1
00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:09,920
[pensive music playing]
2
00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:14,360
[Graham] These enormous structures
in the Amazon
3
00:00:16,080 --> 00:00:18,320
speak to a monumental human endeavor.
4
00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:20,040
[dramatic sting]
5
00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:24,160
But how many of them are there?
6
00:00:24,240 --> 00:00:26,240
[pensive music continues]
7
00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:28,480
Tell us what you found.
8
00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:31,480
- [Fabio] You see the trees?
- [Graham] Yeah.
9
00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:34,600
- [Fabio] And now the terrain.
- [Pärssinen] Now we take it down.
10
00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:35,800
Wow.
11
00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:38,000
- Wow.
- Incredible.
12
00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:40,080
[pensive music continues]
13
00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:46,360
[Graham] Professor Pärssinen and the team
have found nine new geoglyphs
14
00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:48,720
that were hidden
beneath the jungle canopy.
15
00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:50,800
[electronic warble]
16
00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:57,600
Here we have round octagonal.
17
00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:01,840
This octagon, it's about 100 meters.
18
00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:03,176
- Yeah.
- 100 meters in diameter.
19
00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:04,080
Diameter.
20
00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:08,280
Incredible. And nobody knew it was there
until you got up there with your LiDAR.
21
00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:09,720
Nobody knew about this.
22
00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:12,840
Yeah. It's incredible
what this technology can reveal.
23
00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:15,200
Let's move up
and look at this interesting feature.
24
00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:18,440
[electronic warble]
25
00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:20,760
[Graham] These two nearly overlap
26
00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:25,640
and appear to be connected,
perhaps to other sites.
27
00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:31,080
This is road
with embankments on both sides.
28
00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:32,920
- An ancient road?
- Ancient road, yes.
29
00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:35,360
Leading to the large embankment square.
30
00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:37,120
- Yes.
- Stunning.
31
00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:42,480
[Graham] If these geoglyphs were built
at the same time as others nearby,
32
00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:46,040
the roads suggest
an organized civilization thrived here
33
00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:50,400
at least 2,500 years ago.
34
00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:54,480
And there's evidence
they might've been around
35
00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:56,200
for very much longer.
36
00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:03,200
We found that many of these sites
have been established
37
00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:04,840
already 10,000 years ago.
38
00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:10,680
[Graham] We can't be sure
whether we're looking at
39
00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:13,120
reconstructions of much older geoglyphs.
40
00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:17,720
But what we do know is that
human beings were present in that area.
41
00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:21,760
And that evidence goes back
more than 10,000 years, uh, into the past
42
00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:24,360
and brings us very close
to the end of the last Ice Age.
43
00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:27,520
However old they may be,
44
00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:30,840
the scale of the enterprise
is truly astonishing.
45
00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:34,000
So this raises the question,
46
00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:36,800
how many people would it take
to do something like this?
47
00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:39,560
We speak, uh, about hundreds of thousands.
48
00:02:39,640 --> 00:02:42,160
Yes. Literally hundreds
of thousands of inhabitants.
49
00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:43,760
Amazing.
50
00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:47,480
[Graham] Professor Pärsinnen
isn't suggesting
51
00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:50,200
all of those people physically built
the geoglyphs.
52
00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:55,760
But a population that size
must have existed here long-term
53
00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:59,520
to both provide for and support
the necessary workforce.
54
00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:01,960
[birds chirping]
55
00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:05,960
Within a few hundred meters
of known geoglyphs,
56
00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:09,760
our LiDAR team were finding more geoglyphs
that nobody even knew about.
57
00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:13,120
So what on earth can we expect to discover
58
00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:16,440
if we go hundreds of miles
into that dense rainforest?
59
00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:18,640
[triumphant music playing]
60
00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:23,320
This has changed totally
our understanding of Amazonia.
61
00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:25,280
We're dealing with a huge phenomenon here,
62
00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,040
which has to change
the history of the Americas
63
00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:30,000
and changing the history of the world.
64
00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:31,080
[Pärssinen chuckles]
65
00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:34,440
[triumphant music ends]
66
00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:37,880
[theme song playing]
67
00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:45,440
[theme song ends]
68
00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:47,520
{an8}- [thunder rumbling]
- [electronic warble]
69
00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:50,560
{an8}[suspenseful music playing]
70
00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:03,480
We can't possibly begin to tell
the story of the Americas
71
00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:08,840
until we have much more complete knowledge
of what was going on in the Amazon...
72
00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:16,080
not 1,000 years ago, but 10,000 years ago,
20,000 years ago, 30,000 years ago.
73
00:04:18,840 --> 00:04:20,120
We need to keep going back.
74
00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:23,800
We need not to close our minds
to these possibilities.
75
00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:27,720
[tense music continues]
76
00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,120
And there's tantalizing evidence
of that deeper history
77
00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:33,480
1,000 miles northeast of Acre.
78
00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:38,320
I've come to
the Monte Alegre National Park
79
00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:40,120
on the north bank of the Amazon.
80
00:04:45,280 --> 00:04:49,040
Although much of the Amazon basin is flat
and cloaked in trees,
81
00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:55,680
here, distinctive rocky outcrops
tower over the canopy.
82
00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:00,960
Archaeologist and anthropologist
Dr. Christopher Davis
83
00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:05,480
has spent years investigating
a potentially history-changing discovery
84
00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:07,560
high on one of these ridges.
85
00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:09,640
[menacing music playing]
86
00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:15,680
This is Serra do Paituna...
87
00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:19,800
hill of the Blackwater Lake...
88
00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:25,960
a towering rocky crag adorned with
89
00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:28,800
an array of seemingly ancient
painted images.
90
00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:31,760
[menacing music continues]
91
00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:40,880
Thank you for leading the way.
92
00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:45,440
[music ends]
93
00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:50,440
[Graham] We're obviously surrounded
by just this amazing art here.
94
00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:53,880
What led you to this investigation
and this exploration?
95
00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:57,560
{an8}I started doing archeology,
um, as a graduate student.
96
00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:01,680
And I had no idea
that there was rock art in the Americas.
97
00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:03,800
And so I was blown away by that.
98
00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:05,880
[mysterious music playing]
99
00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:08,960
[Graham] The images are known
as pictographs.
100
00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:15,440
Some are very simple.
101
00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:18,040
Maybe a serpent slithering
across the rock.
102
00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:23,240
Others depict
more complex geometric patterns.
103
00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:30,160
The big question is
when were these images painted?
104
00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:33,720
[music intensifies]
105
00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:35,680
The art itself can't be dated.
106
00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,280
So Dr. Davis and his team
looked for other evidence.
107
00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:43,920
What's your dating
of this site based on at the moment?
108
00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:46,320
It's from the excavation
that we did back behind here.
109
00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:53,800
There were fragments of carbonated wood,
mostly palm wood, some carbonated seeds.
110
00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:56,440
We found evidence of a fire
back there as well.
111
00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:00,320
[Graham] The results were
truly unexpected.
112
00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:05,080
[Dr. Davis] From the radiocarbon dating,
113
00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:09,840
the oldest dates that we got
were about 13,200 before present.
114
00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:11,280
Fascinating.
115
00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:16,440
Dating back more than 13,000 years,
116
00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:20,320
we're looking at
some of the oldest artwork
117
00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:22,400
found anywhere in the Americas.
118
00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:31,600
Artwork created during the last Ice Age.
119
00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:36,680
By people, we're told,
who just suddenly appeared here
120
00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:39,160
deep in the Amazon wilderness.
121
00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:41,240
[triumphant music playing]
122
00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:44,800
You can imagine, you know,
thousands of years ago,
123
00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:47,400
this would've been much brighter,
much more vibrant.
124
00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:50,160
[camera shutter clicks]
125
00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:52,240
[tense music playing]
126
00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:57,640
[Graham] The images were painted
using red and yellow ocher
127
00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:01,720
and seemingly treated to make them last.
128
00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:05,720
[tense music ends]
129
00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:08,320
I've done experiments here
where you just take the ocher
130
00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:11,040
and draw it on the rock,
and it washes away.
131
00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:12,560
Right. So there has to be a binder.
132
00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:15,000
There has to be a binder
and a very good one.
133
00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:17,880
- We suspect they mixed it with tree resin...
- Uh-huh.
134
00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:22,040
...and the resin forms into
almost like amber but it's kind of clear.
135
00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:25,320
[Graham] So that suggests
those who created these paintings had,
136
00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:29,160
first of all, experience
in how to do paintings like this,
137
00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:32,240
and they developed some knowledge
of how to make the paint last.
138
00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:37,400
Absolutely. Um, and in addition to that,
it shows preparation and time.
139
00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:40,440
[tense music playing]
140
00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:43,800
[Graham] Most compelling to me
are the many handprints...
141
00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:53,120
that intimate human contact expressed
by the handprints in the rock art.
142
00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:59,960
It's almost as though
they were touching the wall,
143
00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:03,000
and through the wall, touching us,
144
00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:04,960
sending a message to the future.
145
00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:07,840
{an8}[tense music crescendos, stops]
146
00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:13,000
{an8}[tense music playing]
147
00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:16,560
{an8}[Graham] More Paleolithic art
has been found in the Western Amazon.
148
00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:20,360
Like this intricate mural
in the jungles of Colombia,
149
00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:25,120
where 12,600-year-old images depict humans
150
00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:28,200
alongside what appear to be
creatures of the Ice Age.
151
00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:30,960
[tense music intensifies]
152
00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:35,000
{an8}We are seeing an eyewitness account
of the coexistence of human beings
153
00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:38,040
with now long-extinct Ice Age megafauna.
154
00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:44,720
{an8}And to the east of the Amazon,
these paintings push the date back further
155
00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:48,040
to more than 25,000 years ago.
156
00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:51,120
[tense music continues]
157
00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:55,480
Which means 2,000 years before
those hunter-gatherers were walking
158
00:09:55,560 --> 00:09:57,560
the White Sands of New Mexico,
159
00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:02,320
there were other people already living
in the forests of South America
160
00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:04,400
creating art like this.
161
00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:06,720
And in great numbers.
162
00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:10,760
[tense music crescendos, subsides]
163
00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:13,280
This should open up exploration
164
00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:17,120
of what those human beings
might have been doing in the Americas
165
00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:19,280
over these tens of thousands of years
166
00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:21,080
that archaeologists
previously didn't think
167
00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:22,920
there were any human beings there at all.
168
00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:25,000
[intriguing music playing]
169
00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:30,400
[Graham] At Serra do Paituna,
Dr. Davis is sure of one thing.
170
00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:35,040
Whoever they were
and whatever they were doing,
171
00:10:35,560 --> 00:10:38,920
the rock painters here suddenly stopped.
172
00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:43,120
[Dr. Davis] So the first people
who were at this region, they were here,
173
00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:46,840
they were doing the art,
and then about 12,700 years ago,
174
00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:47,840
they were gone.
175
00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:50,560
So was the area abandoned at that time?
176
00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:51,920
[Dr. Davis] It appears to be so.
177
00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:54,080
For quite some time.
For thousands of years.
178
00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:59,000
[Graham] To me, 12,700 years ago
is a highly significant date.
179
00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:02,760
There's always margins of error in dates.
180
00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:08,360
But that's very close to the beginning
of the Younger Dryas climate anomaly.
181
00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:10,680
So I can't help wondering
if there's a connection.
182
00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:13,080
[music intensifies]
183
00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:16,120
[Graham] Back then,
temperatures suddenly plunged,
184
00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:20,800
while unexpectedly,
fires raged across the planet.
185
00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:23,320
[fire crackling]
186
00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:24,560
And sea levels rose.
187
00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:30,600
[music ends]
188
00:11:30,680 --> 00:11:32,640
[birds chirping]
189
00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:35,800
We can hear echoes
of this catastrophic epoch...
190
00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:37,880
[pensive music playing]
191
00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:40,800
...in the oral traditions of Amazonia.
192
00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:42,120
[birds chirping]
193
00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:47,280
There are countless myths and legends
about an ancient cataclysm
194
00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:49,360
that are still told all across the Amazon.
195
00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:53,120
And there's one
that I find particularly intriguing.
196
00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:57,600
[dramatic music playing]
197
00:11:57,680 --> 00:12:00,400
[Graham] According to
the Indigenous Tiriyó people,
198
00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:03,800
long ago, the sky spirits told a shaman
199
00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:06,480
that a terrible flood
would soon be unleashed,
200
00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:08,920
a punishment for the people's wickedness.
201
00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:14,760
Some heeded his warning
and fled to safety atop Mount Kantani.
202
00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:16,840
[people screaming]
203
00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:20,400
But most perished in the deluge.
204
00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:27,400
Eventually, the flood receded,
leaving the survivors to start over.
205
00:12:30,680 --> 00:12:33,320
[music ends]
206
00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:36,960
It is a worldwide tradition.
There was a golden age.
207
00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:41,040
There was a time when humans lived
in harmony with one another.
208
00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:43,960
But that it somehow fell
from its high standards,
209
00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:47,800
and it was punished with a great flood,
with a global destruction,
210
00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:49,920
which wiped it from the face of the Earth.
211
00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:51,440
[tense music playing]
212
00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:56,080
[Graham] The global distribution of
this shared myth can't be a coincidence.
213
00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:01,880
I believe these ancient stories may be
our last surviving memories
214
00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:05,000
of very real events
that occurred all over the world
215
00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:06,920
around the end of the Ice Age,
216
00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:09,040
during a period of cataclysms
217
00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:11,560
that we've been calling
the Ancient Apocalypse.
218
00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:12,680
[thunder rumbling]
219
00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:21,280
[tense music ends]
220
00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:23,200
[thunder rumbling]
221
00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:25,280
[menacing music playing]
222
00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:29,840
The evidence is mounting more and more
223
00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:33,800
that the Earth crossed the path
of cometary debris.
224
00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:37,600
And the argument is that
it was multiple impacts of fragments
225
00:13:37,680 --> 00:13:43,560
of this cometary debris that set off
the Younger Dryas climate emergency
226
00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:45,280
12,800 years ago.
227
00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:47,840
[menacing music continues]
228
00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:56,040
[Graham] It's an idea we keep encountering
229
00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:59,160
called the Younger Dryas
Impact Hypothesis.
230
00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:04,280
In both the Southern
and Northern Hemispheres,
231
00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:07,440
{an8}scientists have found
black matte layers like this one,
232
00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:10,680
{an8}showing traces of nanodiamonds,
platinum, and iridium,
233
00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:13,720
suggesting a nearby cosmic impact
or airburst.
234
00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,160
But here, in the Amazon,
other evidence might be present,
235
00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:19,800
etched into these walls.
236
00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:25,440
[menacing music ends]
237
00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:28,080
We have several images of comets,
238
00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:30,160
but one panel particularly,
239
00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:36,080
there's a comet
that is positioned facing upward.
240
00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:38,240
The tail is going down.
The head is going up.
241
00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:39,240
[Graham] Yeah.
242
00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:42,440
Above the comet image
is a painting of the sun.
243
00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:48,000
And this was baffling when I first saw it
because normally you wouldn't see a comet
244
00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:49,520
until after the sun sets.
245
00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:54,240
[Graham] Most comets are
easily distinguishable by their tails,
246
00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:59,320
usually only visible above
the setting sun streaming away from it.
247
00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:05,200
Surely it would be impossible to see
a comet below the sun in broad daylight.
248
00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:11,840
So that gave me the idea, "When would you
possibly see a comet head up
249
00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:13,160
before the sun sets?"
250
00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:16,000
- Maybe during an eclipse.
- Mm-hmm.
251
00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:19,760
And so I started looking
in astronomy software,
252
00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:25,520
and there was an eclipse that occurred
facing that image about 13,027 years ago.
253
00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:26,520
[Graham] Right.
254
00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:30,840
[Dr. Davis] And a comet
that was near the sun.
255
00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:35,360
If there was an eclipse
that darkened the sun,
256
00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:38,720
you could possibly see suddenly
this comet,
257
00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:41,680
and it would be head up facing the sun.
258
00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:43,800
- So...
- That's what we see in the art?
259
00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:45,720
The art does seem to show that.
260
00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:48,520
[Graham] Could this painting be
a record of the comet
261
00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:50,200
that many believe broke apart,
262
00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:54,840
pummeling the Earth with debris
and triggering the Younger Dryas?
263
00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:01,960
I think the ancients were already
getting warnings from the sky.
264
00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:05,960
They were becoming aware
that something had changed in the heavens,
265
00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:10,040
and perhaps they were painting
the first signs of the apocalypse
266
00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:11,120
that was to come.
267
00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:14,240
[tense music crescendos]
268
00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:20,000
[tense music ends]
269
00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:29,080
[Graham] The timing certainly fits with
when humans abandoned this rocky outcrop.
270
00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:32,320
I know archaeologists
don't like to speculate
271
00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:33,920
and I'm gonna ask you to speculate,
272
00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:36,256
but do you think the Younger Dryas
had anything to do with
273
00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:37,920
that sudden cessation of activity?
274
00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:39,760
You can't ignore it, certainly,
275
00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:42,440
because it does come
right at that period of time.
276
00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:43,800
[thunder rumbling]
277
00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:46,320
[tense music playing]
278
00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:47,960
[thunder rumbling]
279
00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:49,360
[tense music ends]
280
00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:51,440
[somber music playing]
281
00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:56,840
[Graham] At a personal level,
what's your estimation
282
00:16:56,920 --> 00:16:59,400
of the people who created this art?
283
00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:01,520
How do you envisage them in your mind?
284
00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:05,360
It's kind of hard to imagine
how brave you would have to be
285
00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:07,280
coming to a new environment.
286
00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:09,880
I mean, they were pioneers.
287
00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:12,040
[crickets chirping]
288
00:17:12,120 --> 00:17:15,440
[Graham] But how did these pioneers
get here in the first place?
289
00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:18,040
[intriguing music playing]
290
00:17:18,120 --> 00:17:24,040
In 2015, scientists investigating
just that question dropped a bombshell.
291
00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:29,440
They found that members
of certain Indigenous Amazonian tribes
292
00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:32,480
share a specific DNA marker
293
00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:36,880
with people from the other side
of the Pacific Ocean.
294
00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:39,760
[music intensifies]
295
00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:43,560
The fact that we find it amongst
remote tribes in the Amazon rainforest
296
00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:47,680
and in Papua New Guinea,
Taiwan, and Australia
297
00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:52,680
suggests very strongly
that there was a direct crossing
298
00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:54,760
across the Pacific Ocean.
299
00:17:56,000 --> 00:18:00,040
Even more surprising
is where this DNA signal isn't.
300
00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:07,880
This DNA signal is not found anywhere
in North America.
301
00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:11,840
If the Americas were peopled
entirely by land,
302
00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:15,800
we should find this DNA signal present
in North America
303
00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:17,520
as well as in South America.
304
00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:25,760
What's more, the DNA signal is very old,
dating back at least 10,000 years.
305
00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:30,040
Nobody is supposed to have
been able to cross the Pacific Ocean
306
00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:34,520
from one side to the other
10 or 11,000 years ago.
307
00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:38,320
For that to have happened
just turns the whole story on its head.
308
00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:41,400
If there's one place on Earth
that might hold clues
309
00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:43,600
as to who crossed the Pacific back then...
310
00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:45,440
[music crescendos]
311
00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:48,560
...it's here.
312
00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:50,440
[tense music playing]
313
00:18:52,360 --> 00:18:55,800
I've come to one of the world's
most remote inhabited islands
314
00:18:58,120 --> 00:19:01,360
2,300 miles west of South America
315
00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:05,520
and 2,600 miles east of Tahiti.
316
00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:13,880
On Easter Sunday, 1722, Dutch explorers
stumbled across this small speck of land,
317
00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:18,400
lost in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
318
00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:22,920
So they named it Easter Island.
319
00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:26,920
But they were stunned to discover
that it was inhabited
320
00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:32,320
by a people who today
call their home Rapa Nui.
321
00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:33,880
[tense music ends]
322
00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:36,360
[waves crashing]
323
00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:40,160
[Graham] I mean,
look at the basic geography.
324
00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:47,040
It's just sitting there
in the middle of the Pacific Ocean,
325
00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:51,080
this tiny little dot of land.
326
00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:57,240
And so the first extraordinary thing
about it is,
327
00:19:57,320 --> 00:19:59,120
how did people find it at all?
328
00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:03,480
How did anybody ever end up
settling on Easter Island
329
00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:08,000
in this huge wilderness
of the Pacific Ocean?
330
00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:09,880
[suspenseful music playing]
331
00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:13,640
That Pan-Pacific DNA signal convinces me
332
00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:18,320
that this island could play a key role
in my efforts to reconstruct the story
333
00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:20,720
of a lost civilization of the Ice Age.
334
00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:23,400
Why?
335
00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:27,160
Because of these.
336
00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:29,680
[dramatic music playing]
337
00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:33,200
Vast megalithic statues
that tower over the landscape...
338
00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:39,400
for which Rapa Nui is famous today.
339
00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:46,040
[music ends]
340
00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:48,720
[Graham] Across the Pacific,
341
00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:52,600
several islands are home to collections
of remarkable megalithic structures.
342
00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:57,680
However, the greatest concentration
of such monuments is found here.
343
00:20:57,760 --> 00:20:59,760
The islanders call them Moai.
344
00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:01,840
[intriguing music playing]
345
00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:08,000
[Graham] There are
more than 1,000 of them...
346
00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:14,320
on a remote rock
that's smaller than Washington, DC.
347
00:21:19,120 --> 00:21:23,880
Many stand together along the coastline,
facing inland...
348
00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:30,720
while others are found
seemingly at random,
349
00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:35,760
as if a massive project
had been abandoned midway through.
350
00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:39,920
[music crescendos, stops]
351
00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:46,480
For me, Easter Island is just one
of the most enchanted places on Earth.
352
00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:49,720
The great Moai statues,
353
00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:53,360
these human figures carved
out of the soft volcanic rock.
354
00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:58,040
It's confronting us
with a mystery right there,
355
00:21:58,120 --> 00:21:59,840
which needs to be explained.
356
00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:01,920
[intriguing music continues]
357
00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:07,320
Who were the sculptors
of these giant statues?
358
00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:09,120
What were they trying to achieve,
359
00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:12,760
and why did they expend
such mighty efforts to achieve it?
360
00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:16,960
These are puzzles
to which no definite solution,
361
00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:20,280
only speculation, has ever been offered.
362
00:22:20,360 --> 00:22:21,720
[music continues]
363
00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:26,560
[birds chirping]
364
00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:28,640
[mysterious music playing]
365
00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:35,600
[Graham] This gap in our knowledge
is mostly due to the devastation
366
00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:37,680
wrought here by outsiders.
367
00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:41,640
During the 19th century,
368
00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:44,880
the Rapa Nui people were reduced
to a tiny remnant
369
00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:47,840
by slave raids and disease.
370
00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:50,440
The few who clung on, did so,
371
00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:53,680
by taking refuge
in underground lava tubes like this.
372
00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:55,760
[water dripping]
373
00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:59,440
[Graham] I often say
that we're a species with amnesia,
374
00:22:59,960 --> 00:23:02,880
and that is particularly true
of Easter Island
375
00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:04,760
because of its tragic history.
376
00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:07,040
Because from the moment
377
00:23:07,120 --> 00:23:11,120
that Easter Island encountered
Western culture,
378
00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:13,480
uh, disaster set in.
379
00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:15,080
[water dripping]
380
00:23:15,120 --> 00:23:20,000
The elders who had preserved the memories
were all taken away.
381
00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:23,000
Some slaves were later repatriated,
382
00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:26,280
but brought with them deadly diseases,
383
00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:28,840
with the result
that the remaining islanders
384
00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:30,480
were all but wiped out.
385
00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:32,560
[dramatic music playing]
386
00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:38,440
Leo Pakarati is
an Indigenous documentarian
387
00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:42,080
{an8}whose family has carefully preserved
the oral traditions of Rapa Nui
388
00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:43,440
{an8}for generations.
389
00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:47,760
He's painfully aware of what was lost
390
00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:50,560
during those dark times
of the slave raids.
391
00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:55,320
The only memory that is preserved
of the origins of Easter Island
392
00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:58,480
is the memory
that survived the 19th century.
393
00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:04,040
In a historical moment,
we are only 111 persons on the island.
394
00:24:04,120 --> 00:24:05,656
- It's a big disaster.
- For the culture.
395
00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:07,320
It's a cultural disaster too
396
00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:10,320
because you need many people
to keep the knowledge.
397
00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:11,920
Few people, few knowledge.
398
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:15,960
- Yeah.
- And we lose a big part of our history.
399
00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:17,440
[somber music playing]
400
00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:20,840
[Graham] And yet,
despite these overwhelming odds,
401
00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:23,280
the Rapa Nui have retained memories
402
00:24:23,360 --> 00:24:26,720
concerning this tiny island's
most intriguing mystery.
403
00:24:28,120 --> 00:24:30,800
Tell me what the old tradition says
about the Moai.
404
00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:34,920
The real name for the Moai
is "te aringa ora o te Tupuna."
405
00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,400
- Mm-hmm.
- "The living face of our ancestors."
406
00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:38,560
That is the name.
407
00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:42,640
The idea is
the Moai represent a real person.
408
00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:43,720
Yeah.
409
00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:46,560
And in life,
this person is special, important.
410
00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:49,880
[Graham] According to Rapa Nui lore,
411
00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:53,520
these important ancestors
were memorialized in the Moai
412
00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:57,160
with distinctive features
related to their rank.
413
00:24:57,960 --> 00:24:59,840
- Some of the Moai have short ears.
- Yeah.
414
00:24:59,920 --> 00:25:01,800
Some have long ears. What's that about?
415
00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:04,640
[Leo] This is because of our different
social classes on the island.
416
00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:08,160
- [Graham] Yeah.
- Some people have time for long earrings.
417
00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:10,280
They have long nails too.
418
00:25:10,360 --> 00:25:12,280
- It's a social class act.
- [Graham] Yes.
419
00:25:12,360 --> 00:25:15,200
So those long fingers on the Moai,
those are actually nails?
420
00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:17,080
[splutters] They have long fingers,
421
00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:20,360
and some Moai have
very long nails and curves too.
422
00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:22,440
[tense music playing]
423
00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:25,920
[Graham] I find it impossible
to avoid seeing
424
00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:30,080
parallels with similar statues
of great antiquity found elsewhere.
425
00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:37,600
{an8}On the Indonesian island of Sulawesi,
we find 4,000-year-old megalithic figures
426
00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:39,720
in a remarkably similar posture
427
00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:42,520
{an8}and with similar hand positions.
428
00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:49,040
{an8}Even on the other side of the world,
in Turkey,
429
00:25:49,120 --> 00:25:52,960
{an8}a statue known as Urfa Man
that dates back to the Ice Age
430
00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:57,120
strikes a similar pose,
his hands clasped across his belly.
431
00:25:57,200 --> 00:25:59,200
[tense music continues]
432
00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:03,960
{an8}An equally intriguing parallel is found
also in Turkey,
433
00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:07,200
{an8}in the ten-ton megalithic pillars
of Göbekli Tepe.
434
00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:12,160
These pillars are 11,600 years old.
435
00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:19,520
Could the similarities
of these designs across time and space
436
00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:22,400
be evidence
of a single common ancestor culture,
437
00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:27,160
leaving a legacy of ideas
for later peoples to express?
438
00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:32,960
[tense music crescendos, stops]
439
00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:34,040
[pensive music playing]
440
00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:37,760
No records exist that could explain
the origins of such imagery.
441
00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:39,680
[music continues]
442
00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:42,560
But according to Rapa Nui oral tradition,
443
00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:46,360
the Moai, in addition to being
megalithic memorials,
444
00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:50,480
channel a sacred spiritual power
from their ancestors,
445
00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:54,720
an energy known as mana.
446
00:26:57,280 --> 00:26:58,840
Tell me more about mana.
447
00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:00,320
Mana is very important.
448
00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:01,920
Mana is the energy.
449
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:03,280
All the people have mana.
450
00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:06,640
Any rock, any elements
in the universe have mana.
451
00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:10,080
So the Moai are invested with mana?
452
00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:11,720
[Leo] Yeah. People, when they die,
453
00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:16,160
the family send
to make a Moai with the intention,
454
00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:20,920
the soul, the mana, the spirit
of this person entering the Moai.
455
00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:26,240
[Graham] But interestingly,
that mana only starts to flow
456
00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:30,400
after the Moai are set in place
and properly finished.
457
00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:34,680
In the moment,
the Moai is safe on the platform,
458
00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:38,680
the tupuna, the ancestors,
carve in the holes for the eyes first,
459
00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:42,360
and later they put in coral
for the white part
460
00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:45,480
and sometimes obsidian
or other rocks for the eyes.
461
00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:48,080
- [Graham] Right. Yeah.
- In this moment, it's no more Moai.
462
00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:51,360
Now it's Aringa ora o te Tupuna.
The living face of our ancestors.
463
00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:53,320
- Once it has the eyes?
- Once it has the eyes.
464
00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:55,840
- Right.
- And from the platform, from the Ahu,
465
00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:59,080
the Moai look in direction to the town
and protect the family.
466
00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:00,680
That is the function of the Moai.
467
00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:04,120
[music fades]
468
00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:11,240
[Graham] Clearly, the Moai are
deeply sacred to the Rapa Nui.
469
00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:15,600
But does that mean
they originally carved them?
470
00:28:18,360 --> 00:28:21,360
Or could the Moai have already been here?
471
00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:24,680
If so, we'd need to rethink
the entire timeline
472
00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:28,280
of the peopling of Rapa Nui.
473
00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:32,080
Let's consider an alternative scenario
474
00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:34,640
in which it was first explored
by a small group
475
00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:36,720
of highly sophisticated navigators,
476
00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:40,240
much further back in prehistory
than is presently accepted.
477
00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:46,320
[tense music playing]
478
00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:50,840
[man chanting]
479
00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:53,360
[all chanting]
480
00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:55,120
[Graham] Based on genetic testing,
481
00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:56,880
we know that the Rapa Nui people...
482
00:28:57,600 --> 00:28:59,120
[chanting]
483
00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:02,240
...are descended from
those great ancient navigators,
484
00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:03,760
the Polynesians.
485
00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:10,400
The Polynesians were fantastically
advanced navigators and seafarers
486
00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:12,840
and settled many parts
of the Pacific Ocean
487
00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:16,440
during the Polynesian expansion
about 3,000 years ago.
488
00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:20,960
Carbon dating
of the oldest human settlements here
489
00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:26,040
strongly suggests that Rapa Nui was one
of the last islands they reached
490
00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:28,280
around 1,100 years ago.
491
00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:31,320
[tense music crescendos, stops]
492
00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:32,720
A new study proposes
493
00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:35,520
that the first people arrived
even more recently,
494
00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:37,880
just 800 years ago or less.
495
00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:43,840
[singing in local language]
496
00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:52,480
[Graham] And yet, fragments
of a different earlier origin story
497
00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:55,160
that seem to contradict
the archaeological timeline
498
00:29:55,240 --> 00:29:57,240
have been kept alive here.
499
00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:00,680
I'm privileged to witness
a celebration of it.
500
00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:02,760
[singing in local language]
501
00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:10,040
[singing continues]
502
00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:14,320
The oral traditions speak
of a primeval homeland called Hiva,
503
00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:19,400
a large island destroyed by a global flood
that forced their ancestors to flee.
504
00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:22,120
[tense music playing]
505
00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:25,960
In this account,
the great king of Hiva, Hutu Matu'a,
506
00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:30,760
was warned that his island nation
would suffer a terrible deluge
507
00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:32,440
and be submerged forever.
508
00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:35,280
[tense music continues]
509
00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:38,560
Guided by a vision,
510
00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:42,200
he sent seven chosen men
out in seafaring canoes,
511
00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:47,680
heading towards the rising sun
in search of a new home.
512
00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:49,680
[people screaming]
513
00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:51,560
[Graham] After weeks at sea,
514
00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:54,240
they landed safely
on the island of Rapa Nui,
515
00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:58,680
where they were later joined
by Hutu Matu'a and hundreds of his people
516
00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:00,960
to reestablish their civilization.
517
00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:05,120
[wind howling]
518
00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:07,040
[waves crashing]
519
00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:11,560
So we have a tradition
of a great flood and an exploration,
520
00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:14,480
and we have to ask ourselves,
"Did such an event happen?"
521
00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:18,240
You really have to go back
to the end of the last Ice Age
522
00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:23,080
to get the kind of flood
that would submerge an entire land.
523
00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:24,720
[tense music playing]
524
00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:27,680
The name of that sunken island, Hiva,
525
00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:31,280
in Rapa Nui language means far-off land,
526
00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:35,040
suggesting it wasn't a land
the Polynesians were familiar with.
527
00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:42,000
But the arrival of a band of seven
by sea after a time of great cataclysm
528
00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:45,320
{an8}is a tradition encountered
all over the ancient world
529
00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:47,840
{an8}from the Apkallu of Mesopotamia
530
00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:51,600
{an8}to Egypt's seven sages
531
00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:54,240
{an8}and India's seven rishis.
532
00:31:54,320 --> 00:31:55,960
{an8}[tense music continues]
533
00:31:56,040 --> 00:32:00,080
{an8}Such traditions often speak
of a small band of flood survivors
534
00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:03,760
arriving in a distant land
in a time of chaos
535
00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:06,240
with a mission to restart civilization.
536
00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:08,960
[Indigenous people singing]
537
00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:13,560
Coincidence? Could these origin stories
be memories of real events
538
00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:17,080
experienced by many ancient cultures
around the world?
539
00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:20,240
[singing in local language]
540
00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:26,640
[Graham] Crucially, the legend
of Hotu Matu'a and Hiva
541
00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:28,160
doesn't include a date.
542
00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:31,440
[singing continues]
543
00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:36,480
[Graham] This causes me
to raise questions in my mind
544
00:32:36,560 --> 00:32:38,920
about when Easter Island
was first settled.
545
00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:40,360
[singing continues]
546
00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:43,240
[Graham] I'm not disputing
the Polynesian expansion.
547
00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:47,320
I'm not disputing
that the population of Easter Island today
548
00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:49,640
is a Polynesian population.
549
00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:53,080
But the question is, could it
have been settled earlier than that?
550
00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:58,720
[cheering]
551
00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:01,120
[suspenseful music playing]
552
00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:09,120
[Graham] Alas, the Moai themselves
can't help us answer this question.
553
00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:12,920
The characteristic Moai are cut from
554
00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:15,560
a relatively soft type of rock
called tuff,
555
00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:19,040
a form of volcanic ash turned to stone.
556
00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:21,400
They can't be dated in and of themselves.
557
00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:24,880
In the absence of direct evidence
558
00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:27,680
for when these megalithic statues
were carved,
559
00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:31,800
archaeologists relied on
dating the organic matter
560
00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:36,080
embedded in the Ahu platforms,
on which many of the Moai stand.
561
00:33:37,640 --> 00:33:38,720
For example,
562
00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:45,080
Ahu Nau Nau has been dated
to between 400 and 900 years old.
563
00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:47,160
[music ends]
564
00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:49,240
[dramatic music playing]
565
00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:55,080
So that's when historians believe
the islanders began to carve the Moai.
566
00:33:57,720 --> 00:33:59,440
But if that were true,
567
00:33:59,520 --> 00:34:02,000
it means that after a few centuries,
568
00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:06,040
living simply with no traces
of building the necessary skills,
569
00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:10,880
the Rapa Nui people suddenly embarked
on this mammoth project,
570
00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:16,520
which continued until just a few decades
before the Europeans arrived.
571
00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:20,600
Many of the platforms
are really quite rough
572
00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:23,040
and ready by comparison with the statues.
573
00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:25,280
And we have to ask ourselves the question,
574
00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:29,240
"Are the platforms actually the same age
as the statues that stand on top of them?"
575
00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:33,360
Or is it possible
that the statues were re-erected
576
00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:35,360
by latecomers to Easter Island,
577
00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:38,600
giving us a totally false idea
of how old the statues are
578
00:34:38,680 --> 00:34:40,400
based on the platforms alone?
579
00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:42,480
[suspenseful music playing]
580
00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:45,400
[Graham] After all, throughout history,
581
00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:50,160
many objects of great cultural value
have later been moved and displayed
582
00:34:50,240 --> 00:34:51,520
in a newer setting.
583
00:34:51,600 --> 00:34:53,720
{an8}- [music intensifies]
- [bells tolling]
584
00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:57,120
{an8}In Venice, the four tetrarchs
of St. Mark's Basilica
585
00:34:57,200 --> 00:35:02,960
{an8}were actually carved in Constantinople
900 years before they were installed here.
586
00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:10,120
{an8}And the Renaissance fountain in front of
Rome's Pantheon isn't nearly as old
587
00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:12,760
{an8}as the ancient Egyptian obelisk
it supports.
588
00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:18,760
Many of these huge statues
were moved around, relocated,
589
00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:20,440
placed in different positions.
590
00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:23,160
And I think we have
to remain open to the possibility
591
00:35:23,240 --> 00:35:25,480
that the statues
may already have been there
592
00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:28,360
when the first Polynesians arrived.
593
00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:33,120
And that they were kind of adopted
by those new settlers
594
00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:35,360
and taken in to their culture.
595
00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:40,040
Supporting this idea is Ahu Nau Nau,
596
00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:44,120
which uses another Moai head,
deeply weathered,
597
00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:48,200
as one of its foundation stones,
recycled for this purpose.
598
00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:55,120
[music crescendos, subsides]
599
00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:59,240
Another hint that the Moai could be
much older than previously thought
600
00:35:59,960 --> 00:36:02,080
can be found at the extinct volcano,
601
00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:05,880
where nearly all of the megaliths
were first quarried and shaped.
602
00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:07,960
[suspenseful music playing]
603
00:36:10,800 --> 00:36:14,400
Here, in the southeastern corner
of the island, is an extinct volcano
604
00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:16,120
called Rano Raraku.
605
00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:19,760
It's a dramatic feature on the landscape.
606
00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:22,520
[suspenseful music ends]
607
00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:27,840
And on its slopes are the remains
of hundreds of partially completed Moai.
608
00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:32,720
It truly is one of
the world's most mysterious places.
609
00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:35,680
[triumphant music playing]
610
00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:43,000
[Graham] Nearly 400 Moai
are scattered about the volcano...
611
00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:50,080
in various stages of completion.
612
00:36:56,840 --> 00:36:59,320
[triumphant music crescendos, subsides]
613
00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:01,400
[pensive music playing]
614
00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:05,360
Many only peek above ground level,
615
00:37:05,440 --> 00:37:08,560
their squat torsos
embedded in deep sediment.
616
00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:14,160
This sedimentation could result
from landslides,
617
00:37:14,240 --> 00:37:17,160
mudflows, or even tsunamis.
618
00:37:20,600 --> 00:37:25,480
But although they might lean,
most of the statues remain upright,
619
00:37:25,560 --> 00:37:27,120
not randomly tumbled over,
620
00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:30,240
as you would expect
if such an event were the cause.
621
00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:34,560
So what really happened here?
622
00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:39,440
For centuries,
the sediment concealed the evidence.
623
00:37:41,040 --> 00:37:45,760
Until 1914,
when archaeologists began excavations.
624
00:37:47,240 --> 00:37:49,000
As this photograph shows,
625
00:37:49,080 --> 00:37:53,000
some Moai are
much more than just head and shoulders
626
00:37:53,080 --> 00:37:56,760
and include the whole torso
lodged deep in the hillside...
627
00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:04,120
a finding that was only fully revealed
to the world in the 1950s
628
00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:07,080
by the famous ethnographer Thor Heyerdahl.
629
00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:11,120
[tense music crescendos, stops]
630
00:38:11,200 --> 00:38:13,720
Thor Heyerdahl was
a remarkable human being.
631
00:38:13,800 --> 00:38:16,680
I was lucky to meet him more than once.
632
00:38:17,640 --> 00:38:19,840
He was willing to challenge convention.
633
00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:22,800
He was convinced
that there were some missing pieces
634
00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:24,760
in the story of our past.
635
00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:28,960
And he tried to show us
that deep in prehistory,
636
00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:32,120
uh, ancient humans were capable
of achievements
637
00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:35,760
that we have tended to allocate
to much later periods.
638
00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:37,480
[triumphant music playing]
639
00:38:37,560 --> 00:38:40,560
[Graham] Like this mysterious
Moai building project.
640
00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:43,240
Archaeologists tell us
641
00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:47,040
that the last of the Moai were sculpted
around 400 years ago.
642
00:38:47,640 --> 00:38:51,320
But it seems implausible,
on such a small island,
643
00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:55,440
that such a massive amount
of sedimentation could have accumulated
644
00:38:55,520 --> 00:38:57,960
around them in such a short time.
645
00:38:59,880 --> 00:39:03,160
None of these Moai show evidence
of intentional burial.
646
00:39:04,200 --> 00:39:06,280
So is there another explanation?
647
00:39:06,360 --> 00:39:09,080
[triumphant music intensifies]
648
00:39:09,160 --> 00:39:11,760
Could it be that what we're looking at
is the end result
649
00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:13,560
of a process of sedimentation
650
00:39:13,640 --> 00:39:17,120
that would have taken
not hundreds of years, but thousands?
651
00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:21,560
The problem with that theory?
652
00:39:21,640 --> 00:39:25,320
There's no evidence
of human habitation dating so far back.
653
00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:26,720
[dramatic music playing]
654
00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:27,840
Or is there?
655
00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:38,080
[music ends]
656
00:39:38,720 --> 00:39:40,720
[closing theme playing]
657
00:40:05,080 --> 00:40:07,960
{an8}[closing theme ends]