All language subtitles for Mummies Unwrapped - 01x01 - Mayan Mass Grave Mystery.CAFFEiNE.English.HI.C.orig.Addic7ed.com

Romany: Ancient warriors
feared this place.

-Stay calm.
-Just don't let go.

It was packed with
burnt human bone,

all the way
down to bedrock.

Romany:
Bones and bodies everywhere.

It is like an underwater
crime scene.

Could these deadly depths
reveal why the most

powerful civilization
of the americas vanished?

You are not going to believe
what I found down here.

Romany: Could this place be
a gateway to the underworld

as locals believed?

Or is there a darker story

behind one of the bloodiest wars
of the ancient world?

I'm archaeologist
and mummy expert, ramy romany.

Across the globe,
earth is giving up her dead.

Oh, my god, Pedro.
Look at this.

Thanks to
cutting-edge technology,

new mummies are unearthed
every day.

It is like an underwater
crime scene.

Romany: These mummies hold
extraordinary secrets...

Oh, my god, what is this?
Priceless.

Romany: ...If you know
how to unwrap them.

That changes everything.

Romany:
This is "mummies unwrapped."

Romany: Just recently,
a mass underwater grave

filled with hundreds
of ancient human remains

was discovered in a cenote near
the lost Mayan city of mayapan.

Its existence cannot be
explained by archaeologists.

Locals insist
these water-filled caves

are gateways
to the underworld,

and this one is guarded
by a massive serpentine.

Could this legend explain

why these bodies
ended up in the cenote?

I've come here to the Yucatan
peninsula to investigate.

All my life, I've looked to
the dead for vital information

to explain the greatest
mysteries faced by mankind,

and I always start with
the keeper of all clues...

the mummies.

My first step in this
investigation is meeting

Dr. Bradley Russell,
an American archaeologist

who spent his career

the past 20 years
studying the Maya,

and specifically
this area, mayapan.

The Maya...

they were the longest-lasting
civilization of the americas.

Their empire encompassed
the entire Yucatan peninsula,

stretching as far south
as Guatemala,

thriving for 3,000 years
until the mid-1400s

when they suddenly
and mysteriously collapsed.

The Mayans have been
so thoroughly studied

that it's rare to uncover
any new mystery,

but that's exactly what
Dr. Bradley Russell has done.

Dr. Bradley Russell, the man
with the Mayan mummies.

Ramy, how are you?

Great to finally meet
you, Dr. Bradley.

How are you doing?
-You, too.

Look at this.

Did these all come out
of the cenote?

Yeah, all of this material
is from cenote sac uayum.

Romany: A cenote is a natural cave
where the bedrock has collapsed

to expose the groundwater
underneath.

This freshwater source
was crucial

for the rise
of the Mayan culture.

We found that
the entire cenote

was just filled
with human bones.

How much human bones
were in there?

Well, we bought up a sample
of 18 skulls

and a large number of other,
you know, bones from the site,

and there's still a
significant number in there.

Are we talking
hundreds?

It depends what's under
the sediment.

There's probably a lot more
under the sediment.

-So and these are Mayan remains?
-Yes.

We've brought some samples
in for radio carbon dating,

and they show a range
right around 1350s.

Do we know
what happened to them?

How did they
end up being there?

That's what we've sort of been
trying to figure out.

They seem to be young adults
in their prime.

These are folks
in their...

in their young 20s
and their late teens.

Right, so folks who would
otherwise be expected

to be in great shape.

It's a mixed sex population,
which makes it unlikely to be,

say, a whole bunch of people
who've died in combat, right?

These would be warriors
who would be all male.

Do you know
how they died?

We expected we might find
evidence of violence,

that these people had been
killed in some sort of attack,

but we find no evidence
of that at all.

Hmm.

And how can you tell?

The major indicators of violence
are definitely fractures.

There are two that are
very, very common.

One, most attackers
are right-handed,

and they would be crushing
in this side of your skull.

Which is intact
right here.

On all of these, you
see nothing like that.

Hmm.

The other thing that's a
very, very common injury

in warfare or violence
or even spousal abuse

are defensive injuries
to the arm.

And this is an arm bone
right here.

Right, so this is
an upper arm bone.

There are no cut marks.

There are no fractures.

And is there any reason
to believe

that it was
a mass sacrifice?

We don't really have
any evidence for that.

You see a variety
of forms of sacrifice.

Decapitations
or heart extractions.

Romany: The Maya believe that their
gods were nourished by human blood,

and that the sacrifice
of a human life

was the ultimate offer.

Over 1,000 years, hundreds of
thousands of victims

lost their lives
to this brutal violence.

And from these human remains,
we know for a fact

that these human remains
that were found in the cenote

were not brutally murdered.
-Yeah.

We have no evidence of any kind
of acts of violence like that.

So the possibilities here
are limited, really.

Something more significant
is in that cenote.

No, I completely agree
with that.

When I arrived, I began
very quickly to hear stories

about, you know, a serpent
guardian at the cenote

and other things, so pretty
quickly, my interest was piqued.

They believe that cenote
specifically had

a serpent guardian?

Absolutely.

Romany: The Mayans believe this
massive, feather-covered serpent,

kukulkan, was the supreme leader
of all gods

and could bring great suffering
on humans with this power.

But do people believe that
that serpent guardian

is responsible
for these human remains?

Until we found these,
the people today

did not have any knowledge
or recollection

that there were bones
in there at all.

If only mummies
could talk.

Romany: Bradley's taking me to
the site where he discovered them.

I want to dive the cenote to see

if the remains
that are still under the water

can offer any more clues
to why they're there.

How much do the locals here
believe in the fear

towards the cenote?

They don't just
believe it.

I've heard tales from people
who have wrestled a massive,

feathered serpent
with the head of a horse.

They have been surrounded
by it and squeezed by it

until they had
to let it escape.

And you dove into the cenote,
and you have not encountered

that massive snake
or bitten by it, I assume?

I have not run
into the serpent,

although I have given
strict instructions

every time I go in

that if they see me being
killed by a massive serpent,

please get
video or photos.

I would love to watch
a video of you

getting bitten
by a massive serpent.

Romany: Even though Bradley has
never seen the massive serpent demon,

the locals here believe

there is something very
dangerous about the cenote,

and they have
for hundreds of years.

Russell:
So this is it.

This is one very small section
of a 9-kilometer-long city wall,

the largest
defensive fortification

really anywhere in the Maya area
in broader mesoamerica.

Romany:
That's pretty amazing.

So this is 9 kilometers long?
-Yeah.

And it surrounds
the whole city of mayapan.

Russell: It includes 4.2 square
kilometers of the city

which has 4,000 structures
inside of it.

Romany: Wow.
And sac uayum, the cenote,

is completely outside
of the city of mayapan, correct?

Yeah, you can see how
the city wall actually diverts

and curves around and
leaves the cenote excluded

from this interior
civilian space.

Sounds like
it was on purpose.

Yeah, it absolutely does
seem to be intentional.

When you move further
to the north along this wall,

you actually see that it does
just the opposite,

where it bumps out,

and it includes the cenote
up the line.

Pretty mysterious.

Romany:
Why is the cenote so dangerous

that the wall
was built to exclude it?

Bradley and I are going to dive
the cenote to see

if the answer is with the bodies
that are still at the bottom.

So here it is,
cenote sac uayum.

-Wow!
-It's impressive, right?

Romany:
It's marvelous.

Water source is extremely
important,

and the cenotes
are here,

and that's how the whole
Mayan civilization happened.

They took place right
next to those cenotes.

That's where the
population clusters,

the houses are densest
closest to the cenotes.

Romany: To enter this place that
the locals insist is cursed,

a shaman asks the gods
to Grant us permission.

The first step in this
ritual blessing

is to make
a sacred food named kal.

This spicy stew is an offering
to the cenote's guardian...

the feathered serpent.

Romany: I think you could do
much better stirring, Bradley.

There's always
a critique.

You went
the wrong way.

You switched.
You reversed.

Is that bad Karma?

No, it's bad cooking.

Well, I'm fine
with that.

And how common is this
dish here in Merida?

The kal is only made
for ceremonial purposes.

So the point is to
placate any forces

that are associated
with the cenote

and to ask permission
to essentially

all the gods
of the Maya pantheon

to be involved
in this activity,

as well as, in this case,
the serpent god,

the serpent guardian
who is here.

Romany: Now that we have
the blessing of the shaman,

it's time to brave
the descent into the cenote.

Russell: We'll go down to about
15 meters,

which is the depth
at the bottom of the first room.

That's 45-ish, 50 feet?

-About 50 feet.
-Mm-hmm.

And that's where we actually
find the entrance

that goes into
the second chamber

is right at
the very lowest point.

And that second chamber
starts at that level

and then goes down
to about twice that depth.

Wow.

Just don't let go.

Romany: The descent into the
cave is just the beginning.

It's what lies underneath
the jungle right here.

At the bottom of the cenote that
the locals believe is cursed

are the remains
of hundreds of bodies

that have been decaying in the
water for hundreds of years.

-Are you good, Bradley?
-I'm good, man.

Romany: So many human remains
ended up in this cenote

that their weight helped
collapse a part of the floor

and created a second chamber.

Russell: Ramy, the second
chamber's gonna be through here.

It's tight.

Be sure to stay low.

Romany: Wow.
That's pretty narrow.

Russell:
Ramy, this is your guide line.

It starts here at the entrance.
Keep your hand on it.

Don't lose it.

We're gonna have to move
kind of fast.

In the second chamber,

it's quite a bit deeper
than the first,

and our air will be dropping
pretty quickly.

Romany: This tunnel looks
like it's never going to end.

Russell: The second chamber's gonna
open up in front of us in a second.

Just stay calm.
We're getting there.

Romany: Wow!

It's like an underwater
crime scene.

Romany: Recently,
dozens of decayed human bones

were discovered
inside this Mayan cenote.

Russell: Ramy, the second
chamber's gonna be through here.

It's tight,
so be sure to stay low.

Romany: And no one knows
why they were placed there.

It's like an underwater
crime scene.

Wow!
Look at this cranium.

Russell:
I'm gonna fan this a little bit

so we can clear
a little bit of the sediment.

Romany: It is amazing how
well-preserved these bones are.

There are skulls and bones
everywhere.

Russell: All right,
we're getting a little bit low.

We're probably gonna have to
turn the dive.

Let's head back on down
the slope,

follow the guide line,
stay in contact with it.

Romany: Bone-chilling
stories have kept the locals

far from this cenote,
but could they hold any truth?

-Wow!
-That was something else, right?

It's absolutely
mind-boggling.

What are these human remains
doing down there?

This is
the big question.

It can't be
just a mistake.

It can't be just people walking
around, falling into a cenote.

No, it absolutely
was intentional.

Romany:
Now that I've seen the cenote,

I want to learn more about
the legend of the serpent demon

that is said to guard it.

I've arranged to meet
a local snake expert

who's taking me to talk
to some of these people

that believe they have seen
this massive snake.

[ Speaking Spanish ]

Romany: I'm always
intrigued with local lore.

It often has specific details

that can help me
get closer to the truth.

How thick
was that snake?

[ Speaking Spanish ]

-That thick.
-Wow, that thick?

There is truth
to these stories.

The most common to the
stories like a rattlesnake.

Rattlesnake?

They have scales
like a feather.

Romany:
Luis' expertise is specifically

in the snakes
of the Yucatan peninsula.

Because the rattlesnakes
are tiny?

Yes.

Hmm.

Romany: While the idea of
a feathered serpent

might sound far-fetched,
in 2016,

scientists confirmed that
embryos of reptiles and birds

both share
spot-like structures

that can lead
to scales or feathers.

And although anacondas
generally live

south of
the Yucatan peninsula,

is it possible that
this semi-aquatic snake,

which can reach nearly
30-feet in length,

could be in this area?

I mean, you learn
something new about snakes.

How long have you been
a herpetologist?

20 years
being a herpetologist.

What was the most magnificent
thing that you've learned?

The behaviors?

-The feeding behavior?
-Yes.

They can evolve?
They can mutate?

Yeah.

Romany: To show me these
out-of-this-world snakes,

Luis is taking me to a cave
of the hanging serpents.

It has long been a source
of terror

because of the legend
of the mutant snakes

with mystical powers
that live inside.

Could it be that these local
people have seen

an undiscovered snake species?

Romany: We're not even
to our destination,

and Luis has already found
a snake to show me.

These are one
of the venomous

snakes here in the
Yucatan peninsula.

Why... why do you
want to go out?

Because he's dead.
No problem.

It's acting dead.

Snakes are very sneaky.
That's... you know what?

Sneaky, the word
sneaky comes from snakes.

Wow!
Look at this.

-Can I touch it?
-Yeah, you can touch.

Oh, the skin feels so...
oh, my god.

It's beautiful but disgusting
at the same time.

What is it called?

They call vine snake.

The scientific name
is oxybelis fulgidus.

Look at the skin.

We have 57 species
of different snakes.

Only five snakes
are completely lethal.

Romany: Of the five lethally
venomous snakes found here

in the Yucatan, four are vipers
that have evolved

to have heat-sensing nostrils

so they can find and kill
their prey in total darkness.

It's in this one.

This is
the craziest road

I've ever been on
in the middle of the jungle.

Romany: We're headed to see
the hanging snakes,

but Luis still thinks our legs
may need some protection.

There are so many species
of snakes out here

in the Yucatan region,

and they can attack
in so many different ways.

Two dozen of them
are found nowhere else

in the world but here.

Is there anything
to protect my face?

No, you don't need.

I don't need?
I need my face.

What are you
talking about?

You don't need to protect
your face.

That's rude.

So I just watch for snakes
on the... on the ground, right?

Yes.

Romany: Luis has warned me
that the snakes in this cave

have evolved in
a surprisingly deadly way,

and that they exhibit strange
and monstrous behaviors.

Because here, bats are
the abundant food source.

Snakes have learned to literally
hang from the ceiling

to catch their prey.

I hear bats.

Romany:
It's very slippery.

There's
a lot of guano.

Hey, Luis.

Do these snakes
ever actually bite humans?

Mm, not usually.

"Not usually"?
That's very comforting.

Thank you very much.

Romany: If it wasn't for
our flashlights,

this cave would be pitch black.

And if a snake was right
next to me,

I wouldn't even know
until it was touching me.

Whoa!

Romany: I'm just outside
the ancient city of mayapan

with herpetologist
Luis Diaz.

He's brought me to a cave
in the jungle

to see whether the unusual
snake behavior in this region

might help explain
how hundreds of human bodies

ended up in
a nearby Mayan cenote.

-It's getting narrow.
-It's getting narrower?

The space
are very narrow

and only one of us
can go inside.

You first.

Whoa!

Whoa!

Romany: The population of
this cave is 1 million bats.

See that snake?

Oh, my god.

It's huge.

Right there.

Romany: This is a boa, quite
scary, but not too unusual.

Could the mutation of snakes
in this region

be responsible
for the bodies

in the cenote
like the locals believe?

Oh!
I see a snake.

It's right there.

Oh, my god.

Luis!

That's amazing.

Romany: It is clear to
me that there are unique

and dangerous snakes
in this region,

but it doesn't seem possible
that they are responsible

for those bodies
inside the cenote.

Now the question is, "why and
how did this legend start?"

Because he's an expert
on Mayan history and culture,

I've asked Dr. Bradley Russell

to help me look for
clues among the mayapan ruins.

Not only did people here fear
the deadly snake god kukulkan,

they also build a monument
to him

in the very center of mayapan.

Romany: Wow!
Look at that.

Russell: This is the
temple of kukulkan.

It's also called
El castillo, the castle,

and it's a monument
to the feathered serpent,

to kukulkan.

The largest temple
in all of mayapan

was dedicated
to the kukulkan?

It's really the beating
heart of mayapan.

Romany: According to legend,
kukulkan, the feathered serpent god,

gave mankind laws.

The ruling families got
their power from kukulkan

who symbolized
the divinity of the state

and served as a messenger
between the kings and the god.

But like all Mayan gods,
he required sacrifice.

So this is the
sacrificial location?

This is.

Essentially,
they would be

spread out
backwards over the stone,

and that would expose
their chest

so that they could get
underneath the sternum

and pull out
the heart that way.

Here, like,
in public?

It's always public,

but it's also really
important to understand

that they were a way
for the state or,

in this case,
a particular lineage

to show their power
to the people

and to remind them
who was in charge.

Romany: At this time, a great
civil war was raging in mayapan.

The rulers used public
sacrifices as a show of force

and displayed bodies
all over the city.

What story
does this scene tell?

So this is an individual
who's been decapitated.

So you can see
you have this niche.

And when
we excavated this,

they found skull fragments
and mandibles.

So this entire temple would
have been covered

with scenery
of sacrifice?

Yes, absolutely.

Again, an obvious show of power
from the Mayans here.

Right.

How long
did mayapan last?

Mayapan was around
from 1100 to 1450.

350 years of death
that ended with drought,

war...
-Rebellion.

Russell: So this
is the crematory.

Crematory, as in people
were cremated in here?

It was packed with burnt
human bone

all the way
down to bedrock.

They burnt them here.

They decapitated
them there.

They took their beating heart
out of their body right there.

It's quite brutal.
-It is.

And very much
a show of power.

If you want to assert your
authority over a population,

over an entire peninsula...
-Kill them in multiple ways.

...it's an effective
way to do it.

None of these is anywhere
close to the human remains

that we found
in the cenotes.

No, the sac uayum collection
looks very different.

Is that why you believe that
the cenote human remains

were not sacrificed?

Yeah.

You just don't see the evidence
for it there the way you do

in other very clearly
sacrificial deposits.

This city is pretty much
just a big graveyard.

Literally is
the graveyard.

Romany: If those bodies
aren't sacrifices,

then what are they doing
in the cenotes?

The cenotes provide water,

so why would anyone dump bodies
in the water source?

A battle for power was raging.

Could it have been an act of war
to spoil the water on purpose?

We know that disease and viruses

contributed to
the collapse of the Maya.

Poison and other forms
of biological warfare

have been around
for centuries.

As far back as 590 b.C.,

athenians poisoned the
water supply of their enemies.

And during the middle ages,

genghis Khan used
plague-infested

bodies as a weapon
against his enemy.

And if the cenotes
are connected,

contamination of water could
have spread all over mayapan.

Is it possible that the plague
that brought down the Maya

were spread intentionally?

Bradley.

-I have a question.
-Yeah?

Are the cenotes
connected?

They're connected
by water.

So all the cenotes are
connected under the ground?

Yes.

This is
what I'm thinking.

What if those bodies inside
sac uayum were dumped there

on purpose,

deliberately to poison
the water as a part of the war?

I don't think the amount
of contamination

that you're dealing with
in that situation

would affect
a city this size.

Unless there's more cenotes
similar to sac uayum,

hundreds of bodies
that have been dumped there

to poison the main water source
for the whole city.

What we know about
the history of mayapan,

it was an epidemic
disease

that drove the political
disintegration of this city.

Nobody knows the source
of those diseases.

There's a
possibility here

that we're looking at one of
the first recorded attempts

of biological warfare
in this region.

Romany: A mysterious mass grave
has been discovered at the bottom

of a cenote outside of the walls
of the ancient city of mayapan.

At the time,
the bodies were placed,

the Mayan empire was fighting
a great civil war.

This is
what I'm thinking.

What if those bodies
inside sac uayum

were dumped there
on purpose,

deliberately to poison the water
as a part of the war?

I don't think the amount
of contamination

that you're dealing with
in that situation

would affect
a city this size.

Unless there's more cenotes
similar to sac uayum,

hundreds of bodies
that have been dumped there?

To poison the main water source
for the whole city.

There's a
possibility here

that we're looking at one of
the first recorded attempts

of biological warfare
in this region.

How many cenotes outside
of the city of mayapan,

outside of the walls of mayapan,
have been excavated

by archaeologists spread?
-A tiny fraction.

If more and more cenotes outside
of the city of mayapan

ends up with mass burials
discovered,

then a biological warfare
is plausible.

It is.

But our next step is finding
multiple cenotes

with mass burials
in them.

Yes.

Romany: Disease, drought,

and conflict were
tearing Mayan society apart.

If someone could get control
of the water supply,

they could control
the whole city.

To prove my theory,

I need to find more cenotes
similar to sac uayum,

ones that might also contain
human remains.

I will look for cenotes excluded
from mayapan by its city wall

using one of my favorite
high-tech tools.

Lidar technology
has been crucial

for archaeology
in the past years.

It's basically laser pulses
of light

that measures the distance
to a target.

So in a jungle like this,

you can see
under the canopy of the jungle.

Romany:
Using lidar along with a drone

means we can scan
the area very quickly.

I did lidar in Egypt.

We ended up finding a hidden
pyramid under the sand.

So what I'm looking for
is a cenote.

There are thousands of cenotes
around here.

I know, but the cenote
I'm looking for

has to have
four specific things.

It has to be near
the Mayan wall.

It has to be
near sac uayum.

It has to be outside of the
old city of mayapan,

outside the wall,

and it has to be deep
and somewhat hidden.

Perfect. That's what
I'm looking for.

Let's do this.
-Let's do it.

Let's go to the area
next to sac uayum.

-Okay.
-And completely cover that area.

Do multiple scans.

That's the most
important area.

Okay, let's try...
let's try the smooth scan

so I can get
that big image.

Perfect.

I think we got
what we need, guys.

Let's let it process
and see what we got.

I have to say that data coming
in is one of the coolest things.

It makes me looks like
I'm from "matrix."

Look at that. It's really
cool, the lidar data.

Here you go.
The pictures are coming in.

Romany: What we're seeing
here is the layer of the lidar

that shows us the ground.

Any dark spots are cenotes.

So this is our center.
This is the city of mayapan.

Sac uayum should be around here.

Yep.
I think so.

-Wow. Look at this.
-That's amazing.

There are
cenotes everywhere.

This is literally just
thousands of cenotes...

thousands of holes
in the ground.

Okay, let's go to...
-Sac uayum is right there.

Here you go.

So this right here is where
I was diving yesterday.

There are dozens
of ancient Mayan mummies.

So we have four cenotes
right here.

One, two, three, four are
the closest to sac uayum.

Romany: If people go
into a cenote regularly,

we would know
if it has any remains in it.

So this means it's out.

What is this?

-Yep, that's cenote.
-That's the open one.

That's the
public cenote.

Definitely not the cenote
we're looking for.

-Okay.
-And that's another one.

This looks public,
as well.

So that narrows it down between
two specific cenotes right here.

This one right here
and that one right there.

This one is closest
to sac uayum.

We'll check both, but let's
start with the one closest

to sac uayum.

This cenote right here
has got the GPS coordinates.

There's a little building
next to that small cenote,

but that's the one
we need to check out.

-Yeah.
-This is great work.

Thank you very much, guys.
That was perfect.

And I've located a cenote
around here

that could help
solve the questions

behind the mass burials
in sac uayum.

Romany: Because all of the
cenotes share an aquifer.

They're all connected.

If there are human remains
in this cenote,

then that's hard evidence
that this could have been

one of the first known cases

of biological warfare
in this region.

Bradley is still skeptical
about my theory,

but he's agreed to come
help me explore this cenote.

Russell: You made it.
I'm glad to see you.

How's it going?

This is not what I expected
when I saw it on the lidar.

This looks
like a water well.

This is the cenote?

Well, no.

This is a well that was dug
by the family

who lived in this house
behind us.

Is it normal people abandon
their houses

like this
after building it?

No, in this case,
it was something special.

Wherever locals are
scared from, we go look.

Start checking it out.

Have you ever been
down there, Bradley?

This one, no.

This is sort of a new experience
for all of us, really.

This does not look
as inviting...

the other one, sac uayum
was very uninviting, but this?

Yeah, you seemed a little
intimidated by sac uayum,

this one's a bit more

of an intimidating descent,
I think.

Wow, what is
that smell?

You have to be very careful to
not lower you into a gas pocket.

If you're having any
difficulty breathing,

you need to let us know
right away.

So, stay calm.

Don't let your heart rate
get up.

Don't let your breathing
get really, really heavy.

Try to keep a steady,
deep breathing if you're feeling

a little bit off,
and we'll bring you up.

We'll make
the arrangements.

Okay.

Just keep a... keep a
check on your breathing.

Oh, my god.

There's a bit of land here
that I'm trying to land on first

to assess before I dive.

So I'm going to try to
swing myself on the rope.

Can you ask them to
dangle me a little bit more?

-Okay, they're lowering.
-Okay.

Right there, right there,
right there.

Right there, right there.

Russell:
How's the breathing?

Romany:
There's very little oxygen here.

I made it on land.

I'm gonna detach right now.

Brad.

I'm still on land.

Brad?

I just looked at the shallow
water side.

...dive the deep waters.

Make sure you don't step
in any...

...let me know what you see.

Romany:
Just walking around Merida

you could see how alive
the Mayan culture is.

People are on the streets
playing a pok-a-tok game.

We don't know the full details

of how exactly they played
that game in the ancient times,

but back then, the losers
are sacrificed to the gods.

Yes!

That means I'm dead.

Romany:
I'm in the Yucatan peninsula,

the site of the former Mayan
city mayapan,

investigating the discovery
of hundreds of human remains

in a cenote.

Why were these bodies left
to rot in the main water supply?

We know that diseases
contributed

to the fall of the Maya.

I believe these bodies were
an orchestrated plot

to take down the city
by poisoning their water supply

as a part of a violent civil war
that raged at the time.

If this cenote also contains
human remains,

then it's evidence
that my theory might be true.

Romany: I'm still on land.
And...

Brad?

I just looked at the shallow
water side.

There's nothing there.

I'm gonna have to dive
the deep waters.

Let me know
what you see.

Understood.

Bradley.

Talk to me, ramy.
What do you got?

You are not going to believe
what I found down here.

Romany: As mayapan fell,
warring factions

violently tore each other apart.

I believe that they also used
biological warfare,

and this confirms that
my theory could be true.

Romany: Mass
burials down there.

It sounds like it's a very
similar situation to sac uayum.

Romany: All of these
cenotes are connected,

and if you control the water,
you control the city.

Of course, I'm excited
about any evidence

that could help support
an emerging new theory,

but the more I think
about those bones,

the more I think
about the Mayan empire.

How strong they were.

They built massive temples
and incredible cities.

It is very possible that
they also understood

the idea of biological warfare.

And that during this great
civil war,

it helped tear this city apart

and caused their empire
to collapse.