1 00:00:01,525 --> 00:00:03,767 NARRATOR: Could this 5,000-year-old ball 2 00:00:03,870 --> 00:00:06,043 be a stone cold killer? 3 00:00:06,146 --> 00:00:08,732 SOMARA: Catapulted, thrown. 4 00:00:08,836 --> 00:00:10,698 It could do some damage. 5 00:00:10,801 --> 00:00:13,974 NARRATOR: Is this literally shocking invention 6 00:00:14,077 --> 00:00:16,008 the Victorian Viagra? 7 00:00:16,111 --> 00:00:19,008 AUERBACH: Order one of Pulvermacher's electrified belts 8 00:00:19,111 --> 00:00:22,663 and turn yourself into a paradigm of masculinity. 9 00:00:23,905 --> 00:00:26,456 NARRATOR: And what is so wrong about this ancient 10 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:28,353 Egyptian mummified cat. 11 00:00:28,456 --> 00:00:30,663 This mummy is empty. There's no cat in it. 12 00:00:34,905 --> 00:00:37,422 NARRATOR: These are the most remarkable and mysterious 13 00:00:37,525 --> 00:00:39,560 objects on Earth. 14 00:00:39,663 --> 00:00:42,594 Hidden away in museums, 15 00:00:42,698 --> 00:00:46,180 laboratories, and storage rooms. 16 00:00:46,284 --> 00:00:48,560 Now, new research and technology can 17 00:00:48,663 --> 00:00:51,663 get under their skin like never before. 18 00:00:53,594 --> 00:00:55,284 We can rebuild them, 19 00:00:56,353 --> 00:00:58,284 pull them apart, 20 00:00:58,387 --> 00:01:00,215 and zoom in 21 00:01:00,318 --> 00:01:03,353 to reveal the unbelievable, 22 00:01:04,594 --> 00:01:06,491 the ancient, 23 00:01:06,594 --> 00:01:08,629 and the truly bizarre. 24 00:01:10,594 --> 00:01:14,387 These are the world's strangest things. 25 00:01:25,284 --> 00:01:28,560 Locked in a cabinet at the National Museum of Scotland 26 00:01:28,663 --> 00:01:31,284 sits a strange stone object. 27 00:01:31,387 --> 00:01:34,180 It was carved from a solid black rock 28 00:01:34,284 --> 00:01:35,560 thousands of years ago. 29 00:01:36,767 --> 00:01:40,249 It's beautiful, and it's aesthetic, 30 00:01:40,353 --> 00:01:43,387 and it's almost like a piece of art. 31 00:01:43,491 --> 00:01:45,008 NARRATOR: It is one of archaeology's 32 00:01:45,111 --> 00:01:46,870 greatest mysteries. 33 00:01:49,387 --> 00:01:50,870 It must have a function. 34 00:01:50,974 --> 00:01:53,836 Archaeologists have been speculating about it for over 35 00:01:53,939 --> 00:01:56,698 a century, but we still don't know what it is. 36 00:01:59,146 --> 00:02:01,353 NARRATOR: Now, using the latest technology, 37 00:02:01,456 --> 00:02:05,801 we can re-examine this incredible object 38 00:02:05,905 --> 00:02:07,387 in minute detail. 39 00:02:08,974 --> 00:02:11,422 This is the Towie ball. 40 00:02:13,663 --> 00:02:15,422 For over 160 years, 41 00:02:15,525 --> 00:02:16,905 the function of this intricately 42 00:02:17,008 --> 00:02:21,077 decorated rock has eluded archaeologists. 43 00:02:21,180 --> 00:02:23,767 The Towie ball is made of stone. 44 00:02:23,870 --> 00:02:25,974 It weighs about a pound. 45 00:02:26,077 --> 00:02:29,491 It's the shape and dimension of a baseball. 46 00:02:29,594 --> 00:02:33,111 It features four stone lobes, 47 00:02:33,215 --> 00:02:36,767 three of which are decorated with concentric circles 48 00:02:36,870 --> 00:02:38,077 and spirals. 49 00:02:38,180 --> 00:02:39,663 It's a remarkable object. 50 00:02:40,974 --> 00:02:44,491 NARRATOR: The ball might be considered a one-off curiosity, 51 00:02:44,594 --> 00:02:46,836 but it isn't, 52 00:02:46,939 --> 00:02:50,801 BELLINGER: We've now found over 500 of these objects. 53 00:02:50,905 --> 00:02:54,422 They range in exact size and in the type of stone used, 54 00:02:54,525 --> 00:02:58,077 but they're all similar enough to be grouped, reasonably, as 55 00:02:58,180 --> 00:02:59,939 a single category. 56 00:03:00,043 --> 00:03:02,422 NARRATOR: But it is the Towie ball that 57 00:03:02,525 --> 00:03:04,767 stands out as the most complex, 58 00:03:04,870 --> 00:03:08,491 detailed, and finest of them all. 59 00:03:08,594 --> 00:03:10,284 Who made it? 60 00:03:11,698 --> 00:03:13,870 What is it for? 61 00:03:13,974 --> 00:03:15,732 How old is it? 62 00:03:22,215 --> 00:03:26,180 The Towie ball is discovered around 1860 by workmen digging 63 00:03:26,284 --> 00:03:30,180 a drainage ditch in the small Scottish hamlet of Towie, 64 00:03:30,284 --> 00:03:31,698 hence the name. 65 00:03:31,801 --> 00:03:34,077 In fact, nearly all the carved 66 00:03:34,180 --> 00:03:35,870 balls have turned up in Scotland. 67 00:03:37,387 --> 00:03:41,663 They've been found in various places, about 20 in the Orkneys, 68 00:03:41,767 --> 00:03:45,387 two in England and Ireland, and one from Norway. 69 00:03:45,491 --> 00:03:49,422 But the majority have been found in Northeast Scotland, 70 00:03:49,525 --> 00:03:51,905 and that suggests that this is almost certainly 71 00:03:52,008 --> 00:03:54,180 a Scottish artifact. 72 00:03:54,284 --> 00:03:57,767 They form broadly two groups, 73 00:03:57,870 --> 00:04:01,974 one with these sort of nodular protuberances, 74 00:04:02,077 --> 00:04:03,387 like the Towie ball, 75 00:04:03,491 --> 00:04:08,008 others which can have many tens of bumps 76 00:04:08,111 --> 00:04:10,215 or pustules or nubbins 77 00:04:10,318 --> 00:04:12,249 upon them, looking very much 78 00:04:12,353 --> 00:04:16,111 like very spiky versions of the Towie ball. 79 00:04:16,215 --> 00:04:17,836 NARRATOR: But it is the Towie ball, 80 00:04:17,939 --> 00:04:20,836 the most intricate of them all, that really 81 00:04:20,939 --> 00:04:24,284 intrigues archaeologists. 82 00:04:25,594 --> 00:04:26,663 MacDONALD: In archaeology, 83 00:04:26,767 --> 00:04:29,422 we often date things by association, 84 00:04:29,525 --> 00:04:34,215 but here, we have an object on its own and dateless. 85 00:04:36,870 --> 00:04:38,594 NARRATOR: It isn't until 2013, 86 00:04:38,698 --> 00:04:41,905 over 150 years after the ball was found, 87 00:04:42,008 --> 00:04:44,284 that archaeologists finally uncover 88 00:04:44,387 --> 00:04:46,353 a definitive way of dating it. 89 00:04:47,905 --> 00:04:50,836 New excavations at the Ness of Brodgar 90 00:04:50,939 --> 00:04:54,353 in the Orkneys discover a stone ball 91 00:04:54,456 --> 00:04:57,146 beneath a wooden buttress. 92 00:04:57,249 --> 00:04:59,974 NARRATOR: Archaeologists can use carbon dating 93 00:05:00,077 --> 00:05:02,663 of the wood buttress to get a definitive age 94 00:05:02,767 --> 00:05:05,111 for the ball, as they are confident it had been 95 00:05:05,215 --> 00:05:07,732 intentionally buried beneath the buttress. 96 00:05:09,215 --> 00:05:11,387 It was radiocarbon dated 97 00:05:11,491 --> 00:05:14,180 to 2900 BC. 98 00:05:15,525 --> 00:05:19,146 NARRATOR: So the stone carved balls, including the Towie ball, 99 00:05:19,249 --> 00:05:23,491 are around 5,000 years old, from the Neolithic period. 100 00:05:28,767 --> 00:05:30,318 BELLINGER: The Neolithic first appeared 101 00:05:30,422 --> 00:05:33,767 over 10,000 years ago in the Middle East and China, 102 00:05:33,870 --> 00:05:36,008 where they developed new technologies 103 00:05:36,111 --> 00:05:39,146 for growing food crops, rather than having to go 104 00:05:39,249 --> 00:05:41,732 out and hunt and gather their food. 105 00:05:41,836 --> 00:05:43,698 NARRATOR: It is the beginning of farming 106 00:05:43,801 --> 00:05:45,491 and a settled way of life. 107 00:05:45,594 --> 00:05:48,387 It was also a revolution 108 00:05:48,491 --> 00:05:52,249 technologically speaking, especially in terms of 109 00:05:52,353 --> 00:05:54,974 the creation of polished stone artifacts 110 00:05:55,077 --> 00:05:59,560 and also the increased complex decoration 111 00:05:59,663 --> 00:06:00,836 of objects. 112 00:06:05,629 --> 00:06:07,663 NARRATOR: The Neolithic period is a dramatic 113 00:06:07,767 --> 00:06:11,525 and permanent transformation of human existence. 114 00:06:11,629 --> 00:06:15,249 BELLINGER: Neolithic literally means "new stone age," 115 00:06:15,353 --> 00:06:18,905 and stone was the calling card and the core tool 116 00:06:19,008 --> 00:06:21,491 and material that the individuals living in 117 00:06:21,594 --> 00:06:24,008 this time worked with. 118 00:06:24,111 --> 00:06:28,284 Stone endures in just about every environment, 119 00:06:28,387 --> 00:06:32,422 and so that is what we have for the most part to make 120 00:06:32,525 --> 00:06:34,767 our understandings of the Neolithic people. 121 00:06:36,456 --> 00:06:38,663 NARRATOR: The level of expertise and man hours 122 00:06:38,767 --> 00:06:40,629 needed to create these stone balls 123 00:06:40,732 --> 00:06:42,491 suggest they must play 124 00:06:42,594 --> 00:06:46,387 a very significant role in Neolithic life. 125 00:06:46,491 --> 00:06:48,215 But what is it? 126 00:06:48,318 --> 00:06:52,008 What are these carved stone balls for? 127 00:06:55,491 --> 00:06:57,801 One theory that's been suggested for the Towie ball 128 00:06:57,905 --> 00:06:59,801 is that it is a demonstration 129 00:06:59,905 --> 00:07:03,870 of the skill of the stonemason who made it. 130 00:07:03,974 --> 00:07:06,698 Some have speculated that these stones 131 00:07:06,801 --> 00:07:08,801 were actually, in effect, 132 00:07:08,905 --> 00:07:11,353 portable portfolios that 133 00:07:11,456 --> 00:07:14,905 craftspeople could carry around with them and present 134 00:07:15,008 --> 00:07:18,870 as evidence of the quality and the variety of work 135 00:07:18,974 --> 00:07:20,249 that they could produce, 136 00:07:20,353 --> 00:07:22,629 and that could explain the level of detail. 137 00:07:22,732 --> 00:07:25,111 It's a bit of showing off, really. 138 00:07:25,215 --> 00:07:27,456 NARRATOR: The idea that these carved balls 139 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:30,180 are a sort of stonemason CV would 140 00:07:30,284 --> 00:07:32,629 help explain some of the differences between 141 00:07:32,732 --> 00:07:34,698 the 500 or so balls discovered. 142 00:07:36,180 --> 00:07:37,146 Or does it? 143 00:07:39,594 --> 00:07:42,663 Only maybe a dozen are as intricate 144 00:07:42,767 --> 00:07:46,284 or as well finished as the Towie ball. 145 00:07:46,387 --> 00:07:49,422 So that does not fully convince 146 00:07:49,525 --> 00:07:51,111 to explain why they were made. 147 00:07:52,491 --> 00:07:56,043 NARRATOR: Unless they aren't all finished pieces. 148 00:07:56,146 --> 00:07:59,698 SOMARA: It took a huge amount of work to create these things. 149 00:07:59,801 --> 00:08:02,146 So maybe the ones that were less finessed were 150 00:08:02,249 --> 00:08:06,111 the result of people just giving up, getting frustrated. 151 00:08:06,215 --> 00:08:09,663 Maybe the stonemason just ran out of steam. 152 00:08:09,767 --> 00:08:12,146 NARRATOR: But some archaeologists think this idea 153 00:08:12,249 --> 00:08:16,111 is just too hard to reconcile with the evidence. 154 00:08:16,215 --> 00:08:18,905 It's not a theory that's entirely without 155 00:08:19,008 --> 00:08:22,525 any merit, but it's not the strongest explanation. 156 00:08:23,629 --> 00:08:25,525 NARRATOR: There is a very different and rather 157 00:08:25,629 --> 00:08:28,974 surprising theory to explain the Towie ball. 158 00:08:31,732 --> 00:08:34,974 Maybe it was some kind of Stone-Age storybook. 159 00:08:35,077 --> 00:08:37,077 BELLINGER: Storytelling has always 160 00:08:37,180 --> 00:08:39,801 been hugely important to humanity, 161 00:08:39,905 --> 00:08:42,491 but 5,000 years ago in Neolithic Britain, 162 00:08:42,594 --> 00:08:44,905 there wasn't any way of writing it down. 163 00:08:45,008 --> 00:08:46,077 It was all oral. 164 00:08:46,180 --> 00:08:48,801 MacDONALD: The notion is that the Towie ball might 165 00:08:48,905 --> 00:08:53,801 have served as a sort of trigger for memory, using 166 00:08:53,905 --> 00:08:58,077 the undulations on its surface as a kind of 167 00:08:58,180 --> 00:09:03,008 means of counting or stringing together 168 00:09:03,111 --> 00:09:07,180 a narrative by playing your fingers across it. 169 00:09:07,284 --> 00:09:10,663 NARRATOR: Mnemonic storytelling aids do exist in other cultures. 170 00:09:10,767 --> 00:09:14,663 MacDONALD: For the Luba people of Central Africa, 171 00:09:14,767 --> 00:09:18,663 there's a tangible vehicle of memory, which is known as 172 00:09:18,767 --> 00:09:21,111 a lukasa, or a memory board. 173 00:09:21,215 --> 00:09:23,974 And these, made out of wood, 174 00:09:24,077 --> 00:09:28,043 with some iconographic carving added to them, 175 00:09:28,146 --> 00:09:32,560 but mainly with beads of different colors strung to them, 176 00:09:32,663 --> 00:09:37,422 are used as a system of cues for recounting epic tales. 177 00:09:37,525 --> 00:09:41,215 NARRATOR: But there's a snag with this theory. 178 00:09:41,318 --> 00:09:43,732 Only a handful of balls are carved with 179 00:09:43,836 --> 00:09:47,870 any real detail, and even they throw up problems. 180 00:09:47,974 --> 00:09:51,215 Even if we look at the very best objects 181 00:09:51,318 --> 00:09:54,491 for this sort of thing, like the Towie ball, 182 00:09:54,594 --> 00:09:58,767 the patterns are simply too repetitive and too simple 183 00:09:58,870 --> 00:10:02,801 to be extremely useful as a mnemonic device. 184 00:10:02,905 --> 00:10:04,767 NARRATOR: Perhaps the Towie ball is something 185 00:10:04,870 --> 00:10:09,249 less artistic and altogether more violent. 186 00:10:21,249 --> 00:10:23,491 NARRATOR: There are multiple competing explanations for 187 00:10:23,594 --> 00:10:26,318 the 5,000-year-old Towie ball's purpose. 188 00:10:32,387 --> 00:10:36,077 One popular theory is that it is a weapon. 189 00:10:37,284 --> 00:10:39,629 BELLINGER: Looking at these balls 190 00:10:39,732 --> 00:10:41,905 and actually handling them, 191 00:10:42,008 --> 00:10:44,836 it sort of brings to mind a weapon, potentially. 192 00:10:44,939 --> 00:10:47,077 Those things weighing about a pound each, 193 00:10:47,180 --> 00:10:50,043 if you hit someone with it, it's gonna hurt. 194 00:10:50,146 --> 00:10:52,318 It's gonna leave a mark. 195 00:10:52,422 --> 00:10:54,594 NARRATOR: The idea that the Towie ball might be 196 00:10:54,698 --> 00:10:56,146 a Neolithic killing machine 197 00:10:56,249 --> 00:10:58,422 fits well with increasing evidence 198 00:10:58,525 --> 00:11:01,422 that this is not a peaceful time. 199 00:11:01,525 --> 00:11:04,560 Neolithic burials have been excavated for, 200 00:11:04,663 --> 00:11:07,318 you know, over 100 years. 201 00:11:07,422 --> 00:11:10,215 But it's only recently, with the development of very 202 00:11:10,318 --> 00:11:15,008 sophisticated osteoarchaeology, that we can begin to understand 203 00:11:15,111 --> 00:11:18,180 how people died in the Neolithic. 204 00:11:18,284 --> 00:11:21,629 MacDONALD: Increasing evidence shows that warfare 205 00:11:21,732 --> 00:11:23,560 was more common than we have thought. 206 00:11:23,663 --> 00:11:27,422 This wasn't a shiny, happy community all the time. 207 00:11:27,525 --> 00:11:29,836 NARRATOR: Head injuries inflicted by weapons often 208 00:11:29,939 --> 00:11:32,870 leave a very recognizable pattern of fractures. 209 00:11:35,180 --> 00:11:37,974 MacDONALD: A recent research project examining 210 00:11:38,077 --> 00:11:41,491 350 Neolithic crania from Britain 211 00:11:41,594 --> 00:11:47,284 found that up to 7 percent had instances of traumatic injury. 212 00:11:47,387 --> 00:11:50,870 I mean, if you think about it, with the positive aspects of 213 00:11:50,974 --> 00:11:52,732 reliance on agriculture, 214 00:11:52,836 --> 00:11:55,387 which allows you to settle in one place, 215 00:11:55,491 --> 00:11:58,456 you've got a lot of people settled in one place, 216 00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:02,905 and human nature being what it is, that inevitably leads to 217 00:12:03,008 --> 00:12:07,043 stratification and ultimately, to conflict. 218 00:12:07,146 --> 00:12:10,284 NARRATOR: So what kind of weapon could the Towie ball be? 219 00:12:10,387 --> 00:12:13,836 MacDONALD: They could have been used as a kind of macehead, 220 00:12:13,939 --> 00:12:16,318 with the lobes giving a means to wrap 221 00:12:16,422 --> 00:12:21,249 sinew or cord around them and attach them to a stout stick, 222 00:12:21,353 --> 00:12:25,146 and therefore be a kind of war club. 223 00:12:25,249 --> 00:12:28,594 NARRATOR: But if it is just a glorified Stone Age club, 224 00:12:28,698 --> 00:12:30,629 why decorate it so carefully? 225 00:12:30,732 --> 00:12:32,560 There are precedents for this, 226 00:12:32,663 --> 00:12:34,387 particularly the mouth macehead, 227 00:12:34,491 --> 00:12:37,043 which is another Neolithic object, which is quite 228 00:12:37,146 --> 00:12:38,732 extensively decorated. 229 00:12:38,836 --> 00:12:41,870 NARRATOR: But there may be a problem with this theory. 230 00:12:41,974 --> 00:12:44,732 We know that the Towie ball is made 231 00:12:44,836 --> 00:12:48,387 out of a metamorphic stone known as hornfels. 232 00:12:48,491 --> 00:12:52,249 If this hits a solid object, 233 00:12:53,698 --> 00:12:56,008 it is going to suffer a conchoidal fracture, 234 00:12:56,111 --> 00:12:58,491 much in the way that glass would. 235 00:12:58,594 --> 00:13:00,767 NARRATOR: Expanding the state-of-the-art 236 00:13:00,870 --> 00:13:04,387 3D graphic, we can examine every part of 237 00:13:04,491 --> 00:13:07,008 the Towie ball for the tiniest evidence of this 238 00:13:07,111 --> 00:13:08,767 distinct fracture. 239 00:13:08,870 --> 00:13:12,387 We don't see these sort of fractures on 240 00:13:12,491 --> 00:13:16,525 the Towie ball or any other of these stone balls. 241 00:13:16,629 --> 00:13:18,594 NARRATOR: We also know Neolithic peoples 242 00:13:18,698 --> 00:13:21,008 often bury their weapons in their graves, 243 00:13:21,111 --> 00:13:25,284 but the Towie ball is not found in a grave, and neither 244 00:13:25,387 --> 00:13:28,008 are many of the other carved balls. 245 00:13:28,111 --> 00:13:31,594 It all suggests the Towie ball isn't a weapon. 246 00:13:32,836 --> 00:13:34,870 But is there another explanation, 247 00:13:34,974 --> 00:13:37,146 one that would justify the effort that 248 00:13:37,249 --> 00:13:39,491 has gone into making the Towie ball? 249 00:13:43,732 --> 00:13:47,008 Is it a message to their gods? 250 00:13:47,111 --> 00:13:49,732 One thing that's really striking about these objects, 251 00:13:49,836 --> 00:13:53,215 when you look closely at the designs themselves, 252 00:13:53,318 --> 00:13:56,732 is that they really resemble those found on some 253 00:13:56,836 --> 00:14:00,698 religious structures created during the same time. 254 00:14:00,801 --> 00:14:03,767 So particularly thinking about Newgrange, 255 00:14:03,870 --> 00:14:06,077 a passage grave in Ireland. 256 00:14:06,180 --> 00:14:08,456 You know, it suggests that there could 257 00:14:08,560 --> 00:14:12,663 be a religious purpose to these balls. 258 00:14:12,767 --> 00:14:14,836 NARRATOR: Archaeologists believe religion 259 00:14:14,939 --> 00:14:16,249 and these intricate symbols 260 00:14:16,353 --> 00:14:19,836 are intimately connected to life in the Neolithic. 261 00:14:19,939 --> 00:14:24,525 It brings us back to the ideology of the people of 262 00:14:24,629 --> 00:14:26,905 the Neolithic period in Europe -- 263 00:14:27,008 --> 00:14:31,111 the winter solstice, the equinox, bodies of water, 264 00:14:31,215 --> 00:14:33,836 offerings to other worlds. 265 00:14:33,939 --> 00:14:37,043 We can see traces of the ritual, but it's hard for 266 00:14:37,146 --> 00:14:40,456 us to connect the dots and reconstruct the full 267 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:42,284 spiritual system. 268 00:14:42,387 --> 00:14:44,836 But it was there. 269 00:14:44,939 --> 00:14:48,870 NARRATOR: So what is the truth about the Towie ball? 270 00:14:48,974 --> 00:14:53,284 Stonemasons' advert, weapon, Stone Age storybook? 271 00:14:53,387 --> 00:14:55,836 With so many possibilities, 272 00:14:55,939 --> 00:14:58,387 there is no single answer 273 00:14:58,491 --> 00:15:02,318 and ultimately, we may find that there are two 274 00:15:02,422 --> 00:15:05,629 or three different viable interpretations 275 00:15:05,732 --> 00:15:07,456 for the use of these objects. 276 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:09,870 NARRATOR: The Towie ball remains an enduring 277 00:15:09,974 --> 00:15:12,801 and beautiful mystery and a window 278 00:15:12,905 --> 00:15:16,525 into the lives of our ancestors 5,000 years ago. 279 00:15:23,456 --> 00:15:26,456 In an antique collector's cabinet in Virginia sits 280 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:29,525 a strange metal contraption from the 19th century. 281 00:15:30,732 --> 00:15:32,387 It was, quite literally, one of 282 00:15:32,491 --> 00:15:35,456 the most shocking medical devices ever created. 283 00:15:38,422 --> 00:15:40,974 NARRATOR: Now, using the latest technology, 284 00:15:41,077 --> 00:15:45,008 we're bringing this bizarre contraption out into the light. 285 00:15:46,732 --> 00:15:50,525 Pulvermacher's electro galvanic chain. 286 00:15:50,629 --> 00:15:53,836 It was claimed to be a revolution in medical science. 287 00:15:53,939 --> 00:15:57,732 NARRATOR: It's made from 120 perforated metal links 288 00:15:57,836 --> 00:16:00,456 connected together into a chain. 289 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:05,836 Each link consists of a copper casing, housing 290 00:16:05,939 --> 00:16:09,767 a zinc rod wrapped in vinegar-soaked cloth. 291 00:16:09,870 --> 00:16:13,180 Handles made of metal and wood attach to either end. 292 00:16:14,353 --> 00:16:16,318 It looks well made and has 293 00:16:16,422 --> 00:16:18,939 the feel of a professional piece of kit. 294 00:16:19,043 --> 00:16:20,870 MARKS: People went crazy for them. 295 00:16:20,974 --> 00:16:22,249 Thousands of people were strapping 296 00:16:22,353 --> 00:16:23,974 these strange things across their bodies. 297 00:16:25,353 --> 00:16:28,836 NARRATOR: Which is surprising, given that its sole function was 298 00:16:28,939 --> 00:16:32,284 to deliver 132 volts of electricity directly into 299 00:16:32,387 --> 00:16:33,836 the body, 300 00:16:33,939 --> 00:16:36,180 more or less equivalent to plugging yourself 301 00:16:36,284 --> 00:16:37,939 into a U.S. power outlet. 302 00:16:39,422 --> 00:16:43,180 This is basically a device for electrocuting yourself. 303 00:16:45,043 --> 00:16:48,111 NARRATOR: Why would someone do something so bizarre? 304 00:16:49,422 --> 00:16:51,284 Does it actually produce electricity? 305 00:16:52,836 --> 00:16:56,043 And were people really electrocuting themselves 306 00:16:56,146 --> 00:16:57,629 for their health? 307 00:17:06,215 --> 00:17:08,974 NARRATOR: In the mid-19th century, Britain's empire is 308 00:17:09,077 --> 00:17:10,318 expanding rapidly. 309 00:17:10,422 --> 00:17:13,284 The country is embracing change, 310 00:17:13,387 --> 00:17:16,043 led by an explosion of innovation 311 00:17:16,146 --> 00:17:18,284 and game-changing invention. 312 00:17:19,594 --> 00:17:22,491 And then there's the Pulvermacher belt. 313 00:17:22,594 --> 00:17:24,732 Its inventor, Isaac Pulvermacher, 314 00:17:24,836 --> 00:17:26,284 is a mysterious figure. 315 00:17:26,387 --> 00:17:27,836 We don't have any photographs of him, but we know 316 00:17:27,939 --> 00:17:30,422 he was a Prussian traveling inventor. 317 00:17:32,249 --> 00:17:34,146 NARRATOR: In the 1850s, 318 00:17:34,249 --> 00:17:36,180 Pulvermacher is traveling around Europe, 319 00:17:36,284 --> 00:17:38,560 gathering support and testimonies that will help 320 00:17:38,663 --> 00:17:42,594 him sell what he claims is the portable cure for almost 321 00:17:42,698 --> 00:17:44,974 every ailment known to man. 322 00:17:45,077 --> 00:17:48,974 The self applicable electro galvanic chain belt, 323 00:17:49,077 --> 00:17:51,387 for the cure of nervous and chronic diseases 324 00:17:51,491 --> 00:17:53,146 without medicine. 325 00:17:53,249 --> 00:17:54,629 What a title. 326 00:17:54,732 --> 00:17:55,801 MARKS: It's a panacea. 327 00:17:55,905 --> 00:17:59,146 It can treat rheumatism, liver problems, 328 00:17:59,249 --> 00:18:01,318 tiredness, headaches, 329 00:18:01,422 --> 00:18:04,663 dizziness, fatigue, even sexual problems. 330 00:18:04,767 --> 00:18:07,180 So you name it, the belt can fix it 331 00:18:07,284 --> 00:18:08,870 through the magic of electricity. 332 00:18:08,974 --> 00:18:11,180 Or so says the mysterious Pulvermacher. 333 00:18:18,387 --> 00:18:20,043 NARRATOR: Pulling the belt apart reveals that it 334 00:18:20,146 --> 00:18:22,594 can definitely give you a nasty shock. 335 00:18:24,629 --> 00:18:27,215 So the belt consists of a series of 336 00:18:27,318 --> 00:18:29,284 interconnected links. 337 00:18:29,387 --> 00:18:34,905 Each one has a copper casing, and inside that is a zinc rod, 338 00:18:35,008 --> 00:18:36,939 which is wrapped in a little cloth 339 00:18:37,043 --> 00:18:38,387 soaked in vinegar. 340 00:18:38,491 --> 00:18:40,491 NARRATOR: Two different metals, 341 00:18:40,594 --> 00:18:42,387 with a conducting liquid between, 342 00:18:42,491 --> 00:18:45,353 like vinegar, will produce electricity. 343 00:18:45,456 --> 00:18:47,456 It's high school science. 344 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:49,939 This makes every link in the belt 345 00:18:50,043 --> 00:18:52,215 an individual battery cell. 346 00:18:52,318 --> 00:18:54,594 SELLA: The beauty of these things is 347 00:18:54,698 --> 00:18:56,594 that the more of these you link up, 348 00:18:56,698 --> 00:18:58,732 the bigger the voltage you get. 349 00:18:58,836 --> 00:19:01,043 STEELE: Pulvermacher had a range of different models, 350 00:19:01,146 --> 00:19:03,594 but the 120-cell version 351 00:19:03,698 --> 00:19:06,249 could deliver a whopping 132 volts. 352 00:19:09,939 --> 00:19:11,801 NARRATOR: There are several recommended ways 353 00:19:11,905 --> 00:19:13,422 to use the device. 354 00:19:13,525 --> 00:19:16,698 These include the simple shock method, 355 00:19:16,801 --> 00:19:19,594 where you hold the metal tubes with damp hands and bang 356 00:19:19,698 --> 00:19:21,249 the linked chains together. 357 00:19:21,353 --> 00:19:23,801 Each time they connect, you get a shock. 358 00:19:26,008 --> 00:19:28,525 There is the conductor brush, specifically 359 00:19:28,629 --> 00:19:32,111 for electrocuting the mouth and ears. 360 00:19:32,215 --> 00:19:35,594 And then there is the interrupting clockwork system, 361 00:19:35,698 --> 00:19:37,594 which, when connected to the electric chain 362 00:19:37,698 --> 00:19:40,732 and wound up, sends shocks to that part of the body 363 00:19:40,836 --> 00:19:42,870 that most needs a regular jolt. 364 00:19:50,698 --> 00:19:52,939 But where does Pulvermacher get the idea that 365 00:19:53,043 --> 00:19:56,663 electricity really can be some kind of miracle cure? 366 00:19:57,767 --> 00:20:00,180 And why do the Victorians buy into it? 367 00:20:02,939 --> 00:20:05,939 The idea of medical electricity really takes hold 368 00:20:06,043 --> 00:20:08,939 in the 18th century with the quest for something called 369 00:20:09,043 --> 00:20:11,318 the vital force 370 00:20:11,422 --> 00:20:14,560 and an accidental experiment 371 00:20:14,663 --> 00:20:16,249 with a frog. -[frog croaks] 372 00:20:16,353 --> 00:20:18,939 Vital force is an idea that goes all the way back 373 00:20:19,043 --> 00:20:20,422 to the ancient Egyptians. 374 00:20:20,525 --> 00:20:24,111 What is it that animates living beings? 375 00:20:24,215 --> 00:20:26,422 What is this mysterious force that 376 00:20:26,525 --> 00:20:28,974 makes things alive rather than dead? 377 00:20:30,594 --> 00:20:31,629 NARRATOR: The man who believes he has 378 00:20:31,732 --> 00:20:35,905 found it is Italian scientist Luigi Galvani. 379 00:20:36,008 --> 00:20:39,215 His experiment is...unusual. 380 00:20:39,318 --> 00:20:40,698 STEELE: He was playing around 381 00:20:40,801 --> 00:20:42,180 with static electricity machines, 382 00:20:42,284 --> 00:20:44,146 and, at the same time, dissecting frogs, 383 00:20:44,249 --> 00:20:45,939 and what we think might have happened 384 00:20:46,043 --> 00:20:47,318 is that one of his assistants touched 385 00:20:47,422 --> 00:20:49,629 a scalpel on a nerve in the frog's leg. 386 00:20:49,732 --> 00:20:51,387 Perhaps that scalp had been charged up with some 387 00:20:51,491 --> 00:20:53,560 static electricity from somewhere, and the frog's 388 00:20:53,663 --> 00:20:56,353 leg kicked, and what this showed us was there was 389 00:20:56,456 --> 00:20:58,767 a fundamental relationship between electricity 390 00:20:58,870 --> 00:21:00,560 and whatever makes muscles move. 391 00:21:02,353 --> 00:21:05,111 NARRATOR: Galvani is convinced that he has discovered 392 00:21:05,215 --> 00:21:06,801 this vital force, 393 00:21:06,905 --> 00:21:08,836 and he renames it animal electricity, 394 00:21:08,939 --> 00:21:12,146 a life force that comes from the tissue itself. 395 00:21:14,043 --> 00:21:17,284 When Galvani publishes his first report 396 00:21:17,387 --> 00:21:20,387 on this experiment, it really, no pun intended, 397 00:21:20,491 --> 00:21:22,905 shocks the world. 398 00:21:23,008 --> 00:21:25,732 NARRATOR: Galvani believes his new theory 399 00:21:25,836 --> 00:21:29,180 of animal electricity has huge medical potential. 400 00:21:29,284 --> 00:21:31,939 STEELE: But it was gonna take more than the kicking leg 401 00:21:32,043 --> 00:21:34,043 of a dead frog to convince the world of this. 402 00:21:34,146 --> 00:21:38,525 This all changed in 1798, when Galvani died and passed 403 00:21:38,629 --> 00:21:42,180 on the baton on to his nephew and assistant, Giovanni Aldini. 404 00:21:43,629 --> 00:21:47,353 NARRATOR: Aldini takes his uncle's theories on the road. 405 00:21:47,456 --> 00:21:49,905 The inspiration for the Pulvermacher belt 406 00:21:50,008 --> 00:21:52,422 comes partly from his work, 407 00:21:52,525 --> 00:21:56,043 one of literally the most shocking experiments of 408 00:21:56,146 --> 00:22:00,870 the entire 19th century. 409 00:22:06,387 --> 00:22:08,767 NARRATOR: Pulvermacher's electrical belt 410 00:22:08,870 --> 00:22:10,491 is a medical invention that takes 411 00:22:10,594 --> 00:22:12,594 the 19th century by storm. 412 00:22:14,215 --> 00:22:15,629 It relies on the idea that 413 00:22:15,732 --> 00:22:18,870 electricity is the vital force of life. 414 00:22:18,974 --> 00:22:21,629 One man more than any other becomes 415 00:22:21,732 --> 00:22:25,284 famous for spreading that idea around Europe -- 416 00:22:25,387 --> 00:22:28,353 Italian scientist Giovanni Aldini. 417 00:22:30,215 --> 00:22:35,767 He tours Europe with a voltaic pile, and he uses it to conduct 418 00:22:35,870 --> 00:22:39,077 electricity through the cadavers of various animals, 419 00:22:39,180 --> 00:22:42,767 like dogs and sheep, making them kick and twitch. 420 00:22:42,870 --> 00:22:47,836 But he decides to up the ante a bit and uses not an animal... 421 00:22:48,836 --> 00:22:50,387 [woman screaming] 422 00:22:50,491 --> 00:22:53,663 ...but a person. 423 00:22:53,767 --> 00:22:55,939 NARRATOR: His most famous experiment takes place in 424 00:22:56,043 --> 00:22:59,353 1803 at the Royal College of Surgeons. 425 00:23:00,456 --> 00:23:02,215 In front of a large audience, 426 00:23:02,318 --> 00:23:05,215 Aldini hooks his device up to recently hanged murderer, 427 00:23:05,318 --> 00:23:06,594 George Foster. 428 00:23:08,387 --> 00:23:10,974 He sends 132 volts of electricity 429 00:23:11,077 --> 00:23:13,732 surging through the dead convict's corpse, 430 00:23:15,249 --> 00:23:19,008 and it immediately begins to move. 431 00:23:19,111 --> 00:23:23,146 The audience is terrified -- they think Aldini is trying to 432 00:23:23,249 --> 00:23:25,905 bring back to life a dead murderer, 433 00:23:26,008 --> 00:23:27,801 but he reassures them saying, no, 434 00:23:27,905 --> 00:23:31,698 this is a device that might be able to revive others 435 00:23:31,801 --> 00:23:32,801 and save their lives, 436 00:23:32,905 --> 00:23:35,905 perhaps someone who had recently drowned. 437 00:23:36,008 --> 00:23:38,318 NARRATOR: Aldini's demonstration 438 00:23:38,422 --> 00:23:42,870 changes the way 19th century people view electricity. 439 00:23:42,974 --> 00:23:46,077 Even Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is directly 440 00:23:46,180 --> 00:23:49,974 influenced by George Foster's electrifying return. 441 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:55,836 Of course, Aldini isn't actually re-animating the dead. 442 00:23:55,939 --> 00:23:58,836 He is demonstrating that the nervous system uses 443 00:23:58,939 --> 00:24:01,594 electricity to control a living body. 444 00:24:01,698 --> 00:24:04,836 STEELE: Our muscles move in response to electrical signals 445 00:24:04,939 --> 00:24:06,698 that flow through our nerves to the muscles. 446 00:24:06,801 --> 00:24:09,422 Electricity is a vital force, 447 00:24:09,525 --> 00:24:12,491 but in a dead body, there's no source of electricity. 448 00:24:12,594 --> 00:24:17,387 NARRATOR: Maybe the fabled vital force hasn't been discovered, 449 00:24:17,491 --> 00:24:19,939 but here is proof that electricity 450 00:24:20,043 --> 00:24:22,594 is an essential part of life. 451 00:24:22,698 --> 00:24:25,732 Aldini's experiment kickstarts further 452 00:24:25,836 --> 00:24:28,146 experimentation in using 453 00:24:28,249 --> 00:24:32,594 electrotherapy to treat all kinds of ailments. 454 00:24:32,698 --> 00:24:34,594 It's thought that the application 455 00:24:34,698 --> 00:24:36,284 of direct current to the human body 456 00:24:36,387 --> 00:24:39,422 might be able to cure all kinds of issues, 457 00:24:39,525 --> 00:24:41,387 a true panacea. 458 00:24:41,491 --> 00:24:43,801 NARRATOR: The world is ready to embrace electricity 459 00:24:43,905 --> 00:24:47,767 in medicine -- they call it electrotherapy. 460 00:24:49,146 --> 00:24:52,870 And leading the charge is Pulvermacher's belt. 461 00:24:52,974 --> 00:24:56,870 So does this strange device really work? 462 00:24:59,353 --> 00:25:03,043 By the middle of the 19th century, 463 00:25:03,146 --> 00:25:05,663 electrotherapy is all the rage. 464 00:25:05,767 --> 00:25:09,284 You have clinics opening up in major cities like London 465 00:25:09,387 --> 00:25:12,353 and Paris, all promising cures 466 00:25:12,456 --> 00:25:14,353 for whatever ails you through 467 00:25:14,456 --> 00:25:15,905 the application of direct current. 468 00:25:17,043 --> 00:25:19,732 NARRATOR: But the miracle electrotherapy cures rapidly 469 00:25:19,836 --> 00:25:21,870 get out of hand. 470 00:25:21,974 --> 00:25:24,491 As is often the case with new inventions, 471 00:25:24,594 --> 00:25:27,974 especially those that tout to cure common ailments, 472 00:25:28,077 --> 00:25:30,732 it quickly moves out of the control of scientists 473 00:25:30,836 --> 00:25:32,180 and medical professionals, 474 00:25:32,284 --> 00:25:34,939 and electrotherapy becomes something that 475 00:25:35,043 --> 00:25:37,491 people are interested in as a household item. 476 00:25:37,594 --> 00:25:42,146 NARRATOR: This huge expansion in electrotherapy is possible 477 00:25:42,249 --> 00:25:45,284 because of a very different type of invention -- 478 00:25:45,387 --> 00:25:47,905 mail order catalogs. 479 00:25:48,008 --> 00:25:50,905 AUERBACH: Mail order catalogs are the predecessors 480 00:25:51,008 --> 00:25:52,560 of things like Amazon. 481 00:25:52,663 --> 00:25:54,249 You have a huge catalog. 482 00:25:54,353 --> 00:25:58,767 You see the item you like, you put in an order, and presto, 483 00:25:58,870 --> 00:26:01,905 a few days or weeks later, it shows up on your doorstep. 484 00:26:02,008 --> 00:26:04,318 NARRATOR: In this brave new world of mail order 485 00:26:04,422 --> 00:26:08,422 miracle cures, Pulvermacher's belt is a smash hit. 486 00:26:08,525 --> 00:26:10,043 WEST: People want to be convinced that 487 00:26:10,146 --> 00:26:11,318 what you have will work. 488 00:26:11,422 --> 00:26:13,663 They want you to cure their baldness or their impotence 489 00:26:13,767 --> 00:26:15,974 or whatever else it is, and it makes them feel 490 00:26:16,077 --> 00:26:18,836 better to think that there's something out there that works. 491 00:26:18,939 --> 00:26:21,698 NARRATOR: And you can tell them pretty much anything you want. 492 00:26:21,801 --> 00:26:25,629 Unlike now, there are no rules around advertising. 493 00:26:25,732 --> 00:26:27,939 There's no licensing, and there's no regulation of 494 00:26:28,043 --> 00:26:30,146 the market. -The moment you allow 495 00:26:30,249 --> 00:26:33,836 someone to lie and make money and face no consequences, 496 00:26:33,939 --> 00:26:35,456 the obvious result is that people will 497 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:39,008 lie and make money and face no consequences. 498 00:26:39,111 --> 00:26:41,422 NARRATOR: And it isn't just Pulvermacher's electrotherapy 499 00:26:41,525 --> 00:26:44,491 cures taking advantage of this medical free-for-all. 500 00:26:45,663 --> 00:26:47,284 In parts of America, 501 00:26:47,387 --> 00:26:51,353 there are three times as many quack doctors as real ones, 502 00:26:51,456 --> 00:26:54,422 and the mail order cure business is driving them. 503 00:26:54,525 --> 00:26:57,111 You can find adverts for face soap containing 504 00:26:57,215 --> 00:26:58,456 small amounts of arsenic. 505 00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:01,767 You can find cigarettes that are supposed to cure asthma 506 00:27:01,870 --> 00:27:03,663 and cholera, and you can even find 507 00:27:03,767 --> 00:27:05,422 adverts with images of toddlers 508 00:27:05,525 --> 00:27:08,353 advertising cocaine toothache drops. 509 00:27:14,249 --> 00:27:17,249 NARRATOR: Pulvermacher's belt rides this wave of miracle cures 510 00:27:17,353 --> 00:27:21,284 because it is supported by some eye-catching advertising. 511 00:27:21,387 --> 00:27:25,180 One always successful strategy is to appeal to either 512 00:27:25,284 --> 00:27:30,284 femininity or to masculinity, and this is exactly what's done 513 00:27:30,387 --> 00:27:34,043 with the electrified belt, and there's advertisements of these 514 00:27:34,146 --> 00:27:37,732 rather buff Victorian men in kind of scant clothing with 515 00:27:37,836 --> 00:27:40,560 this belt strapped on, and it asks the viewer, 516 00:27:40,663 --> 00:27:43,456 "Men, why are you weak?" 517 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:46,525 The solution is obvious -- order one of Pulvermacher's 518 00:27:46,629 --> 00:27:48,974 electrified belts, and turn yourself into 519 00:27:49,077 --> 00:27:51,836 a paradigm of masculinity. 520 00:27:51,939 --> 00:27:53,905 And it isn't just Pulvermacher 521 00:27:54,008 --> 00:27:56,318 trying to corner the electrotherapy market. 522 00:27:58,215 --> 00:28:00,905 So you start to see ads for electric socks, 523 00:28:01,008 --> 00:28:02,594 you've got electric corsets, 524 00:28:02,698 --> 00:28:05,870 advertisements for all kinds of home electrotherapy devices, 525 00:28:05,974 --> 00:28:08,870 claiming to cure everything and anything that 526 00:28:08,974 --> 00:28:10,456 ails the human body. 527 00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:13,146 In this brave new world of DIY 528 00:28:13,249 --> 00:28:15,215 electrotherapy treatments, Pulvermacher's belt 529 00:28:15,318 --> 00:28:17,836 is making a killing, and he moves his main production 530 00:28:17,939 --> 00:28:19,560 center from London to Cincinnati, 531 00:28:19,663 --> 00:28:22,353 allowing him to sell belts across Europe and America. 532 00:28:22,456 --> 00:28:26,456 NARRATOR: But there is one very big issue with lots 533 00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:30,836 of these electrotherapy cures, including Pulvermacher's belt. 534 00:28:30,939 --> 00:28:32,801 AUERBACH: The real problem with all these electrotherapy 535 00:28:32,905 --> 00:28:36,732 gadgets is that the claims were completely overblown. 536 00:28:36,836 --> 00:28:40,284 The idea that you can cure constipation and headaches 537 00:28:40,387 --> 00:28:44,215 and impotence all simply by mildly electrocuting yourself 538 00:28:44,318 --> 00:28:45,594 is ridiculous. 539 00:28:45,698 --> 00:28:47,318 NARRATOR: So ridiculous, in fact, that it 540 00:28:47,422 --> 00:28:49,939 eventually attracts the attention of 541 00:28:50,043 --> 00:28:51,629 the U.S. government. 542 00:28:51,732 --> 00:28:55,698 How will they respond to these outlandish claims? 543 00:29:03,974 --> 00:29:06,801 NARRATOR: By the early 20th century, 544 00:29:06,905 --> 00:29:10,698 the writing is on the wall for the Wild West world of 545 00:29:10,801 --> 00:29:14,594 electrotherapy miracle cures, like the Pulvermacher belt. 546 00:29:14,698 --> 00:29:17,180 The government clamps down on 547 00:29:17,284 --> 00:29:20,870 the false promises made by electrotherapy devices. 548 00:29:20,974 --> 00:29:24,111 You also have the postal office stepping in and more 549 00:29:24,215 --> 00:29:26,456 carefully regulating what you can buy 550 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:28,629 and sell and deliver over the postal service. 551 00:29:30,387 --> 00:29:31,594 NARRATOR: The government has spotted 552 00:29:31,698 --> 00:29:34,663 a major stumbling block with the belt. 553 00:29:34,767 --> 00:29:38,353 There's no proof that it makes anyone better. 554 00:29:38,456 --> 00:29:42,560 The market in home electrotherapy devices 555 00:29:42,663 --> 00:29:45,767 really crashes out, and Pulvermacher's 556 00:29:45,870 --> 00:29:49,491 electro galvanic medical chain goes down with it. 557 00:29:49,594 --> 00:29:52,043 NARRATOR: Pretty soon, it's impossible to sell 558 00:29:52,146 --> 00:29:54,008 an electrical miracle cure 559 00:29:54,111 --> 00:29:56,525 without actually proving that it works. 560 00:29:56,629 --> 00:29:59,870 It's the end of the line for Pulvermacher's belt. 561 00:29:59,974 --> 00:30:02,560 The company goes bust, which really 562 00:30:02,663 --> 00:30:04,801 shouldn't come as much of a shock. 563 00:30:10,629 --> 00:30:12,629 At the Penn Museum in Philadelphia 564 00:30:12,732 --> 00:30:15,698 is a curious ancient Egyptian relic, 565 00:30:15,801 --> 00:30:19,698 a tiny mummy -- but not of a human. 566 00:30:19,801 --> 00:30:22,111 This strange bundle of linen strips 567 00:30:22,215 --> 00:30:25,249 has the unmistakable head of a cat. 568 00:30:25,353 --> 00:30:28,767 Cats were really important for the ancient Egyptians. 569 00:30:28,870 --> 00:30:31,111 So, you know, it makes sense that they would 570 00:30:31,215 --> 00:30:34,905 have wanted to mummify cats just as they did humans. 571 00:30:35,008 --> 00:30:38,284 NARRATOR: But something about this mummy shocked researchers. 572 00:30:41,594 --> 00:30:45,422 Now, using cutting-edge imaging technology, we can show in 573 00:30:45,525 --> 00:30:48,318 astonishing detail what is so strange 574 00:30:48,422 --> 00:30:50,456 about this bizarre object. 575 00:30:52,974 --> 00:30:56,974 It is 19 inches long, with a small, round head, 576 00:30:57,077 --> 00:31:00,801 tiny ears, eyes, and a nose, attached to 577 00:31:00,905 --> 00:31:04,215 an elongated body without legs. 578 00:31:04,318 --> 00:31:08,318 But that's not what makes this artifact so strange. 579 00:31:09,836 --> 00:31:12,318 NARRATOR: Because for a cat mummy, it's got one very 580 00:31:12,422 --> 00:31:13,525 big shortcoming, 581 00:31:13,629 --> 00:31:18,284 There's no cat inside, not even any random bones. 582 00:31:18,387 --> 00:31:22,594 NARRATOR: Where is the cat? Was it removed? 583 00:31:24,387 --> 00:31:28,974 Was the cat even there in the first place? 584 00:31:29,077 --> 00:31:32,767 Could this weird relic be a modern fake, 585 00:31:32,870 --> 00:31:34,387 or an ancient one? 586 00:31:40,318 --> 00:31:42,801 Egyptian mummies have fascinated people for hundreds 587 00:31:42,905 --> 00:31:46,939 of years, but it reaches a peak in the 19th century. 588 00:31:47,043 --> 00:31:50,422 Egyptomania was an international craze 589 00:31:50,525 --> 00:31:52,491 around the world at the time. 590 00:31:52,594 --> 00:31:54,663 NARRATOR: People just can't get enough 591 00:31:54,767 --> 00:31:56,008 of Egypt and its mummies. 592 00:31:56,111 --> 00:31:58,180 BELLINGER: People believed that they had 593 00:31:58,284 --> 00:32:02,318 magical powers and properties, mystical properties. 594 00:32:02,422 --> 00:32:04,525 NARRATOR: But mummies were never meant to be 595 00:32:04,629 --> 00:32:06,111 a Victorian sideshow. 596 00:32:06,215 --> 00:32:09,215 Mummification in ancient Egypt was a way of 597 00:32:09,318 --> 00:32:12,767 preserving the body so that after the death, this individual 598 00:32:12,870 --> 00:32:16,249 could have an afterlife. -NARRATOR: In the 19th century, 599 00:32:16,353 --> 00:32:19,801 the problem archaeologists have is that it is impossible 600 00:32:19,905 --> 00:32:23,594 to see inside the wrappings without destroying the mummy. 601 00:32:23,698 --> 00:32:26,698 In order to learn about mummies, 602 00:32:26,801 --> 00:32:29,525 they had to be unwrapped, 603 00:32:29,629 --> 00:32:33,180 and this was a very destructive technique. 604 00:32:33,284 --> 00:32:34,422 NARRATOR: But that doesn't stop 605 00:32:34,525 --> 00:32:37,663 the Victorians holding bizarre unwrapping parties. 606 00:32:37,767 --> 00:32:40,180 People would pay a lot of money to 607 00:32:40,284 --> 00:32:43,422 be present at one of these mummy unwrapping events. 608 00:32:47,698 --> 00:32:51,180 NARRATOR: So late 19th century Egyptologists leap on the newly 609 00:32:51,284 --> 00:32:55,043 discovered technique of x-rays to end this mummy destruction. 610 00:32:56,249 --> 00:32:58,629 Today, x-rays continue to reveal 611 00:32:58,732 --> 00:33:01,318 hidden wonders beneath the linen wrappings. 612 00:33:02,422 --> 00:33:05,491 ESCOLANO-POVEDA: It is basically like a virtual autopsy. 613 00:33:05,594 --> 00:33:10,249 It gives us lots of new opportunities to learn 614 00:33:10,353 --> 00:33:14,836 about the mummies without destroying them in the process. 615 00:33:22,008 --> 00:33:24,215 NARRATOR: So, when a team from Penn Museum 616 00:33:24,318 --> 00:33:26,491 examines the cat mummy in detail, 617 00:33:26,594 --> 00:33:30,905 they turn to the x-ray machine to reveal its secrets. 618 00:33:31,008 --> 00:33:33,180 They are expecting to virtually unwrap 619 00:33:33,284 --> 00:33:35,974 the mummy and examine the cat inside. 620 00:33:36,077 --> 00:33:39,077 But they are in for a shock. 621 00:33:39,180 --> 00:33:41,180 When they image this mummy, 622 00:33:41,284 --> 00:33:43,801 there's nothing to see. 623 00:33:43,905 --> 00:33:46,043 NARRATOR: Using cutting-edge graphics, 624 00:33:46,146 --> 00:33:49,318 we can reveal the interior in detail. 625 00:33:49,422 --> 00:33:53,491 There's no cat, not even any random bones. 626 00:33:53,594 --> 00:33:57,111 NARRATOR: Where is the cat? 627 00:33:57,215 --> 00:34:01,318 Is this just an elaborate fake? 628 00:34:03,456 --> 00:34:05,594 The idea that this is 629 00:34:05,698 --> 00:34:08,284 a modern forgery is certainly plausible. 630 00:34:08,387 --> 00:34:11,629 Fake Egyptian artifacts have a long and infamous history. 631 00:34:13,629 --> 00:34:17,594 BENECKE: Artifacts from Egypt became very fashionable. 632 00:34:17,698 --> 00:34:22,387 The sites where the diggings took place were robbed all 633 00:34:22,491 --> 00:34:25,008 the time, and they could not be protected very well. 634 00:34:25,111 --> 00:34:28,974 And that opened up the market for forgeries, 635 00:34:29,077 --> 00:34:30,698 because it was much, much easier 636 00:34:30,801 --> 00:34:32,422 to forge everything and to sell it for 637 00:34:32,525 --> 00:34:34,284 very high prices. 638 00:34:34,387 --> 00:34:37,353 NARRATOR: And forgers were definitely faking mummies. 639 00:34:37,456 --> 00:34:41,077 The Vatican Museum in Rome had two mummies in its collection, 640 00:34:41,180 --> 00:34:43,491 and in 2015, researchers ran 641 00:34:43,594 --> 00:34:45,491 them through the full battery of tests, 642 00:34:45,594 --> 00:34:49,456 x-ray, CT scan, DNA analysis, you name it, 643 00:34:49,560 --> 00:34:54,353 and what they discovered is that the mummies were -- were fakes. 644 00:34:54,456 --> 00:34:55,629 They were full of a jumble of 645 00:34:55,732 --> 00:34:58,698 medieval bones and a 19th century nail. 646 00:34:58,801 --> 00:35:01,594 NARRATOR: So it's credible that the cat mummy might be 647 00:35:01,698 --> 00:35:03,525 a modern forgery... 648 00:35:03,629 --> 00:35:05,249 except for one thing. 649 00:35:08,318 --> 00:35:12,353 In close up, the wrappings reveal a telltale pattern. 650 00:35:12,456 --> 00:35:16,905 The way it is wrapped has this sort of crisscross pattern 651 00:35:17,008 --> 00:35:18,870 that creates these diamond shapes 652 00:35:18,974 --> 00:35:21,905 that was very common in the late period and especially 653 00:35:22,008 --> 00:35:23,767 in the Greco-Roman period. 654 00:35:23,870 --> 00:35:25,939 This is then a good indication that 655 00:35:26,043 --> 00:35:29,698 it is actually an ancient Egyptian mummy. 656 00:35:30,836 --> 00:35:34,525 NARRATOR: This strange cat mummy is authentic. 657 00:35:34,629 --> 00:35:37,111 So was the cat removed in antiquity? 658 00:35:37,215 --> 00:35:39,249 Or was it never there in the first place? 659 00:35:40,284 --> 00:35:43,698 Is it simply an ancient fake rather than a modern one? 660 00:35:52,629 --> 00:35:55,353 NARRATOR: Researchers are certain this ancient cat mummy 661 00:35:55,456 --> 00:35:56,698 is authentic, 662 00:35:56,801 --> 00:35:59,318 even though it does not contain the body of a cat. 663 00:36:01,180 --> 00:36:03,629 So why would the ancient Egyptians go to so 664 00:36:03,732 --> 00:36:06,249 much effort to make it appear like it does? 665 00:36:09,284 --> 00:36:11,525 The answer might have something to do with the reason 666 00:36:11,629 --> 00:36:14,905 the Egyptians made animal mummies in the first place. 667 00:36:15,008 --> 00:36:19,146 Animals were associated with individual gods and goddesses. 668 00:36:19,249 --> 00:36:22,836 And so, by creating an animal mummy, 669 00:36:22,939 --> 00:36:25,043 people believed that they were actually 670 00:36:25,146 --> 00:36:28,491 capturing some of the spiritual power of the god 671 00:36:28,594 --> 00:36:30,422 associated with the animal. 672 00:36:30,525 --> 00:36:35,043 So, for example, the falcon was associated with the god Horus, 673 00:36:35,146 --> 00:36:38,560 the baboon with the god Thoth, and the cat with 674 00:36:38,663 --> 00:36:40,939 the goddess Bastet, who happened to be 675 00:36:41,043 --> 00:36:43,249 among the most popular of the gods 676 00:36:43,353 --> 00:36:44,905 in the Egyptian pantheon. 677 00:36:46,043 --> 00:36:50,008 NARRATOR: Egyptologists believe most animal mummies like this 678 00:36:50,111 --> 00:36:52,353 are gifts to the gods. 679 00:36:52,456 --> 00:36:54,353 ESCOLANO-POVEDA: They were mummified in order to 680 00:36:54,456 --> 00:36:57,939 be presented as offerings to different gods. 681 00:36:58,043 --> 00:37:01,353 The idea was not to offer them an afterlife 682 00:37:01,456 --> 00:37:04,387 but to make them work as an offering to a god. 683 00:37:08,974 --> 00:37:11,249 NARRATOR: Before the late period, 684 00:37:11,353 --> 00:37:12,767 when the cat mummy is made, 685 00:37:12,870 --> 00:37:16,146 bronze statues were the go-to method for offerings to 686 00:37:16,249 --> 00:37:17,111 the gods, 687 00:37:17,215 --> 00:37:21,077 but as the demand for offerings grew, 688 00:37:21,180 --> 00:37:25,146 the cost and complexity of bronze leads to an increase in 689 00:37:25,249 --> 00:37:27,456 the use of mummified animals, 690 00:37:28,560 --> 00:37:30,629 and archaeological evidence suggests that 691 00:37:30,732 --> 00:37:33,525 Egyptians get very enthusiastic about them. 692 00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:38,905 During the so-called Late Period of ancient Egypt, 693 00:37:39,008 --> 00:37:43,525 tens of millions of animal mummies were produced. 694 00:37:45,043 --> 00:37:48,180 NARRATOR: The number of animal mummies consumed is startling. 695 00:37:49,629 --> 00:37:54,387 In 2011, a team of archaeologists found a set 696 00:37:54,491 --> 00:37:58,456 of catacombs in Saqqara dedicated to the god Anubis, 697 00:37:58,560 --> 00:38:00,318 and they have estimated that there are 698 00:38:00,422 --> 00:38:04,387 around eight million animal remains within the catacombs. 699 00:38:05,594 --> 00:38:08,008 NARRATOR: There simply weren't enough wild animals 700 00:38:08,111 --> 00:38:09,870 to meet this kind of demand. 701 00:38:11,180 --> 00:38:13,974 Egyptologists believe this gap is filled by 702 00:38:14,077 --> 00:38:17,560 farming sacrificial animals on an industrial scale. 703 00:38:20,249 --> 00:38:22,801 If so many mummies are being made, 704 00:38:22,905 --> 00:38:26,215 could an empty mummy be slipped in to make money from 705 00:38:26,318 --> 00:38:27,939 gullible pilgrims? 706 00:38:28,043 --> 00:38:30,491 Or is this practice more common than 707 00:38:30,594 --> 00:38:32,353 Egyptologists believed? 708 00:38:34,732 --> 00:38:37,180 In 2000, researchers start 709 00:38:37,284 --> 00:38:40,732 a 13-year project to answer this question. 710 00:38:40,836 --> 00:38:43,077 The results are astonishing. 711 00:38:43,180 --> 00:38:46,594 BELLINGER: They ran over 800 mummies through a CT scanner 712 00:38:46,698 --> 00:38:48,767 and were astonished to find 713 00:38:48,870 --> 00:38:52,043 that only one-third of them actually contained 714 00:38:52,146 --> 00:38:55,111 full animal remains inside. 715 00:38:55,215 --> 00:38:58,767 Another third had partial animal remains, 716 00:38:58,870 --> 00:39:02,491 and the rest had no animal remains at all. 717 00:39:02,594 --> 00:39:04,422 NARRATOR: So what is the explanation 718 00:39:04,525 --> 00:39:06,111 for this empty cat mummy? 719 00:39:06,215 --> 00:39:09,146 BELLINGER: Some scholars have proposed the idea that 720 00:39:09,249 --> 00:39:11,974 this sort of empty mummy was part of 721 00:39:12,077 --> 00:39:15,732 a generalized scam culture, and you know, honestly, 722 00:39:15,836 --> 00:39:17,767 who's gonna unwrap it to check, right? 723 00:39:23,870 --> 00:39:26,801 NARRATOR: There is one problem with the scam theory. 724 00:39:26,905 --> 00:39:29,629 It may not contain an actual cat, 725 00:39:29,732 --> 00:39:33,284 but this object has still been through the same laborious 726 00:39:33,387 --> 00:39:36,215 and expensive process as a real mummy. 727 00:39:36,318 --> 00:39:40,560 It was wrapped according to the style that would be used 728 00:39:40,663 --> 00:39:44,525 in -- in real cat mummies, and also, the face and the head 729 00:39:44,629 --> 00:39:47,525 of the cat was modeled so that it looked like a cat in 730 00:39:47,629 --> 00:39:50,111 the same way as was done with -- with real mummies. 731 00:39:50,215 --> 00:39:54,318 So, uh, the ears will be modeled, the face, the snout, 732 00:39:54,422 --> 00:39:57,491 the eyes, and details will be painted so that it looks like 733 00:39:57,594 --> 00:39:59,215 a real cat. 734 00:39:59,318 --> 00:40:02,353 NARRATOR: This amount of care and effort doesn't fit with 735 00:40:02,456 --> 00:40:05,939 the idea that the cat mummy is just a cheap knockoff. 736 00:40:08,525 --> 00:40:11,836 The true explanation for this strange thing may lie within 737 00:40:11,939 --> 00:40:15,284 some of the other animal mummies the UK researchers examined. 738 00:40:16,698 --> 00:40:18,939 BELLINGER: They found some extraordinary things. 739 00:40:19,043 --> 00:40:22,870 I mean, one, for example, a crocodile mummy, 740 00:40:22,974 --> 00:40:26,008 which, inside, revealed to contain 741 00:40:26,111 --> 00:40:29,836 four adult croc skulls surrounded by 742 00:40:29,939 --> 00:40:31,836 four baby crocodile skulls. 743 00:40:31,939 --> 00:40:35,077 Just a very strange thing. 744 00:40:35,180 --> 00:40:37,077 NARRATOR: What purpose could mummifying 745 00:40:37,180 --> 00:40:39,491 multiple animals serve? 746 00:40:39,594 --> 00:40:43,525 One explanation is that this was a premium style 747 00:40:43,629 --> 00:40:45,491 that those who were wealthy enough to purchase 748 00:40:45,594 --> 00:40:48,767 such things would do in the hopes that it would get them 749 00:40:48,870 --> 00:40:51,974 even more favor with the gods. 750 00:40:52,077 --> 00:40:54,215 NARRATOR: Egyptologists have suggested this could 751 00:40:54,318 --> 00:40:56,318 explain the empty cat mummy. 752 00:40:56,422 --> 00:40:59,387 Perhaps it's simply at the other end of the scale 753 00:40:59,491 --> 00:41:00,939 from the lavish versions, 754 00:41:01,043 --> 00:41:04,629 a ritual offering on a budget. 755 00:41:04,732 --> 00:41:08,146 This is a classic case of you get what you pay for. 756 00:41:08,249 --> 00:41:09,974 If you only had a little bit of money, 757 00:41:10,077 --> 00:41:12,560 well, you would splash that out, and you'd get 758 00:41:12,663 --> 00:41:15,353 an empty cat mummy that still looked okay, 759 00:41:15,456 --> 00:41:18,939 was a little rough, but it served your purpose. 760 00:41:19,043 --> 00:41:21,077 NARRATOR: Because in ancient Egypt 761 00:41:21,180 --> 00:41:24,284 the absence of an actual cat might not be the problem 762 00:41:24,387 --> 00:41:26,284 it seems to a modern eye. 763 00:41:27,905 --> 00:41:30,111 ESCOLANO-POVEDA: According to ancient Egyptian thought, 764 00:41:30,215 --> 00:41:33,318 if you had something that looked like the mummy, 765 00:41:33,422 --> 00:41:34,801 it would do the job. 766 00:41:34,905 --> 00:41:37,456 It would magically work in the same way as 767 00:41:37,560 --> 00:41:40,974 a real mummy would do when you offered it to the deity. 768 00:41:41,077 --> 00:41:44,215 So for an ancient Egyptian, it would actually not be 769 00:41:44,318 --> 00:41:47,974 a huge problem to have one of these fake mummies. 770 00:41:48,077 --> 00:41:50,491 NARRATOR: It seems this cat mummy never contained 771 00:41:50,594 --> 00:41:54,560 an actual cat, but that doesn't make it a fake. 772 00:41:54,663 --> 00:41:56,111 The people who bought it probably 773 00:41:56,215 --> 00:41:58,732 knew there was nothing inside it. 774 00:41:58,836 --> 00:42:01,629 It is still a gift for the gods, 775 00:42:01,732 --> 00:42:04,525 just one for believers on a budget.