All language subtitles for Lost Temple of The Inca

The
andes mountains.

Peru.

Towering, inhospitable
peaks, that push the
limits of the human body.

But one lost civilization
was notorious for their
connection

To this rarified air:
The inca

The largest, most
expansive empire in the
history of the americas.

In just 100 years, the
empire spread across
south america,

Building elaborate cities
and temples, incorporating
over 10 million people.

But it disappeared in a
matter of years,

Leaving mysteries that
have puzzled archeologists
for decades.

Now, a scientist is
searching for one of their
last missing temples,

At a cold and isolated lake,
high in the peruvian andes.

These sacred waters will
push him to the cutting
edge of exploration.

In southeast peru, a team of
scientists are en route

To a remote corner of the
country, to conduct

The first ever
archaeological survey
of lake sibinacocha.

Leading the expedition
is national geographic
explorer, preston sowell,

Who's been studying
this exotic watershed
for nearly twenty years.

Preston: We're at our base
camp elevation 16,000 feet.

Narrator: Lake sibinacocha
lies at the headwaters of
the amazon river,

Surrounded by enormous,
glaciated peaks, and
abundant wildlife.

Preston: You never
know what you're
going to run into

When you take people
into the mountains here.

Narrator: It's a
difficult place to reach,

Which has kept out all
but the most intrepid
scientists.

They've departed from
cusco, the capital city
of the inca empire,

Which is still a thriving
hub to this day.

From the 1430's, for
nearly 100 years, the inca
spread out from cusco

They conquered the many
existing ethnic groups
that spanned

From modern-day colombia
to central chile,

Incorporating their
beliefs and temples into
a cohesive empire.

But their most important
sites are found in the
cusco region.

Places like the ceremonial
center of ollantaytambo;

The spectacular ruins
of sacsayhuaman;

And machu picchu, the
royal estate of an
inca emperor,

Perched atop a sacred
mountain, with some
of the most precise

And astounding architecture
found anywhere in the world.

However, despite its
relatively close proximity
to cusco, lake sibinacocha,

And its surrounding
watershed, have
remained largely

Overlooked by archaeologists,

With little known about
its ties to the inca

Leaving us to wonder: What
secrets they might
have hidden here.

(greetings in spanish)

Preston sowell has
brought together a group
of peruvian archeologists,

To investigate the
lake, and its watershed.

They're joined
by professional mountain
climbers, and scuba divers,

To navigate the
difficult terrain, above
and below the water.

Preston: Vamos a
sibinacocha!

Narrator: This expedition
marks the first time that
trained archeologists

Have visited here,
where they will look

For structures and
artifacts from the past,

Exploring the
watershed's ridges,
peaks, and shoreline,

To try and learn what
the area might have
meant to the inca."

To convince archeologists
that we might have
something special here,

It's really the first step
in protecting this place.

Martin: Beautiful.
Team: Woo!

Narrator: Arriving at the
lake, preston and the team
could finally unlock

The mysteries of this
forgotten landscape.

At home in boulder,
colorado, preston works as
an environmental consultant,

Helping corporations
and the us government

Prevent and clean up
environmental contamination.

And for nearly 20 years,
he's had his eye on the
sibinacocha watershed,

Where he's developed a
deep appreciation for the
landscape, its wildlife,

And potential
significance to the incas.

Preston: I'm not an
archaeologist, my goal is
really to use this as a tool

To protect this watershed.

Narrator: It all started on
an expedition in the early
two thousands when preston

Was studying an emerging frog
disease that was decimating
local populations,

And he spotted a surprising
species in the water.

Preston: I lifted up a
rock and a much larger
frog took off.

Narrator: To preston, it
resembled the critically
endangered

Telmatobius culeus, or
titicaca water frog,

That was known to
reside only in the lake
titicaca watershed,

More than 125 miles away.

Titicaca was one of the
most sacred places in
the world for the inca,

And if the frog was
brought to sibinacocha
for ceremonial purposes,

It could indicate
a sacred connection
between the two lakes.

Preston: It sort of
became a thorn in my side.

I spent three expeditions
in the lake just trying
to find this damn frog.

Narrator: During his search
for the elusive frog,

Preston made an even more
unexpected discovery.

He noticed two strange
artifacts in the water,

Surrounded by algae and
weeds: A ceramic pot

And what appeared to be a
long, zigzagging wall, built
with golden yellow stones,

That looked like a
giant snake.

He didn't know it yet,
but these artifacts
would go on to define

The next 20 years
of his life.

He'd been pulled into a
fantastic new world, rich
with myths and legends,

And began researching the
many mysteries of the inca,

Who left few historical
records after they were

Overthrown by spanish
conquistadors.

He looked into the inca's
religious beliefs:

That the landscape was alive
with gods and spirits,

And that unique alignments
of geographical features,

Such as the position of
different mountains, rivers,

And lakes, were
considered sacred.

And the thing that
interested the inca most
was the high altitude peaks,

Where their most
important gods resided.

Next, preston learned that
zigzag walls, like the
one found at sibinacocha,

Are actually quite rare in
the andean cultural realm,

And almost always discovered
near an important place,

Like a shrine or temple,
often near bodies of
water.

In fact, some lakes
were considered
especially important,

And were called "paquarinas,

"which means "sacred
place of origin" in the
inca's language.

Preston: They were not only
where people were born from,

But where their souls
went when they died.

Narrator: The inca believed
that the whole world
floated on a body of water,

And each lake was an
entry point into a spirit
world beneath the surface.

Could lake sibinacocha
possibly be one of
these paquarinas?

Preston: At that moment
I thought we were
really on to something.

Narrator: As he continued
his research, preston found
one name at every turn:

World famous archeologist,
anthropologist,

And national geographic
explorer, johan reinhard.

Johan has spent much of his
career locating the inca's
most significant ceremonial

Sites at some of the
world's highest locations.

Johan: Probably the biggest
driving force in my own life

Would be the attraction to
mysteries, solving mysteries.

Narrator: Johan developed
an elite skillset,

To help him explore
the planet's most
hard-to-reach locations,

Becoming an expert in
climbing, sky diving,
and scuba diving.

He used these skills in the
highest mountain ranges

Around the world,
including peru.

Preston: That dude has been
everywhere; his shadow just
covers the andes.

Johan: One of the reasons
the incas seem so mysterious
to us is because we simply

Don't have any written
language before the
spanish arrived.

That creates a mystery.

But their understanding
was incomplete,

Leaving johan to
figure out for himself

Why the incas were drawn
to the highest places.

Johan: These were
altitudes where they
thought the gods resided.

Narrator: But these high
areas were not always kind,

Visiting biblical
devastation upon the inca,

Like earthquakes,
long droughts, and
torrential storms.

So they would appeal to
their mountain gods,
for good will,

Making offerings on
the summits.

To study these sacred
mountains, johan reinhard
made more than 200 ascents

Above 17,000 feet, in
five andean countries,

Discovering more than 50
archeological sites.

But in all of his
expeditions, one
site eluded him:

The temple of ausangate,
built to worship one of
the inca's most sacred peaks

21,000 feet above sea
level, nearly 60 miles
from cusco.

Ausangate is also visible
from lake sibinacocha,
10 miles to the east.

According to the
mythology, this temple was
built in ancient times,

Long before the inca empire,
beside a large lake at the
base of ausangate,

By the people of the
vilcanota valley.

The incas conquered the
valley, and the temple

Remained one of the most
important in the region.

Johan: A great temple, that
to this day nobody's found.

Narrator: To better explore
alpine lakes, johan helped
pioneer the practice

Of underwater archeology,
and then brought it
to the high mountains.

Johan: Scuba
diving, at altitude.

Narrator: Johan reached
submerged sites that
were previously

Beyond the limits of
human exploration.

But to this day, he
has not found the lost
temple of ausangate.

Johan: Feels like
unfinished business.

Although I think
preston's kind of got
that terrain covered.

Narrator: Preston begins to
wonder if the lost temple
could be at sibinacocha.

So, he sets out to finish
what johan had started.

But first, he'll have
to learn to scuba dive.

Preston: I found a technical
diver named george watson,
who is a cave diver.

When I told him about the
project he jumped right
in and agreed to train me.

George: I have been diving
since 1974 and I've done

A good deal of high-altitude
lake diving here in colorado.

Narrator: Diving at altitude
is especially dangerous,

Because the thin air creates
a greater difference

Between the atmospheric
pressure above and
below the water.

Without proper breathing
mixtures and decompression,

This can lead to crippling
pain, paralysis, and death.

Preston: It's all
theoretical, the dive
tables don't go that high,

So nobody really knows
what happens to you.

George: Diving at
16,000 feet is pretty
much unheard of,

It's unique in the
diving world.

Narrator: Add that to the
thermal challenge of
staying warm in water

Only a few degrees above
freezing, and it becomes
a very formidable undertaking.

Johan: The truth
is, you're working at
those altitudes blind.

Preston: Ah, this
is such a bad idea.

Johan: What preston's
done is exactly what
should be done.

Taken a really more
difficult and dangerous
aspect of the research,

Which is searching
underwater as well.

(music)

Narrator: After
months of training,

Preston and george finally
make it to sibinacoacha,

Along with a team of
world-class divers, to
examine the artifacts,

And explore deeper
within the lake.

But the expedition
ends in tragedy,

When a member of the
team perishes during a
world record dive.

George: During the
dive, something went
terribly wrong.

Narrator: George and his
dive partner, geoff belter,

Are suddenly out of air,
and separated.

George shoots to the surface
in an uncontrolled ascent,

Expecting to die from
decompression sickness.

His partner geoff
never surfaces and
can't be recovered.

George survives, but his
rapid ascent and failed
decompression injure

His spinal cord, leaving
him paralyzed from the
waist down for nine months.

It would take three
years of rehab to
regain his strength.

Preston: I had a rough
couple years after that
and understanding

I had some responsibility
in this man's death.

Narrator: The memory has
haunted preston ever since
and given him a better

Reason than ever to protect
what is now his friend's
final resting place.

Narrator: A year after
the accident, preston
is back at the lake,

To finally show his
underwater discoveries to
peruvian archeologists

But this place carries a
new weight for him now.

Preston: Geoff's
body is right there.

I'm confident we won't have
any more accidents but

I don't know if I have
ptsd or what,

It's causing a
little anxiety.

Narrator: After dark, a
local shaman performs

A special ritual offering
to the gods of the area.

Arturo: It's called
"despacho." this ritual
will be like asking for

Permission the pachamama,
to mother earth,

And the sacred mountains
here around sibinacocha
lake.

Preston: An offering to
the apus, to the local
gods to help protect us

As we work here and to show
respect to geoff who lost
his life here last year.

Narrator: The people who
live around sibinacocha have
been here for generations,

Living off of the land,
and carrying on the
inca's beliefs,

Traditions, and language.

Severino crispin has
lived near sibinacocha
his whole life.

He's been the leader
of this team of
horse wranglers

Since preston's first
visit to peru.

Narrator: Severino and the
rest of the wranglers

Still believe in the concept
of sacred landscape.

That the gods and spirits
live within the land,

Resting in boulders and
other natural features
called huacas.

This gives preston and
his team a direct link to
their ancestral knowledge.

Pedro: No, no, it
is always here.

Narrator: He tells
preston about the
legend of sibinacocha,

And what happened here,
hundreds of years ago.

Narrator: According to
the legend, there was
once a large city

On an island in the lake.

One day, an old beggar
showed up at a wedding,

And called upon the lake
to swallow the town.

Preston: It really makes
me wonder what's out
there under the water.

Narrator: The legend
corresponds with a
scientific theory

For the lake that the
water level rose,

Sometime during the inca
empire, due to a change
in climate,

Or natural disaster.

This would have submerged
the shoreline, including
the artifacts that preston

Discovered in the water,
which he is finally ready
to show to carlos ausejo,

Who will be the
first archeologist to
examine them up close.

Carlos: This is what
I've been waiting for,

Since the first time I
talked to preston about it,
it's pretty exciting.

(music)

Narrator: Under water,
the pot appears intact,

Perfectly preserved by the
cold water, and protected
from looters.

Carlos also examines the
golden, zig zagging,
snake-like structure,

And at this point, is well
convinced of the site's
significance

And that the pot may
have been left there

As an offering, by inca
or pre-inca people.

Preston: Good job carlos.
Narrator: But why?

Preston: You could
really see its shape.

Narrator: The next step
will be to recover the
pot from the water,

Carefully, and
determine its origin,

Carlos: Well we have a
lot of work to do.

Preston: We have some boxes
to check before we can
claim that it is the temple

Of ausangate, but it fits
with the legend and
history of the site.

Narrator: They'll need
permits to recover the pot,
so that will have to wait.

In the meantime, they
surround the pot with
sandbags,

To protect it until
they can return.

Preston: The thing that really
terrifies me now is that we
won't get this done in time.

Narrator: Constantino aucca
is a co-founder

Of the association of
andean ecosystems,

And one of the first
conservationists to
visit sibinacocha.

Constantino: The lake of
sibinacocha is one of
the most important

Wetlands in the world.

Narrator: Constantino
is most concerned about
mining,

Which has been edging
closer and closer to
the watershed.

Constantino: From patagonia
to venezuela, all the andes,
they are full of minerals.

Narrator: This region is
very high in gold, silver,
copper, and lithium,

But extracting these
minerals would be
devastating,

Poisoning the vilcanota
river, the inca's most
sacred waterway,

Which flows directly
out of sibinacocha,

Feeding millions of people,
and wildlife, downstream.

Constantino: The landscape
is going to disappear.

Narrator: Not only that,
mining could destroy the
cultural features

And natural history of the
area, before it has been
properly studied.

Preston: We have so
much to lose if this
place is destroyed,

But peru has a law that
will allow you to protect
a cultural landscape.

So we're sort of in a race
with the mining companies
now to try to prove

That it is this sacred
ceremonial site.

Can return to sibinacoacha,

He must get through his
next assignment:

To guide a scientific
expedition to the far
reaches of the inca empire,

In the atacama desert
of central chile the
driest place on earth.

Preston: Part of why I'm going
is to try to understand this
dedication to high places.

I think will really help
me understand what's
going on at sibinacocha.

Narrator: The atacama desert
is the home of the highest

Archeological site
in the world,

Created by the inca
five hundred years ago.

Priests trekked, on
foot, from their
capital in cusco,

Almost 1,000 miles,
to mt llullaillaco,

Near the edge of
their known world.

They used their extensive
road systems, through some
of the harshest conditions

On the planet, to climb
this sacred peak,

And perform a special
ceremony on the summit.

Hundreds of years later,
johan reinhard traveled
to llullaillaco,

To excavate on the summit.

His findings would become
one of the most significant

Archeological
discoveries in history.

Johan: We knew it was an
important sight because
there were ruins at the base

And because there were ruins
all the way to the top.

You're not going to find
that unless there had been

Some kind of offerings
made there.

Narrator: The inca's
climbing was far
ahead of its time.

They were the first to
use modern mountaineering
strategies,

Establishing camps at key
points along their routes,

And braving the thin air to
build ceremonial sites

On more than 100 mountains
above 17,000 feet the only
society in history

Known to make offerings
at that altitude.

In fact, no other culture
in the world had reached
those vertiginous heights,

And after the inca, no one
would reach the summit

Of mt. Llullaillaco
until the 1950's.

Preston is here to guide a
team of microbial biologists
from the university

Of colorado to their site
halfway up the mountain.

But he has a secondary
motive: To follow in the
footsteps of johan reinhard

And increase his
understanding of how
the inca lived

And died in the mountains.

Preston and his team
find life on the
mountain challenging,

Which makes the inca's
accomplishments here that
much harder to conceive.

Preston: It's just hard to be
here, much less work here.

Narrator: At mt
llullaillaco's altitude,
towering over 20,000 feet,

Altitude sickness can cause
fluid to leak from blood
vessels into the brain,

Which can be totally
debilitating, and even deadly.

So what could have
compelled the inca to make
such an arduous pilgrimage?

When they climbed this
peak 500 years ago,

They likely thought the
effects of the altitude were
symptoms of the mountain gods

Expressing their
influence, and climbed
through the pain,

To the very summit, where
they performed their sacred
ceremony of human sacrifice.

In 1999, johan ascended the
inca's path to the summit,

And made an archeological
discovery like no other
in history.

A ceremonial platform,
ritual offerings, and three
perfectly preserved mummies,

Aged six, seven, and fifteen.

The inca selected the
children for their beauty,

From all corners of
the empire,

Who accepted their sacrifice
as a great honor, to go and
live forever with the gods.

Human sacrifices were
sometimes executed by
strangulation,

A blow to the head, or as
in this case, they were
drugged and buried alive.

It was a powerful
moment for me.

You have this feeling
like you just snapped
back in time.

You could turn around
and see an incan priest,

You know it's that
kind of feeling.

Narrator: Although
this practice seems
horrific today,

Human sacrifice was
essential to the inca,

And johan's discovery
provided a major
breakthrough

In our understanding of
their mountain worship,

Adaptation to altitude,
and inca genealogy.

And even though preston
did not reach the summit,

He still felt the
profound effects of mt
llullaillaco's thin air,

And gruesome history.

Preston: I certainly
came down with a better
perspective

On mountain worship and
sort of a renewed respect
for these people

That saw these landscapes
as sacred just reaffirmed

What I already believed
about sibinacocha.

Narrator: Leaving mt
llullaillaco, preston drives
past a chilean copper mine,

One of the largest in
the world, which gives
him an idea

Of the environmental
devastation caused by
mineral extraction.

Preston: This can't be
allowed at sibinacocha,
absolutely not.

Narrator: Back in peru,
preston has returned,

To finally recover
the ceramic pot,

From the freezing water
of lake sibinacocha.

But that's not all, he's
joined by george watson,

Who spent the last three
years rehabilitating his
legs,

So he could return to that
fateful site, and help
with the recovery.

George: I've done an
awful lot of rehab and
a lot of training.

With one goal in mind
and that was coming back.

Narrator: And this
year, they aren't
taking any chances.

Preston: There are a few
things I want to go over

Just to get us started
because we got

Narrator: They've assembled
a crack team of divers,
to assist in the recovery.

Preston: These guys have
been my dive mentors

Since I had to learn to dive
to do the work up here.

Narrator: The team also
includes archeologist
martín polo,

And conservation specialist,
alexandra gambetta,

Who will manage the
recovery of the pot once
it is out of the water,

And look for ceremonial
offerings, which were often
placed inside ceramic vessels.

Alexandra: What is
inside, we don't know.

That's what we are
going to find out.

Narrator: On the hike in
to sibinacocha, emotions
are running high,

Especially for george.

Preston: You walked in.
George: Yeah.

Thanks for giving
me the opportunity.

Thanks for believing I
could. It's beautiful.

It's like I remember.

(music)

Narrator: The next morning,
the dive team prepares
their equipment

For the pot recovery.

They make a plan that
involves each member
of the team,

To transfer the pot
to a basket,

And transport it with a
lift bag, to the shore.

And their work must be
impeccable one mistake
could cost them dearly

And damage this one of a
kind piece of history.

(music)

(music)

Below the surface,
george and preston think
of their friend, geoff,

Who cared so much about
protecting this place.

(music)

First, preston leads
the divers to the pot,

And removes the sandbags
they placed to protect
it from weeds.

Preston: To my relief the
pot looked untouched, it
was intact,

And then the next
team took over.

Narrator: As they transfer
the pot to the basket,

Sediment from the lake
bottom is disturbed,

Preston: By that time
visibility was almost zero.

Narrator: But they
are prepared for that.

Momentarily blinded, george
pulls out the lift bag,
secures it to the basket,

And just as planned, the pot
floats off the lake bottom,

Moving for the first time in
hundreds of years.

(music)

(music)

Alexandra: Wow.
Felipe: Ah!

Un photo, un photo!

Preston: Been a
long time coming.

I learned how to dive
just to go down and
prove what that pot was,

What this place was pretty
profound feeling.

Narrator: For george, it is
an incredible catharsis,

Coming full circle on the
thing that brought him to
this lake, years ago.

And for preston, he can
finally sleep, knowing that
this important artifact

Will get the attention
it deserves.

Preston: Need bigger tweezers.

Narrator: Back at camp,
examination of the
pot begins immediately,

To remove the sediments for
analysis, clean the ceramic,

And finally see what, if
anything, is inside.

Martin: This in peru is the
first time we can recover

An intact pot from a
submerged area.

Narrator: Digging out the
sediment, alexandra feels

Something solid
within the pot.

Alexandra: It feels like
a stone or something.

Narrator: Offerings could
tell alexandra and martín why
the pot was placed underwater.

Alexandra: I've never
seen something like this.

Narrator: She unearths the
pot's unusual contents:
Three polished stones,

Which martín believes
are ceremonial.

Martin: I'm guessing it's
an offering to the lake.

Alexandra: I've seen
pots with leaves,
organic material,

Textiles, offerings, but
never with three stones
inside of the pot.

It's fantastic.

Narrator: Expert analysis
reveals that the pot is 600
to a thousand years old,

And archeologists
believe that this vessel,
and the stones inside,

Were part of an offering,
supporting the theory

That this site did
indeed have ceremonial
significance.

With the recovery
complete, preston has one
more goal to accomplish;

So he moves the team
around the lake, to the
base of yayamari,

The sacred mountain that
looms over sibinacocha

Like an ancient
pyramid, to conduct a
survey from the summit.

Before long, a peculiar
storm blows in,
bringing snow,

Hail, thunder, and
lightning.

Weather events were
seen as acts of the
gods by the inca;

And thunder was how the
mountains communicated
with one another.

Preston: You can see how
vulnerable you feel up
here in the mountains.

And how profound lighting
must have been if you didn't
understand what that was,

What was causing it.

Narrator: It is an
ominous welcome to their
camp below yayamari.

Preston: Our goal is to survey
the landscape, and take a better
look at how all the landscape

Features might fit together.

Narrator: As preston climbs,
he starts to notice certain
geographical features

Aligning in ways he
hadn't seen before.

Alignments that were only
now becoming clear to him,

But must have been
obvious to the inca.

Preston: The juxtaposition
of that landscape with
mountains with celestial

Bodies with the rising
and setting of the moon
and the sun and stars

At certain times of
the year.

The glaciers, the lake
and the rivers, it's
all right there.

Narrator: Suddenly, he
realizes that perhaps the
temple he'd been looking

For all these years was
there all along,

Composed of the landscape
that surrounds him.

For preston, nothing
could be more sacred.

But the team has one more
revelation waiting for them.

Something tangible, that
could tie everything
together.

During the descent of
yayamari, they arrive
at what looks like

The ruins of a large complex.

Martin: An inca structure.
Preston: You think it's inca?

Martin: Yeah, because there
are four or five rectangular
buildings around a patio,

A central patio, and
the buildings around it
are often sacred places.

Narrator: Martín describes
how the inca would conduct
ceremonies in plazas

Like these, using the
different rooms to prepare
offerings for the gods.

Martin: Maybe here
were some stairs, just
using your imagination,

The rock kind of looks
like it was shaped to
be the same as yayamari.

Narrator: Location was very
important for the placement
of ceremonial sites,

And this new complex is
directly below yayamari, with
a direct view of ausangate,

Making it an ideal place
to worship the mountains.

Boulder fields like this
were often considered
sacred on their own,

And used as the groundwork
for larger ceremonial centers,
built into the landscape.

Preston: It's just perfect
for a site like that.

Martin: This could
be like a temple.

Johan: It does look like
there's a base of an inca
complex near the lake.

But whether it is
the temple of auzangate,
still seems unclear to me.

Preston: Everyone wants to
excavate there to gather

More data on what that
complex could be.

Narrator: At the end
of this expedition,

Preston has fulfilled the
dream he's had for so
many years.

But he's created
some new ones.

So his work, is not done.

Preston: All of the effort
just to bring this thing up.

And the prices that we paid.

I think it's another
magic piece in the puzzle

That's sibinacocha
and that watershed.

But we're not there yet.

Mining companies could apply
for new permits tomorrow.

Narrator: Before long,
preston returns, yet again,

To help with the
archeological excavation
of the yayamari complex.

The stakes for this
expedition have never
been higher,

And for preston, it is
somewhat bittersweet.

He is finally passing the
torch to archeologists who
will take the lead

In determining the past,
and future, of sibinacocha.

Six archaeologists from all
over the world are lead by
arturo rivera

To the yayamari site and
get to work immediately.

Arturo: Each time we walk by
we can find something new.

Narrator: He is joined by
his wife, sarah baitzel,

A mortuary archeologist
from germany.

Sarah: It really gives
you the sense of

An archaeological
disney land.

This is a site where you
can spend many many
years, digging.

Preston: Now we've got
academic archaeologist
involved

That are best qualified
to manage this thing
going forward

Narrator: They find signs
of habitation by inca and
pre-inca people,

Who adapted dwellings and
ceremonial structures to the
landscape beneath yayamari,

Including irrigation
canals, and modification of
sacred springs and boulders.

Preston: These sites were
placed in juxtaposition

To the mountains and
the natural features
around them.

Johan: That verifies to me
that it was an important
inca site.

So there's no doubt,
that the lake was
considered sacred,

Preston: I'm so
excited right now.

Sarah: This is a place
that's sort of drawing
people to it.

The landscape is alive.

Arturo: It's a place
that has to be protected.

It's part of our
past as peruvians.

Martin: It's our history.
Our heritage.

Narrator: With the
archeology under way,
preston is free to return

To his study of the
sibinacocha habitat.

He treks around the lake, to
retrieve camera traps which
he hopes have captured

Photographs of the
endangered andean
mountain cat.

Preston: The andean mountain
cat is the most endangered
cat in the americas.

Narrator: He finds
historic photographs
of the elusive cat,

Proving, for the first
time, that it lives in
the watershed.

Preston: That will act
as an ambassador species
for the ecosystem.

And help us protect the area.

Narrator: Preston knows
better than anyone

How much there is to
protect at sibinacocha.

The history, the wildlife,
and the people that
live here, and downstream.

And now, with the
archeological findings,

Photographic proof of the
andean mountain cat,

And everything that is
still left to discover,

Lake sibinacocha is on the
verge of being protected
as a sacred landscape.

Johan: I think what
distinguishes sacred
landscape from landscape

Is that it's come alive
for the people.

Preston: I think it's
so encouraging that
an entire culture,

An entire people can
see the world that
way and I think

It gives me some optimism
for the rest of the world.

Narrator: And as for the
lost temple of ausangate?

They've got more work to do.

Johan: You know, it's still
left to be determined.

Narrator: For now,
preston's search at
sibinacocha continues.

And he may never know if this
really is the lost temple.

But if he can at least
protect it for the future,
anything is possible.

(music)

(music)

Captioned by subtitlepro llc