All language subtitles for D.b.D.S01E04.1080p.WEB.h264-BAWD_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR: Destruction
of biblical proportions

prompts archaeologists
to uncover its origin.

- They discover human remains.
These bodies are extremely mangled.

NARRATOR: A massive storm
uncovers new secrets in Teotihuacan.

- They could see
that it was clearly a tunnel,

but it was blocked off at both ends
by these giant boulders.

- But why?
What are these boulders guarding?

NARRATOR: A landslide
in southern England

reveals an ancient cave.

- It remained hidden
for a long time.

- Despite its size, could someone
have been living in it?

NARRATOR: All over the world,

incredible discoveries
are being revealed

by devastating events: floods,

earthquakes,

droughts, hurricanes,
volcanic eruptions.

Trails of destruction
expose long-lost mysteries.

This is Discovered by Disaster.

One of the most well known stories
in the Christian Bible

is that of the destruction
of the city of Sodom.

The book of Genesis reads that

"the Lord rained uponSodom
brimstone and fire

from the Lord out of heaven,
and he overthrew those cities,

all the plain, and all
the inhabitants of the cities,

and that
which grew upon the ground."

- The story is a disaster
of unbelievable proportions.

The whole city of Sodom
and every living thing in it

was obliterated, wiped off the map.

And it wasn’t just the city itself,
but the entire area

that was left uninhabitable.
The earth was made barren,

unable to be cultivated.

- When we talk of written sources
from the ancient world,

most of what was written down
originated in the oral tradition,

in stories passed on
through generations.

So some stories in the Bible
may have some grounding

in historical events, but by
the time they were written down

they had taken on an entirely
different character and meaning.

- Today, over 2,000 years
since much of the Bible was written,

it's difficult to say
what information in it

is grounded in truth,
versus hat is entirely fiction.

Which raises the question,

could the existence and destruction
of Sodom have been true?

NARRATOR: Determined to find out,
an archaeologist investigates.

He first looks
at the ancient sources:

chapter 13 of the Book of Genesis
mentions that Sodom was located

east of the River Jordan
and northeast of the Dead Sea.

- So the book of Genesis points us

to exactly where
an ancient Jordanian city,

Tall el-Hamam, is located.

This city was initially established
over 6,000 years ago

and saw continuous human occupation
up until the early Roman period.

- The site was discovered
a few decades ago.

Previous excavations have revealed
that it’s essentially

a fortified urban centre,
2,000 ft wide, over 3,000 ft long.

It's divided into an upper
and lower section,

with the upper section being
115 ft higher than the lower.

In the fort’s grounds was a palace
four to five storeys high,

constructed mostly of mudbricks.
- The palace isn’t five storeys

today, but we can still see
the layers of rubble

from the different floors
that have collapsed.

But the weird thing is,
despite the entire thing

having been made of mudbrick,
there are no intact mudbricks

from the upper floors
found in the rubble.

They’ve just vanished.
NARRATOR: Archaeologists

do eventually find
remains of mudbricks

in the excavation layers,
but they are completely shattered,

basically just tiny fragments
of what they once were.

- What's also strange
is that the sediment

in which these remains are lying
shows no sign

of having been exposed to erosion,
either by wind or water.

This means that a natural process
taking place

over the course of
thousands of years

can’t have destroyed the mudbricks.

So how have these mudbricks
been pulverised?

NARRATOR: The archaeologists
also discover ash,

charcoal and other
charred organic material

among the pulverised mudbricks.

- So there must’ve been
a catastrophic fire here

that caused
a large amount of damage.

It would definitely have contributed
to the collapse of this palace,

but how and why this fire started
is impossible to know.

My best guess would be
either an act of war,

or an uncontrollable fire
that broke out

before or after
the city had been abandoned.

- Radiocarbon dating
of these organic materials

does give us at least
one definite fact to work with:

it shows that they were burned
somewhere around 1650 BCE,

placing us in what's known as
the Middle Bronze Age.

- The Middle Bronze Age
in the Jordan Valley

was a time that saw
increased urbanisation

and population growth.

It's believed around 50,000 people
lived in the area,

so for the time, it would have been
a busy place.

- With all those people,
it's possible that some horrific war

could have taken place,
one where a city,

or several cities were destroyed.

So maybe the story told in Genesis,
that of the raining of fire

onto the city, was actually done
by humans.

NARRATOR: Exploring the site
further,

the team
makes a shocking discovery

among the mudbrick, ash
and charcoal remnants.

- They discover human remains,
and not just any human remains:

these bodies
are extremely mangled.

On one of them,
you can see evidence of charring

on the femurs. The toes
are in a hyper-flexed position,

which is what we often see
when a body has been exposed

to high temperatures either at
or after the time of death.

Some of the bones have even
been splattered with melted glass.

So the fire that burned here
was exceptionally hot.

- One of the bodies
is in a grotesque position.

Its legs are hyper-flexed backwards,

and its knee joints
are disarticulated,

meaning detached from the body.

And then finally, one skeleton
is in a crouching position,

with its hands protecting its face.
It looks like

this person
shielded him/herself from the fire.

- But there are no markings
on the bones

that could have been the result
of blades, projectiles,

or even a blunt force.
In other words,

these aren’t the victims of a battle
or any form of violence.

- Also, there isn't any evidence
of them

having been afforded
a proper burial.

So when they were killed,
they lay where they had fallen,

with no-one taking the time
to bury them.

These remains and their postures
actually remind me

of the victims
of the volcanic eruption

outside the ancient Roman city
of Pompeii.

- Well, there is a volcano field
pretty close by:

it’s called Harrat al-Shaam,

and is situated about 140 miles
from Tell el-Hamam.

But the last time it erupted
was in 2670 BCE,

1,000-plus years
before these people were killed.

NARRATOR: As the excavations
continue, among more debris of ash

and charcoal, archaeologists
find pottery shards

lying only 50 feet
from the palace grounds.

- Almost all of the pottery
has shattered

into two to three-inch pieces.
What must be the inner side

is smooth to the touch
and uniform in colour,

but the reverse side
tells a completely different story.

Here, the shards are discoloured,
rougher in texture

and have
a lot of little pockets in them.

- These little pockets
are what we would call vesicular,

basically a volcanic rock texture

which is characterised
by a lot of cavities.

That occurs when magma,
or molten rock, cools.

When it does, it releases gases,

which then create this rough texture
we see on the pottery shards.

So these shards have basically
melted, at least partially.

But what can create enough heat
to do that?

NARRATOR: In order to ensure

the pottery is contemporary
to the human remains,

the shards are radiocarbon-dated.

- The pottery is also dated
to the Middle Bronze Age.

So the destruction of the pottery
probably happened at the same time

as the death of these individuals
discovered nearby.

- They also discover
that the pottery

appears to have been exposed
to temperatures greater than 2800 F,

maybe as high as 4500 degrees.

That is really hot,
considering that magma

is generally only
around 1800 to 2200 F.

So what could possibly burn
this hot?

NARRATOR: Investigating the site
further, the team makes

its strangest discovery yet.
- There is melted roofing clay

with ghostly imprints.
Truly bizarre.

So what could've caused that?

- In 1650 BCE,
most inhabitants of this region

built their roofs out of clay,
straw, plant stems and leaves.

These shapes that we see
on the clay

are the result of this
extremely intense heat

instantly vapourising the water
and carbon inside the plants,

and then fusing what was left
of the plant into the clay.

You would think only something
like a nuclear explosion,

or the sun itself
would be able to do this.

- Obviously, it wasn’t
a nuclear explosion,

so it would have to be
something extraterrestrial,

something that has the power of one
or several nucear bombs.

So perhaps it was an asteroid.

NARRATOR: Asteroids have left
many a mark on the planet Earth,

from the famous
Chicxulub extinction event,

where a six-to-nine-mile
large asteroid hit today's Mexico

and exterminated the dinosaurs,
to far smaller ones

like the one that hit Tunguska,
Siberia in 1908.

- By no means
was this Tunguska asteroid

anywhere near
an extinction level event.

The asteroid measured
only around 130 feet across,

and exploded six miles
above the Earth.

Even so, people
more than 20 miles away

reported seeing a flash
brighter than the sun

before they were blown into the air
and knocked unconscious.

- Because the asteroid exploded
before it hit Earth,

there's no impact crater
at Tunguska.

So could it be
that something similar happened

at Tell el-Hammam?
- It could be.

There is no impact crater
at Tell el-Hammam.

But, like at Tunguska,
if the asteroid blew up

while still in the air, we would
expect to find microscopic evidence.

NARRATOR: Shocked quartz
are tiny, fractured grains of sand

that can only form
when under immense pressure.

It has been discovered
at other impact sites

across the globe,
and is taken as proof

that an asteroid either exploded
above or smashed into the Earth.

- 'Immense pressure'
doesn't really do it justice.

In order for shocked quartz to form,

each grain of sand has to be placed

under 725,000 lbs
per square inch of pressure.

To put that into perspective,

an empty jumbo jet
weighs roughly 400,000 lbs,

so try to imagine
almost twice that weight

on top of your little toe.

NARRATOR: To test the theory,

the achaeologists take samples
of the sedimentary layer

where a lot of the discoveries
were made,

and extract quartz grains,
which they observe

under a microscope.

- What they see is that
the quartz’s microscopic structure

is different from normal quartz.

There are these parallel lines
in the grain,

basically little fractures, exactly
what characterises shocked quartz.

- It's likely that
on that fateful day in 1650 BCE,

an asteroid appeared
over Tell el-Hammam

and caused what we can only imagine

as an apocalyptic,
Biblical level of destruction.

The event may then have been
memorialised in oral histories,

passed on and likely embellished
from generation to generation.

- But if this is where the Biblical
story of the city of Sodom was born,

and that's a very big if,
there should also be evidence

that the site was largely abandoned
following this catastrophe.

NARRATOR: When arriving
at the excavation site

every morning, archaeologists notice
that a white crust

formed on the destruction layer
overnight.

- This is the layer
containing the evidence

we have been looking at so far.
So what happens is

the nightly drop in temperature
creates humidity under the surface,

which in turn pushes minerals
to the top.

This white crust is actually salt.

- Measurements show that
the excavation layer from 1650BCE

has
a remakably high salt concentration.

It's more than four times higher
than in the older or younger layers.

- You know the expression
'salting the earth?'

This is the idea that a conqueror
of a city or state

would sow the earth with salt
to prevent anything

from ever being cultivated again,
as salt poisons the soil.

Basically, this meant
that the defeated population

would never be able to rise
against their conquerors again.

- The average salt content
of the destruction layer

ranges upwards from 4%.
This is very, very high.

Wheat, for example, a staple crop
in the Middle Bronze Age,

won’t even grow in soil
that has a salinity of over1.8%.

So where
did all this salt come from?

- Well, the Dead Sea
is right next door,

and it has a salinity level

almost ten times higher
than normal seawater.

So when the asteroid exploded

and unleashed these incredibly high
velocity winds and temperatures,

the water in the Dead Sea
was vapourised.

The salt crystals dispersed
across the land,

poisoning it for centuries to come.

NARRATOR: Previous
archaeological studies have shown

that the region was unoccupied
for 600 years

following
this extra-terrestrial event,

but the reason was never determined.

- So perhaps
we now have some answers.

Although it's unlikely
anyone in Tell el-Hammam

survived the actual event,

the cataclysm
would have been remembered

by those in the region
who heard about it,

or saw itsimpact.

- This memory was then passed down
from father to son,

mother to daughter.
With the passage of time

and in light of our human need
to ascribe meaning to tragedy,

it transformed into a story
about the God of the Hebrew Bible

raining hellfire
down upon the people of Sodom.

It’s possible. We'll likely
never really know.

NARRATOR: More recent
and up to date analysis

of the available mineralogical
and geological evidence

has cast doubt
over whether or not

an asteroid really did explode
over the city of Tell el-Hammam.

The only thing that is certain

is that stranger things
have happened,

and it isn’t a stretch to imagine
that the Biblical story of Sodom

has some grounding
in such a horrific event.

NARRATOR: In the fall of 2003,
an unprecedented rainstorm

appeared over the ancient
Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan.

The deluge flooded the city’s
magnificent avenues,

washed away its courtyards,
and turned the entire area

into a river of mud and debris.

As a result, archaeologists
conducting excavations

at one of Mexico’s most famous sites
had to halt their work.

- At the foot of one of
the city’s main temples,

The Temple of the Plumed Serpent,

the downpour destabilised the ground
to such an extent

that it collapsed on itself.
It was absolute mayhem.

- But as chance would have it,
the first to spot this

was a Mexican archaeologist.
The collapse was located

in the southeast section
of the temple,

and as he approached the area,
he noticed the sudden appearance

of a three foot-wide sinkhole.
NARRATOR: The archaeologist

who peered into the underground,
could only see darkness.

Resolving that it was worth
an investigation,

he lowered himself into the unknown.

- So when they finally
got underground and lit that space,

they could see
that it was clearly a tunnel

that led towards
the Temple of the Plumed Serpent.

But it was blocked off at both ends
by these giant boulders.

- These are absolutely huge stones,
so whoever placed them here

intended this tunnel
to remain impassible,

and for whatever lies beyond it
to remain a secret.

But why?
What are these boulders guarding?

- This is
a pretty astonishing find,

because not only is Teotihuacan
one of the biggest

and most magnificent
pre-Columbian cities that exist,

it is also
one of the least understood.

- We don’t even know
what these people called themselves,

'Teotihuacan'
is actually an Aztec word

meaning 'the place
where men become gods.'

The city was long abandoned
by the time the Aztecs saw it

in the 1300s, but even so,
it's clear

that the Aztecs were equally, if not
more fascinated with Teotihuacan

than we are.

NARRATOR: Archaeological excavations
and analysis

has determined
that the site of Teotihuacan

was occupied
from as early as 400 BCE,

reaching its peak in power
and population 900 years later,

when 200,000 residents are thought
to have called the city home.

Its golden years didn’t last long,
however,

as the civilsation collapsed
and the city was abandoned

sometime between the early seventh
to mid-eighth century.

- So this would have been
a decent-sized city even today,

let alone 1500 years ago,

and the architects who designed it
put a lot of thought into it.

It's built on a north-south axis,

with the most important temples
located along this orientation.

These buildings are connected
by the Avenue of the Dead.

- The Temple of the Plumed Serpent
is found in this courtyard

known as Ciudadela.
whereas the city’s largest temple,

The Temple of the Sun, is located
a little further north

along the Avenue of the Dead.

- A tunnel was found
underneath this temple,

but unfortunately
looters had gotten to it

in the intervening thousand years,
so it remains a mystery.

But maybe it had a similar purpose
to this one?

- It could potentially provide
a lot of much needed information.

We still don’t know who the people
who built this city were,

nor do we know that much about

their cultural, social,
political processes.

The little we do know is that
they practised human sacrifice

and worshipped gods similar to those
the Aztecs revered

some 700 years later.

NARRATOR: Using
ground-penetrating radar,

the archaelogist and his team
scanned the entire Ciudadela,

hoping that they would be able
to see where the tunnel began,

and where it ended.
- This technolgy is incredible.

It basically allows us to take
an x-ray of the ground

so we can see
what's beneath the surface

without having to dig.
And this GPR scan

shows that the tunnel
was actually around 330 feet long,

and had a starting point
in the Ciudedella

that led directly under
the Temple of the Plumed Serpent.

NARRATOR: With a clear picture
as to the extent of the tunnel,

the archaeological team begins
painstakingly slow excavations,

at times removing soil
with a toothbrush

to prevent damaging
any potential artefacts.

- 50ft into the tunnel is a recess
carved into the wall.

And there in the half-dark,

there's this astonishing sight
of the walls

sparkling
with little bursts of light.

It's almost like stars at night.

- In the walls are small pieces
of brassy metallic mineral.

It's pretty brittle and reminds you
a little of gold

the way it's gleaming.
It's definitely not gold,

but it is what we call fool's gold
or pyrite.

- And at the end of the tunnel,
there are several small pools

containing a silvery white liquid.
It has a really cool texture.

Even though it's liquid,
it doesn't mix or cling to anything.

So it's pretty obvious what this is:
it's mercury.

- Seeing all this in low lighting
does remind one

of looking into the night sky,
into the universe.

These little silvery pools
made of mercury

have been found in other
archaelogical sites in Mesoamerica.

They're meant to symbolise water,
lakes in the underworld,

which people at this time thought of
as a watery, dark place.

So perhaps the mercury pools
represent this aquatic character,

and the enclave is meant
as a recreation of this underworld.

NARRATOR: In other
Mesoamerican cultures,

like that of the ancient Maya, caves
were gateways to the underworld,

not in the sense of
a place of punishment

reserved for the wicked, but rather
it was home to a variety of gods

related to death and sickness.

- We don't know.

But it could be that the people
of Teotihuacan had similar beliefs,

and so they constructed this tunnel
as some kind of a ritual space.

Or maybe it functioned
as a cemetery.

- What we do know is that
for the people of Teotihuacan,

the realm of the underworld
wasn't just where life ended,

but it was also where life began.
So it had a dual significance.

NARRATOR: In the approach
to the enclave,

archaeologists discovered several
wood fragments nestled in the soil.

When the wood is cleaned,
it gives off a red pigment

along with sediment.

- In order to find out
what this red pigment is,

something called X-ray fluorescence
is used.

This is a form of analysis
that identifies

what elements make up
any given artifact or material.

- The XRF analysis
shows that the pigment

contains the elements
that make up a material

that was extremely valued
by the ancient cultures

of Mesoamerica. It's cinnabar.

Its vibrant red colour
represented the blood

and the heat of life.

So it was primarily used
on cherished or ceremonial objects.

NARRATOR: As excavations continue,
the archaelogists

find many fragments of a statue
that has broken down over time.

All the pieces
are put back together,

revealing a familiar likeness.

- These googly eyes, fangs

and the blood running from his mouth
identify him as Tlaloc,

a god
associated with water and fertility,

as well as fire and lightning.

- As the storm god, he was
the guardian of or the owner of

the underworld's sacred waters.

We know this because he was
worshipped by the Aztecs

hundreds of years
after the collapse of Teotihuacan.

So it's likely he meant
something similar to those people.

All of this supports the hypothesis

that this tunnel
had some kind of ceremonial role

dedicated to the gods
of the underworld.

NARRATOR: Radiocarbon dating of coal
found inside the tunnel

informs archaelogists
that it was built

sometime between 1 and 100 CE,

and closed for good around 220 CE.

- Previous research has shown

that
the Temple of the Plumed Serpent

was built around the time
of the tunnel's closure.

This is interesting,
because it would mean

that whatever the people
of Teotihuacan's intent was

for the tunnel, it must have been
extremely important,

because it came
before the construction

of other
majorly significant buildings.

NARRATOR: In order to
fully excavate the tunnel,

the archaelogical team
employs two robots

to dig through the soil.
When the robots

are directly under
the Temple of the Plumed Serpent,

they come to a cross-shaped chamber
piled high with many offerings.

- Among the treasures
are four statues

made out of greenstone,
wearing garments and beads,

with their eyes wide open.
Incredibly,

some 2000 years
after being left there,

two of them are still
in their original positions,

leaning back and gazing upwards.

- The citizens of Teotihuacan
believed that the universe

had three distinct levels:
the celestial plane,

the earthly plane,
and the plane of creation,

which was also the underworld.

- So these two statues
are peering upwards into space

towards where
these three planes meet.

That's why it's thought
that they are

the founding shamans
of Teotihuacan,

who brought the people to this
sacred place where civilisation

could be born, and life could begin.

NARRATOR: Over several years
of excavation,

archaelogists discovered
75,000 different artefacts.

Yet no grave or burial deposit
was found in the tunnel.

- So the tunnel wasn't used
as a place

to bury aristocrats or royalty.

Rather, it was used as a place
where the priests of Teotihuacan

could leave offerings
to appease their gods.

- And they didn't just
leave these offerings anywhere:

they left them in a special place

that served
as a recreation of the underworld.

NARRATOR: Archeological excavations

are ongoing
at the city of Teotihuacan,

making it one of the sites

with the longest history
of exploration in Mexico.

With time, more of its secrets
will be uncovered,

and more of its questions
might be answered.

Until then, the city and its temples

preside over one of the most
ancient mysteries of the Americas.

NARRATOR: The British Isles
are notoriously wet,

but during the winter of 2020,

endless rain triggered flooding
across parts of southern England.

- The River Wey is a tributary
of England's famous River Thames,

and is known to frequently flood.
The water spilling over its banks

caused damage to homes
and businesses

and disrupted vital infrastructure.
- These floods don't only

destroy manmade structures:
they also trigger a lot of erosion

and even landslides.

In St Catherine's Hill,
overlooking the River Wey,

an entire section of the hill
that leads down into a railway cut

collapsed, blocking the line.

NARRATOR: With an important
railway line rendered impassable,

engineers and railway workers
were called in to clear the tracks.

What they found when they arrived
was more than they'd bargained for.

- 20 feet from the top of the hill,
above the rail tracks,

they could see a
little sandstone enclave

into which strange shapes
had been carved.

- The enclave itself
looks quite natural.

There are no tool marks
on the side of the walls

that would indicate
it had been dug out. It's basically

just an old cave that's remained
hidden for a very long time.

- But there are
several little pockets

cut into soft sandstone.

These have been made by human hands.

So perhaps this was used
as some form of shelter?

- But it isn't very big.

It's only 5.5ft high and 6.5ft deep.

So only one or two people
can fit in there comfortably.

That said, because sandstone
is porous

it's quite vulnerable to erosion
and disintegration.

So we can't discount the fact
that it may have been bigger

at one point and able
to accommodate more people.

NARRATOR: Owing to
the strange pockets

carved into the sandstone wall,

work on clearing the railway
was immediately brought to a halt,

and archaelogists
called to the scene.

Upon examination, they notice
that the cave ceiling

is stained black
and that many of the little niches

also contain
streaks of a similar colour.

- There are also two little pits
in the floor stained black,

like the ceiling
and the pockets in the wall.

And if you drag your finger
across that black,

it leaves a stain on your finger.

- So this must be soot.

The little pits we see
must have been dug out for fire,

and people may have placed candles
or torches in the little niches.

But for all this soot
to have built up in the ceiling,

this cave must have been in use
for a prolonged period of time.

Despite its size, could someone
have been living in it?

- It's possible. But even
going back to Stone Age Britain,

people for the most part lived
in temporary or permanent structures

made out of wood and skins
and other organic materials.

Caves would likely have been used
for shelter at times,

but not to actually live in.
NARRATOR: Archeologists spot

a two-foot high,
somewhat triangular shape

carved into the cave wall.
Within this shape

there are several other
similarly shaped recesses.

The outline of an arch
encircles these carvings,

followed by
a few circular impressions

tracing the arch's outline.

- This is what is known
as a Gothic arch,

and these little recess pits
outlining it

are likely imitations
of the wedge-shaped stones

used to construct the arch.
- This style of architecture

wasn't used until long after
Christianity had come to England.

It's typical of the style
of architecture

seen from the mid -12th
to the 16th century CE.

So whatever this cave was for,

it was used by people
in medieval England.

NARRATOR: Probing the area further,

the archaelogists notice
that right next to the Gothic arch

is a cross with a line
going across the bottom of it,

and a faint semicircle below.

- This line at the bottom
indicates that it's a Calvary cross.

In the Christian faith,
there are several types of crosses.

You have, for example, the Maltese
and the Greek Orthodox ones,

both quite different from the one
we see here.

- The semicircle below it
symbolises Golgotha,

the hill outside Jerusalem
upon which Christ was crucified.

It's pretty safe to say the cave
performed a religious function.

NARRATOR: Old maps show
that long before the hill

was given the name
St Catherine's Hill,

it was in fact called Drakehull,

meaning the Hill of the Dragon
in old English.

- You can often learn a lot
about a place

from its name
or what it was called in the past.

Place names reflect
a bunch of different things,

like events that have taken place,
or even

the location's
cultural or spiritual significance.

- According
to old English folklore,

it was believed
that dragons lived in caves,

where they often guarded
a fantastic treasure. So could it be

that the cave and its use are rooted
a pre-Christian religious tradition.

NARRATOR: At the top of the hill,
above the cave,

are the ruins
of a 14th century chapel

called the Chapel of St Catherine.

- As its name indicates,
this chapel was dedicated

to Saint Catherine of Alexandria.

According to the stories,
she was martyred by a Roman emperor

for refusing to honour Roman gods.

In other words,
she opposed pagan idolatry.

- So it seems like Drakehull,

or St Catherine's Hill
as it's now called,

had this long-established importance

to the people
of pre-Christian England, and that

after the establishment
of Christianity,

its significance remains,
even though the symbolism

and spiritual practices
that happened there were changed.

- It was commonplace
for Christianity

to appropriate sites, dates

and stories
sacred to pagan religions. And why?

Because it ensured
a smoother transition

from being a non-believer
to deciding to convert.

For example, the winter solstice,
darkest day of the year,

an important pagan celebration,
also coincides,

and this is no coincidence,
with Christmas.

- So when they built this chapel
on top of the hill

to reassert
their Christian ideology,

they dedicated it to Saint Catherine
of Alexandria

because, after all, she was killed

for refusing to acknowledge
pagan gods.

But regardless of whether you were
a Christian or pagan,

why did the hll have a mythical
or religious significance

in the first place?
NARRATOR: At the base of the hill,

there was a freshwater spring,
used since ancient times.

- Not only is this hill
a prominent feature

of the landscape
but a source of freshwater.

We know that springs
often took on a sacred meaning

for the people of pre-Christian
as well as medieval England.

Chapels and ritual spaces
were often built

near or over these sacred places.

So it could be why we see
a place of worship inside a cave.

- OK, so you've got this chapel
in this cave

situated in what looks to have been
an historically important place

for the people in that region.

But part of this significance
only appears

when you step back
and look at the big picture.

You have to think
about where this place is

in relation to other
important religious centres.

NARRATOR: St Catherine's Hill
is situated

a little over halfway between
the cathedrals at Canterbury

and Winchester, two of the most
important places of worship

in medieval England.
- Pilgrims would follow

the Pilgrims' Way
to get between these two places.

In fact, you can still walk
this same path today.

- It could be
that St Catherine's Hill,

with its chapel and natural spring,
was a good place to rest and pray

on this roughly 125-mile journey.

The cave could have provided
a quiet place

for contemplation and prayer
for weary pilgrims.

- But it's cool to think
about how a place's significance

changes as the times change.

The ancestors
of those medieval pilgrims

may well have stopped
at the exact same place

for pretty much the same reasons,
but they would have been worshipping

a different god, or different gods.

NARRATOR: The cave sits
as a testament

to the fact that over time
humans don't really change,

but culture and tradition does.

It could be that many years from now

people will be seeking spiritual
comfort at St Catherine's Hill,

but doing so in a manner or to a god
that is foreign to us.

In the summer of 2022,

Europe experienced one of
its worst droughts in 500 years.

For two months, no serious amounts
of rain fell across the western,

central and southern regions
of the continent.

As the intense heat
drained rivers and reservoirs,

the gravity of the situation
became clear.

- Major rivers were running
dangerously low.

In France, the Loire was so low
it could be crossed on foot

in some places. And the Rhine,
one of the longest rivers

on the continent, was no longer
able to accommodate barges.

- For hundreds of years,
if not more.

the Rhine has been the lifeblood
of the European economy.

Flowing through six countries,

it has facilitated trade and travel
for centuries.

- Germany,
which is Europe's largest economy,

uses the river for 80%
of its inland shipping of goods,

and this includes oil and gas.

As a result of the lack of cheap
and effective transport,

the German economy,
fourth biggest in the world, shrank.

But how does a drought lead to
a contraction in the economy?

- Because the rivers
were running dry,

France had to reduce
the energy output

of their nuclear facilities
because they didn't have

enough water to cool their reactors.

NARRATOR: Apart from the impact
to the transport networks,

agricultural production declined,
and thousands of people died

as a result of the heat.
And as the situation worsened,

the rivers just kept getting lower
and lower.

The Elbe was no different:
in summer of 2022,

the river's normal levels were down
by several feet,

and along its banks
in the Czech town of Decín

the lower water levels
revealed something strange.

- There's a large stone
with the word 'Max'

and the letter F
chiselled into its surface,

as well as the name Meier.
What is this thing?

- The Elbe is another one
of Europe's major rivers.

It originates in the giant mountains
of the Czech Republic

and traverses all of Germany
before draining into the North Sea.

It's another vital river to Germany,
the Czech Republic

and a few other countries.

But Meier
is a traditional German name.

So why is that on a random stone
in a river in the Czech Republic?

- Before the Second World War,

people that lived in this area
were mostly ethnic Germans

who had started settling here
hundreds of years previous.

In fact, Decín used to go by
its German name, Tetschen.

But following the end of the war,
Tetschen came to exist

within the borders of the relatively
new state of Czechoslovakia.

- And it wasn't
until after the Second World War,

when the government
of Czechoslovakia

expelled these ethnic Germans,
that this area

really became populated by Czechs.

So these inscriptions are definitely
more than 80 years old.

But how much older?
That's hard to say.

NARRATOR: Closer inspection
of the stone

reveals inscriptions
of several different years.

- This is really something:
the earliest year

inscribed on the stone is 1417,
but then there's 1616,

1707, and 1811.

Really, for hundreds of years,
people have been carving

seemingly random numbers
into this stone.

Something must have been
happening at that time

for people to have bothered
to do this. But what?

- This is obviously
not some official engraving.

All the words and years
are placed at random.

There seems to be
no rhyme or reason,

nor are they trying to tell a story
or provide a narrative

of a particular event.
I mean, a lot can happen

within any given year.

- Take 1811, for example.

This was the period
marked by the Napoleonic Wars.

At the time, Napoleon
was at the height of his power,

poised to send his Grande Armee
into Russia.

So why would a German-speaking
person living in Decín

decide
to commemorate that year here?

- At the time, Decín was under
the control of the Austrian Empire.

They were
about to side with Napoleon

in his disastrous invasion
of Russia.

But the actual invasion
didn't happen

until the summer of 1812.
So whatever happened in 1811

must have been
of a different nature than war.

NARRATOR: Less than 20 miles
downriver from the Decín stone,

in Pirna, Germany,
another large rock has emerged

from the river,
owing to the low water levels.

- So here they have inscribed
many different years.

Just like the Decín rock,
they have a 1707 and an 1811.

So something must have been going on

that affected people
at the same time

in different locations.
- The thing is, though,

there are other dates inscribed here
that aren't on the Decín rock,

for example, 1812 and 1835.
What's so special about these years?

NARRATOR: Around 250 miles
downriver from Decin,

close to where the Elbe opens up
and runs into the North Sea,

the residents of the German town
of Bleckede also find inscriptions

on a rock that emerged
from the riverbank.

- This one
is a little more informative.

It reads: "Geht dieser Stein unter,
wird das Leben wieder bunter."

And that means,
"When this stone goes under,

life will become colourful again."

- By this, the writer is referring
to the stone itself,

meaning that when the stone
is again submerged underwater,

life will be better.
As we know, even today,

life gets hard when the river levels
run low. Hundreds of years ago,

this would have made life
really bad.

Could this have to do with drought?

- Back in the day,
a drought could be disastrous

in ways that are hard
for many of us to imagine today.

Crops would fail,
food would become scarce.

Hunger would set in,
and society would fracture.

- Having lived through it,

or marking such periods
of difficulty

with the year it happened,
as well as a hopeful message,

would make sense
considering how difficult life was.

NARRATOR: An even closer inspection
of the Decín stone

finally reveals
a little more information:

apart from names and years,
someone has written text in German.

- It says “Wenn du mich siehst,
dann weine."

And that means,"When you see me,
then weep."

This might seem somewhat cryptic,

but taken in the context of
the inscription found at Bleckede,

It makes a lot more sense.

The writer refers to the river,

and all the years listed must have
been years of extreme drought.

Basically, if you're able to see
this stone, you're in trouble.

- Even though we're able to grow
a lot more food

and feed enormous amounts of people,

it doesn't mean that technology
will always save us

when the rivers run dry.
The 2022 drought

was one of the worst
in five centuries.

Chances are that we're going
to get a few more like that

in the future.
NARRATOR: The stones in the Elbe

commemorating years of drought
are known as hunger stones.

Those who wrote the inscriptions

have provided future generations
with warning calls.

Seeing the stones
emerge from the river

should tell us that the environment
isn't co-operating in a way

that we need it to, and that
we should react accordingly.

Subitles by Sky Access Services