCEAN,
AND THERE'S A MASSIVE BLOOM
BEING DISTURBED,
YOU COULD POTENTIALLY SEE
THE BIOLUMINESCENCE FROM SPACE.
Wade: THERE'S LITTLE DOUBT
THAT MILITARY POWERS
ON BOTH SIDES OF
THE IRON CURTAIN ATTEMPTED TO
WEAPONIZE BIOLUMINESCENCE.
BUT WITH WHAT SUCCESS?
THAT'S WHERE
THE TRAIL GOES COLD.
WE DO KNOW THAT BOTH SIDES HAVE
HAVE EXPERIMENTED WITH
BIOLUMINESCENCE
AND HAVE STUDIED IT,
AND WE DON'T KNOW HOW
SUCCESSFUL IT'S BEEN.
SO IN SOME WAYS,
THAT'S STILL A MYSTERY.
Figueroa: IF THE MILITARY
DID FIGURE OUT HOW TO USE
BIOLUMINESCENT PLANKTON AS
MEANS FOR DETECTING VESSELS,
WOULD WE EVEN KNOW?
Wade: MILITARY RESEARCH IS
HIGHLY SECRETIVE,
BUT NEW INFORMATION
FROM THE U.S. MINISTRY
OF DEFENSE REVEALS
THAT MARINE CREATURES
ARE STILL VERY MUCH
ON THE RADAR.
DARPA ARE THE AMERICAN
DEFENSE RESEARCH AGENCY.
THEY ARE THE ONES CHARGED
WITH INVENTING THE FUTURE.
Wade: DARPA HAS RECENTLY
LAUNCHED AN AMBITIOUS PROJECT.
AS WELL AS USING THE LIGHT
OF MARINE ANIMALS TO
TRACK SUBMERSIBLES,
THEY'RE INVESTIGATING
THE POSSIBILITY OF USING SOUND.
ONE OF THE SPECULATIONS IS
AS OBJECTS LIKE A SUBMARINE
MOVE PAST,
ANIMALS WILL MAKE
DIFFERENT SOUNDS,
SO THEY MAY BE TALKING TO ONE
ANOTHER, SAYING, "HEY,
THERE'S SOMETHING BIG
THAT'S JUST MOVED BY."
Wade: ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES
IN THE SOUNDS MADE BY
THE ANIMALS CAN BE PICKED UP
BY HIGH-TECH HYDROPHONES.
ACCORDING TO DARPA,
THIS IS A REAL PROGRAM
THAT THEY'RE WORKING ON
RIGHT NOW.
Wade: PERHAPS MARINE ANIMALS
WILL SOON
BE OPERATING AS
UNDERWATER SPIES...
IF THEY'RE NOT ALREADY.
JUST LIKE A LOT OF
CLOSELY-GUARDED NAVAL SECRETS,
IF IT IS BEING USED
AS A SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY,
IT WILL REMAIN A SECRET.
♪
♪
ALMOST A CENTURY AGO,
A TEAM OF ARCHAEOLOGISTS MADE
AN EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERY...
THE REMAINS OF TWO LARGE,
LUXURIOUS ROMAN SUPERYACHTS
UNLIKE ANYTHING EVER
SEEN BEFORE.
BUT RUMOR HAS IT
THAT THE MOTHERSHIP,
A VAST VESSEL EVEN BIGGER
AND MORE EXTRAVAGANT,
IS STILL TO BE FOUND.
NOW, A NEW LEAD PROMISES TO
REVEAL THE LONG-HIDDEN TRUTH.
♪
LAKE NEMI, CENTRAL ITALY.
A MAN IS FISHING AT
THE WESTERN END OF THE LAKE
WHEN HIS NET CATCHES
ON SOMETHING SOLID
UNDER THE WATER.
LOCAL PEOPLE BELIEVE
THAT IT COULD BE
THE REMAINS
OF A HUGE ROMAN SHIP,
AND FOR GOOD REASON.
IN 1927, FASCIST ITALIAN
DICTATOR, BENITO MUSSOLINI,
ORDERS HIS MEN
TO DRAIN THE LAKE.
Rondeau: MUSSOLINI,
WHO WAS FASCINATED WITH ROME,
CAME UP WITH THIS GRAND SCHEME
TO DRAIN THE LAKE.
IT'S THE KIND OF AMBITIOUS
PROJECT THAT
PROBABLY ONLY A DICTATOR
COULD GET AWAY WITH.
Wade: MUSSOLINI HAS HEARD
THE RUMORS OF MAGNIFICENT
ROMAN VESSELS LYING ON
THE LAKE BED.
IF HE CAN FIND THEM, THEY COULD
BE USED FOR HIS OWN
POLITICAL GAIN.
IT WAS TRYING TO SHOW
THE GLORY OF THE ITALIAN STATE
BASED ON THE ROMAN PAST.
Wade: AND HE ISN'T DISAPPOINTED.
Polakowski: AS THEY DRAIN
THESE LAKES,
WHAT WAS EXPOSED
WAS THESE TWO MASSIVE,
BEAUTIFULLY BUILT SHIPS BEING
RAISED UP OUT OF THE BOTTOM
OF THE LAKE.
Wade: EXAMINING THE REMAINS
MORE CLOSELY,
ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVER THAT
THESE ARE NO ORDINARY SHIPS.
IN THEIR DAY, THEY WOULD HAVE
LOOKED MORE LIKE FLOATING
ROMAN PALACES.
THESE ARE MASSIVE,
MASSIVE SHIPS,
AND NOT ONLY THAT,
BUT THEY WERE FOUND
WITH THESE BEAUTIFUL DECORATION.
THEY WERE REALLY
KIND OF DECKED OUT
WITH THE MOST LUXURIOUS
GOODS OF THE TIME.
IT WAS REALLY IMPRESSIVE...
NOT ONLY DID THEY HAVE WATER
SYSTEMS ON THE SHIP,
IT APPEARED THAT THEY HAD
HOT WATER AND COLD WATER,
ALSO PLATFORMS THAT COULD ROTATE
AND... AND ALL SORTS
OF CONVENIENCES
THAT WAS VERY ADVANCED.
Wade: BUT THE QUESTION IS,
WHAT ARE THESE VAST SHIPS
DOING IN SUCH
A TINY, LANDLOCKED LAKE?
WHAT USE WOULD THEY SERVE?
AND WHAT'S THEIR PURPOSE?
IT'S A MYSTERY... UNTIL
ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVER
THAT BEHIND THESE SUPERYACHTS
IS ONE OF HISTORY'S
MOST UNHINGED AND INFAMOUS MEN.
IN 1929,
TWO LUXURIOUS ROMAN SUPERYACHTS
WERE DISCOVERED IN
ITALY'S LAKE NEMI.
BUT THERE ARE RUMORS
THAT A THIRD, EVEN
MORE EXTRAVAGANT, SHIP REMAINS
HIDDEN BENEATH THE SURFACE.
IT IS A TANTALIZING
MYSTERY AS TO
WHAT IS AT THE BOTTOM OF
THE LAKE.
Wade: LOCALS BELIEVE THAT
LIKE THE TWO FOUND
IN THE 1920s,
THE MISSING SHIP ONCE BELONGED
TO NOTORIOUS ROMAN
EMPEROR CALIGULA,
ALSO KNOWN AS THE MAD EMPEROR.
CALIGULA IS THE MAD EMPEROR...
WE HAVE REFERENCES TO ORGIES.
WE HAVE KILLING OF
FAMILY MEMBERS.
WE HAVE THE KILLING OF SENATORS,
HE WAS A PLAYBOY
WITHOUT THE LIMITATIONS
OF A CREDIT CARD.
HE WANTED THE FINEST PALACES.
HE WANTED THE FINEST
OF EVERYTHING,
AND HE MADE SURE HE GOT IT.
Wade: THE LAKE NEMI SHIPS
WERE BUILT
TO SUIT CALIGULA'S
FLAMBOYANT TASTE.
THESE SHIPS WERE THE EQUIVALENT
OF A BILLIONAIRE'S
MEGAYACHT TODAY.
Wade: EXPERTS BELIEVE
THAT CALIGULA HOSTED
HIS INFAMOUS PARTIES
AND ORGIES ON BOARD.
HE HAD HIS SHIP BASICALLY
BUILT FOR HIS WANTS,
DESIRES, NEEDS,
AND THEY WERE BUILT
IN THE MOST ADVANCED FASHION
OF THE DAY.
Wade: BUT JUST A YEAR LATER,
CALIGULA WAS MURDERED,
AND HIS STATE-OF-THE-ART
PLEASURE PALACES
ENDED UP
ON THE BOTTOM OF THE LAKE.
BY THE TIME MUSSOLINI'S
TEAM FINDS
THE FIRST TWO, THEY'VE BEEN
UNDERWATER FOR CENTURIES.
EVEN THOUGH THESE SHIPS
WERE 2,000 YEARS OLD,
THEY WERE IN A PRETTY GOOD
STATE OF PRESERVATION.
Wade: BOTH SHIPS AND THEIR
CONTENTS ARE REMOVED FROM
THE LAKE AND DISPLAYED
IN A PURPOSE-BUILT MUSEUM.
BUT THEN...
DISASTER STRIKES.
THE TRAGEDY IS THAT, AT THE END
OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR,
THE MUSEUM WAS DESTROYED.
IT WAS EITHER HIT
BY ALLIED ARTILLERY,
OR IT MAY HAVE BEEN
GERMAN ARSON... WE DON'T KNOW,
BUT THE MUSEUM WAS DESTROYED,
AND WITHIN IT, THE SHIPS.
THEY LASTED
OVER 1,900 YEARS UNDERWATER.
THEY WERE THERE.
THEY WERE SAFE,
THEY WERE PRESERVED.
AND THEN THEY WERE
ONLY OPEN TO HUMAN EYES
FOR ANOTHER 20 YEARS
BEFORE THEY WERE DESTROYED.
Wade: IT WAS A HUGE LOSS.
BUT WHAT IF THERE'S A THIRD
EVEN LARGER VESSEL
STILL HIDDEN SAFELY AWAY
BENEATH THE SURFACE?
THERE HAVE BEEN STORIES
ABOUT A SHIP IN
THE WESTERN END
OF THE LAKE FOR YEARS.
Wade: COULD THIS BE WHAT
SNAGGED THE FISHERMAN'S NET?
IT WOULD BE GREAT IF
MUSSOLINI MISSED ONE
SO WE COULD FIND IT TODAY.
Wade: TO INVESTIGATE,
THE ITALIAN AUTHORITIES
COMMISSION A THOROUGH SCIENTIFIC
SEARCH OF THE LAKE BED.
THE TEAM IS USING
SIDE-SCAN SONAR.
SO YOU'RE GETTING A SIDEWAYS
VIEW OF THE FLOOR,
AND THIS CAN GIVE YOU A LOT OF
HEIGHTS AND A LOT OF TEXTURES.
Wade: THE SCANS LOCATE ONE
INTRIGUING POINT OF INTEREST
AROUND 60 FEET DOWN.
THEY FIND SOMETHING, BUT THEY
CAN'T MAKE OUT WHAT IT IS.
SO THEY SEND SCUBA DIVERS OUT
TO FIND OUT.
Wade:
SCRABBLING AROUND IN THE MURK,
ONE OF THE DIVERS COMES ACROSS
SOMETHING SOLID,
BURIED DEEP IN THE SILT.
COULD THIS BE THE LOST
PLEASURE PALACE OF MAD
EMPEROR CALIGULA?
THE WRECKS OF TWO PRICELESS
ROMAN SUPERYACHTS BELONGING TO
CRAZED EMPEROR CALIGULA WERE
TRAGICALLY DESTROYED
IN WORLD WAR II.
BUT COULD THERE BE
ANOTHER ONE HIDDEN
SAFELY AWAY IN THE DEPTHS
OF LAKE NEMI?
IS THERE A THIRD
OR EVEN A FOURTH ROMAN SHIP
HIDING IN THE DEPTHS
OF LAKE NEMI?
Wade: SCIENTISTS HAVE
DISCOVERED AN UNIDENTIFIED
OBJECT ON THE LAKE BED,
BUT DIVERS SOON CONFIRM
THAT IT'S NOT
CALIGULA'S MISSING
PLEASURE PALACE.
IT TURNS OUT TO BE A SMALL
BOAT DATING BACK
TO THE 1920s,
POSSIBLY ONE OF THE BOATS
WHICH MUSSOLINI'S MEN WOULD
HAVE USED TO FIND
THE FIRST TWO SHIPS.
Wade: THE INVESTIGATION IS
FRUSTRATINGLY INCONCLUSIVE,
BUT IN 2018, A REVOLUTIONARY
NEW TECHNOLOGY
BRINGS FRESH HOPE.
A COMPANY HAS USED NEW DATA
ANALYSIS TECHNOLOGY TO TAKE
COMMERCIAL SATELLITE FOOTAGE TO
EXAMINE THE PART OF THE LAKE
WHICH WASN'T DRAINED
BY MUSSOLINI.
Wade: BY REINTERPRETING
SATELLITE IMAGE DATA,
THEY CLAIM TO BE ABLE TO
REVEAL OBJECTS THAT
WEREN'T VISIBLE BEFORE.
AND AS THEY SCAN LAKE NEMI
FROM SPACE,
SOMETHING INCREDIBLE EMERGES...
NOT JUST ONE, BUT AT LEAST
THREE LARGE SHIP-LIKE OBJECTS.
IT'S A TANTALIZING POSSIBILITY
THAT THERE COULD BE
MORE SHIPWRECKS
AT THE BOTTOM OF THE LAKE.
IF WE DO FIND ANOTHER NEMI SHIP,
IT WOULD BE A LITERAL GOLD MINE
FOR ANYONE WHO STUDIED
THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
UNTIL DIVERS EXPLORE FURTHER,
THE CASE OF CALIGULA'S LOST
SUPERYACHT REMAINS UNSOLVED,
BUT IT SEEMS THAT EVEN AFTER
2,000 YEARS,
LAKE NEMI HAS NOT YET GIVEN
UP ALL OF HER SECRETS.
♪
♪
EXPLORING THE DEPTHS OF
A MURKY GERMAN RIVER,
DIVERS MAKE
AN EXTRAORDINARY FIND...
THE LONG-FORGOTTEN REMNANTS
OF A BRONZE AGE BRIDGE,
AND THE DISCOVERY OF
HUMAN REMAINS NEARBY
RAISES A COLOSSAL QUESTION...
COULD THIS BE THE SITE OF
EUROPE'S FIRST MAJOR WAR?
♪
THE TOLLENSE RIVER,
NORTHERN GERMANY.
Rondeau: THIS STORY BEGINS WITH
AN AMATEUR ARCHAEOLOGIST
FINDING A HUMAN BONE
WITH A FLINT ARROWHEAD,
WITH A FLINT PROJECTILE POINT
EMBEDDED IN IT,
AND THIS IMMEDIATELY
RAISED QUESTIONS.
Wade: RADIO CARBON DATING
ANALYSIS REVEALS THAT THE BONE
IS A RARE RELIC
FROM THE BRONZE AGE
MORE THAN 3,000 YEARS OLD,
BUT WHO DID IT BELONG TO?
THE ARROWHEAD IS HARD PROOF
THAT THIS IS NO
ACCIDENTAL DEATH.
THIS IS DELIBERATE.
THIS IS NOT AN ACCIDENT.
THIS IS NOT SOMEBODY BEING HURT.
THIS IS SOMEBODY ENGAGED
IN SOME KIND OF CONFLICT.
Wade:
AS UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGISTS
START TO EXPLORE THE RIVER
AND ITS EXTENSIVE FLOODPLAIN,
A MUCH MORE CHILLING PICTURE
BEGINS TO EMERGE
FROM THE GLOOM.
THEY KEPT EXPANDING THE DIG,
FINDING MORE AND MORE BONES.
THEY WERE SCATTERED EVERYWHERE.
Wade: THEY SLOWLY PIECE TOGETHER
THE REMAINS OF BODY AFTER BODY
UNTIL THEY HAVE AN UNEXPECTED
ASSEMBLY OF OVER 130 SKELETONS.
THEY'VE ONLY DUG
10 PERCENT OF THE SITE,
AND THEY ALREADY HAVE
HUNDREDS OF BODIES,
SO THE POTENTIAL IS
THERE COULD BE
THOUSANDS OF BODIES
STILL TO BE FOUND.
Wade: IT'S CLEAR THAT
SOMETHING MUCH BIGGER
THAN A FATAL DUEL
TOOK PLACE HERE.
WE START TELLING
A MUCH DARKER STORY.
Wade: CLOSER EXAMINATION OF
THE BONES REVEALS SOME
VITAL CLUES ABOUT
HOW THESE PEOPLE DIED.
THESE BONES ARE BROKEN,
TWISTED, CRACKED, SMACKED.
THEY FOUND NUMEROUS SKULLS,
AND SOME OF THESE SKULLS
HAVE WOUNDS IN THEM
THAT ARE PHENOMENAL,
BASICALLY LIKE TAKING
A BASEBALL BAT
AND CRACKING SOMEBODY'S HEAD.
Wade: BUT THE BIGGEST
MYSTERY OF ALL REMAINS.
IN GERMANY'S TOLLENSE RIVER,
DIVERS DISCOVER
REMAINS OF HUNDREDS
OF BRONZE AGE WARRIORS
KILLED IN BATTLE MORE THAN
3,000 YEARS AGO.
WHAT STARTED WITH ONE FIND,
WITH ONE
HUMAN BONE WITH A STONE
PROJECTILE POINT IN IT,
SNOWBALLED AND ESCALATED
INTO THIS MASS BURIAL SITE.
Wade: THE IMMENSE SCALE OF
THE BATTLE SHOCKS SCIENTISTS
AND HISTORIANS.
IT BECOMES CLEAR THAT THIS WAS
THE SITE OF A HUGE
BRONZE AGE BATTLE.
IN SOME WAYS, IT WAS
REALLY THE WORLD WAR
OF THE BRONZE AGE.
BEFORE THIS FIND,
THERE HAD BEEN NO KNOWN
CONFLICT OF THIS SIZE
NORTH OF THE ALPS.
Wade: COMPARED WITH MORE
SOPHISTICATED CIVILIZATIONS
IN THE NEAR EAST AND GREECE,
BRONZE AGE EUROPE WAS LONG
BELIEVED TO BE A CULTURAL
BACKWATER WHERE VIOLENCE
WAS RESTRICTED
TO SMALL GROUPS OF MEN.
BUT THE TOLLENSE RIVER
SITE SUGGESTS
A BATTLE INVOLVING
AS MANY AS 4,000 WARRIORS.
THESE ARE MAJOR UNDERTAKINGS.
THIS IS NOT
A RUDIMENTARY SOCIETY
THAT CAN PUT THIS TOGETHER.
IT KIND OF FORCED
RESEARCHERS TO REWRITE
THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF
WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN THIS
REGION IN THE BRONZE AGE.
Wade: BUT THE BIGGEST
MYSTERY OF ALL REMAINS.
WHO WERE THESE MEN, AND WHAT
WERE THEY FIGHTING OVER?
THERE OBVIOUSLY WAS
A BATTLE AT TOLLENSE.
THE QUESTION IS, WHY THERE?
WHY DID ALL THESE WARRIORS
COME FROM
ALL AROUND EUROPE
TO FIGHT IN THIS RIVER?
Wade: COULD A NEW DISCOVERY IN
THE MURKY WATERS OF
THE TOLLENSE RIVER
PROVIDE THE ANSWER?
THEY FOUND, RIGHT BELOW
WHERE THE BODIES WERE,
LAYER OF BODIES,
LAYER OF BODIES, BRIDGE.
Wade: A SERIES OF OAK PILES
AND POSTS PRESERVED WITHIN
THE TOLLENSE RIVER SEDIMENTS
ARE IDENTIFIED AS THE REMNANTS
OF A BRONZE AGE BRIDGE.
FURTHER EXCAVATION REVEALS
THAT THE BRIDGE SEEMS
TO HAVE BEEN CONNECTED
TO A VAST CAUSEWAY
THAT ONCE SPANNED
THE ENTIRE MARSHY VALLEY,
ALLOWING PEOPLE TO CROSS EVEN
DURING TIMES OF FLOOD.
THIS WAS A VERY SURPRISING FIND,
BECAUSE THE TRADITIONAL
PERSPECTIVE OF THE BRONZE AGE
IS SMALL FARMING CLANS,
VERY SMALL GROUPS.
IF THERE WAS A LONG CAUSEWAY
ACROSS RIVER,
THAT WOULD SUGGEST THAT
THERE WAS A MAJOR
INFRASTRUCTURE GOING ON.
Wade: THIS BRIDGE WAS PROBABLY
THE ONLY CROSSING PLACE OVER
THE TOLLENSE RIVER FOR MANY
MILES AROUND,
WHICH WOULD HAVE MADE IT
A KEY POINT ON AN IMPORTANT
TRADING ROUTE.
THIS WAS CLEARLY
A MAJOR THOROUGHFARE,
A MAJOR TRAVEL ROUTE
FOR PEOPLE WITHIN THAT PART
OF EUROPE.
BRIDGE CROSSINGS ARE VITALLY,
VITALLY IMPORTANT
TO TRANSPORTING GOODS,
LET ALONE ACCESSING
RAW MATERIALS.
Wade: HISTORICALLY, MANY BATTLES
HAVE BEEN FOUGHT AROUND BRIDGES,
FROM THE ROMANS
THROUGH TO WORLD WAR II,
VIETNAM, AND IRAQ.
RIVER CROSSINGS ARE ALWAYS THESE
KIND OF HIGH-PRIORITY TARGETS,
BECAUSE THEY PROVIDE
A WAY OF MOVING
EITHER PEOPLE OR GOODS.
Wade: EXPERTS AGREE THAT
THE BRIDGE MUST HAVE PLAYED
A VITAL ROLE IN THE BATTLE
OF TOLLENSE,
BUT EXACTLY WHAT THAT ROLE WAS,
WE CAN ONLY SPECULATE.
MAYBE ONE SIDE
WAS FIGHTING WITH THE OTHER
OVER CONTROL OF THIS BRIDGE.
ANOTHER THEORY IS THAT THERE
COULD HAVE BEEN AN AMBUSH.
GIVEN THE FACT THAT THERE WERE
SO MANY COMBATANTS AND THEY HAD
COME FROM SO FAR AFIELD,
IN MY OPINION,
IT SUGGESTS WHAT WE HAVE
REALLY HERE IS EVIDENCE OF
ONE OF THE FIRST
EXAMPLES IN THE EARLY BRONZE AGE
OF A LARGE-SCALE WAR.
NOBODY KNOWS FOR SURE
WHY THOUSANDS OF WARRIORS
FOUGHT TO THE DEATH BESIDE
THE TOLLENSE RIVER
ALL THOSE YEARS AGO,
BUT THE INCREDIBLE FINDS
MAKE ONE THING VERY CLEAR...
THE SOLUTIONS TO SOME OF
HUMANITY'S MOST ANCIENT
AND ENDURING MYSTERIES
STILL LIE HIDDEN
IN THE MURKY UNDERWATER REALM,
WAITING TO BE DISCOVERED.
ANCIENT BOAT-BUILDING
TECHNIQUES SHED NEW LIGHT
ON THE TRUTH BEHIND
THE GREAT BIBLICAL FLOOD?
FOR MANY OF US,
THIS DOES NOT MAKE ANY SENSE.
YOU'VE GOTTA LOOK AT IT THROUGH
THE PRISM OF THE PEOPLES
OF THE PAST.
Wade: IS A MYSTERIOUS UNDERWATER
PHENOMENON BEING USED
AS A SECRET WEAPON OF WAR?
THE GLOW REVEALED THIS UNEARTHLY
SHAPE MOVING THROUGH
THE WATER.
THE SAILORS COULDN'T BELIEVE
WHAT THEY WERE SEEING.
Wade: AND DOES A SPINE-CHILLING
RIVER DISCOVERY
HOLD THE KEY TO A LOST WORLD?
THESE BONES ARE BROKEN
AND TWISTED AND CRACKED.
THERE'D BE THOUSANDS OF BODIES.
Wade: THE UNDERWATER REALM
IS ANOTHER DIMENSION.
IT'S A PHYSICALLY HOSTILE
PLACE WHERE DREAMS OF PROMISE
CAN SINK INTO DARKNESS.
I'M JEREMY WADE.
I'M SEARCHING THE WORLD
TO BRING YOU
THE MOST ICONIC AND BAFFLING
UNDERWATER MYSTERIES
KNOWN TO SCIENCE.
SHIPWRECKS CAN'T JUST
DISAPPEAR... OR CAN THEY?
Wade: IT'S A DANGEROUS,
UNEXPLORED FRONTIER THAT
SWALLOWS EVIDENCE.
WE KNOW MORE ABOUT THE FACE
OF MARS THAN WE DO
OUR DEEPEST OCEANS.
Wade:
WHERE UNKNOWN IS NORMAL
AND UNDERSTANDING IS RARE.
♪
THE STORY OF HOW NOAH SURVIVED
A GREAT FLOOD BY BUILDING
AN ARK IS ONE OF THE DEFINING
TALES OF THE HUMAN RACE.
FOR SOME, IT'S A MYTH.
FOR OTHERS,
IT'S A LITERAL TRUTH.
BUT COULD RECENT DISCOVERIES
TELL US ONCE AND FOR ALL
WHETHER THIS FAMOUS
BIBLICAL STORY
WAS BASED ON REAL-LIFE EVENTS?
♪
NOAH'S ARK IS ONE OF
THE MOST ICONIC TALES THERE IS.
Goodman: GOD COMES TO NOAH
AND EXPLAINS TO HIM
THAT HE NEEDS TO GO,
AND HE NEEDS TO BUILD
A GIGANTIC ARK.
IN THAT ARK,
HE NEEDS TO PUT IN THE ANIMALS
THAT ARE ON THE PLANET
TO SAVE THEM FROM A FLOOD,
WHICH IS GOING TO FOLLOW.
Rondeau: THE FLOOD, AS DESCRIBED
IN THE BIBLE, IS A STORM
THAT RAGES FOR 40 NIGHTS,
AND FOR 40 DAYS.
IT'S ALLEGED TO HAVE COVERED
THE ENTIRE GLOBE.
AND AT THE END,
ALL LIFE IS DESTROYED
EXCEPT FOR THOSE INDIVIDUALS
AND THOSE ANIMALS
THAT ARE ONBOARD THE ARK
WITH NOAH.
♪
Wade: IT'S A MUCH-LOVED STORY
THAT MOST OF US
HAVE GROWN UP WITH,
BUT IS IT BASED ON A REAL FLOOD?
ON THE ONE HAND, WE DON'T
EXPECT IT TO NECESSARILY BE
THE TRUTH,
BUT ON THE OTHER HAND,
MANY OF THESE THINGS
ARE ANCHORED IN
SOME REALITY.
Wade: IN FACT,
MANY CULTURES AND BELIEFS
HAVE A VERSION
OF THE NOAH STORY.
THE OLDEST COME FROM
ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA,
MORE THAN A MILLENNIUM BEFORE
THE OLD TESTAMENT ACCOUNT
WAS WRITTEN.
Elliott: MANY CULTURES HAVE
A MYTHOLOGICAL STORY
ABOUT A DELUGE,
SO IT SEEMS AS THOUGH THIS WAS
A VERY REAL EVENT IN SOME WAY,
SHAPE, OR FORM.
Wade: WHEN THE ICE AGE ENDS
AROUND 10,000 YEARS AGO,
IT BRINGS HUGE RISES
IN SEA LEVEL,
WHICH SEPARATES CONTINENTS
AND CHANGES THE WORLD MAP
TO THE ONE WE RECOGNIZE TODAY.
BUT THIS IS A GRADUAL CHANGE
OVER MANY YEARS.
THE BIBLICAL ACCOUNT DESCRIBES
NOAH'S FLOOD
AS BEING MUCH MORE SUDDEN.
THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT NOAH'S
FLOOD HAPPENED OVER A PERIOD
OF WEEKS, NOT HUNDREDS OF YEARS.
Wade: THERE IS ONE EVENT THAT
COULD BE BEHIND THE NOAH STORY,
A FLOOD OF TRULY
EPIC PROPORTIONS.
IT HAPPENS IN THE BLACK SEA
OVER 7,000 YEARS AGO.
THE BLACK SEA WAS
ORIGINALLY A GREAT LAKE,
AND IT WAS SEPARATED FROM
THE MEDITERRANEAN.
Wade: BUT RISING GLOBAL
SEA LEVELS FROM
THE MELTING ICE EVENTUALLY
REACH A CRUCIAL POINT.
THIS GOT TO THE POINT
WHEN THE PLUG,
WHICH SEPARATED THE BLACK SEA
FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN,
WAS BREACHED.
Wade:
ACCORDING TO SOME ESTIMATES,
THIS GLOBAL WARMING EVENT
POURS WATER INTO THE BLACK SEA
WITH A FORCE AROUND 200 TIMES
THAT OF NIAGARA FALLS.
SOMETHING WITH 200 TIMES
THE POWER OF
NIAGARA FALLS WOULD BE
A MONSTROUS EVENT
THAT WOULD BE EARTHSHAKING,
LITERALLY AND FIGURATIVELY.
Wade: BUT THERE'S A PROBLEM...
EVEN THE BLACK SEA DELUGE
DOESN'T COVER THE ENTIRE EARTH.
THERE IS NO GEOLOGICAL
EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT
A WORLDWIDE FLOOD
AS DESCRIBED IN THE NOAH STORY.
Wade: BUT TO PEOPLE LIVING
THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO,
IT COULD HAVE FELT LIKE THEIR
ENTIRE WORLD HAD DISAPPEARED.
WE UNDERSTAND
THE WORLD VERY DIFFERENTLY
THAN PEOPLE WOULD HAVE
AT THE TIME.
FOR PEOPLE LIVING IN
THAT PART OF THE WORLD,
IT WOULD HAVE LOOKED TO THEM
THAT EVERYTHING ON
THE HORIZON WOULD HAVE
BEEN SUBMERGED.
Wade: WITH THIS IN MIND, IT
SEEMS REASONABLE TO HYPOTHESIZE
THAT THE GREAT FLOOD WAS
BASED ON REAL-LIFE EVENTS,
LIKE THE BLACK SEA DELUGE.
AND IF THAT'S THE CASE,
WE WOULD EXPECT TO FIND OTHER
EVIDENCE THAT BACKS UP
THE BIBLICAL TALE,
SUCH AS CLUES TO
THE EXISTENCE OF NOAH'S
FABLED ARK.
A CHANCE DISCOVERY
IN A MIDDLE EASTERN
MARKETPLACE IN 1948
COULD BE THE MISSING LINK.
Elliot: A ROYAL AIR FORCE PILOT
GOES TO A LOCAL MARKET IN IRAQ
AND COMES ACROSS A CLAY TABLET
WITH VERY STRANGE WRITING
ON IT.
HE BUYS THE TABLET
AND TAKES IT HOME TO ENGLAND,
BUT THEN, IT STAYS THERE,
FORGOTTEN ABOUT FOR YEARS.
DECADES LATER,
HIS SON TAKES IT TO
THE BRITISH MUSEUM TO FIND OUT
IF IT'S OF INTEREST.
Wade: THE MUSEUM CURATOR
IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZES
THE STRANGE MARKINGS
AS ANCIENT CUNEIFORM TEXT,
THE WORLD'S OLDEST
FORM OF WRITING.
HE'S SEEN THOUSANDS OF TABLETS,
BUT THIS ONE IS SPECIAL.
Tuttle: HE STARTED READING IT,
WAS TOTALLY BLOWN AWAY
BY WHAT HE WAS READING.
Wade: IT REVEALS A SECRET
ABOUT NOAH'S ARK THAT HAS
BEEN HIDDEN FROM THE WORLD
FOR NEARLY 4,000 YEARS.
INSCRIBED ON IT IS
THE FAMILIAR STORY
OF THE GREAT FLOOD
WITH ONE INTRIGUING NEW DETAIL
ABOUT THE DESIGN OF THE ARK.
Elliot: NOT ONLY DOES IT TELL US
THE STORY OF THE DELUGE
FROM A TIME BEFORE NOAH,
BUT ALSO, CRUCIALLY,
AND HERE'S THE NEW THING...
IT SAYS THE BOAT
SHOULD BE ROUND.
Wade: THIS SIMPLE STATEMENT
GOES AGAINST
THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF
ANECDOTAL HISTORY.
NOAH'S ARK, THAT ICONIC
ANCIENT WOODEN BOAT,
IS ONE OF THE MOST FAMILIAR
AND ESTABLISHED IMAGES OF
ALL TIME.
SO HOW COULD IT
POSSIBLY BE ROUND?
THE BIBLICAL TALE OF NOAH
AND THE ARK IS
ONE OF THE BEST KNOWN
STORIES OF ALL TIME.
BUT COULD IT HAVE
A BASIS IN REAL EVENTS?
AN ANCIENT CLAY TABLET PREDATING
THE BIBLE CONTAINS A DETAILED
DESCRIPTION OF A HUGE ARK
BUILT TO SURVIVE
A CATASTROPHIC FLOOD,
BUT THERE'S ONE CRUCIALLY
IMPORTANT DETAIL
THAT'S DIFFERENT FROM
THE TRADITIONAL STORY.
ACCORDING TO THIS TABLET,
NOAH'S ARK IS ROUND.
I THINK FOR MANY OF US,
THIS DOES NOT MAKE ANY SENSE,
BECAUSE WHEN WE THINK OF
A SEAWORTHY CRAFT,
IT IS RECTANGULAR
OR CYLINDRICAL IN SHAPE...
IT'S NOT CIRCULAR.
Elliot: WE ASSOCIATE BOATS
WITH BEING WHAT
WE WOULD CALL BOAT-SHAPED,
SORT OF LONG, NOT ROUND.
SO HAVING A ROUND SHAPE LOOKS
TO US TO BE ODD,
BUT YOU'VE GOTTA LOOK AT IT
THROUGH THE PRISM OF
THE PEOPLES OF THE PAST.
Wade: RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT
AMONGST ANCIENT CULTURES
IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD,
CIRCULAR VESSELS
WERE NOT UNUSUAL.
Clarke: CIRCULAR BOATS WERE
A COMMON CONSTRUCTION,
SO IT ACTUALLY MAKES SENSE
COMING FROM THAT REGION
TO BUILD A CIRCULAR VESSEL,
BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE WHAT
THEY ALL KNEW HOW TO BUILD.
Wright: I THINK IF WE TRY TO GET
OUR MINDS OFF OF NOAH
AND HIS COMPANIONS HAVING TO
TRAVEL FROM POINT A TO POINT B,
IF WE THINK ABOUT THEM JUST
HAVING TO SURVIVE,
THEY JUST NEEDED
TO STAY ABOVE WATER,
AND IF WE THINK IN THAT WAY,
A CIRCULAR CRAFT STARTS
TO REALLY MAKE SENSE.
Wade: IN FACT, TODAY'S NAUTICAL
ENGINEERS ARE BEGINNING
TO UTILIZE THE UNIQUE
PROPERTIES OF
CIRCULAR-SHAPED VESSELS.
MODERN LIFEBOATS ON SHIPS ARE
OFTEN A ROUND SHAPE,
BECAUSE THE PURPOSE
OF IT IS TO PROTECT
THE PEOPLE AND TO KEEP THEM
FLOATING ON THE SURFACE,
NOT NECESSARILY TO TRAVEL
ANY DISTANCE.
Clarke: CIRCULAR LIFEBOATS ARE
SUPPOSED TO HAVE A FAR
HIGHER SURVIVABILITY RATE
THAN TRADITIONAL LIFEBOATS.
THESE SHAPES ARE
INCREDIBLY STRONG.
THEY'RE INCREDIBLY SUPPORTIVE.
Wade: IT'S ONE THING TO HAVE
A CIRCULAR BOAT,
WHICH OFFERS SHELTER TO
A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE.
BUT IT'S QUITE ANOTHER
TO BUILD ONE
BIG ENOUGH TO HOUSE
NOAH'S FAMILY,
PLUS A MENAGERIE OF ANIMALS.
THE TABLET ACCOUNT GIVES VERY
PRECISE MEASUREMENTS
FOR THE ARK.
AT 222 FEET ACROSS,
IT'S ABOUT 2/3
THE LENGTH OF A FOOTBALL FIELD.
A ROUND VESSEL OF
THESE DIMENSIONS WOULD HAVE BEEN
A HUGE UNDERTAKING THOUSANDS
OF YEARS AGO,
SO COULD IT ACTUALLY BE BUILT?
ONE MAN IS DETERMINED
TO FIND OUT.
WHEN I FIRST HEARD ABOUT IT,
I WAS THOUGHT, OH YEAH,
THAT'S AN EXAGGERATION.
BUT THE MORE I ACTUALLY
STARTED IT,
I ACTUALLY REALIZED THAT
THAT TABLET TELLS YOU EXACTLY
HOW TO BUILD A ROUND VESSEL.
THE TECHNOLOGY
AND THE CONSTRUCTION METHOD...
IT'S... IT'S REAL. IT'S GOOD.
Wade: IN FACT,
THE TABLET GIVES WHAT IS
EFFECTIVELY A 4,000-YEAR-OLD
CONSTRUCTION BLUEPRINT.
THESE TABLET, FOR THE FIRST
TIME, ACTUALLY TELLS US QUITE
VITAL INFORMATION
ABOUT THE BOAT,
THE SIZE, AND THE MATERIALS.
YOU HAVE, UH,
SPECIFIC FIGURES
ABOUT THE SHAPE,
WHICH IS THE MOST IMPORTANT
AND MOST INTERESTING ASPECT,
AND ALSO,
CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE
AND METHODS.
Wade: DR. ALESSANDRO GHIDONI
IS A LEADING EXPERT
ON ANCIENT
BOAT-BUILDING TECHNIQUES.
ALONG WITH A TEAM OF
OTHER SCIENTISTS,
HE PLANS TO FOLLOW
THE DIRECTIONS ON
THE TABLET AND CREATE
A REPLICA OF THE ARK.
THE INSTRUCTIONS ARE CLEAR.
THE VESSEL IS TO BE BUILT
PRIMARILY FROM REEDS.
SO REEDS ARE HOLLOW,
WHICH MAKES THEM BUOYANT.
THEY'RE EASY TO MANIPULATE,
THEY'RE EASY TO HANDLE.
YOU CAN MAKE ALMOST
WHATEVER YOU WANT.
Wade: THE TABLET MENTIONS
JUST TWO OTHER MATERIALS...
WOOD FOR THE SUPPORTING
FRAMEWORK AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY,
BITUMEN TO WATERPROOF
THE VESSEL.
BITUMEN IS A TYPE OF THICK OIL
THAT SEEPS OUT
OF THE GROUND, AND IT WAS
WIDELY USED BY ANCIENT PEOPLE.
Ghidoni: BITUMEN IS
A GREAT MATERIAL,
BECAUSE YOU CAN USE IT
FOR MULTIPLE PURPOSE,
AND WE KNOW THAT THEY HAD
BITUMEN FOR EVERY PURPOSE.
SO THEY HAD BITUMEN
FOR BIG BOAT BUILDING,
THEY HAD BITUMEN
FOR PLASTERING WALLS
OR BITUMEN JUST USED AS GLUE.
Wade: HARNESSING
ALL THEIR KNOWLEDGE
OF ANCIENT
BOAT-BUILDING TECHNIQUES,
GHIDONI AND HIS TEAM
SUCCESSFULLY BUILD
A CIRCULAR VESSEL 1/5
THE DIAMETER
OF THE TABLET SPECIFICATIONS.
AND IT FLOATS.
IT'S A HUGE STEP FORWARD
IN FINDING
SOLID EVIDENCE TO UNDERPIN
THE NOAH'S ARK STORY,
BUT SO FAR, GHIDONI HAS
STRUGGLED TO BUILD ANYTHING
EVEN CLOSE TO THE FULL SIZE
OF THE ARK.
WHEN YOU ACTUALLY START
INCREASING THE SIZE OF BOAT,
THEN IT'S WHERE...
WHEN YOU START HAVING PROBLEMS.
BITUMEN IS A GREAT MATERIAL,
BUT IT ALSO HAS LIMITS,
AND THE MAIN ISSUE IS THAT
USUALLY REEDS ARE MORE FLEXIBLE
THAN THE BITUMEN,
AND THAT CAN CAUSE
THE BITUMEN TO CRACK.
ONCE THE BITUMEN LAYER,
THIS COATING, CRACKS,
THEN YOU SINK.
Wade: SO DID ANCIENT PEOPLE HAVE
A SPECIAL BOAT-BUILDING
TECHNIQUE THAT HAS BEEN LOST
IN THE MISTS OF TIME?
THEY HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE... THEY
HAVE EXPERIENCE OF HUNDREDS,
IF NOT THOUSANDS, OF YEARS OF
USING THIS MATERIAL,
WHICH WE... WE DON'T HAVE.
SO NOW THE BIG QUESTION
IS LIKE HOW,
YOU KNOW, IN THE PAST
WOULD THEY MAKE SUCH A BIG ARK
AND ACTUALLY AVOIDING ALL THESE
ISSUES THAT WE ENCOUNTERED?
THAT'S THE MAIN QUESTION...
I DON'T KNOW...
NOT SURE I HAVE
AN ANSWER FOR THAT.
I'M STILL WORKING ON
PROTOTYPES JUST TO SEE IF
THIS TIME WE WILL BE ABLE
TO MAKE IT WORK.
GHIDONI BELIEVES THAT IF
HE CAN CRACK THE SECRETS OF
THE ANCIENT BOAT BUILDERS,
THE CIRCULAR ARK MIGHT FINALLY
BECOME ACCEPTED AS REALITY
AND CHANGE THE WAY
WE THINK ABOUT
ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC MARINE
MYSTERIES OF ALL TIME.
[ THUNDER CRASHING ]
ON MY TRAVELS AROUND THE GLOBE,
I SPENT MANY NIGHTS ON BOATS
OUT ON THE OCEAN.
LOOKING OUT ACROSS THE WATER,
I'VE OCCASIONALLY BEEN LUCKY
ENOUGH TO WITNESS
AN INCREDIBLE SPECTACLE,
A SPOOKY UNDERWATER FIREWORK
DISPLAY KNOWN
AS BIOLUMINESCENCE.
I'VE NEVER THOUGHT OF THIS AS
ANYTHING MORE THAN
A BIZARRE MARINE PHENOMENON,
BUT I'VE RECENTLY COME ACROSS
A MYSTERIOUS INCIDENT,
WHICH SUGGESTS
SOMETHING A LOT MORE SINISTER.
THE STORY COMES FROM
THE UKRAINIAN CITY
OF SEVASTOPOL.
UKRAINE'S SECRET SERVICE RAIDS
THE OFFICE OF THESE
UNSUSPECTING MARINE BIOLOGISTS.
Wade: THEY BREAK INTO
THE INSTITUTE OF BIOLOGY
OF THE SOUTHERN SEAS,
INTERROGATE FOUR OF
ITS SCIENTISTS,
AND SEARCH THEIR HOMES.
WHAT HAVE THESE MEN
GOT THAT THE GOVERNMENT
IS SO EAGER TO GET ITS HANDS ON?
PERHAPS THE ANSWER LIES
IN THE ONE THING THAT ALL FOUR
OF THESE MEN HAVE IN COMMON.
IT JUST SO HAPPENS THAT THEY
WERE STUDYING BIOLUMINESCENCE.
Wade: BIOLUMINESCENCE IS
THE LIGHT THAT MANY
MARINE CREATURES PRODUCE
TO HELP THEM FIND PREY,
AVOID PREDATORS, OR COMMUNICATE
IN THE DARKNESS.
WHY WOULD THE SECRET SERVICE BE
INTERESTED IN THE LIGHT
OF MARINE CREATURES?
IS THERE MORE
TO THIS BIZARRE OCEAN SPECTACLE
THAN MEETS THE EYE?
THE ANSWER COULD LIE IN
A LITTLE KNOWN EVENT
THAT ALLEGEDLY TOOK
PLACE DURING WORLD WAR I.
NOVEMBER 9, 1918.
THE STORY GOES THAT BRITISH
NAVY VESSEL, HMS PRIVET,
IS OUT AT NIGHT IN
THE STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR.
MANY VESSELS ARE STATIONED
IN THE STRAIGHT IN
AN EFFORT TO PREVENT
GERMAN SUBMARINES LEAVING
THE MEDITERRANEAN.
ALL OF A SUDDEN,
THERE'S AN EERIE SHAPE
GLOWING IN THE DEPTHS
BENEATH THE SHIP.
THE GLOW REVEALED
THIS UNEARTHLY SHAPE
MOVING THROUGH THE WATER.
THE SAILORS COULDN'T BELIEVE
WHAT THEY WERE SEEING.
Wade: THEY IDENTIFY IT
AS THE SILHOUETTE OF ONE OF
THE MOST DANGEROUS SUBMARINES
IN THE ENTIRE GERMAN FLEET.
SM U-34 WAS ONE OF
THE MOST SUCCESSFUL,
IF NOT THE MOST SUCCESSFUL,
SUBMARINES OF ALL TIME.
FOR 117 MISSIONS,
SHE SANK 119 SHIPS.
Wade: SM U-34 HAS ELUDED
DETECTION FOR YEARS,
BUT NOW, SHE'S EASY PICKINGS.
THE BRITISH NAVAL
RECORDS INDICATE
THAT THE SUBMARINE
WAS IDENTIFIED,
AND THAT IT WAS SUNK
BY DEPTH CHARGE.
NOW THE STORY GOES THAT
THE REASON THAT THEY WERE ABLE
TO FINALLY SEE
THIS SUBMARINE WAS
BECAUSE IT WENT THROUGH
A PATCH OF BIOLUMINESCING
ORGANISMS, WHICH LIGHTS UP
THE PATH OF THE SUBMARINE.
Wade: MORE SPECIFICALLY,
EXPERTS BELIEVE THAT
THE ORGANISMS
WHICH BETRAYED SM U-34
WERE BIOLUMINESCENT PLANKTON,
VAST SWARMS OF THEM.
THERE'S MILLIONS AND MILLIONS
OF PHYTOPLANKTON IN THE OCEAN,
AND WHEN THEY'RE DISTURBED,
THEY LIGHT UP.
Wade: MOST PLANKTON IS INVISIBLE
TO THE NAKED EYE
UNTIL SOMETHING MOVES THROUGH
THE WATER AND DISTURBS IT.
IF I WAS ON A SHIP IN THE MIDDLE
OF THE NIGHT, AND ALL OF
A SUDDEN I SEE
THIS... THIS LIGHT GLOWING,
THAT'S AN INDICATION TO ME
THAT THERE'S SOMETHING
LARGE IN THE OCEAN.
Wade: THE NAVY HAPPENED
TO SPOT SM U-34
AS IT PASSED THROUGH
A HUGE CLOUD OF
BIOLUMINESCENT PLANKTON.
BUT IT WAS PURE FLUKE...
A CASE OF RIGHT PLACE,
RIGHT TIME.
THE QUESTION IS,
HAS ANYBODY FOUND
A WAY TO HARNESS THIS
UNPREDICTABLE PHENOMENON
AND TURN IT INTO
A RELIABLE WEAPON OF WAR?
SCIENTISTS ARE INVESTIGATING
THE DARK SIDE OF THE MYSTERIOUS
OCEAN PHENOMENON KNOWN
AS BIOLUMINESCENCE.
HAS IT SECRETLY BEEN TURNED
INTO A WEAPON OF WAR?
BIOLUMINESCENCE GAVE AWAY
THE LOCATION OF THE SUBMARINE,
SO IF YOU CAN IMAGINE, IF YOU
COULD HARNESS THAT TECHNOLOGY,
IT WOULD BE ONE WAY TO EXPOSE
THE LOCATIONS OF YOUR ENEMY.
MILITARY POWERS
ARE INTERESTED IN ANY
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT
OR MILITARY APPLICATION
THAT WILL GIVE THEM
AN EDGE AGAINST THEIR ENEMY.
Wade: THERE'S EVIDENCE TO
SUGGEST THAT AFTER THE SINKING
OF SM U-34,
BIOLUMINESCENT PLANKTON
BECOMES A FOCUS
OF NAVAL ENGINEERS
AROUND THE GLOBE.
AND DURING THE COLD WAR,
THE STAKES ARE HIGHER
THAN EVER BEFORE.
THE COLD WAR WAS MOSTLY FOUGHT
UNDER THE WATER
WITH NUCLEAR SUBMARINES,
AND THESE NUCLEAR SUBMARINES
WERE GETTING MORE AND MORE
SOPHISTICATED
AND HARDER TO TRACK.
SO THERE WAS THIS IDEA OF
USING BIOLUMINESCENCE
TO DETECT SUBMARINES THAT WERE
UNDETECTABLE ANY OTHER WAY.
Wade: RAPID DEVELOPMENTS IN
SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY COULD
MAKE BIOLUMINESCENCE
AN EXTREMELY POWERFUL TOOL.
I SUSPECT, AND AGAIN, THIS IS
ONLY SPECULATION ON
MY PART, THAT YOU COULD USE
SATELLITES TO
DETECT BIOLUMINESCENCE.
Figueroa: SAY YOU'RE LOOKING
DOWN AT THE OCEAN,
AND THERE'S A MASSIVE BLOOM
BEING DISTURBED,
YOU COULD POTENTIALLY SEE
THE BIOLUMINESCENCE FROM SPACE.
Wade: THERE'S LITTLE DOUBT
THAT MILITARY POWERS
ON BOTH SIDES OF
THE IRON CURTAIN ATTEMPTED TO
WEAPONIZE BIOLUMINESCENCE.
BUT WITH WHAT SUCCESS?
THAT'S WHERE
THE TRAIL GOES COLD.
WE DO KNOW THAT BOTH SIDES HAVE
HAVE EXPERIMENTED WITH
BIOLUMINESCENCE
AND HAVE STUDIED IT,
AND WE DON'T KNOW HOW
SUCCESSFUL IT'S BEEN.
SO IN SOME WAYS,
THAT'S STILL A MYSTERY.
Figueroa: IF THE MILITARY
DID FIGURE OUT HOW TO USE
BIOLUMINESCENT PLANKTON AS
MEANS FOR DETECTING VESSELS,
WOULD WE EVEN KNOW?
Wade: MILITARY RESEARCH IS
HIGHLY SECRETIVE,
BUT NEW INFORMATION
FROM THE U.S. MINISTRY
OF DEFENSE REVEALS
THAT MARINE CREATURES
ARE STILL VERY MUCH
ON THE RADAR.
DARPA ARE THE AMERICAN
DEFENSE RESEARCH AGENCY.
THEY ARE THE ONES CHARGED
WITH INVENTING THE FUTURE.
Wade: DARPA HAS RECENTLY
LAUNCHED AN AMBITIOUS PROJECT.
AS WELL AS USING THE LIGHT
OF MARINE ANIMALS TO
TRACK SUBMERSIBLES,
THEY'RE INVESTIGATING
THE POSSIBILITY OF USING SOUND.
ONE OF THE SPECULATIONS IS
AS OBJECTS LIKE A SUBMARINE
MOVE PAST,
ANIMALS WILL MAKE
DIFFERENT SOUNDS,
SO THEY MAY BE TALKING TO ONE
ANOTHER, SAYING, "HEY,
THERE'S SOMETHING BIG
THAT'S JUST MOVED BY."
Wade: ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES
IN THE SOUNDS MADE BY
THE ANIMALS CAN BE PICKED UP
BY HIGH-TECH HYDROPHONES.
ACCORDING TO DARPA,
THIS IS A REAL PROGRAM
THAT THEY'RE WORKING ON
RIGHT NOW.
Wade: PERHAPS MARINE ANIMALS
WILL SOON
BE OPERATING AS
UNDERWATER SPIES...
IF THEY'RE NOT ALREADY.
JUST LIKE A LOT OF
CLOSELY-GUARDED NAVAL SECRETS,
IF IT IS BEING USED
AS A SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY,
IT WILL REMAIN A SECRET.
♪
♪
ALMOST A CENTURY AGO,
A TEAM OF ARCHAEOLOGISTS MADE
AN EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERY...
THE REMAINS OF TWO LARGE,
LUXURIOUS ROMAN SUPERYACHTS
UNLIKE ANYTHING EVER
SEEN BEFORE.
BUT RUMOR HAS IT
THAT THE MOTHERSHIP,
A VAST VESSEL EVEN BIGGER
AND MORE EXTRAVAGANT,
IS STILL TO BE FOUND.
NOW, A NEW LEAD PROMISES TO
REVEAL THE LONG-HIDDEN TRUTH.
♪
LAKE NEMI, CENTRAL ITALY.
A MAN IS FISHING AT
THE WESTERN END OF THE LAKE
WHEN HIS NET CATCHES
ON SOMETHING SOLID
UNDER THE WATER.
LOCAL PEOPLE BELIEVE
THAT IT COULD BE
THE REMAINS
OF A HUGE ROMAN SHIP,
AND FOR GOOD REASON.
IN 1927, FASCIST ITALIAN
DICTATOR, BENITO MUSSOLINI,
ORDERS HIS MEN
TO DRAIN THE LAKE.
Rondeau: MUSSOLINI,
WHO WAS FASCINATED WITH ROME,
CAME UP WITH THIS GRAND SCHEME
TO DRAIN THE LAKE.
IT'S THE KIND OF AMBITIOUS
PROJECT THAT
PROBABLY ONLY A DICTATOR
COULD GET AWAY WITH.
Wade: MUSSOLINI HAS HEARD
THE RUMORS OF MAGNIFICENT
ROMAN VESSELS LYING ON
THE LAKE BED.
IF HE CAN FIND THEM, THEY COULD
BE USED FOR HIS OWN
POLITICAL GAIN.
IT WAS TRYING TO SHOW
THE GLORY OF THE ITALIAN STATE
BASED ON THE ROMAN PAST.
Wade: AND HE ISN'T DISAPPOINTED.
Polakowski: AS THEY DRAIN
THESE LAKES,
WHAT WAS EXPOSED
WAS THESE TWO MASSIVE,
BEAUTIFULLY BUILT SHIPS BEING
RAISED UP OUT OF THE BOTTOM
OF THE LAKE.
Wade: EXAMINING THE REMAINS
MORE CLOSELY,
ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVER THAT
THESE ARE NO ORDINARY SHIPS.
IN THEIR DAY, THEY WOULD HAVE
LOOKED MORE LIKE FLOATING
ROMAN PALACES.
THESE ARE MASSIVE,
MASSIVE SHIPS,
AND NOT ONLY THAT,
BUT THEY WERE FOUND
WITH THESE BEAUTIFUL DECORATION.
THEY WERE REALLY
KIND OF DECKED OUT
WITH THE MOST LUXURIOUS
GOODS OF THE TIME.
IT WAS REALLY IMPRESSIVE...
NOT ONLY DID THEY HAVE WATER
SYSTEMS ON THE SHIP,
IT APPEARED THAT THEY HAD
HOT WATER AND COLD WATER,
ALSO PLATFORMS THAT COULD ROTATE
AND... AND ALL SORTS
OF CONVENIENCES
THAT WAS VERY ADVANCED.
Wade: BUT THE QUESTION IS,
WHAT ARE THESE VAST SHIPS
DOING IN SUCH
A TINY, LANDLOCKED LAKE?
WHAT USE WOULD THEY SERVE?
AND WHAT'S THEIR PURPOSE?
IT'S A MYSTERY... UNTIL
ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVER
THAT BEHIND THESE SUPERYACHTS
IS ONE OF HISTORY'S
MOST UNHINGED AND INFAMOUS MEN.
IN 1929,
TWO LUXURIOUS ROMAN SUPERYACHTS
WERE DISCOVERED IN
ITALY'S LAKE NEMI.
BUT THERE ARE RUMORS
THAT A THIRD, EVEN
MORE EXTRAVAGANT, SHIP REMAINS
HIDDEN BENEATH THE SURFACE.
IT IS A TANTALIZING
MYSTERY AS TO
WHAT IS AT THE BOTTOM OF
THE LAKE.
Wade: LOCALS BELIEVE THAT
LIKE THE TWO FOUND
IN THE 1920s,
THE MISSING SHIP ONCE BELONGED
TO NOTORIOUS ROMAN
EMPEROR CALIGULA,
ALSO KNOWN AS THE MAD EMPEROR.
CALIGULA IS THE MAD EMPEROR...
WE HAVE REFERENCES TO ORGIES.
WE HAVE KILLING OF
FAMILY MEMBERS.
WE HAVE THE KILLING OF SENATORS,
HE WAS A PLAYBOY
WITHOUT THE LIMITATIONS
OF A CREDIT CARD.
HE WANTED THE FINEST PALACES.
HE WANTED THE FINEST
OF EVERYTHING,
AND HE MADE SURE HE GOT IT.
Wade: THE LAKE NEMI SHIPS
WERE BUILT
TO SUIT CALIGULA'S
FLAMBOYANT TASTE.
THESE SHIPS WERE THE EQUIVALENT
OF A BILLIONAIRE'S
MEGAYACHT TODAY.
Wade: EXPERTS BELIEVE
THAT CALIGULA HOSTED
HIS INFAMOUS PARTIES
AND ORGIES ON BOARD.
HE HAD HIS SHIP BASICALLY
BUILT FOR HIS WANTS,
DESIRES, NEEDS,
AND THEY WERE BUILT
IN THE MOST ADVANCED FASHION
OF THE DAY.
Wade: BUT JUST A YEAR LATER,
CALIGULA WAS MURDERED,
AND HIS STATE-OF-THE-ART
PLEASURE PALACES
ENDED UP
ON THE BOTTOM OF THE LAKE.
BY THE TIME MUSSOLINI'S
TEAM FINDS
THE FIRST TWO, THEY'VE BEEN
UNDERWATER FOR CENTURIES.
EVEN THOUGH THESE SHIPS
WERE 2,000 YEARS OLD,
THEY WERE IN A PRETTY GOOD
STATE OF PRESERVATION.
Wade: BOTH SHIPS AND THEIR
CONTENTS ARE REMOVED FROM
THE LAKE AND DISPLAYED
IN A PURPOSE-BUILT MUSEUM.
BUT THEN...
DISASTER STRIKES.
THE TRAGEDY IS THAT, AT THE END
OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR,
THE MUSEUM WAS DESTROYED.
IT WAS EITHER HIT
BY ALLIED ARTILLERY,
OR IT MAY HAVE BEEN
GERMAN ARSON... WE DON'T KNOW,
BUT THE MUSEUM WAS DESTROYED,
AND WITHIN IT, THE SHIPS.
THEY LASTED
OVER 1,900 YEARS UNDERWATER.
THEY WERE THERE.
THEY WERE SAFE,
THEY WERE PRESERVED.
AND THEN THEY WERE
ONLY OPEN TO HUMAN EYES
FOR ANOTHER 20 YEARS
BEFORE THEY WERE DESTROYED.
Wade: IT WAS A HUGE LOSS.
BUT WHAT IF THERE'S A THIRD
EVEN LARGER VESSEL
STILL HIDDEN SAFELY AWAY
BENEATH THE SURFACE?
THERE HAVE BEEN STORIES
ABOUT A SHIP IN
THE WESTERN END
OF THE LAKE FOR YEARS.
Wade: COULD THIS BE WHAT
SNAGGED THE FISHERMAN'S NET?
IT WOULD BE GREAT IF
MUSSOLINI MISSED ONE
SO WE COULD FIND IT TODAY.
Wade: TO INVESTIGATE,
THE ITALIAN AUTHORITIES
COMMISSION A THOROUGH SCIENTIFIC
SEARCH OF THE LAKE BED.
THE TEAM IS USING
SIDE-SCAN SONAR.
SO YOU'RE GETTING A SIDEWAYS
VIEW OF THE FLOOR,
AND THIS CAN GIVE YOU A LOT OF
HEIGHTS AND A LOT OF TEXTURES.
Wade: THE SCANS LOCATE ONE
INTRIGUING POINT OF INTEREST
AROUND 60 FEET DOWN.
THEY FIND SOMETHING, BUT THEY
CAN'T MAKE OUT WHAT IT IS.
SO THEY SEND SCUBA DIVERS OUT
TO FIND OUT.
Wade:
SCRABBLING AROUND IN THE MURK,
ONE OF THE DIVERS COMES ACROSS
SOMETHING SOLID,
BURIED DEEP IN THE SILT.
COULD THIS BE THE LOST
PLEASURE PALACE OF MAD
EMPEROR CALIGULA?
THE WRECKS OF TWO PRICELESS
ROMAN SUPERYACHTS BELONGING TO
CRAZED EMPEROR CALIGULA WERE
TRAGICALLY DESTROYED
IN WORLD WAR II.
BUT COULD THERE BE
ANOTHER ONE HIDDEN
SAFELY AWAY IN THE DEPTHS
OF LAKE NEMI?
IS THERE A THIRD
OR EVEN A FOURTH ROMAN SHIP
HIDING IN THE DEPTHS
OF LAKE NEMI?
Wade: SCIENTISTS HAVE
DISCOVERED AN UNIDENTIFIED
OBJECT ON THE LAKE BED,
BUT DIVERS SOON CONFIRM
THAT IT'S NOT
CALIGULA'S MISSING
PLEASURE PALACE.
IT TURNS OUT TO BE A SMALL
BOAT DATING BACK
TO THE 1920s,
POSSIBLY ONE OF THE BOATS
WHICH MUSSOLINI'S MEN WOULD
HAVE USED TO FIND
THE FIRST TWO SHIPS.
Wade: THE INVESTIGATION IS
FRUSTRATINGLY INCONCLUSIVE,
BUT IN 2018, A REVOLUTIONARY
NEW TECHNOLOGY
BRINGS FRESH HOPE.
A COMPANY HAS USED NEW DATA
ANALYSIS TECHNOLOGY TO TAKE
COMMERCIAL SATELLITE FOOTAGE TO
EXAMINE THE PART OF THE LAKE
WHICH WASN'T DRAINED
BY MUSSOLINI.
Wade: BY REINTERPRETING
SATELLITE IMAGE DATA,
THEY CLAIM TO BE ABLE TO
REVEAL OBJECTS THAT
WEREN'T VISIBLE BEFORE.
AND AS THEY SCAN LAKE NEMI
FROM SPACE,
SOMETHING INCREDIBLE EMERGES...
NOT JUST ONE, BUT AT LEAST
THREE LARGE SHIP-LIKE OBJECTS.
IT'S A TANTALIZING POSSIBILITY
THAT THERE COULD BE
MORE SHIPWRECKS
AT THE BOTTOM OF THE LAKE.
IF WE DO FIND ANOTHER NEMI SHIP,
IT WOULD BE A LITERAL GOLD MINE
FOR ANYONE WHO STUDIED
THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
UNTIL DIVERS EXPLORE FURTHER,
THE CASE OF CALIGULA'S LOST
SUPERYACHT REMAINS UNSOLVED,
BUT IT SEEMS THAT EVEN AFTER
2,000 YEARS,
LAKE NEMI HAS NOT YET GIVEN
UP ALL OF HER SECRETS.
♪
♪
EXPLORING THE DEPTHS OF
A MURKY GERMAN RIVER,
DIVERS MAKE
AN EXTRAORDINARY FIND...
THE LONG-FORGOTTEN REMNANTS
OF A BRONZE AGE BRIDGE,
AND THE DISCOVERY OF
HUMAN REMAINS NEARBY
RAISES A COLOSSAL QUESTION...
COULD THIS BE THE SITE OF
EUROPE'S FIRST MAJOR WAR?
♪
THE TOLLENSE RIVER,
NORTHERN GERMANY.
Rondeau: THIS STORY BEGINS WITH
AN AMATEUR ARCHAEOLOGIST
FINDING A HUMAN BONE
WITH A FLINT ARROWHEAD,
WITH A FLINT PROJECTILE POINT
EMBEDDED IN IT,
AND THIS IMMEDIATELY
RAISED QUESTIONS.
Wade: RADIO CARBON DATING
ANALYSIS REVEALS THAT THE BONE
IS A RARE RELIC
FROM THE BRONZE AGE
MORE THAN 3,000 YEARS OLD,
BUT WHO DID IT BELONG TO?
THE ARROWHEAD IS HARD PROOF
THAT THIS IS NO
ACCIDENTAL DEATH.
THIS IS DELIBERATE.
THIS IS NOT AN ACCIDENT.
THIS IS NOT SOMEBODY BEING HURT.
THIS IS SOMEBODY ENGAGED
IN SOME KIND OF CONFLICT.
Wade:
AS UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGISTS
START TO EXPLORE THE RIVER
AND ITS EXTENSIVE FLOODPLAIN,
A MUCH MORE CHILLING PICTURE
BEGINS TO EMERGE
FROM THE GLOOM.
THEY KEPT EXPANDING THE DIG,
FINDING MORE AND MORE BONES.
THEY WERE SCATTERED EVERYWHERE.
Wade: THEY SLOWLY PIECE TOGETHER
THE REMAINS OF BODY AFTER BODY
UNTIL THEY HAVE AN UNEXPECTED
ASSEMBLY OF OVER 130 SKELETONS.
THEY'VE ONLY DUG
10 PERCENT OF THE SITE,
AND THEY ALREADY HAVE
HUNDREDS OF BODIES,
SO THE POTENTIAL IS
THERE COULD BE
THOUSANDS OF BODIES
STILL TO BE FOUND.
Wade: IT'S CLEAR THAT
SOMETHING MUCH BIGGER
THAN A FATAL DUEL
TOOK PLACE HERE.
WE START TELLING
A MUCH DARKER STORY.
Wade: CLOSER EXAMINATION OF
THE BONES REVEALS SOME
VITAL CLUES ABOUT
HOW THESE PEOPLE DIED.
THESE BONES ARE BROKEN,
TWISTED, CRACKED, SMACKED.
THEY FOUND NUMEROUS SKULLS,
AND SOME OF THESE SKULLS
HAVE WOUNDS IN THEM
THAT ARE PHENOMENAL,
BASICALLY LIKE TAKING
A BASEBALL BAT
AND CRACKING SOMEBODY'S HEAD.
Wade: BUT THE BIGGEST
MYSTERY OF ALL REMAINS.
IN GERMANY'S TOLLENSE RIVER,
DIVERS DISCOVER
REMAINS OF HUNDREDS
OF BRONZE AGE WARRIORS
KILLED IN BATTLE MORE THAN
3,000 YEARS AGO.
WHAT STARTED WITH ONE FIND,
WITH ONE
HUMAN BONE WITH A STONE
PROJECTILE POINT IN IT,
SNOWBALLED AND ESCALATED
INTO THIS MASS BURIAL SITE.
Wade: THE IMMENSE SCALE OF
THE BATTLE SHOCKS SCIENTISTS
AND HISTORIANS.
IT BECOMES CLEAR THAT THIS WAS
THE SITE OF A HUGE
BRONZE AGE BATTLE.
IN SOME WAYS, IT WAS
REALLY THE WORLD WAR
OF THE BRONZE AGE.
BEFORE THIS FIND,
THERE HAD BEEN NO KNOWN
CONFLICT OF THIS SIZE
NORTH OF THE ALPS.
Wade: COMPARED WITH MORE
SOPHISTICATED CIVILIZATIONS
IN THE NEAR EAST AND GREECE,
BRONZE AGE EUROPE WAS LONG
BELIEVED TO BE A CULTURAL
BACKWATER WHERE VIOLENCE
WAS RESTRICTED
TO SMALL GROUPS OF MEN.
BUT THE TOLLENSE RIVER
SITE SUGGESTS
A BATTLE INVOLVING
AS MANY AS 4,000 WARRIORS.
THESE ARE MAJOR UNDERTAKINGS.
THIS IS NOT
A RUDIMENTARY SOCIETY
THAT CAN PUT THIS TOGETHER.
IT KIND OF FORCED
RESEARCHERS TO REWRITE
THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF
WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN THIS
REGION IN THE BRONZE AGE.
Wade: BUT THE BIGGEST
MYSTERY OF ALL REMAINS.
WHO WERE THESE MEN, AND WHAT
WERE THEY FIGHTING OVER?
THERE OBVIOUSLY WAS
A BATTLE AT TOLLENSE.
THE QUESTION IS, WHY THERE?
WHY DID ALL THESE WARRIORS
COME FROM
ALL AROUND EUROPE
TO FIGHT IN THIS RIVER?
Wade: COULD A NEW DISCOVERY IN
THE MURKY WATERS OF
THE TOLLENSE RIVER
PROVIDE THE ANSWER?
THEY FOUND, RIGHT BELOW
WHERE THE BODIES WERE,
LAYER OF BODIES,
LAYER OF BODIES, BRIDGE.
Wade: A SERIES OF OAK PILES
AND POSTS PRESERVED WITHIN
THE TOLLENSE RIVER SEDIMENTS
ARE IDENTIFIED AS THE REMNANTS
OF A BRONZE AGE BRIDGE.
FURTHER EXCAVATION REVEALS
THAT THE BRIDGE SEEMS
TO HAVE BEEN CONNECTED
TO A VAST CAUSEWAY
THAT ONCE SPANNED
THE ENTIRE MARSHY VALLEY,
ALLOWING PEOPLE TO CROSS EVEN
DURING TIMES OF FLOOD.
THIS WAS A VERY SURPRISING FIND,
BECAUSE THE TRADITIONAL
PERSPECTIVE OF THE BRONZE AGE
IS SMALL FARMING CLANS,
VERY SMALL GROUPS.
IF THERE WAS A LONG CAUSEWAY
ACROSS RIVER,
THAT WOULD SUGGEST THAT
THERE WAS A MAJOR
INFRASTRUCTURE GOING ON.
Wade: THIS BRIDGE WAS PROBABLY
THE ONLY CROSSING PLACE OVER
THE TOLLENSE RIVER FOR MANY
MILES AROUND,
WHICH WOULD HAVE MADE IT
A KEY POINT ON AN IMPORTANT
TRADING ROUTE.
THIS WAS CLEARLY
A MAJOR THOROUGHFARE,
A MAJOR TRAVEL ROUTE
FOR PEOPLE WITHIN THAT PART
OF EUROPE.
BRIDGE CROSSINGS ARE VITALLY,
VITALLY IMPORTANT
TO TRANSPORTING GOODS,
LET ALONE ACCESSING
RAW MATERIALS.
Wade: HISTORICALLY, MANY BATTLES
HAVE BEEN FOUGHT AROUND BRIDGES,
FROM THE ROMANS
THROUGH TO WORLD WAR II,
VIETNAM, AND IRAQ.
RIVER CROSSINGS ARE ALWAYS THESE
KIND OF HIGH-PRIORITY TARGETS,
BECAUSE THEY PROVIDE
A WAY OF MOVING
EITHER PEOPLE OR GOODS.
Wade: EXPERTS AGREE THAT
THE BRIDGE MUST HAVE PLAYED
A VITAL ROLE IN THE BATTLE
OF TOLLENSE,
BUT EXACTLY WHAT THAT ROLE WAS,
WE CAN ONLY SPECULATE.
MAYBE ONE SIDE
WAS FIGHTING WITH THE OTHER
OVER CONTROL OF THIS BRIDGE.
ANOTHER THEORY IS THAT THERE
COULD HAVE BEEN AN AMBUSH.
GIVEN THE FACT THAT THERE WERE
SO MANY COMBATANTS AND THEY HAD
COME FROM SO FAR AFIELD,
IN MY OPINION,
IT SUGGESTS WHAT WE HAVE
REALLY HERE IS EVIDENCE OF
ONE OF THE FIRST
EXAMPLES IN THE EARLY BRONZE AGE
OF A LARGE-SCALE WAR.
NOBODY KNOWS FOR SURE
WHY THOUSANDS OF WARRIORS
FOUGHT TO THE DEATH BESIDE
THE TOLLENSE RIVER
ALL THOSE YEARS AGO,
BUT THE INCREDIBLE FINDS
MAKE ONE THING VERY CLEAR...
THE SOLUTIONS TO SOME OF
HUMANITY'S MOST ANCIENT
AND ENDURING MYSTERIES
STILL LIE HIDDEN
IN THE MURKY UNDERWATER REALM,
WAITING TO BE DISCOVERED.