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[soft choral music playing]
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[rumbling]
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[Werner] We are here
in the Vanuatu Archipelago,
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a cluster of volcanic islands
in the Pacific,
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about 1,000 miles east
of northern Australia.
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Below, the village of Endu
on the island of Ambrym.
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A year ago, most of it was destroyed
by a tropical storm
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of phenomenal force.
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But the village also has to endure
to the periodic fallout
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of volcanic eruptions.
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Punctuated by catastrophes,
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time does not seem to have found a grip
on the community.
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We met Chief Mael Moses,
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here with members of his large family.
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This is Clive Oppenheimer,
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a volcanologist
from Cambridge University,
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who brought us to this place.
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Chief Mael Moses, you're the head
of this beautiful village of Endu,
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just a few kilometers
from the volcano crater.
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You visited the crater
and looked yourself into the inferno,
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-into the raging fire.
-Yeah.
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How did you feel when you went there?
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Uh...
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I felt very frightened
to look at the fire.
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Secondly, I feel that I was not
in the island of Ambrym.
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I thought I was somewhere else.
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And, uh... the other thing,
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I feel that--
how powerful that fire is.
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[rumbling]
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[Clive]
Do spirits live in the fire?
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[Mael] That's how we believe,
that spirits are in the fire.
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The fire is burning
through that spirit.
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We believe that the fire
is burning through that spirit.
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I read that there was a big eruption
in 1968,
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and that there were rituals performed
to stop the eruption.
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And then tourists were not allowed
for three years afterwards
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to visit the crater
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because it was seen that somehow
the tourists had started the eruption.
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Is that...?
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Well, we believe that
because we thought that the spirits
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that are in the volcano...
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if they look at you,
they don't know who is this. Okay?
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But if they look at one of us,
they know that, uh,
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because we are more or less
related to the volcano,
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then they will just be quiet.
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Sometimes we say that tourists
won't go up there. Okay?
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Because you are foreigners
to that spirit, the volcano.
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[chuckles]
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Once I dreamt about volcano,
I saw people in that fire.
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People and women and men.
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They're cooking their food in there.
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So, it makes me believe
that there is somebody who is--
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their spirits are there.
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[Clive] The molten rock,
is that part of the spirit?
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[Mael] The lava expresses
the anger of the devil
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who are living in that fire, volcano.
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Do the ancestors, then,
live under the volcano?
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Yes, we believe that anybody who dies here
goes to the volcano,
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and that volcano has become their village,
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where you can talk to them
and they can talk to us.
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-Can you talk to the volcano?
-I'm not, because, you know,
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I'm not related to the volcano.
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But one of my brothers is.
He was talking to the volcano.
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His father-- His father,
when he goes up to the volcano,
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and if he wants to smoke,
he just calls out
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and the fire will come down,
and take the fire
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and light his cigarette or pipe
or something like that.
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And if you brother talks to the volcano,
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is he allowed to tell you
what the volcano has said,
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-or is it just a secret?
-No, it's a secret for him. Yes.
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-Do you try and get the secret out of him?
-I've got some.
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[both laugh]
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[birds squawking]
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[Werner]
But Chief Mael Moses is worried
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about the loss of their ancient culture.
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He asked us to follow him
to a ritual site in the jungle.
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[villagers shouting]
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Once upon a time,
our people were cannibal.
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They see somebody,
and they would like to attack him
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and kill him
so that they use it for meat.
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And this how they demonstrate it.
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[all snarling and shrieking]
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[Mael] Many people here
have lost the dance.
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They have lost the idea of dancing.
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Yes.
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The custom dance
that you're going to see this afternoon,
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just my family will perform the dance.
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This a happier dance.
The happiest dance.
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After we have gone through
a long suffering,
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then we are happy to go back
and dance
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and to express ourselves.
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[chanting and singing]
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[drums playing, singing continues]
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I studied here ten years ago
with some colleagues,
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scientists from Vanuatu.
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For you, is it strange to imagine
that someone would come here to work,
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to study how the volcano works,
how it erupts?
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I'm very surprised to hear
that you people are very interested
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in the volcano. Yeah.
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I always ask myself,
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"Why do these people
want to do with that fire?"
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Okay?
[chuckles]
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When looking at this,
going in the helicopter yesterday,
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I was wondering,
"Why this man is going--
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wanting to do with that volcano, eh?"
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-[chuckles]
-[rooster crows nearby]
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Yes, I don't know why
you are so interested in volcano.
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[Werner] In a way, this film started
for me ten years ago in Antarctica.
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I was doing a film about scientists
on this continent
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which took me to Mount Erebus,
an active volcano,
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one of the three in the world
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where you can look straight
into the magma of the inner earth.
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Magma is the heated molten rock
from which lava can be extruded.
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It was on Erebus,
12,500 feet above sea level,
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that I met a strange and wonderful tribe
of volcanologists,
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some of them overcome
by altitude sickness.
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This close to the boiling magma,
which frequently explodes,
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we were briefed on the etiquette
of how to deal with the stuff.
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[man] One very important thing
to keep in mind
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when you're on the crater
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is that the lava lake
could explode at any time.
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If it does, it's vital
to keep your attention
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faced toward the lava lake
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and watch for bombs
that are tracking up into the air,
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and try to pick out the ones
that might be coming toward you
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and step out of the way.
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The last thing you want to do
is turn away from the crater
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or run or crouch down.
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Keep your attention toward the lava lake,
look up,
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and move out of the way.
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[choral music playing]
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[Werner] What really impressed me
was seeing these scientists
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toiling up the side of the volcano
with such heavy loads.
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The temperature
on this particular morning
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was minus-25 degrees Fahrenheit.
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My face is frozen.
[chuckles]
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[cranking]
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[Werner]
One of them stood out.
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Despite having that fantastic
lava lake down there,
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with all that energy,
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we still have to bring old
petrol generators up to the crater rim.
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[clicking]
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Man vs. machine, chapter 53.
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Professor Clive Oppenheimer on Erebus.
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Hands in pockets.
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Waiting for it to start spontaneously.
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I think he'll be waiting a long time.
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[chuckles]
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[Clive] Have you ever seen two men kiss
on the top of Erebus before?
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[laughing]
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[indistinct chatter]
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I like working with Harry.
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[sighs]
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Is that all right? Thank you.
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[Werner] It was easy
to start a friendship with him.
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On one of our first days together,
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he insisted upon training
his own camera on me.
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Let's turn it off, yeah? Okay?
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Do you see them
only in destructive terms, volcanoes?
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No, I... I do not. Uh...
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Something different.
It's good that they are there.
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And the soil we are walking upon,
uh, is not permanent.
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There's no permanence
to what we are doing...
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no permanence to the efforts
of human being,
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no permanence to art,
no permanence to science.
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There is something of a crust
that is somehow moving,
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and it makes me fond of the volcano
to know that our life,
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human life, or animals,
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can only live and survive
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because the volcanoes created
the atmosphere that we need.
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Do you have a sense of the different kinds
of volcanoes and different eruptions?
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I know you filmed on
La Soufrière de Guadeloupe many years ago,
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which is a very--
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Well, do you sense differences
in the activity here with...?
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Yeah, La Soufrière was very volatile.
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[classical music playing]
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[Werner]
It was all the way back in 1976
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when I first filmed a volcano.
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This was on the Caribbean island
of Guadeloupe.
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The mountain was expected to explode
at any moment,
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and 70,000 people
were rapidly evacuated.
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[donkey braying]
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The fear was intense
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because of the memory of an event
that took on apocalyptic proportions.
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It was known that, in 1902,
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on the neighboring island of Martinique,
Mount Pelée exploded.
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The signals that La Soufrière issued
in Guadeloupe
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were almost identical
to what had happened.
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It was measured in 1902.
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So, everybody was afraid
it would explode,
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and it would explode
with very, very massive force,
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many times an atomic bomb,
Hiroshima-size.
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So, I was not interested in the volcano.
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I was interested in one single man
who refused to be evacuated.
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Uh-huh.
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A different attitude towards death.
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75 people--
75,000 people being evacuated,
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and he stayed on.
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I actually found him--
I find him sleeping.
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I find him sleeping.
I had to wake him up on camera.
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And what was wonderful--
he was very philosophical.
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A very poor black farmer.
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And I sensed that, after a while,
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he didn't feel so comfortable
with us anymore,
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and he sat up and started
to tie his worn-out tennis shoe.
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And then, all of a sudden,
he sings a song against the camera,
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and I knew that was that.
So, go away, we'd better get out.
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[singing in French]
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[singing continues]
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We met in Antarctica
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during the shoot
of Encounters at the End of the World,
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and I knew a little bit about you.
I'd seen some of your movies
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when I was a youngster,
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and I knew something of your reputation.
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And we, in our field team,
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we were anxious that you were going
to have us propelled
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down towards the lava lake.
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There was some concern that you would be
looking for lengths of rope
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with which we could be lowered down
within meters of this fiery lake
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on Mount Erebus, volcano.
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And instead, you were interested
in what we were doing
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and why we were doing it.
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For me, there is no personal excitement
to go down.
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There's a curiosity.
Yes, I would love to see it from close up.
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But since it is too dangerous,
it would be silly.
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We have, in some ways, similar...
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Um, you know, we both--
As a volcanologist,
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of course, there's a risk
doing the measurements,
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and you ask yourself, "Well, is it worth
dying to get this measurement?"
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And the answer is no,
if you look at it in those terms.
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But you're always trying to evaluate
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how far you're going
to tolerate the risk.
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I mean, even here,
the volcano could explode now
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and we could all be hit
by one of these five-meter bombs.
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[Werner] I'm the only one in filmmaking
who is clinically sane,
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-taking all precautions.
-That's very clear. Oh, absolutely.
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I mean, you wouldn't still be here
if you were insane.
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You would've been consumed long ago
by a pyroclastic current
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or a gas flare or a grizzly bear
or whatever.
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So, it's quite clear that you're sane.
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I never doubted that for a moment
from our first encounter.
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Deposited out from the volcanic gas.
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Very nice.
244
00:18:49,754 --> 00:18:51,213
[whooshing, rumbling]
245
00:18:51,297 --> 00:18:54,008
-That's a good swoosh.
-Yeah, a good swoosh.
246
00:18:56,385 --> 00:18:59,263
-We're very blasé about all of this.
-Yes.
247
00:19:00,431 --> 00:19:04,935
But let it come at us.
We'll face it and step aside.
248
00:19:06,937 --> 00:19:10,608
[Werner] We would often discuss
the life and work of a French couple,
249
00:19:10,691 --> 00:19:13,027
Katia and Maurice Krafft.
250
00:19:14,028 --> 00:19:18,449
They were famous for capturing
incredible images of volcanoes.
251
00:19:21,202 --> 00:19:26,040
But this meant that they had to get
dangerously close to their subject.
252
00:19:26,123 --> 00:19:30,044
Too close,
as it would eventually turn out.
253
00:19:30,127 --> 00:19:32,213
[opera music playing]
254
00:20:04,870 --> 00:20:06,914
[rumbling, crashing]
255
00:21:13,773 --> 00:21:18,319
They were both instantly killed
by a pyroclastic flow in Japan,
256
00:21:18,402 --> 00:21:21,155
together with 41 other people.
257
00:21:27,453 --> 00:21:32,374
This is the very avalanche
of super-heated gases that killed them.
258
00:21:32,458 --> 00:21:37,046
What is rushing down this slope
at over 100 miles per hour
259
00:21:37,129 --> 00:21:41,217
has a temperature
of more than 800 degrees Fahrenheit.
260
00:22:04,490 --> 00:22:07,493
-[bugs chirping]
-[birds calling]
261
00:22:10,329 --> 00:22:13,332
[Clive] I spent a very formative part
of my youth in Indonesia.
262
00:22:13,415 --> 00:22:17,044
I came to Toba
when I was 19 years old.
263
00:22:17,127 --> 00:22:20,256
And actually, in Indonesia,
I feel like it's my second home.
264
00:22:20,339 --> 00:22:23,133
I've come back
intermittently over the years,
265
00:22:23,217 --> 00:22:25,177
but I immediately feel at home.
266
00:22:25,261 --> 00:22:29,974
The smell of the kretek clove cigarettes,
the sights, the sounds.
267
00:22:30,057 --> 00:22:32,476
It's a very special place to me.
268
00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:36,647
And I think my career as a volcanologist
269
00:22:36,730 --> 00:22:41,235
was partly formed from that first visit
as a 19-year-old.
270
00:22:42,027 --> 00:22:46,240
[Werner] Indonesia was the right place
for an aspiring scientist.
271
00:22:46,323 --> 00:22:52,705
In fact, there's no country in the world
that has more volcanoes than this one.
272
00:22:52,788 --> 00:22:55,791
Clive Oppenheimer took us
to Mount Sinabung.
273
00:22:56,542 --> 00:23:00,087
It had been relatively quiet
the last few years.
274
00:23:00,170 --> 00:23:01,505
[low rumbling]
275
00:23:01,589 --> 00:23:06,844
The area we are shooting in right now
had been declared a restricted zone,
276
00:23:06,927 --> 00:23:10,097
with no access allowed to anyone.
277
00:23:10,180 --> 00:23:15,352
But, as we found farmers working there,
we felt reasonably safe.
278
00:23:16,604 --> 00:23:21,775
Eerie relics remained, though,
from an eruption in 2010.
279
00:23:23,819 --> 00:23:26,947
Feeling that this was
distant enough in time,
280
00:23:27,031 --> 00:23:30,492
no one was expecting
what happened next.
281
00:23:33,871 --> 00:23:36,790
[echoing booms, rumbling]
282
00:24:18,082 --> 00:24:21,585
Fortunately, this eruption
did not hurt anyone,
283
00:24:21,669 --> 00:24:24,296
and we quickly left the area.
284
00:24:30,219 --> 00:24:31,679
[indistinct radio chatter]
285
00:24:31,762 --> 00:24:36,475
[Werner] Only a few days later,
we saw this on Indonesian television.
286
00:24:37,142 --> 00:24:41,814
Seven people were killed in the very spot
where we had had our camera.
287
00:24:41,897 --> 00:24:44,358
[people shouting]
288
00:24:44,441 --> 00:24:47,778
[sirens wailing,
helicopter blades whirring]
289
00:24:47,861 --> 00:24:50,072
[shouting continues]
290
00:24:55,703 --> 00:24:57,913
[helicopter flying overhead]
291
00:25:06,797 --> 00:25:09,717
In order to prevent such catastrophes,
292
00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:14,263
Indonesia has set up
numerous early warning systems.
293
00:25:14,346 --> 00:25:17,099
This is the Babadan Observatory,
294
00:25:17,182 --> 00:25:19,351
which monitors Mount Merapi,
295
00:25:19,435 --> 00:25:23,272
one of the most dangerous volcanoes
in the world.
296
00:25:24,231 --> 00:25:28,819
And each of these stations
is a seismometer somewhere on Merapi,
297
00:25:28,902 --> 00:25:32,281
a different distance,
five, six kilometers from the summit?
298
00:25:32,364 --> 00:25:38,203
Yeah, that's true.
So, we have a summit station.
299
00:25:38,287 --> 00:25:41,081
We have a short east station,
300
00:25:41,165 --> 00:25:44,793
we have short station in Babadan Hill.
301
00:25:44,877 --> 00:25:49,173
And also we have on the west of station.
302
00:25:49,256 --> 00:25:54,470
And these real-time data provide
one of the most important parts
303
00:25:54,553 --> 00:25:59,016
of a volcano-monitoring program
for assessing what the volcano is doing.
304
00:25:59,099 --> 00:26:01,643
-It's the heartbeat of the volcano.
-Exactly.
305
00:26:01,727 --> 00:26:06,273
This one is the electronic
distance measurements.
306
00:26:06,356 --> 00:26:11,487
So, we have a reflector
in the summit of Merapi.
307
00:26:11,570 --> 00:26:15,365
Then we're measuring every morning.
308
00:26:15,908 --> 00:26:19,620
By this measuring,
we're plotting the cone.
309
00:26:19,703 --> 00:26:22,289
So, it's measuring--
It's firing a laser pulse
310
00:26:22,372 --> 00:26:25,125
to a mirror five, six kilometers away,
311
00:26:25,209 --> 00:26:27,795
the light bounces back
and you've measured the distance.
312
00:26:27,878 --> 00:26:31,882
And that can show
whether the volcano is inflating
313
00:26:31,965 --> 00:26:35,511
because magma is rising into the cone.
Is that--
314
00:26:35,594 --> 00:26:41,600
That's right. That's the idea
for the electronic distance measurements.
315
00:26:41,683 --> 00:26:43,977
In a worst-case scenario,
316
00:26:44,061 --> 00:26:48,315
I imagine the observer is at risk
if there's a pyroclastic flow.
317
00:26:48,398 --> 00:26:51,193
If it's too late
for the observer to evacuate,
318
00:26:51,276 --> 00:26:53,195
are there any options left?
319
00:26:53,278 --> 00:26:55,739
Yeah, that's the emergency.
320
00:26:55,823 --> 00:26:59,076
Then, if it is emergency,
we have a bunker.
321
00:27:00,452 --> 00:27:01,954
It's a thick door.
322
00:27:02,037 --> 00:27:03,539
-Yeah.
-After you.
323
00:27:04,832 --> 00:27:08,001
[Sri]
We put the food and also oxygen.
324
00:27:08,085 --> 00:27:12,256
We hope that they can survive
for one month.
325
00:27:13,549 --> 00:27:18,762
It reminds me of the eruption
of Mount Pelée in 1902
326
00:27:18,846 --> 00:27:22,141
that killed nearly 30,000 people
in the city of Saint-Pierre
327
00:27:22,224 --> 00:27:25,853
as the pyroclastic flows reached it.
328
00:27:26,353 --> 00:27:31,275
And the only survivor lived
because he was the baddest guy in town.
329
00:27:31,358 --> 00:27:35,070
He was a criminal.
I think he stabbed a prison officer
330
00:27:35,153 --> 00:27:37,197
through the cheek with a pencil,
331
00:27:37,281 --> 00:27:41,660
and he was put in solitary confinement
in a bunker-like cell.
332
00:27:41,743 --> 00:27:45,163
All the other prisoners perished,
but he survived,
333
00:27:45,247 --> 00:27:49,376
albeit badly burnt, because there was
a tiny grill window in the cell,
334
00:27:49,459 --> 00:27:53,005
and he subsequently joined
the Barnum & Bailey Circus
335
00:27:53,088 --> 00:27:55,757
and was exhibited as a celebrity,
336
00:27:55,841 --> 00:27:58,468
as the sole survivor of this eruption.
337
00:27:59,344 --> 00:28:01,138
[booming]
338
00:28:09,646 --> 00:28:14,067
So, in 2010, the monitoring
was absolutely crucial
339
00:28:14,151 --> 00:28:18,363
in forecasting the eruption
and its escalation.
340
00:28:18,447 --> 00:28:21,700
[Sri]
The first indication was seismic.
341
00:28:21,783 --> 00:28:25,204
A lot of volcanic earthquakes.
342
00:28:26,038 --> 00:28:29,458
This indicates that there is magma moving.
343
00:28:29,541 --> 00:28:34,296
Also, supported by these electronic
distance measurements.
344
00:28:34,379 --> 00:28:35,672
And the gas measurements?
345
00:28:35,756 --> 00:28:36,965
Of course. [chuckles]
346
00:28:38,008 --> 00:28:40,552
I know this looks pathetic,
like a shoebox
347
00:28:40,636 --> 00:28:43,055
with a baked bean tin stuck on the end,
348
00:28:43,138 --> 00:28:45,182
and it also looks
like it's pointing at the ground,
349
00:28:45,265 --> 00:28:47,768
rather than at the volcano summit
over here.
350
00:28:47,851 --> 00:28:51,230
But it's something I'm very proud of.
It's something that we built in Cambridge.
351
00:28:51,313 --> 00:28:55,025
There's a little window here,
and a mirror and some lenses,
352
00:28:55,108 --> 00:28:57,319
connected to an ultraviolet spectrometer.
353
00:28:57,402 --> 00:29:01,949
The device measures the emissions
of sulfur dioxide from the volcano
354
00:29:02,032 --> 00:29:05,244
as the gases rise above the summit,
355
00:29:05,327 --> 00:29:07,537
and this is a very important parameter
356
00:29:07,621 --> 00:29:10,874
in many volcano-monitoring programs
around the world.
357
00:29:10,958 --> 00:29:15,587
And the forerunner of this device
we had working here in 2010,
358
00:29:15,671 --> 00:29:20,050
and it played an important role
in the hazard assessment,
359
00:29:20,133 --> 00:29:24,721
and it's conservatively estimated
at something like 20,000 lives were saved
360
00:29:24,805 --> 00:29:27,849
because of the effective monitoring
of Merapi in 2010
361
00:29:27,933 --> 00:29:30,143
and the evacuation that followed.
362
00:29:37,025 --> 00:29:38,110
[speaks Indonesian]
363
00:29:38,193 --> 00:29:41,071
I'm very happy to see
that it's still working. Uh...
364
00:29:41,154 --> 00:29:46,535
I hold, along with some colleagues,
the patent for the original prototype,
365
00:29:46,618 --> 00:29:49,288
which we designed
more than ten years ago now.
366
00:29:49,371 --> 00:29:53,458
So, this technology is now found
on volcanoes around the world,
367
00:29:53,542 --> 00:29:58,088
and it's revolutionized the monitoring
of gas emissions from volcanoes.
368
00:29:59,423 --> 00:30:02,426
It's my baby.
I'm really glad to see it.
369
00:30:02,509 --> 00:30:05,929
I haven't seen it for two years,
and here it is, still working.
370
00:30:08,432 --> 00:30:12,185
[bell pealing]
371
00:30:12,269 --> 00:30:16,481
[Werner] Obviously, there was
a scientific side to our journey.
372
00:30:16,565 --> 00:30:20,777
But what we were really chasing
was the magical side:
373
00:30:20,861 --> 00:30:23,572
the demons, the new gods.
374
00:30:24,406 --> 00:30:28,368
This was the itinerary
we had set for ourselves,
375
00:30:28,452 --> 00:30:32,205
no matter how strange
things might eventually get.
376
00:30:33,582 --> 00:30:37,419
Here in the palace
of the Sultan of Jogjakarta,
377
00:30:37,502 --> 00:30:42,924
dignitaries are charged with the task
of reconciling the goddess of the ocean
378
00:30:43,008 --> 00:30:45,635
with the demon of the volcano.
379
00:30:48,472 --> 00:30:52,726
The sultan himself does not participate
in the procession.
380
00:30:52,809 --> 00:30:58,065
We marveled at his parked Mercedes,
wrapped in a bubble of plastic,
381
00:30:58,148 --> 00:31:03,070
as if the conceptual artist Christo
had just been here.
382
00:31:05,864 --> 00:31:07,741
[soft bell music playing]
383
00:31:11,703 --> 00:31:15,874
The procession stops for a ritual
close to the ocean.
384
00:31:15,957 --> 00:31:19,628
This will be a reenactment
of the sexual union
385
00:31:19,711 --> 00:31:24,174
between an ancient sultan
and the Queen of the Sea.
386
00:31:24,257 --> 00:31:28,095
A doctoral student of Clive's,
Adam Bobbette,
387
00:31:28,178 --> 00:31:30,263
functioned as our guide.
388
00:31:30,347 --> 00:31:35,018
Every year, they have to reproduce this
by giving rituals--
389
00:31:35,102 --> 00:31:38,605
by doing rituals in this site
and then giving offerings
390
00:31:38,688 --> 00:31:43,026
to the South Sea from the sultan,
including his body parts--
391
00:31:43,110 --> 00:31:46,446
fingernails, hair, clothes--
392
00:31:46,530 --> 00:31:51,535
which they launch into the ocean
to appease the Queen of the South Sea.
393
00:31:51,618 --> 00:31:54,496
As a part of their sexual union,
394
00:31:54,579 --> 00:31:58,083
they also created a kind of monster
395
00:31:58,166 --> 00:32:01,711
that ended up occupying the volcano.
396
00:32:02,712 --> 00:32:06,883
So, this hole is where
they will give offerings,
397
00:32:06,967 --> 00:32:09,970
because this is the site
of the sexual union
398
00:32:10,053 --> 00:32:13,181
between the Goddess of the Sea
and the first sultan.
399
00:32:13,932 --> 00:32:16,768
I think it's coming right now.
It's a box.
400
00:32:16,852 --> 00:32:18,228
This is it.
401
00:32:29,948 --> 00:32:33,368
[Werner]
And now the offerings to the ocean.
402
00:32:33,452 --> 00:32:35,662
[loud, overlapping chatter]
403
00:33:00,228 --> 00:33:04,900
The following day,
we witnessed the ritual at the volcano.
404
00:33:04,983 --> 00:33:09,321
Merapi, on this morning,
was not enshrouded in clouds.
405
00:33:21,041 --> 00:33:23,835
[speaking Indonesian]
406
00:33:31,218 --> 00:33:36,181
After the ceremony, the crowd
went right for the flower petals,
407
00:33:36,264 --> 00:33:38,350
an auspicious souvenir.
408
00:33:38,433 --> 00:33:40,977
[overlapping chatter]
409
00:33:50,987 --> 00:33:52,864
More strange magic.
410
00:33:52,948 --> 00:33:55,450
Another bewildering alignment,
411
00:33:55,534 --> 00:33:58,745
this time between a building
and the volcano,
412
00:33:58,828 --> 00:34:03,291
here, barely visible,
as if floating in the clouds.
413
00:34:05,293 --> 00:34:09,297
The odd edifice
is still under construction.
414
00:34:09,381 --> 00:34:11,925
[clanging]
415
00:34:12,008 --> 00:34:14,219
[clanging echoes]
416
00:34:17,764 --> 00:34:20,183
Inside, we found nobody
417
00:34:20,267 --> 00:34:24,104
in an empty chair
pretending to watch TV.
418
00:34:32,362 --> 00:34:36,324
On the floor above,
we met a few carpenters.
419
00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:47,877
[speaking Indonesian] Yes, I am one of
the workers building this place.
420
00:34:49,045 --> 00:34:52,549
What is it?
What are you building?
421
00:34:52,632 --> 00:34:56,720
I built this.
422
00:34:57,762 --> 00:35:04,436
The owner had a dream.
After that, he built this building.
423
00:35:04,519 --> 00:35:10,942
A building to be used for prayer.
424
00:35:13,653 --> 00:35:15,780
It looks like a chicken?
425
00:35:15,864 --> 00:35:18,575
It's actually a dove, not a chicken.
426
00:35:18,658 --> 00:35:25,498
But maybe it's also related to Merapi?
427
00:35:25,582 --> 00:35:27,542
[overlapping chatter]
428
00:35:27,626 --> 00:35:33,757
Maybe the owner thinks that way,
pointing it towards Mount Merapi.
429
00:35:33,840 --> 00:35:38,595
I'm only an ordinary worker
430
00:35:38,678 --> 00:35:42,557
who goes home after working hours.
431
00:35:42,641 --> 00:35:48,480
But it still looks like a chicken, right?
432
00:35:48,563 --> 00:35:52,692
Yes, most people say
it's like a chicken.
433
00:35:52,776 --> 00:35:56,321
They call it the Chicken Church.
434
00:35:56,404 --> 00:36:02,786
-A soap opera filmed a scene here.
-Yes.
435
00:36:04,120 --> 00:36:09,125
It became popular
after the soap opera was shot.
436
00:36:09,209 --> 00:36:15,965
Last Saturday, someone from Surabaya
who saw the show,
437
00:36:16,049 --> 00:36:22,931
wanted to see the location,
so they came here.
438
00:36:27,102 --> 00:36:31,731
[Werner] Odder still is the fact that,
in this mostly Muslim country,
439
00:36:31,815 --> 00:36:34,359
this is a Roman Catholic church.
440
00:36:35,318 --> 00:36:39,489
Under the floor,
it even has its own catacombs,
441
00:36:39,572 --> 00:36:42,033
maybe as a shelter for hermits,
442
00:36:42,117 --> 00:36:45,036
as protection against volcanic fallout.
443
00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:47,539
[construction noise echoing]
444
00:37:15,942 --> 00:37:17,861
[thunder rumbling]
445
00:37:17,944 --> 00:37:20,697
[opera music playing]
446
00:37:28,371 --> 00:37:31,666
Of all the many volcanoes
in Indonesia,
447
00:37:31,750 --> 00:37:34,961
there is no single one
that is not connected
448
00:37:35,044 --> 00:37:36,880
to a belief system.
449
00:37:39,382 --> 00:37:42,635
For the locals,
all this volcanic landscape
450
00:37:42,719 --> 00:37:45,263
bears magical names.
451
00:37:45,346 --> 00:37:47,807
The Night Market of the Ghosts,
452
00:37:47,891 --> 00:37:49,893
the Flying Foxes,
453
00:37:49,976 --> 00:37:53,271
the Dancing Place of the Spirits.
454
00:38:30,475 --> 00:38:32,143
Back to Lake Toba,
455
00:38:32,227 --> 00:38:36,147
where Clive Oppenheimer's
scientific journey began.
456
00:38:37,857 --> 00:38:40,860
[Clive] This is the largest
volcanic crater lake on Earth.
457
00:38:40,944 --> 00:38:44,405
It extends something like 100 kilometers
off into the distance.
458
00:38:44,489 --> 00:38:46,032
Frankly, it's too big to film.
459
00:38:46,115 --> 00:38:48,952
We should've booked a ticket
on the International Space Station
460
00:38:49,035 --> 00:38:52,372
to look down from above
and appreciate its vast scale.
461
00:38:53,957 --> 00:38:57,710
The eruption occurred
something like 74,000 years ago.
462
00:38:58,711 --> 00:39:02,632
This was a monstrous,
stupendous volcanic eruption,
463
00:39:02,715 --> 00:39:04,884
one of the very largest
that we've documented
464
00:39:04,968 --> 00:39:07,679
in all of Earth history
for a single event.
465
00:39:07,762 --> 00:39:09,639
The skies would've been darkened,
466
00:39:09,722 --> 00:39:13,810
there would've been a conflagration
across this part of Northern Sumatra
467
00:39:13,893 --> 00:39:18,982
as the pyroclastic currents spread out
radially around the crater,
468
00:39:19,065 --> 00:39:22,610
igniting all of the tropical vegetation.
469
00:39:22,694 --> 00:39:28,199
The eruption produced something like
15,000 cubic kilometers of ash and pumice
470
00:39:28,283 --> 00:39:31,744
that was pumped
high into the stratosphere
471
00:39:31,828 --> 00:39:33,872
and spread across the globe.
472
00:39:33,955 --> 00:39:40,420
Enough pumice came out to bury everyone
in the United States to head-height.
473
00:39:40,795 --> 00:39:43,798
It's something like 10,000 times larger
474
00:39:43,882 --> 00:39:46,175
than the 1980 eruption
of Mount St. Helens.
475
00:39:46,259 --> 00:39:48,636
It's 100,000 times greater
476
00:39:48,720 --> 00:39:52,140
than the Eyjafjallajökull eruption
in Iceland in 2010
477
00:39:52,223 --> 00:39:54,267
that disrupted global aviation.
478
00:39:54,350 --> 00:39:58,313
This was the stupendous event
in Earth history.
479
00:39:58,396 --> 00:40:01,107
And there's even a theory
that the eruption
480
00:40:01,190 --> 00:40:03,151
almost wiped us out as a species.
481
00:40:03,234 --> 00:40:07,155
Based on the genetic pedigree
of living humans,
482
00:40:07,238 --> 00:40:12,827
we can say that there was a bottleneck
in human numbers around this time period.
483
00:40:13,912 --> 00:40:18,291
And the link is between the climate change
wrought by the eruption,
484
00:40:18,374 --> 00:40:20,752
the decimation of tropical vegetation
485
00:40:20,835 --> 00:40:23,796
that was the resource base
for our ancestors.
486
00:40:24,714 --> 00:40:29,302
Perhaps there were as few as 600
of our species left on Earth.
487
00:40:29,385 --> 00:40:31,971
We would've been classified
as an endangered species.
488
00:40:32,055 --> 00:40:33,681
Somehow, we rebounded.
489
00:40:34,682 --> 00:40:37,685
This theory is very controversial,
however.
490
00:40:37,769 --> 00:40:40,813
And that's because there's
a very limited amount of evidence
491
00:40:40,897 --> 00:40:42,106
this far back in time.
492
00:40:42,190 --> 00:40:45,068
In particular,
there are very few human fossils
493
00:40:45,151 --> 00:40:47,111
to try and establish cause and effect.
494
00:40:47,820 --> 00:40:50,740
If we want to find human fossils
from 74,000 years ago,
495
00:40:50,823 --> 00:40:54,702
we'd better go to Ethiopia,
we'd better go to the Afar Region.
496
00:40:58,122 --> 00:41:01,250
[Werner] This is part
of the Danakil Depression,
497
00:41:01,334 --> 00:41:03,962
300 feet below sea level.
498
00:41:04,545 --> 00:41:07,632
In terms of average
year-round temperature,
499
00:41:07,715 --> 00:41:10,760
this is the hottest place on our planet.
500
00:41:12,136 --> 00:41:13,262
During summer,
501
00:41:13,346 --> 00:41:18,309
temperatures hardly ever dip
below 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
502
00:41:19,435 --> 00:41:23,147
Working conditions are only tolerable
in mid-winter,
503
00:41:23,231 --> 00:41:26,401
and even then it is extremely hot.
504
00:41:28,069 --> 00:41:32,156
On top of that,
this is an area of tribal warfare,
505
00:41:32,240 --> 00:41:36,828
and you can only enter it
accompanied by armed soldiers.
506
00:41:47,380 --> 00:41:51,384
This depression is only part
of a long, stretched rift,
507
00:41:51,467 --> 00:41:54,554
continuing down
through all of East Africa.
508
00:41:55,638 --> 00:41:58,850
In millions of years,
the rift will widen
509
00:41:58,933 --> 00:42:01,936
until a strip of the continent
breaks off,
510
00:42:02,020 --> 00:42:04,439
drifting into the Indian Ocean.
511
00:42:06,607 --> 00:42:09,569
In such places, volcanoes form.
512
00:42:11,404 --> 00:42:14,532
This particular one, Erta Ale,
513
00:42:14,615 --> 00:42:18,870
is one of the three in the world
where magma is directly exposed.
514
00:42:18,953 --> 00:42:20,747
[rumbling]
515
00:42:45,813 --> 00:42:50,443
Erta Ale is also important
for its significance to early man.
516
00:42:51,152 --> 00:42:55,448
A great amount of obsidian,
a volcanic glass,
517
00:42:55,531 --> 00:42:57,575
was extruded from the crater.
518
00:43:00,870 --> 00:43:04,373
Look at that.
It's translucent at the edges.
519
00:43:05,333 --> 00:43:06,959
Beautiful flake.
520
00:43:10,088 --> 00:43:13,841
And very sharp still.
You could probably shave with that.
521
00:43:14,842 --> 00:43:17,512
[Werner]
Obsidian is very hard and brittle,
522
00:43:17,595 --> 00:43:21,224
and therefore fractures
with extremely sharp edges.
523
00:43:21,891 --> 00:43:25,895
So sharp, in fact,
that up until the 1980s
524
00:43:25,978 --> 00:43:30,233
eye operations were performed
with obsidian scalpels,
525
00:43:30,316 --> 00:43:32,360
sharper than any steel.
526
00:43:34,695 --> 00:43:39,992
This amazing material has attracted
early humans to this landscape
527
00:43:40,076 --> 00:43:43,913
as far back as hominids
a million years ago.
528
00:43:44,831 --> 00:43:46,707
[indistinct chatter]
529
00:43:46,791 --> 00:43:50,002
At this site,
a team of paleontologists
530
00:43:50,086 --> 00:43:54,841
are extracting artifacts and remains
of our direct ancestors,
531
00:43:54,924 --> 00:43:56,968
the first Homo sapiens,
532
00:43:57,051 --> 00:44:01,097
who emerged in this area
100,000 years ago.
533
00:44:04,016 --> 00:44:08,146
What is amazing to me is the fact
that the remains are found
534
00:44:08,229 --> 00:44:10,523
almost directly at the surface.
535
00:44:10,606 --> 00:44:14,110
And more so,
why this particular spot
536
00:44:14,193 --> 00:44:17,488
and not back there
where the goats are roaming?
537
00:44:21,659 --> 00:44:25,872
This grid was apparently
a tool manufacturing site.
538
00:44:25,955 --> 00:44:29,542
Hundreds of obsidian chips
are strewn about.
539
00:44:30,877 --> 00:44:34,797
Dr. Yonatan Sahle,
an Ethiopian scientist,
540
00:44:34,881 --> 00:44:38,301
has excavated this prehistoric workshop.
541
00:44:39,051 --> 00:44:43,514
And where did your passion come from?
How did you fall into this field?
542
00:44:43,598 --> 00:44:48,978
Well, I had-- I studied history
for my bachelor's degree.
543
00:44:49,061 --> 00:44:52,106
And that's when
I started to fall in love.
544
00:44:52,189 --> 00:44:54,567
So, history was not deep enough for me.
545
00:44:54,650 --> 00:44:57,987
I wanted to look further back in time
546
00:44:58,070 --> 00:45:02,617
and find out what is it, really,
that makes us human.
547
00:45:02,700 --> 00:45:04,744
We are a very unique species.
548
00:45:04,827 --> 00:45:08,581
In a way, we interact
and we collaborate
549
00:45:08,664 --> 00:45:12,752
and we cooperate and we produce,
we modify our environment.
550
00:45:12,835 --> 00:45:15,796
But at the same time,
we fight and destruct,
551
00:45:15,880 --> 00:45:19,759
and we are even a danger
to other species and the planet,
552
00:45:19,842 --> 00:45:21,761
the fate of the planet as well.
553
00:45:21,844 --> 00:45:23,763
So, we are a very interesting species.
554
00:45:23,846 --> 00:45:27,183
So, I wanted to get at the root
of all this
555
00:45:27,266 --> 00:45:32,730
and see, in deep time,
what underlies all these processes.
556
00:45:34,440 --> 00:45:37,568
[Clive] We're sifting
through the trash of humans
557
00:45:37,652 --> 00:45:40,404
from 50 to 100,000 years ago.
558
00:45:40,488 --> 00:45:45,117
Do you think we have
another 100,000 years on planet Earth?
559
00:45:45,201 --> 00:45:50,122
I would say that, you know,
another thousand years,
560
00:45:50,206 --> 00:45:53,709
we will be in a very critical situation,
561
00:45:53,793 --> 00:45:56,587
and so we will have to learn
from our mistakes
562
00:45:56,671 --> 00:46:03,219
and we'll have to work toward improving
the condition of our planet
563
00:46:03,302 --> 00:46:09,392
so that it can have the carrying capacity
to allow our species to perpetuate.
564
00:46:10,434 --> 00:46:12,270
[Clive] If you had a time machine
that could go
565
00:46:12,353 --> 00:46:15,106
to only one time period in the past,
when would it be?
566
00:46:15,189 --> 00:46:17,984
It would be exactly this time period
567
00:46:18,067 --> 00:46:20,736
because this is...
568
00:46:20,820 --> 00:46:26,826
I believe this is when we started
to look like us, um,
569
00:46:26,909 --> 00:46:30,204
and when we, uh,
570
00:46:30,288 --> 00:46:34,667
as a species, um, started.
571
00:46:34,750 --> 00:46:39,505
And so, this is before we became--
572
00:46:39,588 --> 00:46:42,216
we acquired different skin colors.
573
00:46:42,299 --> 00:46:46,554
This is before we acquired
different languages
574
00:46:46,637 --> 00:46:50,850
and we spread across
different geographies.
575
00:46:50,933 --> 00:46:54,228
So, this is where I want to be,
right at the root.
576
00:46:54,312 --> 00:46:58,899
So, I would love to express my...
577
00:46:58,983 --> 00:47:01,652
uh, my fascination to this ground
578
00:47:01,736 --> 00:47:04,196
by kissing it.
579
00:47:04,697 --> 00:47:06,157
And here I go.
580
00:47:16,083 --> 00:47:20,755
[Werner] Professor Tim White of
the University of California, Berkeley,
581
00:47:20,838 --> 00:47:22,465
leads the team here.
582
00:47:22,548 --> 00:47:28,262
We were immediately captivated
by his wild style of explaining things.
583
00:47:29,972 --> 00:47:31,640
So, look at the...
584
00:47:32,808 --> 00:47:34,060
powder.
585
00:47:34,143 --> 00:47:36,896
It blows in the wind,
it's very fine grain,
586
00:47:36,979 --> 00:47:39,565
it's all floodplain, it's all silt.
587
00:47:39,648 --> 00:47:43,819
But it all started as volcanic rock
from the highlands,
588
00:47:43,903 --> 00:47:45,279
from the rift margin,
589
00:47:45,362 --> 00:47:49,283
ground up over millions of years,
distributed out here,
590
00:47:49,366 --> 00:47:51,619
and redistributed by the Awash River.
591
00:47:51,702 --> 00:47:53,996
If you die today,
592
00:47:54,080 --> 00:47:56,457
your body will decompose
on the floodplain.
593
00:47:56,540 --> 00:47:59,668
If the hyenas don't chew
all the bones up,
594
00:47:59,752 --> 00:48:03,672
the next time the river floods,
this soft, silty material
595
00:48:03,756 --> 00:48:05,341
will be carried in,
596
00:48:05,424 --> 00:48:08,385
and it will encase your bones.
597
00:48:09,136 --> 00:48:10,429
Let's go.
598
00:48:10,513 --> 00:48:11,597
[engine starts]
599
00:48:24,276 --> 00:48:26,695
[speaking in Afar]
600
00:48:36,372 --> 00:48:41,377
Oh, we're gonna call this
the Werner Herzog Highway.
601
00:48:42,294 --> 00:48:47,133
And what we're doing here
is opening up a space for the cars...
602
00:48:48,551 --> 00:48:53,264
so we can come through
with a full crew tomorrow morning...
603
00:48:54,223 --> 00:48:57,017
to recover the additional pieces
of the hominid
604
00:48:57,101 --> 00:49:01,522
that we found just up on top there,
on the eroding sediments.
605
00:49:01,605 --> 00:49:04,233
So, we'd like to pull the cars in
as close as we can get
606
00:49:04,316 --> 00:49:06,360
so we can get all the equipment there.
607
00:49:06,444 --> 00:49:10,281
And we'll start an extraction process
to pull that hominid out.
608
00:49:17,538 --> 00:49:20,583
How phenomenally lucky are we
to have arrived now
609
00:49:20,666 --> 00:49:25,379
and you've found
this 100,000-year-old human?
610
00:49:25,462 --> 00:49:27,423
This does not happen very often.
611
00:49:27,506 --> 00:49:31,010
These hominid fossils
are very, very rare.
612
00:49:31,093 --> 00:49:34,013
Finding an artifact, that's easier,
613
00:49:34,096 --> 00:49:37,808
because during any hominid's lifetime,
they can make dozens, thousands,
614
00:49:37,892 --> 00:49:41,812
of stone-age calling cards
scattered all over the landscape.
615
00:49:41,896 --> 00:49:44,440
But they only have one skeleton,
one dentition.
616
00:49:44,523 --> 00:49:47,234
They only die once.
So, think about it.
617
00:49:47,318 --> 00:49:50,237
Acres and acres of eroding sediment.
618
00:49:50,321 --> 00:49:52,865
How in the world can we find the place
619
00:49:52,948 --> 00:49:57,161
where this dead person's bones
came to rest
620
00:49:57,244 --> 00:49:59,872
and arrive just at the geological moment
621
00:49:59,955 --> 00:50:02,333
that erosion is carving
these sediments out,
622
00:50:02,416 --> 00:50:04,501
exposing these ancient surfaces,
623
00:50:04,585 --> 00:50:07,087
with the monkeys and the hippos
and everything else,
624
00:50:07,171 --> 00:50:09,757
thousands of bones and artifacts
all over the surface?
625
00:50:09,840 --> 00:50:12,176
And there's one guy,
one guy in the world.
626
00:50:12,259 --> 00:50:15,804
If I had to say, "Get that guy out here
on the surface.
627
00:50:15,888 --> 00:50:18,224
He's gonna find the hominid."
You know who that is?
628
00:50:18,307 --> 00:50:20,851
That is Kampiro Kayrento,
629
00:50:20,935 --> 00:50:23,687
the world's greatest fossil finder.
630
00:50:23,771 --> 00:50:25,439
[indistinct chatter]
631
00:50:25,522 --> 00:50:26,774
Oh.
632
00:50:26,857 --> 00:50:28,734
This is Kampiro Kayrento.
633
00:50:28,817 --> 00:50:32,071
He is one of the world's experts,
if not the world's expert.
634
00:50:32,154 --> 00:50:34,448
He's the guy I want on the aircraft
to find things.
635
00:50:34,531 --> 00:50:38,827
He can recognize what's an antelope,
what's a carnivore,
636
00:50:38,911 --> 00:50:42,915
what's a fish, what's a baboon,
what's a zebra,
637
00:50:42,998 --> 00:50:46,752
what's a giraffe, what's a rhino.
He's got all that.
638
00:50:46,835 --> 00:50:49,547
Not from the whole animal,
because you never find the whole animal.
639
00:50:49,630 --> 00:50:53,133
You find pieces of animals,
pieces of the bones of animals.
640
00:50:53,217 --> 00:50:54,802
He knows what they are.
641
00:51:00,516 --> 00:51:01,559
You got anything, Tim?
642
00:51:01,642 --> 00:51:03,519
More pieces for the puzzle.
643
00:51:04,353 --> 00:51:08,399
Cranial vault piece,
freshly out of the ground.
644
00:51:08,482 --> 00:51:11,735
That one needs to be squirted off.
645
00:51:11,819 --> 00:51:14,238
This bone is beautifully preserved,
646
00:51:14,321 --> 00:51:17,658
completely silicified,
completely fossilized.
647
00:51:18,409 --> 00:51:22,204
So, we've got now
a number of different elements.
648
00:51:22,288 --> 00:51:29,086
The most diagnostic and important one,
ultimately, will be this one here,
649
00:51:29,169 --> 00:51:32,965
which is... the top...
650
00:51:34,008 --> 00:51:37,219
of the left orbit.
651
00:51:37,303 --> 00:51:40,055
So to sort of place it in Clive's head...
652
00:51:43,767 --> 00:51:46,395
-Whereabouts?
-Other side. There you go.
653
00:51:46,478 --> 00:51:47,604
Okay.
654
00:51:47,688 --> 00:51:52,192
I'm looking into the eye
of a Paleolithic hominid that lived here.
655
00:51:53,652 --> 00:51:56,322
So, it's a three-dimensional
jigsaw puzzle.
656
00:52:01,785 --> 00:52:05,039
[Clive] Yeah, no one's gonna argue
that those two pieces fit back together.
657
00:52:05,122 --> 00:52:06,457
That's a nice fit.
658
00:52:06,540 --> 00:52:09,585
In evolutionary terms,
here in the Middle Awash,
659
00:52:09,668 --> 00:52:12,296
we have six million years' worth
of rocks.
660
00:52:12,379 --> 00:52:17,176
The ones on the bottom
have small-brained early bipeds.
661
00:52:17,259 --> 00:52:20,012
These are close to the top
of the succession.
662
00:52:20,095 --> 00:52:22,389
These are much more like you and I.
663
00:52:22,473 --> 00:52:25,100
They have chins, vertical foreheads.
664
00:52:25,184 --> 00:52:29,563
We still have a lot to learn about them,
but the importance for humanity
665
00:52:29,647 --> 00:52:33,859
is that this is the right time,
100,000 years ago,
666
00:52:33,942 --> 00:52:36,820
and the right place, Africa,
667
00:52:36,904 --> 00:52:39,657
according to the archeology
and the genetic evidence...
668
00:52:40,783 --> 00:52:44,328
to know the people who were the ones
669
00:52:44,411 --> 00:52:48,582
who expanded from Africa to Asia,
670
00:52:48,666 --> 00:52:51,085
to Europe, and then beyond.
671
00:52:53,045 --> 00:52:56,423
While these people were living here
in tropical Africa,
672
00:52:56,507 --> 00:52:59,760
dining on hippos,
Europe was locked under ice.
673
00:53:05,474 --> 00:53:08,644
Let's go get more pieces.
Are we ready to rock 'n' roll?
674
00:53:08,727 --> 00:53:09,937
Let's get brushes.
675
00:53:11,563 --> 00:53:15,275
We've taken all of
the surface-exposed bone off the surface.
676
00:53:15,359 --> 00:53:18,779
We suspect there's going to be
sub-surface bone in here.
677
00:53:18,862 --> 00:53:22,241
We've maximized where we think it is,
678
00:53:22,324 --> 00:53:27,079
and now it's a matter
of going to the casino
679
00:53:27,162 --> 00:53:28,914
and rolling the dice
680
00:53:28,997 --> 00:53:33,001
and hoping we're gonna get
some nice human anatomy,
681
00:53:33,085 --> 00:53:36,171
fossilized for 100,000 years,
right out of this unit.
682
00:53:36,255 --> 00:53:38,715
We're just gonna brush and find bone.
683
00:53:38,799 --> 00:53:41,760
Whoa! There's a piece of bone
right there.
684
00:53:41,844 --> 00:53:44,680
That one's not identifiable,
but it might join other ones
685
00:53:44,763 --> 00:53:47,516
and become identifiable.
So, that's a keeper.
686
00:53:47,599 --> 00:53:49,726
Every single piece of bone
is a keeper.
687
00:53:57,109 --> 00:53:57,985
See the piece?
688
00:54:08,579 --> 00:54:10,372
So, that's a limb bone shaft.
689
00:54:10,456 --> 00:54:12,541
I can't tell which limb bone.
It's one of three.
690
00:54:12,624 --> 00:54:15,169
It's tibia, humerus or femur.
691
00:54:16,587 --> 00:54:20,299
Here we go.
That's a nice shaft piece.
692
00:54:20,382 --> 00:54:23,218
Again, it's tibia--
It's one of the major long bones.
693
00:54:23,302 --> 00:54:25,471
It's this one, this one or that one.
694
00:54:26,847 --> 00:54:30,309
You can see these things are--
they're completely turned to stone.
695
00:54:30,392 --> 00:54:32,436
They're completely fossilized,
696
00:54:32,519 --> 00:54:35,272
so they're brittle.
697
00:54:35,355 --> 00:54:38,942
And when erosion comes
and exposes them,
698
00:54:39,026 --> 00:54:40,652
they just shatter.
699
00:54:40,736 --> 00:54:43,864
And so, we have to be careful
to get all of the shattered pieces.
700
00:54:43,947 --> 00:54:48,243
My skeleton has 206 bones.
Same with this person.
701
00:54:48,327 --> 00:54:49,453
They're human.
702
00:54:49,995 --> 00:54:54,416
But now we're looking for literally
probably 4,000 pieces
703
00:54:54,500 --> 00:54:57,586
because all of those bones
each shattered.
704
00:54:57,669 --> 00:55:00,214
I can already see something
that discriminates you and I,
705
00:55:00,297 --> 00:55:02,257
which is, we've been here
the same amount of time.
706
00:55:02,341 --> 00:55:04,718
You've pulled out half a dozen
of these bone fragments.
707
00:55:04,801 --> 00:55:06,094
I haven't found anything.
708
00:55:06,178 --> 00:55:10,265
There's clearly an expertise
that goes with this business.
709
00:55:10,349 --> 00:55:12,226
But the greatest thing about the game
710
00:55:12,309 --> 00:55:15,562
is the combination of the expertise
and the luck.
711
00:55:15,646 --> 00:55:17,022
Like Las Vegas.
712
00:55:17,898 --> 00:55:21,485
Viva Las Vegas!
713
00:55:21,568 --> 00:55:23,445
Courtesy of Bizayu.
714
00:55:23,529 --> 00:55:28,075
Bizayu! Got a limb bone shaft.
Thank you.
715
00:55:29,618 --> 00:55:31,203
What's wrong over there, Clive?
716
00:55:31,286 --> 00:55:32,412
[chuckling]
717
00:55:33,497 --> 00:55:35,499
-Ohh!
-Ohh!
718
00:55:35,582 --> 00:55:38,418
[laughing]
719
00:55:38,502 --> 00:55:40,170
Whoo!
720
00:55:40,254 --> 00:55:41,421
[indistinct chatter]
721
00:55:41,505 --> 00:55:43,715
Check it out!
722
00:55:44,675 --> 00:55:45,843
Clive.
723
00:55:48,428 --> 00:55:50,222
Where does it fit in?
724
00:55:50,305 --> 00:55:54,268
Check it out. This is a distal humerus.
725
00:55:54,351 --> 00:55:55,936
Definitely hominid.
726
00:55:56,520 --> 00:56:02,317
It is right down at the end
of your upper arm bone.
727
00:56:02,401 --> 00:56:04,945
So, if we were to place this
in our anatomy,
728
00:56:05,028 --> 00:56:07,489
we'd set it up something like that.
729
00:56:07,573 --> 00:56:10,450
I figured out, Tim,
I'm holding the brush wrong.
730
00:56:10,534 --> 00:56:12,995
There's got to be something wrong
with my technique.
731
00:56:13,078 --> 00:56:15,497
Come on, Clive,
move over into the hot place there.
732
00:56:15,581 --> 00:56:17,457
I'm moving K.K. out.
This is your chance.
733
00:56:17,541 --> 00:56:20,002
-You don't think it's too hot for me?
-This is your chance.
734
00:56:20,085 --> 00:56:22,504
You got to get in here, man.
This guy's finding everything.
735
00:56:22,588 --> 00:56:24,006
I was right there.
736
00:56:24,089 --> 00:56:25,465
[laughter]
737
00:56:25,549 --> 00:56:26,967
He planted it.
738
00:56:27,050 --> 00:56:28,302
[laughter continues]
739
00:56:28,385 --> 00:56:30,262
It's just to make me look bad, isn't it?
740
00:56:31,179 --> 00:56:33,265
-I'll stick to volcanology.
-Brush, man, brush!
741
00:56:33,348 --> 00:56:34,933
He's going to lose this race.
742
00:56:36,226 --> 00:56:39,354
Piece after piece
after piece after piece.
743
00:56:39,438 --> 00:56:41,565
Maybe we'll get it all
back together again.
744
00:56:42,190 --> 00:56:45,485
If we're lucky.
If Clive would just find something!
745
00:56:46,194 --> 00:56:47,905
-I'm not gonna give up.
-Come on, Clive.
746
00:57:00,167 --> 00:57:02,002
Huh? Look at...
747
00:57:04,880 --> 00:57:06,757
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
748
00:57:06,840 --> 00:57:09,926
Whoa! Bingo!
749
00:57:10,552 --> 00:57:13,138
-[Clive] Is it a human?
-Yeah.
750
00:57:13,221 --> 00:57:15,933
All right! He's got it.
751
00:57:16,767 --> 00:57:18,727
Clive scores!
752
00:57:19,811 --> 00:57:22,064
[sighs]
It's such a relief.
753
00:57:25,108 --> 00:57:27,194
Just out of the dirt,
754
00:57:27,277 --> 00:57:29,529
where it's been 100,000 years, maybe.
755
00:57:31,156 --> 00:57:35,577
A little piece of my direct ancestor,
perhaps.
756
00:57:38,121 --> 00:57:41,959
It's quite heavy. It's, uh, fossilized.
757
00:57:47,923 --> 00:57:50,842
One skeleton from Kenya.
758
00:57:52,219 --> 00:57:54,805
One skeleton from two meters up,
759
00:57:54,888 --> 00:57:58,100
500 meters away,
in the Middle Awash.
760
00:57:58,892 --> 00:58:00,227
And this one.
761
00:58:00,310 --> 00:58:06,650
That's how rare even partial skeletons
of human ancestors are
762
00:58:06,733 --> 00:58:08,318
in that time interval.
763
00:58:08,402 --> 00:58:10,654
Just the first surface sweep,
764
00:58:10,737 --> 00:58:15,033
we've probably got another 30 pieces
of this individual,
765
00:58:15,117 --> 00:58:19,287
and all of this came out
in about 30 minutes
766
00:58:19,371 --> 00:58:21,456
of simply sweeping.
767
00:58:21,540 --> 00:58:25,293
As these piles that we've swept up
go through the sieve,
768
00:58:25,377 --> 00:58:27,963
we're gonna have
a bunch of other pieces of bone
769
00:58:28,046 --> 00:58:31,758
that escaped the brushing
but won't escape our sieve.
770
00:58:31,842 --> 00:58:35,303
Hopefully,
we'll see a cranium take shape,
771
00:58:35,387 --> 00:58:38,181
and we'll come to know
the anatomy of this person.
772
00:58:38,515 --> 00:58:40,976
I just-- What a phenomenal cornucopia
773
00:58:41,059 --> 00:58:43,645
for half an hour's work
with a dustpan and brush.
774
00:58:43,729 --> 00:58:46,606
It's just-- just sensational.
775
00:58:46,690 --> 00:58:49,609
One of three in Africa
ever recovered.
776
00:58:50,819 --> 00:58:52,612
Your timing was very good.
777
00:58:53,822 --> 00:58:56,533
[singing]
778
00:58:56,616 --> 00:58:57,993
What? Wait a minute.
779
00:58:58,076 --> 00:59:00,370
There's a Konso dance going on here
in the background.
780
00:59:00,454 --> 00:59:02,956
-It's gonna be good.
-This is gonna be good.
781
00:59:03,040 --> 00:59:06,626
-Moya!
-Moya means, in Afarinia, "head."
782
00:59:06,710 --> 00:59:08,420
[laughter]
783
00:59:10,380 --> 00:59:12,215
Got the moya.
784
00:59:12,299 --> 00:59:13,800
Whoo!
785
00:59:13,884 --> 00:59:15,510
We got a moya!
786
00:59:15,594 --> 00:59:17,471
[indistinct chatter]
787
00:59:18,263 --> 00:59:19,973
[man singing]
788
00:59:22,225 --> 00:59:24,144
The extraction begins.
789
00:59:24,811 --> 00:59:27,606
[Werner] This fragment
is of particular importance,
790
00:59:27,689 --> 00:59:30,108
as it is part of the cranium.
791
00:59:30,192 --> 00:59:33,153
Time for a Shakespearean moment, perhaps,
792
00:59:33,236 --> 00:59:39,284
to soliloquize on... my deep ancestry.
793
00:59:42,412 --> 00:59:44,122
I can see the curvature.
794
00:59:44,998 --> 00:59:47,042
It's the biggest piece we have so far.
795
00:59:48,210 --> 00:59:50,003
[soft choral music playing]
796
00:59:51,463 --> 00:59:55,467
[Werner] As dusk came,
we made our way to the volcano.
797
00:59:56,093 --> 00:59:57,719
[rumbling]
798
00:59:57,803 --> 01:00:00,263
Looking into the magma at night,
799
01:00:00,347 --> 01:00:04,684
the interior of our planet
reveals its strange beauty.
800
01:01:15,630 --> 01:01:17,883
[indistinct radio chatter]
801
01:01:17,966 --> 01:01:20,177
[Werner]
Compared to Ethiopia,
802
01:01:20,260 --> 01:01:23,638
Iceland's history
is a mere blip in time.
803
01:01:24,306 --> 01:01:27,017
Less than 1,200 years ago,
804
01:01:27,100 --> 01:01:29,352
it was settled by Norsemen.
805
01:01:29,436 --> 01:01:31,855
[ship's horn blowing]
806
01:01:31,938 --> 01:01:34,107
All of Iceland is volcanic,
807
01:01:34,191 --> 01:01:37,611
including the Westman Islands
to the south.
808
01:01:38,862 --> 01:01:42,032
Out of nowhere,
in the early morning hours
809
01:01:42,115 --> 01:01:45,702
of January 23, 1973,
810
01:01:45,785 --> 01:01:47,579
a trench of fire opened
811
01:01:47,662 --> 01:01:50,749
right at the edge
of the town of Heimaey.
812
01:01:52,626 --> 01:01:57,339
The eruption occurred
without any previous warning signs.
813
01:02:39,756 --> 01:02:41,258
[booming]
814
01:02:51,559 --> 01:02:55,855
As bad as it looks,
no one lost their lives here.
815
01:02:55,939 --> 01:02:59,067
The fishing fleet
had just returned to harbor
816
01:02:59,150 --> 01:03:01,945
and rescued many of the inhabitants.
817
01:03:07,951 --> 01:03:10,161
Forty years after the event,
818
01:03:10,245 --> 01:03:12,914
Clive Oppenheimer brought us here.
819
01:03:12,998 --> 01:03:15,208
Grass has grown again,
820
01:03:15,292 --> 01:03:18,253
and there are still curtains
in the windows.
821
01:03:20,422 --> 01:03:23,800
But Heimaey was hardly
an isolated event.
822
01:03:23,883 --> 01:03:28,596
Not a season goes by in Iceland
without an eruption.
823
01:03:31,850 --> 01:03:33,852
[rumbling]
824
01:03:36,813 --> 01:03:39,482
This event happened in 2010
825
01:03:39,566 --> 01:03:45,488
and is remembered as the ash cloud
that paralyzed air traffic for weeks.
826
01:03:46,364 --> 01:03:49,117
Very quickly, the heat from the eruption
827
01:03:49,200 --> 01:03:52,954
melted the thick ice covering
on top of the mountain,
828
01:03:53,038 --> 01:03:55,165
creating enormous floods.
829
01:03:57,625 --> 01:03:59,711
[dramatic choral music plays]
830
01:04:47,425 --> 01:04:50,637
But an event of this magnitude
is nothing
831
01:04:50,720 --> 01:04:53,932
compared to earlier eruptions
in Iceland.
832
01:04:54,015 --> 01:04:58,686
This area is the site
of the so-called Laki eruption.
833
01:04:59,229 --> 01:05:02,607
Beginning on June 8, 1783,
834
01:05:02,690 --> 01:05:06,361
this entire landscape
exploded into flames
835
01:05:06,444 --> 01:05:11,032
as far as the eye could see,
from horizon to horizon.
836
01:05:23,420 --> 01:05:25,880
[Clive] The molten rock
came up to the surface
837
01:05:25,964 --> 01:05:29,509
and rent open
a 27-kilometer-long fissure
838
01:05:29,592 --> 01:05:35,390
that stretches in this direction
for something like half of that distance.
839
01:05:36,683 --> 01:05:40,645
Overall, about 140 vents were active,
840
01:05:40,728 --> 01:05:46,192
building up cones above them
with fire fountains rising into the air.
841
01:05:47,110 --> 01:05:52,157
And after a few months,
the fissure opened up in this direction,
842
01:05:52,240 --> 01:05:55,243
again, another 13, 14 kilometers or so.
843
01:05:56,202 --> 01:05:59,122
And another few dozen vents open up,
844
01:05:59,205 --> 01:06:03,042
and they spewed out lava
to the northeast of us.
845
01:06:03,126 --> 01:06:06,546
Everything we see now
has been set in stone.
846
01:06:06,629 --> 01:06:11,050
The lava has solidified and frozen.
But if we'd been here at the time,
847
01:06:11,134 --> 01:06:14,888
we would've seen jets of fire,
fountains of fire,
848
01:06:14,971 --> 01:06:18,558
rising a kilometer-and-a-half
into the air
849
01:06:18,641 --> 01:06:21,644
and then cascading down
to the ground again.
850
01:06:21,728 --> 01:06:26,524
And that built up the cones,
like the one that we're standing on now.
851
01:06:27,108 --> 01:06:28,818
And from the bases of these cones,
852
01:06:28,902 --> 01:06:31,529
lava gushed out
at a phenomenal rate.
853
01:06:31,613 --> 01:06:34,240
This is very, very hot lava,
very, very fluid,
854
01:06:34,324 --> 01:06:36,409
and it poured down the valleys,
855
01:06:36,493 --> 01:06:40,455
filling them to depths
of 100, 150 meters.
856
01:06:53,551 --> 01:06:55,803
[Werner]
These primordial occurrences
857
01:06:55,887 --> 01:07:01,226
influenced the sense of mythical poetry
of the Icelanders.
858
01:07:01,309 --> 01:07:05,605
There is a text that defines
the spirit of the people.
859
01:07:05,939 --> 01:07:08,608
It exists only in a single manuscript.
860
01:07:08,691 --> 01:07:14,906
For Iceland, it is as important
as the Dead Sea Scrolls are for Israel.
861
01:07:15,615 --> 01:07:19,452
The codex was given as a present
to the king of Denmark
862
01:07:19,536 --> 01:07:23,081
by an Icelandic bishop
in the 17th century.
863
01:07:23,164 --> 01:07:27,919
Hence its name:
The Royal Codex, or Codex Regius.
864
01:07:28,378 --> 01:07:32,966
In 1971,
Denmark returned it to Iceland.
865
01:07:33,049 --> 01:07:36,719
Knowing that it constituted
the soul of the country,
866
01:07:36,803 --> 01:07:40,473
the codex was put
on Denmark's largest battleship
867
01:07:40,557 --> 01:07:43,184
and escorted by a whole fleet.
868
01:07:43,268 --> 01:07:46,396
No amount of money in the world
would be enough
869
01:07:46,479 --> 01:07:49,440
to purchase this manuscript
from Iceland,
870
01:07:49,524 --> 01:07:53,695
although it is battered and crumpled
and filled with holes.
871
01:07:56,656 --> 01:08:00,451
In the opening passage, called
"The Prophecy of the Seeress,"
872
01:08:00,535 --> 01:08:05,623
there is an apocalyptic vision
of the end of the pagan gods.
873
01:08:05,707 --> 01:08:09,252
This seems to describe
a huge volcanic event.
874
01:08:11,087 --> 01:08:15,925
"'Neath the sea the land sinketh,
the sun dimmeth,
875
01:08:16,009 --> 01:08:19,554
from the heavens
fall the fair, bright stars;
876
01:08:20,221 --> 01:08:23,933
gusheth forth steam and gutting fire,
877
01:08:24,017 --> 01:08:28,021
to very heaven soar
the hurtling flames.
878
01:08:29,606 --> 01:08:33,776
The fates I fathom,
yet farther I see:
879
01:08:33,860 --> 01:08:37,363
of the mighty gods
the engulfing doom.
880
01:08:39,032 --> 01:08:41,909
Comes the darksome dragon flying,
881
01:08:41,993 --> 01:08:46,664
Níthhogg,
upward from the Nitha Fells.
882
01:08:46,748 --> 01:08:51,711
He bears in his pinions
as the plains he o'erflies,
883
01:08:51,794 --> 01:08:55,381
naked corpses:
now he will sink."
884
01:09:51,979 --> 01:09:54,148
[men singing in Korean]
885
01:10:02,323 --> 01:10:05,451
Right on the border with China
lies a volcano
886
01:10:05,535 --> 01:10:08,705
in the Democratic People's Republic
of Korea,
887
01:10:08,788 --> 01:10:11,666
better known in the West
as North Korea.
888
01:10:11,749 --> 01:10:15,712
It has been inactive
for more than 1,000 years,
889
01:10:15,795 --> 01:10:19,757
but it plays a huge role
in the imagination of the people.
890
01:10:21,134 --> 01:10:24,804
For millennia, it was considered
the mythical birthplace
891
01:10:24,887 --> 01:10:26,889
of the Korean nation.
892
01:10:26,973 --> 01:10:31,269
Today, the socialist government
co-opts this myth.
893
01:10:32,854 --> 01:10:35,481
This is the site of pilgrimages.
894
01:10:36,649 --> 01:10:42,572
Out of the mist, we saw a formation
of uniformed men with a flag emerging.
895
01:10:42,655 --> 01:10:44,574
We believed they were soldiers,
896
01:10:44,657 --> 01:10:47,827
but it turned out
they were university students
897
01:10:47,910 --> 01:10:52,123
come to rejoice in the power
that emanates from this place.
898
01:10:52,206 --> 01:10:54,876
[singing continues]
899
01:10:54,959 --> 01:10:56,961
[men speaking Korean]
900
01:10:59,005 --> 01:11:01,048
[cheering]
901
01:11:13,060 --> 01:11:16,272
And now they are singing
in praise of Mount Paektu.
902
01:11:16,355 --> 01:11:18,399
[singing in Korean]
903
01:11:34,165 --> 01:11:37,168
Everything is different in North Korea.
904
01:11:37,251 --> 01:11:41,547
Imagine if these were students
at a campus in California.
905
01:12:25,174 --> 01:12:26,175
[singing ends]
906
01:12:26,259 --> 01:12:30,054
A unique opportunity
presented itself to us.
907
01:12:30,137 --> 01:12:33,140
The near-impervious country
opened its doors
908
01:12:33,224 --> 01:12:35,518
to a joint scientific program
909
01:12:35,601 --> 01:12:40,815
between the University of Cambridge
and North Korean volcanologists.
910
01:12:40,898 --> 01:12:44,443
And so we were invited to film there.
911
01:12:44,527 --> 01:12:47,822
[singing continues]
912
01:12:51,492 --> 01:12:55,037
But everything we saw
was an act of presentation,
913
01:12:55,121 --> 01:12:56,873
and we went for it.
914
01:12:56,956 --> 01:13:00,376
There is no other way
to see this enigmatic country
915
01:13:00,459 --> 01:13:03,754
other than how it wants
to present itself.
916
01:13:05,006 --> 01:13:09,552
In propaganda films seen frequently
on North Korean television,
917
01:13:09,635 --> 01:13:14,432
the images display monumental unity
and fervent emotion,
918
01:13:14,515 --> 01:13:17,059
all dedicated to the leadership.
919
01:13:17,143 --> 01:13:19,562
[cheering]
920
01:13:19,645 --> 01:13:22,398
[patriotic music playing]
921
01:13:28,821 --> 01:13:30,781
[female presenter speaking Korean]
922
01:14:04,273 --> 01:14:07,735
[presenter's voice continues,
slowly fades]
923
01:14:08,611 --> 01:14:12,114
One thing that's remarkable
and I'm very aware of as I work here
924
01:14:12,198 --> 01:14:14,200
is the sanctity of this mountain.
925
01:14:14,283 --> 01:14:18,496
This has a very long history,
going back 5,000 years,
926
01:14:18,579 --> 01:14:23,584
as the mythical birthplace
of the Korean people from this volcano.
927
01:14:23,918 --> 01:14:27,171
And through the medieval period
and to the more modern period,
928
01:14:27,254 --> 01:14:29,882
this is the sacred mountain
of the revolution,
929
01:14:29,966 --> 01:14:32,885
where the struggle was fought
against Japanese occupation
930
01:14:32,969 --> 01:14:34,553
70 years ago.
931
01:14:34,637 --> 01:14:39,308
And the spirit of the mountain
is in all the Korean people,
932
01:14:39,392 --> 01:14:42,561
and this is something very, very special
about this place.
933
01:14:44,480 --> 01:14:48,109
It seems like we're on a tranquil
boat trip on a Norwegian fjord,
934
01:14:48,192 --> 01:14:50,194
but actually we're at ground zero
935
01:14:50,277 --> 01:14:53,572
of what was a most monumental
volcanic eruption
936
01:14:53,656 --> 01:14:57,118
nearly 1,100 years ago,
the so-called Millennium eruption.
937
01:14:57,868 --> 01:15:00,454
The crater here
is about three miles across.
938
01:15:00,538 --> 01:15:03,874
And actually these cliffs are all part
of the crater rim,
939
01:15:03,958 --> 01:15:06,335
all around us, 360 degrees.
940
01:15:07,044 --> 01:15:09,505
The amount of pumice
that came out in the eruption
941
01:15:09,588 --> 01:15:11,757
would be enough to bury
the whole of New York City.
942
01:15:11,841 --> 01:15:14,927
Only the highest buildings
would poke out of the top.
943
01:15:15,011 --> 01:15:17,930
In a way, if you look at the crater
surrounding us
944
01:15:18,014 --> 01:15:21,559
and imagine that once there was a cone
built over our heads,
945
01:15:21,642 --> 01:15:26,981
that missing volume alone
accounts for a huge amount of rock
946
01:15:27,064 --> 01:15:29,233
and pumice and lava.
947
01:15:29,316 --> 01:15:32,820
So, this has been spewed out
over the Korean peninsula,
948
01:15:32,903 --> 01:15:36,115
it's in parts of China,
it's in parts of Russia,
949
01:15:36,198 --> 01:15:39,744
and there's even
about three inches of ash
950
01:15:39,827 --> 01:15:43,205
that fell over parts of Japan
that you can still find today.
951
01:15:44,665 --> 01:15:48,794
Around ten years ago,
there was a swarm of earthquakes
952
01:15:48,878 --> 01:15:51,297
that were detected
by sensitive instruments
953
01:15:51,380 --> 01:15:52,673
around the mountain,
954
01:15:52,757 --> 01:15:56,719
and that really ignited
the scientific interest in the volcano
955
01:15:56,802 --> 01:15:59,972
and whether there might be
signs of reawakening.
956
01:16:01,932 --> 01:16:03,392
Over the last few years,
957
01:16:03,476 --> 01:16:06,103
we've built a really strong
and unique collaboration
958
01:16:06,187 --> 01:16:08,022
with scientists from Pyongyang
959
01:16:08,105 --> 01:16:10,357
who've worked here for 10, 20 years,
960
01:16:10,441 --> 01:16:14,361
so they have very detailed knowledge
of the structure of the volcano.
961
01:16:14,445 --> 01:16:16,322
So, we've learnt a lot from them.
962
01:16:16,405 --> 01:16:20,576
It's very difficult for scientists here
to attend international conferences,
963
01:16:20,659 --> 01:16:24,080
so we've really shared our experiences
and expertise
964
01:16:24,163 --> 01:16:26,582
to better understand this volcano.
965
01:16:26,665 --> 01:16:28,292
So, two years of data.
966
01:16:28,375 --> 01:16:31,378
Yeah, we've collected
two years of seismic data.
967
01:16:31,462 --> 01:16:35,132
Uh, which is pretty incredible. Um...
968
01:16:35,216 --> 01:16:40,221
And the seismometer sitting here
will record all the earthquakes.
969
01:16:40,304 --> 01:16:44,266
[Clive] It looks just like a paint pot
linked to a laptop,
970
01:16:44,350 --> 01:16:47,853
and yet that's recorded
this unique data service,
971
01:16:47,937 --> 01:16:49,480
so that's really something.
972
01:16:49,563 --> 01:16:51,357
Looks can be deceptive.
973
01:16:51,440 --> 01:16:56,862
It's an incredibly sensitive instrument
in there.
974
01:16:56,946 --> 01:17:01,158
So, it records, you know,
um, just minor movements.
975
01:17:01,242 --> 01:17:04,787
Even us walking around here
will be creating noise.
976
01:17:04,870 --> 01:17:06,997
So, this is Mr. Yun Yong-Gun.
977
01:17:07,081 --> 01:17:10,668
He's the vice-director
of the Earthquake Administration
978
01:17:10,751 --> 01:17:15,256
and kind of leads the DPRK side
of the project.
979
01:17:16,173 --> 01:17:18,134
[speaking Korean]
980
01:17:24,140 --> 01:17:28,185
The Earthquake Administration of
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
981
01:17:28,269 --> 01:17:33,107
pays special attention to this project
of international joint research.
982
01:17:33,190 --> 01:17:34,650
[speaking Korean]
983
01:17:46,078 --> 01:17:49,039
Great importance is given to this mountain
984
01:17:49,123 --> 01:17:53,085
just because around this mountain,
our great leader President Kim Il-sung
985
01:17:53,169 --> 01:17:55,963
fought against the Japanese imperialists.
986
01:17:57,715 --> 01:18:00,092
[Werner]
Kim Il-sung, the founding father
987
01:18:00,176 --> 01:18:02,553
of the communist North Korean state,
988
01:18:02,636 --> 01:18:05,764
appropriated the myth of the volcano.
989
01:18:06,640 --> 01:18:09,727
He established his secret
military headquarters
990
01:18:09,810 --> 01:18:13,105
in a forest right here
at the foot of the mountain,
991
01:18:13,189 --> 01:18:18,235
thus transferring its power and dynamic
into his revolution.
992
01:18:22,698 --> 01:18:26,702
This monument is a gateway
to the sacred ground.
993
01:18:42,218 --> 01:18:44,261
[speaking Korean]
994
01:18:47,556 --> 01:18:50,809
[Han Myong Il] This group sculpture
is about the camping life of the guerillas
995
01:18:50,893 --> 01:18:52,311
in Chongbong Camp.
996
01:18:53,270 --> 01:18:55,981
They were very much moved
to put their foot
997
01:18:56,065 --> 01:18:59,735
the first time on the homeland,
and they could not sleep.
998
01:19:01,654 --> 01:19:04,114
You can see there are lady guerrillas
999
01:19:04,198 --> 01:19:07,826
who are now sewing the buttons
to the clothes.
1000
01:19:07,910 --> 01:19:11,455
A guerrilla who is reading a book
under the fire.
1001
01:19:11,538 --> 01:19:15,376
A little guerrilla is now dreaming
about returning back home
1002
01:19:15,459 --> 01:19:17,378
after the liberation of their country,
1003
01:19:17,461 --> 01:19:21,966
and one of the guerrillas
is now playing the pipe.
1004
01:19:22,049 --> 01:19:23,842
[continues in Korean]
1005
01:19:23,926 --> 01:19:29,265
Those guerrillas are now rejoicing
over the sight of Mount Paektu.
1006
01:19:31,308 --> 01:19:34,061
From the 21st of July, 1979,
1007
01:19:34,144 --> 01:19:37,231
our great leader
Generalissimo Kim Jong-il
1008
01:19:37,314 --> 01:19:40,901
came to this place
and particularly highly appreciated
1009
01:19:40,985 --> 01:19:44,154
that that lady,
who is now standing in solitude,
1010
01:19:44,238 --> 01:19:46,031
was greatly depicted.
1011
01:19:56,875 --> 01:19:58,294
[speaking Korean]
1012
01:19:59,503 --> 01:20:03,299
This is the biggest lake, number one.
1013
01:20:03,382 --> 01:20:06,051
And over there we have
the lake number two.
1014
01:20:07,761 --> 01:20:10,931
And a little further up,
we have the lake number three.
1015
01:20:12,057 --> 01:20:18,147
When our great leader Generalissimo
Kim Jong-il came here in March, 2003,
1016
01:20:18,230 --> 01:20:21,233
he highly appreciated
the beauty of these trees.
1017
01:20:24,320 --> 01:20:26,196
[indistinct chatter]
1018
01:20:35,039 --> 01:20:36,874
[woman speaking Korean]
1019
01:20:38,125 --> 01:20:42,254
This is the mosaic mural painting
The Glory of February.
1020
01:20:51,555 --> 01:20:54,933
The mural painting represents
the great leader President Kim Il-sung
1021
01:20:55,017 --> 01:20:57,686
and the anti-Japanese hero
Kim Jong-suk,
1022
01:20:57,770 --> 01:21:00,647
who are celebrating
their first birth anniversary
1023
01:21:00,731 --> 01:21:02,941
of the great leader Kim Jong-il.
1024
01:21:07,321 --> 01:21:11,367
[Werner] And here,
the secret log cabin of Kim Il-sung.
1025
01:21:11,450 --> 01:21:14,286
Daily, thousands of people
make their pilgrimage
1026
01:21:14,370 --> 01:21:16,205
to this humble place.
1027
01:21:18,415 --> 01:21:23,253
In the Christian world, this would be
like visiting the birthplace of Jesus,
1028
01:21:23,337 --> 01:21:25,255
the stable in Bethlehem.
1029
01:21:25,339 --> 01:21:27,049
[woman speaking Korean]
1030
01:21:28,634 --> 01:21:30,052
[Werner]
For North Koreans...
1031
01:21:30,803 --> 01:21:34,598
the founding father of their revolution
still lives on.
1032
01:21:35,557 --> 01:21:38,519
Kim Il-sung became
president of the nation,
1033
01:21:38,602 --> 01:21:40,938
and then president for life.
1034
01:21:41,021 --> 01:21:45,859
After his death,
he was declared president for eternity.
1035
01:21:52,991 --> 01:21:58,038
The propaganda appears to create
a quasi-religious experience.
1036
01:22:01,625 --> 01:22:05,003
[Han Myong Il] Actually,
the life in the secret camp in those days
1037
01:22:05,087 --> 01:22:08,132
was so difficult
that they had no blankets at all.
1038
01:22:08,215 --> 01:22:12,886
That is why the guerrilla soldiers,
collected their pad wads
1039
01:22:12,970 --> 01:22:15,305
from their own padded clothes,
1040
01:22:15,389 --> 01:22:20,185
and then made that blanket
for our dear Kim Jong-il.
1041
01:22:25,983 --> 01:22:29,236
[Werner] The birthplace
of the socialist revolution
1042
01:22:29,319 --> 01:22:32,239
manifests itself
in collective formations
1043
01:22:32,322 --> 01:22:34,032
of the North Koreans.
1044
01:22:34,116 --> 01:22:36,076
[orchestral music playing]
1045
01:22:36,160 --> 01:22:38,662
In the country's biggest stadium,
1046
01:22:38,745 --> 01:22:44,877
more than 100,000 people participate
in creating a unique art form.
1047
01:22:47,337 --> 01:22:50,841
The picture of the hut in the snow
is not a painting.
1048
01:22:50,924 --> 01:22:53,510
It is made of human pixels.
1049
01:22:54,803 --> 01:22:57,139
And this is how it's done.
1050
01:22:57,222 --> 01:23:03,103
A prearranged pattern of color cards
is held and flipped over in sync.
1051
01:23:06,356 --> 01:23:11,028
Here, the rising sun over the landscape
of Mount Paektu.
1052
01:23:11,111 --> 01:23:12,779
[orchestral music playing]
1053
01:23:31,256 --> 01:23:34,510
And here, father and son
of the revolution.
1054
01:23:36,094 --> 01:23:39,264
All this appears like a cosmic metaphor
1055
01:23:39,348 --> 01:23:42,601
for a society aligned
in a unified pattern
1056
01:23:42,684 --> 01:23:45,103
behind a common ideology.
1057
01:24:06,166 --> 01:24:09,002
But in all this display of the masses,
1058
01:24:09,086 --> 01:24:12,839
I find an underlying emptiness
and solitude.
1059
01:24:25,060 --> 01:24:31,358
Because of the North Korean ideology
of political and economic self-reliance,
1060
01:24:31,441 --> 01:24:35,153
and because
of internationally-imposed sanctions,
1061
01:24:35,237 --> 01:24:37,114
the country is unique.
1062
01:24:37,823 --> 01:24:41,243
The population at large
has very limited contact
1063
01:24:41,326 --> 01:24:43,412
with the outside world.
1064
01:24:43,495 --> 01:24:48,375
There are no international phone lines
or Internet available to the public,
1065
01:24:48,458 --> 01:24:52,504
no radio or television
from the outside world.
1066
01:24:53,505 --> 01:24:56,425
To our eyes,
it is strange to see people
1067
01:24:56,508 --> 01:24:59,052
not glued to their cell phones.
1068
01:25:00,512 --> 01:25:02,806
There is no advertising anywhere.
1069
01:25:02,889 --> 01:25:06,560
Instead,
just the ever-present propaganda.
1070
01:25:07,644 --> 01:25:09,730
There are no newsstands,
1071
01:25:09,813 --> 01:25:13,025
only the official party newspaper
on display.
1072
01:26:03,825 --> 01:26:07,412
In the subway, in the streets,
almost everywhere,
1073
01:26:07,496 --> 01:26:12,876
you'll find pictures of the leaders,
always in the vicinity of the volcano.
1074
01:26:19,675 --> 01:26:24,763
Back on the mountain, we spoke
to a historian who was assigned to us.
1075
01:26:26,056 --> 01:26:29,685
We asked him about the photos
and the precise location
1076
01:26:29,768 --> 01:26:31,937
of where they had been taken.
1077
01:26:32,020 --> 01:26:36,066
He probably stood exactly at the place
you are standing now.
1078
01:26:36,149 --> 01:26:38,402
[speaking Korean]
1079
01:26:48,161 --> 01:26:50,956
Not this place, but up there
on the Janggun Peak.
1080
01:26:51,039 --> 01:26:53,875
[Werner] Yeah. They're famous photos.
We know them.
1081
01:26:55,961 --> 01:27:00,298
About this monument,
it dates back to what time, roughly?
1082
01:27:00,382 --> 01:27:02,008
[speaking Korean]
1083
01:27:10,726 --> 01:27:13,729
[Han Myong Il]
It dates back to the early 20th century.
1084
01:27:13,812 --> 01:27:19,443
It was erected by the heavenly people
living around this area.
1085
01:27:19,526 --> 01:27:22,195
And, according to the inscription
on the monument,
1086
01:27:22,279 --> 01:27:25,574
they prayed to Mount Paektu
and Lake Chon here
1087
01:27:25,657 --> 01:27:28,618
to give birth to a prominent person
1088
01:27:28,702 --> 01:27:33,331
who can give prosperity and happiness
to the Korean nation.
1089
01:27:33,415 --> 01:27:36,001
[Werner]
And the person materialized?
1090
01:27:36,084 --> 01:27:37,836
[speaking Korean]
1091
01:27:40,839 --> 01:27:42,174
You are quite right.
1092
01:27:42,924 --> 01:27:47,137
This kind of miserable nation
was rescued and saved
1093
01:27:47,220 --> 01:27:52,309
just by our great leader,
the fearless patriot Kim Il-sung,
1094
01:27:52,392 --> 01:27:54,853
who fought against
the Japanese imperialists.
1095
01:27:54,936 --> 01:27:57,814
[Werner] And how do you feel,
as a historian,
1096
01:27:57,898 --> 01:28:01,234
with all the thousands of years
behind you,
1097
01:28:01,318 --> 01:28:05,655
how do you feel personally?
Is there pride? Is there patriotism?
1098
01:28:06,740 --> 01:28:07,741
Eh...
1099
01:28:09,284 --> 01:28:11,119
[speaking Korean]
1100
01:28:13,205 --> 01:28:16,833
[Werner] My question was meant
to elicit a personal response.
1101
01:28:16,917 --> 01:28:20,879
However, personal opinions
seem to us a mirror image
1102
01:28:20,962 --> 01:28:25,509
of the omnipotent ideology
of the people and their leadership.
1103
01:28:28,804 --> 01:28:32,390
All the Korean people
frequently climb up to this mountain,
1104
01:28:32,474 --> 01:28:36,228
but every time whenever
they climb up this mountain,
1105
01:28:36,311 --> 01:28:39,105
they have a new feeling,
a solemn feeling,
1106
01:28:39,189 --> 01:28:42,901
and at the same time,
they make up a new determination
1107
01:28:42,984 --> 01:28:46,404
to work harder for the country
with patriotism.
1108
01:28:46,488 --> 01:28:50,492
And all the Korean people
are now singing the song
1109
01:28:50,575 --> 01:28:54,704
whose title is
"Let Us Go to Mount Paektu."
1110
01:28:54,788 --> 01:28:59,584
And it clearly reflects
the spirit of the Korean people.
1111
01:28:59,668 --> 01:29:01,628
[singing in Korean]
1112
01:29:13,431 --> 01:29:15,308
[singing continues]
1113
01:29:48,758 --> 01:29:51,136
[singing continues]
1114
01:30:07,986 --> 01:30:09,446
[playing classical music]
1115
01:30:20,415 --> 01:30:23,209
[speaking Korean]
1116
01:30:33,094 --> 01:30:35,889
[soft choral music playing]
1117
01:30:38,183 --> 01:30:40,644
[Werner]
We are back now where we started,
1118
01:30:40,727 --> 01:30:43,355
the Vanuatu Archipelago,
1119
01:30:43,438 --> 01:30:46,775
this time on Tanna Island
in the south.
1120
01:30:47,776 --> 01:30:51,863
There is an active volcano here,
Mount Yasur.
1121
01:31:17,013 --> 01:31:18,598
[rumbling]
1122
01:33:05,497 --> 01:33:07,499
[people singing]
1123
01:33:07,582 --> 01:33:12,462
[Werner] Similar to North Korea,
this volcano has created a new god.
1124
01:33:12,545 --> 01:33:15,673
The name of the deity: John Frum,
1125
01:33:15,757 --> 01:33:20,345
the mythical American G.I.
who descended from the clouds.
1126
01:33:22,180 --> 01:33:26,101
Each Friday night,
the islanders celebrate his cult.
1127
01:33:26,184 --> 01:33:28,561
[music playing, people singing]
1128
01:34:21,739 --> 01:34:24,492
[low, distant rumbling]
1129
01:34:30,874 --> 01:34:33,710
Chief Isaac of this John Frum village
1130
01:34:33,793 --> 01:34:37,672
tightly controls the dogma
of the new faith.
1131
01:34:37,755 --> 01:34:42,176
Different denominations
and even a schism in the church
1132
01:34:42,260 --> 01:34:44,846
seem to have materialized,
1133
01:34:44,929 --> 01:34:48,683
and so we were only allowed
to speak to him and his son.
1134
01:34:50,768 --> 01:34:55,899
He flies the Stars and Stripes
because John Frum is an American
1135
01:34:55,982 --> 01:35:01,404
who promises to return
with copious cargos of consumer goods.
1136
01:35:03,781 --> 01:35:08,286
I understand that John Frum
one day will appear to all the people
1137
01:35:08,369 --> 01:35:11,456
and that he will bring many things--
1138
01:35:11,539 --> 01:35:15,960
chewing gum, fridges, Cadillacs,
maybe Boeing airplanes.
1139
01:35:16,461 --> 01:35:19,380
[speaking Narak]
1140
01:35:22,050 --> 01:35:24,594
-[translator] He thinks that--
-[speaking Narak]
1141
01:35:24,677 --> 01:35:29,432
He says that it is a promise
that was made one day.
1142
01:35:34,145 --> 01:35:37,148
He says that it is a promise
made by the spirit
1143
01:35:37,231 --> 01:35:42,403
that one day, it will be like
the Americans will do all that.
1144
01:35:42,487 --> 01:35:45,698
Is John Frum like a god?
1145
01:35:45,782 --> 01:35:47,200
Mm-hmm.
1146
01:35:47,283 --> 01:35:50,286
[translator]
John Frum is like a god to us.
1147
01:35:50,912 --> 01:35:52,080
The one god?
1148
01:35:54,040 --> 01:35:55,166
And--
1149
01:35:55,249 --> 01:35:57,126
[speaking Narak]
1150
01:35:58,461 --> 01:36:00,964
[translator] John Frum is like a god,
and it is like--
1151
01:36:01,047 --> 01:36:02,966
[speaking Narak]
1152
01:36:07,929 --> 01:36:11,933
[translator]
John Frum is like a gate.
1153
01:36:12,016 --> 01:36:16,187
It is like Jesus. You have to pass through
before going to God.
1154
01:36:18,064 --> 01:36:20,775
[Clive]
What happens when people die?
1155
01:36:20,858 --> 01:36:22,568
[speaking Narak]
1156
01:36:28,950 --> 01:36:32,745
[translator] His believing
is that when the dead are buried,
1157
01:36:32,829 --> 01:36:34,789
they are in a room...
1158
01:36:36,290 --> 01:36:39,585
waiting for the Last Kingdom.
1159
01:36:40,878 --> 01:36:43,798
Will they meet John Frum
in the Last Kingdom?
1160
01:36:44,424 --> 01:36:47,218
[translator speaking Narak]
1161
01:36:51,139 --> 01:36:54,767
[translator]
So, he thinks that the Last Kingdom,
1162
01:36:54,851 --> 01:36:57,812
John Frum is like a walking person,
like Jesus.
1163
01:36:57,895 --> 01:37:02,191
In the Last Kingdom, it is thought
that he'll be searching for people.
1164
01:37:03,234 --> 01:37:06,863
[Werner] His son had
direct encounters with John Frum.
1165
01:37:06,946 --> 01:37:10,533
You're next in line to be chief
of this John Frum village,
1166
01:37:10,616 --> 01:37:14,495
and I understand that you have spent time
living in the volcano.
1167
01:37:14,579 --> 01:37:17,123
You spent some nights there.
What were you doing,
1168
01:37:17,206 --> 01:37:20,668
and did you speak to John Frum
while you were there?
1169
01:37:21,836 --> 01:37:23,880
[speaking Narak]
1170
01:37:27,884 --> 01:37:30,720
[translator]
He's answering that yes, he's been there.
1171
01:37:30,803 --> 01:37:33,514
He stayed there for one full night.
1172
01:37:34,807 --> 01:37:38,519
He had seen someone
and he spoke to him.
1173
01:37:39,687 --> 01:37:45,359
We-- It's said that John Frum
uses the volcano as a portal,
1174
01:37:45,443 --> 01:37:49,655
a doorway, to travel
from Tanna to America.
1175
01:37:49,739 --> 01:37:52,742
Does John Frum live inside the volcano?
1176
01:37:54,368 --> 01:37:56,329
[speaking Narak]
1177
01:38:06,381 --> 01:38:11,511
He's telling us that John Frum
has a special room that he's living in.
1178
01:38:11,594 --> 01:38:15,390
But there is one day that we will meet him
1179
01:38:15,473 --> 01:38:18,810
in a different form of a person,
like Jesus.
1180
01:38:23,648 --> 01:38:25,900
[Clive]
When I was on the volcano...
1181
01:38:26,567 --> 01:38:30,488
I found it amazing to watch,
but also quite terrifying.
1182
01:38:30,571 --> 01:38:34,492
How did you feel spending a whole night
up in the crater?
1183
01:38:34,575 --> 01:38:36,577
Were you afraid?
1184
01:38:38,246 --> 01:38:40,081
[Moli speaking Narak]
1185
01:38:51,300 --> 01:38:54,554
[translator] He's telling us
that when he went there
1186
01:38:54,637 --> 01:38:56,472
and spent the night,
he wasn't afraid
1187
01:38:56,556 --> 01:38:59,642
because he knows that
that is God,
1188
01:38:59,725 --> 01:39:04,605
and He's the one
that's allowing him to go there.
1189
01:39:07,775 --> 01:39:11,237
[speaking Narak]
1190
01:39:12,655 --> 01:39:16,450
So, he went inside the volcano
and he saw Him,
1191
01:39:16,534 --> 01:39:19,537
and he spoke to Him.
They had a conversation.
1192
01:39:22,290 --> 01:39:25,877
[Clive] Are you allowed to tell us
what the conversation was about?
1193
01:39:27,170 --> 01:39:28,838
[speaking Narak]
1194
01:39:37,180 --> 01:39:43,227
[translator] He says that the message
that the spirit gave to him,
1195
01:39:43,311 --> 01:39:45,855
he didn't tell to his father
1196
01:39:45,938 --> 01:39:49,275
and even the followers
that are following John Frum.
1197
01:39:49,358 --> 01:39:50,818
It is only for him.
1198
01:39:50,902 --> 01:39:55,114
I'm a volcano man.
You can't whisper it to me in my ear?
1199
01:39:59,744 --> 01:40:02,121
[dog barking]
1200
01:40:03,331 --> 01:40:05,416
[hammering noises nearby]
1201
01:40:13,633 --> 01:40:15,968
[rooster crows]
1202
01:40:28,522 --> 01:40:30,399
[rumbling]
1203
01:40:34,987 --> 01:40:38,241
[Werner] It is hard
to take your eyes off the fire
1204
01:40:38,324 --> 01:40:41,369
that burns deep under our feet,
1205
01:40:41,452 --> 01:40:46,540
everywhere, under the crust
of the continents and sea beds.
1206
01:40:46,624 --> 01:40:49,585
It is a fire that wants to burst forth,
1207
01:40:49,669 --> 01:40:54,465
and it could not care less
about what we are doing up here.
1208
01:40:59,637 --> 01:41:02,807
[choral music playing]
1209
01:41:02,890 --> 01:41:07,728
This boiling mass
is just monumentally indifferent
1210
01:41:07,812 --> 01:41:12,275
to scurrying roaches,
retarded reptiles
1211
01:41:12,358 --> 01:41:14,819
and vapid humans alike.
1212
01:41:18,656 --> 01:41:20,700
[Mael]
When I went there...
1213
01:41:21,742 --> 01:41:26,080
I started to walk to the lava lake.
1214
01:41:27,290 --> 01:41:32,712
I didn't think that I would see something
like what I saw.
1215
01:41:33,546 --> 01:41:35,464
And when I looked down there...
1216
01:41:37,258 --> 01:41:43,097
I thought that I was looking
at the seawater.
1217
01:41:45,308 --> 01:41:47,018
But it was red.
1218
01:41:49,103 --> 01:41:50,896
And I didn't understand.
1219
01:41:52,857 --> 01:41:58,362
I started to think about
why there's water there
1220
01:41:58,446 --> 01:42:00,239
and the water is red.
1221
01:42:01,699 --> 01:42:03,326
I didn't understand.
1222
01:42:06,579 --> 01:42:11,542
I thought that perhaps this fire
1223
01:42:11,626 --> 01:42:15,379
will someday come
to that seawater.
1224
01:42:17,381 --> 01:42:19,133
So, I was very frightened.
1225
01:42:26,182 --> 01:42:32,021
According to our culture,
I think the volcano will...
1226
01:42:32,104 --> 01:42:33,731
will destroy everything.
1227
01:42:35,149 --> 01:42:37,026
I believe that.
1228
01:42:39,111 --> 01:42:42,782
Because I hear about,
from various people,
1229
01:42:42,865 --> 01:42:48,412
that there are volcanoes
around the world.
1230
01:42:48,496 --> 01:42:52,667
And I think that, uh...
I believe that someday
1231
01:42:52,750 --> 01:42:55,669
this volcano will erupt,
1232
01:42:55,753 --> 01:42:58,631
and the one at Lopevi,
1233
01:42:58,714 --> 01:43:01,592
and they will join together
and will burn everybody.
1234
01:43:01,675 --> 01:43:03,928
This is what I'm thinking of.
1235
01:43:04,804 --> 01:43:07,306
I think everything will melt.
1236
01:43:08,307 --> 01:43:09,850
That's what I'm thinking.
1237
01:43:11,977 --> 01:43:13,687
Everything will melt.
1238
01:43:15,773 --> 01:43:19,276
The stone, the soil...
1239
01:43:20,403 --> 01:43:23,823
trees and everything, will melt.
1240
01:43:25,032 --> 01:43:26,242
Like water.
1241
01:43:31,497 --> 01:43:37,044
And so, I believe that this volcano
will destroy this world someday.
1242
01:43:40,715 --> 01:43:43,008
[choral music playing]
1243
01:43:43,092 --> 01:43:45,219
[rumbling]
1244
01:44:16,500 --> 01:44:19,128
[choral music continues]