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This is the Amazon rainforest.
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It's breathtaking.
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So many people think of the Amazon
as this vast natural oasis.
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Truly wild, unchanged forever...
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..dotted with a few isolated tribes.
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But it's a complete myth.
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See, a monumental mystery is
unfolding out here,
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with new evidence of vast societies
that thrived along these banks,
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and stretched right across
the continent
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where now there's nothing but dense
rain forest.
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I want to get to the bottom of
this mystery
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and find out for myself the real
history of the Amazon.
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I'm Ella Al-Shamahi.
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I'm an explorer and archaeologist
in some of the world's most
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dangerous and remote regions.
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I'll be travelling through
the Amazon's conflict zones.
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In search of a lost, ancient world.
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There's handprints.
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There's actual handprints.
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I'm seeing how new technology is
looking beneath the jungle
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uncovering vast, hidden settlements
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and revealing the remains of entire
civilisations of millions of people.
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It's going to raise a whole pile
of questions.
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Who were these people?
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And when did they live here?
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Where did they come from?
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And perhaps most important of all,
what on earth happened to them?
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It's the second leg of my
Amazonian Adventure.
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And I've arrived
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in Colombia.
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Ella. Nice to meet you.
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Hi, Ella, it's a pleasure.
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Welcome to San Jose del Guaviare.
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I'm on an epic mission
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to discover the hidden secrets of
the ancient Amazon.
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On my journey so far,
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I've seen how new technology
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is revealing
long-lost civilisations
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that once thrived in the
dense rainforest.
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There were people living here
hundreds of years ago.
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This is real
archaeological discovery.
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Until contact with Europeans
around 500 years ago...
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..completely wiped them off the map.
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Now, I'm reaching much
further back in time,
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to discover how those great
civilisations first came to be.
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Here in Colombia, one spectacular
discovery holds clues
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to the very first people to inhabit
the Amazon.
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But this region is dangerous,
and without my local guide Oliver,
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getting in with cameras would be
just about impossible.
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Are we OK to have cameras?
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If they tell us to turn off the
camera, we will do that, obviously.
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Do all cars get called over?
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Not all, but some do.
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Do you have your passports with you?
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Everything all right?
Yeah, all good.
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We can keep on.
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What exactly is the sensitivity?
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The whole region has been affected
by the 50 years civil war,
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so, they still are checking people
for arms, for example.
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And this is a civil war with FARC?
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It's with the FARC, Yeah.
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War raged between FARC guerrillas
and the Colombian government
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for 50 years
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at a cost of more than
200,000 lives.
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But now, an uneasy truce has
been agreed.
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How's the peace agreement working
out in this particular area?
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There are still some groups,
active groups.
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So, that means the peace agreement
is failing, basically.
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I'm venturing into territory still
run by ex-FARC militia.
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Because the jungles of Colombia are
home to one of the most
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incredible finds ever made in
the Amazon.
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If we can actually get there.
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We are going there right now with
the permission of the FARC.
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Yeah.
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And that's essentially what's
protecting us and keeping us safe.
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It's like a rebel visa, isn't it?
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A rebel visa?
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Yeah, we've basically got a visa
from a bunch of rebels.
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After nearly three hours,
we arrive at a remote village,
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that will be my base for the next
couple of days.
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The locals are very nervous about
the possibility of officials
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coming to snoop.
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So I let Oliver try to convince them
that we're OK.
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So, I'm not completely clear on
what's going on.
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They're having a really big
elongated discussion right now
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about permissions.
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Everybody keeps saying problem,
problem, problem,
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I'm like, clearly there's a problem.
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There's so much distrust.
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So, what's the situation?
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Well, the situation is basically
they do have some doubts.
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So, they are not, like,
really happy.
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But negotiating, we got the access.
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Good. All right.
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Phew.
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Hey! Ella.
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You're smiling! How are you doing?
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Good.
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Joining me is British archaeologist
Mark Robinson who's spent
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two seasons working here.
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Ready to see something spectacular?
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Yes, yes.
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Backpacks on, we head out from
the village.
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Mark believes this huge rocky
outcrop was a special place
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for ancient people.
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It's incredible.
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Isn't it just?
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A good place for me to look
for clues.
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You can just imagine if you were
a pre-Columbian Amazonian,
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just kind of, oof.
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You'd see that and it's something,
isn't it?
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It looks a bit like the Mecca of
the region.
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It, kind of, draws you in.
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War with the FARC has meant this
place has been off limits
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for decades.
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Following the peace treaty,
Mark was among the very first
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archaeologists allowed back in to
explore it.
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That is something.
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I'm trying not to swear.
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That is incredible.
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This is the prehistoric
Sistine Chapel.
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Everywhere I look, there are
crazy geometric patterns,
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animals,
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birds
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and plants.
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I mean there's so many,
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it's kind of overwhelming,
there's just so much.
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Those are humans up there.
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The paintings are like
a distant diary
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depicting the lives
these early Amazonians lived.
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We're seeing themes,
we're seeing style to this.
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This is not an individual,
we're talking about groups,
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group consciousness and group
culture as it starts to develop
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and how they depict the world
around them.
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So, we start to really get an idea
of who these people are.
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There's handprints.
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There's actual handprints.
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Some person stood here
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and put their hand
on that bit of wall.
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It's absolutely profound to think
that that handprint
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may be a handprint of the
first people
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to have made it to the Amazon.
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Experts believe the first people
reached the Americas
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between 15 and 25,000 years ago,
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crossing a land bridge that, then,
joined Siberia to Alaska.
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Migration continued south over
thousands of years,
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finally passing through
the narrow gap of central America
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and into the Amazon.
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Those first people could have come
through here,
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right where I'm standing.
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But just how old are the
rock paintings?
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Is there any way of knowing whether
they could have been painted
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by some of those very
first Amazonians?
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There are a number of different
techniques in archaeology
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that can be used to date things,
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are any of them going to be of any
use for this wall?
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The one that most people know is
carbon dating.
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00:10:20,261 --> 00:10:23,381
But, the biggest problem in this,
there's no carbon involved.
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We're looking at ochre on the walls,
so, that's a real problem for us.
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But I'm far from finished here.
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Because it turns out that there's
much more to explore.
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Last year, Mark and his colleagues
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discovered 16 more walls of
ancient drawings
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all completely unknown to science.
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And tomorrow, I'm going to be
one of the first archaeologists
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ever to explore them.
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It's morning.
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And I'm back on the trail of the
first Amazonians.
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Oh, my God.
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It tastes amazing.
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The art I saw yesterday was one of
the most breathtaking things
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I have ever seen as
an archaeologist.
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But it turns out it's just the tip
of the iceberg.
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This is the rock face we need
to scale.
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Because in this remote part of the
Colombian Amazon,
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Mark has located another 16 walls,
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all covered with more
ancient paintings.
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This better be bloody worth it.
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Mark has only ever been here
once before.
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Let's check the GPS.
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So, the point we had from last
year is just up here,
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it looks like it's just
through the bush here.
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We are getting close.
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There we go.
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And this is it.
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As you can see, we've got a
beautiful bowl.
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Oh, my God.
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There's, there's rock art all the
way back here,
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I've just walked past a turtle,
there's all kinds,
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it just, it seems to circumvent
right around this rock face.
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Mark's colleagues have started
making 3D scans of the walls,
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so archaeologists will be able to
analyse every single detail
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of these drawings without having to
trek through the jungle.
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But it'll take time
because, incredibly,
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Mark estimates there could be more
than 100,000 paintings
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on this remote outcrop.
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It's possibly the greatest cache of
ancient rock art in the Americas.
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To think that I have the absolute
privilege and honour
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of being in the very, very first few
scientists, of archaeologists
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to see this.
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It's just mad.
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What we're looking at here is
undescribed to the world,
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it's undescribed to science.
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How cool is that?
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Compared to yesterday's site,
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some of these drawings look simpler,
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perhaps even older.
208
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Come have a look at this one here.
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And Mark has discovered a clue that
could help us work out
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just how early they might be.
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The little image right here,
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it looks like an animal, there's
an animal head here
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and a large body,
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00:13:58,581 --> 00:14:01,381
and that shape of the head, as well,
it's quite distinctive.
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00:14:01,421 --> 00:14:03,981
And particularly distinctive is
this long
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00:14:04,021 --> 00:14:06,341
trunk coming off the front.
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00:14:06,381 --> 00:14:08,701
This is a mastodon.
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00:14:10,941 --> 00:14:15,301
A prehistoric relative of
today's elephants.
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00:14:15,341 --> 00:14:20,901
But mastodons haven't roamed South
America for at least 12,000 years.
220
00:14:23,261 --> 00:14:28,661
The people who once lived here,
must have lived alongside them.
221
00:14:28,701 --> 00:14:33,701
Clearly there's an overlap between
people and these mega herbivores.
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It tells us that this artwork was
drawn at that time period.
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So, this is a great
chronological marker
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that these were some of the
earliest people.
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That's absolutely insane.
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00:14:44,101 --> 00:14:48,421
I think so many people when they
think about archaeology and dating,
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00:14:48,461 --> 00:14:50,861
they always think about
traditional dating methods
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00:14:50,901 --> 00:14:52,861
like carbon dating and all the rest
of it.
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00:14:52,901 --> 00:14:54,741
But actually, sometimes
there's something
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00:14:54,781 --> 00:14:58,381
right in front of your face, which
is an animal on some rock art
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00:14:58,421 --> 00:15:03,221
that went extinct at a certain
point, and it's on this wall.
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Unseen by outsiders for
12,000 years,
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Mark is now identifying more extinct
species on the walls.
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00:15:17,901 --> 00:15:19,461
A giant sloth...
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00:15:21,101 --> 00:15:24,861
..and another completely
unexpected animal.
236
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That is so clearly a horse, right?
237
00:15:29,941 --> 00:15:33,461
One of the interesting aspects
with this horse is the head shape.
238
00:15:33,501 --> 00:15:36,261
This head shape, OK, it's quite a
crude representation -
239
00:15:36,301 --> 00:15:40,381
but that's a head shape we expect of
one of the earliest horses.
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Horses are native to the Americas,
241
00:15:44,861 --> 00:15:48,981
but they went extinct from
South America around 13,000 years.
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That is amazing.
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00:15:54,021 --> 00:15:58,181
Living alongside horses, sloths and
giant mastodons,
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00:15:58,221 --> 00:16:02,061
it's clear that the Amazon these
earliest people knew
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00:16:02,101 --> 00:16:05,381
was a mix of forest and
open savannah.
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00:16:07,621 --> 00:16:10,741
Very different from the Amazon we
see today.
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To think that some of the earliest
inhabitants of the Amazon were
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00:16:16,301 --> 00:16:18,461
here painting when importantly,
249
00:16:18,501 --> 00:16:24,061
the Amazon did not look like the
Amazon rainforest of today.
250
00:16:24,101 --> 00:16:26,101
It's absolutely goosebump-inducing.
251
00:16:26,141 --> 00:16:27,381
It's, just, it's insane.
252
00:16:40,661 --> 00:16:43,101
Leaving Colombia, I'm heading south,
253
00:16:43,141 --> 00:16:46,621
back over the jungles of the
Brazilian rainforest.
254
00:16:49,301 --> 00:16:54,781
Across the Amazon today, there are
at least 400 indigenous groups.
255
00:16:57,021 --> 00:17:01,981
Including about 100 that remain
totally uncontacted.
256
00:17:03,461 --> 00:17:05,501
All are genetically related.
257
00:17:05,541 --> 00:17:09,621
Direct descendants of those very
first hunters,
258
00:17:09,661 --> 00:17:12,661
maybe even those who left their
rock art
259
00:17:12,701 --> 00:17:15,061
over 12,000 years ago.
260
00:17:16,781 --> 00:17:20,941
But just a few groups are
startlingly different,
261
00:17:20,981 --> 00:17:25,221
with incredible genetic secrets
that are challenging everything
262
00:17:25,261 --> 00:17:29,501
we thought we knew about how the
Amazon was first occupied.
263
00:17:31,421 --> 00:17:35,501
One of them is a Brazilian
indigenous group called the Surui.
264
00:17:35,541 --> 00:17:38,021
And I'm going to meet them.
265
00:17:38,061 --> 00:17:39,821
But like so many others,
266
00:17:39,861 --> 00:17:44,461
they've been seriously affected by
contact with the outside world.
267
00:17:47,781 --> 00:17:49,621
When you look out the window,
268
00:17:49,661 --> 00:17:53,461
there's so many roads, and the roads
bring with them
269
00:17:53,501 --> 00:17:55,741
a lot of problems.
270
00:17:55,781 --> 00:17:56,941
So, actually, for the Surui,
271
00:17:56,981 --> 00:18:02,621
it was actually a road, a big
highway that was put in in 1969,
272
00:18:02,661 --> 00:18:05,141
that was when 90% of
their population
273
00:18:05,181 --> 00:18:07,101
were completely decimated.
274
00:18:08,381 --> 00:18:09,501
Think about that.
275
00:18:09,541 --> 00:18:12,021
That's 90% of their population
276
00:18:12,061 --> 00:18:16,661
being decimated because a road was
put in
277
00:18:16,701 --> 00:18:19,661
that brought in outsiders with,
278
00:18:19,701 --> 00:18:22,901
basically, diseases that they didn't
have immunities for.
279
00:18:30,341 --> 00:18:34,021
So, basically, this whole area used
to be indigenous territory?
280
00:18:34,061 --> 00:18:39,301
Yeah, the whole state was
virgin rainforest.
281
00:18:39,341 --> 00:18:44,221
My new Brazilian guide Flavio is
taking me to meet the Surui...
282
00:18:46,101 --> 00:18:48,501
..who now live on a small
reservation.
283
00:18:51,981 --> 00:18:54,421
Right, so, I guess this is
the village.
284
00:18:54,461 --> 00:18:55,741
Yeah.
285
00:18:57,701 --> 00:18:58,701
Oi.
286
00:19:00,981 --> 00:19:02,501
So nice to meet you.
287
00:19:02,541 --> 00:19:06,141
I'm actually quite nervous meeting
Chief Almir Surui.
288
00:19:06,181 --> 00:19:07,941
Thank you, thank you for coming out.
289
00:19:07,981 --> 00:19:10,021
So is this?
290
00:19:10,061 --> 00:19:11,421
My brother.
291
00:19:11,461 --> 00:19:12,701
Ah, your brother.
292
00:19:12,741 --> 00:19:14,461
Hi. Ella, Ella.
293
00:19:14,501 --> 00:19:16,141
Because in the past,
294
00:19:16,181 --> 00:19:21,141
the Surui have not been treated
well by scientists like me.
295
00:19:21,181 --> 00:19:25,261
Since the late 1980s,
researchers have taken samples
296
00:19:25,301 --> 00:19:28,221
of indigenous blood as a matter
of course.
297
00:19:29,941 --> 00:19:34,581
A violation that's been repeated
numerous times over the decades,
298
00:19:34,621 --> 00:19:37,541
and that the Surui strongly resent.
299
00:19:53,301 --> 00:19:54,301
Hi.
300
00:19:55,621 --> 00:20:00,301
Can I ask when and how was your
blood taken?
301
00:20:23,701 --> 00:20:26,381
Did you ever hear from them again?
302
00:20:26,421 --> 00:20:28,501
Did you ever get any results
from them?
303
00:20:35,741 --> 00:20:39,821
Weitag Surui's blood was taken
in the 1990s,
304
00:20:39,861 --> 00:20:42,061
to be shared and possibly sold,
305
00:20:42,101 --> 00:20:45,101
along with other Surui samples,
306
00:20:45,141 --> 00:20:46,941
without any permission,
307
00:20:46,981 --> 00:20:51,381
to scientists, including those
researching ancestral DNA.
308
00:20:52,781 --> 00:20:54,301
They were never told why.
309
00:20:55,541 --> 00:20:58,021
Or given any results.
310
00:21:33,581 --> 00:21:35,581
I'm sad that you were
disrespected like that,
311
00:21:35,621 --> 00:21:37,901
I'm really sorry about that.
312
00:21:37,941 --> 00:21:39,501
That shouldn't have happened.
313
00:21:41,221 --> 00:21:45,021
Incredibly, no-one has ever even
told the Surui
314
00:21:45,061 --> 00:21:50,461
that their blood samples have opened
up a massive mystery.
315
00:21:50,501 --> 00:21:54,221
I want to try to explain that what
scientists have discovered
316
00:21:54,261 --> 00:21:58,941
in their DNA is simply astonishing.
317
00:21:58,981 --> 00:22:01,581
But finding a way to communicate
genetics to them
318
00:22:01,621 --> 00:22:03,821
isn't going to be easy.
319
00:22:03,861 --> 00:22:08,101
And I'm pretty nervous about how
they might react when I try.
320
00:22:10,581 --> 00:22:12,861
I genuinely have no idea how this is
going to go.
321
00:22:12,901 --> 00:22:14,221
I am so stressed.
322
00:22:16,061 --> 00:22:17,421
On top of everything,
323
00:22:17,461 --> 00:22:20,301
I feel a huge weight of
responsibility for all
324
00:22:20,341 --> 00:22:22,821
my fellow scientists.
325
00:22:22,861 --> 00:22:25,701
I am terrified.
326
00:22:25,741 --> 00:22:29,301
Because the discoveries are turning
our assumption about the first
327
00:22:29,341 --> 00:22:31,941
Amazonians completely on its head.
328
00:22:37,821 --> 00:22:39,461
Let's see if I do it this way.
329
00:22:42,821 --> 00:22:43,821
OK.
330
00:22:52,261 --> 00:22:54,701
How many of you are really
familiar with this map?
331
00:22:57,981 --> 00:23:01,941
There's something really interesting
about yourselves, actually -
332
00:23:01,981 --> 00:23:03,981
the Surui.
333
00:23:04,021 --> 00:23:05,421
It turns out that you,
334
00:23:05,461 --> 00:23:09,581
unlike most other indigenous groups
in South America,
335
00:23:09,621 --> 00:23:13,381
you share some DNA, some ancestry,
336
00:23:13,421 --> 00:23:15,861
with people...
337
00:23:15,901 --> 00:23:17,221
..in Australia.
338
00:23:26,261 --> 00:23:30,541
I'm trying to communicate
a scientific bombshell...
339
00:23:32,701 --> 00:23:35,781
..that the Surui have some
ancient ancestors,
340
00:23:35,821 --> 00:23:39,261
that almost no other
indigenous Amazonians share.
341
00:23:42,501 --> 00:23:47,381
The question is, how is there a
relationship between here and here?
342
00:23:47,421 --> 00:23:51,021
You guys are one of the few
indigenous groups that have it.
343
00:23:55,621 --> 00:23:59,341
Most scientists believe that
every indigenous group
344
00:23:59,381 --> 00:24:03,141
in the Amazon can trace their roots
back to one ancestral population,
345
00:24:03,181 --> 00:24:07,821
which reached South America
at least 15,000 years ago.
346
00:24:10,341 --> 00:24:14,541
But their DNA reveals the Surui
are one of just three indigenous
347
00:24:14,581 --> 00:24:17,581
groups in the whole of the
Americas who are partly
348
00:24:17,621 --> 00:24:22,301
descended from another, completely
different ancestor that they
349
00:24:22,341 --> 00:24:26,861
share with indigenous Australasians.
350
00:24:29,941 --> 00:24:32,781
It means that you're very unique,
it means there's something
351
00:24:32,821 --> 00:24:35,141
really interesting going on with
you and there's a sign
352
00:24:35,181 --> 00:24:39,501
of ancestry in you that really is
very unique and very special.
353
00:24:41,061 --> 00:24:43,341
We still don't know how or exactly
354
00:24:43,381 --> 00:24:46,781
when the Surui's mysterious
ancestors got here.
355
00:24:46,821 --> 00:24:49,461
THEY SPEAK IN SURUI
356
00:24:49,501 --> 00:24:53,941
But my attempt at explaining some
science has unexpectedly set off
357
00:24:53,981 --> 00:24:58,221
a discussion about their own origin
myths.
358
00:25:52,981 --> 00:25:56,181
It's incredible to hear
the Surui's own
359
00:25:56,221 --> 00:25:58,381
mythology about their ancient past.
360
00:26:00,181 --> 00:26:02,861
And I feel I've done my
best to explain why
361
00:26:02,901 --> 00:26:06,501
we scientists think
they're so special.
362
00:26:10,501 --> 00:26:15,461
So this has been a completely
profound experience actually.
363
00:26:17,741 --> 00:26:21,781
We, the outside world, have to
give them so much more respect,
364
00:26:21,821 --> 00:26:25,941
and we, scientists, also have to
give them so much more respect.
365
00:26:25,981 --> 00:26:33,901
And help, because if we let
366
00:26:33,941 --> 00:26:36,941
the loggers and the miners win,
367
00:26:36,981 --> 00:26:41,341
we will have lost
one of the most fascinating
368
00:26:41,381 --> 00:26:45,541
pieces of the jigsaw puzzle
when it comes to Amazonian history.
369
00:26:47,221 --> 00:26:49,021
One of the most ancient people,
370
00:26:49,061 --> 00:26:52,461
and it would be just absolutely
devastating.
371
00:26:53,821 --> 00:26:56,101
THUNDER CLAPS
372
00:27:08,101 --> 00:27:11,861
My hunt for the origins
of the people of the Amazon
373
00:27:11,901 --> 00:27:14,341
has taken me deep into prehistory.
374
00:27:18,861 --> 00:27:22,621
I've found new evidence about
the very early pioneers
375
00:27:22,661 --> 00:27:26,541
who migrated here at least
15,000 years ago.
376
00:27:29,421 --> 00:27:33,661
And I've met indigenous people
with an ancient secret in their DNA.
377
00:27:37,381 --> 00:27:42,061
But how did the first Amazonians go
on to forge the great civilisations
378
00:27:42,101 --> 00:27:47,661
that I've found existed centuries
before the first Europeans arrived?
379
00:27:52,301 --> 00:27:55,101
The first question is
380
00:27:55,141 --> 00:27:58,341
when did groups of nomadic
hunter-gatherers
381
00:27:58,381 --> 00:28:02,061
first begin to
settle and build homes?
382
00:28:05,461 --> 00:28:09,581
There are clues in the far
west of the Amazon, in Bolivia.
383
00:28:13,221 --> 00:28:16,621
Here, Earth scientist
Umberto Lombardo has been
384
00:28:16,661 --> 00:28:20,821
searching for evidence of
prehistoric Amazonian settlements.
385
00:28:26,741 --> 00:28:31,181
He's finding evidence in the most
unlikely of places -
386
00:28:31,221 --> 00:28:35,381
an ancient rubbish tip
of discarded snail shells.
387
00:28:41,461 --> 00:28:43,301
This is hard, it's hard like rock.
388
00:28:43,341 --> 00:28:45,421
But it is not a rock.
389
00:28:45,461 --> 00:28:48,061
We know in this area there
are no rocks.
390
00:28:48,101 --> 00:28:52,061
This is a huge flood plain,
and all the sediments are very fine.
391
00:28:52,101 --> 00:28:56,061
It looks like a rock because it is
full of shells, snail shells.
392
00:28:56,101 --> 00:29:00,301
You see all the shells
are fragmented and cemented,
393
00:29:00,341 --> 00:29:04,701
all together and this
is actually an apple snail.
394
00:29:04,741 --> 00:29:09,461
Here, we have one,
this is a small one.
395
00:29:11,381 --> 00:29:15,781
The oldest shells here have been
dated to 10,000 years ago,
396
00:29:15,821 --> 00:29:19,781
when they would have been a major
part of the diet for the people
397
00:29:19,821 --> 00:29:25,701
who lived here in what was a
difficult and dangerous environment.
398
00:29:28,541 --> 00:29:30,981
These are the Bolivian flood plains.
399
00:29:33,461 --> 00:29:37,101
In the summer months, this
part of the Amazon bakes
400
00:29:37,141 --> 00:29:38,781
under a relentless sun.
401
00:29:42,381 --> 00:29:46,221
But in the wet season, it becomes
a very different place.
402
00:29:48,341 --> 00:29:52,581
The landscape is so flat, and it
rains so much, that it is very
403
00:29:52,621 --> 00:29:55,021
difficult for the water to
drain to the rivers.
404
00:29:55,061 --> 00:29:57,181
So when the rainy season starts,
405
00:29:57,221 --> 00:30:00,941
about 80,000 square km
of this area get flooded.
406
00:30:02,261 --> 00:30:06,381
But over centuries, the snail
shells discarded by these first
407
00:30:06,421 --> 00:30:09,461
inhabitants created
something incredible.
408
00:30:14,661 --> 00:30:19,421
Forest islands that became a safe
haven from the flood waters.
409
00:30:25,381 --> 00:30:27,621
Umberto believes that as food
410
00:30:27,661 --> 00:30:31,781
and domestic waste gradually
built up above the floods...
411
00:30:33,261 --> 00:30:36,221
..trees grew on the
drier, enriched ground,
412
00:30:36,261 --> 00:30:39,261
giving shade from the scorching sun.
413
00:30:42,301 --> 00:30:47,381
Each mound became an oasis of
shelter in the vast, hostile plains.
414
00:30:49,421 --> 00:30:53,141
Rather than moving around,
the people of the Amazon were
415
00:30:53,181 --> 00:30:57,861
settling down, forming the first
permanent settlements in the region.
416
00:31:00,341 --> 00:31:01,461
And, amazingly...
417
00:31:03,861 --> 00:31:07,861
..Umberto has even unearthed
the remains of the very people
418
00:31:07,901 --> 00:31:09,261
who once lived here.
419
00:31:10,861 --> 00:31:14,901
The skulls are very deformed,
squashed like this,
420
00:31:14,941 --> 00:31:17,941
because of the weight
of the sediments on top of them.
421
00:31:19,781 --> 00:31:23,381
And from the radio-carbon age
we could get from these remains,
422
00:31:23,421 --> 00:31:25,021
we know they are 6,000 years old
423
00:31:25,061 --> 00:31:28,301
and they are among the oldest
skeletons from Amazonia.
424
00:31:31,661 --> 00:31:35,261
From the nomadic migrants
of 15,000 years ago,
425
00:31:35,301 --> 00:31:39,541
I've discovered the first
evidence of people who settled
426
00:31:39,581 --> 00:31:43,301
and built homes around
5,000 years later.
427
00:31:47,181 --> 00:31:49,101
But what happened next?
428
00:31:56,621 --> 00:32:00,741
To find out, I'm teaming up again
with Bolivian archaeologist
429
00:32:00,781 --> 00:32:02,181
Carla Betancourt.
430
00:32:04,741 --> 00:32:08,741
And you can see this black layer?
431
00:32:08,781 --> 00:32:10,581
Yeah.
432
00:32:10,621 --> 00:32:14,581
I've already seen how Carla's
recent excavations in Bolivia
433
00:32:14,621 --> 00:32:18,901
are revealing a sophisticated
society that flourished
434
00:32:18,941 --> 00:32:20,381
well over 1,000 years ago.
435
00:32:25,061 --> 00:32:28,421
Now she's contacted me
about a new find,
436
00:32:28,461 --> 00:32:30,981
a 1500-year-old skeleton,
437
00:32:31,021 --> 00:32:32,861
which Carla hopes
might contain clues
438
00:32:32,901 --> 00:32:36,741
to how Amazonians from
that era lived.
439
00:32:38,821 --> 00:32:41,381
The thing with skulls it that
they are actually quite light
440
00:32:41,421 --> 00:32:43,781
and this one feels like a rock,
and the reason why
441
00:32:43,821 --> 00:32:48,381
it feels like a rock is that it's
clearly still covered in dirt.
442
00:32:50,221 --> 00:32:53,621
Carla and I are coming to a nearby
lab to see what secrets this
443
00:32:53,661 --> 00:32:55,341
new find might contain.
444
00:32:57,061 --> 00:32:58,821
Hi, Ella, nice to meet you.
445
00:32:58,861 --> 00:33:00,661
This is the moment of truth.
446
00:33:03,621 --> 00:33:07,981
It's like unwrapping a
Christmas present out here.
447
00:33:08,021 --> 00:33:09,741
A really careful operation.
448
00:33:15,221 --> 00:33:19,381
Ah look at this. Oh, that's great,
449
00:33:19,421 --> 00:33:21,461
Oh, that's great.
450
00:33:23,141 --> 00:33:25,061
As you can see, there's
clearly an eye socket,
451
00:33:25,101 --> 00:33:27,261
there's another eye socket here,
you've got the nose.
452
00:33:27,301 --> 00:33:29,421
But you can see the detail,
can't you, Carla?
453
00:33:29,461 --> 00:33:30,821
You can see the teeth. Yeah, yeah.
454
00:33:33,741 --> 00:33:37,621
As a palaeoanthropologist, I'm
used to studying human remains.
455
00:33:37,661 --> 00:33:41,141
But this is my very first
ancient Amazonian.
456
00:33:42,901 --> 00:33:46,941
The teeth of Carla's skull might
contain clues to how
457
00:33:46,981 --> 00:33:49,061
this ancient Amazonian lived.
458
00:33:50,461 --> 00:33:53,261
We've got to be careful cos that
might just dislodge the whole tooth.
459
00:33:53,301 --> 00:33:56,501
There we go, it's coming out.
Perfect.
460
00:33:56,541 --> 00:34:00,101
The enamel, that tooth is
really, really worn down
461
00:34:00,141 --> 00:34:06,021
through something it's eaten,
through some kind of wear.
462
00:34:09,421 --> 00:34:10,661
Let' do it.
463
00:34:11,741 --> 00:34:14,221
But the best way to analyse
this skull...
464
00:34:17,181 --> 00:34:21,741
..is by scanning it with 21st
century medical technology.
465
00:34:25,861 --> 00:34:27,341
No"
466
00:34:27,381 --> 00:34:28,581
Oh, wow!
467
00:34:30,501 --> 00:34:33,221
It's cleaned up all the dirt,
essentially, it's...
468
00:34:33,261 --> 00:34:35,341
You can just see the bone.
469
00:34:35,381 --> 00:34:37,061
That is so cool.
470
00:34:37,101 --> 00:34:40,101
The teeth... Look at how clean they
are finally.
471
00:34:40,141 --> 00:34:42,181
This is why people get so
excited about CT scans
472
00:34:42,221 --> 00:34:44,661
because if we were cleaning this up,
473
00:34:44,701 --> 00:34:47,861
we would have had to be really
delicate, take it to a lab.
474
00:34:47,901 --> 00:34:51,941
It would have taken time, we may
have damaged it in the process.
475
00:34:53,701 --> 00:34:55,021
This is brilliant.
476
00:34:55,061 --> 00:34:56,781
Thank you so much. This is so good
477
00:35:02,021 --> 00:35:06,061
Our examination reveals tooth
wear consistent with eating
478
00:35:06,101 --> 00:35:07,861
a grain like maize.
479
00:35:09,341 --> 00:35:11,981
It is really cool to think that
that skull has been in the ground
480
00:35:12,021 --> 00:35:15,221
for a thousand years and now it's
been brought back to life.
481
00:35:15,261 --> 00:35:20,341
It is so unusual to find
human remains in the Amazon,
482
00:35:20,381 --> 00:35:23,381
and I'm basically beside myself
that we got to CT scan one of them
483
00:35:23,421 --> 00:35:28,981
and, you know, it wasn't the best
preserved human remains,
484
00:35:29,021 --> 00:35:31,741
it was crushed,
it was covered in earth,
485
00:35:31,781 --> 00:35:34,741
and yet, you saw what
that CT scan did.
486
00:35:34,781 --> 00:35:35,981
That's pretty awesome.
487
00:35:40,101 --> 00:35:44,821
The people Carla is excavating, were
not only settled they were farmers.
488
00:35:47,301 --> 00:35:50,301
A crucial step in forging
a civilisation.
489
00:35:54,341 --> 00:35:57,261
But there is still one great
mystery to be solved.
490
00:36:00,181 --> 00:36:03,741
The Amazon rainforest is
a hostile place.
491
00:36:03,781 --> 00:36:07,461
And despite appearances,
its soils are poor,
492
00:36:07,501 --> 00:36:09,701
and unable to sustain agriculture.
493
00:36:12,301 --> 00:36:15,861
So how on earth did ancient
people tame it, and sustain
494
00:36:15,901 --> 00:36:21,501
a population that experts now
estimate was in the millions?
495
00:36:30,421 --> 00:36:33,341
I've discovered that by the time
Europeans arrived in the Amazon
496
00:36:33,381 --> 00:36:35,581
almost 500 years ago,
497
00:36:35,621 --> 00:36:39,461
great civilisations were thriving.
498
00:36:43,141 --> 00:36:48,301
But how could they grow enough food
to sustain themselves?
499
00:36:56,501 --> 00:37:01,141
Ecologist Carolina Levis
and botanist Mariana Cassino
500
00:37:01,181 --> 00:37:04,061
are investigating the mystery,
501
00:37:04,101 --> 00:37:09,181
looking for clues in a small,
self-sufficient village.
502
00:37:12,461 --> 00:37:17,021
The natural soils of the Amazon
are a light-coloured clay.
503
00:37:17,061 --> 00:37:21,501
But this village was
built on something very different.
504
00:37:23,541 --> 00:37:28,941
We can see these big
layers of a darker soil.
505
00:37:28,981 --> 00:37:31,621
The soil in some parts
are really dark,
506
00:37:31,661 --> 00:37:35,181
full of ceramics
and full of charcoal.
507
00:37:36,621 --> 00:37:41,501
When we find this soil
with a lot of ceramics,
508
00:37:41,541 --> 00:37:47,141
we know that they were
created by human activities.
509
00:37:49,261 --> 00:37:54,621
Ancient people who once lived here
transformed the natural soil,
510
00:37:54,661 --> 00:37:59,301
and it's still
fertile 2,000 years later.
511
00:37:59,341 --> 00:38:04,421
Now we are finding these black earth
soils created by humans
512
00:38:04,461 --> 00:38:06,941
in many, many places of the Amazon.
513
00:38:08,501 --> 00:38:13,261
Scientists have now identified more
than a thousand sites in the Amazon
514
00:38:13,301 --> 00:38:14,981
with this magical secret -
515
00:38:15,021 --> 00:38:19,821
charcoal-rich, highly fertile
black earth.
516
00:38:24,901 --> 00:38:28,141
Within this dense forest
there were once fields,
517
00:38:28,181 --> 00:38:30,661
growing crops like maize and manioc.
518
00:38:36,621 --> 00:38:39,981
But it wasn't just cleared areas
that were tended.
519
00:38:41,941 --> 00:38:46,301
Beyond the village, Mariana
and Carolina are discovering
520
00:38:46,341 --> 00:38:48,741
that ancient people
even tamed the forest...
521
00:38:52,701 --> 00:38:54,501
..turning swathes of jungle
522
00:38:54,541 --> 00:38:56,221
into giant gardens
523
00:38:56,261 --> 00:39:01,501
planted with everything
the people here needed to thrive.
524
00:39:02,621 --> 00:39:06,141
Look at that, a big brazil nut tree.
Yeah.
525
00:39:07,221 --> 00:39:11,781
Here in this place,
we have a huge diversity of plants,
526
00:39:11,821 --> 00:39:17,221
plants used for construction,
food, medicinal.
527
00:39:18,461 --> 00:39:20,821
Carolina and Mariana are convinced
528
00:39:20,861 --> 00:39:24,741
that high concentrations
of certain trees growing today
529
00:39:24,781 --> 00:39:31,141
can only be explained by centuries
of forest management,
530
00:39:31,181 --> 00:39:36,021
with ancient traditions that have
been passed down into living memory.
531
00:40:21,221 --> 00:40:24,101
For hundreds or even
thousands of years,
532
00:40:24,141 --> 00:40:27,461
the peoples of the Amazon
tended the forests,
533
00:40:27,501 --> 00:40:33,741
encouraging rich orchards to grow
amongst the trees of the rainforest.
534
00:40:35,021 --> 00:40:38,181
With the collapse of these great
civilisations
535
00:40:38,221 --> 00:40:40,581
after the first Europeans arrived,
536
00:40:40,621 --> 00:40:43,341
the gardens and orchards
were overgrown,
537
00:40:43,381 --> 00:40:45,421
disappearing into the jungle.
538
00:40:52,181 --> 00:40:55,661
Everywhere I go, I'm meeting
indigenous people
539
00:40:55,701 --> 00:40:57,941
whose lives are changing with the
times...
540
00:41:02,581 --> 00:41:07,141
..but who still live more or less
sustainably within the forest,
541
00:41:07,181 --> 00:41:12,301
often fighting to keep their
ancient traditions alive.
542
00:41:14,541 --> 00:41:16,821
The Huachiperi people's story
543
00:41:16,861 --> 00:41:20,861
echoes that of indigenous
groups all over the Amazon.
544
00:41:22,861 --> 00:41:26,141
Hola!
545
00:41:26,181 --> 00:41:27,181
Buenos dias.
546
00:41:27,221 --> 00:41:29,861
Como esta, senorita?
Very well, thank you.
547
00:41:33,581 --> 00:41:35,421
What kind of fish is this?
548
00:41:36,621 --> 00:41:40,661
You know, where I come from,
we think that these eat humans.
549
00:41:45,221 --> 00:41:46,981
No, no, no, she's having none of
this.
550
00:41:48,261 --> 00:41:50,421
Hi! This is one hell of an outfit.
551
00:41:59,501 --> 00:42:01,581
Billy wants his arrow
for the traditional dance
552
00:42:01,621 --> 00:42:03,301
and he can't find it.
553
00:42:03,341 --> 00:42:08,261
Even without his arrow, Billy's not
going to miss this dance...
554
00:42:08,301 --> 00:42:11,621
MAN SINGS
555
00:42:11,661 --> 00:42:15,461
..a tradition handed down
over generations.
556
00:42:17,701 --> 00:42:20,061
But like so many indigenous groups,
557
00:42:20,101 --> 00:42:24,141
the Huachiperi have been
decimated by disease, in their case
558
00:42:24,181 --> 00:42:30,221
an epidemic of smallpox
brought by outsiders in the 1940s.
559
00:42:43,381 --> 00:42:45,581
Like peoples all over the Amazon,
560
00:42:45,621 --> 00:42:48,061
their forest was cleared by loggers,
561
00:42:48,101 --> 00:42:52,421
the land turned over to cattle
ranching.
562
00:42:52,461 --> 00:42:56,541
And in the 1960s, they were moved
onto two small reservations.
563
00:42:57,541 --> 00:43:01,621
Once, there were around 30,000
Huachiperi.
564
00:43:01,661 --> 00:43:06,541
Now, just a handful remain,
like Edi Dariquebe.
565
00:43:26,621 --> 00:43:30,021
MAN SINGS TO DRUMBEAT
566
00:43:30,061 --> 00:43:33,701
You see, this might just look like
567
00:43:33,741 --> 00:43:37,421
what you'd see in a school assembly
somewhere,
568
00:43:37,461 --> 00:43:41,101
and I'm sure that's part of it
but if you notice, they're all kids
569
00:43:41,141 --> 00:43:45,501
and there's maybe a few dozen people
left in the whole world
570
00:43:45,541 --> 00:43:48,901
that speak this language and
so really,
571
00:43:48,941 --> 00:43:51,701
this is also a way of keeping the
traditions and the language alive.
572
00:43:57,901 --> 00:44:01,421
More than 13,000 years
of continuous history...
573
00:44:02,461 --> 00:44:06,301
..from rock art to settlements,
farming and civilisation.
574
00:44:08,061 --> 00:44:11,821
Right across the Amazon,
indigenous people are struggling
575
00:44:11,861 --> 00:44:15,221
as their world literally
disappears around them.
576
00:44:19,141 --> 00:44:23,781
On my journey, everywhere I go, I'm
seeing the Amazon being destroyed...
577
00:44:27,021 --> 00:44:28,661
Oh, my gosh.
578
00:44:28,701 --> 00:44:30,461
You can see this, right?
579
00:44:30,501 --> 00:44:34,301
..as modern demands for food
lead to agricultural methods
580
00:44:34,341 --> 00:44:40,661
that are having a devastating
effect for all of us.
581
00:44:40,701 --> 00:44:42,221
Oh, this is depressing.
582
00:44:43,261 --> 00:44:45,341
They are
basically cremating the Amazon.
583
00:44:47,701 --> 00:44:50,701
So they have slashed the most
important trees
584
00:44:50,741 --> 00:44:53,141
and the idea is, they burn
everything,
585
00:44:53,181 --> 00:44:54,781
they let the grass regrow
586
00:44:54,821 --> 00:45:00,021
and instead of there being
lots of shrubs and trees,
587
00:45:00,061 --> 00:45:02,021
you're left with pasture land.
588
00:45:02,061 --> 00:45:05,021
And the cattle come in
and after a few seasons,
589
00:45:05,061 --> 00:45:08,381
the nutrients here are going to
be pretty terrible
590
00:45:08,421 --> 00:45:10,941
and so the grasses only grow for so
long,
591
00:45:10,981 --> 00:45:13,421
so they need to do the exact same
thing
592
00:45:13,461 --> 00:45:15,661
to another bit of the rainforest,
593
00:45:15,701 --> 00:45:17,341
and they just keep going and keep
going.
594
00:45:17,381 --> 00:45:19,501
And before we know it, that
rainforest will be gone.
595
00:45:21,181 --> 00:45:25,501
Like, I've read about this
theoretically in the papers,
596
00:45:25,541 --> 00:45:26,781
but being here is just so,
597
00:45:26,821 --> 00:45:29,421
it's so goddamn uncomfortable, to be
honest with you.
598
00:45:32,621 --> 00:45:36,261
20% of the entire Amazon rainforest
has been destroyed,
599
00:45:36,301 --> 00:45:40,821
and deforestation is
rising at an alarming rate.
600
00:45:42,701 --> 00:45:45,061
It's a global catastrophe...
601
00:45:46,381 --> 00:45:48,141
It looks like Armageddon.
602
00:45:49,461 --> 00:45:54,621
..and a disaster for the Amazon's
indigenous inhabitants.
603
00:45:56,661 --> 00:45:58,381
Next time...
604
00:45:58,421 --> 00:46:00,301
I'll be getting to grips
605
00:46:00,341 --> 00:46:05,341
with the challenges the indigenous
people of the Amazon face today.
606
00:46:06,901 --> 00:46:12,301
I meet surviving communities being
pushed to the edge of the forest
607
00:46:12,341 --> 00:46:15,261
and the people
who are fighting back...
608
00:46:19,021 --> 00:46:24,261
..to keep 15,000 years of unbroken
heritage alive.
609
00:46:59,061 --> 00:47:01,021
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