1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:04,000 WILLIAM SHATNER: A massive golden boulder, 2 00:00:04,167 --> 00:00:05,708 dangling on a cliff, 3 00:00:05,833 --> 00:00:10,083 a 2,000-year-old mechanical computer 4 00:00:10,208 --> 00:00:12,083 built by the ancients, 5 00:00:12,208 --> 00:00:15,125 and giant messages to the gods 6 00:00:15,250 --> 00:00:19,333 that are only visible from the sky. 7 00:00:19,458 --> 00:00:23,292 Today, we imagine ourselves to have reached the pinnacle 8 00:00:23,375 --> 00:00:25,333 of humanity's achievements. 9 00:00:25,458 --> 00:00:29,167 But despite all the advancements of our modern world, 10 00:00:29,250 --> 00:00:34,125 the sight of a towering pyramid or an ancient monolith 11 00:00:34,250 --> 00:00:39,042 still fills us with awe, and makes us ask the question-- 12 00:00:39,208 --> 00:00:42,792 how were ancient people with limited technology 13 00:00:42,917 --> 00:00:46,333 able to build such incredible wonders? 14 00:00:46,458 --> 00:00:48,750 Well, that is what we'll try and find out. 15 00:00:48,875 --> 00:00:51,083 ♪ ♪ 16 00:01:07,333 --> 00:01:09,458 Here, at this archaeological site 17 00:01:09,542 --> 00:01:13,292 located in the Beqaa Valley, is an ancient rock quarry 18 00:01:13,417 --> 00:01:15,417 that contains giant stones 19 00:01:15,542 --> 00:01:20,542 that were carved by ancient man thousands of years ago. 20 00:01:20,708 --> 00:01:25,458 And some of these rectangular blocks are so massive 21 00:01:25,542 --> 00:01:29,375 that they are larger than most railroad cars. 22 00:01:29,500 --> 00:01:31,375 ANDREW COLLINS: What's so fascinating 23 00:01:31,500 --> 00:01:34,625 about the Baalbek stones is their sheer size, 24 00:01:34,708 --> 00:01:38,333 because there is nothing else in the world like it. 25 00:01:38,417 --> 00:01:44,500 One of the huge blocks has been known for many centuries, 26 00:01:44,625 --> 00:01:48,667 and is called "The Stone of the Pregnant Woman." 27 00:01:48,792 --> 00:01:52,167 It's around 65 feet long 28 00:01:52,333 --> 00:01:56,375 by about 15 feet wide and in height. 29 00:01:56,500 --> 00:02:00,125 And this weighs around 1,000 tons. 30 00:02:00,250 --> 00:02:04,167 And nearby to that is another stone called 31 00:02:04,250 --> 00:02:06,333 "The Stone of the South." 32 00:02:07,417 --> 00:02:10,167 VALI MAHLOUJI: The Stone of the South is 50 feet long 33 00:02:10,292 --> 00:02:13,583 and 1,200 tons, which is equivalent to 34 00:02:13,708 --> 00:02:17,083 the weight of more than three 747 jumbo jets. 35 00:02:17,208 --> 00:02:20,000 So, the rocks are very large, 36 00:02:20,125 --> 00:02:22,250 and they have attracted a huge amount of interest 37 00:02:22,375 --> 00:02:24,333 from archaeologists, from travelers, 38 00:02:24,500 --> 00:02:26,708 and from the people of Baalbek. 39 00:02:28,708 --> 00:02:31,125 In 2014, 40 00:02:31,208 --> 00:02:34,167 the German Archaeological Institute 41 00:02:34,333 --> 00:02:36,417 were, uh, excavating 42 00:02:36,542 --> 00:02:39,667 around The Stone of the Pregnant Woman, 43 00:02:39,750 --> 00:02:45,000 and they came across an even larger block 44 00:02:45,167 --> 00:02:51,417 that weighs 1,650 tons. 45 00:02:51,542 --> 00:02:54,417 This is the largest block of stone 46 00:02:54,542 --> 00:02:57,000 that's been carved for use in architecture 47 00:02:57,125 --> 00:02:59,125 anywhere in the world. 48 00:02:59,250 --> 00:03:01,167 HUGH NEWMAN: If you look 49 00:03:01,333 --> 00:03:03,333 at the stone carefully, you can see it's been 50 00:03:03,500 --> 00:03:05,500 almost like laser-precision cut. 51 00:03:05,583 --> 00:03:09,667 It's such an impressive feat that, even today, 52 00:03:09,792 --> 00:03:12,917 we can't even imagine how they could really have done it. 53 00:03:13,042 --> 00:03:16,042 SHATNER: But perhaps what's even more incredible is 54 00:03:16,167 --> 00:03:18,167 that ancient people managed 55 00:03:18,333 --> 00:03:21,500 to transport some of these gigantic blocks 56 00:03:21,625 --> 00:03:24,750 all the way up a hill roughly two-thirds of a mile away 57 00:03:24,875 --> 00:03:27,958 to build one of the most spectacular structures 58 00:03:28,042 --> 00:03:29,917 from antiquity-- 59 00:03:30,042 --> 00:03:33,458 the Roman Temple of Jupiter. 60 00:03:33,542 --> 00:03:36,333 DAVID MIANO: We know when the Temple of Jupiter was built 61 00:03:36,500 --> 00:03:38,917 because Strabo, the Roman geographer, 62 00:03:39,042 --> 00:03:40,708 writing in the first century BCE, 63 00:03:40,875 --> 00:03:44,917 early first century CE, he mentions the area. 64 00:03:45,042 --> 00:03:48,625 That must have been when the temple was nearing completion. 65 00:03:48,708 --> 00:03:50,667 But we can only guess 66 00:03:50,792 --> 00:03:54,833 as to how they performed this amazing task. 67 00:03:54,958 --> 00:03:58,167 SHATNER: The Temple of Jupiter's construction remains a subject 68 00:03:58,333 --> 00:04:01,667 of fascination among archaeologists. 69 00:04:01,792 --> 00:04:05,167 But an even greater mystery is the structure 70 00:04:05,292 --> 00:04:09,083 upon which it was built-- an ancient stone platform 71 00:04:09,208 --> 00:04:12,333 erected an unknown number of centuries earlier 72 00:04:12,458 --> 00:04:15,292 by a mysterious civilization. 73 00:04:15,417 --> 00:04:19,042 This platform was made out of massive stones transported 74 00:04:19,208 --> 00:04:21,000 from the Baalbek quarry. 75 00:04:21,125 --> 00:04:27,417 Most notable are three precision-cut, 800-ton blocks 76 00:04:27,542 --> 00:04:30,708 that are known as the "Trilithon." 77 00:04:30,833 --> 00:04:33,375 COLLINS: Each one of those Trilithon blocks is 78 00:04:33,500 --> 00:04:37,667 around 60 to 65 feet in length, 79 00:04:37,792 --> 00:04:40,958 about 15 feet deep. 80 00:04:41,083 --> 00:04:44,167 And they are put together 81 00:04:44,292 --> 00:04:47,458 in such a way as you can hardly even get a piece 82 00:04:47,542 --> 00:04:50,042 of paper between the two. 83 00:04:50,167 --> 00:04:52,583 MIANO: There is no way that the Romans 84 00:04:52,708 --> 00:04:55,375 could have lifted one of these Trilithon stones, 85 00:04:55,542 --> 00:04:57,500 even with one of their great cranes. 86 00:04:57,625 --> 00:05:01,667 So the Trilithon are the remains of an even earlier temple. 87 00:05:01,792 --> 00:05:05,083 But who the people were that established the settlement, 88 00:05:05,208 --> 00:05:06,333 we have no idea. 89 00:05:06,500 --> 00:05:09,167 And as to the question 90 00:05:09,333 --> 00:05:12,708 of how the stones were carved and transported 91 00:05:12,875 --> 00:05:15,667 and fit into place, we're struck with questions, 92 00:05:15,833 --> 00:05:19,083 and they continue to stump us today. 93 00:05:19,208 --> 00:05:20,583 We really have to question 94 00:05:20,708 --> 00:05:22,583 how on earth did they move these stones? 95 00:05:22,708 --> 00:05:25,458 How they moved them from the quarry-- 96 00:05:25,583 --> 00:05:27,000 which is just under a mile away-- 97 00:05:27,125 --> 00:05:28,750 and placed them there 98 00:05:28,875 --> 00:05:31,375 is one of the big mysteries of the ancient world. 99 00:05:31,542 --> 00:05:33,708 Even with today's modern cranes, 100 00:05:33,833 --> 00:05:36,292 you would have to use so many of them 101 00:05:36,375 --> 00:05:38,667 to move anything near that size. 102 00:05:38,792 --> 00:05:41,542 There's no way it could've been done. It's almost impossible. 103 00:05:41,667 --> 00:05:45,250 SHATNER: How were the massive Trilithon stones transported 104 00:05:45,375 --> 00:05:47,667 and laid into place? 105 00:05:47,792 --> 00:05:52,458 It's a mind-boggling feat that seems to defy explanation. 106 00:05:53,458 --> 00:05:55,500 According to local folklore, 107 00:05:55,625 --> 00:05:57,458 the giant stones of the Trilithon were carried 108 00:05:57,542 --> 00:06:00,250 from the quarry by ancient giants 109 00:06:00,375 --> 00:06:04,667 and positioned by genies using powerful magic. 110 00:06:04,792 --> 00:06:07,333 But modern researchers have proposed a number 111 00:06:07,458 --> 00:06:09,042 of possible scientific theories 112 00:06:09,208 --> 00:06:15,083 to explain how the gigantic blocks were moved into position. 113 00:06:16,375 --> 00:06:18,500 MICHAEL WYSESSION: One technique that's proposed 114 00:06:18,667 --> 00:06:22,000 is that very large earth ramps were constructed, 115 00:06:22,167 --> 00:06:24,792 used with many ropes and pulleys 116 00:06:24,917 --> 00:06:28,500 to pull these massive blocks out of the ground 117 00:06:28,583 --> 00:06:31,000 and slide them into position. 118 00:06:31,917 --> 00:06:34,750 Recently, in 2014, they found evidence 119 00:06:34,875 --> 00:06:36,333 for the use of capstans. 120 00:06:36,500 --> 00:06:39,333 Now, these are rotating mechanisms 121 00:06:39,458 --> 00:06:42,542 that could have moved the stone down the hill. 122 00:06:42,667 --> 00:06:45,542 There was a circular abrasion on one of the stones 123 00:06:45,667 --> 00:06:49,667 that indicated the usage of a capstan. 124 00:06:49,792 --> 00:06:51,667 So, this could indeed have been the mechanism 125 00:06:51,792 --> 00:06:53,708 that was used to move the stones. 126 00:06:54,542 --> 00:06:56,500 SHATNER: Could the enormous blocks 127 00:06:56,583 --> 00:06:59,417 of the Trilithon have been moved and positioned 128 00:06:59,542 --> 00:07:02,833 using nothing more than ropes, logs and pulleys? 129 00:07:03,792 --> 00:07:05,583 It's an interesting theory. 130 00:07:05,708 --> 00:07:08,458 But perhaps the more important question is, 131 00:07:08,542 --> 00:07:10,958 why would ancient people choose to use 132 00:07:11,083 --> 00:07:14,042 such absurdly large stones in the first place? 133 00:07:15,583 --> 00:07:17,583 MIANO: Some people think 134 00:07:17,708 --> 00:07:20,500 that the reason that they used the stones was because 135 00:07:20,667 --> 00:07:22,583 the hill there was kind of weak 136 00:07:22,708 --> 00:07:25,958 and could be seriously undermined by an earthquake 137 00:07:26,042 --> 00:07:27,667 or just ground erosion, 138 00:07:27,750 --> 00:07:29,417 and they were afraid that it wouldn't stand. 139 00:07:29,542 --> 00:07:31,833 So, maybe they used the bigger stones 140 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:36,000 to ensure that that part of the temple would hold. 141 00:07:36,083 --> 00:07:37,875 But we just don't know. 142 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:41,625 COLLINS: There is no precedent, really, 143 00:07:41,708 --> 00:07:44,583 or understanding, from an architectural point of view, 144 00:07:44,708 --> 00:07:47,458 why you would create these blocks 145 00:07:47,583 --> 00:07:50,417 forming the Trilithon at Baalbek, 146 00:07:50,542 --> 00:07:52,542 particularly as they are 147 00:07:52,667 --> 00:07:55,042 on the fifth course up. 148 00:07:55,167 --> 00:07:59,042 And they also look so out of place, because above them, 149 00:07:59,208 --> 00:08:03,208 you have much smaller blocks, around them much smaller blocks. 150 00:08:03,333 --> 00:08:07,833 So there is a huge mystery to be uncovered here at Baalbek. 151 00:08:09,708 --> 00:08:12,167 SHATNER: Archaeologists continue to investigate Baalbek 152 00:08:12,250 --> 00:08:15,333 in the hope of learning who quarried its massive stones 153 00:08:15,458 --> 00:08:17,875 and how they were moved into place. 154 00:08:18,042 --> 00:08:21,000 For now, the only thing that we know for certain 155 00:08:21,167 --> 00:08:25,625 is that this monumental ancient wonder dwarfs 156 00:08:25,750 --> 00:08:27,958 what we're capable of today. 157 00:08:28,083 --> 00:08:30,250 All over the world, people have had this obsession 158 00:08:30,375 --> 00:08:33,375 with megalithic monuments and making things with big stones. 159 00:08:33,500 --> 00:08:36,625 The Incas, for example, at Sacsayhuaman, 160 00:08:36,708 --> 00:08:38,667 and then of course, the Easter Island heads, 161 00:08:38,792 --> 00:08:42,625 or the stone circles in Stonehenge, and 162 00:08:42,750 --> 00:08:44,750 Baalbek is another of these phenomena 163 00:08:44,875 --> 00:08:47,375 that you find, and it really makes you wonder, 164 00:08:47,500 --> 00:08:49,958 why did they do this? Why this size? 165 00:08:50,083 --> 00:08:52,333 Why this weight? When it would be so much easier 166 00:08:52,458 --> 00:08:54,417 to quarry smaller stones 167 00:08:54,542 --> 00:08:55,750 and drag them over to the temples. 168 00:08:55,875 --> 00:08:57,583 Perhaps they're just showing off. 169 00:08:57,708 --> 00:08:59,250 "Look what we can do." 170 00:09:00,208 --> 00:09:02,833 Did the civilization that carved 171 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:06,167 and moved the Baalbek stones do so simply 172 00:09:06,250 --> 00:09:07,750 to demonstrate they could? 173 00:09:07,875 --> 00:09:11,083 It's an extraordinary theory. 174 00:09:11,208 --> 00:09:15,000 But what's even more remarkable is the fact 175 00:09:15,125 --> 00:09:18,375 that the Baalbek stones aren't the only ancient wonder 176 00:09:18,500 --> 00:09:20,583 that still exists today. 177 00:09:20,708 --> 00:09:24,833 For instance, there's a 2,000-year-old city in Mexico 178 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:29,125 whose builders vanished without a trace. 179 00:09:32,917 --> 00:09:36,167 SHATNER: Approximately 30 miles northeast of Mexico City 180 00:09:36,292 --> 00:09:41,542 lies the highlands plateau known as the "Valley of Mexico." 181 00:09:41,667 --> 00:09:43,333 During the 15th century, 182 00:09:43,458 --> 00:09:47,333 the Aztec empire ruled over this region in central Mexico. 183 00:09:47,458 --> 00:09:50,333 But not far from their capital city, 184 00:09:50,417 --> 00:09:55,208 the Aztecs discovered the ruins of an even bigger metropolis 185 00:09:55,333 --> 00:10:00,167 that was built centuries earlier by an unknown civilization 186 00:10:00,250 --> 00:10:03,042 that vanished without a trace. 187 00:10:03,167 --> 00:10:09,000 The Aztecs would name this mysterious city "Teotihuacán." 188 00:10:09,125 --> 00:10:12,000 COLLINS: The Aztecs arrived at this site 189 00:10:12,167 --> 00:10:16,125 in the 1400s, which was already ruined, 190 00:10:16,208 --> 00:10:18,583 and it fascinated them because, obviously, 191 00:10:18,708 --> 00:10:20,833 they did not know who had constructed it. 192 00:10:20,917 --> 00:10:25,500 And they called it "Teotihuacán," 193 00:10:25,625 --> 00:10:28,583 which means "the place of the gods." 194 00:10:29,625 --> 00:10:31,333 PETER JIMENEZ: The scale of Teotihuacán-- 195 00:10:31,417 --> 00:10:33,042 it's mind-boggling. 196 00:10:33,208 --> 00:10:35,875 That's what really takes everybody back. 197 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:38,542 We're talking about the largest city 198 00:10:38,667 --> 00:10:41,792 in the center of the Mesoamerican ancient world. 199 00:10:41,917 --> 00:10:45,500 It's a great place, an incredible place. 200 00:10:45,667 --> 00:10:48,375 SHATNER: All told, Teotihuacán covers 201 00:10:48,500 --> 00:10:50,667 an astonishing eight square miles, 202 00:10:50,792 --> 00:10:55,000 which is roughly the same size as ancient Rome. 203 00:10:56,208 --> 00:10:59,125 At the heart of the city is a two-mile-long road 204 00:10:59,208 --> 00:11:02,542 that the Aztecs named "The Avenue of the Dead." 205 00:11:02,708 --> 00:11:05,375 It is dominated by three giant pyramids 206 00:11:05,500 --> 00:11:08,792 dedicated to the Sun, the Moon, 207 00:11:08,875 --> 00:11:13,375 and a legendary feathered serpent known as "Quetzalcoatl." 208 00:11:13,500 --> 00:11:15,625 According to archaeologists, 209 00:11:15,708 --> 00:11:18,208 the urban planning of Teotihuacán 210 00:11:18,333 --> 00:11:20,917 was centuries ahead of its time. 211 00:11:21,792 --> 00:11:23,542 COLLINS: It's thought that 212 00:11:23,708 --> 00:11:27,875 possibly as many as 200,000 people 213 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:29,917 lived here at its peak. 214 00:11:30,042 --> 00:11:33,667 But ultimately, the big mystery is, 215 00:11:33,792 --> 00:11:37,208 we don't know who built Teotihuacán. 216 00:11:38,167 --> 00:11:42,000 We know who built the Great Wall of China. 217 00:11:42,167 --> 00:11:46,625 We know who built the Colosseum in Rome. 218 00:11:46,750 --> 00:11:51,458 And yet, we don't know who constructed Teotihuacán. 219 00:11:51,542 --> 00:11:54,500 So, why is this? The fact is, 220 00:11:54,583 --> 00:11:57,583 the builders had no written language. 221 00:11:57,708 --> 00:12:01,333 So, there was no record of who constructed it. 222 00:12:02,667 --> 00:12:05,625 JIMENEZ: If you look at it, the city is built on a grid. 223 00:12:05,708 --> 00:12:07,458 This is something that's fascinating. 224 00:12:07,542 --> 00:12:09,167 Who were the city planners? 225 00:12:09,333 --> 00:12:12,000 Who actually thought about this, and how to design it? 226 00:12:12,083 --> 00:12:14,042 That's an interesting thing. 227 00:12:14,208 --> 00:12:16,750 Because the planners behind this didn't have the wheel, 228 00:12:16,875 --> 00:12:18,875 and there was no metal in Teotihuacán. 229 00:12:19,042 --> 00:12:23,167 So, we're talking about, basically, stone tools 230 00:12:23,292 --> 00:12:27,208 and humans moving clay, moving stones. 231 00:12:27,375 --> 00:12:31,333 SHATNER: Although Teotihuacán remains shrouded in mystery, 232 00:12:31,458 --> 00:12:34,833 archaeologists have carried out numerous excavations 233 00:12:34,958 --> 00:12:38,958 to learn more about the origins of this magnificent city. 234 00:12:41,042 --> 00:12:43,000 DAVID WALTON: Through archaeological research, 235 00:12:43,083 --> 00:12:45,625 we know that the oldest constructions at Teotihuacán 236 00:12:45,708 --> 00:12:48,167 are focused in the northern part of the city. 237 00:12:48,250 --> 00:12:53,792 They date to around, oh, 300, 400 BC. 238 00:12:53,917 --> 00:12:56,083 But it was really around 100 AD that we start 239 00:12:56,208 --> 00:12:59,667 to see the monumental construction phases happening, 240 00:12:59,792 --> 00:13:03,833 all the way up through around 600, 650 AD. 241 00:13:03,917 --> 00:13:06,500 So, the rise of Teotihuacán took place 242 00:13:06,625 --> 00:13:09,500 over a period of about 600 years. 243 00:13:09,625 --> 00:13:11,917 If we could travel back in time 244 00:13:12,042 --> 00:13:14,042 to Teotihuacán during its heyday, 245 00:13:14,167 --> 00:13:16,500 we'd be seeing merchants selling things 246 00:13:16,583 --> 00:13:18,250 along the Avenue of the Dead. 247 00:13:18,375 --> 00:13:22,000 We would see people coming from all over Mesoamerica 248 00:13:22,167 --> 00:13:26,625 to make pilgrimages to the monuments at the site. 249 00:13:26,708 --> 00:13:29,917 It was definitely the cultural hub 250 00:13:30,042 --> 00:13:32,125 of the entire region of Mesoamerica. 251 00:13:32,250 --> 00:13:37,208 And then, there was a notable period of collapse. 252 00:13:38,417 --> 00:13:41,500 SHATNER: But if Teotihuacán was such a thriving metropolis, 253 00:13:41,625 --> 00:13:43,917 then it begs a question. 254 00:13:44,042 --> 00:13:47,458 Why would the unnamed builders of this ancient city choose 255 00:13:47,583 --> 00:13:49,708 to abandon it? 256 00:13:49,833 --> 00:13:52,625 Well, according to archaeologists, 257 00:13:52,708 --> 00:13:54,958 an important clue can be found along the ancient city's 258 00:13:55,042 --> 00:13:56,625 central boulevard, 259 00:13:56,708 --> 00:14:01,208 where there are burn marks on the ruins of several temples. 260 00:14:02,542 --> 00:14:04,042 JIMENEZ: Teotihuacán was occupied 261 00:14:04,167 --> 00:14:06,250 almost seven to eight centuries. 262 00:14:06,375 --> 00:14:09,625 But the ceremonial precinct in downtown 263 00:14:09,708 --> 00:14:13,167 was partially burned down around 550. 264 00:14:13,250 --> 00:14:17,000 And then, the whole city falls apart after that. 265 00:14:17,125 --> 00:14:19,625 WALTON: Along the Avenue of the Dead, 266 00:14:19,708 --> 00:14:24,750 there was burning of these monuments and major temples. 267 00:14:24,875 --> 00:14:26,083 Now, there are some different theories 268 00:14:26,208 --> 00:14:28,125 on how this could have happened. 269 00:14:28,250 --> 00:14:31,000 -(yelling) -The first theory is 270 00:14:31,083 --> 00:14:34,792 that some external army, some external group came in 271 00:14:34,875 --> 00:14:37,333 and sort of wiped out everything, 272 00:14:37,417 --> 00:14:40,500 destroyed the downtown, and then people left. 273 00:14:40,583 --> 00:14:43,875 But another theory that might explain why major areas 274 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:46,417 of downtown Teotihuacán were burned 275 00:14:46,542 --> 00:14:50,458 would be civil war, an uprising of the local population. 276 00:14:50,583 --> 00:14:52,417 SHATNER: Is it possible 277 00:14:52,542 --> 00:14:55,167 that a civil war caused the original inhabitants 278 00:14:55,292 --> 00:14:59,167 of Teotihuacán to leave their city? 279 00:14:59,250 --> 00:15:01,208 Perhaps. 280 00:15:02,250 --> 00:15:04,167 But some researchers believe the civilization 281 00:15:04,292 --> 00:15:07,667 that built Teotihuacán vanished 282 00:15:07,792 --> 00:15:11,500 because of something far more sinister. 283 00:15:11,583 --> 00:15:13,167 Through archaeological research, 284 00:15:13,250 --> 00:15:15,333 we actually have clear evidence 285 00:15:15,500 --> 00:15:18,292 for human sacrifice at Teotihuacán. 286 00:15:19,458 --> 00:15:21,917 One of the more gruesome discoveries that was made 287 00:15:22,042 --> 00:15:24,000 at Teotihuacán, 288 00:15:24,083 --> 00:15:28,167 in association with the Pyramid of the Moon, 289 00:15:28,333 --> 00:15:31,792 was 12 skeletons 290 00:15:31,875 --> 00:15:36,000 that had been bound behind their backs. 291 00:15:36,083 --> 00:15:39,625 And of these, ten of them were decapitated. 292 00:15:40,875 --> 00:15:44,833 They probably form part of a dark ritual 293 00:15:44,958 --> 00:15:47,625 to appease the gods. 294 00:15:47,708 --> 00:15:50,250 What I think happened is that people 295 00:15:50,375 --> 00:15:54,292 rejected this program of human sacrifice. 296 00:15:54,375 --> 00:15:57,708 That may have angered people of Teotihuacán, 297 00:15:57,833 --> 00:16:01,583 and may explain why it was abandoned at that point in time. 298 00:16:01,708 --> 00:16:05,542 But these are sort of dynamics that we just don't know yet 299 00:16:05,667 --> 00:16:08,917 and are still worthy of future investigation at the site. 300 00:16:10,042 --> 00:16:13,667 Did the builders of Teotihuacán 301 00:16:13,792 --> 00:16:17,000 abandon their magnificent city 302 00:16:17,083 --> 00:16:20,208 because of ritual human sacrifice? 303 00:16:20,375 --> 00:16:22,333 Perhaps. 304 00:16:22,500 --> 00:16:25,958 But the only thing we know for certain is that it was a city 305 00:16:26,042 --> 00:16:27,792 that was far ahead of its time. 306 00:16:27,917 --> 00:16:29,917 Which was also the case 307 00:16:30,042 --> 00:16:32,333 with another wonder of the ancient world. 308 00:16:32,458 --> 00:16:36,708 It's a 2,000-year-old bronze device that many claim 309 00:16:36,833 --> 00:16:40,208 was the world's first computer. 310 00:16:43,875 --> 00:16:46,167 SHATNER: The Aegean Sea, 1900. 311 00:16:46,250 --> 00:16:51,000 Just off the coast of the small Greek island of Antikythera, 312 00:16:51,083 --> 00:16:54,458 a group of Greek divers are hunting for sea sponges 313 00:16:54,542 --> 00:16:57,500 when they come across the remains 314 00:16:57,625 --> 00:17:00,167 of an ancient shipwreck. 315 00:17:00,250 --> 00:17:02,625 MIKE EDMUNDS: What they discovered was the wreck 316 00:17:02,708 --> 00:17:05,333 of a Roman-era trading ship. 317 00:17:05,417 --> 00:17:07,375 And soon it was apparent that there was a lot 318 00:17:07,500 --> 00:17:10,208 of archaeological stuff on board. 319 00:17:10,333 --> 00:17:13,458 And during the years 1900 to 1902, 320 00:17:13,583 --> 00:17:17,250 a major expedition was mounted from Greece 321 00:17:17,375 --> 00:17:20,208 to pull up everything they could find. 322 00:17:20,375 --> 00:17:24,667 There were statues, there were marbles, 323 00:17:24,792 --> 00:17:27,125 beautiful glassware. 324 00:17:27,208 --> 00:17:29,250 And it was clear from what else was on this ship 325 00:17:29,375 --> 00:17:33,083 that this was a ship that had gone down in the classical era. 326 00:17:33,208 --> 00:17:36,375 SHATNER: Dozens of priceless artifacts 327 00:17:36,500 --> 00:17:38,125 were salvaged from the wreckage, 328 00:17:38,208 --> 00:17:42,458 including one object that defied explanation. 329 00:17:43,208 --> 00:17:45,417 It was the remains of a coral-encrusted 330 00:17:45,542 --> 00:17:49,000 wooden and bronze box that, curiously, 331 00:17:49,083 --> 00:17:51,167 looked like a clock. 332 00:17:51,250 --> 00:17:53,208 EDMUNDS: They looked, and there were gear wheels 333 00:17:53,333 --> 00:17:55,208 inside this bronze. 334 00:17:55,333 --> 00:17:57,167 It was obvious from the rest of the stuff on the wreck 335 00:17:57,292 --> 00:17:59,333 that this was from the classical world, 336 00:17:59,458 --> 00:18:03,333 but gear wheels were not known from the classical world. 337 00:18:03,417 --> 00:18:05,792 And it was then that they realized 338 00:18:05,875 --> 00:18:08,708 that this particular piece of bronze was something special. 339 00:18:10,833 --> 00:18:12,333 SHATNER: The artifact was sent 340 00:18:12,458 --> 00:18:15,042 to the National Museum of Archaeology in Athens. 341 00:18:16,208 --> 00:18:19,208 Archaeologists dated it to the second century BC, 342 00:18:19,333 --> 00:18:22,292 along with the other relics found in the wreck, 343 00:18:22,375 --> 00:18:24,583 but they were unable to determine 344 00:18:24,708 --> 00:18:27,917 what function the geared object served. 345 00:18:28,042 --> 00:18:30,042 For more than 50 years, 346 00:18:30,167 --> 00:18:32,833 its purpose remained a mystery. 347 00:18:32,958 --> 00:18:35,167 But in 1951, 348 00:18:35,250 --> 00:18:38,125 British physicist Derek John de Solla Price 349 00:18:38,208 --> 00:18:40,875 began a careful examination of the artifact 350 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:44,167 and found something astonishing. 351 00:18:44,292 --> 00:18:47,292 The box contained the workings 352 00:18:47,375 --> 00:18:50,292 of a highly sophisticated device. 353 00:18:50,375 --> 00:18:53,792 By this point, the mechanism was in a bunch of different pieces. 354 00:18:53,875 --> 00:18:59,083 There are seven major fragments labeled "A" through "G." 355 00:18:59,208 --> 00:19:03,458 And there are 75 other, smaller fragments. 356 00:19:03,542 --> 00:19:07,625 Derek de Solla Price took a renewed interest 357 00:19:07,708 --> 00:19:09,583 in the mechanism. 358 00:19:09,708 --> 00:19:14,333 And he was able to put the major fragments 359 00:19:14,458 --> 00:19:17,500 into their correct position for the first time. 360 00:19:19,500 --> 00:19:21,917 EDMUNDS: The Antikythera Mechanism, as it became known, 361 00:19:22,042 --> 00:19:24,375 is made predominantly of bronze. 362 00:19:24,500 --> 00:19:27,375 It would probably have been in a wooden case, originally, 363 00:19:27,500 --> 00:19:31,667 possibly with bronze plates on the front and the back. 364 00:19:31,792 --> 00:19:35,833 It was about the size of a shoebox, essentially. 365 00:19:35,917 --> 00:19:37,917 There are two main display faces. 366 00:19:38,042 --> 00:19:40,167 There's the front face and the back face, 367 00:19:40,250 --> 00:19:42,292 and probably a handle on the side 368 00:19:42,375 --> 00:19:45,833 that you would have turned in order to make the thing work. 369 00:19:45,958 --> 00:19:47,708 On the front of the mechanism, 370 00:19:47,833 --> 00:19:49,542 there's something looking rather like a clock face, 371 00:19:49,667 --> 00:19:51,833 would be the best way to describe it. 372 00:19:53,708 --> 00:19:57,167 SHATNER: In June 1959, Price published his findings 373 00:19:57,250 --> 00:19:59,417 in the journal Scientific American, 374 00:19:59,542 --> 00:20:01,667 and described the Antikythera Mechanism 375 00:20:01,792 --> 00:20:05,000 as being, "an Ancient Greek Computer." 376 00:20:05,125 --> 00:20:08,375 KAKU: This was a spectacular device. 377 00:20:08,500 --> 00:20:10,708 It's an analog computer. 378 00:20:10,833 --> 00:20:14,500 It doesn't use digital. It uses wheels and gears. 379 00:20:14,583 --> 00:20:17,417 This was a device that we wouldn't see again 380 00:20:17,542 --> 00:20:21,542 for another 2,000 years, until the 1800s. 381 00:20:21,667 --> 00:20:25,458 SHATNER: But if the Antikythera Mechanism really was 382 00:20:25,542 --> 00:20:30,667 an ancient computer, then what was it designed to do? 383 00:20:30,750 --> 00:20:32,583 Well, in 2005, 384 00:20:32,708 --> 00:20:35,542 an international team of researchers known 385 00:20:35,667 --> 00:20:39,042 as "The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project" 386 00:20:39,167 --> 00:20:41,417 used cutting-edge scanning technology 387 00:20:41,542 --> 00:20:44,375 to obtain a detailed 3D image 388 00:20:44,500 --> 00:20:49,042 of the device's inner workings for the very first time. 389 00:20:49,167 --> 00:20:52,542 And the results were even more remarkable 390 00:20:52,667 --> 00:20:54,375 than anyone could have imagined. 391 00:20:54,500 --> 00:20:58,083 EDMUNDS: The X-ray tomography clearly laid out 392 00:20:58,208 --> 00:21:01,500 what the gear trains must have been. 393 00:21:01,625 --> 00:21:05,417 And also, a complete reading of basically all 394 00:21:05,542 --> 00:21:08,667 the surviving inscriptions on the device, both inside and out. 395 00:21:08,750 --> 00:21:11,667 And those inscriptions are an instruction book 396 00:21:11,792 --> 00:21:14,625 on what the mechanism is and what it does. 397 00:21:14,708 --> 00:21:17,333 And it's clear from those inscriptions 398 00:21:17,458 --> 00:21:19,500 that it was intended 399 00:21:19,625 --> 00:21:22,167 that the mechanism should display the positions 400 00:21:22,292 --> 00:21:25,375 of the planets, as well as the Sun and the Moon. 401 00:21:25,500 --> 00:21:28,542 IVERSEN: The Antikythera Mechanism 402 00:21:28,667 --> 00:21:31,333 is an astronomical computing device 403 00:21:31,417 --> 00:21:34,083 that also visualized 404 00:21:34,208 --> 00:21:37,333 the revolutions and the time periods 405 00:21:37,417 --> 00:21:40,208 of the Sun, the Moon and the five planets 406 00:21:40,333 --> 00:21:42,333 that were visible in antiquity, 407 00:21:42,458 --> 00:21:47,917 which are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. 408 00:21:49,458 --> 00:21:51,458 So, via the gear work, 409 00:21:51,542 --> 00:21:53,500 it mimics the rotation 410 00:21:53,583 --> 00:21:56,417 of the Sun and the Moon and the planets. 411 00:21:56,542 --> 00:21:59,000 EDMUNDS: It displays many different things 412 00:21:59,083 --> 00:22:01,167 at a given time. 413 00:22:01,250 --> 00:22:02,333 Where the planets are in the sky, 414 00:22:02,458 --> 00:22:04,000 where the Moon is in the sky 415 00:22:04,125 --> 00:22:05,292 and what the phase of the Moon is, 416 00:22:05,375 --> 00:22:07,208 are there going to be any eclipses 417 00:22:07,333 --> 00:22:08,542 this month, and so on. 418 00:22:08,667 --> 00:22:12,792 We've done some computer calculations 419 00:22:12,917 --> 00:22:16,708 to work out how accurate the device would have been, 420 00:22:16,833 --> 00:22:19,417 taking into account the shape of the teeth, 421 00:22:19,542 --> 00:22:21,417 the slop in the gears, and so on. 422 00:22:21,542 --> 00:22:24,167 And the answer is, it shows very accurately 423 00:22:24,292 --> 00:22:27,000 the sort of behavior of these things. 424 00:22:27,125 --> 00:22:31,333 The Greeks were thinking really deeply about the universe, 425 00:22:31,417 --> 00:22:35,542 how it worked, what it means to have a universe 426 00:22:35,708 --> 00:22:40,333 that's in some way mechanical, that is predictable. 427 00:22:42,542 --> 00:22:44,583 The Greek astronomers and philosophers 428 00:22:44,708 --> 00:22:49,583 were very interested in explaining the cosmos. 429 00:22:49,708 --> 00:22:53,000 The idea is that the stars and the planets 430 00:22:53,083 --> 00:22:57,167 and the Sun and the Moon, where they are in the sky, 431 00:22:57,292 --> 00:23:00,333 affects what happens to our lives. 432 00:23:00,458 --> 00:23:03,333 Just like the modern tradition of astrology. 433 00:23:04,042 --> 00:23:05,833 STEPHEN BURROWS: The ancient people who created 434 00:23:05,958 --> 00:23:09,417 the Antikythera Mechanism could see the cycles 435 00:23:09,542 --> 00:23:11,500 that things occurred, 436 00:23:11,625 --> 00:23:14,000 and they wanted a way to actually predict them. 437 00:23:14,083 --> 00:23:16,208 And that's what this machine did. 438 00:23:16,333 --> 00:23:18,292 It predicted the future, 439 00:23:18,417 --> 00:23:20,375 and it's a brilliant piece of mathematics. 440 00:23:20,500 --> 00:23:23,208 SHATNER: To this day, 441 00:23:23,333 --> 00:23:25,500 no one knows who the ancient genius was 442 00:23:25,583 --> 00:23:28,750 that invented the Antikythera device, or when. 443 00:23:28,875 --> 00:23:32,375 And since there is no written record of its creation, 444 00:23:32,500 --> 00:23:36,042 it is doubtful that we will ever know for certain. 445 00:23:36,167 --> 00:23:41,750 But its existence raises an intriguing question. 446 00:23:41,875 --> 00:23:45,917 Could there be other ancient technologies out there, 447 00:23:46,042 --> 00:23:48,750 waiting to be found? 448 00:23:49,542 --> 00:23:51,792 BURROWS: We think that this is 449 00:23:51,875 --> 00:23:54,250 maybe hundreds of years ahead of its time, 450 00:23:54,375 --> 00:23:56,250 but what we're missing are all the predecessors 451 00:23:56,375 --> 00:23:58,875 that just didn't last that long. 452 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:02,750 I think there are a huge number of engineering feats 453 00:24:02,875 --> 00:24:06,792 that we will never know about or that we haven't yet discovered. 454 00:24:08,375 --> 00:24:11,750 The Antikythera device is a stark reminder 455 00:24:11,875 --> 00:24:16,375 that we should never underestimate the ingenuity 456 00:24:16,500 --> 00:24:18,167 of our ancient ancestors. 457 00:24:18,292 --> 00:24:20,958 And that also is the case with a number 458 00:24:21,042 --> 00:24:23,167 of mysterious symbols 459 00:24:23,250 --> 00:24:27,958 that have been carved into the earth all over the world. 460 00:24:34,083 --> 00:24:37,625 SHATNER: Located near the border of Russia and Mongolia, 461 00:24:37,750 --> 00:24:40,917 this region is known for its vast grasslands. 462 00:24:41,042 --> 00:24:45,625 But in 2021, archaeologists from the Russian Academy of Sciences 463 00:24:45,708 --> 00:24:47,750 made a remarkable discovery. 464 00:24:47,875 --> 00:24:50,917 While conducting an aerial survey, 465 00:24:51,042 --> 00:24:55,792 they spotted an enormous symbol, known as a geoglyph, 466 00:24:55,875 --> 00:24:58,542 that was formed using carefully-arranged pebbles 467 00:24:58,708 --> 00:25:00,667 and sandstones. 468 00:25:00,792 --> 00:25:02,792 BAHN: In Central Asia, 469 00:25:02,917 --> 00:25:05,083 we have something called "the Siberian Bull." 470 00:25:05,208 --> 00:25:07,708 It's a very simple drawing, just done with dark stones, 471 00:25:07,875 --> 00:25:11,542 making the outline of a tail and the back legs of an animal. 472 00:25:11,708 --> 00:25:15,375 And, fortunately, it's linked quite closely 473 00:25:15,542 --> 00:25:17,458 to an early Bronze Age burial, 474 00:25:17,542 --> 00:25:22,125 so we reckon it must date back to 2000 BCE. 475 00:25:22,250 --> 00:25:26,917 It is some 4,000 years old, and still there. 476 00:25:27,042 --> 00:25:29,833 Research on this is still ongoing, but it shows 477 00:25:29,958 --> 00:25:33,083 that there's still so much about these geoglyphs 478 00:25:33,208 --> 00:25:36,167 and the beliefs and the values that were held 479 00:25:36,250 --> 00:25:39,750 by the ancient people who made them that we do not know. 480 00:25:39,875 --> 00:25:43,542 SHATNER: The Siberian Bull is ten feet tall 481 00:25:43,708 --> 00:25:46,708 and 13 feet long, and is the first geoglyph 482 00:25:46,875 --> 00:25:49,375 of an animal discovered in Central Asia. 483 00:25:49,500 --> 00:25:51,125 But what's more remarkable is 484 00:25:51,250 --> 00:25:53,542 that even larger ancient geoglyphs 485 00:25:53,667 --> 00:25:56,625 have been found all over the world. 486 00:25:56,708 --> 00:25:59,000 Many of them are so vast 487 00:25:59,125 --> 00:26:02,625 that they can only be identified from the sky. 488 00:26:02,750 --> 00:26:04,875 BAHN: Geoglyphs are an astonishing phenomenon. 489 00:26:05,042 --> 00:26:06,333 They're found in many, many parts of the world, 490 00:26:06,458 --> 00:26:07,500 primarily in deserts. 491 00:26:07,667 --> 00:26:10,542 And they are often of huge size 492 00:26:10,667 --> 00:26:13,167 involving an enormous amount of work. 493 00:26:13,292 --> 00:26:16,458 Geoglyphs can be divided up really into the ones 494 00:26:16,583 --> 00:26:18,833 that just look like geometric shapes to us, 495 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:20,750 and there are many, many of those. 496 00:26:20,875 --> 00:26:23,667 You have lines, which just look like roads 497 00:26:23,833 --> 00:26:25,583 or paths going on for miles. 498 00:26:25,708 --> 00:26:28,458 And then, of course, you have what seem to us 499 00:26:28,583 --> 00:26:31,875 to be depictions of birds, animals, humans. 500 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:35,000 And they must all have very different meanings 501 00:26:35,083 --> 00:26:37,167 to the cultures that produced them. 502 00:26:38,542 --> 00:26:40,167 NEWMAN: In March 2022, 503 00:26:40,250 --> 00:26:42,167 archaeological researchers found 504 00:26:42,250 --> 00:26:44,750 what could be the largest geoglyphs on the planet 505 00:26:44,875 --> 00:26:47,875 in the Thar Desert of ancient India. 506 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:50,000 They stretch over a huge distance, 507 00:26:50,167 --> 00:26:52,333 and one of them kind of forms into what appears 508 00:26:52,458 --> 00:26:54,750 to be a kind of strange spiral. 509 00:26:54,875 --> 00:26:59,208 There's other ones which are like sinuous serpents. 510 00:27:00,292 --> 00:27:02,167 MIANO: One of the more fascinating geoglyphs is 511 00:27:02,333 --> 00:27:03,667 the Uffington White Horse 512 00:27:03,750 --> 00:27:05,833 that was found in Oxfordshire, England. 513 00:27:05,958 --> 00:27:08,750 They dug trenches, and they filled them with chalk 514 00:27:08,875 --> 00:27:10,875 to create this beautiful horse, 515 00:27:11,042 --> 00:27:14,208 which itself is 3,000 years old. 516 00:27:14,333 --> 00:27:17,000 And we expect to find more as time goes on. 517 00:27:17,125 --> 00:27:20,833 SHATNER: Why did so many ancient cultures 518 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:24,542 across the world labor to carve these enormous figures 519 00:27:24,708 --> 00:27:28,750 and symbols that could only be fully seen from the sky? 520 00:27:29,708 --> 00:27:32,000 Well, according to some researchers, 521 00:27:32,083 --> 00:27:35,250 it could be because the people who created the geoglyphs 522 00:27:35,375 --> 00:27:40,500 intended them to be viewed, not by man, but by gods. 523 00:27:40,625 --> 00:27:43,917 COLLINS: Why would you create geoglyphs, 524 00:27:44,042 --> 00:27:47,500 which can be thousands of feet in size, 525 00:27:47,583 --> 00:27:51,000 and only be seen from the air? 526 00:27:51,917 --> 00:27:53,708 And of course, the answer is 527 00:27:53,875 --> 00:27:57,667 that you're appealing to somebody or something 528 00:27:57,792 --> 00:28:00,500 that is already in the air 529 00:28:00,667 --> 00:28:03,917 and will see what you have done. 530 00:28:05,125 --> 00:28:09,208 They were created to perhaps appease some kind of god, 531 00:28:09,333 --> 00:28:13,167 to bring water, bring the rains. 532 00:28:13,250 --> 00:28:15,167 It seems a reasonable supposition that a lot 533 00:28:15,292 --> 00:28:18,167 of these images, which only make sense from the air, 534 00:28:18,292 --> 00:28:20,125 were very much tied to things in the heavens. 535 00:28:20,250 --> 00:28:23,375 There are astronomical orientations 536 00:28:23,500 --> 00:28:25,000 of some of the lines, 537 00:28:25,083 --> 00:28:27,833 and some figures may represent constellations. 538 00:28:27,958 --> 00:28:29,417 But there are so many possibilities 539 00:28:29,542 --> 00:28:30,833 because there are so many hundreds 540 00:28:30,958 --> 00:28:32,958 of different geoglyph types 541 00:28:33,042 --> 00:28:35,667 that you can't simply put one explanation on all of them. 542 00:28:35,792 --> 00:28:39,667 SHATNER: Recently, a new theory has been proposed 543 00:28:39,750 --> 00:28:42,875 to explain the famous Nazca Lines in Peru, 544 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:46,417 which date back more than 2,000 years. 545 00:28:46,542 --> 00:28:48,750 BAHN: The great Nazca Lines are done 546 00:28:48,875 --> 00:28:51,667 in one continuous line, the monkey or the spider. 547 00:28:51,750 --> 00:28:53,167 We've always assumed 548 00:28:53,250 --> 00:28:55,167 that the people who made the Nazca Lines 549 00:28:55,250 --> 00:28:57,417 were trying to communicate with gods, 550 00:28:57,542 --> 00:28:59,333 ancestors, spirits or whatever. 551 00:28:59,458 --> 00:29:01,542 But there was an idea put forward quite recently 552 00:29:01,667 --> 00:29:03,333 by an American scholar 553 00:29:03,458 --> 00:29:06,042 who thought that some of the geoglyphs might be linked 554 00:29:06,208 --> 00:29:09,000 to runoff from hills and channeling the water 555 00:29:09,083 --> 00:29:10,875 and helping the crops to grow. 556 00:29:11,958 --> 00:29:13,792 MIKE TUCKER: There's a trend in backyard gardening 557 00:29:13,917 --> 00:29:17,333 called "permaculture," where the gardener digs trenches 558 00:29:17,458 --> 00:29:19,167 and create swells or hills 559 00:29:19,292 --> 00:29:22,667 to sequester the water or capture the rainfall, 560 00:29:22,833 --> 00:29:26,833 so that way the ecosystem supports their own garden, 561 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:29,542 and they don't have to bring in extra irrigation. 562 00:29:29,667 --> 00:29:34,042 So there's a theory that maybe the rain lands on these hills, 563 00:29:34,167 --> 00:29:37,292 runs down and saturates the soil in these spirals, 564 00:29:37,417 --> 00:29:41,333 and the other Nazca Lines so farmers could grow crops. 565 00:29:41,458 --> 00:29:45,917 And the bigger the geoglyph, the more food you could produce. 566 00:29:46,042 --> 00:29:49,167 But you can only produce as much food as you had runoff. 567 00:29:50,250 --> 00:29:53,833 WYSESSION: In places like where the Nazca Lines are, 568 00:29:53,958 --> 00:29:58,583 we see a very barren, arid, dry place currently. 569 00:29:58,708 --> 00:30:00,750 But if you went back thousands of years, 570 00:30:00,875 --> 00:30:02,917 you'd find alternating periods 571 00:30:03,042 --> 00:30:06,208 of extreme rainfall events. 572 00:30:06,375 --> 00:30:09,708 And so, the time when the Nazca Lines were built 573 00:30:09,833 --> 00:30:13,375 was a time of occasional extreme rainfall. 574 00:30:13,542 --> 00:30:16,750 And it's quite possible that they used these lines 575 00:30:16,875 --> 00:30:19,917 as means of capturing water from these rare 576 00:30:20,042 --> 00:30:22,250 but extreme rain events. 577 00:30:23,208 --> 00:30:25,333 NEWMAN: We don't have written records 578 00:30:25,417 --> 00:30:27,250 of what they were thinking or what they were doing 579 00:30:27,375 --> 00:30:29,375 and why they were building these sites. 580 00:30:29,500 --> 00:30:32,083 But the fact is, there are different theories 581 00:30:32,208 --> 00:30:33,750 in different parts of the world 582 00:30:33,875 --> 00:30:35,542 as to what they could have been created for. 583 00:30:35,708 --> 00:30:38,833 But whether it's in a desert, 584 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:40,458 or whether it's, like, chalk hill figures 585 00:30:40,583 --> 00:30:43,333 in Ancient Britain, at least they still exist, 586 00:30:43,417 --> 00:30:46,417 and we can appreciate and study them today. 587 00:30:46,542 --> 00:30:48,792 Are some of the massive geoglyphs 588 00:30:48,875 --> 00:30:50,750 found all over the world 589 00:30:50,875 --> 00:30:54,792 actually ingenious irrigation ditches? 590 00:30:54,875 --> 00:30:57,333 (inhales sharply) It's an intriguing theory. 591 00:30:57,458 --> 00:31:01,750 But not all ancient wonders have an apparent purpose. 592 00:31:01,875 --> 00:31:04,667 Sometimes, they're so inexplicable 593 00:31:04,792 --> 00:31:06,958 that we must simply marvel 594 00:31:07,083 --> 00:31:09,000 at their improbability, 595 00:31:09,125 --> 00:31:12,792 like in the case of a giant golden boulder 596 00:31:12,875 --> 00:31:16,958 that appears to defy the laws of physics. 597 00:31:23,792 --> 00:31:25,125 SHATNER: Perched on a cliff 598 00:31:25,250 --> 00:31:27,000 3,600 feet above sea level 599 00:31:27,083 --> 00:31:30,000 is something that, at first glance, 600 00:31:30,083 --> 00:31:32,833 appears to be an impossible sight. 601 00:31:32,958 --> 00:31:36,167 It's an enormous boulder that is covered in gold leaf 602 00:31:36,250 --> 00:31:39,542 and hangs precariously over the edge of a cliff. 603 00:31:39,667 --> 00:31:44,250 This giant rock is the size of a two-car garage, 604 00:31:44,375 --> 00:31:48,000 and looks like it's about to fall off the precipice. 605 00:31:48,083 --> 00:31:51,833 But, incredibly, it never has. 606 00:31:51,917 --> 00:31:55,292 This extraordinary stone is known as 607 00:31:55,375 --> 00:31:57,000 "The Golden Rock." 608 00:31:58,292 --> 00:32:00,708 NEWMAN: The Golden Rock in Myanmar 609 00:32:00,833 --> 00:32:04,625 is one of the most important sites in the Buddhist world. 610 00:32:04,708 --> 00:32:07,292 It's a 600-ton granite boulder. 611 00:32:07,375 --> 00:32:10,333 And the way it sits on the side of this kind of cliff, 612 00:32:10,500 --> 00:32:13,125 this mountaintop, is-is absolutely amazing. 613 00:32:14,958 --> 00:32:17,500 You can actually almost get underneath it. 614 00:32:17,625 --> 00:32:20,083 And if you sneeze the wrong way, at the wrong angle, 615 00:32:20,208 --> 00:32:22,333 it feels like it would just knock it off. 616 00:32:22,417 --> 00:32:24,417 But it's been there for thousands of years. 617 00:32:26,458 --> 00:32:30,042 MIANO: Everybody wonders how this rock doesn't fall. 618 00:32:30,167 --> 00:32:32,958 It's 50 feet high and 25 feet in diameter. 619 00:32:33,042 --> 00:32:34,833 How it doesn't fall... 620 00:32:34,917 --> 00:32:37,125 it seems to defy the laws of physics. 621 00:32:37,250 --> 00:32:41,458 It's a Buddhist holy site, and so on top of it sits 622 00:32:41,542 --> 00:32:43,542 a pagoda 24 feet tall. 623 00:32:43,708 --> 00:32:48,333 And yet, we still can't figure out how it's not falling. 624 00:32:50,083 --> 00:32:51,542 DOMINIC STEAVU: This is the holiest 625 00:32:51,667 --> 00:32:54,000 of objects for Buddhist people, 626 00:32:54,083 --> 00:32:56,458 and it has indeed become a site of pilgrimage, 627 00:32:56,542 --> 00:32:58,958 um, that is active throughout the year. 628 00:32:59,042 --> 00:33:01,042 Pilgrims make offerings 629 00:33:01,167 --> 00:33:03,917 by applying little squares of gold leaf. 630 00:33:04,042 --> 00:33:08,542 And over time, this gold leaf has accrued 631 00:33:08,667 --> 00:33:13,625 all over the rock to the extent that it is now covered in gold. 632 00:33:15,542 --> 00:33:18,083 The earliest reliable documents attesting 633 00:33:18,208 --> 00:33:20,667 to The Golden Rock being a site of pilgrimage 634 00:33:20,750 --> 00:33:24,333 go back about 500 years to the late 15th century, 635 00:33:24,417 --> 00:33:29,417 and these documents are tied to the Kingdom of Thay Taung 636 00:33:29,542 --> 00:33:33,000 and, um, their official stately documents. 637 00:33:33,167 --> 00:33:35,458 However, there is reason to believe 638 00:33:35,542 --> 00:33:39,500 that The Golden Rock goes much further back in history 639 00:33:39,625 --> 00:33:41,875 as a sacred site tied to the Buddha, 640 00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:44,542 and that, in fact, it might go back all the way 641 00:33:44,667 --> 00:33:47,958 to the time of the Buddha in the 5th century BCE, 642 00:33:48,042 --> 00:33:50,917 so roughly 2,500 years ago. 643 00:33:52,083 --> 00:33:55,250 SHATNER: Was The Golden Rock erected thousands of years ago? 644 00:33:55,375 --> 00:33:58,333 And if so, how did this giant boulder 645 00:33:58,458 --> 00:34:01,833 come to be positioned in such a precarious way? 646 00:34:02,583 --> 00:34:04,667 Perhaps the answer can be found by examining 647 00:34:04,792 --> 00:34:08,667 why Buddhists consider it to be such a holy site. 648 00:34:09,917 --> 00:34:13,667 COLLINS: At some point in the distant past, it is said 649 00:34:13,792 --> 00:34:18,833 that the Buddha gave a monk a single piece of hair. 650 00:34:18,917 --> 00:34:23,125 And the monk accepted this 651 00:34:23,208 --> 00:34:26,542 and handed it over to the ruling king. 652 00:34:26,667 --> 00:34:31,333 And the king said that he would find a suitable shrine 653 00:34:31,458 --> 00:34:36,958 so that it could be placed on top of that hair. 654 00:34:37,042 --> 00:34:41,167 And apparently, they searched everywhere... 655 00:34:43,542 --> 00:34:45,625 ...and at the bottom of the ocean found 656 00:34:45,750 --> 00:34:47,750 this huge, great boulder. 657 00:34:47,875 --> 00:34:51,625 And it was then carried to the top of this mountain 658 00:34:51,708 --> 00:34:56,167 and placed in this incredibly precarious manner. 659 00:34:56,250 --> 00:34:58,292 And underneath it, apparently, 660 00:34:58,375 --> 00:35:00,292 is the actual hair of the Buddha. 661 00:35:00,375 --> 00:35:03,208 MIANO: There's a legend that the Buddha's hair 662 00:35:03,333 --> 00:35:06,333 is what is holding that boulder in place, 663 00:35:06,458 --> 00:35:10,625 suggesting that even one small strand of hair from his head 664 00:35:10,708 --> 00:35:15,750 was powerful enough to hold up such a large and heavy stone. 665 00:35:17,458 --> 00:35:19,833 SHATNER: The notion that a single hair-- 666 00:35:19,958 --> 00:35:22,208 even one from the Buddha himself-- 667 00:35:22,333 --> 00:35:25,083 is preventing a 600-ton boulder from succumbing 668 00:35:25,208 --> 00:35:28,625 to gravity does seem a bit far-fetched. 669 00:35:28,708 --> 00:35:30,833 So, why doesn't it fall? 670 00:35:30,917 --> 00:35:33,000 Well, according to some experts, 671 00:35:33,083 --> 00:35:38,208 it's likely due to an incredible feat of ancient engineering. 672 00:35:39,208 --> 00:35:42,500 The word "engineer" means "ingenious." 673 00:35:42,625 --> 00:35:45,250 And if you look at the relationship 674 00:35:45,375 --> 00:35:47,458 between The Golden Rock and the edge of the cliff, 675 00:35:47,542 --> 00:35:51,167 what we see is perfect balance, if you like. 676 00:35:51,250 --> 00:35:54,292 The center of the weight of that piece of rock is 677 00:35:54,375 --> 00:35:56,000 going through the point that it's connected 678 00:35:56,125 --> 00:35:58,208 to the stone below. It must be. 679 00:35:58,333 --> 00:36:01,333 Otherwise, it would be falling off the edge. 680 00:36:01,417 --> 00:36:03,250 I would say that's nearly impossible. 681 00:36:03,375 --> 00:36:06,625 But the thing to remember about the ancient people 682 00:36:06,708 --> 00:36:09,875 who created these marvels that we see around the world is 683 00:36:10,042 --> 00:36:12,833 that they understood mathematics, 684 00:36:12,917 --> 00:36:14,083 and they understood physics. 685 00:36:14,208 --> 00:36:16,292 SHATNER: Is it possible 686 00:36:16,375 --> 00:36:18,250 that The Golden Rock is simply an ingenious feat 687 00:36:18,375 --> 00:36:21,208 of ancient engineering? Perhaps. 688 00:36:21,375 --> 00:36:24,125 But for the faithful, the mere existence 689 00:36:24,208 --> 00:36:28,167 of such a wondrous sight is more important 690 00:36:28,250 --> 00:36:30,375 than how it was achieved. 691 00:36:30,500 --> 00:36:34,833 What The Golden Rock says about humanity is 692 00:36:34,958 --> 00:36:40,667 that people need to feel in contact with the divine. 693 00:36:41,708 --> 00:36:44,542 For the pilgrims who go to this sacred site, 694 00:36:44,667 --> 00:36:48,542 it can be an incredibly powerful and moving experience 695 00:36:48,667 --> 00:36:53,417 to be in contact with something that is most sacred 696 00:36:53,542 --> 00:36:55,958 and most holy in your tradition. 697 00:36:56,083 --> 00:36:58,958 And this is no different from the motivations 698 00:36:59,083 --> 00:37:01,458 and what drove people to visit this site 699 00:37:01,542 --> 00:37:05,333 for the last thousand, 2,000, 3,000 years. 700 00:37:06,583 --> 00:37:09,208 The Golden Rock is proof that, in spite of everything 701 00:37:09,333 --> 00:37:11,750 we've learned about physics and engineering, 702 00:37:11,875 --> 00:37:17,292 there are some ancient wonders that still defy understanding. 703 00:37:17,375 --> 00:37:20,458 But some experts believe that the key 704 00:37:20,542 --> 00:37:25,167 to unlocking their secrets is to study 705 00:37:25,333 --> 00:37:30,042 not the structures themselves, but rather, the DNA 706 00:37:30,167 --> 00:37:32,625 of the people who built them. 707 00:37:38,875 --> 00:37:42,583 SHATNER: Here, on the vast green pasture of Salisbury Plain, 708 00:37:42,708 --> 00:37:46,042 stands perhaps the most storied wonder of the ancient world: 709 00:37:46,167 --> 00:37:49,042 Stonehenge. 710 00:37:49,167 --> 00:37:52,500 First constructed around 3100 BC, 711 00:37:52,583 --> 00:37:56,625 these imposing sarsen and bluestone monoliths were rebuilt 712 00:37:56,708 --> 00:37:58,958 and repositioned a number of times 713 00:37:59,083 --> 00:38:00,875 over the next 1,500 years, 714 00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:04,625 eventually settling into the current configuration. 715 00:38:05,750 --> 00:38:10,500 But today, almost 5,000 years after its creation, 716 00:38:10,625 --> 00:38:14,375 Stonehenge's original purpose remains 717 00:38:14,500 --> 00:38:17,000 shrouded in mystery. 718 00:38:17,083 --> 00:38:19,000 TIMOTHY DARVILLE: Stonehenge is a complicated monument. 719 00:38:19,125 --> 00:38:20,833 It's a very long-lived monument. 720 00:38:20,917 --> 00:38:23,625 We're always changing our interpretations of Stonehenge. 721 00:38:23,750 --> 00:38:25,500 And this is in large measure because 722 00:38:25,583 --> 00:38:27,708 these societies don't seem to have had writing. 723 00:38:27,833 --> 00:38:29,167 They haven't written anything down-- 724 00:38:29,333 --> 00:38:30,625 that's come down to us, at least. 725 00:38:30,708 --> 00:38:33,042 So, we're having to piece together 726 00:38:33,167 --> 00:38:34,500 our understanding of the monument 727 00:38:34,625 --> 00:38:36,458 from what we have in the archaeological record 728 00:38:36,542 --> 00:38:39,208 in the monument itself. 729 00:38:39,375 --> 00:38:41,167 SHATNER: For centuries, 730 00:38:41,292 --> 00:38:42,917 researchers assumed that the ancient people 731 00:38:43,042 --> 00:38:47,500 who constructed Stonehenge were native to the British Isles. 732 00:38:47,583 --> 00:38:50,042 But that could be changing. 733 00:38:52,667 --> 00:38:55,292 Because thanks to modern genetic technology, 734 00:38:55,375 --> 00:38:58,542 researchers have been able to conduct DNA testing 735 00:38:58,708 --> 00:39:01,042 on Stone Age skeletons that were recovered 736 00:39:01,167 --> 00:39:04,083 in the area around Stonehenge. 737 00:39:04,208 --> 00:39:05,625 And the results suggested 738 00:39:05,708 --> 00:39:08,500 that Stonehenge's builders weren't native 739 00:39:08,625 --> 00:39:11,000 to ancient Britain at all. 740 00:39:12,208 --> 00:39:17,000 They may have arrived from much, much farther away. 741 00:39:17,125 --> 00:39:19,125 COLLINS: It was generally thought 742 00:39:19,208 --> 00:39:23,542 that Stonehenge-- it must have been built by the local people. 743 00:39:23,708 --> 00:39:27,542 But new DNA evidence suggests 744 00:39:27,667 --> 00:39:30,333 that the builders of Stonehenge 745 00:39:30,417 --> 00:39:35,500 had come from distant Anatolia, modern-day Turkey. 746 00:39:35,625 --> 00:39:41,333 NEWMAN: DNA analysis that shows this migration from Turkey 747 00:39:41,458 --> 00:39:43,667 to Ancient Britain is very, very interesting. 748 00:39:43,792 --> 00:39:47,458 Because what we're finding here is this direct connection 749 00:39:47,542 --> 00:39:49,000 over a very long period 750 00:39:49,083 --> 00:39:51,542 starting with sites 751 00:39:51,667 --> 00:39:55,500 such as Göbekli Tepe, which was in Southeast Turkey. 752 00:39:55,625 --> 00:39:58,542 Then we have similar stone structures like stone circles 753 00:39:58,667 --> 00:40:03,292 or stone avenues in Portugal, along the Iberian Coast. 754 00:40:03,375 --> 00:40:05,583 Then we have the sites in Brittany, France, 755 00:40:05,708 --> 00:40:08,917 which again date to this very early phase. 756 00:40:09,042 --> 00:40:11,375 And then we start seeing the megalithic constructions 757 00:40:11,500 --> 00:40:12,667 of Ancient Britain. 758 00:40:12,792 --> 00:40:15,958 So, this DNA analysis shows that 759 00:40:16,042 --> 00:40:18,208 they were bringing this megalithic knowledge. 760 00:40:18,375 --> 00:40:21,708 And this has now been proved, through DNA research, 761 00:40:21,833 --> 00:40:25,667 from Turkey, through Europe, into Ancient Britain. 762 00:40:28,833 --> 00:40:31,792 SHATNER: Is it possible that Stonehenge was constructed 763 00:40:31,875 --> 00:40:34,083 by the same ancient people from Turkey 764 00:40:34,208 --> 00:40:37,708 that built other massive stone monuments all over Europe, 765 00:40:37,875 --> 00:40:40,875 as newly-discovered DNA evidence suggests? 766 00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:43,958 It's one of many intriguing theories 767 00:40:44,042 --> 00:40:46,500 about ancient engineering 768 00:40:46,583 --> 00:40:50,125 that has been brought to light by modern technology. 769 00:40:51,750 --> 00:40:53,708 DARVILLE: New technologies are 770 00:40:53,833 --> 00:40:56,375 certainly going to open up a whole series of new questions. 771 00:40:56,542 --> 00:40:57,750 And it's going to answer a few things 772 00:40:57,875 --> 00:40:59,958 that we didn't know too much about. 773 00:41:00,083 --> 00:41:02,125 So, there's still a lot of work to be done 774 00:41:02,208 --> 00:41:05,875 in figuring out some of the secrets of ancient times. 775 00:41:06,958 --> 00:41:08,667 We began to realize that the ancients had 776 00:41:08,750 --> 00:41:11,625 astounding technology that we didn't think they had, 777 00:41:11,708 --> 00:41:13,333 and some technologies 778 00:41:13,458 --> 00:41:16,583 that are more advanced than our technology. 779 00:41:16,708 --> 00:41:20,000 And the hope is, even though there's no written records, 780 00:41:20,083 --> 00:41:22,542 using the science of DNA, 781 00:41:22,667 --> 00:41:25,417 or another advanced technology, 782 00:41:25,542 --> 00:41:27,792 we can get closer and closer to understanding 783 00:41:27,875 --> 00:41:31,167 how they were able to build these gigantic structures. 784 00:41:32,208 --> 00:41:35,125 SHATNER: Whether it's lost cities 785 00:41:35,208 --> 00:41:36,958 or massive geoglyphs, 786 00:41:37,042 --> 00:41:38,667 or ancient computers, 787 00:41:38,750 --> 00:41:41,375 the technological and engineering ability 788 00:41:41,542 --> 00:41:44,958 of our ancestors never ceases to amaze us. 789 00:41:45,042 --> 00:41:49,583 One day, modern technology may help us unlock all the secrets 790 00:41:49,708 --> 00:41:51,667 of these ancient wonders. 791 00:41:51,792 --> 00:41:56,292 But until then, we'll just have to marvel at their existence, 792 00:41:56,375 --> 00:41:58,042 and understand that they will remain... 793 00:41:58,208 --> 00:42:01,000 unexplained. 794 00:42:01,125 --> 00:42:02,917 CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY A+E NETWORKS