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+1
+00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:07,040
+hidden beneath the vast canopy
+
+2
+00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:09,519
+is a lost world of the ancient maya
+
+3
+00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:10,240
+nearly two million square miles of lush
+
+4
+00:00:09,519 --> 00:00:13,040
+green
+
+5
+00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:14,240
+hide centuries-old cities riddled with
+
+6
+00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,680
+mysteries
+
+7
+00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:18,640
+but today lasers in the sky are helping
+
+8
+00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:20,800
+to expose
+
+9
+00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:22,240
+these secrets it's kind of like having
+
+10
+00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:23,760
+x-ray vision
+
+11
+00:00:22,240 --> 00:00:25,320
+and seeing beneath the canopy without
+
+12
+00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:27,760
+having to touch a single leaf
+
+13
+00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:28,640
+archaeologists are using this new
+
+14
+00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:31,359
+superpower
+
+15
+00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:32,960
+to unearth treasures on the ground we
+
+16
+00:00:31,359 --> 00:00:35,680
+are starting to get information
+
+17
+00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:36,880
+from all kinds of places where we knew
+
+18
+00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:39,360
+absolutely
+
+19
+00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:40,239
+nothing it's changing our understanding
+
+20
+00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:43,040
+of the maya
+
+21
+00:00:40,239 --> 00:00:46,480
+and helping to create a treasure map of
+
+22
+00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:46,480
+maya's lost world
+
+23
+00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:57,039
+today what escapes eyes on the ground is
+
+24
+00:00:54,719 --> 00:00:58,630
+often clear to hundreds of more powerful
+
+25
+00:00:57,039 --> 00:00:59,840
+eyes in the sky
+
+26
+00:00:58,630 --> 00:01:02,000
+[Music]
+
+27
+00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:03,199
+new technologies are being applied to
+
+28
+00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:05,438
+archaeology
+
+29
+00:01:03,199 --> 00:01:07,560
+and it's gathering more information than
+
+30
+00:01:05,438 --> 00:01:11,360
+ever thought possible
+
+31
+00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:14,400
+2018 was an exciting year for the maya
+
+32
+00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:18,158
+across the guatemala landscape thousands
+
+33
+00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:20,158
+of new ruins were popping up
+
+34
+00:01:18,158 --> 00:01:22,158
+once hidden structures are being
+
+35
+00:01:20,158 --> 00:01:24,720
+revealed through satellites
+
+36
+00:01:22,158 --> 00:01:25,439
+and a laser scanning technology called
+
+37
+00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:27,600
+lidar
+
+38
+00:01:25,439 --> 00:01:29,280
+one of the most exciting tools that we
+
+39
+00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:31,039
+have in our hands that we're just
+
+40
+00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:34,640
+beginning to use in the amazon
+
+41
+00:01:31,039 --> 00:01:37,039
+is lidar lidar scanning lets us see
+
+42
+00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:38,000
+through the forest canopy to what lies
+
+43
+00:01:37,039 --> 00:01:41,200
+below
+
+44
+00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:43,759
+lidar means light detection and ranging
+
+45
+00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:45,439
+it works by firing streams of light
+
+46
+00:01:43,759 --> 00:01:47,920
+pulses from an aircraft
+
+47
+00:01:45,439 --> 00:01:49,759
+to the ground and timing the return of
+
+48
+00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:51,200
+the pulse when it bounces back to the
+
+49
+00:01:49,759 --> 00:01:53,280
+sensor
+
+50
+00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:54,240
+this reconstructs shapes under the
+
+51
+00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:57,439
+canopy
+
+52
+00:01:54,240 --> 00:02:00,000
+almost like seeing the x-ray vision
+
+53
+00:01:57,439 --> 00:02:00,640
+every time that we have found a new set
+
+54
+00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:02,479
+of tools
+
+55
+00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:04,320
+we get an insight into something that
+
+56
+00:02:02,479 --> 00:02:05,360
+we've never imagined possible in the
+
+57
+00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:06,960
+amazon and i think
+
+58
+00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:08,720
+lidar is one of these things that's
+
+59
+00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:09,520
+going to completely change how we
+
+60
+00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,560
+understand
+
+61
+00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:14,319
+the landscape the trees have always been
+
+62
+00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:14,959
+what's kept us from understanding what's
+
+63
+00:02:14,319 --> 00:02:16,959
+happening
+
+64
+00:02:14,959 --> 00:02:18,800
+in the amazon and now we can see through
+
+65
+00:02:16,959 --> 00:02:21,440
+them
+
+66
+00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:22,879
+more than 800 square miles of the maya
+
+67
+00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:25,200
+biosphere reserve
+
+68
+00:02:22,879 --> 00:02:26,239
+have been mapped to reveal massive feats
+
+69
+00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:30,000
+of engineering
+
+70
+00:02:26,239 --> 00:02:32,800
+for the very first time taken together
+
+71
+00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:36,640
+the images point to a far more sprawling
+
+72
+00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:40,319
+and sophisticated society
+
+73
+00:02:36,640 --> 00:02:43,440
+man-made structures appear complex roads
+
+74
+00:02:40,319 --> 00:02:43,840
+temples and palaces engineering like
+
+75
+00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:47,280
+this
+
+76
+00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:50,560
+would make today's city planners proud
+
+77
+00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:51,519
+so what happened how could such a great
+
+78
+00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:54,959
+society
+
+79
+00:02:51,519 --> 00:02:59,200
+fail could it have been war religious
+
+80
+00:02:54,959 --> 00:03:01,840
+cults and mass sacrifice drought
+
+81
+00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:04,080
+laser mapping is the latest tool used to
+
+82
+00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:07,200
+help unlock mysteries of the ancient
+
+83
+00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:09,040
+maya world for decades
+
+84
+00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:11,040
+archaeologists have pieced together
+
+85
+00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:12,560
+clues from ruins discovered the
+
+86
+00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:15,120
+old-fashioned way
+
+87
+00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:15,120
+on foot
+
+88
+00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,879
+ten years ago in the heart of mexico's
+
+89
+00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:23,200
+yucatan region
+
+90
+00:03:20,879 --> 00:03:24,480
+the ruins of a forgotten maya town
+
+91
+00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:27,200
+called kiwi
+
+92
+00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:30,000
+emerged from the jungle without the help
+
+93
+00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:33,840
+of ariel lidar
+
+94
+00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:37,190
+in 800 a.d a local king ruled here
+
+95
+00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:40,159
+and built an impressive pyramid shrine
+
+96
+00:03:37,190 --> 00:03:43,280
+[Music]
+
+97
+00:03:40,159 --> 00:03:47,599
+20 000 rocks cut and stacked
+
+98
+00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:49,920
+30 feet high
+
+99
+00:03:47,599 --> 00:03:53,120
+the ancient maya often placed royal
+
+100
+00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:56,480
+tombs under pyramids
+
+101
+00:03:53,120 --> 00:04:01,040
+so on a hunch archaeologist george bay
+
+102
+00:03:56,480 --> 00:04:01,040
+decides to sink a shaft straight through
+
+103
+00:04:05,330 --> 00:04:08,379
+[Music]
+
+104
+00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:16,560
+this building represents a artifact
+
+105
+00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:20,478
+that provides us with information
+
+106
+00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:24,080
+about the evolution of maya society
+
+107
+00:04:20,478 --> 00:04:28,320
+by examining it we hope to understand
+
+108
+00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:28,320
+how kiwi evolved
+
+109
+00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:35,280
+in the yucatan for three decades coaxing
+
+110
+00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:37,120
+from the earth a snapshot of what life
+
+111
+00:04:35,280 --> 00:04:38,800
+must have been like for the little-known
+
+112
+00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:43,840
+maya who lived here
+
+113
+00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:43,840
+called the northern or poop maya
+
+114
+00:04:47,170 --> 00:04:53,199
+[Music]
+
+115
+00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:56,320
+surprises we have surprises
+
+116
+00:04:53,199 --> 00:04:59,280
+21 feet into the hole bay and his team
+
+117
+00:04:56,320 --> 00:05:00,560
+make an important find though to the
+
+118
+00:04:59,280 --> 00:05:02,320
+untrained eye
+
+119
+00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:03,759
+it just looks like another piece of
+
+120
+00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:07,199
+rubble
+
+121
+00:05:03,759 --> 00:05:09,919
+oh yeah look at that this is fantastic
+
+122
+00:05:07,199 --> 00:05:12,479
+this is a vault stone and so for us this
+
+123
+00:05:09,919 --> 00:05:14,479
+is a very distinctive type of stone
+
+124
+00:05:12,479 --> 00:05:15,919
+here's the face of it this is the flat
+
+125
+00:05:14,479 --> 00:05:18,960
+face and this back
+
+126
+00:05:15,919 --> 00:05:24,960
+part of it is cut like this angled
+
+127
+00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:27,840
+and that would have stuck into the wall
+
+128
+00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:29,440
+these special vault stones were not used
+
+129
+00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:33,919
+to build pyramids
+
+130
+00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:33,919
+but to hold up the ceilings of buildings
+
+131
+00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:41,199
+yet inexplicably here is one deep
+
+132
+00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:43,520
+in the pyramid and when they dig
+
+133
+00:05:41,199 --> 00:05:46,479
+under the base of the pyramid they find
+
+134
+00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:50,320
+something even more out of place
+
+135
+00:05:46,479 --> 00:05:50,320
+the foundation of an ancient
+
+136
+00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:56,960
+this building is completely new it
+
+137
+00:05:54,159 --> 00:06:00,639
+consists of several
+
+138
+00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:02,880
+steps in a tallow shape
+
+139
+00:06:00,639 --> 00:06:04,840
+you have an idea of when this might date
+
+140
+00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:09,759
+to 400 500
+
+141
+00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:13,520
+wow the pyramid dates to 800
+
+142
+00:06:09,759 --> 00:06:15,440
+a.d but analysis of pottery fragments
+
+143
+00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:18,479
+confirms the foundation under the
+
+144
+00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:21,840
+pyramid is 300 years older
+
+145
+00:06:18,479 --> 00:06:25,840
+dating to 500 a.d
+
+146
+00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:29,759
+but that is an impossible date
+
+147
+00:06:25,840 --> 00:06:33,360
+to understand why requires a trip south
+
+148
+00:06:29,759 --> 00:06:37,759
+back to guatemala 600 bc
+
+149
+00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:40,479
+the earliest days of maya civilization
+
+150
+00:06:37,759 --> 00:06:42,560
+scholars always believed it was here in
+
+151
+00:06:40,479 --> 00:06:48,880
+a region called the mirador basin
+
+152
+00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:51,759
+that maya civilization was born
+
+153
+00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:53,250
+early kings raised the jungles and built
+
+154
+00:06:51,759 --> 00:06:56,589
+monumental cities
+
+155
+00:06:53,250 --> 00:06:56,589
+[Music]
+
+156
+00:06:58,479 --> 00:07:03,520
+over the next thousand years the maya
+
+157
+00:07:01,039 --> 00:07:06,479
+civilization became the most advanced
+
+158
+00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:06,479
+in the americas
+
+159
+00:07:09,250 --> 00:07:15,360
+[Music]
+
+160
+00:07:11,039 --> 00:07:17,440
+they mastered mathematics and astronomy
+
+161
+00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:20,240
+perfected the first written language of
+
+162
+00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:24,560
+the western hemisphere
+
+163
+00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:24,560
+and produced stunning works of art
+
+164
+00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:32,560
+but in 700 a.d there was a massive
+
+165
+00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:32,560
+breakdown
+
+166
+00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:40,639
+war political strife and famine
+
+167
+00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:40,639
+rocked the maya world
+
+168
+00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:47,270
+cities abandoned hordes of refugees
+
+169
+00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:48,560
+escape fleeing north
+
+170
+00:07:47,270 --> 00:07:51,440
+[Music]
+
+171
+00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:53,840
+as part of this wave one refugee king
+
+172
+00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:57,280
+sets down roots in kiwi
+
+173
+00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:59,120
+founds the town and soon after builds a
+
+174
+00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:01,599
+pyramid
+
+175
+00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:04,240
+at least that's what scientists had
+
+176
+00:08:01,599 --> 00:08:04,240
+always thought
+
+177
+00:08:04,319 --> 00:08:09,360
+until now with the discovery of the
+
+178
+00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:12,800
+ancient building foundation
+
+179
+00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:14,240
+the dates don't add up the foundation
+
+180
+00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:17,759
+dates from 500
+
+181
+00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:21,840
+a.d but maya refugees don't arrive here
+
+182
+00:08:17,759 --> 00:08:21,840
+until at least two centuries later
+
+183
+00:08:22,639 --> 00:08:28,639
+was someone already occupying kiwi when
+
+184
+00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:28,639
+the refugees arrived
+
+185
+00:08:30,879 --> 00:08:37,200
+17 miles away another discovery
+
+186
+00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:37,200
+raises more questions
+
+187
+00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:42,159
+[Music]
+
+188
+00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:43,279
+its location is being kept a closely
+
+189
+00:08:42,159 --> 00:08:47,040
+guarded secret
+
+190
+00:08:43,279 --> 00:08:49,760
+for fear of looters few archaeologists
+
+191
+00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:53,600
+have seen the discovery in person
+
+192
+00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:55,920
+including fatima techpool
+
+193
+00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:57,279
+getting to this discovery is no easy
+
+194
+00:08:55,920 --> 00:09:00,640
+task
+
+195
+00:08:57,279 --> 00:09:02,720
+it's 230 feet underground in the bottom
+
+196
+00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:05,360
+of a cave
+
+197
+00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:09,839
+the tunnel is narrow and only one person
+
+198
+00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:09,839
+can fit through at a time
+
+199
+00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:37,839
+[Music]
+
+200
+00:09:34,839 --> 00:09:37,839
+roberto
+
+201
+00:09:39,279 --> 00:09:42,399
+local residents knew about this cave for
+
+202
+00:09:41,680 --> 00:09:44,480
+years
+
+203
+00:09:42,399 --> 00:09:47,360
+but had no inkling of the treasure
+
+204
+00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:47,360
+hidden inside
+
+205
+00:09:48,959 --> 00:09:55,360
+through a pitch-black maze of tunnels
+
+206
+00:09:51,279 --> 00:09:55,360
+they come to the remnants of a wall
+
+207
+00:10:01,839 --> 00:10:05,360
+here we have a restricted passageway
+
+208
+00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:07,279
+there was a wall here
+
+209
+00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:09,120
+marking an entrance that separated two
+
+210
+00:10:07,279 --> 00:10:12,079
+areas a public space
+
+211
+00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:12,079
+and a sacred space
+
+212
+00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:19,279
+as fatima enters the sacred chamber she
+
+213
+00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:21,920
+notices something curious
+
+214
+00:10:19,279 --> 00:10:23,040
+it appears that countless torches and
+
+215
+00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:26,560
+ritual fires
+
+216
+00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:30,880
+once burned here the maya believed that
+
+217
+00:10:26,560 --> 00:10:30,880
+caves were the dwelling place of gods
+
+218
+00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:36,000
+maya priests made pilgrimage here on
+
+219
+00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:38,320
+special religious holidays
+
+220
+00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:41,680
+consuming hallucinogenic plants to
+
+221
+00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:41,680
+commune with the deities
+
+222
+00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:47,839
+the chamber is cluttered with broken
+
+223
+00:10:44,839 --> 00:10:47,839
+pottery
+
+224
+00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:53,200
+here's an intentional deposit of
+
+225
+00:10:50,720 --> 00:11:01,839
+ceramics where the maya broke vessels
+
+226
+00:10:53,200 --> 00:11:01,839
+as part of an offering
+
+227
+00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:13,680
+scholars suspect that breaking ceramics
+
+228
+00:11:10,079 --> 00:11:15,120
+released the power of the
+
+229
+00:11:13,680 --> 00:11:17,440
+they offering break the vessel and
+
+230
+00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:21,360
+scatter it around the cave
+
+231
+00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:23,839
+there's almost always one piece missing
+
+232
+00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:24,480
+so we think that the maya took one piece
+
+233
+00:11:23,839 --> 00:11:29,839
+with them
+
+234
+00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:29,839
+and perhaps buried it outside the cave
+
+235
+00:11:30,079 --> 00:11:36,079
+the team pushes deeper into the cave
+
+236
+00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:38,640
+maya priests relied on ropes made of
+
+237
+00:11:36,079 --> 00:11:41,279
+vines to get here
+
+238
+00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:42,640
+but even with modern climbing gear
+
+239
+00:11:41,279 --> 00:11:45,680
+fadima's journey
+
+240
+00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:47,120
+still takes three hours she finally
+
+241
+00:11:45,680 --> 00:11:50,000
+reaches the cave's most
+
+242
+00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:57,839
+sacred point and discovers an
+
+243
+00:11:50,000 --> 00:12:00,240
+extraordinary underworld
+
+244
+00:11:57,839 --> 00:12:03,760
+ancient maya paintings adorn the walls
+
+245
+00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:03,760
+of the cave's burial tomb
+
+246
+00:12:09,680 --> 00:12:14,800
+one image uses the contours of the cave
+
+247
+00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:17,440
+to create a unique three-dimensional
+
+248
+00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:20,720
+jaguar
+
+249
+00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:22,160
+another portrays a mythical hunt with a
+
+250
+00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:25,839
+ghost-like jaguar
+
+251
+00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:25,839
+and deer
+
+252
+00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:31,120
+what's striking about this painting is
+
+253
+00:12:29,680 --> 00:12:34,320
+that their representations
+
+254
+00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:35,360
+are not of living beings they are in the
+
+255
+00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:38,079
+underworld
+
+256
+00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:40,160
+in the world of death look at the body
+
+257
+00:12:38,079 --> 00:12:43,360
+of the jaguar it's skinny
+
+258
+00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:43,360
+it hasn't been well-fed
+
+259
+00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:49,440
+and it has a deliberate mark in the
+
+260
+00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:49,440
+middle
+
+261
+00:12:49,839 --> 00:12:55,360
+we think these marks represent illness
+
+262
+00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:55,360
+significant
+
+263
+00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:01,120
+farima has studied art in many maya
+
+264
+00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:06,160
+caves
+
+265
+00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:09,040
+but never has seen paintings like these
+
+266
+00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:09,760
+they are clearly maya but their unusual
+
+267
+00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:12,320
+style
+
+268
+00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:14,639
+suggests that whoever painted them was
+
+269
+00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:16,959
+not part of the maya civilization of the
+
+270
+00:13:14,639 --> 00:13:16,959
+south
+
+271
+00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:23,920
+stylistic analysis of the paintings and
+
+272
+00:13:21,279 --> 00:13:26,000
+the ceramic offerings in the chamber
+
+273
+00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:29,040
+indicate the murals were painted around
+
+274
+00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:29,040
+100 bc
+
+275
+00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:34,079
+that makes them among the oldest maya
+
+276
+00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:37,440
+paintings ever
+
+277
+00:13:34,079 --> 00:13:37,440
+discovered in mexico
+
+278
+00:13:43,680 --> 00:13:47,440
+the painting state to the dawn of the
+
+279
+00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:51,519
+maya civilization
+
+280
+00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:54,560
+scholars call it the pre-classic period
+
+281
+00:13:51,519 --> 00:13:55,600
+that was 800 years before the refugees
+
+282
+00:13:54,560 --> 00:13:58,880
+from the south
+
+283
+00:13:55,600 --> 00:14:03,600
+arrived in the yucatan so who painted
+
+284
+00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:06,399
+these murals
+
+285
+00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:07,040
+discoveries at another extraordinary new
+
+286
+00:14:06,399 --> 00:14:10,240
+site
+
+287
+00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:10,240
+may answer that question
+
+288
+00:14:14,079 --> 00:14:17,600
+just outside the modern yucatan city of
+
+289
+00:14:16,639 --> 00:14:20,160
+mirada
+
+290
+00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:22,480
+excavation for a new road network is
+
+291
+00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:23,720
+unearthing scores of sights just by
+
+292
+00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:26,720
+chance
+
+293
+00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:30,959
+190 new maya towns to date
+
+294
+00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:33,040
+and counting
+
+295
+00:14:30,959 --> 00:14:34,639
+the map of the ancient yucatan is
+
+296
+00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:37,360
+shifting rapidly
+
+297
+00:14:34,639 --> 00:14:39,920
+exploding with previously unknown cities
+
+298
+00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:39,920
+and towns
+
+299
+00:14:42,079 --> 00:14:44,880
+we've found that there's a lot more
+
+300
+00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:46,079
+people a lot more agriculture and a lot
+
+301
+00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:46,800
+more happening here than we ever
+
+302
+00:14:46,079 --> 00:14:48,480
+imagined
+
+303
+00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:50,079
+and at a much earlier date than we ever
+
+304
+00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:51,519
+imagined
+
+305
+00:14:50,079 --> 00:14:53,600
+we thought they were just little hamlets
+
+306
+00:14:51,519 --> 00:14:54,399
+out here now now we'll have very complex
+
+307
+00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:59,040
+towns
+
+308
+00:14:54,399 --> 00:15:01,199
+and we might even have urban centers
+
+309
+00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:03,440
+the whole idea of a much more complex
+
+310
+00:15:01,199 --> 00:15:04,720
+society is emerging up here
+
+311
+00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:07,600
+and it's on the par i think with
+
+312
+00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:08,639
+guatemala we were walking right by these
+
+313
+00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:11,279
+sites
+
+314
+00:15:08,639 --> 00:15:12,240
+for decades without understanding them
+
+315
+00:15:11,279 --> 00:15:14,560
+it wasn't like
+
+316
+00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:16,320
+we had to go dig for these places they
+
+317
+00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:17,120
+were right under our noses we just
+
+318
+00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:19,040
+weren't
+
+319
+00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:21,600
+seeing them which is amazing if you
+
+320
+00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:21,600
+think about it
+
+321
+00:15:21,810 --> 00:15:27,360
+[Music]
+
+322
+00:15:25,279 --> 00:15:28,560
+george bay and his team resumed their
+
+323
+00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:30,480
+work in key week
+
+324
+00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:32,399
+clearing stones from the side of the
+
+325
+00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:34,800
+pyramid
+
+326
+00:15:32,399 --> 00:15:36,800
+they're doing detective work trying to
+
+327
+00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:38,959
+figure out why a vault stone
+
+328
+00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:40,320
+typically used to hold up the ceiling of
+
+329
+00:15:38,959 --> 00:15:44,639
+a building
+
+330
+00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:46,880
+was found buried inside the pyramid
+
+331
+00:15:44,639 --> 00:15:48,639
+another clue emerges suggesting
+
+332
+00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:51,279
+something is very different
+
+333
+00:15:48,639 --> 00:15:53,120
+about this pyramid this is something the
+
+334
+00:15:51,279 --> 00:15:55,120
+workers found
+
+335
+00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:56,480
+and they happened to at the last second
+
+336
+00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:57,279
+before they threw it away they turned it
+
+337
+00:15:56,480 --> 00:16:00,720
+over
+
+338
+00:15:57,279 --> 00:16:02,160
+and notice that in fact it's a piece of
+
+339
+00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:05,279
+sculpture
+
+340
+00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:07,839
+a sculptured face
+
+341
+00:16:05,279 --> 00:16:08,720
+here's the face with the nose and the
+
+342
+00:16:07,839 --> 00:16:10,320
+upper part of the
+
+343
+00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:12,560
+the mouth so then you have to ask
+
+344
+00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:14,800
+yourself what's this that's over this
+
+345
+00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:14,800
+face
+
+346
+00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:20,320
+and what it is is part of a large
+
+347
+00:16:18,639 --> 00:16:22,640
+headdress and mask
+
+348
+00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:24,160
+that this lord would have been wearing
+
+349
+00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:26,480
+[Music]
+
+350
+00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:28,720
+the ancient maya often attached
+
+351
+00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:31,839
+sculptures like this one to the facades
+
+352
+00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,839
+of royal buildings
+
+353
+00:16:34,399 --> 00:16:37,480
+it's a watershed clue
+
+354
+00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:38,560
+[Applause]
+
+355
+00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:41,360
+[Music]
+
+356
+00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:45,199
+and those stairs further excavation
+
+357
+00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:45,199
+reveals the corner of a building
+
+358
+00:16:45,279 --> 00:16:51,759
+this is the upper part of the
+
+359
+00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:52,720
+preserved building and this is what we
+
+360
+00:16:51,759 --> 00:16:55,680
+call a broken
+
+361
+00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:56,720
+molding over the doorway this pile of
+
+362
+00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:59,360
+rubble here
+
+363
+00:16:56,720 --> 00:17:01,120
+is still filling the doorway you can see
+
+364
+00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:05,520
+remnants of the stucco here probably
+
+365
+00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:08,480
+mottled and painted
+
+366
+00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:18,240
+as the team peels back the pyramid a
+
+367
+00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:21,839
+royal palace emerges
+
+368
+00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:23,280
+it consists of three buildings a temple
+
+369
+00:17:21,839 --> 00:17:25,599
+on one side
+
+370
+00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:26,720
+the royal family's residential quarters
+
+371
+00:17:25,599 --> 00:17:29,760
+on the other
+
+372
+00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:32,240
+and a throne room in the middle but why
+
+373
+00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:36,080
+would the king of key week
+
+374
+00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:39,440
+build a pyramid on top of a palace
+
+375
+00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:41,200
+maya like to see spaces as having power
+
+376
+00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:42,960
+it's not uncommon to see in many
+
+377
+00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:44,400
+different forms the building of one
+
+378
+00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:47,840
+building on top of another
+
+379
+00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:52,160
+because sacred spaces important places
+
+380
+00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:56,320
+are powerful our argument is that
+
+381
+00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:56,320
+this is attempts to legitimize power
+
+382
+00:17:56,799 --> 00:18:00,240
+george believes an early king of key
+
+383
+00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:02,559
+week
+
+384
+00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:03,840
+perhaps even the founder of the town's
+
+385
+00:18:02,559 --> 00:18:07,360
+royal dynasty
+
+386
+00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:10,160
+built the palace centuries later
+
+387
+00:18:07,360 --> 00:18:11,919
+another king built the pyramid over his
+
+388
+00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:13,760
+ancestors home
+
+389
+00:18:11,919 --> 00:18:15,280
+making a direct connection to his
+
+390
+00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:19,039
+ancestors power
+
+391
+00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:19,840
+enhancing his own the palace may be most
+
+392
+00:18:19,039 --> 00:18:22,799
+remarkable
+
+393
+00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:23,679
+for another reason the king who built
+
+394
+00:18:22,799 --> 00:18:26,640
+the pyramid
+
+395
+00:18:23,679 --> 00:18:27,919
+was not a late transplant from the south
+
+396
+00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:30,320
+but a descendant of
+
+397
+00:18:27,919 --> 00:18:32,799
+a royal family that had been in key week
+
+398
+00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:35,120
+for a very long time
+
+399
+00:18:32,799 --> 00:18:35,919
+it now seems clear that here in the
+
+400
+00:18:35,120 --> 00:18:38,720
+yucatan
+
+401
+00:18:35,919 --> 00:18:40,480
+there was a previously unknown maya mega
+
+402
+00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:42,799
+society
+
+403
+00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:43,600
+that was just as old and just as
+
+404
+00:18:42,799 --> 00:18:47,600
+powerful
+
+405
+00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:49,360
+as the south we don't really know
+
+406
+00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:52,000
+where the cradle or genesis of maya
+
+407
+00:18:49,360 --> 00:18:54,240
+society is anymore
+
+408
+00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:57,840
+what we're learning is that there may
+
+409
+00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:57,840
+have been multiple cradles
+
+410
+00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:04,640
+guatemala can no longer lay sole claim
+
+411
+00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:10,120
+to the title
+
+412
+00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:10,380
+birthplace of the maya
+
+413
+00:19:10,120 --> 00:19:13,559
+[Music]
+
+414
+00:19:10,380 --> 00:19:13,559
+[Applause]
+
+415
+00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:21,200
+now that the existence of this northern
+
+416
+00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:24,720
+mega society is confirmed
+
+417
+00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:25,440
+the questions rapidly multiply who were
+
+418
+00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:29,760
+these lost
+
+419
+00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:29,760
+maya and why were they forgotten
+
+420
+00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:36,799
+the average person that thinks about
+
+421
+00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:38,799
+maya sees these great
+
+422
+00:19:36,799 --> 00:19:40,720
+monumental cities what they don't
+
+423
+00:19:38,799 --> 00:19:41,919
+realize is that for every one of those
+
+424
+00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:44,640
+cities there are
+
+425
+00:19:41,919 --> 00:19:45,919
+dozens of medium-sized towns like kiwi
+
+426
+00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:48,799
+that house maybe three
+
+427
+00:19:45,919 --> 00:19:50,320
+four thousand people from a lookout
+
+428
+00:19:48,799 --> 00:19:52,320
+tower near kiwi
+
+429
+00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:55,200
+it's easier to make sense out of the
+
+430
+00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:55,200
+entire site
+
+431
+00:19:55,440 --> 00:20:01,120
+in bay's view key week was the
+
+432
+00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:03,120
+quintessential northern town
+
+433
+00:20:01,120 --> 00:20:05,440
+you're actually looking at what would
+
+434
+00:20:03,120 --> 00:20:06,799
+have been downtown kewee the city of
+
+435
+00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:08,400
+kiwi
+
+436
+00:20:06,799 --> 00:20:11,280
+where that small hill is that's the
+
+437
+00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:11,280
+center of the city
+
+438
+00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:16,799
+when bay began his research he believed
+
+439
+00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:17,200
+the extent of kiwi was limited to the
+
+440
+00:20:16,799 --> 00:20:20,240
+core
+
+441
+00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:21,840
+area around the pyramid but lidar
+
+442
+00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:24,400
+mapping later revealed
+
+443
+00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:24,960
+a sprawling hilltop estate with a
+
+444
+00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:27,840
+massive
+
+445
+00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:29,520
+staircase across the valley suggesting
+
+446
+00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:35,840
+kiwi might have been the hub
+
+447
+00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:35,840
+of a much bigger complex
+
+448
+00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:49,840
+every morning the excavation team climbs
+
+449
+00:20:43,039 --> 00:20:49,840
+the 200-foot hill
+
+450
+00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:54,240
+the ancient maya would have come up that
+
+451
+00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:57,360
+path which would have led
+
+452
+00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:57,360
+right to this spot
+
+453
+00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:00,640
+what you see is basically a pile of
+
+454
+00:20:59,360 --> 00:21:03,679
+rocks but
+
+455
+00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:05,840
+if you were standing here 850 a.d
+
+456
+00:21:03,679 --> 00:21:06,960
+what you'd be standing at the base of is
+
+457
+00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:10,080
+an enormous
+
+458
+00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:12,960
+stairway which would have taken you
+
+459
+00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:15,200
+up to the top of what we think is the
+
+460
+00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:16,000
+the palace or the plantation house or
+
+461
+00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:17,840
+the big house
+
+462
+00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:20,720
+even the modern sense a very palatial
+
+463
+00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:23,120
+kind of construction
+
+464
+00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:25,520
+they've dubbed the site stairway to
+
+465
+00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:25,520
+heaven
+
+466
+00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:31,039
+a place like stairway to heaven is
+
+467
+00:21:29,039 --> 00:21:34,159
+amazing in the sense that
+
+468
+00:21:31,039 --> 00:21:36,720
+they built a 9 10 room mansion
+
+469
+00:21:34,159 --> 00:21:37,760
+up there and that's a very nice building
+
+470
+00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:40,320
+you know
+
+471
+00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:43,039
+a 9th century mcmansion okay living up
+
+472
+00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:43,039
+on top of that hill
+
+473
+00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:47,280
+but who would have been rich enough and
+
+474
+00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:51,679
+audacious enough
+
+475
+00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:51,679
+to build such over-the-top real estate
+
+476
+00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:56,320
+archaeologist stephanie sims is digging
+
+477
+00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:58,880
+for answers
+
+478
+00:21:56,320 --> 00:22:01,120
+tearing up the floor of one of the 22
+
+479
+00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:02,480
+large stone buildings that make up the
+
+480
+00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:05,679
+estate
+
+481
+00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:07,919
+under the floor a tantalizing clue
+
+482
+00:22:05,679 --> 00:22:10,159
+here i am sitting beneath the floor
+
+483
+00:22:07,919 --> 00:22:14,159
+level being right here of a three-room
+
+484
+00:22:10,159 --> 00:22:16,720
+elite residence up on the hilltop and
+
+485
+00:22:14,159 --> 00:22:18,320
+here just beneath the floor are a few
+
+486
+00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:21,360
+capstones covering
+
+487
+00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:24,000
+a dedicatory offering
+
+488
+00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:25,280
+the offering consists of a ceramic bowl
+
+489
+00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:26,960
+and plate
+
+490
+00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:30,320
+that appear to have been placed under
+
+491
+00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:31,679
+the floor when the house was built
+
+492
+00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:33,760
+it's a little suspicious that it would
+
+493
+00:22:31,679 --> 00:22:40,140
+be odd to place a plate upside down
+
+494
+00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:42,799
+like that without covering something so
+
+495
+00:22:40,140 --> 00:22:45,679
+[Music]
+
+496
+00:22:42,799 --> 00:22:49,280
+as the team carefully removes the plate
+
+497
+00:22:45,679 --> 00:22:49,280
+specks of evidence surface
+
+498
+00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:57,679
+little teeny fragments very badly
+
+499
+00:22:54,240 --> 00:23:00,080
+decomposed kind of eroded degraded bone
+
+500
+00:22:57,679 --> 00:23:01,440
+still can't tell yet whether it's human
+
+501
+00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:04,559
+bone or animal bone
+
+502
+00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:06,480
+but my guess is human
+
+503
+00:23:04,559 --> 00:23:08,000
+the large capstones flanking the
+
+504
+00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:10,720
+offering may be hiding
+
+505
+00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:10,720
+something else
+
+506
+00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:16,880
+it was common practice of the maya to
+
+507
+00:23:14,799 --> 00:23:22,000
+rebury the defleshed bones of their
+
+508
+00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:26,080
+deceased ancestors
+
+509
+00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:26,080
+it's called secondary burial
+
+510
+00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:32,000
+our thinking with these secondary
+
+511
+00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:34,640
+burials is that they're bringing bones
+
+512
+00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:35,679
+or parts of family members to new
+
+513
+00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:38,240
+locations
+
+514
+00:23:35,679 --> 00:23:40,559
+to sanctify the structures that they're
+
+515
+00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:40,559
+building
+
+516
+00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:48,320
+the capstones under the floor of the
+
+517
+00:23:46,559 --> 00:23:51,840
+house come off
+
+518
+00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:51,840
+a human tooth
+
+519
+00:23:53,679 --> 00:23:57,279
+confirming our suspicions that this is a
+
+520
+00:23:55,679 --> 00:24:00,480
+human burial this is a
+
+521
+00:23:57,279 --> 00:24:02,159
+lower incisor right here
+
+522
+00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:04,240
+there are several and we're still
+
+523
+00:24:02,159 --> 00:24:08,400
+waiting to uncover to see how many
+
+524
+00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:09,919
+there are though badly decomposed from
+
+525
+00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:12,000
+the acidic soil
+
+526
+00:24:09,919 --> 00:24:13,360
+stephanie can make out the remains of a
+
+527
+00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:16,840
+human skull
+
+528
+00:24:13,360 --> 00:24:19,520
+and arm and leg bones so this
+
+529
+00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:20,400
+demonstrates to us this offering is part
+
+530
+00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:22,159
+of the
+
+531
+00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:24,480
+the burial underneath dedicating this
+
+532
+00:24:22,159 --> 00:24:24,480
+house
+
+533
+00:24:25,120 --> 00:24:30,400
+back in the lab stephanie happily
+
+534
+00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:34,000
+discovers that this skull's owner
+
+535
+00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:37,279
+was not a daily brusher or flosser
+
+536
+00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:39,679
+embedded in the teeth 1200 year old
+
+537
+00:24:37,279 --> 00:24:39,679
+plaque
+
+538
+00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:44,960
+chemical analysis of food particles in
+
+539
+00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:47,440
+the plaque
+
+540
+00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:48,240
+gives stephanie a hint about what kind
+
+541
+00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:51,600
+of wealth
+
+542
+00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:53,520
+stairways owners have
+
+543
+00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:55,840
+i'm finding a much greater diversity of
+
+544
+00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:57,039
+plant food items that were consumed
+
+545
+00:24:55,840 --> 00:25:00,000
+ingredients
+
+546
+00:24:57,039 --> 00:25:02,960
+in stews and soups squash beans free
+
+547
+00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:02,960
+fruits chili peppers
+
+548
+00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:09,200
+the bounty suggests that the people who
+
+549
+00:25:07,919 --> 00:25:12,559
+lived at stairway
+
+550
+00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:14,720
+were major plantation owners operating
+
+551
+00:25:12,559 --> 00:25:15,520
+extensive farms in the valley below
+
+552
+00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:17,160
+their hilltop
+
+553
+00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:23,650
+estate
+
+554
+00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:23,650
+[Music]
+
+555
+00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:30,320
+as george's team surveys nearby hills
+
+556
+00:25:27,360 --> 00:25:32,640
+it's clear that stairway is not an
+
+557
+00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:42,720
+isolated example
+
+558
+00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:45,360
+but one of dozens of estates
+
+559
+00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:47,840
+indicators of widespread wealth start to
+
+560
+00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:47,840
+emerge
+
+561
+00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:52,400
+many secondary buildings at sites like
+
+562
+00:25:51,360 --> 00:25:54,799
+stairway
+
+563
+00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:55,840
+houses belonging to skilled workers like
+
+564
+00:25:54,799 --> 00:25:58,880
+this one
+
+565
+00:25:55,840 --> 00:26:01,600
+are built of stone a rarity in ancient
+
+566
+00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:03,919
+central america
+
+567
+00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:05,360
+that's amazing what it suggests is that
+
+568
+00:26:03,919 --> 00:26:08,480
+we're not looking at
+
+569
+00:26:05,360 --> 00:26:11,120
+a large peasant population that's
+
+570
+00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:11,760
+under the hands of a very small royal
+
+571
+00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:14,159
+elite
+
+572
+00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:15,200
+but that wealth and prosperity have
+
+573
+00:26:14,159 --> 00:26:24,080
+spread
+
+574
+00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:26,559
+over almost half of the population
+
+575
+00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:27,600
+key week may be evidence of america's
+
+576
+00:26:26,559 --> 00:26:31,440
+very first
+
+577
+00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:35,200
+middle class nearly a millennium before
+
+578
+00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:36,640
+north america's colonial middle class
+
+579
+00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:38,559
+these people might have had
+
+580
+00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:40,000
+opportunities they might have been able
+
+581
+00:26:38,559 --> 00:26:41,760
+to acquire land
+
+582
+00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:43,520
+i mean it's kind of fun to think about
+
+583
+00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:44,800
+it that they might have been living the
+
+584
+00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:47,920
+maya dream
+
+585
+00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:47,920
+[Music]
+
+586
+00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:54,000
+if there was such a thing as the maya
+
+587
+00:26:53,120 --> 00:26:57,360
+dream
+
+588
+00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:59,360
+this is where it happened kiwi
+
+589
+00:26:57,360 --> 00:27:01,520
+and stairway are nestled in a lush
+
+590
+00:26:59,360 --> 00:27:04,880
+region of the yucatan
+
+591
+00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:08,799
+called the pook soil here
+
+592
+00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:11,360
+is fertile natural resources abundant
+
+593
+00:27:08,799 --> 00:27:14,000
+it looks like an ideal place for human
+
+594
+00:27:11,360 --> 00:27:14,000
+habitation
+
+595
+00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:21,360
+except for one thing the pook region has
+
+596
+00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:24,480
+no water sources
+
+597
+00:27:21,360 --> 00:27:27,919
+no rivers lakes streams
+
+598
+00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:29,360
+creeks these people depended on
+
+599
+00:27:27,919 --> 00:27:32,960
+controlling collecting
+
+600
+00:27:29,360 --> 00:27:36,240
+and managing rain water
+
+601
+00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:36,240
+so how did they do it
+
+602
+00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:42,640
+just a few hundred feet from the
+
+603
+00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:45,200
+stairway estate house
+
+604
+00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:47,600
+archaeologist bill ringel has found an
+
+605
+00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:47,600
+answer
+
+606
+00:27:47,679 --> 00:27:52,080
+water falls heavily here but only six
+
+607
+00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:54,640
+months of the year
+
+608
+00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:57,760
+for the rest of the time it dries out
+
+609
+00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:59,120
+and virtually no rain falls
+
+610
+00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:03,039
+and this was one of the primary
+
+611
+00:27:59,120 --> 00:28:06,320
+adaptations of the pukamaya to this
+
+612
+00:28:03,039 --> 00:28:08,480
+rather waterless environment this
+
+613
+00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:10,240
+underground cavern is actually a
+
+614
+00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:17,200
+man-made cistern called
+
+615
+00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:19,039
+a chiltoon
+
+616
+00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:21,760
+it was a work of sophisticated
+
+617
+00:28:19,039 --> 00:28:24,320
+engineering carved out of the limestone
+
+618
+00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:24,320
+bedrock
+
+619
+00:28:26,799 --> 00:28:30,880
+over here we can see how these chiltoons
+
+620
+00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:32,240
+were constructed
+
+621
+00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:34,399
+first of all they would bore through the
+
+622
+00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:34,640
+harder cap rock and then once they got
+
+623
+00:28:34,399 --> 00:28:37,520
+in
+
+624
+00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:39,360
+under to this underlying softer model
+
+625
+00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:41,360
+they would excavate out
+
+626
+00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:42,880
+and make this large chamber the last
+
+627
+00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:44,720
+stage would be to to
+
+628
+00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:46,320
+cover it with stucco and you can see the
+
+629
+00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:49,840
+thickness of the stucco here
+
+630
+00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:52,240
+this this pinkish material
+
+631
+00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:52,670
+the stucco functioned as a waterproof
+
+632
+00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:54,880
+lining
+
+633
+00:28:52,670 --> 00:28:57,679
+[Music]
+
+634
+00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:59,279
+the maya expertly engineered the patios
+
+635
+00:28:57,679 --> 00:29:02,559
+rooftops and plazas
+
+636
+00:28:59,279 --> 00:29:05,840
+of stairway to heaven to capture every
+
+637
+00:29:02,559 --> 00:29:08,559
+last drop of rain water
+
+638
+00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:10,880
+then drained it into eight chol tunes
+
+639
+00:29:08,559 --> 00:29:13,840
+scattered throughout the estate
+
+640
+00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:16,559
+the entire hilltop functioned as a giant
+
+641
+00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:16,559
+rain barrel
+
+642
+00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:20,880
+so how many people could this ingenious
+
+643
+00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:24,159
+waterworks
+
+644
+00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:26,720
+support bill ringle and
+
+645
+00:29:24,159 --> 00:29:28,640
+engineer andrew willis use an early
+
+646
+00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:31,919
+version of lidar technology
+
+647
+00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:32,399
+to map the chol tune the resulting 3d
+
+648
+00:29:31,919 --> 00:29:36,159
+model
+
+649
+00:29:32,399 --> 00:29:38,559
+allows them to calculate water capacity
+
+650
+00:29:36,159 --> 00:29:40,080
+up to 10 000 gallons in each of the
+
+651
+00:29:38,559 --> 00:29:42,720
+stairways chol tunes
+
+652
+00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:45,279
+provided a reliable source of water for
+
+653
+00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:48,399
+the entire community
+
+654
+00:29:45,279 --> 00:29:50,320
+the typical family of six consumed 27
+
+655
+00:29:48,399 --> 00:29:52,320
+gallons a day
+
+656
+00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:53,440
+so stairways chiltoons could have
+
+657
+00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:55,930
+supported seven
+
+658
+00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:58,399
+families through three rainless months
+
+659
+00:29:55,930 --> 00:30:00,799
+[Music]
+
+660
+00:29:58,399 --> 00:30:04,320
+these advanced water works formed a
+
+661
+00:30:00,799 --> 00:30:06,720
+liquid foundation for life on stairway
+
+662
+00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:07,910
+and for dozens of other wealthy kingdoms
+
+663
+00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:17,150
+like key week nearby
+
+664
+00:30:07,910 --> 00:30:17,150
+[Music]
+
+665
+00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:23,200
+and sitting at the very top of that
+
+666
+00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:26,960
+foundation was a royal
+
+667
+00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:29,200
+elite george bay has found hints of
+
+668
+00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:32,320
+their surprising wealth
+
+669
+00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:32,320
+hidden in the jungle
+
+670
+00:30:32,559 --> 00:30:37,840
+the ruins of a majestic palace
+
+671
+00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:43,840
+[Music]
+
+672
+00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:46,320
+it represents a time in the history of
+
+673
+00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:48,720
+the of the royal family of key week
+
+674
+00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:50,080
+when great amount of wealth was being
+
+675
+00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:52,320
+accrued by the royal
+
+676
+00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:54,000
+family and they were expressing it
+
+677
+00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:56,640
+through the construction of a massive
+
+678
+00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,640
+new palace
+
+679
+00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:06,880
+the king of kiwi had built the pyramid
+
+680
+00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:09,679
+over his old palace
+
+681
+00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:12,640
+so on the adjacent lot he upgraded to
+
+682
+00:31:09,679 --> 00:31:15,200
+deluxe new accommodations
+
+683
+00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:16,240
+the new palace boasted 15 major
+
+684
+00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:19,360
+buildings
+
+685
+00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:21,919
+and two ceremonial plazas
+
+686
+00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:23,600
+from previous finds george knows the
+
+687
+00:31:21,919 --> 00:31:24,320
+buildings were adorned in ornate
+
+688
+00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:27,400
+sculpture
+
+689
+00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:29,519
+and painted stucco
+
+690
+00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:30,880
+[Music]
+
+691
+00:31:29,519 --> 00:31:35,120
+this is one of the best preserved
+
+692
+00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:35,120
+buildings in the new palace
+
+693
+00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:44,320
+you can see the remains of the stucco
+
+694
+00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:47,840
+but they would have been painted
+
+695
+00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:49,919
+sometimes with elaborate murals
+
+696
+00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:51,760
+and then there would have been beams
+
+697
+00:31:49,919 --> 00:31:52,720
+hung from certain parts of the roof for
+
+698
+00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:55,760
+curtains or
+
+699
+00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:56,799
+tapestries and a variety of furniture
+
+700
+00:31:55,760 --> 00:32:00,799
+would have
+
+701
+00:31:56,799 --> 00:32:01,200
+found its way in here kings like things
+
+702
+00:32:00,799 --> 00:32:06,240
+like
+
+703
+00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:06,240
+jaguar skin sofas fancy pillows
+
+704
+00:32:06,559 --> 00:32:15,840
+this simple room would have perhaps been
+
+705
+00:32:09,039 --> 00:32:15,840
+quite luxurious
+
+706
+00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:24,559
+by 800 a.d the northern maya society
+
+707
+00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:26,840
+is over 1500 years old
+
+708
+00:32:24,559 --> 00:32:28,960
+its people have mastered this harsh
+
+709
+00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:31,279
+landscape
+
+710
+00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:32,080
+their facility with water allows for
+
+711
+00:32:31,279 --> 00:32:34,799
+large-scale
+
+712
+00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:36,000
+farming and generates vast wealth for
+
+713
+00:32:34,799 --> 00:32:43,840
+their kings
+
+714
+00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:43,840
+and even for a new middle class
+
+715
+00:32:44,559 --> 00:32:48,559
+imagine this place 800 a.d
+
+716
+00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:52,960
+you would have seen the vast landscape
+
+717
+00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:54,880
+of towns villages cities
+
+718
+00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:56,799
+the smoke rising from thousands of
+
+719
+00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:58,559
+cooking fires as women prepared the
+
+720
+00:32:56,799 --> 00:33:02,610
+evening meals
+
+721
+00:32:58,559 --> 00:33:04,480
+men coming back from their fields
+
+722
+00:33:02,610 --> 00:33:06,320
+[Music]
+
+723
+00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:08,480
+but along with this portrait of a
+
+724
+00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:11,039
+prosperous society
+
+725
+00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:12,159
+bay's colleagues bill ringel and tomas
+
+726
+00:33:11,039 --> 00:33:14,399
+gaierda
+
+727
+00:33:12,159 --> 00:33:15,679
+are finding evidence of a disturbing
+
+728
+00:33:14,399 --> 00:33:18,559
+political trend
+
+729
+00:33:15,679 --> 00:33:18,559
+on the rise
+
+730
+00:33:21,919 --> 00:33:25,200
+20 miles from key week is the majestic
+
+731
+00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:28,960
+city
+
+732
+00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:31,279
+of uzma in the 800s
+
+733
+00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:34,399
+it rose to become the powerful political
+
+734
+00:33:31,279 --> 00:33:37,600
+capital of the region
+
+735
+00:33:34,399 --> 00:33:40,640
+local kings like the king of kiwi likely
+
+736
+00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:45,039
+traveled here to conduct diplomacy
+
+737
+00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:45,039
+and pay tribute to uzma's royalty
+
+738
+00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:50,399
+ringgel wants to show bay how these
+
+739
+00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:53,919
+buildings underwent a peculiar
+
+740
+00:33:50,399 --> 00:33:56,640
+modification in the 800s
+
+741
+00:33:53,919 --> 00:33:59,519
+an unmistakable new image was added to
+
+742
+00:33:56,640 --> 00:33:59,519
+their facades
+
+743
+00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:05,120
+what's really interesting is that little
+
+744
+00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:08,480
+image right there
+
+745
+00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:09,679
+a feathered serpent and actually there
+
+746
+00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:10,719
+are two feathered serpents here when
+
+747
+00:34:09,679 --> 00:34:13,520
+they intertwine
+
+748
+00:34:10,719 --> 00:34:15,280
+across the facade you need visual image
+
+749
+00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:18,839
+ringle believes the serpents
+
+750
+00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:20,179
+are a symbol of a powerful religious
+
+751
+00:34:18,839 --> 00:34:22,480
+cult
+
+752
+00:34:20,179 --> 00:34:25,440
+[Music]
+
+753
+00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:28,399
+it was called quetzalcoatl or the
+
+754
+00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:28,399
+feathered serpent
+
+755
+00:34:31,599 --> 00:34:35,199
+the so-called cult of quetzalcoatl
+
+756
+00:34:33,839 --> 00:34:38,079
+perhaps a better way to think about it
+
+757
+00:34:35,199 --> 00:34:39,520
+is a political ideology and of course it
+
+758
+00:34:38,079 --> 00:34:41,679
+had religious overtones
+
+759
+00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:43,679
+cult's perhaps the wrong word because it
+
+760
+00:34:41,679 --> 00:34:47,040
+suggests something kind of small-scale
+
+761
+00:34:43,679 --> 00:34:52,239
+and extra-governmental this was
+
+762
+00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:52,239
+political ideology front and center
+
+763
+00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:56,560
+to gain admittance into this cult a
+
+764
+00:34:55,599 --> 00:34:58,880
+local king
+
+765
+00:34:56,560 --> 00:35:03,839
+like key weeks had to submit to a
+
+766
+00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:03,839
+rigorous initiation
+
+767
+00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:13,520
+the priest would very often sequester
+
+768
+00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:14,960
+the initiate for several days
+
+769
+00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:17,040
+he would undergo rituals of
+
+770
+00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:19,839
+self-mortification
+
+771
+00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:22,079
+artwork from the time depicted rituals
+
+772
+00:35:19,839 --> 00:35:24,720
+involving bloodletting ceremonies
+
+773
+00:35:22,079 --> 00:35:26,800
+in which initiates pierced their penises
+
+774
+00:35:24,720 --> 00:35:29,040
+and other body parts
+
+775
+00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:30,000
+that would be a very interesting way to
+
+776
+00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:34,000
+uh to sacrifice
+
+777
+00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:34,000
+yourself obviously very painful
+
+778
+00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:41,760
+another image on the facade represents
+
+779
+00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:44,320
+the journey of an initiate
+
+780
+00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:47,440
+a small man being spit out of the mouth
+
+781
+00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:47,440
+of a feathered serpent
+
+782
+00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:51,520
+we can see the little man moving through
+
+783
+00:35:50,079 --> 00:35:53,920
+his body
+
+784
+00:35:51,520 --> 00:35:55,599
+to emerge as a transformed being and
+
+785
+00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:57,680
+he's being transformed precisely because
+
+786
+00:35:55,599 --> 00:36:00,160
+of the rituals of initiation
+
+787
+00:35:57,680 --> 00:36:02,160
+that involved quetzalcoatl the feathered
+
+788
+00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:04,480
+serpent carvings at us mall
+
+789
+00:36:02,160 --> 00:36:07,359
+suggest the cult swept through the north
+
+790
+00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:07,359
+in the 800s
+
+791
+00:36:09,520 --> 00:36:13,040
+as local kings bought into the new
+
+792
+00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:16,560
+ideology
+
+793
+00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:18,640
+political tensions started to rise
+
+794
+00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:20,079
+it may have fostered competition between
+
+795
+00:36:18,640 --> 00:36:21,839
+those who wish to adhere to this new
+
+796
+00:36:20,079 --> 00:36:23,839
+ideology and those who wish to remain
+
+797
+00:36:21,839 --> 00:36:27,839
+true to the traditional ideology
+
+798
+00:36:23,839 --> 00:36:27,839
+of the maya area
+
+799
+00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:34,320
+at the new palace in key week george
+
+800
+00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:35,599
+finds signs that in the midst of the
+
+801
+00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:38,800
+boom times
+
+802
+00:36:35,599 --> 00:36:40,480
+something else seems to go wrong we see
+
+803
+00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:41,599
+this big pile of rock up here in front
+
+804
+00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:43,680
+of the building
+
+805
+00:36:41,599 --> 00:36:45,040
+and it makes really not too much sense
+
+806
+00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:46,640
+at the beginning you have this beautiful
+
+807
+00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:47,520
+building here on this side with these
+
+808
+00:36:46,640 --> 00:36:49,359
+rooms
+
+809
+00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:50,720
+you have a set of rooms on the other
+
+810
+00:36:49,359 --> 00:36:52,880
+side and right in the middle you have a
+
+811
+00:36:50,720 --> 00:36:54,960
+big chunk of rubble
+
+812
+00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:56,160
+we conclude that what we're looking at
+
+813
+00:36:54,960 --> 00:36:58,880
+is a
+
+814
+00:36:56,160 --> 00:37:00,000
+actual staircase that was built by
+
+815
+00:36:58,880 --> 00:37:02,400
+workers
+
+816
+00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:04,640
+to give them access to the upper stories
+
+817
+00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:08,480
+of the building
+
+818
+00:37:04,640 --> 00:37:10,240
+here is a scaffold system being used by
+
+819
+00:37:08,480 --> 00:37:12,000
+the maya as part of the construction
+
+820
+00:37:10,240 --> 00:37:16,640
+techniques
+
+821
+00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:18,240
+okay now it's not gone
+
+822
+00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:20,000
+the stairway is still here if the
+
+823
+00:37:18,240 --> 00:37:23,520
+building was finished they would have
+
+824
+00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:25,680
+removed the stairway
+
+825
+00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:27,440
+the indications of the scaffolding are
+
+826
+00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:28,160
+is that you're seeing construction
+
+827
+00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:31,280
+happening
+
+828
+00:37:28,160 --> 00:37:33,760
+you're not seeing a finished building
+
+829
+00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:35,760
+another part of key week's palace shows
+
+830
+00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:38,400
+similar signs of a sudden halt in
+
+831
+00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:38,400
+construction
+
+832
+00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:43,440
+the second story walls of a building are
+
+833
+00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:46,560
+laid out on the ground by masons
+
+834
+00:37:43,440 --> 00:37:46,560
+but never erected
+
+835
+00:37:48,800 --> 00:37:52,480
+all of these characteristics are
+
+836
+00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:55,520
+evidence that the city was
+
+837
+00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:56,800
+in full bloom that architects were
+
+838
+00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:58,800
+employed
+
+839
+00:37:56,800 --> 00:38:00,000
+that the king was feeling confident and
+
+840
+00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:02,560
+powerful about
+
+841
+00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:04,240
+what he was doing that the city was part
+
+842
+00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:07,920
+of a world that was
+
+843
+00:38:04,240 --> 00:38:10,640
+blossoming and expanding and not
+
+844
+00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:12,160
+this idea of the king being miss
+
+845
+00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:14,400
+havisham sitting among
+
+846
+00:38:12,160 --> 00:38:16,560
+a ruined house as things slowly fell
+
+847
+00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:18,480
+apart for him and his world
+
+848
+00:38:16,560 --> 00:38:22,560
+collapsed this is a very different kind
+
+849
+00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:22,560
+of uh image for what was going on here
+
+850
+00:38:23,340 --> 00:38:28,240
+[Music]
+
+851
+00:38:25,280 --> 00:38:33,839
+so what brought key week's boom times to
+
+852
+00:38:28,240 --> 00:38:33,839
+a screeching halt
+
+853
+00:38:40,079 --> 00:38:47,839
+at first war seems an obvious
+
+854
+00:38:42,640 --> 00:38:47,839
+explanation for the stoppage
+
+855
+00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:51,599
+but an exhaustive search turns up no
+
+856
+00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:54,800
+arrowheads
+
+857
+00:38:51,599 --> 00:38:54,800
+and no spear points
+
+858
+00:38:56,400 --> 00:39:00,640
+but then at stairway to heaven the
+
+859
+00:38:58,800 --> 00:39:03,119
+hilltop estate
+
+860
+00:39:00,640 --> 00:39:06,560
+the team finds clues that at the same
+
+861
+00:39:03,119 --> 00:39:09,359
+time construction halted on the palace
+
+862
+00:39:06,560 --> 00:39:10,640
+this site was abruptly abandoned however
+
+863
+00:39:09,359 --> 00:39:13,359
+this is fantastic
+
+864
+00:39:10,640 --> 00:39:15,200
+you have probably five or six vessels
+
+865
+00:39:13,359 --> 00:39:16,880
+smashed on the floor
+
+866
+00:39:15,200 --> 00:39:18,560
+from the time of the abandonment you
+
+867
+00:39:16,880 --> 00:39:19,760
+know i i think some of them would have
+
+868
+00:39:18,560 --> 00:39:21,680
+been
+
+869
+00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:25,280
+left here on the floor others were
+
+870
+00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:25,280
+probably hanging from the walls
+
+871
+00:39:25,599 --> 00:39:30,400
+but these people were not running for
+
+872
+00:39:27,680 --> 00:39:30,400
+their lives
+
+873
+00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:34,320
+the evidence suggests an orderly
+
+874
+00:39:32,800 --> 00:39:37,359
+departure
+
+875
+00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:39,599
+pots carefully hung on wall pegs are set
+
+876
+00:39:37,359 --> 00:39:42,720
+to the sides of rooms
+
+877
+00:39:39,599 --> 00:39:43,839
+they were left intact and only broke
+
+878
+00:39:42,720 --> 00:39:45,760
+later
+
+879
+00:39:43,839 --> 00:39:48,000
+as the abandoned building began to
+
+880
+00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:49,359
+crumble it looks like most of them are
+
+881
+00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:51,280
+right along the edges
+
+882
+00:39:49,359 --> 00:39:52,720
+of the interior which really looks like
+
+883
+00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:55,359
+they're taking some time
+
+884
+00:39:52,720 --> 00:39:56,240
+to put these vessels somewhere to guard
+
+885
+00:39:55,359 --> 00:39:57,920
+them
+
+886
+00:39:56,240 --> 00:39:59,680
+at the time they're leaving them kind of
+
+887
+00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:00,800
+like making things neat right before you
+
+888
+00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:04,320
+leave the house
+
+889
+00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:04,320
+kind of tidying up in some way
+
+890
+00:40:05,040 --> 00:40:10,640
+so what could have caused this carefully
+
+891
+00:40:07,440 --> 00:40:12,800
+planned abandonment of stairway
+
+892
+00:40:10,640 --> 00:40:15,040
+and the abrupt work stoppage at the
+
+893
+00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:17,760
+palace
+
+894
+00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:19,760
+at stairway to heaven data indicates
+
+895
+00:40:17,760 --> 00:40:22,240
+cisterns would have armed the maya for
+
+896
+00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:24,720
+three months without rain
+
+897
+00:40:22,240 --> 00:40:26,720
+a few months longer with emergency water
+
+898
+00:40:24,720 --> 00:40:29,520
+rationing
+
+899
+00:40:26,720 --> 00:40:32,640
+but evidence from core samples suggests
+
+900
+00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:35,359
+this would not have been enough
+
+901
+00:40:32,640 --> 00:40:36,000
+we find eight of these bands that
+
+902
+00:40:35,359 --> 00:40:37,599
+suggests
+
+903
+00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:40,319
+in fact that it wasn't just like one
+
+904
+00:40:37,599 --> 00:40:41,359
+massive drought it was probably a series
+
+905
+00:40:40,319 --> 00:40:44,160
+of droughts
+
+906
+00:40:41,359 --> 00:40:45,440
+that have durations about three to
+
+907
+00:40:44,160 --> 00:40:47,200
+twenty years
+
+908
+00:40:45,440 --> 00:40:49,680
+and you know every time things would get
+
+909
+00:40:47,200 --> 00:40:53,280
+going again they would get pounded
+
+910
+00:40:49,680 --> 00:40:56,000
+with a fairly long duration drought
+
+911
+00:40:53,280 --> 00:40:57,040
+at some point the droughts overwhelmed
+
+912
+00:40:56,000 --> 00:41:00,400
+stairway
+
+913
+00:40:57,040 --> 00:41:03,280
+leaving only one option
+
+914
+00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:04,560
+all it would take would be a short
+
+915
+00:41:03,280 --> 00:41:06,960
+period of time in which there
+
+916
+00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:09,040
+is no water in those cisterns and those
+
+917
+00:41:06,960 --> 00:41:12,480
+people would have to leave that hill
+
+918
+00:41:09,040 --> 00:41:15,040
+it's simply impossible to live there
+
+919
+00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:16,560
+the various families elite families they
+
+920
+00:41:15,040 --> 00:41:17,760
+were reaching a point
+
+921
+00:41:16,560 --> 00:41:20,000
+where they were having to make a very
+
+922
+00:41:17,760 --> 00:41:21,110
+difficult decision which was to leave
+
+923
+00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:24,240
+stairway to heaven
+
+924
+00:41:21,110 --> 00:41:25,760
+[Music]
+
+925
+00:41:24,240 --> 00:41:28,160
+they loaded what they could of their
+
+926
+00:41:25,760 --> 00:41:31,839
+lives onto their backs
+
+927
+00:41:28,160 --> 00:41:31,839
+and carefully stored the rest
+
+928
+00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:35,760
+when the rains returned they fully
+
+929
+00:41:34,880 --> 00:41:37,020
+expected
+
+930
+00:41:35,760 --> 00:41:41,440
+they would too
+
+931
+00:41:37,020 --> 00:41:44,400
+[Music]
+
+932
+00:41:41,440 --> 00:41:46,800
+the maya knew about droughts they were
+
+933
+00:41:44,400 --> 00:41:48,880
+probably a civilization designed
+
+934
+00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:50,960
+to respond not only to managing
+
+935
+00:41:48,880 --> 00:41:52,880
+rainwater but managing a lack of
+
+936
+00:41:50,960 --> 00:41:55,359
+rainwater too
+
+937
+00:41:52,880 --> 00:41:57,440
+it's not a surprise they left what
+
+938
+00:41:55,359 --> 00:42:03,839
+becomes the question for us
+
+939
+00:41:57,440 --> 00:42:03,839
+is why they don't come back
+
+940
+00:42:06,319 --> 00:42:10,079
+so why didn't stairway's residents and
+
+941
+00:42:08,800 --> 00:42:12,480
+the king of kiwi
+
+942
+00:42:10,079 --> 00:42:16,240
+survive these droughts as they clearly
+
+943
+00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:18,720
+had in the past
+
+944
+00:42:16,240 --> 00:42:21,760
+the extreme intensity of these droughts
+
+945
+00:42:18,720 --> 00:42:21,760
+was disastrous
+
+946
+00:42:22,079 --> 00:42:27,359
+making a carefully managed response
+
+947
+00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:29,920
+their only hope
+
+948
+00:42:27,359 --> 00:42:31,520
+but bay and ringel speculate the north's
+
+949
+00:42:29,920 --> 00:42:35,200
+political establishment
+
+950
+00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:38,000
+was falling into disarray distracted by
+
+951
+00:42:35,200 --> 00:42:39,200
+the cult of the feathered serpent
+
+952
+00:42:38,000 --> 00:42:40,960
+the collapse in the northern mile
+
+953
+00:42:39,200 --> 00:42:42,800
+apparently began during the 9th century
+
+954
+00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:44,640
+and that's also the time period
+
+955
+00:42:42,800 --> 00:42:46,640
+during which this feathered serpent
+
+956
+00:42:44,640 --> 00:42:49,760
+ideology was introduced
+
+957
+00:42:46,640 --> 00:42:53,839
+and this undoubtedly led to rivalries
+
+958
+00:42:49,760 --> 00:42:53,839
+with respect to power brokering
+
+959
+00:42:56,000 --> 00:43:00,400
+ringle thinks the political situation
+
+960
+00:42:58,400 --> 00:43:01,839
+may have become so extreme
+
+961
+00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:04,079
+that there was no longer any
+
+962
+00:43:01,839 --> 00:43:13,839
+governmental system capable of
+
+963
+00:43:04,079 --> 00:43:13,839
+organizing their return
+
+964
+00:43:15,040 --> 00:43:18,160
+with a stable government the northern
+
+965
+00:43:17,520 --> 00:43:21,280
+maya
+
+966
+00:43:18,160 --> 00:43:23,920
+might have survived but it wasn't to be
+
+967
+00:43:21,280 --> 00:43:25,599
+and within a century the major cities
+
+968
+00:43:23,920 --> 00:43:30,640
+and towns of the north
+
+969
+00:43:25,599 --> 00:43:30,640
+just like the south were left in ruins
+
+970
+00:43:35,680 --> 00:43:41,839
+today the empty jungles of the yucatan
+
+971
+00:43:39,119 --> 00:43:43,040
+serve as a reminder that even great
+
+972
+00:43:41,839 --> 00:43:47,440
+civilizations
+
+973
+00:43:43,040 --> 00:43:49,839
+can fail as the years passed
+
+974
+00:43:47,440 --> 00:43:52,000
+slowly the jungle reclaimed these
+
+975
+00:43:49,839 --> 00:43:55,040
+magnificent buildings
+
+976
+00:43:52,000 --> 00:43:56,960
+whole towns and cities vanished under a
+
+977
+00:43:55,040 --> 00:44:00,400
+green wave
+
+978
+00:43:56,960 --> 00:44:03,680
+they became secrets of the forest
+
+979
+00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:06,480
+only now thanks to new technology
+
+980
+00:44:03,680 --> 00:44:07,200
+and fieldwork can the extent of what was
+
+981
+00:44:06,480 --> 00:44:23,839
+lost
+
+982
+00:44:07,200 --> 00:44:23,839
+come into view
+
+983
+00:44:23,920 --> 00:44:26,000
+you
+