Unearthed (2016–…): Season 7, Episode 11 - Seven Wonders of Ancient America - full transcript

A mysterious lake

deep beneath the city
of chichen itza.

A secret mountain trail

that disappears
high above machu picchu.

Lost pyramids covered
by the jungles of guatemala.

The wonders
of the ancient americas

are still brimming
with new discoveries.

Every day is different
in machu picchu.

Every minute is different
in machu picchu.

Seven legendary monuments

defined the ancient americas.



Now investigators use
innovative laser technology

to strip away the forests
that cover them

and reveal new images
in the desert.

This lets us see the maya ruins
in a way that we never
thought possible.

How did the ancient americans

build such remarkable monuments?

And why do they look so similar
to the wonders of the old world?

To solve these mysteries,
we'll blow apart

mighty pyramids.

We'll lift up
gigantic stone heads

from the jungle

and crack the secret code
behind the bizarre nazca lines.

Seven astonishing wonders will
reveal the rise of civilization

in the ancient americas.



UNEARTHED - SEASON 7
EP-11 - Seven Wonders of Ancient America

Subtitles Diego Moraes

The americas, 1492.

Three spanish ships led
by christopher columbus

arrive in the new world.

Here, europeans
encounter wonders

beyond their imagination...

Mighty pyramids, vast cities,
and temples covered in gold.

Incredibly, the people
of the americas

build their wonders
without the technology

used in the old world.

They don't use the wheel,
metal construction tools,

or even beasts of burden.

How do they engineer
incredible megastructures

that rival the monuments
of ancient egypt, babylon,

and greece?

A clue lies
with the first wonder,

in modern-day mexico...

The stepped pyramid
of chichen itza.

A thousand years ago,

this is a powerful,
working city,

home to 30,000 people,

the greatest metropolis
of the ancient maya.

A civilization known
for its remarkable skill

in astronomy, mathematics,
and architecture.

Archeologists like memo de anda

are still making new discoveries
at this mysterious jungle city

and its awe-inspiring buildings.

Hidden in an
ancient mayan temple,

a limestone altar engraved
with scenes of human sacrifice

and a lost cave
beneath the metropolis,

untouched for a thousand years,

filled with offerings
to the gods.

And 15 miles outside the city,

aerial laser scans
reveal the true extent

of a mayan superhighway

that connects the nearby cities
of coba and yaxuna.

But chichen itza's
famous pyramid

remains one of
the most mysterious of all.

It contains many secrets,

despite more than
100 years of archeology.

We're just scratching
the surface.

That's literally
what we're doing.

I'm sure this building
is still hiding

many, many secrets inside.

Later, nicknamed "el castillo,"

spanish for "castle,"

its beauty rivals,
the great pyramid of giza.

Built from tens of thousands
of limestone blocks,

it towers nearly 100 feet high,
as tall as a 10-story building.

At its peak, a sacred temple

dedicated to the serpent god,
kukulkan.

On each side, steep steps
that reflect the maya calendar.

And at the base, snakeheads.

How did ancient engineers
build this 60,000-ton structure?

The pyramid we see today

is at least
a thousand years old.

It shares many similarities
with those in egypt,

despite being more
than 7,000 miles away.

Like the great pyramid,

the oldest of the original
seven wonders,

it is made from limestone.

Chichen itza's design

also resembles the
stepped pyramid of saqqara

and the tower of babel in iraq.

But the ancient americans
who build it

only have
stone construction tools,

unlike their counterparts
in ancient egypt,

babylon, or greece,
who use metal.

How do the maya
construct this stone giant

with the technology
available to them?

The first step
is to find the limestone.

Memo searches for it in
the jungle that covers the city.

The maya didn't have to
really go far away

to find the material
to build their big cities.

Limestone... it's everywhere.

The material is
beneath their feet...

All this material
is right there.

The limestone
lies within very easy reach.

The soil is very, very thin.

It's not even
two centimeters of soil

that's laying over
the huge limestone bedrock.

It's limestone all around us.

It's actually
the whole peninsula.

It's a big limestone platform.

Limestone is the
crucial ingredient that allows

the maya to construct
chichen itza's great buildings.

But where do workers mine it?

Just over a quarter of a mile
from the castillo pyramid,

memo uncovers extraordinary
evidence of a quarry.

Right here,
we can see a pre-form.

It's a huge piece of rock...
Of limestone...

That they started working.

'cause, see,
this is perfectly round,

and we can see on one side
the start of the formation

of a mouth of a snake.

But somehow, they leave it here.

Maybe because it got broken.

Maya craftsmen

carved this huge block
a thousand years ago.

And it shows us by being here

is that they obtained
the material,

and they work it right here.

They take it when it was
finished up to the city.

So that's pretty amazing.

The local geology provides
chichen itza's builders

with an endless supply
of limestone.

But without metal tools,

how do they lift the stone
out of the ground?

Archeologists think the builders
of the egyptian pyramids

used copper chisels,
drills, and saws.

The builders of babylon

have even stronger
tools made of iron.

It is interesting,

and it's amazing
at the same time.

How can they build
these fantastic cities

only with stone tools?

One theory is that
the resourceful maya came up

with an ingenious solution.

They use shards of razor-sharp
stones, like chert,

sometimes attaching them
to wooden sticks.

They gouge deep channels
into the ground,

carving a checkerboard pattern
into the limestone.

The workers dig down
until they reach a natural break

in the limestone bedrock.

This way,

the checkerboard blocks
crack away from the ground.

Then they use wooden levers
to pry the blocks out.

To test this idea,

memo heads to
a stonemason's yard in merida,

around 70 miles
from chichen itza.

The stonemasons attempt
an experiment.

They will use wooden levers

to try to extract
a two-ton limestone block,

just as the ancient maya
would have done.

All the stones they
put there to make a lever.

I think we put
a little bit too many.

So we need space
for the big lever.

These guys are extraordinarily
skillful and strong.

I mean, they're great.

So far, so good.

Shifting the limestone
the old fashioned way

requires both technique
and plenty of strength.

Today, that I have
the opportunity

to move this relatively
small stone

and it was so hard.

And there were a lot of people,

I realized how hard it was.

And I'm getting more and more
and more respect for the maya,

for what they do.

It's amazing.

Wow, that was great.

These guys are great.

Wow.

The maya

rely on human power alone
to build their pyramids.

In ancient egypt, the pharaohs
similarly use armies of workers

to drag the heavy stone
blocks they need.

But they also have beasts
of burden like cattle,

which do not exist
in the americas.

The ancient greeks
who build the temple of artemis

or the lighthouse of alexandria
use levers and pulleys.

The architects of the new world
and the old

use different tools
and techniques

to construct their wonders.

But, incredibly,

they all create
similar-looking monuments.

The great pyramid
at chichen itza

is just one of hundreds

that cover mexico
and central america.

There are more
pyramid structures

in the americas than egypt.

Why are civilizations
on opposite sides of the globe

obsessed with these buildings?

What are they all for?

New technology reveals
an astonishing secret

hidden deep beneath
chichen itza's pyramid.

And what are these
giant stone heads

concealed in the jungle?

The huge
stepped pyramids of mexico

are incredible wonders.

These engineering marvels
define the ancient americas.

But they share many
remarkable similarities

with those
in egypt and babylonia.

Why do people with no knowledge
of each other

build the same megastructures?

In egypt,
almost all pyramids are tombs.

The great pyramid of giza,

the first wonder
of the ancient world,

is the final resting place
for a pharaoh called khufu.

But its american cousin at
chichen itza is very different.

The pyramid at chichen itza

is a temple
brimming with symbolism.

It serves as a monumental
calendar for the city.

18 stone terraces represent
the 18 mayan months of the year.

91 steps on each side,
plus the top platform,

give 365 steps,

one for each day of their year.

And twice a year on the equinox,

the sun casts a shadow
so perfectly aligned,

an immense snake appears
to slither down the main steps.

This is the serpent god,
kukulkan,

to whom the temple is dedicated.

It's hard to understand how
they could master the technique,

not only to build
this fantastic building,

but to make it so beautiful,

so interesting,
and relate it to the sun,

to relate it to the changes
of seasons.

It's great.

The shape and function
of the american pyramids

have more in common
with ziggurat temples

like the tower of babel

than the pyramids of egypt.

Both structures soar
to the heavens.

But chichen itza also hides
an incredible secret beneath it.

New radar technology strips away

the pyramid's
thick limestone shell

and peers through a layer
of rubble

to reveal how it stands

on top of a giant
underground cave full of water,

a formation known as a cenote.

The cave contains as much water
as six olympic swimming pools.

It extends more than
65 feet underground.

This new discovery

is one of the most stunning
finds in mayan archeology.

Could the existence
of this hidden lake

explain why the pyramid is here?

Without digging, there's
no way to access the cenote.

Archeologists hunt for a tunnel
that might lead to it.

But there is more than one
cenote in the area

around chichen itza.

Archeologist memo de anda

investigates
nearby cenote holtun.

Ready to go.

The only way

to explore this hidden lake
is to dive.

The way in is a vertical abseil
into the dark.

This is not
for the faint-hearted.

The vast cavern extends
over 220 feet down.

It contains a large
underground lake.

More than 160 feet deep.

Going down in a cenote

is one the best experiences
in the world.

More than 6,000
underground lakes exist

in this part
of central america alone.

We're about 8, 9 meters down

and can see the cultural
richness of this place.

And I don't want to approach
too close

because it can destroy
everything in a second.

Memo is making some
astonishing discoveries...

Ceramic offerings,
animal bones, and human remains,

left here
when the water level is lower.

Each time he dives
into this cenote,

memo takes
high-resolution photographs.

This cenote is a sacred place
for the maya.

Right in front of me,
you can see a shelf.

It's a natural shelf, ideal
to make a ritual deposit.

More bones, other offerings

and even traces of charcoal
remain on this shelf.

Amazingly, it appears this
platform is once a sacred altar.

This is part
of the spiritual world.

Cenotes are silent witnesses
of very important part

of the ancient maya life.

This is a very important
part of their universe.

Memo has found some
truly extraordinary evidence

about the rites
conducted in this cenote.

It's was a very, very nice dive,

and I think we get
what we needed.

Memo has been
photographing this site

for five years.

A custom-made computer program

processes the photos
taken so far

and turns them into astonishing,

three-dimensional models
of his discoveries.

What I'm looking at right now,

it's a bird's-eye view
of the whole shelf.

This is an amazing,
amazing image.

Is the next best thing
of having an object in my hand.

And the beauty of this
is that we leave them there.

These objects

are probably offerings
to the rain god.

There's no way of knowing
if similar ones lie

in the cenote
beneath el castillo.

But archeologists think
these underground lakes

are sacred to the maya.

This is el castillo,
or kukulkan temple.

One of the things that's amazing
about this building

is that it's situated right in
the middle of four cenotes.

It's the sacred cenote
to the north,

the xtoloc cenote to the south,

sagrado cenote to the east,

and holtun cenote to the west.

The ancient maya
divide their universe

into quadrants.

These were aligned with
the four points of the compass.

Could chichen itza's layout be

a physical representation
of the maya universe?

So if you draw two lines,

the center of those lines
is el castillo.

El castillo was built there

because the orientation
of those four cenotes.

How the ancient maya know

about the fifth cenote under
the castillo remains a mystery,

but memo believes they do

and that the great pyramid
is built on this site

because it symbolized
the center of the maya universe.

When they said there is
a cenote under the castillo,

and you see it's the center
of this sacred alignment,

it makes a lot of sense.

The pyramid builders
of the americas

share a common dream

with those in egypt or babylon.

Shaped by their own
unique beliefs,

they all build monuments
worthy of the gods

that reach towards the heavens.

But the way the mayans
use their pyramids

is far from unique
in the ancient americas.

Many other cultures,
like the aztecs,

build pyramids, too,
and believe in a serpent god.

Could a single mother culture
be responsible for them all?

Where does civilization
in the americas begin?

The answer lies with
the next great wonder...

Gigantic stone heads buried
in the jungle of central mexico.

And how many more lost cities
are waiting to be found?

The seven wonders
of the ancient americas

span thousands of miles
and hundreds of years.

But could one civilization
be the inspiration

for many of the cultures
that build them?

A clue lies with the second
wonder, on mexico's gulf coast.

The statues of la venta.

Today, jungle covers
most of this site,

but at its peak 3,000 years ago,

la venta is
a thriving metropolis

built by a mysterious people
called the olmecs.

They lived thousands of years
before the mayan

and aztec civilizations
of mexico.

And at la venta, they leave
behind an astonishing wonder.

Buried beneath the ground
at the heart of the city,

archeologists unearth
an enormous stone head

carved entirely
from a single boulder.

Nearby, they discover two more.

Each statue stands
over seven feet high,

weighs up to 20 tons, and wears
the same mysterious headgear.

What are these
3,000-year-old figures?

Could the answer reveal
how civilization

begins in central america?

Wow, when you walk up
to these things,

it's right there in your face.

They're massive.

You can stare right
into their eyes, and, I mean,

you can really tell
that this was an individual.

This is a person.

Archeologist
carl wendt hunts for answers.

He starts by investigating
the material

the heads are made from.

They're all basalt,

a type of rock
not found at la venta.

Why would they carve this stone?

You can't find this stuff
anywhere around here.

Bringing this stuff in
for a particular reason,

this was important.

And where they actually
got this rock from

is going to tell us a lot.

Carl believes

that tracking down
the source of the basalt

will reveal why
the olmecs carved the statues

and what they represent.

He travels 60 miles north
of la venta

into the tuxtla mountains.

Today, it's a short ride
on the highway,

but for the olmecs,
it's a three-day uphill hike.

Here, giant basalt boulders
cover a vast area.

Carl scours the site for proof

la venta's heads
come from this spot.

Pushing deeper into the jungle,

he investigates
an extraordinary discovery.

Oh, man.

I've never seen
anything like this before.

This is one of a kind.

This is a pre-form
of an olmec colossal head.

They would have
carved the headdress.

Then you would come down
to the face, to the nose.

And finally, the mouth.

This is the exact same size

as some of the colossal heads
at la venta.

I mean, it's a dead ringer.

With a few more weeks' work,

this stone could've ended up
at la venta.

Basalt holds a special
meaning for the people

who carve the heads.

This rock is the product
of volcanic eruptions,

a natural event

the olmecs consider
the work of the gods.

Mountains and volcanoes,

especially, are significant
in olmec religion.

And for these boulders, then,
to be thrown out of the volcano

and strewn throughout this area,
the material itself

would have had
symbolic religious significance.

And the people whose images were
carved into these monuments,

they were aligning themselves
with the deities.

Carl believes only
la venta's elite receive

this honor.

These are almost certainly

the faces of the priest-kings,

the leaders
of the site of la venta.

Incredibly, there is
evidence these people could be

the first royal family
in the americas.

While the faces are different,

we have a certain template
that all these heads follow...

The ear spools,
the headdress, the helmet.

And for the similarity
of design,

it could be that
these individuals were related

and represent not just
a succession of rulers,

but possibly the first dynasty.

The olmecs rise
to power around 1,200 b.C.

They live at the same time

as the new kingdom
pharaohs of egypt,

who also commissioned
giant statues of themselves.

At la venta,

they build the first
planned city in ancient mexico.

La venta has it all...

Fertile soils for growing crops,

rich fish stocks and forests
for sourcing building materials.

Because the area is blessed
with so many resources,

fewer people are needed to
produce food to feed the city.

So la venta's inhabitants
can do new jobs

like building huge pyramids.

The olmec lay down
the template for other cities

in central america.

La venta becomes mexico's
cradle of civilization.

The olmec should be remembered

for their sophistication.

They moved hundreds of tons
of stone

through tropical rainforest.

They built cities out of mud.

They developed a sophisticated
religion and symbol system.

The more we learn
about the olmec,

the more we're learning
about the foundations

of mesoamerican society.

Today, the olmec civilization

lies buried in the jungle.

But archeologists
are using new technology

to peer beneath the trees.

Could discoveries
at the next wonder

reveal the true extent
of civilization

in the ancient americas?

And are the maya the victims
of their own success?

More than 2,000 years ago,

a revolution sweeps
across the ancient americas.

Inspired by the mysterious
olmec civilization,

people build hulking pyramids
at cities across mexico

and central america.

But the third wonder
lies hidden deep

in the jungles of guatemala...

The mayan city of tikal.

Peeling away the foliage
reveals the center

of a once fabulous metropolis.

Incredible limestone palaces sit
next to slender pyramid temples,

some towering
over 200 feet tall.

Giant stone slabs
commemorating tikal's rulers

border sweeping plazas.

Tikal is home
to the finest concentration

of mayan architecture
in the americas.

Could there be even
more concealed by the jungle?

Archeologist tom garrison
believes

we've only scratched the surface

of what lies hidden here.

In my archeology,

it's relatively easy
to find the cities.

They have these massive pyramids

that stick out
of the jungle canopy.

But as you move further

and further outside
of this central area,

the city becomes buried
under this weight of jungle.

And it becomes very difficult
to determine just how vast

and how extensive a place
like tikal really was.

Previous attempts
by investigators

to understand the scale of tikal

by hacking through the jungle
prove impossible.

But now a pioneering new
technique gives tom the edge.

It uses special laser-scanning
technology called lidar

to see through the trees.

A plane-mounted sensor shoots
laser beams

through the jungle canopy
to the floor,

building a picture
of the lost areas of the city.

What this allows us to do

is essentially
digitally deforest the jungle.

And this lets us see the maya
ruins underneath in a way

that we never thought possible.

So now we can see more of tikal.

Lidar peels back over
a thousand years of history

to reveal what tom's
been searching for.

We can see the map of
the site's core crystal clear.

We can see the distinctive shape
of tikal's road systems.

Lidar reveals
a sprawling road network

encompassing an area
of 16 square miles.

The roads lead

to previously undiscovered
parts of the city...

Temples, fortresses,
and residential districts.

There are thousands
of structures out there

in the jungle
that would have been the houses

of the everyday people that
made up most of the population.

The lidar data
over tikal revealed

the city is even larger

and more massive
than we previously thought.

Based on tikal's size,
tom estimates the city's kings

likely rule over more
than 100,000 people.

This makes tikal one of
the largest cities ever to exist

in the ancient americas.

Tom's latest lidar results
suggest

that an astonishing
60,000 structures

lie buried
in the jungles of guatemala.

The mayans build
an urban civilization,

just like the people
of ancient babylonia or egypt.

But all ancient cities
depend on farming

to feed their huge population.

So how does tikal survive?

The lidar data
reveals another clue.

Tom discovers unusual
linear features

hidden in the heavily forested,
swampy ground outside tikal.

This doesn't seem to
be a natural feature.

And what this makes us
wonder is, is this agriculture?

Is this how they're feeding
that vast population at tikal?

To find answers,

tom must investigate
in the field.

G.P.S. Guides him and his team

to the exact spot
identified in the lidar scan.

They hack through
dense jungle to get to the site.

Well, we're here.

I think what we're seeing,
all of these little ridges,

these are the subtle features
that we must be seeing,

and it goes on for kilometers.

These are gonna be
the agricultural fields

of the people of tikal.

The ridges suggests

tikal's rulers
deforest and drain

the only fertile areas
close to the city, the swamps.

They then cut a network
of terraces to cultivate crops.

And that's
what's going to be
the lifeblood of the city.

That's what supports
this massive population.

And when you have more people,
your city has more power,

you have more wealth.

It could be that
it's these swampy areas,

where we
can hardly see anything,

that are actually the key
to understanding tikal.

Tikal's population
burned the jungle

to clear it of trees

before building
the city's terrace system

and planting crops in soil
fertilized by the ash.

To get the most out
of this precious land,

they grow squash on the ground,
maize that rises up through it,

and beans that climb up
the corn.

Maze is their
most important crop.

As a daily staple,

the maya eat it boiled
as gruel or ground into flour

to make tamales and tortillas.

This agricultural land
is so vital to the maya

that the maize god
is one of their chief deities.

Tikal is an ancient
american superpower.

But great cities like this
suddenly collapse

1,100 years ago.

What brings
the great mayan civilization

in the ancient americas
to an end?

And why do people
in south america

create an entirely different
kind of wonder?

1,300 years ago,

the mayan civilization is one
of the greatest on the planet.

Millions of people live
in dazzling cities like tikal.

They build huge pyramid temples

constructed with simple
stone tools.

But today, almost all of it
is gone.

Rising from the thick jungle...

Tikal's biggest pyramid
is a wonder of engineering.

Consisting of seven platforms,

ascended by incredible
steep steps,

climbing over 200 feet high

and crowned with a shrine
to the gods.

This is the tallest
manmade structure

in the ancient americas.

But by the 1500s, it is
so completely overgrown,

the first european explorers
never even find it.

What happens to this
mighty civilization?

The classic maya
where a complex society.

There's likely not one reason
for its demise.

Archeologists have
presented many ideas

as to why it happened.

Theories range
from invasion and famine

to a rebellion
against the ruling classes.

Anthropologist lisa lucero
thinks a clue

lies with the dazzling pyramids
that make tikal special.

It begins with this limestone,

which is found throughout tikal.

First, the maya would burn
limestone to create lime,

after which they would add water
and let it ferment

before they would add sand
to create plaster.

The maya spread the
plaster over tikal's pavements

and buildings.

They then leave the plaster
to dry

and paint it with vivid colors.

But little do the maya realize

achieving the effect
consumes vital resources.

This stone is
about a meter square.

It would take 20 trees
to burn enough limestone

to create plaster
to cover this one-meter stone.

Imagine what it would take
to cover

the monumental buildings
of tikal,

some of which are over 70 meters
tall and 50 meters wide.

It would take
thousands of trees.

As tikal grows

and its rulers build larger
and larger buildings,

the demand for lime plaster
increases

and tikal's inhabitants
cut down more and more trees

to burn limestone to make it.

Tikal was occupied
for nearly a thousand years.

But once kings divert it
from a sustainable path

and increasingly became addicted

to building
monumental architecture,

they became more vulnerable to
any disruptions to the system.

Deforestation

unbalances tikal's
fragile ecosystem

and magnifies the environmental
changes in central america

at that time.

There were several
prolonged droughts

lasting anywhere
from 8 to 13 years.

Between 800 and 900 c.E.

This meant that
reservoir levels were dropping.

Crops were decimated.

Fewer farmers came,

and kings increasingly
lost power.

Ultimately, people
abandon tikal for good.

With no water to control,

many mayan rulers lose
their hold over the population.

The people leave their cities
to find new opportunities.

Dynasties collapse.

And by 950 a.D.,
tikal is a ghost town.

There might have been
a remnant population of 100

or so people,
but it was never occupied again

to the extent
it had been before.

As tikal falls,

chichen itza briefly
takes its place

as the greatest mayan city,
before suffering a similar fate.

But hundreds of miles away
in south america,

another civilization, the incas,
take a completely different path

and carve out a huge empire.

Why do the incas build
the fourth wonder...

Mountainous machu picchu?

And what lies inside
this lost temple of gold?

In the 1500s,

the americas are home
to two mighty civilizations.

In the north,
the aztecs build tenochtitlan,

one of the biggest cities
on the planet.

But in south america,
a people called the incas rule

one of the largest empires
in the world.

The incas live hundreds of years

after the maya and the olmecs.

Like them,
they build huge stone wonders

without the technology
available in the old world.

But the incas are very different

to their neighbors
in mexico or guatemala.

They build a civilization
of remarkable originality,

and their crowning jewel

is wonder number 4...
Machu picchu.

Machu picchu's ruins are
perched along a perilous ridge

that connects to prominent
mountain peaks.

Stone terraces cling
to the steep sides,

home to dozens
of near pristine buildings.

Almost every single one
is made of granite,

one of the toughest rocks
on the planet.

Some are so well-made

that they don't even need mortar
to hold them together.

Why do the incas build places
like machu picchu

instead of pyramids?

What is the purpose
of this city in the clouds?

There are many theories from
a royal palace to a trading hub.

José bastante is machu picchu's
site director.

He believes the answer lies
with the buildings themselves

and uncovers evidence
that tells a new story.

Most of the things going on
in machu picchu

are related
to the ceremonial part.

Teams of archeologists
are investigating

every structure at machu picchu.

They're discovering that
many of the buildings here

seem to align with
the movements of the sun.

Could machu picchu be linked
to the inca religion?

The sun is the most important
deity of the incas.

José heads deeper
into the city to investigate.

In the center stands a sacred
stone known as the intihuatana.

Does this peculiar rock
have a religious function?

Today sees one of the most
important solar events

in the inca calendar...

The equinox, which marks
a change in the seasons.

On most days of the year,
the intihuatana stone

and everything around it,
including people, cast a shadow.

But on the equinox,
as the sun reaches noon,

something strange happens.

The intihuatana stone's
shadow disappears.

Is it designed to mark
this special day?

Because of the particular shape
and angles

of this lithic sculpture

that we call "intihuatana,"

that is actually an altar,

there is no shadow cast
during the equinoxes.

How do the incas
achieve this incredible effect?

All along the equator,
on the equinox,

the sun passes
directly overhead,

causing shadows on the ground
to practically vanish.

But machu picchu is
13 degrees south of the equator

where the sun is not overhead.

So to mark this special day,

the incas sculpt the rock to
lean at precisely 13 degrees

so that it points
directly at the sun

and its shadow disappears.

Machu picchu seems to be
a holy city in the clouds.

A place where the incas
can interact

with their most important god,
the sun.

Some believe that the incas

choose this site,
high in the mountains,

to get a better view of the sky.

It's a tempting theory,
but there's a problem.

Machu picchu is regularly
shrouded in cloud.

So why build a temple complex
to the sun here?

José believes a new discovery
helps to explain

why the incas
built a solar observatory

in such a challenging
environment.

This huge rocky outcrop
that resembles a mountain.

Is a shrine.

For decades,

archeologists think this is
just another inca temple.

What they didn't realize is that
there was something else

over here
that they didn't notice

and we have just found.

José uncovers faded artwork,

hiding in plain sight.

What we're seeing is
traditionally called rock art.

But in the andes,
this is a quilca.

José thinks that this rock art

is not made by the incas.

It looks centuries older.

These graphic motifs
have no relationship whatsoever

with the inca civilization
during 15th and 16th century.

Machu picchu mountain
may have been sacred

for thousands of years,
long before the incas arrive.

This is an evidence of presence

of pre-inca people in the area.

We are talking about
between 800 to 1200 a.D.

Archeologists believe
this mysterious painting reveals

why the incas are drawn
to this remote site.

What we're proposing

is that this place was
considered as sacred

even before the incas.

The incas just arrived

and realized
the sacredness of the place.

José believes
machu picchu is built here

because it is already
a sacred site

with an ancient connection
to the gods.

Machu picchu is a miracle
of engineering and devotion,

a sacred mountain metropolis
worthy of the sun god.

Civilizations on both sides
of the world worship the sun.

The incas, like the egyptians

who build
the great pyramid of giza,

believe their rulers are
descended from a solar deity.

But it is just one of many
astonishing cities

in their vast empire.

How does this civilization
create all these buildings

in less than a hundred years?

We'll unearth the answer
in the next wonder...

A lost city of gold.

And could new discoveries
in southern peru

finally reveal the secrets
of the bizarre nazca lines?

The seven wonders
of the ancient americas

are engineering masterpieces.

Huge monuments built
using only simple stone tools.

In the 15th century, the incas
take the wonders to new heights.

They construct entire cities
like machu picchu

in less than a century.

Today, this mountain metropolis
is regarded

as one of the world's
greatest treasures.

But in the time of the incas,
one building is even greater.

The fifth wonder...
The temple of the sun, cusco.

500 years ago,

this temple is the most
magnificent megastructure

in south america.

Outside, a field of maze
made of real gold

and life-sized
golden statues of llamas.

Inside the sanctuary,
buildings gleam like beacons.

Their thatched roofs
woven with gold threads

and their walls plated
with solid gold.

In the hall of the sun
hangs a huge golden disc...

...Where only the emperor
is allowed to sit.

This golden temple
is very different

to the pyramids of mexico.

It sits at the center
of four inca highways

which connect to all four
corners of their vast empire.

Smaller versions of it exist
in many inca towns.

Cusco is the rome
or alexandria of south america.

How do a people
with no modern weapons,

or even the wheel,
build the largest empire

ever seen in the americas?

Archeologist roxana gómez torres

investigates a burial ground
300 miles north at bellavista.

It belongs to a tribe
called the ichma.

New discoveries here

are transforming
our view of the incas

and how they expand
their empire.

Roxana and her team
are unearthing mummies.

The incas,
like the ancient egyptians,

mummify and preserve the bodies
of their rulers.

In egypt, royal mummies

are hidden away to
resurrect them in the afterlife.

But in peru,
they are kept inside

the temple of the sun in cusco

and even taken out
for special religious festivals.

Roxana brings the mummies.

She's discovered to
the laboratory for analysis.

This one is almost
six feet in length,

the outside preserved
in near-perfect condition.

Its huge size suggests
that it contains the body

of a particularly
well-respected person.

The mummy appears to be that
of an ichma noble.

But it's covered
from head to toe

in high-quality,
inca-designed fabrics.

The mummy also has a false head

to give it a more human shape.

It's a feature found
on high-class mummies.

This ichma aristocrat

is buried
almost exactly like an inca.

Why?

X-rays reveal further signs
of inca influence...

Small copper implements.

Domestic items from tweezers
to metal hairpins

and the thorns
of colorful seashells

are the kind of valuable items

that would normally only be
buried with important people.

Roxana thinks
that this local chief

is given these burial goods
by his inca overlords.

These gifts reveal

that this important person
is an inca ally.

By showering him
with precious objects,

the incas buy his loyalty.

Roxana believes that this might
explain how the incas

rise to power.

Alliances allow the incas
to construct cities

like machu picchu
and build a vast empire

that stretches 2,000 miles
across south america.

But not everyone wants

to join
this new south american empire.

Those who resist are crushed
with brutal force.

The incas are fierce warriors.

Thanks to their allied troops,

they are able
to field vast armies,

reportedly up to a quarter
of a million strong.

Inca armies intimidate
their enemies

with a terrifying show of force
as they expand their empire.

Before a battle, the inca king
offers his opponents

a chance to surrender,

as long as they agree
to pay a regular tribute.

If they refuse, inca soldiers
armed with stone missiles

unleash a carefully timed
barrage of deadly rocks.

Then inca shock troops
armed with maces and clubs

go in to finish off
the enemy in close combat.

The incas win a vast empire
through bribery and brutality.

They export their way of life

and their style of architecture
across the andes.

But there is one wonder
in their vast empire

that predates them
by almost a thousand years

and continues
to baffle investigators...

The nazca lines, giant animal
shapes and geometric spirals

that some believe must be
extra terrestrial in origin.

Could new discoveries reveal
the true purpose

of the nazca lines?

And why did the people
of easter island

build
hundreds of giant stone statues

in one of the most
remote places on earth?

Hundreds of years ago,

civilizations
like the inca and the maya

create astonishing wonders
across the americas.

Many of their pyramids
and statues are similar

to the original seven wonders
of the ancient world.

But the sixth wonder
of the ancient americas

is unlike anything else
on the planet...

The mysterious
nazca lines in peru.

These ancient images that only
makes sense from the air.

There's outlandish theories
about the nazca lines,

including ancient hot-air
balloons, ancient aliens,

a racetrack.

And I think the reason

why we keep having
these ideas come up

is that the lines
remain an enigma.

The lines are hundreds
of alien-looking drawings made

by a people called the nazca,
some over 2,000 years old.

Geometric shapes that stretch
across entire landscapes.

Arrow-straight lines that
crisscross through the sand

for hundreds of miles.

Detailed images...

Dozens of them stretching
hundreds of feet across.

How do ancient people create
these mysterious monuments?

And why?

Archeologists discovered
the nazca

make the lines by moving stones

and allowing those underneath
to bleach in the sun.

From the air, it creates
the effect of a drawing

we call a geoglyph.

Today, they repair the damage
done by centuries of rock fall,

remove stray stones, and uncover
new images like this one,

a hunting killer whale.

But how did the nazca
supersized their designs

when they have no way
of seeing them from the air?

Some believe that they use
ancient hot-air balloons,

or even more extraordinarily,

have help from
extraterrestrial visitors.

But any explanation must account

for some curious
inconsistencies in the designs.

One geoglyph, called
the spider, is pure symmetry,

its abdomen
is a near perfect circle

and its limbs are precisely
mirrored parallel lines.

Right next to it is the condor.

It's just as complex with
razor-sharp connecting lines.

But it contains
curious mistakes.

The wings aren't the same size,

one claw is bigger
than the other.

Could these errors be a clue to
how the nazca build the lines?

Archeologists christy conlee
and johny isla

investigate
how the lines are made.

They've come to the edge
of the desert to experiment.

Many of the nazca lines
are incredibly long.

Some stretch for miles.

And then pace out
about 10 meters.

Okay.

The first thing

christy and johny
want to work out

is how the nazca make straight
lines with basic equipment.

First, they put two stakes
in the ground

at a distance from each other.

Yeah, that looks good.

The next task is to put
in a third steak

that lines up
with the first two.

It's done by eye,
creating a sight line

a little bit to the left.

Perfect.

This can be repeated
any number of times.

Okay, next.

Finally,
christy and johny use rope

to create a precise line
guide between the stakes.

They could have done this
in the past with materials

they had, cotton or llama,
fiber, yarn, or cordage,

and they could have used
rocks as a hammer

and wooden stakes.

But many of the nazca lines
are more complex

than a simple straight line.

How were these made?

One theory is that they use
an ingenious technique

to upscale the images.

They start with a small drawing
on a piece of cloth.

Then they divide it
with a grid...

...And draw a huge grid
on the desert floor,

copying each cell,

carving the design
into the earth.

Once they dig the lines
into the ground,

they wipe away the grid
and have a perfect nazca line.

But in this technique, errors
mainly show up in single boxes,

which does not explain
the asymmetry in the condor.

Christy believes she
can use a coordinate system,

rather than a grid, to explain
the asymmetry in the lines.

Okay, well,
let's do an experiment.

Let's try
and make our own geoglyph.

So I sketched out
a somewhat simple one, a star,

and we can try, and you can do
one side and I'll do the other

and see if we can make
symmetrical image.

A coordinate system involves
working out the distance

of key points on the design
from the central dissecting line

and then scaling up
these distances

And we'll pace down
5 1/2 pieces to here

and then over to our
first points of the star,

and we'll continue from there.

Let's give it a try.

Johny and christy
do not have identical strides.

Will this introduce some
asymmetry into their star?

They move on to higher ground
to see their work from above.

So from up here, it
doesn't look really distorted.

I mean, I can see a little bit
on my side to the right

is maybe smaller, but it's...
I think it looks good.

The star is not bad,
but it's not perfect.

The difference in pacing
explains the apparent errors

in some of the nazca lines.

But why do the nazca stamp
their artworks

onto these desert hills?

No other civilization
in the world

creates a wonder
quite like this.

Could the answer lie
with these mysterious pyramids

in the valley below?

And...

Why did the people
of easter island

create the final wonder
of the ancient americas...

Hundreds of gigantic
stone heads?

The seven wonders
of the ancient americas

are remarkable
engineering achievements,

huge sophisticated monuments
built by civilizations

using little more than
stone tools and human strength.

But the nazca lines,
the sixth wonder,

are so strange and baffling.

They continue
to defy explanation.

Why do people create huge images

that they cannot see
from the air

thousands of years before
the invention of air travel?

The lines are unlike anything
in the new world or the old,

but a clue lies
with some familiar monuments,

mysterious pyramids that rise up

in the nearby valley
of cahuachi.

Blowing away the walls
at cahuachi

reveals hidden cavities.

Inside them, archeologists
find rich offerings,

giant seeds stuffed
with rodent head sacrifices,

a human skull cradling
a guinea pig carcass,

and mummified
human trophy heads...

The ultimate gift to the gods.

Scattered around them
are shards of pottery.

They depict animals, just like
many of the nazca lines.

Could offerings like these
reveal why the nazca

create their images
in the peruvian desert?

The first step is to find out
if the same people

who build the pyramids
also make the nazca lines.

Artifacts at the regional museum
of ica

match those found
at the pyramids of cahuachi.

Oh, wow.

Christy conlee
examines the pieces.

This is really
a fantastic textile.

The fabric survives
for more than 1,500 years.

We're here in the desert
and there is no water,

there's no rain.

And so these organic materials
do not rot.

Some of the imagery
is instantly recognizable.

What you have here
are a series of hummingbirds.

You have these beaks
of the hummingbirds

that are going into these, like,
amazingly constructed flowers.

And just one after another.

The symbolism is so reminiscent
of the hummingbird geoglyph.

The textiles are just
as revealing as the ceramics.

So we have a monkey.
This spiral pot.

And this is an amazing example
of an orca, of a killer whale.

There's actually blood being
represented here in its mouth,

its tail.

The orca has curious motifs

of heads that it has swallowed.

For me,

there's absolutely no doubt
that the same culture

that made this pottery
also made the geoglyph.

The same images from the desert

appear again and again.

The similarity of the spiral
of the bowl

and the spiral geoglyph.

The monkey
with its curling tail,

its jug ears, and the hands that
reach around and clasp together.

The orca, with its jaws,

its round eyes,
and its distinctive tail,

even down to the symbolism
of a swallowed head.

Radiocarbon dating confirms
that the pottery

and most of the lines are made
by the same nazca people

who live here
thousands of years ago.

Archeologists also find pieces

of smashed nazca pottery
at many of the lines.

It suggests that people carry
out religious rituals here,

just as they do at cahuachi.

Could these broken offerings
at last reveal

why the nazca make the lines?

Archeologist johny isla

believes the way
to understand the lines

is not to view them from above,
but to look at them as the nazca

would have seen them
at ground level.

Johny has spent countless months

up on the plateau documenting

and restoring newly
discovered nazca lines.

It's given him a unique insight.

Many are made up
of a single unbroken line,

like a maze with a way in
and a way out.

Johny believes that
these lines are pathways.

If he's right,

the nazca lines are not to be
viewed as giant pieces of art,

but processional pathways.

Johny's exciting insight
reveals the nazca lines

in a radical new light.

The nazca people use the lines

as giant outdoor temples.

They walk along them,

leaving pots containing
offerings to the gods.

The nazca invent
a unique civilization

that is as imaginative as that
of the maya and the incas,

the babylonians
and the egyptians.

Archeologists
are finally beginning

to crack the nazca code.

But the mystery surrounding
the final wonder

are even harder to decipher...

The giant stone statues
of easter island.

Why did the people of this tiny
island build such massive icons?

And why do so many wonders
in the ancient americas

disappear for hundreds of years?

Easter island

is one of the most
isolated places in the world.

A solitary outpost
of volcanic rock

lost in the vast pacific ocean.

Today, the island is part
of chile in south america.

It is also home
to one of the most

mysterious wonders on earth...
The moai.

All along the island's coast,
wearing solemn expressions

and top knots
of shaped red stone...

...Moai statues stare inland
from deep eye sockets.

On their backs
are mysterious faded carvings.

They stand on a solid platform
made of precisely cut blocks.

But under them
lie grisly secrets.

Why do the people here
create these wonders?

The moai are
the lasting legacy of a people

who arrive on easter island
over 1,000 years ago

called the rapa nui.

They build a civilization
in total isolation

and leave behind very little
about their lives.

Anthropologist mara mulrooney
thinks that the first step

towards discovering
the meaning of the moai

is to find out
just how important they are

to the people who build them...

The first rapa nui.

She's on her way
to the remains of a village

in the island's northwest.

It's always exciting for me
to be able to survey areas

that I haven't surveyed before.

The rapa nui once lived
in villages near the coast.

Each tribe has its own set
of magnificent moai statues.

But by contrast, their houses
are simple structures.

I don't know. What do you think?

I mean, maybe those were
sort of like a front terrace

of reused paenga stones.

Yeah, we got some paenga.

Yeah, yeah.

This isn't a foundation or a...

or a boat-shaped house.

Which would have
had a super structure

consisting of twigs and grass.

It would've looked very much
like an overturned boat.

Why do a people
who live in modest houses

made partly of twigs and grass

carve such colossal
stone monoliths?

The moai stand on huge
ceremonial platforms called ahu,

built from pebbles
and basalt slabs.

But buried deep
beneath many of them,

investigators unearth
macabre clues

to the makers of the moai,
mysterious chambers

filled with human bones.

At one ahu, archeologists
uncovered the remains

of over 100 individuals.

Almost every skeleton
has a deformed kneecap.

This suggests they are
probably all related.

Why are so many members
of the same family

buried below the statues?

And can this reveal
the reason they are built?

Mara examines the houses
next to this collapsed platform.

She thinks there may be
a connection

between these buildings
and the moai.

These houses are arranged
sort of

in a semicircular pattern

around the principal
ceremonial site,

or the ahu, which is
located right over there.

It's about 200 meters away.

This is the largest boathouse

found anywhere on easter island.

Its size means it probably
belongs to a chief.

This was truly
something special.

When the high chiefs,
or the ariki,

would have woken up
and walked outside their door,

they would have seen the moai.

Mara's investigations
reveal that the largest houses

are clustered
at the base of the moai.

This suggests that
the more important people

are in rapa nui society

the closer they live
to the monuments.

These boat-shaped
houses were concentrated

around the focal point
of the ahu.

And further inland,

what we see are smaller houses,
houses of commoners.

Mara thinks that each statue

symbolizes a long-dead ancestor

such as a chief.

The moai
are very closely connected

with the people who live here,
and they're specific

to their communities.

The moai why are a
direct link to these ancestors

and considered to be an
important part of the community.

The first people who arrive
on easter island

split into tribes and divide
the land up between them.

They soon begin
constructing moai,

with each growing clan
building statues to honor

their own ancestors.

Over time,

the number of statues increases,
growing with the population.

Moai building likely becomes
a competition as each tribe

tries to outdo the other
with bigger and better statues.

Just as you

would want to impress
your neighbors,

so, too, did the rapa nui.

And so there was a lot
of friendly competition.

The monumental size
of a structure

really reflects
the success of its community.

The moai are at
the heart of island life,

a direct link to the past.

The people on this remote island
have few natural resources.

But the same creative spark

that inspires the olmec
to carve giant heads

or the ancient greeks

to build the mausoleum
of halicarnassus

also exists
within their civilization.

But here on this platform,

the statues are lying
on their faces.

The islanders pulled
down the moai

after europeans arrive,
bringing death and disease.

How does contact with the world

of the original seven wonders

transform the americas
and their wonders?

And do more wonders
remain hidden,

waiting to be discovered?

The seven wonders
of the ancient americas

are among the most extraordinary
structures in history.

Their sheer size,
sophistication, and beauty

equals the wonders of ancient
egypt, babylon, and greece.

The huge differences
in technology confirm

that both sides of the world
have no contact with each other.

Archeologists are not even sure

how much communication there is

between the civilizations
of central and south america.

Despite this, they all build
strikingly similar creations,

shaped by the tools they use and
the environments they live in.

But almost all of
the american wonders

lie forgotten by the wider world
for centuries.

By contrast, the fame
of the traditional seven

persists
throughout the centuries.

Why does all knowledge
of these remarkable

american structures vanish

along with the civilizations
that build them?

A clue lies in
the inca capital, cusco.

From the outside,
the convent of santo domingo

looks like any other
christian church,

a colonial sanctuary
built in the shape of a cross.

But for nearly 500 years,
it has hidden a secret.

Spanish invaders,
conquistadors, build this church

over the masterful masonry
of the incas'

most holy sanctuary,
the temple of the sun.

Outside, only the original
retaining wall is still visible.

Placing a christian building
over a sacred inca sites

is one way that europeans stamp
out the inca religion.

It is a story repeated
across the americas.

In a bitter twist of fate,
the european civilizations

that preserve the memory
of the original seven wonders

almost erase
those in the new world.

In mexico,

european conquerors
wipe out the aztec empire.

They destroy the
great pyramid of tenochtitlan,

the templo mayor.

Today all that remains

lies buried underneath
mexico city.

The inca never reveal
the location of machu picchu

to the spanish,
who conquer their empire.

But the fate of this metropolis

also raises
an extraordinary possibility...

Are there more wonders waiting
to be found in the americas?

At machu picchu, archeologist
josé bastante is convinced

that we know only a fraction
of what surrounds this city.

He thinks evidence
of a lost road network

could still exist today.

We're still discovering
new inca roads

within the sanctuary borders.

To find these roads,

josé looks for unusual entrances

around the edges of machu picchu

that don't appear to lead
anywhere, like this staircase.

This staircase was
always a mystery.

We didn't know, really,
where it was coming from.

But recently we just
figured it out.

We found the road.

The only issue is that the road
has collapsed at certain points,

so we cannot follow it
completely.

José's team

is investigating
a newly discovered trail.

He believes this is
the first time this road

has been explored.
For centuries.

Next to machu picchu city,

we have probably found
all the roads,

but in the area,

there are still many roads

to be found lost
in the vegetation.

So far, archeologists

have uncovered
a web of eight roads

leading into machu picchu.

In the future, josé plans to
use aerial scanning technology,

lidar, to strip away the forests
and search for more.

He hopes it will reveal new
lost wonders of the americas.

Technology is opening up
a new age of exploration

in the americas,

rediscovering temples,
pyramids, and lost cities.

But what archeologists
have discovered so far

about the people who build them

already tells
a remarkable story.

The seven wonders
of the ancient americas

reveal how civilizations living
on opposite sides of the world,

with no knowledge of each other,

can create remarkably
similar-looking megastructures.

Pyramids,
larger-than-life statues,

and dazzling cities.

Each one of these monuments
is shaped

by the societies that built them

and the technology
available to them.

But the builders
of the original seven wonders

and those in the americas
share a common trait.

They all use whatever
resources they have

to overcome huge challenges
and realize their dreams.

The seven wonders
of the ancient americas,

just like the original wonders
of the ancient world,

are a testament to human
ingenuity and ambition.