1 00:00:04,840 --> 00:00:08,580 An ancient desert covered in hundreds of pyramids. 2 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:15,060 A massive earthen hill hiding a sacred and deadly spring. 3 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:21,700 And a controversial discovery hidden deep beneath the Alaskan wilderness. 4 00:00:23,700 --> 00:00:30,060 For thousands of years, civilizations around the world built monumental 5 00:00:30,060 --> 00:00:36,570 structures made of stone and brick that we call pyramids. In Africa, Asia, 6 00:00:36,750 --> 00:00:41,650 Europe, and the Americas, ancient engineers created surprisingly similar 7 00:00:41,650 --> 00:00:47,470 constructions while having no knowledge of what other cultures were crafting. 8 00:00:47,930 --> 00:00:49,070 How is this possible? 9 00:00:50,230 --> 00:00:54,410 Were pyramids meant to be tombs or temples? 10 00:00:55,270 --> 00:00:59,310 Or was there a greater purpose to some of these incredible works? 11 00:01:01,230 --> 00:01:03,270 Well, that is what we'll try and find out. 12 00:01:18,990 --> 00:01:20,350 Cairo, Egypt. 13 00:01:22,130 --> 00:01:28,310 Towering over the limestone desert sands of the Giza Plateau stands the oldest of 14 00:01:28,310 --> 00:01:30,350 the seven wonders of the ancient world. 15 00:01:31,010 --> 00:01:37,830 It is called the Great Pyramid of Giza. Built in 2600 BC, the monolith 16 00:01:37,830 --> 00:01:42,570 is flanked by two smaller but equally colossal pyramid structures. 17 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:50,140 The Giza complex is a monumental achievement in ancient engineering and a 18 00:01:50,140 --> 00:01:55,580 marvel that has confounded scientists and researchers for centuries. 19 00:01:56,860 --> 00:02:01,760 The Great Pyramid on the Giza Plateau is an astonishing construction. 20 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:08,020 There's 2.3 million blocks of limestone in the structure itself. 21 00:02:08,340 --> 00:02:12,100 I mean, it takes an hour to walk around it, at least. 22 00:02:12,670 --> 00:02:18,710 But it's also the fact that you have these giant platforms, megalithic 23 00:02:18,710 --> 00:02:20,670 blocks, perfectly created. 24 00:02:21,910 --> 00:02:26,630 Inevitably, people want to ask how on earth a civilization thousands of years 25 00:02:26,630 --> 00:02:27,890 ago could have achieved this. 26 00:02:28,630 --> 00:02:35,070 The right angles of the corner are almost absolutely bang-on 90-degree 27 00:02:35,070 --> 00:02:41,010 angles. The length of the sides are almost perfectly equal on all four of 28 00:02:41,010 --> 00:02:42,010 them. 29 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:48,800 They are closer to perfect than would be required for modern buildings. It is 30 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:51,520 an unparalleled achievement. 31 00:02:52,640 --> 00:02:57,580 It's possible we'll never completely understand how the great pyramids were 32 00:02:57,580 --> 00:03:00,280 constructed with such remarkable precision. 33 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:06,760 But perhaps an even greater mystery is why were they built in the first place? 34 00:03:07,690 --> 00:03:12,270 The Great Pyramids of Giza are one of the great untold mysteries. 35 00:03:12,950 --> 00:03:18,590 We're not quite sure how they were used, but what we see today in the Pyramids of 36 00:03:18,590 --> 00:03:24,250 Giza are sort of the bones of these buildings in Egyptian antiquity. 37 00:03:24,450 --> 00:03:30,870 Pyramids of Giza were encased in white limestone and presumably 38 00:03:30,870 --> 00:03:32,070 polished. 39 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:38,380 And so during the daytime, you would have seen these sort of white mirror 40 00:03:38,380 --> 00:03:39,380 -like surfaces. 41 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:45,280 What we're missing is a limestone covering and a golden top piece. 42 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:51,740 But the pyramids themselves don't have any particular explanation of why they 43 00:03:51,740 --> 00:03:56,540 were built or the symbolic purposes of it. So part of the mystery is trying to 44 00:03:56,540 --> 00:03:58,920 figure out what is this thing. 45 00:03:59,860 --> 00:04:00,860 Ultimately... 46 00:04:01,310 --> 00:04:04,990 There are more questions than answers when it comes to the pyramids on the 47 00:04:04,990 --> 00:04:05,990 Giza Plateau. 48 00:04:06,050 --> 00:04:11,410 Some of them were used as tombs, but in my own opinion, that was a secondary 49 00:04:11,410 --> 00:04:12,950 function for many of them. 50 00:04:13,430 --> 00:04:18,890 If the Great Pyramids weren't strictly used as tombs, as most mainstream 51 00:04:18,890 --> 00:04:24,270 Egyptologists maintain, then what was their fundamental purpose? 52 00:04:27,030 --> 00:04:30,050 The Egyptian Museum, Cairo, Egypt. 53 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:35,680 This massive building houses the largest collection of ancient Egyptian 54 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:37,400 antiquities in the world. 55 00:04:38,020 --> 00:04:44,200 Among the many treasures is a 3,800-year-old capstone from the pyramid 56 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:50,680 of King Amenemhat III that some believe is connected to a mythical 57 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:55,540 Egyptian object known as the Benben Stone. 58 00:04:57,830 --> 00:05:03,350 In the Cairo Museum, there is a pyramidion, which is made of a beautiful 59 00:05:03,350 --> 00:05:10,050 black basaltic type of rock from a pyramid that seems to be 60 00:05:10,050 --> 00:05:16,370 our best representation of what the Ben Ben Stone was like, according to the 61 00:05:16,370 --> 00:05:23,110 ancient Egyptians. That Ben Ben Stone goes back to maybe 1850 or so BC, so 62 00:05:23,110 --> 00:05:27,190 it's not the original one, but it represents... 63 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:34,160 what the original one was in ancient dynastic egypt there was a literal 64 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:40,840 ben ben stone that ben ben stone has long been lost unfortunately but some 65 00:05:40,840 --> 00:05:47,460 people have suggested maybe it was a meteorite that was pyramidally shaped 66 00:05:47,460 --> 00:05:52,040 and by the ancient egyptians it has sacred power 67 00:05:55,280 --> 00:06:00,940 While some believe the original Benben stone was a meteorite, legends from 68 00:06:00,940 --> 00:06:05,580 ancient Egypt suggest it was a place of divine creation. 69 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:11,120 Egyptian mythology says that there were once just waters of chaos. 70 00:06:12,220 --> 00:06:18,480 And then what broke through the waters of chaos was an island in the shape of a 71 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:20,600 pyramid called the Benben. 72 00:06:21,900 --> 00:06:23,380 And it was here. 73 00:06:23,930 --> 00:06:29,590 that the sun god Ra came to Earth and began life. 74 00:06:30,350 --> 00:06:36,050 When they built the first pyramids, it seems that they were trying to recreate 75 00:06:36,050 --> 00:06:38,370 this Benben stone. 76 00:06:39,510 --> 00:06:44,510 Interestingly, on top of many of the early pyramids, they actually had a 77 00:06:44,510 --> 00:06:49,390 recreation of the Benben stone on top of them, a capstone, which was covered in 78 00:06:49,390 --> 00:06:51,610 electrum, which is a... 79 00:06:52,010 --> 00:06:55,550 alloy of gold and silver, so that it shone in the sunlight. 80 00:06:56,530 --> 00:07:03,390 All this showing that the pyramids are connected with the sun, and gaining the 81 00:07:03,390 --> 00:07:06,390 power of the sun, or the sun god, Ra. 82 00:07:08,450 --> 00:07:13,270 There's also these ideas that these Benben stars were actually some kind of 83 00:07:13,270 --> 00:07:14,510 power collector. 84 00:07:15,150 --> 00:07:17,430 Some people suggest they attract lightning. 85 00:07:18,110 --> 00:07:21,490 There's different ideas about this, but it has been suggested in Egyptian 86 00:07:21,490 --> 00:07:27,750 tradition that placing such a thing on top of a pyramid would almost be like 87 00:07:27,750 --> 00:07:32,390 connecting with the solar energy, but also connecting with the cosmos. 88 00:07:33,530 --> 00:07:37,550 Could the Great Pyramids have been some type of ancient power plant? 89 00:07:38,450 --> 00:07:44,450 Perhaps clues can be found in the 21st century research that presents an 90 00:07:44,450 --> 00:07:45,770 extraordinary plan. 91 00:07:48,970 --> 00:07:50,450 March 2025. 92 00:07:52,250 --> 00:07:57,750 After analyzing satellite data, a team of Italian scientists make an 93 00:07:57,750 --> 00:08:00,710 extraordinary, yet controversial announcement. 94 00:08:01,270 --> 00:08:07,730 They claim to have identified a vast underground complex extending 95 00:08:07,730 --> 00:08:10,430 beneath the Great Pyramids of Giza. 96 00:08:11,590 --> 00:08:14,050 One of the most fascinating... 97 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:18,320 discoveries that could potentially rewrite the history of egypt and the 98 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:23,240 world are the discoveries that have been made beneath the pyramids on the giza 99 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:29,340 platter now this is the work of the kafre research project using satellites 100 00:08:29,340 --> 00:08:34,020 to actually penetrate into the ground with a mix of other technologies what 101 00:08:34,020 --> 00:08:40,780 they claim to have found is a series of shafts going over 600 meters down into 102 00:08:40,780 --> 00:08:46,180 the ground Then there's these giant square chambers and many other chambers 103 00:08:46,180 --> 00:08:51,120 and many other systems across the entire Giza plateau, underneath all the 104 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:53,720 pyramids and even underneath the Sphinx as well. 105 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:58,980 They're now claiming that there's a whole veritable underground city beneath 106 00:08:58,980 --> 00:09:03,920 Giza. But then the question becomes, why did they do this? 107 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:08,640 And we can't obviously tell exactly what's down there until we fully 108 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:09,640 investigate. 109 00:09:10,190 --> 00:09:15,290 But it would seem that this influenced the positioning of the pyramids actually 110 00:09:15,290 --> 00:09:16,290 on the surface. 111 00:09:17,210 --> 00:09:22,050 Could there be an entire city hiding beneath the great pyramids of Giza? 112 00:09:22,610 --> 00:09:24,190 Only time will tell. 113 00:09:24,590 --> 00:09:31,410 And while Egypt's colossal creations are awe-inspiring, these remarkable 114 00:09:31,410 --> 00:09:37,750 structures represent a mere fraction of all the enigmatic pyramids found. 115 00:09:38,190 --> 00:09:41,170 on nearly every continent on Earth. 116 00:09:42,830 --> 00:09:46,210 Pyramids have captured our imagination just because of their sheer 117 00:09:46,210 --> 00:09:52,690 monumentality. The biggest of them are among the biggest buildings human beings 118 00:09:52,690 --> 00:09:53,750 have ever built. 119 00:09:54,010 --> 00:09:57,130 They are monumental, serious achievements. 120 00:09:57,950 --> 00:10:01,970 Very, very beautiful. That, to me, is absolutely awe-inspiring. 121 00:10:03,490 --> 00:10:06,110 Pyramids were built by different cultures. 122 00:10:06,790 --> 00:10:11,230 at different times with the earliest pyramids probably going back to the 123 00:10:11,230 --> 00:10:13,570 beginning of the third millennium BC. 124 00:10:14,030 --> 00:10:17,990 But I suppose the bigger question is why build pyramids? 125 00:10:18,190 --> 00:10:23,830 Was there some reason different cultures have done this all over the world for 126 00:10:23,830 --> 00:10:25,110 many thousands of years? 127 00:10:26,450 --> 00:10:28,270 We need to know. Why? 128 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:40,600 Among the ever-shifting fans of the Nile Valley stands a remarkable achievement. 129 00:10:41,460 --> 00:10:46,960 Hundreds of ancient pyramids that stretch about 150 miles across the 130 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:47,960 desert. 131 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:54,580 These UNESCO World Heritage Sites contain what are known as the Nubian 132 00:10:54,580 --> 00:10:55,580 Pyramids. 133 00:10:56,500 --> 00:11:01,400 What often surprises people is that there are more pyramids in Sudan than 134 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:02,400 there are in Egypt. 135 00:11:03,100 --> 00:11:05,700 more than 200 known structures. 136 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:13,320 Most of them are clustered around El Kourou, Nouri, and Meroe. A few are 137 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:16,680 found at Jebel Barkal, near the sacred mountain. 138 00:11:17,220 --> 00:11:23,800 These pyramids functioned as tombs for the dead, but also a statement 139 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:27,080 of authority and continuity in ancient Sudan. 140 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:33,600 Often there was an offering chapel placed At the front of these pyramids, 141 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:37,140 they had a distinct Nubian character to them. 142 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:43,460 What's really interesting about them is the fact that they're like solid stone 143 00:11:43,460 --> 00:11:47,480 constructions. They don't have any chambers within them, but they have 144 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:52,760 chambers deep underneath them where the kings and queens are said to have been 145 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:56,740 buried with staircases around the side of them leading down into them. 146 00:11:57,850 --> 00:12:04,070 Construction on the Nubian pyramids began around 750 B.C. and continued for 147 00:12:04,070 --> 00:12:05,190 about 1,100 years. 148 00:12:05,950 --> 00:12:11,890 These steep structures range from 20 to 100 feet tall and are made from a 149 00:12:11,890 --> 00:12:15,710 combination of sandstone, rubble, and mud bricks. 150 00:12:16,370 --> 00:12:23,050 And the mysterious lost civilization that made them is known as the Kingdom 151 00:12:23,050 --> 00:12:24,050 of Kush. 152 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:32,220 Kush was a kingdom to the south of Egypt. They seem to have been very much 153 00:12:32,220 --> 00:12:34,380 influenced by the Egyptians. 154 00:12:34,700 --> 00:12:41,180 It flourished from around the 8th century BC down to the 3rd or 4th 155 00:12:41,180 --> 00:12:42,220 century AD. 156 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:48,920 In that very early time, 8th century into the 7th century, Kush became 157 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:52,500 powerful enough to invade Egypt and take it over. 158 00:12:53,390 --> 00:13:00,290 A Kushite king took control of Egypt and made himself recognized as the 159 00:13:00,290 --> 00:13:04,990 pharaoh. He was able to maintain control of Egypt, and in fact his successors 160 00:13:04,990 --> 00:13:05,749 were as well. 161 00:13:05,750 --> 00:13:10,850 And this line of Nubian kings came to rule Egypt as the Egyptian 25th dynasty, 162 00:13:11,030 --> 00:13:15,330 and they remained in control for the best part of a century. 163 00:13:15,670 --> 00:13:19,030 But we don't understand in all the details exactly how this happened. 164 00:13:20,130 --> 00:13:24,320 As powerful as the kingdom of Kush once was, Much of their story remains 165 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:29,480 unknown, because scholars have yet to decipher their puzzling system of 166 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:32,380 writing, known as Meroitic. 167 00:13:33,260 --> 00:13:37,500 But some believe the key to understanding this mysterious kingdom 168 00:13:37,500 --> 00:13:42,320 could still be hiding beneath one of its pyramids. 169 00:13:45,500 --> 00:13:47,340 Nuri, Sudan, 2018. 170 00:13:48,410 --> 00:13:53,490 A team of scientists begin an unprecedented investigation of the 171 00:13:53,490 --> 00:14:00,170 ancient necropolis that consists of around 20 Nubian pyramids, including the 172 00:14:00,170 --> 00:14:06,570 pyramid of King Nastassin, the last Kushite king to be buried here in 315 173 00:14:06,570 --> 00:14:07,570 BC. 174 00:14:07,850 --> 00:14:12,510 King Nastassin reigned during a very interesting time of political 175 00:14:12,510 --> 00:14:18,280 transition. The fact that he was the last to be buried at Nuri And then the 176 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:23,720 Kushite capital was moved deeper in the desert. That makes his tomb an 177 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:27,880 interesting capsule of maybe what was happening during this time. 178 00:14:28,860 --> 00:14:35,860 The Nuri Archaeological Expedition began work in 2018 to start excavations 179 00:14:35,860 --> 00:14:39,540 at this massive 170-acre site. 180 00:14:39,980 --> 00:14:46,480 We had a possibility that there was an intact tomb for Nastassin. 181 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:51,500 And so I was brought on to work with the skeletal remains that may be found on 182 00:14:51,500 --> 00:14:52,500 site. 183 00:14:52,620 --> 00:14:57,280 Over the centuries, rising groundwater has left the three burial chambers of 184 00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:00,740 King Nastassin's pyramid completely flooded. 185 00:15:01,700 --> 00:15:08,040 To access the tomb, an experienced dive team was needed to explore the pristine 186 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:10,880 and unpredictable environment. 187 00:15:11,460 --> 00:15:16,060 The tomb of Nastassin has remained untouched from looters. 188 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:21,660 Due to it being flooded, the water has acted like a protector for the tomb. 189 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:25,980 No one's going to be able to swim and hold their breath and swim all the way 190 00:15:25,980 --> 00:15:28,400 into Chamber 3 and retrieve these objects. 191 00:15:28,740 --> 00:15:32,340 So it's kept them safe over the last 2,500 years. 192 00:15:34,060 --> 00:15:39,960 What wonders could the flooded pyramid of King Nastassin still hide below? 193 00:15:41,070 --> 00:15:46,490 In 2019, Justin Schneider became one of the first people in thousands of years 194 00:15:46,490 --> 00:15:49,570 to enter its unknown depth. 195 00:15:51,330 --> 00:15:56,790 The water in the front of the tomb is a brownish sand color from all of the 196 00:15:56,790 --> 00:16:00,370 outside sediment and all the rock falling into it. 197 00:16:01,870 --> 00:16:07,850 You come in through chamber one, which is a long hallway. Water goes all the 198 00:16:07,850 --> 00:16:08,850 way to the top. 199 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:14,080 Once you go into chamber two, you can actually put your face out of the water. 200 00:16:14,140 --> 00:16:16,460 You can see inside this tomb. 201 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:23,260 It was a little scary to see how much of the ceiling had collapsed. 202 00:16:23,540 --> 00:16:30,180 That chamber was pretty chaotic, but you could still make out the size and shape 203 00:16:30,180 --> 00:16:36,200 of that chamber. And we were finding shabtis, these small figures that have 204 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:37,280 hieroglyphics on them. 205 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:44,600 These little shakti figurines, they're these tiny doll-like carved statues. 206 00:16:44,940 --> 00:16:47,200 They are five to six inches. 207 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:52,120 They're made of clay. They're beautiful. They're ornate. Just touching the stuff, 208 00:16:52,260 --> 00:16:55,020 to touch history is incredible. 209 00:16:56,120 --> 00:17:01,500 While the team discovered a number of small artifacts, the real prize was 210 00:17:01,500 --> 00:17:05,280 believed to be inside the pyramid's third and final chamber. 211 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:12,339 Within the third burial chamber, while it was difficult to see, there was a 212 00:17:12,339 --> 00:17:19,240 large rectangular slab that was about in the middle of the chamber that we 213 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:24,319 would estimate to be either a sarcophagus or a burial bed. 214 00:17:25,420 --> 00:17:31,860 They're swimming through this water, this murkiness, and then finally getting 215 00:17:31,860 --> 00:17:33,780 to chamber three, the burial chamber. 216 00:17:34,460 --> 00:17:38,400 It was breathtaking to see what you know is a king's burial. 217 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:42,920 There is a pharaoh, there is a king buried inside of this. 218 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:46,060 It's a time capsule that's just waiting to be opened. 219 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:51,640 We just can't blatantly go in there and start digging. We have to figure out how 220 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:53,620 to take that out in order to be preserved. 221 00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:59,260 Unfortunately, before the team could enact a plan to safely open King 222 00:17:59,260 --> 00:18:02,600 Nastassian's sarcophagus, civil war. 223 00:18:03,230 --> 00:18:08,750 broke out in Sudan, and all excavations have since been halted. 224 00:18:09,070 --> 00:18:13,770 It is my hope that the political situation can be resolved. 225 00:18:14,230 --> 00:18:20,790 The Nubian pyramids are tantalizing clues to understand a path in the Nile 226 00:18:20,790 --> 00:18:25,010 Valley that has typically been overlooked when studying the ancient 227 00:18:25,010 --> 00:18:28,890 world. There is so much more to be discovered. 228 00:18:31,660 --> 00:18:36,220 It's fascinating to imagine the kingdom of Kush covered in more than 200 229 00:18:36,220 --> 00:18:37,220 pyramids. 230 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:44,500 But halfway across the globe, there is a massive structure that stands alone. 231 00:18:44,660 --> 00:18:47,280 It's the largest pyramid in the world. 232 00:18:47,500 --> 00:18:53,460 And for centuries, it was hidden in plain sight. 233 00:18:56,580 --> 00:18:57,880 Cholula, Mexico. 234 00:18:59,020 --> 00:19:03,680 In the shadow of an active volcano stands a massive grass-covered hill 235 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:08,060 crowned by an impressive 16th century Spanish church. 236 00:19:09,140 --> 00:19:15,580 And buried below hides something few would expect, the Great Pyramid of 237 00:19:15,580 --> 00:19:16,580 Cholula. 238 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:22,300 This is an interesting one. The Pyramid of Cholula, its name in Nahuatl means 239 00:19:22,300 --> 00:19:23,860 man-made mountain. 240 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:29,660 So there's already an acknowledgment that this thing is big, and this thing 241 00:19:29,660 --> 00:19:30,619 is really big. 242 00:19:30,620 --> 00:19:35,280 It is, in fact, contrary to many people's expectations, the largest 243 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:38,560 pyramid in the world. It's not the tallest. 244 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:45,500 The Great Pyramid of Giza is, in fact, taller, but by volume. The Pyramid of 245 00:19:45,500 --> 00:19:52,100 Tallulah is the largest pyramid that humans have ever constructed. 246 00:19:53,290 --> 00:19:59,990 Scientific archaeology really began in the late 1920s with the 247 00:19:59,990 --> 00:20:06,410 Proyecto Cholula, a project that was directed by Ignacio Marquina. And 248 00:20:06,410 --> 00:20:10,930 Marquina explored the pyramid through eight kilometers of tunnels that the 249 00:20:10,930 --> 00:20:16,670 archaeologists dug. These tunnels uncovered murals, and archaeologists 250 00:20:16,670 --> 00:20:20,890 discovered that there were actually multiple construction phases. 251 00:20:21,550 --> 00:20:26,450 So the pyramid is sort of a layer cake with platform that come out from the 252 00:20:26,450 --> 00:20:28,890 sides, all largely unexcavated. 253 00:20:30,110 --> 00:20:35,350 Today, walking through the tunnel, you absolutely get a sense of the weight of 254 00:20:35,350 --> 00:20:38,450 the pyramid above you because it is massive. 255 00:20:40,390 --> 00:20:43,530 The pyramid sorted out as a smaller pyramid. 256 00:20:43,810 --> 00:20:48,330 Later on, that got covered over by just sort of putting a new one on top of it. 257 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:52,400 And then that got covered over there, like eight or nine layers to this. And 258 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:54,240 over time, it got bigger and bigger and bigger. 259 00:20:54,580 --> 00:21:00,240 And then when the Aztecs took over, they had no idea how it got this big. And it 260 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:03,140 was just as much a mystery to the Aztecs as it was to us. 261 00:21:04,140 --> 00:21:07,760 Well, it's believed the pyramid was first constructed about 200 B.C. 262 00:21:08,140 --> 00:21:12,840 and later built upon by Mesoamerican cultures like the Olmecs and the 263 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:14,820 Toltecs, local legends. 264 00:21:15,690 --> 00:21:20,170 Describe the original builders as monumental in stature. 265 00:21:20,530 --> 00:21:25,270 One of the most fascinating traditions relating to the Pyramid of Cholula is 266 00:21:25,270 --> 00:21:27,510 that of the Quinomethian giant. 267 00:21:28,410 --> 00:21:33,950 This was this very ancient era going back potentially thousands of years. 268 00:21:34,350 --> 00:21:39,790 These giants, who were said to be up to 12 feet tall, constructed the Cholula 269 00:21:39,790 --> 00:21:43,010 Pyramid because it's so vast, so big. 270 00:21:43,870 --> 00:21:46,870 No one could imagine how any humans could have constructed it themselves. 271 00:21:48,070 --> 00:21:52,790 While it's intriguing to think that giants built the first iteration of the 272 00:21:52,790 --> 00:21:57,510 Great Pyramid of Cholula, the legend itself suggests that even centuries ago, 273 00:21:57,810 --> 00:22:04,790 the structure was only hard to explain, but also a place of profound ancient 274 00:22:04,790 --> 00:22:05,790 reverence. 275 00:22:06,570 --> 00:22:10,950 This has been a temple at every stage, so I think one of the things we see 276 00:22:10,950 --> 00:22:15,620 here... It's a recognition of the holiness or the sanctity of this place. 277 00:22:16,120 --> 00:22:21,660 That a temple followed by another temple followed by another temple being topped 278 00:22:21,660 --> 00:22:23,000 with a church. 279 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:30,240 In Cholula we see this unintentional collaborative process that builds upon 280 00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:34,460 the sanctity of this unbelievably holy place. 281 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:38,180 Cholula's importance to many Mesoamerican cultures. 282 00:22:38,830 --> 00:22:41,030 has led to another fundamental mystery. 283 00:22:41,990 --> 00:22:47,990 Why was the largest pyramid ever constructed hidden under piles of dirt? 284 00:22:48,270 --> 00:22:53,190 Some people suggest that it wasn't necessarily just abandoned. 285 00:22:53,900 --> 00:22:58,740 But the Aztecs and the indigenous people, knowing that the Spanish were 286 00:22:58,740 --> 00:23:03,720 coming to conquer them, they wanted to cover it up. So there's some suggestions 287 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:10,280 that they may have tried to plant plants on it, hide it, disguise it. By the time 288 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:14,660 the Spanish came, apparently they thought it was a natural hill. They did 289 00:23:14,660 --> 00:23:17,120 not recognize it as a pyramid. 290 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:23,240 Was the Great Pyramid of Choluda deliberately disguised to hide it? 291 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:25,260 from Spanish invaders? 292 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:30,460 And if so, what were its guardians compelled to protect? 293 00:23:31,780 --> 00:23:38,480 According to legend, right at the base of the Cholula Great Pyramid, there was 294 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:45,100 a natural spring, and it is seen as the waters of life emerging from the 295 00:23:45,100 --> 00:23:46,540 place of first creation. 296 00:23:47,260 --> 00:23:51,180 It was said that Cholula was built. 297 00:23:52,490 --> 00:23:58,750 Shortly after the time of a great flood, a deluge that had ended a previous world 298 00:23:58,750 --> 00:23:59,750 age. 299 00:23:59,910 --> 00:24:04,490 So, did this really happen? Is this a memory of some of the first people to 300 00:24:04,490 --> 00:24:08,030 create the earliest stages of this pyramid? 301 00:24:08,290 --> 00:24:09,530 Very possibly. 302 00:24:10,550 --> 00:24:14,970 Could the Great Pyramid of Cholula be built atop a powerful sacred spring? 303 00:24:16,050 --> 00:24:19,090 It's a belief that was still in existence in 1519. 304 00:24:20,170 --> 00:24:26,890 when Spanish invaders led by Hernan Cortes first reached the ancient city 305 00:24:26,890 --> 00:24:27,890 of Cholula. 306 00:24:29,170 --> 00:24:36,070 One of the myths from the time of the conquest was that the indigenous allies 307 00:24:36,070 --> 00:24:42,050 that were accompanying Cortes on the attack on Cholula were afraid of 308 00:24:42,050 --> 00:24:48,810 entering the city because they believed that anybody attacking Cholula would be 309 00:24:48,810 --> 00:24:52,650 washed away, when the pyramid burst forth with earthly waters. 310 00:24:53,190 --> 00:24:56,250 But we don't know. Chalk it up to a mystery. 311 00:24:57,230 --> 00:25:01,990 We don't know who built it. We don't know the details of their mythology or 312 00:25:01,990 --> 00:25:07,570 their cosmology. But we see this recognition of sacredness in this 313 00:25:07,570 --> 00:25:08,570 location. 314 00:25:09,530 --> 00:25:16,070 It's significant that what was built here at every stage was a temple. 315 00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:23,420 It's common knowledge that the Cholula Pyramid was built to be a sacred 316 00:25:23,420 --> 00:25:27,720 religious site and it successfully served that purpose for over a thousand 317 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:28,720 years. 318 00:25:28,860 --> 00:25:33,180 But the same cannot be said for a collection of rectangular pyramid-shaped 319 00:25:33,180 --> 00:25:39,500 structures found in the remote Canary Islands, whose very existence has 320 00:25:39,500 --> 00:25:42,160 baffled scientists for decades. 321 00:25:46,350 --> 00:25:48,050 Tenerife, the Canary Islands. 322 00:25:48,650 --> 00:25:53,630 More than 200 miles off the northwest coast of Africa, this remote island 323 00:25:53,630 --> 00:25:55,570 rises from the Atlantic Ocean. 324 00:25:56,230 --> 00:26:02,870 And here stand six enigmatic structures made of stacked volcanic stone 325 00:26:02,870 --> 00:26:06,650 known as the Steppe Pyramids of Guimar. 326 00:26:07,550 --> 00:26:11,630 These are pyramids that there's a lot of controversy about. 327 00:26:11,980 --> 00:26:16,900 People have suggested that these are very ancient pyramids, a very ancient 328 00:26:16,900 --> 00:26:17,900 site. 329 00:26:18,140 --> 00:26:22,940 So there's been a lot of mythology and speculation about them. 330 00:26:23,300 --> 00:26:26,340 Modern legends have developed about these pyramids. 331 00:26:26,740 --> 00:26:32,860 But these pyramids may only go back to the 19th century. They may be nothing 332 00:26:32,860 --> 00:26:38,640 more than the result of people clearing their fields and stacking them up and 333 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:40,140 making pyramids out of them. 334 00:26:41,100 --> 00:26:43,800 So just how old are these mysterious structures? 335 00:26:44,260 --> 00:26:48,520 Well, some believe the most compelling clue could be their connection to the 336 00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:52,280 summer solstice, the longest day of the year. 337 00:26:52,660 --> 00:26:59,660 These pyramids are perfectly aligned towards sunset at the time of 338 00:26:59,660 --> 00:27:01,100 the summer solstice. 339 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:08,000 And this was actually confirmed by archaeoastronomers under the leadership 340 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:09,760 of Juan Belmonte. 341 00:27:10,620 --> 00:27:12,800 who actually lived on the Canary Islands. 342 00:27:13,360 --> 00:27:19,720 So this is a very special phenomena, and it could be behind why these 343 00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:22,360 pyramids were constructed in the first place. 344 00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:27,360 Were the Guimar pyramids built to mark the summer solstice? 345 00:27:27,820 --> 00:27:32,420 If so, the theory that they were simply stacked by 19th century farmers after 346 00:27:32,420 --> 00:27:36,840 clearing their fields seems too simple an explanation. 347 00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:43,540 And more intriguingly, Some claim the pyramids on Tenerife share striking 348 00:27:43,540 --> 00:27:47,380 similarities to other pyramids around the world. 349 00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:54,320 There are other alignments to stars, exactly as we find in the Egyptian 350 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:59,200 pyramids, and we also find in the pyramids of Central America. 351 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:05,000 The native people who lived on Tenerife before the Spanish arrived in the 1500s 352 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:08,820 had seemingly been living in isolation for thousands of years. 353 00:28:09,500 --> 00:28:14,820 How could they possibly be building the same kind of things as people either 354 00:28:14,820 --> 00:28:18,280 side of the Atlantic, unless there was some connection between them? 355 00:28:19,140 --> 00:28:23,880 Are the pyramids of Guimar connected to other pyramids around the world? 356 00:28:24,780 --> 00:28:30,180 Well, according to one world-famous explorer, the link could be more 357 00:28:30,180 --> 00:28:32,840 significant than we've imagined. 358 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:40,980 Thor Heyerdahl was a Norwegian explorer who was most famous for his Contiki 359 00:28:40,980 --> 00:28:47,800 voyage, which aimed to show that people could use quite simple rafts to conduct 360 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:49,760 long-distance sea travel. 361 00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:55,500 Heyerdahl travelled to Tenerife in the 1990s and was particularly intrigued by 362 00:28:55,500 --> 00:29:02,220 the idea that ancient navigators would have had a very good understanding of 363 00:29:02,220 --> 00:29:04,120 the stars to help them navigate. 364 00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:10,820 and that as they travel, ideas would be spread around geographically. 365 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:16,640 So mapping that theory onto the pyramids of Weimar, Heyerdahl thought, well, if 366 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:21,240 there are pyramids here in the Canary Islands, which is between Europe, 367 00:29:21,420 --> 00:29:26,920 Africa, and the Atlantic Ocean, why can't there have been this sort of cross 368 00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:29,700 -pollination of ideas around the world? 369 00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:37,180 share their knowledge throughout the ancient world, across vast oceans? 370 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:43,120 It's a fascinating theory that may suggest that the pyramids of Guamar 371 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:49,020 really were constructed in antiquity by the original inhabitants of the Canary 372 00:29:49,020 --> 00:29:53,380 Islands, a now extinct culture known as the Guanche. 373 00:29:55,100 --> 00:29:59,700 The Guanche are indigenous people to the Canary Islands. 374 00:30:00,350 --> 00:30:02,750 They're very mysterious on many levels. 375 00:30:03,250 --> 00:30:08,870 Modern scholarship suggests that they actually are an offshoot from North 376 00:30:08,870 --> 00:30:15,290 Africa that got to the islands in the first millennium BCE, living there 377 00:30:15,290 --> 00:30:21,510 until the Spanish ultimately conquered the Canary Islands in the 15th century. 378 00:30:22,290 --> 00:30:24,610 The Guanche had... 379 00:30:24,830 --> 00:30:28,610 A lot of what appears to have been advanced knowledge in terms of 380 00:30:28,610 --> 00:30:32,250 mummification and the rituals they carried out. 381 00:30:32,590 --> 00:30:39,170 They lived in caves and stone huts. But there's this whole modern, should we 382 00:30:39,170 --> 00:30:45,190 say, hypotheses and legends and suggestions that somehow they were 383 00:30:45,190 --> 00:30:52,070 descendants of Atlantis, a legendary civilization that was decimated 384 00:30:52,070 --> 00:30:53,250 by natural events. 385 00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:57,860 Bottom line is the Guanche are a real mystery. 386 00:30:58,060 --> 00:31:00,140 There is something that needs more study. 387 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:02,340 Absolutely fascinating. 388 00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:07,900 Could the early inhabitants of the Canary Islands have some connection to 389 00:31:07,900 --> 00:31:09,420 the mythical island of Atlantis? 390 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:15,840 It's fantastic to consider. But more importantly, were the Guanche people 391 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:21,800 once part of a network responsible for the proliferation of pyramids around the 392 00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:22,800 world? 393 00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:27,680 The builders of these pyramids on Tenerife were pretty sophisticated. 394 00:31:28,340 --> 00:31:33,600 They were building these quite elaborate blackstone constructions. They were 395 00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:37,880 aligning them to specific movements of the sun and the stars as well. 396 00:31:38,260 --> 00:31:42,780 It does appear that there was a common architectural language being spread 397 00:31:42,780 --> 00:31:45,000 across the world in ancient times. 398 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:51,840 We find very similar pyramid styles in all these different places, often step 399 00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:57,440 pyramids. It was almost like an ancient code being embedded within these 400 00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:01,360 permanent structures in all these different parts of the world. 401 00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:08,640 So this gets into the argument of, was there knowledge being passed around? We 402 00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:12,380 don't know. There's just a lot of mysteries about pyramids when it comes 403 00:32:12,380 --> 00:32:13,380 right down to it. 404 00:32:14,820 --> 00:32:18,920 Could the astrological alignments found at the Canary Island structures 405 00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:24,060 be evidence of a universal pyramid code spread around the world? 406 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:26,540 Perhaps time will tell. 407 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:30,900 Which may also be the case for a controversial claim that a powerful 408 00:32:30,900 --> 00:32:36,740 pyramid lies hundreds of feet below the Alaskan tundra. 409 00:32:39,580 --> 00:32:40,580 Alaska. 410 00:32:41,060 --> 00:32:47,240 With over 57 million acres of designated wilderness, which is more than all other 411 00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:48,260 U.S. states combined, 412 00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:55,220 And with civilization found in less than 1% of its total landmass, there have 413 00:32:55,220 --> 00:32:59,680 been many claims as to what's hiding in this remote frontier. 414 00:32:59,980 --> 00:33:05,440 But perhaps one of the strangest tales revolves around an alleged dark pyramid, 415 00:33:05,800 --> 00:33:09,760 obscured beneath Alaska's frozen wasteland. 416 00:33:10,570 --> 00:33:16,850 The Dark Pyramid is a presumed pyramid that is hidden under the 417 00:33:16,850 --> 00:33:20,510 ice and tundra of remote areas of Alaska. 418 00:33:21,030 --> 00:33:26,770 This pyramid is near Mount Denali in the heart of what's known as the Alaska 419 00:33:26,770 --> 00:33:32,630 Triangle. The Alaska Triangle is a very anomalous area which stretches from 420 00:33:32,630 --> 00:33:37,390 Juneau in the south to Anchorage in the middle and Yukiovic at the top, formerly 421 00:33:37,390 --> 00:33:42,530 Barrow. And it's much like its namesake, the Bermuda Triangle, in which there's a 422 00:33:42,530 --> 00:33:47,890 lot of strange activity that happens in this area with the dark pyramid right at 423 00:33:47,890 --> 00:33:48,890 the heart of it. 424 00:33:50,010 --> 00:33:54,830 If a pyramid is hiding beneath the ice in one of the most remote regions of 425 00:33:54,830 --> 00:33:58,830 Alaska, how would we even know about it in the first place? 426 00:34:00,010 --> 00:34:04,730 Well, according to the story, it was detected in 1992. 427 00:34:05,450 --> 00:34:11,150 when China was testing weapons of mass destruction beneath a dry lake bed known 428 00:34:11,150 --> 00:34:12,449 as Lop Nur. 429 00:34:14,510 --> 00:34:21,070 In 1992, the Chinese government initiated underground nuclear testing. 430 00:34:21,409 --> 00:34:27,790 The United States knew about this. Our geologists set up a bunch of seismic 431 00:34:27,790 --> 00:34:28,790 equipment. 432 00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:33,460 to be able to detect the shock waves from this explosion. 433 00:34:33,679 --> 00:34:39,120 And when that explosion occurred and the seismic equipment was going off, they 434 00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:45,219 discovered this strange pyramidal shape near Mount Denali in Alaska. 435 00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:52,000 To this day, no public record has confirmed the discovery of a buried 436 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:53,139 pyramid beneath Alaska. 437 00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:57,700 But some are convinced that the lack of evidence... 438 00:34:58,010 --> 00:34:59,070 is purely intentional. 439 00:35:00,410 --> 00:35:05,650 Because it's said that when news of the Dark Pyramid was released, it was 440 00:35:05,650 --> 00:35:07,370 immediately covered up. 441 00:35:07,890 --> 00:35:12,810 It was broadcast on the local news, Anchorage Channel 13, that this had been 442 00:35:12,810 --> 00:35:18,110 discovered. And there was a young service member, Doug Butchler, in the 443 00:35:18,110 --> 00:35:21,090 Army who saw this particular broadcast. 444 00:35:22,190 --> 00:35:24,130 And he was so fascinated by this. 445 00:35:25,420 --> 00:35:31,520 Doug Mutchler worked in counterintelligence for the Army in Fort 446 00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:32,940 Richardson in Anchorage. 447 00:35:33,220 --> 00:35:38,900 That particular night, there were 40 guys, and they're watching Channel 13, 448 00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:44,980 and it shows a pyramid structure underneath the ground in Alaska. 449 00:35:45,720 --> 00:35:52,340 So he approaches the general manager at Channel 13. The general manager said, I 450 00:35:52,340 --> 00:35:53,620 don't know what you're talking about. 451 00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:59,600 And Doug said he started arguing with the general manager. I was with 39 other 452 00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:03,960 guys, 40 of us. We watched this. And the general manager said, well, you are 453 00:36:03,960 --> 00:36:04,960 mistaken. 454 00:36:05,200 --> 00:36:11,780 Doug turns around to leave, and coming around a corner is a man who took hold 455 00:36:11,780 --> 00:36:14,660 of his arm and says, I know what you're talking about. 456 00:36:14,900 --> 00:36:21,220 Yes, we have that film, but we have been told that we are not. 457 00:36:21,690 --> 00:36:24,230 to broadcast it or talk about it anymore. 458 00:36:26,210 --> 00:36:30,330 Was the story of the dark pyramid deliberately buried? 459 00:36:30,790 --> 00:36:32,930 And if so, why? 460 00:36:33,950 --> 00:36:39,310 For some, the answer is simple. The dark pyramid isn't really a structure at all, 461 00:36:39,370 --> 00:36:44,970 but a 550-foot-tall, top-secret machine. 462 00:36:46,050 --> 00:36:48,830 There are a few different theories about the dark pyramid. 463 00:36:49,390 --> 00:36:55,190 One is that it was some sort of ancient power plant that has been hidden under 464 00:36:55,190 --> 00:36:56,570 the surface of Alaska. 465 00:36:58,370 --> 00:37:04,610 When we look at the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the suggested ideas of what 466 00:37:04,610 --> 00:37:07,930 it was was a possible ancient power plant. 467 00:37:08,150 --> 00:37:12,670 Now, the Dark Pyramid is supposed to be taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza, 468 00:37:12,830 --> 00:37:17,510 so how much more energy than the Great Pyramid of Giza? 469 00:37:17,930 --> 00:37:19,610 Could this dark pyramid be harnessing? 470 00:37:20,950 --> 00:37:27,830 Why would a 550-foot solid black pyramid be underground? 471 00:37:28,810 --> 00:37:34,370 What is it doing in the backcountry of Alaska, and how long has it been there? 472 00:37:35,470 --> 00:37:39,330 I think there's no question the government of the United States didn't 473 00:37:39,330 --> 00:37:44,430 want anybody to know anything about this dark pyramid. Did they know about the 474 00:37:44,430 --> 00:37:49,390 pyramid before the 1992 Lop Nor bomb test? 475 00:37:49,770 --> 00:37:51,230 Oh, I think so. 476 00:37:55,390 --> 00:37:57,170 Mars, 1972. 477 00:37:58,490 --> 00:38:03,250 As NASA's Mariner 9 spacecraft photographs the red planet, 478 00:38:04,330 --> 00:38:08,870 It captures something unusual in a region called Elysium. 479 00:38:10,030 --> 00:38:15,250 Formations that appear at least from orbit to resemble pyramids. 480 00:38:16,090 --> 00:38:20,770 One of the images that they took in the Elysium area of Mars actually showed 481 00:38:20,770 --> 00:38:23,290 what appeared to be three-sided pyramids. 482 00:38:23,890 --> 00:38:28,830 They were noticed by a scientist by the name of Mac Gibson. 483 00:38:29,490 --> 00:38:33,110 He actually had a science paper published in Icarus Journal. 484 00:38:33,500 --> 00:38:35,960 titled Pyramidal Structures on Mars. 485 00:38:36,260 --> 00:38:39,200 So early on, there was a lot of scientific investigation. 486 00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:43,080 Real scientists were looking at Mars, saying, oh, possibly there's structures 487 00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:44,840 here, structures that look artificial. 488 00:38:45,600 --> 00:38:49,180 Could there actually be artificial pyramids on Mars? 489 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:56,400 Well, it sounds far-fetched. In 1976, NASA's Viking 1 orbiter photographed yet 490 00:38:56,400 --> 00:39:00,340 another strange formation that researchers named... 491 00:39:01,120 --> 00:39:03,200 The DandM Pyramid. 492 00:39:03,780 --> 00:39:09,980 The DandM Pyramid looks like a five-sided pyramid, which is unusual unto itself. 493 00:39:10,140 --> 00:39:15,500 Other pyramids in Martian photographs look like they have three sides. But 494 00:39:15,500 --> 00:39:20,200 people made claims these must be artificial structures that came from 495 00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:23,420 some, you know, civilization on Mars. 496 00:39:23,720 --> 00:39:27,420 And I'm not opposed to the possibility of there being... 497 00:39:27,720 --> 00:39:32,900 extraterrestrial sophisticated civilizations, but we have to be very 498 00:39:32,900 --> 00:39:36,240 careful when we think we see artificial pyramids. 499 00:39:37,740 --> 00:39:44,380 Nature also forms pyramids and pyramidal-type structures. You can 500 00:39:44,380 --> 00:39:51,160 have symmetry in nature. As a geologist, I see symmetry all the time. What are 501 00:39:51,160 --> 00:39:52,920 some of the most symmetrical things? 502 00:39:53,140 --> 00:39:54,140 A pyramid. 503 00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:59,200 Without visiting the red planet ourselves for a closer look, it's 504 00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:03,660 impossible to know whether the alleged pyramids on Mars are just natural 505 00:40:03,660 --> 00:40:06,720 formations or artificial constructions. 506 00:40:07,460 --> 00:40:12,700 But with so many mysterious pyramids that continue to fascinate us right here 507 00:40:12,700 --> 00:40:18,140 on Earth, perhaps it's simply part of human nature to become enamored with 508 00:40:18,140 --> 00:40:21,840 these iconic, awe-inspiring structures. 509 00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:26,340 Humans have always wanted to build the biggest thing that lasts for the 510 00:40:26,340 --> 00:40:32,360 longest. So if you're an ancient culture, this is a pyramid because you 511 00:40:32,360 --> 00:40:35,520 have the stable structure, which allows you to build quite high. 512 00:40:36,620 --> 00:40:42,120 I therefore think that the fact you have pyramids in Mesoamerica, in the Canary 513 00:40:42,120 --> 00:40:47,100 Islands, and in Egypt, is just a reflection of how different cultures 514 00:40:47,100 --> 00:40:50,540 come up with similar solutions to similar problems. 515 00:40:51,100 --> 00:40:54,520 How do we build high? How do we build big? A pyramid is your answer. 516 00:40:56,080 --> 00:40:59,060 Each of these things that we call pyramids has a code. 517 00:40:59,600 --> 00:41:03,920 Whether we understand that code or not, that's part of what scholarship is 518 00:41:03,920 --> 00:41:05,240 trying to sort of figure out. 519 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:09,720 How were these places used? And that's the stuff that scholarship is made of. 520 00:41:10,480 --> 00:41:15,600 But whether we know the code or not, that's another question. 521 00:41:18,190 --> 00:41:21,090 Could pyramids really exist on other planets? 522 00:41:22,230 --> 00:41:23,390 Who knows? 523 00:41:24,030 --> 00:41:29,550 For now, it's the remarkable structures we have here on Earth that continue to 524 00:41:29,550 --> 00:41:33,430 captivate us and challenge our understanding of human history. 525 00:41:33,630 --> 00:41:39,510 The Giza Plateau may be the best-known pyramid complex, but it's only one 526 00:41:39,510 --> 00:41:42,070 example of this extraordinary engineering. 527 00:41:42,860 --> 00:41:49,600 found all around the world. Will we ever know how and why some pyramids were 528 00:41:49,600 --> 00:41:54,560 built? The secrets surrounding these mysterious structures are innumerable 529 00:41:54,560 --> 00:41:59,160 and may forever remain unexplained.