1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:03,208 NARRATOR: High in the Andes Mountains, 2 00:00:03,333 --> 00:00:06,083 more than 150 massive stone blocks 3 00:00:06,250 --> 00:00:08,917 lie scattered on the ground. 4 00:00:09,083 --> 00:00:12,750 GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS: Puma Punku is one of the most enigmatic places 5 00:00:12,917 --> 00:00:14,417 on planet Earth. 6 00:00:14,625 --> 00:00:18,750 Some of the stone blocks are over a hundred tons. 7 00:00:18,917 --> 00:00:23,000 NARRATOR: The ancient blocks are carved with incredible precision. 8 00:00:23,167 --> 00:00:25,042 TRAVIS TAYLOR: It's an amazing piece of engineering 9 00:00:25,208 --> 00:00:27,167 that is beyond its time. 10 00:00:27,375 --> 00:00:30,833 NARRATOR: But the origins and purpose of Puma Punku 11 00:00:31,042 --> 00:00:33,958 remain completely unknown. 12 00:00:34,167 --> 00:00:36,375 Mainstream archaeology says that this site is 13 00:00:36,542 --> 00:00:38,750 1,500 years old, 14 00:00:38,917 --> 00:00:41,000 but anyone you talk to in that community 15 00:00:41,125 --> 00:00:43,333 will tell you it's much, much older. 16 00:00:43,542 --> 00:00:46,792 NARRATOR: Could new advancements in technology 17 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:50,958 finally help to solve a centuries-old puzzle 18 00:00:51,125 --> 00:00:54,833 and offer proof of alien intervention on Earth? 19 00:00:55,042 --> 00:00:59,417 ERICH VON DÄNIKEN: The locals say, "It was not us who made these platforms. 20 00:00:59,625 --> 00:01:01,208 "It was the gods. 21 00:01:01,417 --> 00:01:03,750 The gods who descended from the sky." 22 00:01:06,125 --> 00:01:08,417 NARRATOR: There is a doorway 23 00:01:08,583 --> 00:01:11,042 in the universe. 24 00:01:11,250 --> 00:01:14,583 Beyond it is the promise of truth. 25 00:01:15,833 --> 00:01:17,792 It demands we question everything 26 00:01:17,917 --> 00:01:20,125 we have ever been taught. 27 00:01:20,292 --> 00:01:24,333 The evidence is all around us. 28 00:01:24,500 --> 00:01:27,917 The future is right before our eyes. 29 00:01:28,083 --> 00:01:30,583 We are not alone. 30 00:01:30,792 --> 00:01:34,167 We have never been alone. 31 00:01:47,917 --> 00:01:49,958 High in the Andes Mountains, 32 00:01:50,125 --> 00:01:53,583 Spanish explorer Pedro Cieza de León is 33 00:01:53,708 --> 00:01:57,208 searching for the Inca capital of Qullasuyu. 34 00:01:58,208 --> 00:02:00,208 Just south of Lake Titicaca, 35 00:02:00,375 --> 00:02:03,417 at an elevation of nearly 13,000 feet, 36 00:02:03,583 --> 00:02:05,625 he comes upon extraordinary ruins 37 00:02:05,750 --> 00:02:08,583 covering roughly two and a half square miles. 38 00:02:09,708 --> 00:02:13,333 It is the ancient settlement of Tiahuanaco. 39 00:02:14,292 --> 00:02:17,542 De León spends many months investigating the site 40 00:02:17,750 --> 00:02:19,375 and writes in his chronicles 41 00:02:19,542 --> 00:02:23,250 that Tiahuanaco contains impressive stone walls, 42 00:02:23,417 --> 00:02:27,917 idols of human figures, and great doorways. 43 00:02:28,042 --> 00:02:29,917 He also writes about an area 44 00:02:30,083 --> 00:02:32,125 south of the main archaeological site 45 00:02:32,333 --> 00:02:36,292 called Puma Punku, or "Gate of the Puma." 46 00:02:36,458 --> 00:02:39,125 It features stone blocks so enormous, 47 00:02:39,333 --> 00:02:42,375 he does not understand how they could be moved by humans. 48 00:02:42,500 --> 00:02:44,750 And they are carved with a precision 49 00:02:44,958 --> 00:02:48,167 that, according to De León, could not be accomplished 50 00:02:48,333 --> 00:02:51,250 with the tools available to the Inca. 51 00:02:51,375 --> 00:02:53,292 TSOUKALOS: Pedro Cieza de León says 52 00:02:53,417 --> 00:02:55,417 that the local population, 53 00:02:55,583 --> 00:02:57,750 which was Inca, told him... 54 00:02:58,750 --> 00:03:02,583 ...that this place was not built by the Incas 55 00:03:02,750 --> 00:03:06,750 but it was built hundreds of years before. 56 00:03:06,917 --> 00:03:11,917 If the Inca themselves have said that it was not the Inca, 57 00:03:12,083 --> 00:03:14,500 well, then, who were the pre-Incas? 58 00:03:14,667 --> 00:03:18,375 And there we are confronted with a gigantic question mark. 59 00:03:19,500 --> 00:03:22,750 NARRATOR: What the giant blocks formed is completely unknown, 60 00:03:22,875 --> 00:03:26,583 and nearly five centuries after its discovery by De León, 61 00:03:26,750 --> 00:03:31,875 Puma Punku remains as mysterious as ever. 62 00:03:32,083 --> 00:03:35,833 It's out in this really open high plains. 63 00:03:37,042 --> 00:03:40,458 Most of the stones in Puma Punku are huge. 64 00:03:41,458 --> 00:03:44,667 The biggest is 130 tons. 65 00:03:45,792 --> 00:03:47,750 There's another one that's 85 tons. 66 00:03:47,917 --> 00:03:50,875 Even the small ones are multiton. 67 00:03:51,042 --> 00:03:52,833 So these are huge. 68 00:03:53,042 --> 00:03:56,083 The Plataforma Lítica is in the center of Puma Punku 69 00:03:56,250 --> 00:03:57,667 and it's, in fact, the foundation. 70 00:03:57,833 --> 00:04:01,583 So it consists of enormous slabs of red sandstone 71 00:04:01,708 --> 00:04:04,875 that were brought from a quarry eight miles to the west, 72 00:04:05,083 --> 00:04:07,167 over two mountain ranges. 73 00:04:07,333 --> 00:04:09,958 So, how that was accomplished, I have no idea. 74 00:04:11,333 --> 00:04:12,958 CAROLINE WHITEHILL: Another really fascinating 75 00:04:13,125 --> 00:04:15,500 aspect of the Puma Punku site 76 00:04:15,667 --> 00:04:17,417 is the distribution of these blocks. 77 00:04:18,542 --> 00:04:21,083 Some of them are still upright in the position 78 00:04:21,208 --> 00:04:22,750 that they were originally constructed in. 79 00:04:23,875 --> 00:04:25,792 Most of them are strewn about. 80 00:04:25,958 --> 00:04:28,500 It looks like you're in a child's playroom 81 00:04:28,667 --> 00:04:30,500 and blocks have just been knocked over 82 00:04:30,667 --> 00:04:33,250 from some sort of a structure that was built. 83 00:04:33,458 --> 00:04:35,958 HUGH NEWMAN: It looks like it's been destroyed 84 00:04:36,125 --> 00:04:37,917 by a kind of tsunami or something. 85 00:04:38,042 --> 00:04:40,292 It's got mud piled up everywhere. 86 00:04:40,458 --> 00:04:44,792 Giant stones sticking out of it at crazy angles. 87 00:04:46,333 --> 00:04:47,833 NARRATOR: It remains unknown 88 00:04:48,042 --> 00:04:50,583 whether the structures of Puma Punku were destroyed 89 00:04:50,750 --> 00:04:53,667 by a cataclysm or if the construction project 90 00:04:53,875 --> 00:04:56,667 was simply abandoned before it was finished. 91 00:04:57,750 --> 00:05:00,750 But the roughly 150 megalithic blocks 92 00:05:00,917 --> 00:05:02,500 that can be found at the site today 93 00:05:02,708 --> 00:05:05,167 reveal that the builders possessed 94 00:05:05,333 --> 00:05:07,917 astounding stoneworking abilities. 95 00:05:09,417 --> 00:05:12,750 BARNHART: Puma Punku has these megalithic blocks 96 00:05:12,875 --> 00:05:14,750 that are perfectly cut... 97 00:05:15,792 --> 00:05:19,333 ...that all of their angles are completely right angles. 98 00:05:19,500 --> 00:05:23,417 There's these ones in particular called H-blocks 99 00:05:23,583 --> 00:05:26,292 that look like a big capital "H." 100 00:05:26,458 --> 00:05:30,667 They have kind of, uh, fade lines going in 101 00:05:30,833 --> 00:05:35,250 where they carved the same shape in a couple of different layers, 102 00:05:35,375 --> 00:05:37,375 deeper and deeper into the stone. 103 00:05:37,542 --> 00:05:40,750 And its precision is really mind-boggling. 104 00:05:40,875 --> 00:05:44,458 TAYLOR: There are grooves that are cut with perfect 90-degree angles. 105 00:05:44,667 --> 00:05:47,667 It looks like they were so precise 106 00:05:47,833 --> 00:05:49,042 that they were done 107 00:05:49,208 --> 00:05:52,625 with modern-day milling machine tools. 108 00:05:54,375 --> 00:05:55,917 DAVID CHILDRESS: There's stones there, too, 109 00:05:56,083 --> 00:05:58,167 that have a lot of drill holes 110 00:05:58,292 --> 00:06:01,792 and saw cuts and things like that in them. 111 00:06:01,958 --> 00:06:04,708 It's an amazing piece of engineering 112 00:06:04,875 --> 00:06:06,708 that is beyond its time. 113 00:06:07,750 --> 00:06:11,792 TSOUKALOS: Predominantly, we have two types of stone at Puma Punku, 114 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:17,417 and that is red sandstone and gray andesite. 115 00:06:17,583 --> 00:06:20,500 They have found tools made of copper 116 00:06:20,708 --> 00:06:24,417 and of iron and bronze at Puma Punku. 117 00:06:24,583 --> 00:06:29,458 And with those tools, you can absolutely cut the sandstone. 118 00:06:29,667 --> 00:06:34,750 However, you cannot cut the gray andesite blocks 119 00:06:34,917 --> 00:06:37,750 with bronze or with copper or with iron. 120 00:06:38,750 --> 00:06:41,667 What's interesting, too, is that the stone blocks 121 00:06:41,833 --> 00:06:43,583 that we find at Puma Punku, 122 00:06:43,750 --> 00:06:48,208 the surface is as if you're touching glass. 123 00:06:48,375 --> 00:06:49,917 It is perfection. 124 00:06:50,083 --> 00:06:54,500 So, to me it's possible that our ancestors figured out 125 00:06:54,667 --> 00:06:58,083 a way to vitrify stone. 126 00:06:58,250 --> 00:07:01,958 And we have evidence here of some type of a heat tool. 127 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:06,167 NARRATOR: In 1903, Arthur Posnansky, 128 00:07:06,250 --> 00:07:10,125 an Austrian engineer, explorer, and amateur archaeologist, 129 00:07:10,292 --> 00:07:12,000 traveled to Puma Punku, 130 00:07:12,208 --> 00:07:15,500 which by that time was located in Western Bolivia. 131 00:07:16,625 --> 00:07:19,000 Posnansky began the most thorough study 132 00:07:19,083 --> 00:07:21,500 of the site ever conducted. 133 00:07:21,667 --> 00:07:24,125 Arthur Posnansky was born in Vienna, Austria 134 00:07:24,333 --> 00:07:25,750 in the 19th century, 135 00:07:25,875 --> 00:07:28,167 and in his early 20s he moved to South America. 136 00:07:29,333 --> 00:07:30,458 But very soon after that, 137 00:07:30,625 --> 00:07:32,333 he became fascinated by Puma Punku 138 00:07:32,458 --> 00:07:34,458 and spent almost the rest of his life 139 00:07:34,542 --> 00:07:37,417 studying and researching that location. 140 00:07:38,458 --> 00:07:43,292 TSOUKALOS: Arthur Posnansky lived and researched at Puma Punku 141 00:07:43,375 --> 00:07:47,958 from 1904 until 1945. 142 00:07:48,083 --> 00:07:50,458 He was there for 41 years 143 00:07:50,625 --> 00:07:53,625 and he absolutely fell in love 144 00:07:53,792 --> 00:07:56,667 not only with the landscapes there 145 00:07:56,792 --> 00:08:01,500 but also with that culture that put a spell on him, 146 00:08:01,667 --> 00:08:03,833 and it was his biggest siren call. 147 00:08:03,958 --> 00:08:06,708 When speaking with the Aymara elders, 148 00:08:06,875 --> 00:08:08,500 they speak very, very fondly 149 00:08:08,708 --> 00:08:10,958 of the archaeologist Posnansky... 150 00:08:12,042 --> 00:08:15,250 ...because he respected them and he respected their culture. 151 00:08:15,417 --> 00:08:19,625 And he talked to them about what they knew about these sites. 152 00:08:19,792 --> 00:08:21,417 And one of the places that they're in agreement 153 00:08:21,583 --> 00:08:23,208 is that the site is much older 154 00:08:23,333 --> 00:08:26,000 than it's believed to be by mainstream archaeologists. 155 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:28,833 NARRATOR: Mainstream scholars believe 156 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:30,667 the site was originally constructed 157 00:08:30,875 --> 00:08:34,792 about 1,500 years ago, but Posnansky proposed 158 00:08:34,917 --> 00:08:39,125 that Puma Punku was much, much older. 159 00:08:39,292 --> 00:08:42,500 By examining the structures and what he believed was 160 00:08:42,667 --> 00:08:45,167 their original alignment with the stars, 161 00:08:45,333 --> 00:08:49,042 he dated the ruins to 15,000 BC. 162 00:08:49,208 --> 00:08:53,000 TAYLOR: Arthur Posnansky suggests that Puma Punku would line up 163 00:08:53,208 --> 00:08:56,958 with stellar objects about 17,000 years ago. 164 00:08:57,167 --> 00:09:01,833 The local Indigenous people, the Aymara, uh, they actually 165 00:09:02,042 --> 00:09:05,875 have a mythology that Puma Punku has been around 166 00:09:06,042 --> 00:09:09,208 for maybe as much as 17,000 years. 167 00:09:10,708 --> 00:09:13,042 NARRATOR: The Aymara people have occupied the area 168 00:09:13,208 --> 00:09:17,208 of modern-day Peru and Bolivia for at least 800 years 169 00:09:17,375 --> 00:09:20,708 and lived alongside the Inca when Pedro Cieza de León 170 00:09:20,875 --> 00:09:24,833 arrived at Tiahuanaco in the 16th century. 171 00:09:24,917 --> 00:09:28,167 Both the Inca and Aymara told De León 172 00:09:28,333 --> 00:09:30,167 and other Spanish chroniclers 173 00:09:30,375 --> 00:09:34,542 not only that Puma Punku was built long before their time 174 00:09:34,708 --> 00:09:38,500 but also that it was the work of the gods. 175 00:09:38,667 --> 00:09:40,083 VON DÄNIKEN: The locals said, 176 00:09:40,292 --> 00:09:42,667 "It was not us who made this. 177 00:09:42,792 --> 00:09:46,167 It was the gods who did it in one night." 178 00:09:47,583 --> 00:09:50,458 "The gods who descended from the sky." 179 00:09:50,625 --> 00:09:53,000 So, normally every culture says, 180 00:09:53,167 --> 00:09:56,250 "Oh, yes, we did it. We, we had the knowledge. 181 00:09:56,375 --> 00:09:57,875 We were strong enough." 182 00:09:58,042 --> 00:10:00,708 In that case, Puma Punku, the locals say, 183 00:10:00,875 --> 00:10:04,083 "It was not us who made these platforms. 184 00:10:04,208 --> 00:10:06,625 It was the gods." 185 00:10:06,792 --> 00:10:09,542 Which gods? Extraterrestrials. 186 00:10:10,708 --> 00:10:14,375 NARRATOR: The mystery of Puma Punku has persisted for centuries. 187 00:10:15,625 --> 00:10:17,667 But now, thanks to new archaeological research 188 00:10:17,792 --> 00:10:20,000 and cutting-edge technology, 189 00:10:20,167 --> 00:10:23,083 experts believe they may finally be able 190 00:10:23,250 --> 00:10:27,000 to accurately reconstruct the ancient megalithic site 191 00:10:27,208 --> 00:10:29,167 and, in the process, 192 00:10:29,333 --> 00:10:31,875 perhaps answer some of the long-standing questions 193 00:10:32,042 --> 00:10:35,875 about Puma Punku's age, how it was built, 194 00:10:36,042 --> 00:10:40,083 and its potential extraterrestrial origins. 195 00:10:45,083 --> 00:10:47,250 ♪ ♪ 196 00:10:47,417 --> 00:10:51,375 NARRATOR: Western Bolivia, 1995. 197 00:10:51,542 --> 00:10:56,583 Archaeologist Alexei Vranich is preparing to excavate 198 00:10:56,750 --> 00:10:58,750 an ancient structure at the site of Tiahuanaco 199 00:10:58,917 --> 00:11:00,792 for his PhD thesis. 200 00:11:00,917 --> 00:11:04,375 When the project runs into complications, 201 00:11:04,542 --> 00:11:06,292 a local archaeological team 202 00:11:06,458 --> 00:11:10,875 invites him to instead visit the ruins of Puma Punku. 203 00:11:11,875 --> 00:11:13,958 VRANICH: The Puma Punku is located at Tiahuanaco 204 00:11:14,125 --> 00:11:17,750 just a little bit south of the village. 205 00:11:17,958 --> 00:11:20,500 It's one of the more dramatic landscapes you can find 206 00:11:20,667 --> 00:11:23,125 at 13,000 feet above sea level. 207 00:11:24,167 --> 00:11:28,292 And you simply don't expect to find something so impressive 208 00:11:28,458 --> 00:11:30,333 in such a desolate landscape. 209 00:11:30,542 --> 00:11:36,542 I remember seeing it, and I had no idea what I was looking at. 210 00:11:36,708 --> 00:11:38,458 It was a confusing mess, 211 00:11:38,625 --> 00:11:40,417 and I had never seen anything like it. 212 00:11:40,583 --> 00:11:43,500 NARRATOR: Upon seeing Puma Punku, 213 00:11:43,667 --> 00:11:45,708 Vranich decided to make the site 214 00:11:45,875 --> 00:11:49,792 the new focus of his excavation project. 215 00:11:49,958 --> 00:11:52,458 VRANICH: I lived in the village with the Aymara Indians, 216 00:11:52,625 --> 00:11:56,667 and these are local people that have been there for centuries, 217 00:11:56,875 --> 00:11:58,542 and they worked directly with me, 218 00:11:58,708 --> 00:12:01,500 so I got to know the culture very well. 219 00:12:01,667 --> 00:12:03,083 They're excellent excavators. 220 00:12:03,250 --> 00:12:05,333 But they also held it in high esteem 221 00:12:05,542 --> 00:12:07,708 within their cosmological world. 222 00:12:09,250 --> 00:12:11,042 WHITEHILL: When you speak to the elders of the Aymara, 223 00:12:11,208 --> 00:12:13,708 they will tell you that this was actually built by the gods, 224 00:12:13,875 --> 00:12:15,708 that these were gods that came down. 225 00:12:16,875 --> 00:12:18,292 NARRATOR: Jorge Delgado, 226 00:12:18,417 --> 00:12:20,458 an Inca by birth and heritage, 227 00:12:20,625 --> 00:12:22,833 says that in the Native tradition, 228 00:12:22,958 --> 00:12:25,458 the gods connected with Puma Punku 229 00:12:25,625 --> 00:12:28,792 are known as the Space Brothers. 230 00:12:33,500 --> 00:12:38,875 ...ways how we can become one with the stones. 231 00:13:13,375 --> 00:13:19,125 NARRATOR: The first known photograph of Puma Punku was taken in 1893, 232 00:13:19,292 --> 00:13:23,750 and the site has transformed dramatically since that time. 233 00:13:23,958 --> 00:13:27,250 In fact, the entire area of Tiahuanaco 234 00:13:27,375 --> 00:13:31,833 is like a giant puzzle with many pieces missing or moved. 235 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:35,000 TSOUKALOS: Half of Tiahuanaco town 236 00:13:35,167 --> 00:13:38,333 was built with Puma Punku stone 237 00:13:38,542 --> 00:13:42,333 and with Tiahuanaco stone from the ancient sites. 238 00:13:42,458 --> 00:13:44,875 I mean, there is one block at a gas station. 239 00:13:45,042 --> 00:13:49,000 The cathedral, or the Church of Tiahuanaco-- 240 00:13:49,208 --> 00:13:53,208 a third of it is Puma Punku Tiahuanaco rock. 241 00:13:53,375 --> 00:13:57,333 It puts a giant damper on trying to figure out 242 00:13:57,458 --> 00:14:01,500 what did Puma Punku look like in its heyday? 243 00:14:02,833 --> 00:14:04,333 NARRATOR: Even the Bolivian government 244 00:14:04,500 --> 00:14:08,292 has been responsible for altering the landscape. 245 00:14:08,458 --> 00:14:10,042 VRANICH: In the 1950s, 246 00:14:10,208 --> 00:14:12,208 the Bolivian government decided that they wanted 247 00:14:12,375 --> 00:14:14,167 to have ruins 248 00:14:14,333 --> 00:14:17,875 similar to what Peru had for Machu Picchu 249 00:14:18,042 --> 00:14:21,083 or Mexico had for Teotihuácan. 250 00:14:21,208 --> 00:14:23,583 So, it was a very progressive agenda 251 00:14:23,750 --> 00:14:27,375 to give the Bolivian people a pre-Columbian identity. 252 00:14:27,542 --> 00:14:31,667 But the result for archaeology was a bit of a disaster. 253 00:14:31,833 --> 00:14:33,292 They moved around a lot of stone 254 00:14:33,458 --> 00:14:36,375 and did a lot of questionable reconstructions. 255 00:14:36,542 --> 00:14:40,083 NARRATOR: While performing excavations at the ancient site, 256 00:14:40,250 --> 00:14:44,250 Dr. Vranich decided to embark on his own reconstruction project 257 00:14:44,375 --> 00:14:48,333 in hopes of answering some of Puma Punku's many mysteries. 258 00:14:48,542 --> 00:14:52,875 Dr. Vranich's reconstruction would be computer-generated, 259 00:14:53,042 --> 00:14:55,542 and the first step was to precisely measure 260 00:14:55,750 --> 00:14:58,167 every stone block. 261 00:14:58,333 --> 00:15:01,792 VRANICH: I used a lot of interesting and new technologies 262 00:15:01,958 --> 00:15:04,917 from laser scanners to photogrammetry. 263 00:15:05,042 --> 00:15:08,417 But the best method ended up being tape measure, 264 00:15:08,583 --> 00:15:10,250 pen and paper. 265 00:15:10,417 --> 00:15:13,167 And I used the notes from scholars 266 00:15:13,292 --> 00:15:18,333 from over a century ago, from the 1840s to the 1890s. 267 00:15:18,500 --> 00:15:21,250 And then, recently, an architect from UC Berkeley 268 00:15:21,417 --> 00:15:24,333 did a lot of the drawings of these stones, 269 00:15:24,542 --> 00:15:27,667 and that became the basis for the reconstruction. 270 00:15:27,875 --> 00:15:31,500 NARRATOR: Once Dr. Vranich completed the arduous task 271 00:15:31,708 --> 00:15:34,792 of documenting the measurements of every known stone block 272 00:15:34,958 --> 00:15:36,875 and slab at Puma Punku, 273 00:15:37,042 --> 00:15:40,000 he 3D-printed them at UCLA, 274 00:15:40,125 --> 00:15:42,542 where he was working as a research associate 275 00:15:42,708 --> 00:15:45,125 and visiting assistant professor. 276 00:15:45,250 --> 00:15:47,208 With help from his students, 277 00:15:47,417 --> 00:15:50,708 he began putting together the puzzle pieces. 278 00:15:50,875 --> 00:15:53,250 We had a lot of pieces, 279 00:15:53,417 --> 00:15:57,208 and we had no idea how to go about putting it together. 280 00:15:57,375 --> 00:15:59,708 There was a couple of rules that have been found 281 00:15:59,875 --> 00:16:01,292 on how some of these stones, 282 00:16:01,458 --> 00:16:03,458 or how some of the ornaments, fit. 283 00:16:03,625 --> 00:16:06,833 Certain types of windows or niches are always found 284 00:16:07,042 --> 00:16:10,750 in certain patterns or in certain combinations. 285 00:16:10,958 --> 00:16:12,917 We continued to play with this model 286 00:16:13,083 --> 00:16:14,458 probably for over a year. 287 00:16:14,667 --> 00:16:17,167 And we were almost at our wits end going, 288 00:16:17,250 --> 00:16:20,000 "We're not gonna be able to put this together," 289 00:16:20,083 --> 00:16:22,958 when we finally had a moment of insight. 290 00:16:24,042 --> 00:16:25,833 We were able to put together 291 00:16:25,958 --> 00:16:29,083 two different pieces that formed 292 00:16:29,250 --> 00:16:32,292 what one wall of the temple would have looked like. 293 00:16:32,458 --> 00:16:35,542 NARRATOR: Dr. Vranich and his students had discovered 294 00:16:35,667 --> 00:16:39,000 what he calls the Tiahuanaco Rosetta Stone. 295 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:43,125 VRANICH: That allowed us to find the other pieces 296 00:16:43,292 --> 00:16:45,375 and fit them together. 297 00:16:45,500 --> 00:16:49,167 And once we had that, we realized we actually had 298 00:16:49,292 --> 00:16:52,000 a miniature version of the Puma Punku 299 00:16:52,208 --> 00:16:57,083 down to almost exact size, 0.57 in scale. 300 00:16:57,208 --> 00:16:58,833 That was one of those 301 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:01,167 aha moments that almost surprises you. 302 00:17:01,375 --> 00:17:03,000 For an archaeologist, it's one of those moments 303 00:17:03,167 --> 00:17:04,333 that you live for. 304 00:17:05,542 --> 00:17:07,292 NARRATOR: Once Dr. Vranich and his students 305 00:17:07,500 --> 00:17:10,083 established how the pieces fit together, 306 00:17:10,250 --> 00:17:14,417 they were able to do a complete reconstruction of Puma Punku. 307 00:17:14,583 --> 00:17:17,542 VRANICH: Puma Punku-- it's two different things, in a way. 308 00:17:17,708 --> 00:17:20,333 One of them is the entire temple complex, 309 00:17:20,542 --> 00:17:23,333 which is almost half a kilometer long. 310 00:17:23,458 --> 00:17:27,417 There's the main platform, there's a plaza in front of it, 311 00:17:27,583 --> 00:17:29,250 there's a couple of different walls. 312 00:17:29,417 --> 00:17:31,292 So, it's a substantial building. 313 00:17:31,458 --> 00:17:34,000 But surrounding the inner courtyard, 314 00:17:34,125 --> 00:17:36,000 you would have had these buildings 315 00:17:36,208 --> 00:17:37,500 that we're reconstructing right now. 316 00:17:37,708 --> 00:17:39,333 So, we're reconstructing 317 00:17:39,542 --> 00:17:42,667 the main religious and ritual focus 318 00:17:42,875 --> 00:17:45,708 of this larger temple complex. 319 00:17:45,875 --> 00:17:48,125 The Puma Punku probably had formed 320 00:17:48,250 --> 00:17:51,667 part of the religious ideology that Tiahuanaco 321 00:17:51,792 --> 00:17:55,208 was an important place on Earth where all the forces 322 00:17:55,375 --> 00:17:56,625 of the heavens and the underworld 323 00:17:56,792 --> 00:17:58,750 were mediated to create 324 00:17:58,917 --> 00:18:01,625 a fertile and safe Earth. 325 00:18:03,625 --> 00:18:06,333 NARRATOR: Dr. Vranich has assembled the most complete model 326 00:18:06,458 --> 00:18:09,083 of Puma Punku ever constructed. 327 00:18:10,125 --> 00:18:13,042 But just how accurate is it? 328 00:18:13,208 --> 00:18:15,833 And could it provide the key to solving 329 00:18:16,042 --> 00:18:19,500 the centuries-old mystery of Puma Punku? 330 00:18:26,042 --> 00:18:27,833 NARRATOR: Over the past 20 years, 331 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:29,667 archaeologist Dr. Alexei Vranich 332 00:18:29,875 --> 00:18:31,333 has taken detailed measurements 333 00:18:31,542 --> 00:18:34,833 of every existing megalithic block at Puma Punku 334 00:18:34,958 --> 00:18:37,375 and had them 3D-printed. 335 00:18:39,375 --> 00:18:42,167 By working with his model, he has developed a theory 336 00:18:42,375 --> 00:18:46,125 on how the ancient site was originally constructed. 337 00:18:47,125 --> 00:18:50,708 On March 5, 2024, 338 00:18:50,875 --> 00:18:52,417 he invited Giorgio Tsoukalos 339 00:18:52,542 --> 00:18:55,250 and aerospace engineer Dr. Travis Taylor 340 00:18:55,375 --> 00:18:57,000 to a workspace in Los Angeles 341 00:18:57,125 --> 00:18:59,833 to share the results of his research. 342 00:19:00,042 --> 00:19:03,792 Tell me what this template is that's on the tabletop here. 343 00:19:03,958 --> 00:19:07,917 VRANICH: This represents the sandstone foundation 344 00:19:08,083 --> 00:19:10,167 for this building of the Puma Punku. 345 00:19:10,333 --> 00:19:12,708 And to print it out was simply too cumbersome, 346 00:19:12,875 --> 00:19:14,375 so we put it out on paper. 347 00:19:14,542 --> 00:19:16,375 Put that in scale for me. How-how far 348 00:19:16,542 --> 00:19:18,500 -is this piece of paper? -So, this one's about 349 00:19:18,708 --> 00:19:21,208 -maybe 70 meters long by about 12 meters wide. -Oh, okay. Okay. 350 00:19:21,417 --> 00:19:23,833 -And... -And consisting of how many platform? 351 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:26,500 So, we have 17 different pieces 352 00:19:26,667 --> 00:19:30,875 of sandstone that would have completed a very flat surface. 353 00:19:31,083 --> 00:19:34,333 And there's an excellent chance it probably would have extended 354 00:19:34,458 --> 00:19:36,333 another 12 meters this way. 355 00:19:36,458 --> 00:19:40,208 TSOUKALOS: When I saw the model in person, 356 00:19:40,375 --> 00:19:43,292 I was like, "I cannot believe my eyes." 357 00:19:43,458 --> 00:19:47,000 It almost looked like a very long 358 00:19:47,167 --> 00:19:49,250 and rectangular building 359 00:19:49,417 --> 00:19:54,625 with multiple structures lining up a long avenue. 360 00:19:54,792 --> 00:19:58,500 Alexei, clearly, this is a passion for you. 361 00:19:58,625 --> 00:20:00,583 My-my question is, if I were to compare 362 00:20:00,750 --> 00:20:03,833 all the cuts and everything to the actual one, 363 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:05,292 how closely would they compare? 364 00:20:05,458 --> 00:20:07,375 -No, they wouldn't. -Really? 365 00:20:07,542 --> 00:20:09,542 VRANICH: I wanted to know what these blocks looked like 366 00:20:09,708 --> 00:20:11,833 when they were made, not how they were damaged 367 00:20:12,042 --> 00:20:13,792 or worn over the years. 368 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:16,958 I needed to know, "How were these things meant to fit?" 369 00:20:17,167 --> 00:20:20,750 So, you-you would suggest, then, 370 00:20:20,958 --> 00:20:23,167 that these blocks 371 00:20:23,333 --> 00:20:26,792 are what they actually looked like when they were made. 372 00:20:26,958 --> 00:20:28,500 VRANICH: Exactly. 373 00:20:28,708 --> 00:20:30,750 Well, that's amazing. I mean, the first time I was there, 374 00:20:30,917 --> 00:20:33,708 uh, was in 1995, 375 00:20:33,875 --> 00:20:35,708 and in 1995, 376 00:20:35,875 --> 00:20:39,167 one of the most fascinating blocks I've seen 377 00:20:39,333 --> 00:20:41,167 is this guy right here. 378 00:20:41,375 --> 00:20:43,417 VRANICH: This stone... 379 00:20:43,542 --> 00:20:45,250 -This is what you were looking at, correct? -Yes. Mm-hmm. 380 00:20:45,458 --> 00:20:47,875 So, it's a stone-- it's a window within a window 381 00:20:48,042 --> 00:20:49,000 -within a window. -TAYLOR: Yes. 382 00:20:49,208 --> 00:20:50,458 TSOUKALOS: Wow. 383 00:20:51,375 --> 00:20:52,833 TAYLOR: You have to have done 384 00:20:53,042 --> 00:20:54,500 ground-penetrating radar, 385 00:20:54,625 --> 00:20:56,542 uh, and other sensor measurements out there. 386 00:20:56,708 --> 00:20:58,333 Is there more to it underneath the surface 387 00:20:58,500 --> 00:21:00,292 that we're not seeing here? 388 00:21:00,458 --> 00:21:02,500 We actually did one of the most extensive 389 00:21:02,667 --> 00:21:06,458 ground-penetrating radar surveys for the entire continent. 390 00:21:06,625 --> 00:21:09,708 And then UNESCO went by and did a drone survey, 391 00:21:09,875 --> 00:21:14,042 uh, and it picked up every tiny bump across the surface. 392 00:21:14,208 --> 00:21:15,958 And, yeah, they definitely showed 393 00:21:16,083 --> 00:21:18,292 that the Puma Punku is quite large 394 00:21:18,458 --> 00:21:20,333 and there's a lot more of these stones. 395 00:21:20,542 --> 00:21:24,625 Do you have any conclusion what any of this means? 396 00:21:24,792 --> 00:21:26,833 This is a temple, it's a ceremonial place. 397 00:21:26,958 --> 00:21:28,625 That-That's clearly evident. 398 00:21:28,792 --> 00:21:30,625 TAYLOR: Alexei, looking at all the parts here, uh, 399 00:21:30,792 --> 00:21:34,167 I could probably come up with a billion combinations. 400 00:21:34,333 --> 00:21:36,500 So, how certain are you 401 00:21:36,708 --> 00:21:38,625 that this is the right combination? 402 00:21:38,792 --> 00:21:41,500 Or that there's iterations of it, versions of it, 403 00:21:41,625 --> 00:21:43,000 or something completely different 404 00:21:43,208 --> 00:21:44,583 that this could've possibly been? 405 00:21:44,750 --> 00:21:47,000 You know what, I-I'm fairly confident 406 00:21:47,167 --> 00:21:48,542 about the general form 407 00:21:48,750 --> 00:21:50,542 and the location of certain things, 408 00:21:50,708 --> 00:21:52,417 that's for sure. 409 00:21:52,583 --> 00:21:55,333 NARRATOR: While working with his 3D printed model, 410 00:21:55,542 --> 00:21:58,333 Dr. Vranich made an extraordinary discovery 411 00:21:58,542 --> 00:22:01,708 about the purpose of the intricately carved blocks 412 00:22:01,875 --> 00:22:02,875 at Puma Punku. 413 00:22:03,042 --> 00:22:05,375 Come over here. 414 00:22:05,542 --> 00:22:07,250 We just printed this one out. 415 00:22:07,458 --> 00:22:10,667 If this is the way it should have gone, 416 00:22:10,833 --> 00:22:15,708 with here, and then it would have had a little bit on top. 417 00:22:20,833 --> 00:22:24,208 From this point, it doesn't seem like much. 418 00:22:24,375 --> 00:22:25,958 But come around this side. 419 00:22:26,083 --> 00:22:30,167 Now look through the door 420 00:22:30,292 --> 00:22:32,333 and what do you see? 421 00:22:32,500 --> 00:22:34,333 -Bring yourself down. -So like this? 422 00:22:34,500 --> 00:22:36,875 Oh! Yeah! 423 00:22:37,042 --> 00:22:39,542 And you know when you'll have the two mirrors 424 00:22:39,708 --> 00:22:41,458 parallel to each other and you look 425 00:22:41,667 --> 00:22:43,667 and it's like an infinity mirror, as they call it. 426 00:22:43,875 --> 00:22:46,250 -VRANICH: Yes. -TAYLOR: It's kind of that effect. 427 00:22:46,458 --> 00:22:48,250 Like you're looking to infinity. 428 00:22:48,458 --> 00:22:49,958 It's forced perception. 429 00:22:50,125 --> 00:22:53,333 It's a door within a door within a door within a door. 430 00:22:53,542 --> 00:22:56,042 TAYLOR: What direction is this facing? 431 00:22:56,250 --> 00:22:58,792 VRANICH: So this is facing, uh, west. 432 00:22:58,958 --> 00:23:00,333 TAYLOR: Oh, so it would see a sunset? 433 00:23:00,500 --> 00:23:01,750 VRANICH: Yes, yes. 434 00:23:01,875 --> 00:23:04,333 TAYLOR: It would be very interesting to note 435 00:23:04,542 --> 00:23:08,333 what time of year does the sun actually set perfectly 436 00:23:08,458 --> 00:23:10,750 such that it illuminates the very center 437 00:23:10,958 --> 00:23:12,583 of that infinity door? 438 00:23:12,792 --> 00:23:15,667 It won't line up exactly right now, 439 00:23:15,833 --> 00:23:17,833 but you could project that backwards in time, 440 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:21,583 and it would tell us when the sun lined up on that spot. 441 00:23:21,750 --> 00:23:23,208 You could use this to date this room. 442 00:23:23,375 --> 00:23:25,167 VRANICH: Right. 443 00:23:25,333 --> 00:23:28,167 NARRATOR: Determined to solve the mystery of Puma Punku, 444 00:23:28,375 --> 00:23:33,292 Dr. Vranich has released his 3D printing diagrams to the public 445 00:23:33,458 --> 00:23:35,417 and has challenged other researchers 446 00:23:35,583 --> 00:23:38,000 to reconstruct the ancient site as well. 447 00:23:38,208 --> 00:23:39,333 There's a lot of pieces 448 00:23:39,500 --> 00:23:41,458 that I haven't been able to place, 449 00:23:41,625 --> 00:23:45,167 so that's why I placed all of this information online 450 00:23:45,333 --> 00:23:47,125 along with the basic instructions. 451 00:23:47,292 --> 00:23:50,208 I would love for people to download this, print them out. 452 00:23:50,375 --> 00:23:53,417 My model is good for the moment, 453 00:23:53,583 --> 00:23:56,208 but it's the basic model. 454 00:23:56,375 --> 00:23:58,042 We can add a lot of things to it. 455 00:23:59,167 --> 00:24:02,333 TAYLOR: What Alexei has done is absolutely fantastic. 456 00:24:02,542 --> 00:24:05,625 Now anyone can take all the pieces there 457 00:24:05,750 --> 00:24:07,583 and see if they can put them together in a way 458 00:24:07,708 --> 00:24:09,458 that makes sense to them. 459 00:24:09,583 --> 00:24:12,958 And sooner or later, someone is going to figure out 460 00:24:13,125 --> 00:24:15,333 what all these pieces built, what they were, 461 00:24:15,500 --> 00:24:17,167 why were they there. 462 00:24:17,375 --> 00:24:20,333 NARRATOR: Now that accurate measurements of Puma Punku 463 00:24:20,500 --> 00:24:22,500 are available online, 464 00:24:22,667 --> 00:24:26,375 could this mark the beginning of a new era of discovery? 465 00:24:26,542 --> 00:24:29,375 Perhaps further clues can be found 466 00:24:29,500 --> 00:24:32,125 by examining another model of Puma Punku 467 00:24:32,292 --> 00:24:36,000 that reveals that the site bears striking similarities 468 00:24:36,167 --> 00:24:39,000 to some of the most ancient constructions on Earth. 469 00:24:47,750 --> 00:24:52,042 NARRATOR: 3D data visualization expert Scott McAvoy 470 00:24:52,208 --> 00:24:55,792 runs the university library's digital media lab. 471 00:24:55,875 --> 00:24:59,583 He is also known for his CGI reconstructions 472 00:24:59,708 --> 00:25:01,208 of ISIS-destroyed sites 473 00:25:01,417 --> 00:25:04,417 in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra. 474 00:25:04,583 --> 00:25:07,292 Archaeological reconstruction is a way to put 475 00:25:07,458 --> 00:25:08,958 a lot of different data together 476 00:25:09,125 --> 00:25:11,583 in a way that we can draw connections 477 00:25:11,750 --> 00:25:13,667 between ourselves and the way things were in the past. 478 00:25:13,875 --> 00:25:16,750 If a picture is worth a thousand words, 479 00:25:16,917 --> 00:25:19,792 a 3D model must be worth a million. 480 00:25:19,917 --> 00:25:22,542 Puma Punku is a perfect target for this work. 481 00:25:22,708 --> 00:25:26,083 It's dripping with mystery and it's very enticing. 482 00:25:27,125 --> 00:25:31,000 NARRATOR: Now he has applied the data collected by Dr. Alexei Vranich 483 00:25:31,208 --> 00:25:34,875 to create a digital 3D wireframe of Puma Punku. 484 00:25:35,958 --> 00:25:37,167 -Hey, Scott. -Hey. Good to see you again. 485 00:25:37,333 --> 00:25:38,542 Good to see you. 486 00:25:38,708 --> 00:25:42,583 NARRATOR: On March 28, 2024, 487 00:25:42,750 --> 00:25:45,875 Scott invited archaeologist Dr. Ed Barnhart, 488 00:25:46,042 --> 00:25:48,500 who has conducted his own on-the-ground investigations 489 00:25:48,625 --> 00:25:51,125 of Puma Punku to review his model 490 00:25:51,292 --> 00:25:53,125 and discuss his findings. 491 00:25:53,292 --> 00:25:56,250 BARNHART: I've been to Puma Punku three different times. 492 00:25:56,417 --> 00:25:57,583 I have wandered this thing 493 00:25:57,750 --> 00:25:59,625 and looking at it from different angles, 494 00:25:59,792 --> 00:26:03,167 feeling stupid that I can't figure out 495 00:26:03,375 --> 00:26:05,042 how any of these things go together. 496 00:26:05,167 --> 00:26:07,250 McAVOY: Well, that's where technology can really help us. 497 00:26:07,417 --> 00:26:09,792 -Let me show you what we got. -Okay. 498 00:26:09,958 --> 00:26:15,250 McAVOY: So, this is the positions of the stones from 1893. 499 00:26:15,458 --> 00:26:18,500 The stones had been moved so many times in recent years 500 00:26:18,667 --> 00:26:21,833 and even in the past before this photo was taken. 501 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:24,208 We're trying to get a better sense 502 00:26:24,417 --> 00:26:26,875 of where they might have laid. 503 00:26:27,042 --> 00:26:30,625 This is a puzzle with probably 40% of its pieces missing. 504 00:26:30,792 --> 00:26:32,458 McAVOY: I think it was calculated, 505 00:26:32,583 --> 00:26:34,667 like, ten percent of the pieces are maybe here. 506 00:26:34,833 --> 00:26:36,625 -Oh, my gosh, really? -Yeah. We're missing a lot. 507 00:26:36,833 --> 00:26:38,417 This is only 150 bricks. 508 00:26:38,542 --> 00:26:40,333 You know, if we put these up by volume, 509 00:26:40,458 --> 00:26:42,458 I think it's going to make up, like, 510 00:26:42,625 --> 00:26:45,167 half of the front facade. 511 00:26:45,250 --> 00:26:46,958 -Oh, my gosh. -Yeah. 512 00:26:47,125 --> 00:26:49,167 Here we're starting with the satellite image of Puma Punku. 513 00:26:49,292 --> 00:26:53,167 And then we overlay, um, Alexei's map. 514 00:26:53,375 --> 00:26:55,833 So here we have a basic 3D model 515 00:26:55,917 --> 00:26:58,667 of the platform around it, 516 00:26:58,750 --> 00:27:00,500 the plaza on the outside. 517 00:27:00,708 --> 00:27:03,250 And we see that this temple is at the entrance 518 00:27:03,458 --> 00:27:05,000 to this sunken courtyard. 519 00:27:05,208 --> 00:27:06,750 That is fascinating. 520 00:27:07,875 --> 00:27:10,875 McAVOY: From the incisions on the foundation here, 521 00:27:11,042 --> 00:27:15,375 I feel pretty comfortable extruding the walls. 522 00:27:15,542 --> 00:27:18,500 You know, raising these up to the height 523 00:27:18,667 --> 00:27:23,750 of the doorway and trying to fill in that space. 524 00:27:23,917 --> 00:27:27,833 Okay. That does make sense. 525 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:30,250 So, there seems to be an implied symmetry here. 526 00:27:30,417 --> 00:27:32,167 There seems to be a pattern. 527 00:27:32,333 --> 00:27:33,875 This side reflects this side. 528 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:38,500 So we're moving forward based on that. 529 00:27:38,667 --> 00:27:39,958 BARNHART: Wow. 530 00:27:40,125 --> 00:27:41,833 That makes logical sense to me 531 00:27:42,042 --> 00:27:44,583 because the other parts of Tiahuanaco we can see 532 00:27:44,750 --> 00:27:47,542 all adhere to a basic symmetry. 533 00:27:47,667 --> 00:27:50,667 McAVOY: Well, you know, there's so many more pieces here that 534 00:27:50,833 --> 00:27:52,917 I wasn't even able to find a place for, 535 00:27:53,125 --> 00:27:55,333 especially these tub stones here. 536 00:27:55,458 --> 00:27:57,333 BARNHART: You know, one of the real clues 537 00:27:57,500 --> 00:27:59,792 is these little guys right here, 538 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:03,000 these, where we believe 539 00:28:03,167 --> 00:28:07,500 metal, kind of I-bars, would keep them clasped. 540 00:28:07,708 --> 00:28:09,458 There's another one there. 541 00:28:09,625 --> 00:28:11,958 Those are exactly the kind of pieces 542 00:28:12,083 --> 00:28:13,917 that I'm focused on to say like, "Okay, 543 00:28:14,083 --> 00:28:16,542 this puzzle piece has to fit with this one." 544 00:28:16,708 --> 00:28:17,833 Yeah, these are great. 545 00:28:17,958 --> 00:28:19,792 NARRATOR: The type of connection 546 00:28:19,875 --> 00:28:21,333 Dr. Barnhart is referring to 547 00:28:21,542 --> 00:28:24,458 is commonly called a keystone cut. 548 00:28:24,625 --> 00:28:28,417 On the blocks at Puma Punku are what we call keystone cuts. 549 00:28:28,583 --> 00:28:31,625 And these keystone cuts are notches, like a T-notch, 550 00:28:31,750 --> 00:28:34,792 set on the edge of a block that match a T-notch 551 00:28:34,917 --> 00:28:36,583 on another edge of a block. 552 00:28:36,750 --> 00:28:39,583 And then molten metal was poured 553 00:28:39,750 --> 00:28:42,833 into those notches as a fastener. 554 00:28:44,042 --> 00:28:45,625 NEWMAN: These keystone cuts are fascinating 555 00:28:45,792 --> 00:28:48,542 because they're found not just at Puma Punku 556 00:28:48,708 --> 00:28:50,458 and Tiahuanaco in Bolivia. 557 00:28:50,625 --> 00:28:52,042 They're found in Peru. 558 00:28:52,167 --> 00:28:56,167 They're found in Egypt. They're found in Greece. 559 00:28:56,375 --> 00:28:59,792 And they even found at Angkor Wat in Cambodia. 560 00:28:59,958 --> 00:29:02,167 So, does this prove that there was, like, 561 00:29:02,375 --> 00:29:04,833 a worldwide technological civilization 562 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:06,875 that shared this knowledge? 563 00:29:07,042 --> 00:29:09,708 TSOUKALOS: From the ancient astronaut perspective, 564 00:29:09,875 --> 00:29:15,917 our ancestors all went to the same masonry school. 565 00:29:16,125 --> 00:29:19,292 Meaning, the same extraterrestrial teachers 566 00:29:19,458 --> 00:29:21,083 visited at Puma Punku 567 00:29:21,250 --> 00:29:25,417 and the same teachers visited at Angkor Wat. 568 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:30,042 NARRATOR: Is it possible that Puma Punku 569 00:29:30,208 --> 00:29:32,208 was visited by otherworldly beings 570 00:29:32,375 --> 00:29:34,042 in the distant past? 571 00:29:35,250 --> 00:29:38,042 Ancient astronaut theorists say yes, 572 00:29:38,208 --> 00:29:41,042 and suggest Puma Punku presents evidence 573 00:29:41,208 --> 00:29:44,542 that could push back the entire timeline 574 00:29:44,708 --> 00:29:47,250 of human civilization. 575 00:29:51,750 --> 00:29:53,625 NARRATOR: Muncie, Indiana. 576 00:29:53,750 --> 00:29:56,750 April 9th, 2024. 577 00:29:56,917 --> 00:30:00,833 At Ball State University, Giorgio Tsoukalos 578 00:30:00,958 --> 00:30:04,167 is meeting with Professor of Electronic Art John Fillwalk, 579 00:30:04,333 --> 00:30:07,583 who used the data gathered by Dr. Alexei Vranich 580 00:30:07,750 --> 00:30:10,208 to develop his own model of Puma Punku. 581 00:30:10,333 --> 00:30:12,208 So, here's what we've been working on. 582 00:30:12,333 --> 00:30:15,083 Oh, wow. This is great. Look at all this. 583 00:30:15,208 --> 00:30:16,458 This was probably the most challenging 584 00:30:16,625 --> 00:30:18,250 reconstruction we've ever done. 585 00:30:18,375 --> 00:30:22,500 So, how then did you come up with that particular structure? 586 00:30:22,708 --> 00:30:25,167 The first thing, really, we tried to do 587 00:30:25,292 --> 00:30:27,458 was reconstruct the foundation because that really informed 588 00:30:27,625 --> 00:30:29,958 sort of the growth of the building out of that. 589 00:30:30,125 --> 00:30:33,750 And a lot of the blocks are very specific to certain spots. 590 00:30:33,917 --> 00:30:35,458 TSOUKALOS: Oh, wow. 591 00:30:35,625 --> 00:30:36,833 FILLWALK: Then we create a motif 592 00:30:36,958 --> 00:30:38,750 that expands around the structures. 593 00:30:38,917 --> 00:30:42,333 You know, to me, it seems very mystical. 594 00:30:42,500 --> 00:30:46,375 The patterning of the doorways within doorways within doorways 595 00:30:46,542 --> 00:30:49,000 I mean, it really suggests an idea of a transition. 596 00:30:49,208 --> 00:30:52,250 It points, to me, toward another reality, 597 00:30:52,417 --> 00:30:56,167 maybe the afterlife, to honor ancestors. 598 00:30:57,208 --> 00:30:59,167 NARRATOR: John Fillwalk's reconstruction, 599 00:30:59,375 --> 00:31:02,542 much like the model built by Dr. Alexei Vranich, 600 00:31:02,750 --> 00:31:05,750 contains doorways within doorways, 601 00:31:05,917 --> 00:31:07,833 which he believes points to the site 602 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:10,750 having served a ceremonial function. 603 00:31:10,917 --> 00:31:14,250 But the question remains: for who? 604 00:31:15,375 --> 00:31:18,667 In 1945, after studying Puma Punku 605 00:31:18,833 --> 00:31:23,000 for more than four decades, archaeologist Arthur Posnansky 606 00:31:23,208 --> 00:31:25,667 published his findings in a book titled 607 00:31:25,875 --> 00:31:29,083 Tihuanacu: The Cradle of American Man. 608 00:31:30,292 --> 00:31:33,833 And in it, he proposed that the structures found 609 00:31:34,042 --> 00:31:37,583 throughout the Tiahuanaco site-- including Puma Punku-- 610 00:31:37,750 --> 00:31:41,125 were built roughly 17,000 years ago. 611 00:31:42,083 --> 00:31:44,958 The reason why he did that is because 612 00:31:45,042 --> 00:31:47,750 of astronomical facts 613 00:31:47,917 --> 00:31:51,458 that he found at Tiahuanaco. 614 00:31:51,667 --> 00:31:54,542 These astronomical markers only 615 00:31:54,708 --> 00:31:56,833 line up properly 616 00:31:57,000 --> 00:31:59,583 around 15,000 BC. 617 00:32:02,458 --> 00:32:04,333 CHILDRESS: Modern archaeologists have been 618 00:32:04,542 --> 00:32:08,667 getting dates that are more like 500 AD. 619 00:32:08,833 --> 00:32:10,708 But the dating is difficult. 620 00:32:10,875 --> 00:32:13,167 Even today, archaeologists are not 621 00:32:13,333 --> 00:32:17,208 in agreement of the dates of Tiahuanaco and Puma Punku. 622 00:32:18,167 --> 00:32:19,833 NARRATOR: Posnansky based his dating 623 00:32:20,042 --> 00:32:22,083 on features at a site located 624 00:32:22,208 --> 00:32:24,875 less than one mile northeast of Puma Punku 625 00:32:25,042 --> 00:32:27,292 called Kalasasaya. 626 00:32:28,375 --> 00:32:31,167 John Fillwalk digitally recreated this ancient site 627 00:32:31,333 --> 00:32:33,750 with its central sunken courtyard 628 00:32:33,917 --> 00:32:35,333 and many monoliths 629 00:32:35,500 --> 00:32:37,917 in order to look for celestial alignments 630 00:32:38,042 --> 00:32:41,000 that might corroborate Posnansky's dating. 631 00:32:41,167 --> 00:32:44,292 We're looking at Kalasasaya. 632 00:32:45,375 --> 00:32:48,583 And Kalasasaya does have a beautiful equinox alignment. 633 00:32:48,708 --> 00:32:50,292 You'll see the sun just sits there 634 00:32:50,458 --> 00:32:51,833 -right on top of the, the stone. -TSOUKALOS: Okay. 635 00:32:52,042 --> 00:32:53,292 FILLWALK: That's gorgeous. 636 00:32:53,417 --> 00:32:55,542 TSOUKALOS: Oh, how cool is that? 637 00:32:55,708 --> 00:32:57,667 So, we worked with NASA's 638 00:32:57,833 --> 00:32:59,583 JPL Horizons group 639 00:32:59,792 --> 00:33:03,375 to provide data on any kind of visible celestial body 640 00:33:03,583 --> 00:33:07,042 -looking at 15,000 BC. -And what did you find? 641 00:33:07,208 --> 00:33:09,125 So, there were some interesting alignments, I have to say. 642 00:33:10,042 --> 00:33:12,042 At Kalasasaya. 643 00:33:12,208 --> 00:33:14,833 Because there's all the verticals that point around. 644 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:17,333 And so we investigated that 645 00:33:17,542 --> 00:33:19,792 from the center monument looking outward towards 646 00:33:19,917 --> 00:33:22,458 those posts as almost like in Stonehenge 647 00:33:22,625 --> 00:33:24,417 -where you look and you can see, -Right. 648 00:33:24,542 --> 00:33:26,542 you know, solstice or equinox and that kind of thing. 649 00:33:26,708 --> 00:33:28,792 That would essentially indicate 650 00:33:28,958 --> 00:33:31,833 that Posnansky's calculations 651 00:33:32,042 --> 00:33:34,250 in this particular case 652 00:33:34,417 --> 00:33:35,792 were correct. 653 00:33:35,958 --> 00:33:37,417 I mean, I think that's possible. 654 00:33:37,542 --> 00:33:38,542 There are alignments. 655 00:33:38,708 --> 00:33:40,542 -Wow. Okay. -Yeah. 656 00:33:40,750 --> 00:33:43,458 -There are. -That date back 15,000 BC. I mean, 657 00:33:43,625 --> 00:33:46,333 you know, all of this would essentially rewrite 658 00:33:46,542 --> 00:33:50,042 South American history, and this is something to be 659 00:33:50,208 --> 00:33:52,167 -excited about. -Yeah. 660 00:33:53,208 --> 00:33:55,542 NARRATOR: If the Kalasasaya structure at Tiahuanaco 661 00:33:55,708 --> 00:33:59,000 can be dated to 15,000 BC, 662 00:33:59,167 --> 00:34:03,125 is it possible that Puma Punku is that old as well? 663 00:34:03,292 --> 00:34:05,583 FOERSTER: There's no logic as to why modern archaeologists 664 00:34:05,750 --> 00:34:07,292 put one fence around Puma Punku 665 00:34:07,417 --> 00:34:08,833 and another around Tiahuanaco. 666 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:10,375 They're both the same location. 667 00:34:10,542 --> 00:34:12,708 It's clear they were both built at the same time 668 00:34:12,875 --> 00:34:16,333 by the same builders in the very, very distant past. 669 00:34:17,958 --> 00:34:19,708 NARRATOR: Some researchers also believe 670 00:34:19,875 --> 00:34:22,250 that the remote location of Puma Punku 671 00:34:22,375 --> 00:34:26,625 would make more sense if it had been built 17,000 years ago, 672 00:34:26,792 --> 00:34:29,667 because at that time, it may have overlooked 673 00:34:29,833 --> 00:34:32,083 Lake Titicaca. 674 00:34:32,250 --> 00:34:34,375 If you look at the geomorphology, if you look 675 00:34:34,583 --> 00:34:36,667 at the sediments that have been deposited around the site, 676 00:34:36,875 --> 00:34:39,750 you can see that the lake was at one point much, much larger. 677 00:34:41,250 --> 00:34:43,375 COLLINS: Lake Titicaca today 678 00:34:43,542 --> 00:34:47,167 is many miles away from Puma Punku, 679 00:34:47,375 --> 00:34:50,792 but in the past it is believed that this was actually 680 00:34:50,958 --> 00:34:53,833 much closer to Puma Punku. 681 00:34:55,333 --> 00:34:57,667 -So, we're looking at Lake Titicaca right now, -Correct. 682 00:34:57,833 --> 00:34:59,792 so where is, in this image, 683 00:34:59,958 --> 00:35:01,708 where is Puma Punku located? 684 00:35:01,875 --> 00:35:04,042 Yeah, so, right, so at the tail end 685 00:35:04,208 --> 00:35:06,333 of the lake, here on the south, 686 00:35:06,500 --> 00:35:09,292 kind of east corner, if you come out here into the plains, 687 00:35:09,458 --> 00:35:12,000 it's a little bit offset into that area, that flat area. 688 00:35:12,167 --> 00:35:14,750 Okay, and the idea is that long ago, 689 00:35:14,875 --> 00:35:17,500 Lake Titicaca was much, much larger, 690 00:35:17,708 --> 00:35:20,042 and so that Puma Punku and Tiahuanaco 691 00:35:20,208 --> 00:35:23,167 may have been a harbor or a port 692 00:35:23,375 --> 00:35:25,167 to Lake Titicaca. 693 00:35:25,375 --> 00:35:27,042 Certainly would make sense, and water 694 00:35:27,208 --> 00:35:29,792 is such a dominant feature at the site, as you know, 695 00:35:29,958 --> 00:35:31,583 -with the canal structures -Right. 696 00:35:31,708 --> 00:35:33,500 -and drainage systems and all of that. -Mm-hmm. 697 00:35:33,667 --> 00:35:36,375 So, that connection to water, obviously, is really important. 698 00:35:37,375 --> 00:35:39,125 NARRATOR: According to some experts, 699 00:35:39,292 --> 00:35:41,500 Puma Punku's proximity to Lake Titicaca 700 00:35:41,667 --> 00:35:44,500 in the distant past might also explain 701 00:35:44,708 --> 00:35:48,625 why the site appears to have experienced a cataclysmic event. 702 00:35:49,667 --> 00:35:52,458 FOERSTER: I think what was responsible was a massive 703 00:35:52,667 --> 00:35:55,750 explosion of the volcano of Cerro Khapía 704 00:35:55,875 --> 00:35:57,708 between 12,800 705 00:35:57,875 --> 00:36:00,625 and 11,600 years ago. 706 00:36:00,792 --> 00:36:03,083 Right next to that volcano 707 00:36:03,250 --> 00:36:04,833 is the deepest part of the lake, 708 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:07,458 which is 800 to 900 feet deep. 709 00:36:07,625 --> 00:36:09,875 So I think the debris that came from the volcano 710 00:36:10,042 --> 00:36:15,125 created a tsunami that lifted up the soil 711 00:36:15,333 --> 00:36:17,750 and sediment at the bottom of the shallow part of the lake 712 00:36:17,958 --> 00:36:22,333 and literally buried Puma Punku and parts of Tiahuanaco. 713 00:36:22,458 --> 00:36:24,667 TSOUKALOS: There is a possibility 714 00:36:24,875 --> 00:36:29,833 that Dr. Posnansky's calculations are correct. 715 00:36:29,958 --> 00:36:32,083 And Puma Punku may date back 716 00:36:32,208 --> 00:36:35,875 as far as 15,000 years BC. 717 00:36:36,042 --> 00:36:38,292 And if that is the case, 718 00:36:38,458 --> 00:36:40,333 that is one of those times 719 00:36:40,542 --> 00:36:42,958 where, in many cultures around the world, 720 00:36:43,125 --> 00:36:44,917 including the ancient Egyptians, 721 00:36:45,042 --> 00:36:47,375 are referring to a golden age 722 00:36:47,542 --> 00:36:52,125 when the so-called gods mingled amongst humankind. 723 00:36:52,333 --> 00:36:56,792 So, was this an early memory of first contact? 724 00:36:56,958 --> 00:37:00,083 NARRATOR: Could it be that Puma Punku was built 725 00:37:00,250 --> 00:37:02,667 more than 17,000 years ago 726 00:37:02,875 --> 00:37:06,167 and has a connection to otherworldly visitors? 727 00:37:06,333 --> 00:37:09,125 Perhaps further clues can be found 728 00:37:09,292 --> 00:37:12,167 by examining a gigantic stone gateway 729 00:37:12,333 --> 00:37:15,875 that might be the final piece of the puzzle. 730 00:37:20,833 --> 00:37:23,083 NARRATOR: When investigating the ruins of Puma Punku 731 00:37:23,208 --> 00:37:26,000 for insights about its mysterious origins, 732 00:37:26,125 --> 00:37:28,375 ancient astronaut theorists believe 733 00:37:28,542 --> 00:37:30,167 some of the most compelling clues 734 00:37:30,333 --> 00:37:33,583 can be found by examining a giant stone doorway 735 00:37:33,708 --> 00:37:35,792 that stands less than a mile away 736 00:37:35,875 --> 00:37:37,333 in central Tiahuanaco. 737 00:37:37,500 --> 00:37:39,500 Called the Gate of the Sun, 738 00:37:39,583 --> 00:37:42,833 it is ten feet tall, 13 feet wide 739 00:37:42,958 --> 00:37:46,250 and was carved from a single piece of andesite stone 740 00:37:46,417 --> 00:37:49,000 that weighs more than ten tons. 741 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:52,333 Perhaps one of the most iconic works of Tiahuanaco 742 00:37:52,500 --> 00:37:54,417 is the Gate of the Sun. 743 00:37:55,458 --> 00:37:57,958 It was found nearby and ultimately moved 744 00:37:58,125 --> 00:37:59,542 to its present location. 745 00:37:59,750 --> 00:38:01,500 And they think that it could well have been, 746 00:38:01,708 --> 00:38:04,667 actually, the entrance or gateway to Puma Punku. 747 00:38:04,875 --> 00:38:08,375 It features the Inca god Viracocha, 748 00:38:08,583 --> 00:38:11,000 who's the god of creation, who's portrayed 749 00:38:11,208 --> 00:38:13,333 as a sort of a humanoid figure 750 00:38:13,542 --> 00:38:15,583 with rays coming off his head. 751 00:38:15,750 --> 00:38:17,958 NEWMAN: Interestingly, the god Viracocha 752 00:38:18,125 --> 00:38:19,833 is holding two staffs. 753 00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:23,625 And this is the most ancient version of Viracocha. 754 00:38:23,708 --> 00:38:26,417 And so to find that there is really quite astonishing. 755 00:38:26,583 --> 00:38:29,500 It's said that Viracocha himself, 756 00:38:29,708 --> 00:38:33,500 the great god of the Andes, was actually the person 757 00:38:33,667 --> 00:38:37,708 who instigated the construction of Tiahuanaco and Puma Punku. 758 00:38:39,333 --> 00:38:40,917 So what's particularly fascinating about 759 00:38:41,083 --> 00:38:42,292 the Gate of the Sun is that 760 00:38:42,458 --> 00:38:45,167 on either side of Viracocha 761 00:38:45,375 --> 00:38:48,167 are these figures on each side, 762 00:38:48,375 --> 00:38:51,000 and they are birdmen. 763 00:38:51,083 --> 00:38:53,375 TSOUKALOS: Viracocha is flanked 764 00:38:53,542 --> 00:38:56,500 with 48 winged beings. 765 00:38:56,667 --> 00:38:58,833 Now, why would these beings 766 00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:00,542 have wings attached to them? 767 00:39:00,667 --> 00:39:03,375 Well, because our ancestors 768 00:39:03,542 --> 00:39:06,167 try to signify flight. 769 00:39:06,375 --> 00:39:08,500 What I think is depicted 770 00:39:08,667 --> 00:39:11,167 on the Gate of the Sun is a type 771 00:39:11,292 --> 00:39:13,375 of a celestial pantheon, 772 00:39:13,542 --> 00:39:15,833 suggesting that whoever came 773 00:39:16,042 --> 00:39:18,000 and imparted knowledge 774 00:39:18,167 --> 00:39:20,167 at Tiahuanaco and Puma Punku 775 00:39:20,292 --> 00:39:23,833 were beings that had a celestial connection, 776 00:39:24,042 --> 00:39:27,083 meaning they came from the sky. 777 00:39:28,458 --> 00:39:30,417 NARRATOR: Could it be that the figures carved 778 00:39:30,542 --> 00:39:33,833 on the Gate of the Sun are depictions of extraterrestrials 779 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:37,667 who arrived in Puma Punku in the distant past? 780 00:39:38,708 --> 00:39:42,125 If Puma Punku was some sort of temple complex-- 781 00:39:42,333 --> 00:39:45,750 as Alexei Vranich, Scott McAvoy 782 00:39:45,875 --> 00:39:48,750 and John Fillwalk have all envisioned-- 783 00:39:48,875 --> 00:39:51,875 was it built to connect with these beings? 784 00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:56,667 For now, there remain more questions than answers. 785 00:39:56,792 --> 00:40:00,000 But many researchers believe that solving the mystery 786 00:40:00,125 --> 00:40:04,833 of Puma Punku could lead to even more profound revelations. 787 00:40:05,042 --> 00:40:08,167 VRANICH: Puma Punku will be a mystery 788 00:40:08,333 --> 00:40:10,417 for a lot of people for a long time. 789 00:40:10,625 --> 00:40:13,833 And there are a lot of aspects and facets 790 00:40:13,917 --> 00:40:15,875 of that society we don't know about. 791 00:40:16,042 --> 00:40:19,583 Archaeologists will be able to work there for many generations. 792 00:40:19,750 --> 00:40:22,208 We can continue to excavate, 793 00:40:22,417 --> 00:40:25,125 uh, and do more advanced analysis 794 00:40:25,333 --> 00:40:27,333 to try to find out a little bit more 795 00:40:27,542 --> 00:40:30,083 about Puma Punku and Tiahuanaco society. 796 00:40:31,375 --> 00:40:34,792 FOERSTER: Puma Punku is unique in terms of its construction, 797 00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:37,917 its astonishing level of accuracy. 798 00:40:38,125 --> 00:40:40,417 Flat surfaces almost laser flat. 799 00:40:40,542 --> 00:40:42,875 So it makes it one of the most enigmatic 800 00:40:43,042 --> 00:40:45,833 and fascinating ancient locations on the planet. 801 00:40:47,042 --> 00:40:50,042 The level of technology required to create 802 00:40:50,208 --> 00:40:54,000 Puma Punku would defy 21st century technologies. 803 00:40:54,167 --> 00:40:57,000 So, how that was accomplished, I have no idea. 804 00:40:58,708 --> 00:41:02,125 TSOUKALOS: Even to this day, with all the recreations, 805 00:41:02,292 --> 00:41:05,000 nobody really has figured out yet 806 00:41:05,208 --> 00:41:10,000 what that place looked like when it was finished. 807 00:41:10,167 --> 00:41:13,250 What was Puma Punku made for? 808 00:41:13,417 --> 00:41:15,750 Your guess is as good as mine. 809 00:41:15,958 --> 00:41:18,708 But we may have a eureka moment 810 00:41:18,875 --> 00:41:20,625 where, together, 811 00:41:20,792 --> 00:41:23,667 we will unlock the great mystery 812 00:41:23,875 --> 00:41:25,792 of Puma Punku. 813 00:41:25,958 --> 00:41:28,542 NARRATOR: Since Spanish explorers first came upon 814 00:41:28,750 --> 00:41:31,417 Puma Punku nearly five centuries ago, 815 00:41:31,583 --> 00:41:34,833 the ruins have remained one of the ancient world's 816 00:41:35,042 --> 00:41:36,917 greatest mysteries. 817 00:41:37,042 --> 00:41:41,667 Like the pyramids that stand on Egypt's Giza Plateau, 818 00:41:41,833 --> 00:41:45,417 the enormous Moai statues of Easter Island, 819 00:41:45,583 --> 00:41:48,500 and the monoliths of Stonehenge, 820 00:41:48,708 --> 00:41:51,375 might Puma Punku point to a history 821 00:41:51,542 --> 00:41:54,333 that is much different than we've imagined? 822 00:41:54,542 --> 00:41:56,583 Perhaps modern technology 823 00:41:56,750 --> 00:41:59,125 will soon reveal Puma Punku's 824 00:41:59,292 --> 00:42:02,250 long held secrets and the truth 825 00:42:02,417 --> 00:42:05,500 about our alien ancestors. 826 00:42:05,625 --> 00:42:08,042 CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY A+E NETWORKS