All language subtitles for Incas.The.Rise.and.Fall.S01E01.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH

[Narrator] The Incas.

An extraordinary civilization.

In just over 100 years, from
the 15th to the 16th century

three all-powerful emperors

built an astonishing empire.

The biggest the Americas
had ever seen.

[Historian 1]
The Inca state had a population

of 9 to 12 million people.

[Historian 2] They were
highly developed people.

[Narrator] The Incas left behind
monumental and intricate traces

of their genius.

But the story of
these great people

remains shrouded in mystery.

Where did the Incas come from?

[Historian 3] They imitated
a society that was before them.

[Historian 4] They're heirs
to an ancient civilization.

[Narrator] How did they come to
rule over such a vast territory

in the space of a century?

Thanks to scientific advances

and ultra-realistic
computer-generated images,

we're going to bring this
lost civilization back to life.

[Historian 4] Advances
in archaeology have truly

revolutionized our understanding
of Inca history.

[Narrator]
Revealing its fascinating

and mysterious origins,

this is the incredible story

of how the Inca Empire began.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

At dawn when the mist
starts to dissipate,

a magnificent site emerges...

Machu Picchu.

Perched on an Andes ridge
at an altitude of 2,400 meters,

it appears suspended
in the clouds

defying the laws of nature.

This ancient city is one of the
New Seven Wonders of the World,

and a spectacular symbol

of one of the most renowned
civilizations in history,

the Inca Empire.

[Alicia Fernández Flórez,
dubbed] The Inca Empire was one

of the greatest civilizations
in South America

because they made significant
advances in astronomy,

architecture and engineering.

Machu Picchu is
profoundly important,

all this ancestral knowledge.

♪ ♪

[Narrator] Machu Picchu
demonstrates the genius

and power of a people

capable of conquering
the highest peaks.

It was the jewel
of a colossal empire,

which the Incas built in record
time across South America.

At its peak in 1532,

Inca territory stretched

over 5,000 kilometers

along the Andes,

from Ecuador to Chile.

Yet 100 years before, the Incas

were just one of hundreds

of small tribes of Peruvians

living in a mountain valley

not far from Machu Picchu,

in Cusco.

♪ ♪

How did the Incas get out
of this remote valley

and build a formidable empire
so quickly?

The history of Cusco
and its founders

has long remained secret,

because the Incas did not have
a written language.

They communicated in a complex
system of knotted cords,

known as khipus.

To date, no one has been able

to fully decipher
their meaning.

So to discover
the origins of the Incas,

we have to go to the archives
of the Spanish conquistadors.

[César Itier, dubbed]
The history of the Incas

as we know it has been handed
down to us by Spanish authors,

who themselves gathered
their information

from Indigenous informants,
often members of the Inca elite.

[Narrator] For a long time,
the Spanish conquerors,

who defeated the Incas,

were the only ones to tell
the story of this empire.

Arriving in Cusco in 1533,

they documented chronicles
for the King of Spain.

These precious testimonies
allow us to strip back

modern-day Cusco
and visualize the city

at the time of the Incas.

The conquistadors
were impressed

by this small metropolis,

with its hundreds
of thatched stone buildings,

and palaces decorated
with gold and silver.

[Flórez] They recorded
everything there,

so recounting all the details
and impressions they had

arriving in Cusco.

This is very important
for archaeologists,

because thanks to these
early writings,

we have a more accurate idea

of what the Inca state was like,
and its importance.

[Narrator] For the ancient
people of Cusco,

Inca was not the name of
a people, but of the leader.

The Spanish record
more than 10 Inca kings.

The first is a mythical ruler
called Manco Cápac,

or Manco the Mighty.

[Itier] Manco Cápac is
a historical figure

since his mummy was preserved
as late as the 16th century

and was seen by
Spanish witnesses.

He's the first of 12 kings.

[Narrator] The Spanish only
provide legendary information

about this first king.

According to Inca oral record,

Manco Cápac emerged from a cave
when the sun was created.

He walked with his sister
to the Cusco valley

to plant a golden scepter,
and found the dynasty of people

who proclaimed themselves
the Sons of the Sun.

[Alexei Vranich]
This is mythic history.

But every empire creates
their own origin myth.

You can't form an empire
just by force.

You need ideology.

[Narrator]
Who really was Manco Cápac?

Archaeologists are now
beginning to unravel the truth

behind this legendary tale.

[speaking French]

[Itier] Archaeology shows
that a state was formed

in the Cusco valley
during the 13th century

between 1200 and 1300.

[Narrator] Manco Cápac was
a chief, a warrior,

who arrived from
the Andean high plateau,

gained control
of the local tribes,

and founded the Inca Empire.

The modern development of Cusco
has gradually erased

the original buildings
in the heart of the valley.

After more than 500 years
of urbanization,

the traces of the first
Inca kingdom are buried beneath

the modern streets
of the city center.

But high above Cusco,
the hills of Sacsayhuamán

could hold
precious information.

[Vranich] We think this is where
they first settled in Cusco,

where they had their houses

and their other
important structures.

So we're looking for the first
foundations of Inca Cusco,

what is the start of what became
the capital of the Inca Empire?

[Narrator]
The site of Sacsayhuamán

intrigues scientists.

Most of the visible ruins date
back to the 15th century

and the beginnings
of the Inca Empire,

but some stones appear
to be much older.

To find out for sure,

an international team
of researchers

are studying the area.

[Dominika Sieczkowska]
We hope to find

during the excavation process
organic remains like charcoal,

seeds, and everything
that the Inca left

when they were
constructing this site.

[Narrator] These remains
could provide a date

for the birth of Cusco.

But in an area partially
covered by dense forest,

advanced tools are needed.

The drone is equipped with
LiDAR, a laser technology

that can pierce
through vegetation

to reveal human-made
structures beneath.

Scientists are searching
for structures

that could indicate
Manco Cápac's early work.

[Sieczkowska] We can find
the walls under this vegetation

and the soil, and those walls
might be related

to the Inca construction
of the Sacsayhuamán.

[Narrator] To identify the
hidden walls more accurately,

the hill is imaged using
ground-penetrating radar.

Signals are beamed
through the soil

to detect buried structures
up to two meters deep.

[Vranich]
With this investigation,

we'll be able to find the moment
when we can actually start

to say yes, the Inca are here.

They are starting to form
their capital city.

[Narrator] This new exploration
of Sacsayhuamán will make it

possible to determine the date
of Manco Cápac's settlement.

Current estimates lie
between 1200 and 1230,

more than 300 years before
the arrival of the Spanish.

[Sieczkowska]
Thanks to chronicles,

we know a lot about relative
history of the Incas,

but we don't know when
and how everything happened.

[Narrator] The archaeologists'
work fills in the blanks

in the Spanish archives.

And the remains that
have been studied

now allow the Incas
to tell their own story.

[speaking foreign language]

[Denise Pozzi-Escot] Today,
thanks to these new technologies

we can learn much more
about this great empire.

We are trying to
reconstruct its history

from the remains
left by these people.

[Narrator] But what do
the pre-colonial remains

tell us about
the Inca Empire itself?

Can they explain how
this small kingdom

suddenly became
a continental power?

[Narrator] To shed light
on the birth of the empire,

we must examine the best
preserved Inca site,

Machu Picchu.

Thanks to its
isolated location,

this ancient city
escaped the violence

of the Spanish conquistadors.

[Sieczkowska] Spaniards never
actually destroyed the site.

They were possibly aware
that this site was here,

but they never got in here,
they never destroyed it.

[Narrator] When the American
explorer Hiram Bingham

was shown the ruins
of Machu Picchu in 1911,

the city had been abandoned
for over 300 years,

and enveloped by thick
tropical vegetation.

But the first
excavations revealed

the buildings were
exceptionally well preserved.

[speaking Spanish]

[Flórez] Some buildings were
gradually destroyed

by the spread of nature.

But fortunately,
at the structural level,

Machu Picchu survives and is one
of the most important examples

of how a city was built
during the Inca era.

[Narrator] After more than 100
years of archaeological work,

it is now possible
to virtually reconstruct

the city at its peak.

Over 500 years ago,
experts estimate the town

was inhabited by 400 people.

And during annual pilgrimages,

it expanded to host
1,000 people.

[Sieczkowska] Machu Picchu was
some kind of sanctuary itself

because it was a destination
for pilgrims to getting in here.

So, in Machu Picchu, you will
find many ceremonial aspects

that were possibly
related to the rituals

that were taking place in here.

[Narrator] Thanks to
the Spanish chronicles,

historians know that the site
was the major work

of the first Inca emperor,
Pachacutec.

Pachacutec appears 200 years

after Manco Cápac,

as the ninth Inca ruler.

He was the first whose reign
transformed the kingdom

into an empire and the lives
of millions of Andeans.

Pachacutec ruled
from his palace

located to the north
of the main plaza.

From here, he ordered

the complete
reconstruction of Cusco.

The capital was
just the beginning.

He transformed the
Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu.

This hilltop city was not
just a sacred site.

It was a manifesto
of Pachacutec's vision

for South America.

Covering an area 530 meters
long and 200 meters wide,

the complex features
170 structures

and almost 700 terraces,

built from thousands
of cubic meters of stone.

How can so much
material be found

in the middle of these cliffs?

The nature of the rock
provides a clue.

[Sieczkowska] It's constructed
with granite mostly,

and we can find it in basically
every single building

that was made in here.

[Narrator] Granite is one of
the hardest and heaviest rocks

on the planet, weighing
2 1/2 tons per cubic meter.

An average-sized rock here

weighs the equivalent
of two modern cars.

But the Inca builders
were expert geologists.

[Sieczkowska] We are located
in the middle of the Andes,

that were created because
of the geological movement

between all the plates.

[Narrator] The Andes,
stretching from the Caribbean

to Tierra del Fuego,

formed over hundreds
of millions of years

from the Oceanic plate sliding
under the American plate.

As the Earth's crust lifted,
it cracked,

producing volcanoes,

still active in Chile
and the Bolivian Plateau.

Machu Picchu is surrounded
by two major faults

created by these
tectonic movements.

[Sieczkowska]
You can see the elements

of these geological fault
at site,

and what we see in the quarry
right now is just a piece.

This is how the Machu Picchu
looked like

before the Inca started
the urbanization process.

[Narrator] Before the arrival
of Pachacutec,

the ridge of Machu Picchu
was an open-air quarry,

littered with huge
granite boulders,

which Inca workers patiently
cut into bricks using hammers.

[Sieczkowska] They didn't have
any metallic iron tools.

You can see a lot of elements
where the stones

were possibly carved, there are
traces where the Incas decided

to cut it and took
some elements.

[Narrator]
Even without iron tools,

the clear traces of cutting

prove the mastery
of the carvers.

[speaking French]

[Itier] It's stone architecture
with irregular

but fine-tuned fittings,

which may represent what
the empire is all about.

This mosaic of diverse groups
that fit perfectly together.

[Narrator] Terraces were
constructed by building walls,

and leveling the ground

with thick layers of stone,

sand and earth.

For Archaeologist
Dominika Sieczkowska,

who excavated the area,
this clever method of terracing

provides solid foundations
and allows water runoff

in a region that receives up to
two meters of rainfall a year.

[Sieczkowska] It's quite
challenging to get here

and to start the foundation of
the city basically from nothing.

We don't know the estimation
about how many people

constructed the site, but it has
to be thousands of people.

[Narrator] At this altitude,

Machu Picchu shows
the power of the Incas.

From the mid-15th century,
the empire was already capable

of mobilizing
thousands of workers.

It also bore witness to
an unprecedented development

of knowledge and techniques

that Pachacutec encouraged
throughout his Empire.

To transform a rocky spur in
the middle of a seismic region

into a home,

Pachacutec's builders deployed
elaborate engineering.

[Itier] Throughout their empire,
the Incas try to mark

the landscape to signal
their presence

with a highly distinctive
architecture,

very different from that

of the peoples who had
come before them.

And so this very homogenous
architecture

is a way of visually marking
this reunification of the world,

this unity that the Incas
claimed to have brought it.

[Narrator] The technical
engineering introduced

by Pachacutec represented a new
era and a new way of thinking.

But what exactly were
the beliefs of the man

who called himself
Son of the Sun?

[Narrator] This ideology was
born 600 kilometers south

of Machu Picchu,

near Lake Titicaca.

This site is known
as Tiahuanaco,

and its remains have intrigued
experts for years.

[Itier] Tiahuanaco was
a religious center,

both a pilgrimage center
and an economic center

where a large city developed

with very important
monumental architecture.

[Vranich] It's probably the most
important or the largest society

before the Inca.

But they left us
monumental architecture

and some very elaborate,
beautiful artifacts.

[Narrator] Tiahuanaco was

the birthplace of a society

that developed between

500 and 1100 AD,

and whose influence spread

across the high plateau

of Bolivia, southern Peru

and northern Chile.

[Vranich] Tiahuanaco was
abandoned in 1000 AD,

about 500 years before the Inca.

So when the Inca arrived
to conquer the area

with their armies, they looked
at it and they go, this is huge.

This is a monumental city
that existed way before us.

[Narrator] Modern tools give us
a more precise idea

of what the Incas
discovered at the time.

[Vranich] The buildings
are completely ruined,

and the stones are scattered
across the site.

So we were able to record
the stones both by hand

and using drones and other
photogrammic methods.

And from there we created
these virtual models

that we were able
to piece together.

[Narrator] American
archaeologist Alexei Vranich

has reconstructed
some of the buildings

by scanning and digitizing
each stone,

then placing it back into
its original position.

[Vranich] We are able
to reconstruct the form

of one of the more
impressive buildings.

And one of the things about it
was how similar it was

to Inca architecture.

[Narrator] On a site not far
from Machu Picchu,

Inca engineers built
a near-identical replica

of this monument.

The trapezoidal openings,
typical of the Inca style,

are directly inspired by
the doors at Tiahuanaco.

[Vranich] The Inca
were relatively new.

They had to demonstrate to
people that they were ancient.

So they imitated a society
that was before them.

[Narrator] This passage along
the shores of Lake Titicaca

was fundamental to
the Inca Empire's destiny.

Pachacutec not only found his
architectural signature here,

but found the place where
he would rewrite history,

and give birth to the legend
of the Sons of the Sun.

In Inca mythology,

Lake Titicaca is
the cradle of the world,

where the creator God
gave life to the elements.

It was he who made
the sun appear,

as well as
the very first Incas.

Among them, Manco Cápac
and Mama Ocllo,

who walked to the fertile
valley of Cusco

to plant a golden scepter
and found the Inca Dynasty.

[speaking Spanish]

[Flórez] The Inca rulers
needed strong arguments

to legitimize
their divine origin.

They did so with the legend
of Manco Cápac and Mama Ocllo,

and from there it all began,

the empire with
all the conquests.

[speaking Spanish]

[Narrator] Thanks to
these mystical origins,

the Incas became rulers
of divine right,

justified in their conquests.

[speaking French]

[Itier] Just as the sun
brings its fertile force

to agriculture,
enabling plants to grow,

the Inca also spread
benefits to their subjects,

their dependents, and to
the peoples they conquered.

[Narrator] How did Pachacutec,
self-proclaimed Son of the Sun,

transform the daily lives
of millions of Andeans?

Could the key lie
in the Inca religion?

Machu Picchu, where the most
revealing building

of the new Inca civilization

is recognizable by
its unusual shape.

This is the Temple of the Sun,

with two perpendicular sides
and a uniquely rounded facade.

[speaking Spanish]

[Julio Córdova Valer, dubbed]
It's angled, so it's square

on one side and semicircular
on the other.

Inside there are
open windows and niches

where offerings were likely
made during ceremonies.

[Narrator] More than
500 years ago,

the buildings at Machu Picchu
had a steep thatched roof.

But the Temple of the Sun
was an open-air building.

[Valer] The space has always
been exclusively open

without a roof.

It's a place for observation
from dawn to dusk.

[Narrator] This unique structure
seems to have served

as an astronomical observatory.

♪ ♪

But the precise way
in which the Incas used it

is still unknown.

The center of the building is
occupied by a large boulder,

engraved with mysterious lines.

[speaking Spanish]

[Valer] This was a sort of table
on which they watched the sun

come through the window.

The astronomer could say
what's happening,

what's going to happen
on this date.

Is it the cold season
or the hot season?

[Narrator] The building's
three openings

are perfectly positioned.

The largest faces
magnetic north.

The central window is aligned
with the rising sun

on the June solstice,
while the second window

aligns on
the December solstice.

During both phenomena,

the sun's rays land
on the engraving

on the central boulder.

[Valer] There's a time when
we're in the rainy season

and another when we're
in the dry season,

'cause here there are only two
types of climate, rain and sun.

Astronomers are going to observe
this, and from that moment

will change the agricultural
direction of the Andean world.

[Narrator] The Temple of the Sun
was used to track the path

of the sun and mark
the changing of the seasons.

And it was dedicated
to the sun god, Inti.

♪ ♪

As the Son of the Sun,

Pachacutec gave Inti a central
role in running his empire.

The solar calendar governed
the daily life of his subjects,

from agriculture
to architecture,

to religious festivals.

And many of Machu Picchu's
buildings were aligned

with the stars for
religious ceremonies,

including the most enigmatic
one of all: sacrifice.

[Narrator]
Historical writings tell us

that the Incas sacrificed
animals, like llamas,

but also human beings,

at mountain ceremonies
called capac hucha.

[speaking French]

[Itier] In special
circumstances,

such as political
or climate crises,

the Incas also practiced
human sacrifice,

especially the sacrifice
of children or adolescents.

[Narrator] In 1954, the body
of a young boy was found

5,000 meters high on the summit
of a Chilean volcano.

The body, mummified by
the cold, is kept out of sight

at the National Museum
of Natural History

in Santiago, Chile.

[Marcela Sepulveda] This entire
set of objects is high quality.

They are exceptional
and exclusive pieces,

which were most likely made

especially to accompany
the child in death.

[Narrator] For more than
50 years, this child's body

and every object
that accompanied it

have been scrutinized
by experts.

Carbon-dating confirmed that
he died during the Inca period.

A study of his bone and teeth
development determined

that he was between

eight and nine years old.

Using x-ray scanning
technology,

Verónica Silva Pinto
is trying to uncover

the exact cause of death.

Highly accurate modeling of
the skull has made it possible

to detect a previously
unseen fracture;

a fatal injury caused
by a hammer blow.

[speaking Spanish]

[Verónica Silva Pinto] This
weapon is a star-shaped club

typical of the Inca periods.

Here, a wooden handle was
fitted to deal the blow.

Basically the angle
had to be like this.

The weapon was brandished
and hitting there,

that's the cause of death.

If he didn't die instantly,
he died as a result of the blow.

[Narrator] A brutal way to die.

But this act was not perceived
as cruel by the Incas.

[speaking Spanish]

[Pinto] Death for the Inca
was not as we know it.

Death was a journey.

So the child wasn't dying.

He was joining the world
of spirits and gods,

and so would have greater power

than if he had remained
in the living world.

[Narrator] This child is not
an isolated victim.

In the 1990s, while exploring
the peaks of the Andes,

archaeologist Johan Reinhard
discovered several other bodies

of children sacrificed
in the same way.

[Itier] There's a very
political dimension

to these sacrifices
of young people.

As far as we know,
these children, these teenagers

were often the children of the
local authorities of the empire.

[Sepulveda] Ultimately,
the Incas carried out

these sacrifices,
these capacocha,

to mark places that were sacred
to the local populations.

By sacrificing what was
most precious to them.

This Inca ritual is not only
a symbolic act,

but also a political one.

[Narrator] Human sacrifice was
practiced in South America

long before the emergence
of the Incas.

But the Incas used it
as an instrument of power,

in order to rule over
other religious practices

in the Andes.

Before Pachacutec,
the Andeans worshipped

a number of other deities,

traces of which can still
be seen in Cusco.

In the royal capital,

the Spanish conquerors
described several temples.

But in the lower city,

one building in particular
captivated them--

a sacred structure with gardens

dotted with golden statues
of llamas and maize.

The site is now occupied
by a Catholic church.

♪ ♪

[Alex Usca Baca, dubbed] This
church was first built in 1534

by the Dominican Order.

[Narrator] Baroque architecture
has destroyed

the most beautiful monument
of Pachacutec's empire,

known as the Coricancha,
which means "golden enclosure"

in the language of the Incas.

Some traces of the most
sacred Inca temples

still remain today.

A curved facade

and foundations of the building
around an inner courtyard,

where each of the rooms
was dedicated

to one of the main
Inca deities.

[speaking Spanish]

[Baca] One of the main rooms
in the Coricancha

was the Temple of the Sun.

We can locate it where
the Coricancha Church

is currently located.

[speaking Spanish]

Inside the Temple of the Sun
there is a golden plaque

with features that represent
the Andean worldview.

[Narrator] This plaque shows the
richness of the Inca religion.

[speaking Spanish]

[Baca] The architecture
of this room

is refined and well-finished.

The main function
of these niches

was to house important objects
used to worship the god

known as Illapa,
or lightning or thunder.

[Narrator] The Coricancha,
the heart of the Inca religion,

is a sanctuary dedicated
to the Andean pantheon of gods.

[Baca] The Incas didn't just
have a main god, the sun,

they also had other minor
deities such as K'uychi,

the god of the rainbow,

and Illapa, the god
of thunder or lightning.

[Narrator] In addition
to these forces of nature,

the Andean people also
worshipped the mountains

that surrounded them.

[Itier] Each local territory
is not only represented

but also fertilized
and protected

by the mountain
that overlooks it.

And so people worship and make
offerings to this mountain god.

[Narrator] Andean religion is
a complex system

of ancestral beliefs.

But within this broad pantheon,

Pachacutec gave the sun
a new decisive role.

[Baca] When Pachacutec began
to conquer other peoples,

these local groups had to submit

to the general government
of the Inca state.

They had to worship the sun god.

[Narrator]
Worship of the sun spread

to more than 10 million people
in the empire,

despite the fact
their religious beliefs

were much older.

How did the Incas achieve this?

[Narrator] On the shores of the
Pacific, this desert landscape

was one of the first regions
to be conquered

by the Sons of the Sun.

After taking Cusco and the area

around Lake Titicaca,

the Inca armies reached

the western coast near Lima,

to capture the site

of Pachacámac.

Occupied since 200 AD,

this town was the sacred site
of the most worshipped divinity

in South America at that time.

[Rocio Vilar Astigueta, dubbed]
Pachacámac comes from

the Quechua words pacha
meaning land,

and camac meaning the spirit
that animates or gives life.

Pachacámac was the force
that animated the world.

He was the spirit of the world.

[Pozzi-Escot] The simple
movement of his head

causes the Earth to tremble.

This god is so powerful
that he brought the peoples

of the region together in this
important ceremonial center.

It was a pilgrimage center.

[Narrator] At the time
of the Inca conquest,

pilgrims had been gathering
for hundreds of years

from across the Andes to
worship the god Pachacámac

at his colorful temple.

[speaking Spanish]

[Astigueta] It was entirely
decorated with motifs

of flora, fauna and people,
which adorned the structures

and were linked to the worship
of Pachacámac.

You can see the head of a fish,

further on, here's another head,

and finally here's
a part of the head

and what could be the eye
of a third fish.

[Narrator] When the Incas
conquered this temple,

they respected the rites
of the pilgrims,

who prayed to Pachacámac
or consulted the oracle.

[Astigueta] In these places,
the Pachacámac oracle

must have provided insight.

It was a prestigious oracle
in the pre-Hispanic world.

We know that when the Incas
arrived at Pachacámac,

they, too, probably
consulted the oracle.

[Narrator] The Incas did not
stop the worship of Pachacámac.

But they placed
their sun god above him

and transformed the landscape

with the empire's
signature architecture.

♪ ♪

[Astigueta] There are several
features that could be replicas

of those in Cusco.

This wall must have
been standing,

and we can see here that it has
a three-sided configuration

similar to the doors
that could be found,

for example, in Cusco's
most sacred places.

[Narrator] On the highest peak,

above the Temple of Pachacámac,

the Incas erected
their Temple of the Sun.

[Astigueta] They built
the Temple of the Sun

to impose a new regime,

the worship of their principal
god, Inti, or the sun god.

This building dominates
the landscape of Pachacámac

allowing it to be seen and
appreciated by the people

who come to worship Pachacámac
or to carry out activities here.

[Narrator]
This Temple of the Sun

was a skillful demonstration
of imperial rule.

But the Incas
didn't stop there.

Excavations have just
revealed a new room

adjoining
the Temple of Pachacámac.

[Astigueta]
Its location on the facade

at the center of the temple
probably indicates

that it was a building dedicated
to controlling worship.

The Incas controlled the flow
of people and offerings

that reached
the Temple of Pachacámac.

[Narrator] Religion was
an instrument of conquest

for the Incas.

They tolerated the ancient gods
and beliefs,

but they physically
imposed the sun religion

in order to dominate
all others.

[Pozzi-Escot] This way of
controlling the other gods

without destroying them

means that the population
submits peacefully

because there is
no confrontation.

So they also have
political control.

[Itier] The Inca emperor is
a kind of god on Earth,

a kind of human sun.

You can only talk to him
through a curtain.

You can't touch him.

[Narrator] How did Pachacutec
make himself immortal

in the eyes of the people?

[Narrator] The emperor relied
on one of the oldest beliefs

on the American continent:
the worship of ancestors.

[Narrator]
On the outskirts of Lima,

the suburbs of Puruchuco
are home

to the largest pre-Hispanic
necropolis ever discovered.

Thousands of the buried
were exhumed

to be preserved and studied
in the laboratory.

♪ ♪

[Clide Valladolid Huaman,
dubbed] When people die,

they make a funeral bundle
in the shape of a character,

then place a head on it
with eyes.

[Narrator] These funeral bundles
are large cloths

that wrap the body
of the deceased.

This is an ancestral practice
in the Andes,

where the dry air makes it
possible to preserve remains.

♪ ♪

[Huaman] When we unwrap
these funerary packages,

we find the body
of a mummified person.

It's a natural mummification,
not an artificial one.

Adults from the Inca era are
buried in a fetal position

with their hands like this.

[Narrator] To find out more
about the deceased,

these funerary bundles undergo
a process called tomography,

which scans and constructs the
interior in three dimensions.

[Huaman] With the scanner,
we can see in detail

the person's sex and age,
and even observe other objects

inside without having
to open them.

[Narrator] Beneath the fabric,

offerings such as
shells and tools

accompany the deceased
on their final journey.

[Pozzi-Escot] In ancient Peru,

death is like a passage
to another life.

That's why these burials always
contain a collection of items

that accompany the dead.

[Narrator]
Unlike ordinary mortals,

Inca emperors
and their families

were not placed in
funerary bundles or buried.

They became mummies, stored
and displayed in niches.

These royal mummies were kept

in the palaces
and temples of Cusco.

They were honored as gods,

and displayed during ceremonies
for everyone to see.

[Itier] They were taken out
to the main plaza of Cusco

to celebrate.

People sat with them
and offered them drinks.

[Narrator] Ever present
among the living,

the deceased emperor
becomes immortal.

The imperial mummies also
traveled to the empire's

most sacred sites,
including Machu Picchu.

In the upper part
of the hilltop city,

hidden beneath
the Temple of the Sun,

Inca builders carved
a room into the rock.

♪ ♪

[Flórez] There are similarities
with other Inca burials

in which a few traces of bone
have been identified,

which could indicate that
this was a mausoleum

intended for members
of the Inca elite.

[Narrator] This cave could have
housed the mummy

of Emperor Pachacutec himself.

[Flórez] We have no proof
that Pachacutec's mummy

was in this mausoleum.

But there are a few clues
that make it probable.

[Narrator] Pachacutec
revolutionized the religion

of 10 million people,

using every ancestral rite
to benefit his own power.

[Sieczkowska] There is still
a lot of mystery

regarding the Inca state,

and every day we are
discovering new things.

[Narrator] Every trace
left behind by the Incas

sheds light on the founder
of the empire.

And new clues still reveal
fundamental discoveries.

[Sieczkowska] Based on chronicle
information, at the beginning,

we're thinking that Pachacutec
started his conquest

in this region
more or less in 1438,

and the construction
of Machu Picchu

started approximately in 1450.

[Narrator] This chronology,
established in 1945,

has recently been called
into question by excavations

at Machu Picchu
and nearby Chachabamba.

Carbon-dated remains
of charcoal show that

these two sites are older
than previously thought.

[Sieczkowska] The classical date
of 1450 is no longer reliable

because the Machu Picchu and
Chachabamba were constructed

approximately 30 or even more
years before.

Now we know that the empire
start to grow

much time before what we knew.

So the date of 1438,
it's no longer date

for the rise
of Pachacutec's empire.

[Itier] It's often said that
the Inca state was built

in 100 years,

and that it dominated the Andes
for only a century.

But in fact, for many regions,

it was more like a century and
a half or even two centuries.

[Narrator] Little by little,
modern archaeology

is learning more about
this vast and enigmatic empire.

Pachacutec was not
the first ruler,

nor the first to spread
influence beyond Cusco.

But he was the first emperor,

and with him,
the Incas transformed.

It was the birth
of what would become

the largest
South American empire.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪