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[intriguing music playing]
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[Graham] We need to re-examine
the pre-history of Easter Island.
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We shouldn't just accept what we're told.
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[tense music playing]
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{an8}Rapa Nui resident and archaeologist
Dr. Sonia Haoa Cardinali
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{an8}has spent nearly five decades recovering
the island's lost history,
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not by studying the Moai
or ancient settlements,
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but through a close investigation
of its plants.
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So, Sonia, I understand that you have
a special interest in botany,
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but you're also an archaeologist.
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[Sonia] Yes. The most important for me
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is to understand the people.
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- Yeah.
- Is to understand how people arrive,
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is to understand
how people adapted to this island
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because as a human,
we cannot do anything without plants.
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[dramatic music playing]
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[Graham] In the bowl
of one of Rapa Nui's extinct volcanoes,
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Dr. Cardinali and her colleagues
have been searching for
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the earliest evidence
of non-indigenous plants or crops
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that must have been
brought here by humans.
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What do plants say
about when people lived on this island?
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[Sonia] In the study of the different food
we have, the result came...
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Yes.
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...with the banana.
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They found the banana on the island
3,000 years ago.
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So bananas have been on Rapa Nui
for at least 3,000 years?
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Yes. Yes.
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[dramatic music continues]
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[Graham] And they didn't get here
by themselves.
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[Sonia] It's not coming by the birds.
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It's not by the sea.
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The banana had to be planted
by another human being.
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So that's the reason it's telling you
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that in Rapa Nui, there is
a different period of people arrived.
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[Graham] Yeah.
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[Sonia] And it's a huge surprise
for everybody.
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It's changed, a little bit, the history.
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- Well, it changes a lot the history.
- [Sonia laughs]
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[Sonia] The soil is not lying.
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No, the soil tells the truth.
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We didn't think
that the banana was so important.
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[music intensifies]
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[Graham] Dr. Cardinali's dates
were derived
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from microscopic remnants of banana plants
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and pushed the arrival of people
on Rapa Nui back by around 2,000 years.
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[majestic music playing]
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So the plants are helping us
to push the timeline back.
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Yes.
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And it's possible
it may be older than 3,000 years.
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We don't know. But that's the reason
we should continue to study.
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Absolutely.
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[tense music playing]
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[Graham] In light of this new evidence,
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Rapa Nui's prehistory
has to be reconsidered.
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Dr. Cardinali's findings suggest that
Polynesian settlers reached this island
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long before the accepted timeline.
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But based on Rapa Nui's oral traditions,
there is another possibility.
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[music continues]
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Perhaps Hotu Matu'a
and his seven scouts arrived here
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many thousands of years earlier
than anyone ever dreamed possible.
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Might there not be a forgotten episode
in the story of this island?
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An earlier chapter written by survivors
of the global cataclysm
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that occurred around 12,000 years ago?
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[music intensifies]
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[music ends]
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[theme song playing]
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[theme song ends]
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{an8}- [thunder rumbling]
- [electronic warble]
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[suspenseful music playing]
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[Graham] If humans arrived on
Rapa Nui many thousands of years ago,
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where did they live?
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Where are the archaeological traces
we'd expect to find?
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Remember that at the peak
of the last Ice Age,
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sea levels were more than 400 feet lower
than they are today.
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Rapa Nui would have been
a much larger island.
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All that land could have supported
a much larger population...
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[music intensifies]
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...which could help explain
how the huge Moai carving project
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was pulled off.
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Might their builders have chosen
to live near the ancient coastline,
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now lost underwater
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and only used
the higher ground we see today
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for their great statue-building project?
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It's not often realized
how much land was lost to sea level rise
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at the end of the Ice Age,
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and the figure is roughly
10 million square miles,
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the best land in the world at that time.
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And when the sea levels suddenly rise,
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and those coastlines get submerged
beneath the sea,
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anything built on those submerged areas
gets smashed to pieces and destroyed.
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And goodness knows
what was lost to the rising sea levels.
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[music intensifies, ends]
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[waves crashing]
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[intriguing music playing]
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[Graham] What we do know is
that the earliest people living here
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developed more than just
extraordinary stone-carving skills.
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[intriguing music intensifies]
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Rapa Nui lore holds that
their great founder, King Hotu Matu'a,
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brought something special with him
from that far-off land of Hiva,
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a written language.
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Its remnants were preserved
on wooden tablets known as rongorongo,
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most likely copies of copies
created down the ages,
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as the originals were lost to history.
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Fewer than 30 rongorongo survive,
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now preserved in museums around the world.
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For Rapa Nui residents
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like Indigenous documentarian
Leo Pakarati,
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these tablets hold
a special place in history.
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It's an incredible achievement
because normally a written script
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is associated with a big,
highly-organized culture.
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{an8}- Here we're finding it on a small island.
- [Leo] Mm-hmm.
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The rongorongo are very interesting
and very important in our culture.
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- And I think it's unique in Polynesia.
- Yeah.
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Yeah, it's unique.
There's no rongorongo on other islands.
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[Graham] With the slave raids
in the 19th century
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and the complete destruction
of the wisdom tradition of Easter Island,
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the ability to read
the rongorongo tablets was lost,
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and they remain one of the great mysteries
of the ancient world.
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Linguists have determined
that there are too many different symbols
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for the rongorongo script
to be an alphabet.
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[intriguing music playing]
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It's likely a hieroglyphic
or a pictographic script,
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similar to those developed
by the ancient Egyptians
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and the Indus Valley civilization,
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one that must have taken hundreds
if not thousands of years to mature.
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[Leo] The rongorongo system
is very complex.
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You need many elements, you know,
peace, water, food, society, you know.
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This is a very intellectual,
complex process.
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[Graham] For centuries,
up until the Europeans arrived,
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the written language
was celebrated through song.
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But the connection between sounds
and symbols has long been forgotten.
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The people don't learn to read.
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- They learn only the song.
- Mm-hmm.
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And for a long time, the song continued.
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What sort of things
do these songs speak of?
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Agricultural system.
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- Yeah.
- And the rules for navigation.
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[Graham] Mm-hmm.
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The inventory
to the different genealogical lines.
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[Graham] Mm-hmm.
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The territory owners, things like this.
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Yeah.
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[Leo] For me, the rongorongo,
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maybe it's the most important thing
made by our Tupuna, our ancestors.
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[intriguing music continues]
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The presence of a fully evolved,
complex script on Easter Island
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is a paradox and a mystery,
which has not yet been explained.
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[suspenseful music playing]
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I think the possibility
has to be considered
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that that script was first brought
to Easter Island in remote prehistory
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by those first settlers
who are remembered in oral tradition
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as having come from a much larger land
of the Pacific called Hiva
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that was inundated in an enormous flood
and submerged beneath the waves.
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I realize this is speculation on my part,
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but could we be looking at
the actual language
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used by the lost civilization
I've been searching for?
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[tense music playing]
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A people from faraway Hiva
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whose origin story and script were
preserved by the voyaging Polynesians,
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who today call themselves Rapa Nui.
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[tense music ends]
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[intriguing music playing]
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[Graham] I believe that
the Moai could also be a product
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of this same earlier civilization.
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There's even evidence
that the ahus supporting the Moai
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might have been based on an older design,
created by someone else.
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Like this one.
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[intriguing music continues]
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This is Ahu Vinapu.
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It's unique in two respects.
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First, it's constructed entirely
from hard basalt,
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not from soft volcanic tuff,
like most of the others.
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Secondly, and quite unmissable,
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its megalithic blocks
are intricately fitted together in a way
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that's far superior
to any other ahu on the island.
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Indeed, it was so precisely made
by the original builders
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that no contemporaneous organic materials
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were trapped in the hairline joints,
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rendering its origins undatable.
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It seems so out of place here
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that one might almost imagine it to be
the work of a different culture.
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[intriguing music ends]
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And there's another reason I suspect
that this different culture might be
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the lost civilization of the Ice Age
I've been searching for.
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The original name of the entire island is
Te Pito o Te Henua,
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which means "the navel of the Earth."
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This designation
of sacred ancient places as navels
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is something that comes up again and again
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across many ancient cultures
and languages around the world.
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{an8}Göbekli Tepe literally means
"the hill of the navel."
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{an8}Delphi in Greece was a navel of the Earth.
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{an8}Angkor in Cambodia was another.
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[tense music playing]
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[car engine revving]
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[Graham] Is it possible some single
globe-navigating culture of prehistory
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used this umbilical reference
to name their most sacred sites,
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including Rapa Nui?
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If so, how could they have navigated here?
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Well, there's one intriguing possibility.
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[tense music intensifies]
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[tense music ends]
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[pensive music playing]
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[Graham] Rapa Nui sits on the west end
of a ridge of undersea mountains.
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During the Ice Age,
when sea levels were 400 feet lower
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and the ocean floor perhaps higher
because of a phenomenon known as isostasy,
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the peaks of some mountains
may have broken the surface,
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creating a chain of tiny islands
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linking Rapa Nui
to the coastline of modern-day Peru.
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Sure enough, it's precisely there
that we find something remarkable,
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carved into a hill facing the ocean...
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[birds chirping]
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[majestic music playing]
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...a giant geoglyph, known today
as the Candelabra of the Andes.
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The sand has been scraped away,
leaving the bare stone beneath
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in the shape of an enormous trident.
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[music continues]
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As you approach the coast of Peru,
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it seems almost like a beacon or a marker
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that is calling people towards it,
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that is saying, "Come here.
There's something important here."
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The geoglyph cannot be reliably dated,
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though pottery found nearby
has been attributed
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to the local Paracas culture
of around 200 BC,
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who certainly recognized and respected it.
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[suspenseful music playing]
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But it's said to have been inspired by
the legend of the ancient god Viracocha,
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who was deified for creating
many mysterious wonders
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in this part of the world,
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from the famed Nazca Lines
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to the enigmatic megalithic complex
of Tiwanaku in Bolivia,
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high in the Andes, where his story begins.
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[intriguing music playing]
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[intriguing music intensifies]
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[Graham] According to Incan lore,
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this region was once struck
by a great cataclysm,
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a true ancient apocalypse.
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- [thunder rumbling]
- [rocks crumbling]
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[intriguing music ends]
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After it passed, a stranger appeared
from the waters of Lake Titicaca.
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[tense music playing]
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They named him Viracocha...
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[tense music intensifies]
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...foam of the sea.
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He and his band of followers taught
the survivors the secrets of farming,
245
00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:45,400
showed them advanced skills in stonework,
and how to track the heavens.
246
00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:47,800
[tense music ends]
247
00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:49,880
[thunder rumbling]
248
00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:54,920
Fundamentally, he is teaching
the gifts of civilization
249
00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:59,200
to demoralized
and devastated survivors of a cataclysm.
250
00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:01,760
[thunder rumbling]
251
00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:06,920
These stories resonate with stories
from all around the world
252
00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:12,680
about beings, entities, deities, people,
I think, who survived that cataclysm,
253
00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:15,040
who attempted to restart civilization.
254
00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:17,120
[uptempo intriguing music playing]
255
00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:21,920
In Egypt, it was Osiris
who taught his people
256
00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:26,000
how to till the earth,
reap crops, and make laws.
257
00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:33,360
For the Aztecs in Mexico,
it was Quetzalcoatl, the bearded wanderer,
258
00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:35,800
who first brought them
the gift of civilization.
259
00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:38,640
[intriguing music continues]
260
00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:43,880
And on Rapa Nui, King Hotu Matu'a
and his chosen men echo this theme
261
00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:53,120
of travelers from a far-off lost land
arriving by sea to restart civilization.
262
00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:56,480
[intriguing music intensifies, ends]
263
00:15:56,560 --> 00:15:59,240
[suspenseful music playing]
264
00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:02,120
Because the same traditions are found
all around the world,
265
00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:03,880
uh, we have to take them seriously.
266
00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:10,640
Even today, storytelling is a powerful way
267
00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:13,920
to pass down knowledge
one generation to the next.
268
00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:17,440
[Keanu] With these universal stories,
do you feel like
269
00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:22,920
{an8}what we're actually getting is
a ripple out of that older knowledge?
270
00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:24,400
{an8}[Graham] Yes. Yeah. I think we are.
271
00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:26,360
And where did that come from?
272
00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:29,520
There were so few survivors
to pass on the knowledge,
273
00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:32,280
but the knowledge was passed on
in the form of myths,
274
00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:34,480
- in the form of traditions.
- [Keanu] Right.
275
00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:38,720
The myths of humanity
are the memory bank of our species
276
00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:40,960
from a time
when we have no written memories.
277
00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:43,960
Right. We know
that the oral tradition is very strong
278
00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:48,000
- as a way of communicating history...
- Absolutely.
279
00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:51,840
...that kind of speak to me
of some kind of historical events.
280
00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:52,920
[Graham] Yeah, exactly.
281
00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:56,920
It's this repetition
of the same essential idea
282
00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:00,040
from cultures that were not
supposedly connected in historical times
283
00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:02,000
that makes me think
that what we're looking at
284
00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:05,560
is a shared legacy, uh,
from a much more ancient culture.
285
00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:09,520
[splutters] And that's why I think myths
need to be taken much more seriously.
286
00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:11,040
Yeah, I think that too.
287
00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:13,760
[intriguing music playing]
288
00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:19,440
[Graham] These great teachers
from our myths like Viracocha,
289
00:17:20,120 --> 00:17:24,600
could be amongst the few survivors
of a civilization now lost to history.
290
00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:26,040
[metal scraping]
291
00:17:26,120 --> 00:17:27,400
[car engine revving]
292
00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:31,760
And there may be more evidence
of Viracocha's legacy.
293
00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:36,680
Nearly 300 miles east from the Candelabra...
294
00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:38,760
[intriguing music intensifies]
295
00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:42,680
...on a mountaintop plateau
near the city of Cusco,
296
00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:47,720
more than 11,000 feet above sea level...
297
00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:52,120
this is Sacsayhuaman.
298
00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:55,400
[intriguing music ends]
299
00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:57,480
[suspenseful music playing]
300
00:18:01,360 --> 00:18:04,680
This is one of the world's
most extraordinary ancient sites
301
00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:07,080
and one of the most mysterious.
302
00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:14,520
The vast hilltop site is filled
with archaeological wonders
303
00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:16,200
crafted from stone.
304
00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:21,600
And at the edge of the hill,
the greatest enigma of them all...
305
00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:23,680
[music continues]
306
00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:31,840
...three rows
of mind-boggling stone ramparts
307
00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:37,280
zigzagging across the mountain top.
308
00:18:37,360 --> 00:18:39,360
[tense music intensifies, stops]
309
00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:42,960
[mysterious music playing]
310
00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:45,640
[Graham] I've been coming here
for more than 30 years,
311
00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:48,080
and it still never fails to confound me.
312
00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:53,360
But now that my search
for a lost civilization
313
00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:55,440
has zeroed in on the Americas,
314
00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:00,040
I'm here to re-examine
this ancient megalithic mystery.
315
00:19:00,120 --> 00:19:02,400
[music intensifies]
316
00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:05,200
I always feel like
a miniature version of myself
317
00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:08,400
standing next to these giant megaliths.
318
00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:14,160
There are thousands
of these colossal polygonal blocks
319
00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:16,560
perfectly shaped and fitted into place.
320
00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:22,920
No single block is the same size or shape
as any other block.
321
00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:28,240
And yet they're all fitted together
with this incredible level of precision.
322
00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:33,240
It almost looks as though
they've been melted together.
323
00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:38,560
Even using today's technology,
where would you start?
324
00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:40,680
How was this done?
325
00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:44,520
[music subsides]
326
00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:48,760
To understand Sacsayhuaman,
we need to know more of its history,
327
00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:52,440
which is intertwined with the city below.
328
00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:54,520
[intriguing music playing]
329
00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:03,120
Today, Cusco is a vibrant metropolis
that's home to 500,000 people.
330
00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:08,880
For millions of visitors a year,
it's a popular tourist destination.
331
00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:14,760
But for my search,
it's so much more than that.
332
00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:17,920
[intriguing music continues]
333
00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:21,200
Cusco was the capital
of the once mighty Inca Empire,
334
00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:25,280
a truly remarkable,
indeed, astounding civilization.
335
00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:30,280
A civilization that flourished
across the high Andes,
336
00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:36,360
{an8}famous for its legacy of incredible sites
in stone like Machu Picchu.
337
00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:38,640
{an8}[intriguing music ends]
338
00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:44,440
But as with the Moai of Rapa Nui,
the true story is clouded by catastrophe.
339
00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:47,000
[menacing music playing]
340
00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:49,160
Here, in 1532,
341
00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:53,880
the Spanish conquistadors
brought chaos and destruction to the Inca.
342
00:20:55,120 --> 00:20:57,320
Because of the suppression
of Indigenous cultures
343
00:20:57,400 --> 00:20:59,760
during and after the Spanish conquest,
344
00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:02,760
what we know about the Incas
remains fragmentary
345
00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:05,000
and in many ways a black hole in history.
346
00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:07,280
[intriguing music playing]
347
00:21:07,360 --> 00:21:11,600
Why? Because history,
of course, is written by the winners.
348
00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:18,360
And very few of those conquistadors
spent time learning
349
00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:20,760
about the culture they were decimating.
350
00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:23,040
[men yelling]
351
00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:25,320
The Incas were a glorious civilization.
352
00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:29,600
They recorded incredible achievements,
but they were very short-lived.
353
00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:32,640
Although rich and powerful,
354
00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:36,120
the Incan Empire had existed
for less than a century
355
00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:38,680
before the conquistadors arrived.
356
00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:42,040
Of course, the Spanish didn't know that
357
00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:47,280
and assumed that everything they saw,
including the incredible megalithic walls,
358
00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:50,120
was the work of the Incas they'd just met.
359
00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:51,880
[intriguing music ends]
360
00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:55,320
[Graham] It's hard
to imagine how this was achieved
361
00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:58,800
with the supposed tools
available to the Incas,
362
00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:00,840
which were largely other stones
363
00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:03,520
for pounding
these huge megalithic stones with.
364
00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:05,120
It doesn't make sense to me.
365
00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:07,200
[tense music playing]
366
00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:12,800
The Incas had no written language.
367
00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:16,080
But the Spanish records, such as they are,
368
00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:21,040
tell us that Sacsayhuaman was
the brainchild of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui,
369
00:22:21,120 --> 00:22:25,320
whose reign ushered in the Incan Empire
more than 500 years ago.
370
00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:27,400
[tense music continues]
371
00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:34,880
{an8}I'm hoping to learn more
from site expert Amadeo Valer Farfán.
372
00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:40,440
In which century, roughly,
at what date do you think
373
00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:44,880
this incredible, majestic
work of architecture was built?
374
00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:48,880
Approximately started construction
in 1440.
375
00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:53,080
And finished after 90 years.
376
00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:54,160
[Graham] Right.
377
00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:56,920
[Amadeo] Exactly before
conquistadors came.
378
00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:01,040
[intriguing music playing]
379
00:23:01,120 --> 00:23:05,760
[Graham] Pachacuti instructed his workers
to build Sacsayhuaman using local stone,
380
00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:10,200
which was a relatively soft rock.
381
00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:13,920
Although now 12,000 feet above sea level,
382
00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:17,560
it once formed the floor
of a primordial ocean.
383
00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:25,640
Long time ago, this part of South America
also was part of the sea.
384
00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:28,000
In different parts of this valley,
385
00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:31,800
it's possible to see bedrock of,
uh, limestone.
386
00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:34,200
- Limestone. Sedimentary rock.
- [Amadeo] Limestone. Yes.
387
00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:35,880
And for this reason,
388
00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:40,760
this stone is softer to work with
than different stones.
389
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:42,960
[intriguing music playing]
390
00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:46,040
[Graham] Archaeology tells us
these huge limestone blocks
391
00:23:46,120 --> 00:23:48,760
were likely cut at quarries
up to nine miles away.
392
00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:56,680
I understand that limestone is
a soft stone and relatively easy to work,
393
00:23:56,760 --> 00:24:00,800
but we're looking at
some gigantic blocks of limestone.
394
00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:02,040
What's the heaviest here?
395
00:24:02,120 --> 00:24:06,360
The heaviest here
weighed more than 100 tons.
396
00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:07,360
Good Lord.
397
00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:09,080
[intriguing music intensifies]
398
00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:12,080
[music fades]
399
00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:16,840
[Graham] What puzzles me is
the movement of those huge blocks.
400
00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:19,320
I just can't understand how it was done.
401
00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:23,040
In my opinion,
the secret was in the quantity.
402
00:24:23,120 --> 00:24:27,640
Pedro Cieza de León was
a Spanish soldier and chronicler,
403
00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:29,680
and according to him,
404
00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:34,040
every day more than 20,000 people
were working here.
405
00:24:34,120 --> 00:24:36,520
That's a huge organizational challenge.
406
00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:40,520
To organize 20,000 people as a workforce
407
00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:42,360
is a highly sophisticated task.
408
00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:44,440
[somber music playing]
409
00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:50,000
[Graham] The construction
of New York City's Empire State Building
410
00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:54,360
took around 3,400 people
in the 20th century.
411
00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:58,120
Even with six times as many workers,
412
00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:02,120
shifting these stones
with far less advanced technology
413
00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:06,880
would have been a gargantuan challenge,
which could swiftly go wrong.
414
00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:12,520
The only record we have of the Incas
attempting to move a huge megalith
415
00:25:13,120 --> 00:25:17,000
was preserved by a Spanish chronicler
a few decades after the conquest.
416
00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:20,720
According to the account
he was given by local informants,
417
00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:23,240
the attempt ended in disaster.
418
00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:26,360
[menacing music playing]
419
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:30,160
He tells us of a great boulder
that was hauled across the mountain
420
00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:32,240
by more than 20,000 people,
421
00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:38,000
until, at a certain point,
it fell from their hands over a precipice...
422
00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:40,000
[rocks crumbling]
423
00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:42,080
...crushing more than 3,000 men.
424
00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:48,520
If the Incas had that much trouble
transporting one megalith,
425
00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:51,120
how could they have brought
thousands of them here?
426
00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:53,200
[intriguing music playing]
427
00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:02,280
[Graham] According to Spanish accounts,
the Inca used a combination
428
00:26:02,360 --> 00:26:05,600
of ropes, log rollers, and levers.
429
00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:07,680
[intriguing music continues]
430
00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:11,960
You could,
with great effort and great care,
431
00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:14,000
put two or three such blocks together,
432
00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:18,760
but to put hundreds of them together,
all of them precisely fitted,
433
00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:20,680
it defies logic.
434
00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:26,520
What if that Incan emperor
was actually just supervising the building
435
00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:31,920
of a fortress atop megalithic walls
that were already there?
436
00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:38,120
It's hard to imagine the spectacle
that must have greeted the eye here
437
00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:40,160
before the Spanish conquest.
438
00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:42,520
But combining the latest scientific data
439
00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:45,440
with eyewitness accounts
left by the first conquistadors,
440
00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:49,360
we can get a fairly good idea
how Sacsayhuaman must have looked
441
00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:51,280
at the height of the Inca Empire.
442
00:26:51,360 --> 00:26:53,280
[intriguing music intensifies]
443
00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:56,840
[suspenseful music playing]
444
00:26:56,920 --> 00:26:59,320
[Graham] The Spanish tell us
that the main complex
445
00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:03,960
was being used as a military barracks,
capable of holding thousands.
446
00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:06,040
[suspenseful music continues]
447
00:27:09,120 --> 00:27:11,960
They describe
a three-layered circular tower
448
00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:14,040
soaring 50 feet above the site,
449
00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:18,200
surrounded by rectangular buildings
and courtyards,
450
00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:23,040
with their own freshwater system
and storerooms for grain.
451
00:27:24,360 --> 00:27:26,120
[suspenseful music intensifies]
452
00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:30,160
The invaders believed Sacsayhuaman
was first built as a fortress
453
00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:34,560
because, after the fall of Cusco,
454
00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:38,520
the Inca warriors made their last redoubt
from behind these walls...
455
00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:42,200
[suspenseful music intensifies, stops]
456
00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:44,200
...which are all that remain today.
457
00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:46,520
[suspenseful music resumes]
458
00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:48,600
But is that why they were built?
459
00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:56,120
What is the archaeological view
of the origins of Sacsayhuaman,
460
00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:57,600
and what was it for?
461
00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:01,680
Many people think
that it was military construction.
462
00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:07,920
Only Spaniards or conquistadors told them
it was a military fortress, but it wasn't.
463
00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:13,360
It was a holy place, a temple,
to celebrate the rituals and ceremonies.
464
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:15,720
- [intriguing music playing]
- [drum beats]
465
00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:18,440
[Graham] So the idea,
which we often read in the history books,
466
00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:23,000
that... that Sacsayhuaman was built
as a military fortress, is a mistake?
467
00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:24,400
It's a huge mistake.
468
00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:26,920
[intriguing music intensifies]
469
00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:29,440
[Graham] What's left
of the structures atop the hill,
470
00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:32,720
which were made from
uniform rectangular blocks,
471
00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:37,480
suggests they weren't built
at the same time as the megalithic walls.
472
00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:45,800
It would be fair to say that
the Incas inherited some earlier works,
473
00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:48,400
but those earlier works
are quite hard to explain.
474
00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:49,480
Yes.
475
00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:53,240
[Graham] It also suggests
they were constructed with a different,
476
00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:56,040
as yet unknown, stone-working technique.
477
00:28:56,920 --> 00:28:59,640
[uptempo intriguing music playing]
478
00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:03,920
This could be considered,
um, lost technology.
479
00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:11,440
We are confronted by mystery,
by an enigma that we cannot explain.
480
00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:17,960
Could the smooth, massive, zigzag walls
of Sacsayhuaman have been carved
481
00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:21,600
not by the Inca, but by someone else?
482
00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:24,280
[dramatic music plays]
483
00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:27,280
[intriguing music playing]
484
00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:31,520
What if much of the construction
we see here that's attributed to the Incas
485
00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:35,080
actually incorporates a legacy
of far more ancient knowledge?
486
00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:40,160
Could there be a legacy in stone,
487
00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:45,320
a legacy from an older civilization,
as yet unidentified by archaeology?
488
00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:48,240
[intriguing music continues]
489
00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:53,200
After all, no simpler versions
of these smoothly fitted megalithic walls
490
00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:55,800
have been found anywhere in Peru.
491
00:29:57,040 --> 00:30:00,600
But we did see something like this
back on Rapa Nui...
492
00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:06,120
{an8}in the walls of Ahu Vinapu,
493
00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:11,880
{an8}supposedly built long before Sacsayhuaman,
more than 2,000 miles away.
494
00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:14,880
[intriguing music intensifies, stops]
495
00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:17,400
The individual blocks
are made of solid basalt.
496
00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:19,280
They are beautifully fitted together,
497
00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:23,840
and they include polygonal elements,
just like the walls of Sacsayhuaman.
498
00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:30,040
{an8}Similar construction can be seen
in ancient walls in Turkey and in Egypt.
499
00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:34,520
{an8}There's a particular, a single small block
500
00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:38,320
{an8}that is fitted in between larger blocks,
which is identical.
501
00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:41,280
{an8}You can find the identical image in Cusco.
502
00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:46,200
{an8}Some suggest the builders
were simply being efficient
503
00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:47,800
{an8}with leftover waste material.
504
00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:50,560
But just look at the precision.
505
00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:55,120
So the feeling is that
this is a technology from the past
506
00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:58,040
that wasn't confined to
or limited to Peru.
507
00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:00,120
[intriguing music playing]
508
00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:04,280
What if the Incas built
some of the structures we see here
509
00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:06,760
on top of far more ancient foundations?
510
00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:08,200
[intriguing music builds]
511
00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:10,280
Foundations that may go back
512
00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:13,520
to the very roots of civilization
in the Americas.
513
00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:15,000
[dramatic music plays]
514
00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:16,600
[suspenseful music playing]
515
00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:19,280
[Graham] This possibility is
leading me down
516
00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:21,960
to the city over
which Sacsayhuaman towers,
517
00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:25,640
a place whose very name
might hold a vital clue.
518
00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:29,920
In the original Quechua language
of the Inca,
519
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:32,560
Cusco means "navel of the Earth,"
520
00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:37,440
{an8}just like
all those other sacred ancient navels,
521
00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:38,720
{an8}including Rapa Nui.
522
00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:41,280
[music continues]
523
00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:45,680
This notion of navels being found
all around the world
524
00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:48,520
should not be dismissed,
in my view, as coincidence.
525
00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:55,520
Could the remarkably shaped stonework
we see throughout this navel of the Earth
526
00:31:55,600 --> 00:32:00,440
be another surviving remnant
of that far older, advanced civilization
527
00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:01,920
I've been looking for?
528
00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:07,800
Everywhere you look in this city,
529
00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:12,920
there are layers upon layers of beautiful
and intricately-shaped stone walls,
530
00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:15,560
some incorporating giant megaliths.
531
00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:18,400
The mystery is that in any wall,
532
00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:21,480
you can often see
several different styles of architecture.
533
00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:24,840
Some extremely fine,
some comparatively crude.
534
00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:26,800
[suspenseful music continues]
535
00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:31,840
That mystery has led me
to Cusco's Calle Loreto
536
00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:38,040
and archaeological researcher
Jesus Gamarra, a descendant of the Inca,
537
00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:42,200
{an8}who's spent decades studying
the unique stonework of ancient Peru.
538
00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:48,520
Tell me about your work in the area
of Cusco and the Sacred Valley.
539
00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:54,920
[in Spanish] My passion lies
in antiquities of human origin.
540
00:32:55,800 --> 00:33:00,040
And this is reflected in the stone
541
00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:04,720
which is the oldest witness
that exists in history.
542
00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:06,760
[suspenseful music playing]
543
00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:09,120
[Graham in English] Just as we saw
at Sacsayhuaman,
544
00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:12,480
the street's megalithic walls
fit seamlessly together,
545
00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:16,880
the stones' curved edges
flowing one into the other.
546
00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:20,080
I mean, it boggles the mind.
547
00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:24,520
I'm just stunned looking at this,
and I can't figure out
548
00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:28,280
how anybody could have made walls
549
00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:31,560
with these enormous stones
so perfectly fitted together.
550
00:33:33,120 --> 00:33:36,200
What the archaeologists teach us
is that this was done by the Incas
551
00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:41,680
and that they used simple pounding stones
to make all of this incredible work.
552
00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:46,840
[in Spanish] It is not possible
to make this marvel with chisel technology
553
00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:48,640
and a builder's kit
554
00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:52,120
or to calculate the perfect precision
555
00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:56,360
that exists in this type of expression.
556
00:33:58,360 --> 00:34:01,520
[Graham in English] Nowhere is
this precision more clear than here
557
00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:06,400
with the geometric feat
known as the 12-angled stone...
558
00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:10,960
with its multiple faces fitting seamlessly
559
00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:13,240
with 11 other unique blocks.
560
00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:16,080
[intriguing music playing]
561
00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:20,720
And yet something else is jarring
about these so-called Incan walls.
562
00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:26,400
I see many different styles
of architecture here.
563
00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:28,720
Some amazing stonework like this
564
00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:32,640
and then some much poorer quality
stonework side by side.
565
00:34:32,720 --> 00:34:34,280
Help me to understand that mystery.
566
00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:38,680
[in Spanish] This architecture
does not correspond to the Incas.
567
00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:47,240
The Incas did not use
this polygonal, cushioned architecture.
568
00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:51,280
The Incas have another type
of architecture,
569
00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:55,040
which is characterized by right angles.
570
00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:57,120
[intriguing music continues]
571
00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:01,200
[Graham in English] The upper sections
feature blocks that clearly show
572
00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:04,760
marks consistent with
the basic tools the Inca used.
573
00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:10,720
Their construction poses no mystery,
unlike the lower tiers.
574
00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:15,840
So in your view,
the Incas did not make this?
575
00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:18,120
No. No, no, no. No.
576
00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:21,400
[Graham] Jesus believes
the Incas built above
577
00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:26,200
and around more ancient walls
that were already here when they arrived.
578
00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:34,440
[in Spanish] The history of Cusco
does not only go back to the Incas,
579
00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:37,680
but much further back.
580
00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:42,600
[in English] Jesus Gamarra, he's convinced
that we're looking not at one,
581
00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:45,440
but at least at three
different styles of architecture,
582
00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:47,080
the work of at least three cultures.
583
00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:49,200
[intriguing music playing]
584
00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:53,520
The most recent rough block work,
Jesus attributes to the Inca.
585
00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:57,600
But he believes
the pre-Inca smoothly-shaped stones
586
00:35:57,680 --> 00:35:59,920
both here and at Sacsayhuaman
587
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:02,840
have their roots
in a far more ancient technique,
588
00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:06,720
one the Incas revered
but could not emulate.
589
00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:09,960
[intriguing music ends]
590
00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:12,000
[in Spanish] There are things
that are impossible
591
00:36:12,520 --> 00:36:15,520
for more modern civilizations.
592
00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:18,520
These are more ancient
593
00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:25,200
and prove that moldable stone was used.
594
00:36:26,520 --> 00:36:30,160
[Graham in English] Jesus Gamarra calls
this style Hanan Pacha.
595
00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:33,000
And to get a first-hand glimpse of it,
596
00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:36,080
he suggests I visit an intriguing site
597
00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:39,760
on the side of the hill
topped by Sacsayhuaman.
598
00:36:39,840 --> 00:36:41,880
[intriguing music playing]
599
00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:47,360
A truly mystical location
600
00:36:49,640 --> 00:36:53,080
with a secretive entrance
all but hidden from view.
601
00:36:56,080 --> 00:36:59,400
One that again shows
a curious mix of building styles.
602
00:37:01,880 --> 00:37:04,200
It's known as the Temple of the Moon.
603
00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:06,360
[intriguing music continues]
604
00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:19,640
This is a strange, complicated place
with an air of mystery about it.
605
00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:23,480
The low stone walls here
are typical Inca masonry.
606
00:37:25,240 --> 00:37:28,120
But hidden inside
this shaped rocky outcrop
607
00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:30,120
is something altogether different.
608
00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:38,520
You're drawn in
through a narrow passageway,
609
00:37:38,600 --> 00:37:40,160
surrounded by silence.
610
00:37:40,240 --> 00:37:42,280
[adventurous music playing]
611
00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:45,240
It's almost like entering
into a labyrinth.
612
00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:50,560
It looks like some unknown technology
that we don't fully understand,
613
00:37:51,200 --> 00:37:55,080
created for reasons
that don't make sense to us.
614
00:37:55,160 --> 00:37:59,520
[music builds, ends]
615
00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:01,600
[closing theme playing]
616
00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:29,120
[closing theme ends]