All language subtitles for Unearthed.(2016).S04E05.Inca.Apocalypse.The.Dark.Evidence.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-Cinefeel_track3_[eng]

Narrator:
The mighty inca empire.

The first superpower
Of the americas

Ruled from a golden capital,
Cusco.

No one in the new world
Could equal them

In terms of sheer size
And influence.

Narrator: 500 years ago,
This vast empire

Fell to handful of
Spanish mercenaries.

How did fewer than 200 soldiers,

Take on a population
Of millions and win?

Now new investigations
Inside cusco,

Reveal the truth about
How the incas

Built their astonishing empire.

Cusco was
The jewel in the crown.

It was probably
The most magnificent city

Of south america, at that time.

Narrator:
How did this civilization

Rise to such dizzying heights,

Only to disappear off
The face of the earth?

Narrator:
To solve these mysteries

We will blow apart cusco

The incas' control center.

Rediscovering its
Golden sanctuaries

And diving into
Its darkest corners,

Will reveal how this
Incredible empire rose

And came crashing down.

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Narrator:
During the 15th century

The incas constructed
One of the greatest

And most powerful
Empires in the americas.

A land of deserts, mountains,

And extraordinary buildings.

But 500 years ago, this mighty
Peruvian civilization

Completely disappeared

After it was destroyed by fewer
Than 200 european invaders.

Well, it was just a boatload
Of desperate spanish soldiers

Who took on
The whole inca empire.

Narrator: the fall of the incas,
Mystifies historians.

How did their empire
Crumble so easily?

The answers could
Lie here in cusco

The incas' capital.

♪♪

Blowing away the modern city,

Leaves a maze of stone blocks,

The core of an inca metropolis.

The relic of a complex
Network of ancient streets.

500 years ago, cusco was
One of the biggest cities

In south america, with tens
Of thousands of inhabitants.

This was once the control center
Of the entire inca empire.

Cusco was so wealthy,

Its temple was covered in gold.

Why wasn't this city strong
Enough to withstand the spanish?

What caused this
Mighty empire to fall?

Archeologists like
Sabine hyland,

Think the answer could lie

In the very fabric
Of inca society.

Surprisingly,
There were few actual incas.

A tribe of 40,000,
Controlled an empire

Of more than 10 million.

Their subjects were from
Other ethnic groups,

Allies, or conquered peoples.

Ruling over them,
Was just one man.

♪♪

He was so sacred,
That normal people

Couldn't even look
At him directly.

Narrator: this one tribe,
Built a vast empire

In less than a century.

So who were the incas,
And how did they do it?

A clue hides inside
An old spanish monastery.

Stripping away its walls,

Reveals cusco's
Sacred temple of the sun

Made from perfectly
Carved blocks of ashlar.

♪♪

The position of its chambers

Marked the summer
And winter solstices.

Inside the hall of the sun
Itself, sat royal mummies,

Inca rulers perfectly preserved,

Starting with their
Very early kings.

The bodies were wrapped
In the finest fabrics

And given gifts of
Wine, silver, and gold.

How did this dynasty become
The all-powerful rulers

Of a vast empire?

♪♪

Archaeologist
Roxana gómez torres

Suspects mummies, just like
These, may provide the answer.

She investigates
A burial ground

300 miles from cusco,
Called bellavista.

It belonged to a tribe called,
The ishma.

New discoveries here,

Are transforming
Our view of the incas

And how they conquered
Their enemies.

Roxana and her team
Are unearthing mummies

Almost exactly like
The ones in the inca capital.

[ speaking spanish ]

Narrator: roxana brings these
Fragile objects

To the laboratory for analysis.

This one is almost
Six feet in length

Preserved in
Near-perfect condition.

Its huge size suggests
That it contains

The body of
A well-respected person.

Narrator:
The mummy appears to be that

Of an ishma noble, but it's
Covered from head to toe

In high quality
Inca design fabrics.

Narrator:
The mummy also has a false head

To give it a more human shape.

It's a feature found
On high-class mummies.

This ishma aristocrat
Has been buried

Almost exactly like an inca.

Why?

X-rays reveal further
Signs of inca influence.

Copper implements.

Narrator:
Domestic items, from tweezers

To metal hairpins,

And the thorns of
Colorful seashells,

Were the kind of valuable
Items that would normally

Only be buried with
Important people.

Roxana thinks this
Local chief was given

These burial goods by
The incas themselves.

Narrator:
These gifts reveal that

This important person
Was an inca ally.

By showering him with
Precious objects,

The incas were able
To buy his loyalty.

Roxana believes that
This might explain

How the incas rose to power.

Narrator:
Alliances allowed the incas

To build a vast empire
That stretched 2,000 miles

Across south america,
Ruled from the city of cusco.

Narrator:
But not everyone wanted to join

The most exclusive vip club
In south america.

Those who resisted, were
Crushed with brutal force.

The incas were fierce warriors.

Thanks to their allied troops,
They were able to field

Vast armies, reportedly up to
A quarter of a million strong.

♪♪

The incas intimidated
Their enemy

With a terrifying show of force,

As they expanded their empire.

[ indistinct voices ]

Narrator:
Before a battle, the inca king

Would offer their opponents
A chance to surrender,

As long as they agreed
To pay a regular tribute.

If they refused, inca soldiers
Armed with stone missiles

Would unleash a carefully-timed
Barrage of deadly rocks.

Lacking such coordination,

Their enemies were
Left vulnerable.

Then, inca shock troops
Armed with maces and clubs

Were sent in to finish off
The enemy in close combat.

♪♪

The incas seemed unstoppable.

♪♪

Bribery and brutality
Won them a vast empire.

♪♪

But how could so few incas,

Keep control of so many people?

And what happened when inca
Armies came face-to-face

With european weaponry
For the very first time?

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: 500 years ago,

The mighty inca
Empire collapsed.

Destroyed by a small
Band of spanish invaders.

The fall of the incas,

At the height
Of their expansion

Seems incredible.

Did the methods
They use to build-up

And control their empire,
Pave the way for their defeat?

They had to figure out ways

To show their superiority,
Because they couldn't

Dominate just by
Sheer numbers alone.

Narrator: how did 40,000 incas

Reign over an empire
Of 10 million?

Cusco's extraordinary
Engineering hides a clue.

♪♪

The incas were masters
Of construction.

Hidden inside cusco, lie
The remains of a spectacular

Residential complex,
The cusicancha.

Spacious buildings formed
Large square enclosures

Called "Canchas,"
Around an open courtyard.

♪♪

This same design was
Replicated across the city.

Each "Cancha" was
Connected by roads

And shared water channels
Provided drainage

Just like in a modern city.

Why was epic
Engineering like this

So important to the incas?

Did it help them
Hold on to power?

♪♪

The incas exported
Their building-style

Wherever they went.

Even in remote sights, like
The world famous machu picchu.

Anthropologist sabine hyland,
Thinks that the incas

Took key elements
Of cusco's design

And exported them to
Cities across the empire

As a stamp of their authority.

The romans did this.

A city layout is
One of the best ways

To impose your will
On a vast empire.

Especially if you crush
The local way of doing things

And you oppose your own.

Narrator: sabine believes,
That proof of this

Inca activity lies
Inside the cusicancha.

Here she finds that
The incas had their own

Unique architecture
That reflected

Their identity and values.

This is exciting
Because we see here

What we call a double jam,
Which is a sign of high status.

This trapezoidal doorway
Is the type of doorway

That becomes synonymous
With inca architecture.

Narrator: the cusicancha's
Walls are built like

All the other inca buildings,

Without mortar or cement.

Each block fits
Together so precisely,

That not even a knife-blade
Can be squeezed between them.

Other cultures try to
Elaborate on the rock.

They make designs, they make --

They carve statues,
But for the incas,

The stone itself mattered,

And so their style

Which is characteristic,

Has a purity and a simplicity,

Which is simply stunning.

Narrator:
Sabine believes that the incas

Imposed these engineering
Marvels on cities

Across the empire, to make
It clear who was in control.

28 miles north, in a town
Called ollantaytambo,

Sabine investigates one
Of the first settlements

The incas conquered,
Outside the cusco valley,

Under the command of
King called pachacuti.

He just flattened everything

That was here and he
Rebuilt ollantaytambo

In his own vision of
What it should be.

And he did this 'cause
He wanted to transform

The local identity,

By bringing in
Inca architecture.

Narrator:
Some parts are a mirror image

Of the mother city.

The incas considered themselves

A civilizing force and that
They were, in fact, superior

To a lot of
The other native peoples.

As they saw it, it was their
Duty to spread the civilization

To all the corners of the earth.

Narrator: inca engineers
Transformed ollantaytambo

Into a miniature
Version of cusco.

From its temple to the sun,

To its well-engineered streets.

Even the double jam
Doorways are the same.

Hyland: this was their way of
Marking their territory

And showing their power.

Their buildings,
Their architecture,

Is one of the ways that
They show conquered people

That they, in fact,
Need to be inca.

♪♪

Narrator: the incas imposed
The layout of cusco

On towns and cities,
Right across the empire.

♪♪

In the capital, the ruling elite
Lived in the upper district

With the less important,
Living lower down.

♪♪

When the incas conquered a town

They usually kept the most
Prestigious sections of the city

For the highest-ranking
Subjects.

Across the empire, the incas
Imposed this hierarchy

To serve as a constant
Reminder of who was in charge.

♪♪

In this way, the incas
Forced their culture

On millions of people.

But did this lead to dangerous

Divisions that could have
Weakened the empire?

Hyland:
There were a lot of reasons why

Conquered people might be
Very angry at the incas.

People resented paying tribute.

People resented having to
Give some of their daughters

To serve as
Priestesses of the sun.

People were angry
About having to serve

In the inca military,

And die in inca wars.

Narrator: the incas firm rule,
Bred unrest.

Did the spanish exploit
This to their own advantage

When they arrived?

Could a mass grave
Provide the answers?

And how did the conquistadors
Capture the capital, cusco

And its mighty fortress?

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator:
The fall of the incas,

Is one of the greatest
Mysteries of all time.

In the early 16th century,

Fewer than 200
Spanish mercenaries,

Brought down
This mighty civilization.

How did they pull-off
A seemingly suicidal mission?

Most of the conquistadors

Came from the poorest
Areas of spain,

And they were desperate
To make money.

They were after gold and wealth

And they wanted to steal it.

Narrator: 500 years ago,
Cusco's greatest temple

Contained unimaginable wealth.

Outside, a field of
Corn made of real gold.

And life-sized golden
Statues of llamas.

♪♪

Inside the sanctuary,
Buildings gleamed like beacons.

Their thatched roofs,
Woven with gold threads

And their walls plated
With solid gold.

And within the most
Sacred building,

Enough wealth to make all

The conquistadors
Extremely rich.

So how did they bring down
The empire, to get it?

♪♪

Many historians think,
Superior european weapons

Were the key to
The spaniards' success.

To investigate this theory

Archaeologist guillermo cock,

Examines these skeletons found
In a mass grave.

They date, to the time of
The conquest.

Many have shocking wounds.

Narrator: the conquistadors may
Have been few in number

But they were
Armed to the teeth.

Many of these bones,

Bare the scars of
European weapons.

Narrator:
The invaders carried weapons

That the incas had
Never seen before.

Steel swords and guns.

[ gunshot ]

The violence continued, even
When this victim had fallen.

Narrator: guillermo finds,
That one skull

Has a hole just over
Half an inch wide.

It's one of
The earliest gunshot wounds

Ever found in the americas.

Even this bit of bone,
Shot out by a bullet

Is in perfect condition,
500 years later.

The spanish didn't
Just bring new weapons

To the battlefield.

[ gunshot ]

Some rode horses,

Animals which didn't
Exist in south america

And were alien to the locals.

Guillermo discovers how
These beasts were used

To inflict terrible
Injuries among the inca.

[ horse neighs ]

Narrator:
Many historians believe

That this superior
Military technology

Gave the spanish their
First major victory --

The capture of the inca king
Himself, atahualpa.

♪♪

The leader of the conquistadors
Arranged a meeting

At a town, with the inca king.

♪♪

But the great ruler found only

A spanish priest
And a translator.

♪♪

The rest were hiding in ambush.

On a given signal...

[ horse neighs ]

...The spanish cavalry
Charged out

And fired their guns.

[ gunshots ]

King atahualpa was
Taken hostage

And his massive army fled.

The incas gave the spanish

Mountains of gold and silver
To save his life.

Although the inca armies

Outnumbered
The conquistadors 35 to 1,

This early spanish
Victory was decisive.

But can superior weapons alone,

Account for their later
Success on the battlefield?

Guillermo searches for answers
In skeletons

With a different type of injury.

Narrator:
This is no deathblow

Inflicted by
A conquistador sword or gun.

Narrator: the only soldiers who
Would have wielded

A mace like this were
From south america.

It suggests that
The spanish had allies.

Local people, who turned
Against their inca masters.

Narrator:
The spanish had stepped into

A deeply divided empire.

The conquistadors took
Advantage of these tensions.

Narrator: guillermo thinks,
The inca didn't suspect

That some of their subjects
Would join the invaders.

Narrator: advanced technology
And local allies

Gave the spanish
An advantage on the battlefield.

But they remained
Hugely outnumbered.

And one city was
Still in their sights --

Cusco, guarded by
A gigantic fortress.

How did the conquistadors
Capture the incas great capital?

[ gunshot ]

♪♪

And how did they
Enforce their control?

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator:
Experts are investigating

How just a couple of
Hundred spanish mercenaries

Brought down cusco
And the inca empire.

The conquistadors
Captured the inca king

And made allies of local tribes.

But they still had
To take the incas

Legendary capital, cusco.

Many of the spanish
Conquistadors

And early chroniclers,
As we call them,

Who wrote down impressions
Of the inca empire,

Were very, very impressed by
Cusco when they first saw it.

They described it as,

"More magnificent
Than anything in spain."

Narrator:
The city was a conquistador's

Dream come true.

A treasure trove of gold.

So how did the spanish seize
Control of this prized city?

Particularly as it was defended,

By a supposedly
Super-strong fort.

♪♪

Sacsayhuaman was once
A spectacular, defensive complex

Built with giant stones,
Weighing up to 361 tons,

Among the biggest ever
Used in the new world.

The three walls
Towered 60 feet high

Stretching over 1,000 feet.

They defended a hilltop
Compound of towers.

The fortress was one of
The biggest single monuments

Ever constructed by the incas.

Designed to keep cusco safe.

But just how impregnable was it?

Did the spanish discover
A hidden weakness?

♪♪

Historian peter frost is
Investigating sacsayhuaman

To solve the mystery of how
The spanish conquered it.

Peter, first scopes out
The scale of the challenge

Facing the spanish
When they arrived.

Was cusco's fort more daunting
Than any european castle?

Compared to sacsayhuaman,

Medieval castles are
Really quite small.

Sacsayhuaman in it's hay day,

Must've been extraordinary.

Narrator: the structure of
The inca fortress

Was fundamentally different
From european castles.

European castle walls
Were made of stone blocks

Held together with mortar,

A soft filling made of
Water, sand, and lime.

But sacsayhuaman's walls
Were stone megaliths.

It must have been just
Absolutely mind boggling.

♪♪

Narrator:
Giant chunks of solid rock.

Some pieces of this
Stone puzzle,

Weighed up to 361 tons.

Like in the city
Of cusco itself,

The incas shaped these
Stones to sit perfectly

On top of each other,
With no cement at all.

♪♪

The spanish needed to
Take down a stone monster.

And it wasn't just
Its 60-foot high

Set of walls that baffled them,

But its strange zig-zag shape
Which trapped the invaders

Between high battlements
When they got close.

If you attack that wall,

You're gonna be taking
Fire from that side there

And also from that side,

From your flank as well.

This is a very effective,
Defensive design.

I'm pretty sure a military
Architect would agree with that.

Narrator:
It looked like the spanish

Didn't stand a chance.

Especially, as they were
Massively outnumbered.

The spanish were surrounded
By more than 200,000

Inca troops, some in
The hills, some in the city,

And the top generals were
Here in sacsayhuaman.

The spanish were on this
Hilltop, very exposed.

A lengthy siege
Was not an option

And they had no retreat,
No escape.

They had to find a weak
Point and attack it, quickly.

But where was
The flaw in its design?

How did the spanish
Take down sacsayhuaman?

♪♪

Peter thinks
He's finally found the answer.

To the west of the sight,
One section of the wall

Is lower than the rest.

You can see how much lower
These walls are here,

Than they were further back,

Along the main
Part of the walls.

These may be the height
Of two men here.

Further back,
They were four or more.

Narrator: peter thinks,
This is where the spanish

Must have breached the fortress.

They were never any
Higher than this.

We can see that they
Were not cut higher up.

And so, this is
The unfinished part.

And this is the weakest
Point of the outer walls.

And for me, obviously,
That's where the spaniards

Would have chosen to attack.

Narrator: the incas took decades

To build their monuments.

Archaeologists suspect
That fort simply

Hadn't been finished,
When the spanish arrived.

♪♪

As the conquistadors approached
The fort's colossal walls,

The incas unleashed
A barrage of stone missiles,

Forcing them to retreat.

So the spanish
Changed their plan.

Under cover of darkness,

They stealthily
Scaled the fort walls.

♪♪

The incas mounted a last stand,

From the great towers
Within the fort.

But it was too late.

The spanish had already
Breached the ramparts,

And even with their
Smaller numbers,

Stormed the towers to
Seize sacsayhuaman.

♪♪

The conquistadors
Were triumphant.

For four decades,
Die hard incas tried to resist

From the fringes
Of their empire,

Till they, too, were defeated.

Their kings would
Never again return

To the sacred city of cusco.

But in destroying
The largest empire in the andes,

The conquerors now faced
An even greater challenge --

Ruling it.

How did the spanish do it?

And what happened to
The incas who remain?

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator:
At the inca city of cusco,

The conquistadors
Overcame incredible odds,

And ripped out the heart
Of the inca empire.

But once in control,

The spanish ironically
Found themselves

In the same position
As the first incas --

Trying to control a huge empire.

The king of spain had
Offered the top conquistadors

Governorship of the lands
That they conquered.

What they wanted to do was
Just basically get rid of

The indigenous leaders

And put themselves
In their place.

♪♪

Narrator:
How would a few european rulers

Stamp their way of
Life on millions?

Clues can be found in
The convent of santo domingo,

One of the finest buildings
The spanish constructed

After taking down cusco.

♪♪

From the outside, its design
Looks like any other

Christian church --
A colonial sanctuary

Built in the shape of a cross.

But for nearly 500 years,

It has hidden a secret.

The spanish built this church
Over the masterful masonry

Of the incas' most
Holy sanctuary.

Outside, the original retaining
Wall is still visible.

So was placing christian
Buildings over sacred inca sites

The way the spanish stamped
Out the inca religion?

And what happened to
The rest of cusco's remains?

♪♪

After taking cusco, the spanish,

Like the incas before them,
Realized that

There's only so far you can
Go with guns and swords.

Narrator: anthropologist
Sabine hyland investigates

How the conquistadors replaced
Inca culture with their own.

She thinks that
The spanish dismantled cusco,

Stone by stone.

If you look closely,
You can see that

These beautifully carved
Inca stones are actually

From sacsayhuaman, but
They've been repurposed to use

In this church,
And we can tell that

Because of the spanish mortar
That binds them together.

Narrator:
The spanish constructed

Grandiose buildings using cement
Unlike the inca.

To them, cusco was simply
A convenient source of stone.

The invaders wanted to erect

Their own giant structures
As quickly as possible.

It would've dealt a massive blow

At the very heart
Of inca religion.

As incas themselves knew,
Architecture is one

Of the most long-lasting

And powerful tools of conquest.

Narrator: the spanish took
Their domination

To a whole new level.

The first wave of
Conquistadors unleashed

Unimaginable levels of violence
Against the native people.

I think, peru got pretty much
The worst of the bunch.

The most mercenary,
The most ruthless,

The least educated.

Narrator: the spanish targeted
Any last traces of inca culture.

Gold statues were melted down

Into thousands of
Pounds of bullion.

The royal mummies and last
Remaining sacred inca objects

Were plundered or incinerated.

Hyland: there were mummies of
Emperors in this room.

But the spanish
Stole the mummies

Because of course the mummies
Had gold and jewels in them.

Narrator: soon, virtually
Nothing remained

Of what was one of
The most dazzling,

Spectacular civilizations
That ever lived.

The spanish conquistadors tried

To annihilate everything
That the incas had created.

And they certainly
Succeeded in doing so.

Narrator: inca cusco was
Destroyed in stages.

♪♪

Its demolition had
Begun from the moment

The spanish first
Entered the capital.

The conquistadors stripped
The city of its gold,

Prying it from the great
Temples, and melting it down.

♪♪

The destruction continued

As the spanish
Dismantled sacsayhuaman

And reused its stones to
Construct their own buildings.

Then, in 1650, an earthquake
Destroyed what was left

Of inca cusco, giving
The spanish another chance

To mold it into a european city.

♪♪

Sabine thinks many
Incas tried to resist

This new alien way of life.

Why did they fail to cling
On to their ancient beliefs?

And with their
Civilization overthrown,

What happened to
The incas themselves?

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: archeologists have
Now pieced together

Some of the biggest mysteries

Of the spanish conquest of peru,

Revealing how fewer
Than 200 conquistadors

Brought down an empire
And made it their own.

The spanish thought
That their civilization

Was better than
That of the incas.

And so they wanted to impose it

Right on top of
The incas' civilization.

Narrator: but there's one final
Missing piece of the puzzle.

What happened to
The incas themselves?

Why did they seem to disappear?

Now, a sensational
Discovery high in the andes

Could reveal the answers.

In 1985, on the fringes
Of the inca empire,

In the aconcagua mountains,
Hikers discovered

The remains of a mummified boy.

They found him in
A semi-circular stone structure,

Wrapped in inca textiles,
And surrounded

By offerings to the gods.

Forensics suggests
The boy was the victim

Of an inca ritual sacrifice,
Taken up the mountain,

Drugged, and killed
With a blow to the head.

The boy's body was
So well preserved,

That over 500 years later,
His dna is still intact.

♪♪

The aconcagua boy was
An inca born near cusco.

Geneticist antonio salas
Thinks his mummified body

Could hold the secrets of what
Happened to all the incas,

After the conquest.

♪♪

Antonio tests a dna sample
Taken from the boy's corpse.

Narrator: antonio's team
Expects to find people

In south america
Still carrying traces

Of the incas' genetic profile.

But he makes
A shocking discovery.

Almost nobody at all carries it.

It's as if the incas
Simply vanished.

Narrator:
Antonio's investigations suggest

The spanish didn't just
Take over the incas empire,

But also wiped out
Thousands of inca families.

Did the invaders
Commit genocide?

Narrator: but could something
Else have played

An even bigger role in
The decline of the incas?

When they stepped
Off their boats,

The spanish brought with
Them an invisible killer.

A completely new
Set of diseases,

Including the lethal smallpox.

Narrator:
For the indigenous people,

Disease was a time bomb.

Narrator:
With no natural resistance,

European illnesses swept
Through the empire's population

Like wildfire, killing millions.

War, intermarriage,
And deadly germs destroyed

The last great
Pre-hispanic civilization

Of the andes, the incas.

When the spanish conquer peru,

The inca empire was
Completely dismembered.

Essentially what was
Going on was the massive

And thorough looting operation

Which was literally obliterating

Virtually everything
They'd done.

Narrator: today,
The incas' huge buildings

Have nearly all vanished.

But visitors still marvel at
The fragments that are left.

I think people still
Feel a strong affinity

With the incas
And with the andean past,

All throughout the andes.

And I think people
Feel very, very proud

Of their andean heritage.

Narrator:
By investigating these ruins,

Archeologists and scientists
Are uncovering the mystery

Of how the incas built
Their great empire.

How they used a sophisticated
Combination of persuasion,

Brute force,
And brilliant engineering

To hold it all together.

New discoveries reveal
How their kingdom crumbled

At the hands of the spanish.

Brought down by new weapons

And allies recruited from
Within the incas' own empire.

[ gunshot ]

The incas expanded really fast.

Some people think that they
Actually were overextended.

We'll never really know,
Of course,

Because the spanish
Came and took them over.

Narrator: ultimately,
The spanish mercenaries

Simply repeated what
The incas had done,

Conquered,
And ruthlessly imposed

A brand new empire
On their ruins.

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