1 00:00:01,111 --> 00:00:02,974 [narrator] Could these weird objects 2 00:00:03,008 --> 00:00:05,491 unlock the secrets of the Great Pyramid? 3 00:00:05,525 --> 00:00:08,939 Perhaps these are an escape artist's toolkit 4 00:00:08,974 --> 00:00:11,111 for the soul of the Pharaoh. 5 00:00:11,146 --> 00:00:13,801 [narrator] What was this lethal device for? 6 00:00:13,836 --> 00:00:15,767 The crazy thing is that it's being used 7 00:00:15,801 --> 00:00:18,215 in shops on children. 8 00:00:18,249 --> 00:00:21,077 [narrator] Is this proof that ancient Romans 9 00:00:21,111 --> 00:00:22,939 beat Columbus to the Americans? 10 00:00:23,663 --> 00:00:25,043 This head doesn't fit. 11 00:00:26,043 --> 00:00:28,008 It's an object that shouldn't be there. 12 00:00:33,422 --> 00:00:34,939 [narrator] These are the most remarkable 13 00:00:34,974 --> 00:00:37,387 and mysterious objects on Earth, 14 00:00:38,422 --> 00:00:40,732 hidden away in museums, 15 00:00:40,767 --> 00:00:44,215 laboratories, and storage rooms. 16 00:00:44,249 --> 00:00:47,353 Now, new research and technology can get 17 00:00:47,387 --> 00:00:50,008 under their skin... 18 00:00:50,043 --> 00:00:51,767 like never before. 19 00:00:51,801 --> 00:00:53,387 We can rebuild them, 20 00:00:55,146 --> 00:00:56,525 pull them apart, 21 00:00:57,663 --> 00:01:01,663 and zoom in to reveal the unbelievable, 22 00:01:02,249 --> 00:01:03,249 the ancient, 23 00:01:04,663 --> 00:01:06,663 and the truly bizarre. 24 00:01:08,663 --> 00:01:12,525 These are the world's Strangest Things. 25 00:01:23,111 --> 00:01:25,008 [narrator] These three simple objects, 26 00:01:25,043 --> 00:01:26,801 a sphere, a hook, 27 00:01:27,456 --> 00:01:29,698 and five fragments of wood 28 00:01:29,732 --> 00:01:31,525 were discovered in a secret shaft 29 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:33,663 in the Great Pyramid of Giza. 30 00:01:33,698 --> 00:01:38,422 When these objects were found, it was huge news. 31 00:01:38,456 --> 00:01:41,180 [narrator] Because they're the only items ever recovered 32 00:01:41,215 --> 00:01:43,663 from inside this massive pyramid. 33 00:01:45,525 --> 00:01:48,905 And we have absolutely no idea what they are. 34 00:01:52,043 --> 00:01:54,043 Now, with the latest technology, 35 00:01:54,077 --> 00:01:57,249 we're bringing these strange objects out into the light. 36 00:02:02,456 --> 00:02:05,974 [narrator] The stone sphere is about the size of a baseball. 37 00:02:07,249 --> 00:02:09,836 The stone is clearly roughly made. 38 00:02:09,870 --> 00:02:12,456 It has a scratch particularly 39 00:02:12,491 --> 00:02:15,318 evident all around its circumference. 40 00:02:16,732 --> 00:02:18,732 [narrator] The corroded copper hook splits 41 00:02:18,767 --> 00:02:21,008 into two curving prongs, 42 00:02:21,043 --> 00:02:23,525 formfitting stick out near the base. 43 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:25,974 [Dr. Somara] It looks like it's supposed to attach 44 00:02:26,008 --> 00:02:27,077 to something else. 45 00:02:27,111 --> 00:02:28,491 But what? 46 00:02:28,525 --> 00:02:30,146 We just don't know. 47 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:33,594 [narrator] And the five fragments of wood, 48 00:02:33,629 --> 00:02:36,146 once bore strange score marks. 49 00:02:38,629 --> 00:02:41,974 For more than 4,000 years, the Great Pyramid, 50 00:02:42,008 --> 00:02:44,974 where they were found, has captivated people. 51 00:02:45,008 --> 00:02:46,974 There are still lots of mysteries 52 00:02:47,008 --> 00:02:50,525 around it that we haven't been able to crack. 53 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:52,491 [Dr. Bellinger] Is it possible that these objects 54 00:02:52,525 --> 00:02:54,249 could somehow shed light 55 00:02:54,284 --> 00:02:55,974 on some of these mysteries? 56 00:02:56,008 --> 00:02:58,043 [narrator] Or could they be a red herring? 57 00:02:59,077 --> 00:03:00,663 Are they even authentic? 58 00:03:00,698 --> 00:03:03,422 Or are they a later object planted? 59 00:03:05,353 --> 00:03:07,939 [narrator] Could these really have belonged to the builders 60 00:03:07,974 --> 00:03:09,629 of the Great Pyramid? 61 00:03:09,663 --> 00:03:11,836 Why were they hidden inside it, 62 00:03:11,870 --> 00:03:13,560 and what are they for? 63 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:22,043 [Dr. Bellinger] It's 1872, and Dr. James Grant, 64 00:03:22,077 --> 00:03:24,870 a physician, and Waynman Dixon, 65 00:03:24,905 --> 00:03:28,043 an engineer, are exploring the Great Pyramid. 66 00:03:29,284 --> 00:03:33,043 The interior of the Great Pyramid is a bit of a warren 67 00:03:33,077 --> 00:03:36,284 of passageways and openings. 68 00:03:36,318 --> 00:03:39,077 [narrator] Inside, they make the discovery of their lives. 69 00:03:42,146 --> 00:03:44,767 Grant and Dixon were looking for shafts 70 00:03:44,801 --> 00:03:46,594 leading out of the Queen's Chamber. 71 00:03:47,353 --> 00:03:49,146 Dixon's got his tools. 72 00:03:49,180 --> 00:03:50,215 He's hammering, 73 00:03:50,249 --> 00:03:51,801 he's chiseling away. 74 00:03:51,836 --> 00:03:53,629 And lo and behold, he finds one, 75 00:03:53,663 --> 00:03:55,284 and breaks through into it. 76 00:03:56,422 --> 00:03:59,422 And on the other side, they find a second shaft. 77 00:04:00,456 --> 00:04:02,284 [narrator] It's in these shafts, 78 00:04:02,318 --> 00:04:04,767 they discovered the three mysterious objects. 79 00:04:06,939 --> 00:04:09,698 It makes headlines right across the globe. 80 00:04:09,732 --> 00:04:12,215 [Dr. Bellinger] We're in the Great Pyramid of Egypt, 81 00:04:12,249 --> 00:04:15,732 the poster child monument for this ancient culture. 82 00:04:15,767 --> 00:04:17,215 And this is the first time 83 00:04:17,249 --> 00:04:20,284 anything had been found inside of it. 84 00:04:20,318 --> 00:04:23,939 [narrator] The objects become known as the Dixon Relics. 85 00:04:23,974 --> 00:04:26,043 Could they explain some of the mysteries 86 00:04:26,077 --> 00:04:27,456 of the Great Pyramid? 87 00:04:27,491 --> 00:04:28,905 The only surviving 88 00:04:28,939 --> 00:04:30,767 ancient wonder of the world. 89 00:04:31,767 --> 00:04:33,456 This is built at a time 90 00:04:33,491 --> 00:04:35,698 where they hadn't even invented the wheel. 91 00:04:37,043 --> 00:04:39,456 [narrator] And the pyramid itself holds few clues 92 00:04:39,491 --> 00:04:40,732 to these mysteries. 93 00:04:41,732 --> 00:04:43,180 At this point in time, 94 00:04:43,215 --> 00:04:45,180 the Egyptians weren't even decorating 95 00:04:45,215 --> 00:04:48,905 the inside of their tombs with hieroglyphic carvings 96 00:04:48,939 --> 00:04:51,974 that could be read to shed some light 97 00:04:52,008 --> 00:04:54,249 on what they were doing there and why. 98 00:04:55,284 --> 00:04:57,249 [narrator] The pyramid holds no bodies, 99 00:04:57,284 --> 00:05:00,215 no grave goods, nothing. 100 00:05:00,249 --> 00:05:03,456 That's what makes the Dixon Relics such a big deal. 101 00:05:03,491 --> 00:05:05,180 If they are genuine, 102 00:05:05,215 --> 00:05:08,249 they might help unlock the pyramid's secrets. 103 00:05:08,284 --> 00:05:10,077 But if they're imposters, 104 00:05:10,111 --> 00:05:12,629 they tell us nothing. 105 00:05:12,663 --> 00:05:15,905 Is it possible that someone plants them later? 106 00:05:22,077 --> 00:05:24,043 Unfortunately, there is a long line 107 00:05:24,077 --> 00:05:26,284 of people who have the opportunity to plant 108 00:05:26,318 --> 00:05:28,146 the Dixon Relics in the pyramid. 109 00:05:29,180 --> 00:05:31,698 Dixon and Grant were far from the first people 110 00:05:31,732 --> 00:05:34,456 to pass through the pyramid and take out things. 111 00:05:34,491 --> 00:05:38,491 The ancient Greeks and Romans passed through, 112 00:05:38,525 --> 00:05:43,284 and as European colonialism really expanded, and Egypt, 113 00:05:43,318 --> 00:05:46,077 a mania took hold of the world. 114 00:05:46,111 --> 00:05:49,456 Even Napoleon came to visit the Great Pyramid, 115 00:05:49,491 --> 00:05:52,732 and reportedly spent the night alone inside of it. 116 00:05:54,525 --> 00:05:57,008 [narrator] The only way to know that these artifacts 117 00:05:57,043 --> 00:05:59,491 weren't planted by one of these later visitors 118 00:05:59,525 --> 00:06:01,594 is to date them. 119 00:06:01,629 --> 00:06:05,180 The spear and the hook wind up in the British Museum. 120 00:06:05,215 --> 00:06:08,318 The wood, on the other hand, at some point disintegrated, 121 00:06:08,353 --> 00:06:10,146 broke into five pieces 122 00:06:10,180 --> 00:06:12,387 which were placed into a cigar box 123 00:06:12,422 --> 00:06:15,111 and that went missing. 124 00:06:15,146 --> 00:06:17,560 [narrator] The stone and metal cannot be dated, 125 00:06:18,836 --> 00:06:21,008 and that is all they have. 126 00:06:21,043 --> 00:06:24,698 The real question of whether these objects were left 127 00:06:24,732 --> 00:06:27,008 by the builders of the pyramid 128 00:06:27,043 --> 00:06:30,146 couldn't be answered without the wood. 129 00:06:30,180 --> 00:06:32,663 [narrator] The wood fragments disappear sometime 130 00:06:32,698 --> 00:06:33,870 in the late '40s. 131 00:06:34,870 --> 00:06:35,974 It's a dead-end. 132 00:06:42,732 --> 00:06:46,146 [narrator] In 2019, at the University of Aberdeen, 133 00:06:46,180 --> 00:06:47,663 an assistant curator 134 00:06:47,698 --> 00:06:49,491 is working in the Asia Collection. 135 00:06:50,732 --> 00:06:53,974 She comes across this strange lacquered box, 136 00:06:54,008 --> 00:06:56,284 which doesn't quite seem like it belongs, 137 00:06:56,318 --> 00:06:59,767 because she recognizes that it's decorated with elements 138 00:06:59,801 --> 00:07:02,422 from the old Egyptian flag. 139 00:07:02,456 --> 00:07:04,387 She discovers that it contains 140 00:07:04,422 --> 00:07:06,905 these five wooden fragments. 141 00:07:08,491 --> 00:07:10,525 [narrator] The rediscovery of the fragments 142 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:12,146 changes everything. 143 00:07:12,180 --> 00:07:14,491 Now they can carbon date the relics, 144 00:07:14,525 --> 00:07:17,180 and discover if they're the real deal or not. 145 00:07:19,284 --> 00:07:21,491 But the results are a shock. 146 00:07:21,525 --> 00:07:24,974 [Dr. Marina] It was over 500 years earlier 147 00:07:25,008 --> 00:07:27,939 than the date of the building of the Great Pyramid, 148 00:07:27,974 --> 00:07:30,043 which was really surprising. 149 00:07:32,180 --> 00:07:34,870 [narrator] Five hundred years is quite some gap. 150 00:07:37,249 --> 00:07:39,456 [Dr. Bellinger] In terms of the ancient Egyptians, 151 00:07:39,491 --> 00:07:41,456 that's way before they were even thinking 152 00:07:41,491 --> 00:07:42,939 about building pyramids. 153 00:07:42,974 --> 00:07:44,870 [narrator] Is it really plausible 154 00:07:44,905 --> 00:07:47,456 that something so old could still be in use 155 00:07:47,491 --> 00:07:50,870 500 years after it was made? 156 00:07:50,905 --> 00:07:53,456 [Dr. Marina] Egypt doesn't have a lot of wood 157 00:07:53,491 --> 00:07:55,353 of good quality, 158 00:07:55,387 --> 00:07:58,698 and so these would have been imported from Lebanon. 159 00:07:58,732 --> 00:08:03,629 And because this was very costly to bring to Egypt, 160 00:08:03,663 --> 00:08:06,629 they would be reused once they lost 161 00:08:06,663 --> 00:08:09,353 their initial purpose. 162 00:08:09,387 --> 00:08:11,594 [narrator] In fact, archeological excavations 163 00:08:11,629 --> 00:08:14,180 are now revealing that the ancient Egyptians often 164 00:08:14,215 --> 00:08:16,008 repurposed old wood, 165 00:08:16,043 --> 00:08:18,560 particularly in later monuments and tombs. 166 00:08:19,594 --> 00:08:21,491 So despite the wood's great age, 167 00:08:21,525 --> 00:08:24,318 their discovery inside the younger Great Pyramid 168 00:08:24,353 --> 00:08:27,318 fits with what we know of ancient Egypt. 169 00:08:27,353 --> 00:08:29,732 But that doesn't answer the big question, 170 00:08:30,801 --> 00:08:32,422 what are they for? 171 00:08:42,146 --> 00:08:44,146 [narrator] When the Dixon Relics are first discovered, 172 00:08:44,180 --> 00:08:46,077 some experts believe they could be 173 00:08:46,111 --> 00:08:48,318 sophisticated surveyor's instruments, 174 00:08:48,353 --> 00:08:50,249 an Egyptian builder's toolkit. 175 00:08:51,284 --> 00:08:52,629 [Dr. Somara] Building these pyramids 176 00:08:52,663 --> 00:08:55,215 wasn't just about moving gigantic blocks. 177 00:08:55,249 --> 00:08:56,974 It was also about precision. 178 00:08:57,008 --> 00:08:58,629 And from the base of the pyramid, 179 00:08:58,663 --> 00:09:00,180 all the way to its apex, 180 00:09:00,215 --> 00:09:02,594 it's 51.5 degrees. 181 00:09:02,629 --> 00:09:04,353 Get that wrong at the bottom, 182 00:09:04,387 --> 00:09:07,180 and you're hugely out by the time you get to the top. 183 00:09:08,836 --> 00:09:10,525 [narrator] Egyptians already know 184 00:09:10,560 --> 00:09:13,284 that getting your angles wrong is a big problem. 185 00:09:15,629 --> 00:09:20,560 This pyramid is built by Khufu's dad, Sneferu. 186 00:09:20,594 --> 00:09:23,111 It's known as the Bent Pyramid. 187 00:09:23,146 --> 00:09:26,249 [Dr. Bellinger] Essentially, it looks as if Sneferu's Pyramid 188 00:09:26,284 --> 00:09:31,284 originally was built at too steep an angle and it failed. 189 00:09:31,318 --> 00:09:35,043 Recognizing their error, the Egyptians corrected it, 190 00:09:35,077 --> 00:09:37,836 and it looks a bit wonky as a result. 191 00:09:40,594 --> 00:09:42,284 Clearly the ancient Egyptians 192 00:09:42,318 --> 00:09:44,387 eventually arrived at the conclusion 193 00:09:44,422 --> 00:09:47,525 that 51 degrees is the optimal angle 194 00:09:47,560 --> 00:09:48,732 to build your pyramid. 195 00:09:50,974 --> 00:09:53,491 A set of tools to help keep you on track 196 00:09:53,525 --> 00:09:58,318 was probably a necessity to hit that very precise mark. 197 00:09:58,353 --> 00:10:00,974 [narrator] The Dixon Relics could explain the mystery 198 00:10:01,008 --> 00:10:03,870 of how the builders achieve this in the Great Pyramid. 199 00:10:04,939 --> 00:10:09,180 These could be parts of actually one single tool. 200 00:10:09,215 --> 00:10:13,491 The wood could be the handle attached to the hook, 201 00:10:13,525 --> 00:10:16,525 and then the ball could have been attached 202 00:10:16,560 --> 00:10:19,525 also to this instrument as a sort of plumb bob. 203 00:10:20,939 --> 00:10:22,801 [Dr. Somara] The way a plumb bob works 204 00:10:22,836 --> 00:10:26,387 is it's essentially a weight hanging off a string. 205 00:10:26,422 --> 00:10:31,249 And thanks to gravity, you get perfect verticals. 206 00:10:31,284 --> 00:10:34,663 [narrator] That would explain the groove around the sphere. 207 00:10:34,698 --> 00:10:37,353 By adding just a few pieces of missing wood, 208 00:10:37,387 --> 00:10:39,836 the Dixon Relics become even more, 209 00:10:40,836 --> 00:10:43,249 a multi angle plumb bob, 210 00:10:43,284 --> 00:10:46,663 one that not only allows you to measure verticals, 211 00:10:46,698 --> 00:10:50,077 but horizontal, and diagonals as well. 212 00:10:52,422 --> 00:10:55,318 But there is a problem with this theory. 213 00:10:55,353 --> 00:10:59,905 The missing section of wood to make it work is... missing. 214 00:11:01,801 --> 00:11:03,629 There is another explanation. 215 00:11:03,663 --> 00:11:06,456 Some experts have suggested the Dixon Relics explain 216 00:11:06,491 --> 00:11:09,146 a different mystery of the Great Pyramid. 217 00:11:09,180 --> 00:11:10,698 Its four corners 218 00:11:10,732 --> 00:11:13,491 line up with the four cardinal directions 219 00:11:13,525 --> 00:11:17,180 true north, south, east, and west, 220 00:11:17,215 --> 00:11:21,353 with a margin of error of less than a 10th of a degree. 221 00:11:21,387 --> 00:11:23,939 [narrator] Getting this orientation right is central 222 00:11:23,974 --> 00:11:26,525 to ancient Egyptian beliefs in the afterlife. 223 00:11:27,560 --> 00:11:29,353 [Dr. Marina] The stars in the north 224 00:11:29,387 --> 00:11:33,525 were considered immortal for the ancient Egyptians. 225 00:11:33,560 --> 00:11:36,491 By building the pyramids and orienting them 226 00:11:36,525 --> 00:11:37,767 towards the stars, 227 00:11:37,801 --> 00:11:39,111 the Egyptian pharaohs 228 00:11:39,146 --> 00:11:41,180 would also become deities 229 00:11:41,215 --> 00:11:42,249 at their death 230 00:11:42,284 --> 00:11:44,767 and join these stars. 231 00:11:45,801 --> 00:11:47,629 [narrator] To achieve this vital orientation 232 00:11:47,663 --> 00:11:48,870 of the King's tomb, 233 00:11:48,905 --> 00:11:50,491 the ancient Egyptians can use 234 00:11:50,525 --> 00:11:53,594 a special tool called the merkhet, 235 00:11:53,629 --> 00:11:55,249 the instrument of knowing. 236 00:11:56,629 --> 00:11:58,870 [Dr. Marina] The merkhet looks like a plumb bob, 237 00:11:58,905 --> 00:12:03,732 and it was employed to locate a particular star 238 00:12:03,767 --> 00:12:06,525 in a specific point in the sky. 239 00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:09,008 They will orient these instrument 240 00:12:09,043 --> 00:12:10,180 towards the meridian, 241 00:12:10,215 --> 00:12:11,387 the line that goes 242 00:12:11,422 --> 00:12:13,008 from the north to the south. 243 00:12:13,043 --> 00:12:15,146 One key thing about the merkhet 244 00:12:15,180 --> 00:12:17,353 is that it was used in conjunction 245 00:12:17,387 --> 00:12:21,801 with a long forked device called a bay. 246 00:12:21,836 --> 00:12:24,284 [narrator] And that looks very much like one piece 247 00:12:24,318 --> 00:12:25,525 of the Dixon Relics. 248 00:12:27,008 --> 00:12:29,249 [Dr. Somara] So used in tandem, 249 00:12:29,284 --> 00:12:32,353 they could help you determine exactly where true north was, 250 00:12:32,387 --> 00:12:34,525 and to help you line up the structure 251 00:12:34,560 --> 00:12:36,870 with the pole stars. 252 00:12:36,905 --> 00:12:39,767 [Dr. Bellinger] And it raises the question of whether the Dixon Relics 253 00:12:39,801 --> 00:12:43,043 were somehow a device just like this. 254 00:12:44,387 --> 00:12:46,698 [narrator] But some experts are unconvinced. 255 00:12:46,732 --> 00:12:49,629 Because if these are precious tools, 256 00:12:49,663 --> 00:12:53,767 why hide them away inside one of the mysterious shafts? 257 00:12:56,387 --> 00:12:59,249 Four of these hidden shafts have been discovered, 258 00:12:59,284 --> 00:13:01,801 two in the King's Chamber and two in the Queen's. 259 00:13:02,836 --> 00:13:05,180 No one knows what they are for. 260 00:13:08,422 --> 00:13:11,629 Could these strange things hold the answer? 261 00:13:18,249 --> 00:13:20,836 [narrator] In 1993, more than a hundred years 262 00:13:20,870 --> 00:13:22,870 after Dixon and Grant's discovery, 263 00:13:22,905 --> 00:13:25,387 a German engineer, Rudolf Gantenbrink, 264 00:13:25,422 --> 00:13:28,215 sets out to discover the purpose of the shafts. 265 00:13:29,249 --> 00:13:31,284 [Dr. Bellinger] Gantenbrink sends a robot 266 00:13:31,318 --> 00:13:33,732 into these inaccessible shafts. 267 00:13:40,525 --> 00:13:43,663 [Dr. Bellinger] And the robot comes up against a dead-end. 268 00:13:45,215 --> 00:13:46,870 But intriguingly, 269 00:13:46,905 --> 00:13:49,974 there are two copper pins in the wall. 270 00:13:51,801 --> 00:13:54,801 He also finds a squared off wooden pole, 271 00:13:54,836 --> 00:13:57,008 looks kind of familiar. 272 00:13:57,043 --> 00:13:59,456 [narrator] Perhaps like the Dixon Relic wood looks 273 00:13:59,491 --> 00:14:01,525 before it disintegrated. 274 00:14:01,560 --> 00:14:05,353 Could this explain the three strange objects? 275 00:14:05,387 --> 00:14:07,698 Because if you lay the pole Gantenbrink found, 276 00:14:07,732 --> 00:14:09,249 the length of wood, 277 00:14:09,284 --> 00:14:11,491 and the copper hook end to end, 278 00:14:11,525 --> 00:14:14,318 it seems as if all three could connect together 279 00:14:14,353 --> 00:14:17,353 as one long hooking tool. 280 00:14:17,387 --> 00:14:20,629 One of the theories that comes out of this, is that perhaps, 281 00:14:20,663 --> 00:14:23,732 the Dixon Relics are essentially 282 00:14:23,767 --> 00:14:27,387 an escape artist's toolkit for the soul of the Pharaoh. 283 00:14:27,422 --> 00:14:29,663 Perhaps the stone was to pound 284 00:14:29,698 --> 00:14:32,387 through the wall, and the hook would connect 285 00:14:32,422 --> 00:14:34,387 to these pins, and the wooden pole 286 00:14:34,422 --> 00:14:37,215 would allow him to lever his way out and up 287 00:14:37,249 --> 00:14:40,939 into the sky to take his place in the realm of the Gods. 288 00:14:42,318 --> 00:14:44,043 [narrator] But as with every theory 289 00:14:44,077 --> 00:14:46,284 about the Dixon Relics, there's a hitch. 290 00:14:47,318 --> 00:14:50,043 The hook and the pins, they don't match up. 291 00:14:51,215 --> 00:14:52,870 [narrator] The copper pins in the shaft 292 00:14:52,905 --> 00:14:55,629 are approximately three inches apart. 293 00:14:55,663 --> 00:14:58,594 But the double ended hook is no more than two inches wide. 294 00:14:59,594 --> 00:15:01,387 The hook doesn't fit. 295 00:15:03,284 --> 00:15:06,663 We may never know the true purpose of the Dixon Relics, 296 00:15:08,249 --> 00:15:10,560 but one thing experts are confident about, 297 00:15:12,180 --> 00:15:14,974 these are the real deal. 298 00:15:15,008 --> 00:15:17,663 They were hidden in the Great Pyramid by its builders 299 00:15:17,698 --> 00:15:19,870 four and a half thousand years ago. 300 00:15:21,594 --> 00:15:23,318 Whether they are builder's tools 301 00:15:23,353 --> 00:15:25,387 or a Pharaoh's escape system, 302 00:15:25,422 --> 00:15:27,939 they remain some of the most precious relics 303 00:15:27,974 --> 00:15:29,387 of a lost world. 304 00:15:35,594 --> 00:15:37,836 [narrator] In the Michigan History Center is a curious, 305 00:15:37,870 --> 00:15:39,215 polished wooden cabinet. 306 00:15:40,836 --> 00:15:43,801 It looks like some kind of Flash Gordon movie prop. 307 00:15:44,801 --> 00:15:47,870 But this is a real machine. 308 00:15:47,905 --> 00:15:51,629 And it produces a type of radiation known to be lethal. 309 00:15:51,663 --> 00:15:54,525 The crazy thing is that it's not some very sophisticated 310 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:56,284 and essential medical device. 311 00:15:56,318 --> 00:15:59,180 It's being used in shops on children. 312 00:16:03,387 --> 00:16:06,491 [narrator] Using state-of-the-art digital imaging, 313 00:16:06,525 --> 00:16:10,594 we can examine this strange device in minute detail. 314 00:16:11,629 --> 00:16:14,560 This is the Adrian Fluoroscope. 315 00:16:15,594 --> 00:16:18,008 Made in the 1930s, it stands nearly 316 00:16:18,043 --> 00:16:20,249 four-feet high, two-feet wide, 317 00:16:20,284 --> 00:16:22,870 and almost three-feet deep. 318 00:16:22,905 --> 00:16:24,491 [Dr. Mark] This is a beautiful instrument, 319 00:16:24,525 --> 00:16:26,353 looks very professional, 320 00:16:26,387 --> 00:16:28,215 polished wood on the outside. 321 00:16:28,249 --> 00:16:30,387 It looks the part. 322 00:16:30,422 --> 00:16:33,491 [narrator] Its top is covered in switches and dials. 323 00:16:33,525 --> 00:16:35,387 [Dr. Sarah] It has three metal ports 324 00:16:35,422 --> 00:16:37,353 that look a little bit like binoculars. 325 00:16:37,387 --> 00:16:40,215 And you can stand and look down into the machine. 326 00:16:40,249 --> 00:16:42,284 [narrator] Near the base is a small step, 327 00:16:42,318 --> 00:16:45,043 with a wide opening into the machine's interior, 328 00:16:46,077 --> 00:16:49,422 which is where the damage could be done. 329 00:16:49,456 --> 00:16:52,043 This contraption is actually potentially very dangerous, 330 00:16:52,077 --> 00:16:53,525 but it was used for decades 331 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:55,801 all across the Western Hemisphere. 332 00:16:55,836 --> 00:16:57,353 [narrator] How does it work? 333 00:16:58,387 --> 00:17:01,353 Who came up with this dangerous idea? 334 00:17:01,387 --> 00:17:04,249 And what happened to the people who used it? 335 00:17:12,801 --> 00:17:15,663 [narrator] Zoom in to the base of the Adrian Fluoroscope 336 00:17:15,698 --> 00:17:18,767 and there's a very obvious clue as to its purpose. 337 00:17:18,801 --> 00:17:20,836 You can see at the bottom, there's a hole 338 00:17:20,870 --> 00:17:23,663 that is just the right size for a human foot. 339 00:17:23,698 --> 00:17:25,732 [narrator] Curious machines like this one, 340 00:17:25,767 --> 00:17:27,836 sold under names like the Pedoscope 341 00:17:27,870 --> 00:17:29,491 or the Foot-o-scope, 342 00:17:29,525 --> 00:17:32,318 were once a common feature in shoe stores. 343 00:17:32,353 --> 00:17:34,111 The idea of this device 344 00:17:34,146 --> 00:17:37,560 was that instead of having your feet simply measured, 345 00:17:37,594 --> 00:17:41,146 you were going to use latest technology to really 346 00:17:41,180 --> 00:17:45,594 precisely decide how well a shoe fitted your foot. 347 00:17:45,629 --> 00:17:46,939 [narrator] In this machine, 348 00:17:46,974 --> 00:17:48,353 low-tech rulers are out. 349 00:17:49,836 --> 00:17:52,146 In their place, come high-tech X-rays 350 00:17:52,180 --> 00:17:54,525 that magically reveal the hidden structure 351 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:55,560 of the foot. 352 00:17:57,905 --> 00:18:00,215 The person responsible for the technology 353 00:18:00,249 --> 00:18:03,456 that leads to the Foot-o-scope is this man, 354 00:18:03,491 --> 00:18:06,836 superstar inventor Thomas Alva Edison. 355 00:18:06,870 --> 00:18:08,905 [Dr. Sarah] In May 1896, 356 00:18:08,939 --> 00:18:11,974 at the National Electric Light Association, 357 00:18:12,008 --> 00:18:15,387 he debuted his new invention, the fluoroscope. 358 00:18:17,629 --> 00:18:19,594 Hundreds of people lined up 359 00:18:19,629 --> 00:18:22,043 and essentially they would stand in front of a screen, 360 00:18:22,077 --> 00:18:25,043 and they were able to see the insides of their body. 361 00:18:25,077 --> 00:18:27,387 They could see their whole skeleton. 362 00:18:27,422 --> 00:18:29,249 [narrator] Edison's astonishing new technique 363 00:18:29,284 --> 00:18:30,905 wows the crowds. 364 00:18:30,939 --> 00:18:33,422 It becomes known as fluoroscopy. 365 00:18:35,456 --> 00:18:39,215 It gave the moving images of the skeleton 366 00:18:39,249 --> 00:18:41,077 that you could very easily create 367 00:18:41,111 --> 00:18:42,870 with one of these X-ray devices 368 00:18:42,905 --> 00:18:44,456 and a screen. 369 00:18:44,491 --> 00:18:47,077 It didn't need any high-tech equipment, 370 00:18:47,111 --> 00:18:49,870 so it quite quickly became commercialized. 371 00:18:51,767 --> 00:18:53,111 [Dr. Sarah] Essentially, what you did, 372 00:18:53,146 --> 00:18:55,146 was you would go in to the shoe shop, 373 00:18:55,180 --> 00:18:57,560 you try on a shoe, and then with the shoe on, 374 00:18:57,594 --> 00:19:00,043 you would put your foot inside the Foot-o-scope. 375 00:19:03,422 --> 00:19:05,525 [narrator] The X-ray tube inside the base 376 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:08,698 bombards the shoe from underneath with radiation. 377 00:19:10,146 --> 00:19:13,180 A fluorescent screen sits above the shoe. 378 00:19:13,215 --> 00:19:15,491 The image on it reveals the customer's foot 379 00:19:15,525 --> 00:19:16,939 inside the shoe. 380 00:19:18,146 --> 00:19:20,353 And that's where the strange metal castings 381 00:19:20,387 --> 00:19:22,974 on the top of the machine earned their keep. 382 00:19:24,939 --> 00:19:26,974 The Foot-o-scope has three viewing ports. 383 00:19:27,008 --> 00:19:28,732 One of them was a bit lower than the others. 384 00:19:29,939 --> 00:19:32,008 One would be for the salesperson. 385 00:19:32,043 --> 00:19:33,974 The other would be for the parent. 386 00:19:34,008 --> 00:19:36,043 And the third one would be for the child, 387 00:19:36,077 --> 00:19:37,491 who was usually really fascinated 388 00:19:37,525 --> 00:19:38,870 to see the inside their foot. 389 00:19:41,353 --> 00:19:43,422 [Dr. Philip] They were instructed to wiggle 390 00:19:43,456 --> 00:19:45,870 their toes and the idea was that you then see 391 00:19:45,905 --> 00:19:47,491 how much room there was. 392 00:19:49,284 --> 00:19:50,663 [Dr. Sarah] So you can imagine that 393 00:19:50,698 --> 00:19:52,008 this was quite sensational. 394 00:19:53,594 --> 00:19:56,284 We like super high-tech, super sciencey stuff. 395 00:19:56,318 --> 00:19:59,801 So if you have a simple machine that measures a foot, 396 00:19:59,836 --> 00:20:02,353 that's not nearly as good as a crazy X-ray machine 397 00:20:02,387 --> 00:20:06,043 that measure the foot with the hyper invisible science. 398 00:20:06,077 --> 00:20:08,456 And that can be a bit of a problem because often 399 00:20:08,491 --> 00:20:10,698 the super sciencey thing doesn't work better 400 00:20:10,732 --> 00:20:12,663 than the very simple version of things. 401 00:20:12,698 --> 00:20:14,870 [narrator] So does this high-tech showstopper 402 00:20:14,905 --> 00:20:15,905 actually work? 403 00:20:16,939 --> 00:20:19,974 The real problem was that it wasn't the bones 404 00:20:20,008 --> 00:20:22,284 that mattered so much in shoe-fitting, 405 00:20:22,318 --> 00:20:24,284 as the soft tissue around it. 406 00:20:24,318 --> 00:20:27,111 And this was invisible to the X-rays. 407 00:20:28,663 --> 00:20:31,146 [narrator] So that's a no, then. 408 00:20:31,180 --> 00:20:33,353 Today, the idea of X-ray shoe-fitting 409 00:20:33,387 --> 00:20:36,111 seems a little like overkill. 410 00:20:36,146 --> 00:20:39,422 So why create this device in the first place? 411 00:20:46,456 --> 00:20:48,560 [narrator] Its development really takes off 412 00:20:48,594 --> 00:20:50,043 in the First World War. 413 00:20:51,629 --> 00:20:56,387 The most likely origin story is that of a medical doctor 414 00:20:56,422 --> 00:20:59,387 who worked for the military called Dr. Jacob Lowe. 415 00:21:00,663 --> 00:21:02,870 [narrator] Dr. Lowe is inundated by soldiers 416 00:21:02,905 --> 00:21:05,008 with foot injuries that need X-rays 417 00:21:05,043 --> 00:21:06,422 to assess the damage. 418 00:21:07,767 --> 00:21:10,732 The solution to his backlog turns out to be a fluoroscope 419 00:21:10,767 --> 00:21:13,180 turned on its side. 420 00:21:13,215 --> 00:21:15,663 The advantage of fluoroscopy 421 00:21:15,698 --> 00:21:17,663 was that you could examine the foot 422 00:21:17,698 --> 00:21:19,387 without having to remove the boot, 423 00:21:19,422 --> 00:21:22,008 and so you could do it much more efficiently. 424 00:21:22,043 --> 00:21:24,422 [narrator] When the war ends, Lowe realizes 425 00:21:24,456 --> 00:21:26,491 he's sitting on a big idea. 426 00:21:26,525 --> 00:21:28,698 [indistinct chatter] 427 00:21:30,111 --> 00:21:31,905 [Dr. Sarah] Lowe sees a real opportunity here, 428 00:21:31,939 --> 00:21:33,456 and he modifies the device 429 00:21:33,491 --> 00:21:35,249 for the shoe-fitting industry. 430 00:21:35,284 --> 00:21:37,560 He forms the Foot-o-scope Corporation 431 00:21:37,594 --> 00:21:40,353 and they filed their patent in 1919. 432 00:21:40,387 --> 00:21:42,387 [narrator] In January, 1920, 433 00:21:42,422 --> 00:21:44,215 Lowe reveals his revolutionary 434 00:21:44,249 --> 00:21:46,008 shoe-fitting device to the world 435 00:21:46,043 --> 00:21:49,215 at a retailer's convention in Boston. 436 00:21:49,249 --> 00:21:50,732 [Dr. Sarah] This tells us quite a lot 437 00:21:50,767 --> 00:21:52,870 about the scientific importance 438 00:21:52,905 --> 00:21:56,043 of the device in that it wasn't really about science, 439 00:21:56,077 --> 00:21:58,387 it was much more about selling. 440 00:21:58,422 --> 00:22:00,387 [narrator] Incased in expensive mahogany, 441 00:22:00,422 --> 00:22:02,491 devices like the Adrian Fluoroscope 442 00:22:02,525 --> 00:22:03,732 don't come cheap. 443 00:22:05,077 --> 00:22:07,387 The $900 price tag, 444 00:22:07,422 --> 00:22:09,767 the equivalent of $13,000 today, 445 00:22:09,801 --> 00:22:12,663 represents a major investment for any shoe store 446 00:22:12,698 --> 00:22:14,422 that wants one. 447 00:22:14,456 --> 00:22:16,939 But all over the world, people go crazy 448 00:22:16,974 --> 00:22:19,456 for wonder machines like this. 449 00:22:19,491 --> 00:22:21,318 [Dr. Philip] People loved them. 450 00:22:21,353 --> 00:22:23,801 So people would go into shoe stores 451 00:22:23,836 --> 00:22:26,008 just to see their feet in the device 452 00:22:26,043 --> 00:22:28,043 rather than even to buy shoes. 453 00:22:29,663 --> 00:22:32,732 [Dr. Sarah] Ultimately, this is a kind of technological performance 454 00:22:32,767 --> 00:22:36,077 that doesn't really have any useful purpose, 455 00:22:36,111 --> 00:22:38,905 but it is a really good sales device. 456 00:22:38,939 --> 00:22:40,663 [narrator] The popularity of this device 457 00:22:40,698 --> 00:22:43,008 and its rivals grows. 458 00:22:43,043 --> 00:22:45,043 By their peak in the 1950s, 459 00:22:45,077 --> 00:22:47,249 there are thousands of machines in use 460 00:22:47,284 --> 00:22:49,594 across the world, 461 00:22:49,629 --> 00:22:52,560 but there is one major problem. 462 00:22:52,594 --> 00:22:54,732 [Dr. Sarah] No one's really thought to ask. 463 00:22:54,767 --> 00:22:56,491 Is it safe? 464 00:23:07,905 --> 00:23:09,939 [narrator] At the turn of the 20th century, 465 00:23:09,974 --> 00:23:12,939 little is known about the danger of X-rays. 466 00:23:14,008 --> 00:23:16,422 The clues were there all the way back in 1896, 467 00:23:16,456 --> 00:23:20,353 the scientist Nikola Tesla put his finger in an X-ray 468 00:23:20,387 --> 00:23:21,905 and came out with burns. 469 00:23:23,387 --> 00:23:25,663 He didn't realize that those were actually radiation burns 470 00:23:25,698 --> 00:23:28,043 caused by the X-ray, though. 471 00:23:28,077 --> 00:23:30,732 [narrator] Thomas Edison, inventor of the fluoroscope, 472 00:23:30,767 --> 00:23:32,594 is probably aware of the risks 473 00:23:32,629 --> 00:23:34,698 after his assistant, Clarence Dally, 474 00:23:34,732 --> 00:23:36,525 falls seriously ill. 475 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:40,146 His hair starts to fall out. 476 00:23:40,180 --> 00:23:44,043 He begins to experience nausea and dizziness. 477 00:23:44,077 --> 00:23:47,698 He starts to experience lesions on the skin. 478 00:23:47,732 --> 00:23:49,422 He does actually have skin grafts 479 00:23:49,456 --> 00:23:51,422 from other parts of his body onto his hands, 480 00:23:51,456 --> 00:23:53,318 but the lesions still remain. 481 00:23:53,353 --> 00:23:56,629 Eventually, he has to have both of his arms amputated 482 00:23:56,663 --> 00:23:58,560 and within a short period of time, 483 00:23:58,594 --> 00:24:00,974 he actually dies from radiation sickness. 484 00:24:02,387 --> 00:24:03,870 [narrator] By 1920, 485 00:24:03,905 --> 00:24:05,974 when the Adrian Fluoroscope arrives, 486 00:24:06,008 --> 00:24:10,111 the dangers X-rays posed to humans are becoming obvious. 487 00:24:10,146 --> 00:24:15,939 Exposure from X-rays can have very detrimental effects. 488 00:24:15,974 --> 00:24:18,422 For example, you could lose your eyesight, 489 00:24:18,456 --> 00:24:19,974 you could get burns. 490 00:24:20,008 --> 00:24:22,318 Infertility can very easily develop, 491 00:24:22,353 --> 00:24:25,215 cancer can grow, so you have all types 492 00:24:25,249 --> 00:24:28,525 of very nasty effects from radiation. 493 00:24:30,353 --> 00:24:33,180 [narrator] Yet despite the increasingly visible risks, 494 00:24:33,215 --> 00:24:35,215 machines like this Adrian Fluoroscope 495 00:24:35,249 --> 00:24:37,111 are not the only ones capitalizing 496 00:24:37,146 --> 00:24:39,318 on the new science. 497 00:24:39,353 --> 00:24:42,594 Even the side effect of hair loss from X-ray exposure 498 00:24:42,629 --> 00:24:45,663 is an opportunity to make a fast buck. 499 00:24:45,698 --> 00:24:48,836 In the 1920s, Physicist Albert Geyser 500 00:24:48,870 --> 00:24:51,146 invents the Tricho machine. 501 00:24:53,525 --> 00:24:56,905 It uses X-rays to zap unwanted hair. 502 00:24:58,732 --> 00:25:01,767 The client would come and sit and would be... 503 00:25:01,801 --> 00:25:05,491 Basically the X-ray source would be put in front of them 504 00:25:05,525 --> 00:25:09,180 and they would be irradiated in ways that would destroy, 505 00:25:09,215 --> 00:25:12,180 you know, hair producing cells. 506 00:25:12,215 --> 00:25:14,180 But that of course have the potential 507 00:25:14,215 --> 00:25:17,353 to inflict all kinds of other damage as well. 508 00:25:17,387 --> 00:25:19,146 [narrator] Seventy-five Tricho clinics 509 00:25:19,180 --> 00:25:21,698 opened across the United States. 510 00:25:21,732 --> 00:25:23,801 It's estimated that tens of thousands of women 511 00:25:23,836 --> 00:25:25,732 probably used these machines. 512 00:25:25,767 --> 00:25:27,767 [narrator] It isn't until the 1970s 513 00:25:27,801 --> 00:25:30,215 that the awful consequences of the Tricho system 514 00:25:30,249 --> 00:25:31,353 finally emerged. 515 00:25:33,284 --> 00:25:35,387 Over 30% of women who had used it 516 00:25:35,422 --> 00:25:39,111 developed skin lesions, ulcers, or even cancer. 517 00:25:40,318 --> 00:25:44,111 So just how dangerous are X-ray shoe-fitters? 518 00:25:46,043 --> 00:25:49,180 [Dr. Mark] Admitting X-rays all the time because you want to see 519 00:25:49,215 --> 00:25:52,111 your foot in real time imagery, 520 00:25:52,146 --> 00:25:53,836 so you get a lot of radiation 521 00:25:53,870 --> 00:25:55,629 and nothing protects you from it. 522 00:25:57,456 --> 00:26:01,836 It was, you know, estimated that a single shoe-fitting 523 00:26:01,870 --> 00:26:03,801 could end up giving you 524 00:26:03,836 --> 00:26:07,284 what was considered to be the safe dose of radiation 525 00:26:07,318 --> 00:26:09,974 that you shouldn't exceed over an entire year. 526 00:26:10,525 --> 00:26:12,077 [narrator] In 1946, 527 00:26:12,111 --> 00:26:14,008 the American Standards Association 528 00:26:14,043 --> 00:26:15,870 issues a safety code 529 00:26:15,905 --> 00:26:18,870 that strictly limits X-ray exposure levels. 530 00:26:18,905 --> 00:26:22,836 But that doesn't mean this machine is safe. 531 00:26:22,870 --> 00:26:26,905 Even when later on the dangers of X-rays were recognized 532 00:26:26,939 --> 00:26:30,629 and lead shielding was added to these devices, 533 00:26:30,663 --> 00:26:33,939 one couldn't rely on that to make them any safer, 534 00:26:33,974 --> 00:26:36,732 that maybe the shielding wouldn't be properly fitted. 535 00:26:36,767 --> 00:26:38,043 It would be leaky. 536 00:26:39,146 --> 00:26:41,284 [narrator] But was anyone actually harmed 537 00:26:41,318 --> 00:26:43,284 by a shoe-fitting machine? 538 00:26:48,525 --> 00:26:51,146 There are surprisingly few recorded cases 539 00:26:51,180 --> 00:26:53,594 of shoe-fitting induced radiation damage 540 00:26:53,629 --> 00:26:56,043 amongst customers. 541 00:26:56,077 --> 00:26:59,146 Staff are not always so lucky. 542 00:26:59,180 --> 00:27:02,008 One case is documented of a foot model 543 00:27:02,043 --> 00:27:05,353 or a leg model that was radiated so much 544 00:27:05,387 --> 00:27:07,456 that her leg had to be amputated. 545 00:27:08,732 --> 00:27:11,249 [Dr. Sarah] The real danger was to sales people 546 00:27:11,284 --> 00:27:13,594 because they were doing it several times a day 547 00:27:13,629 --> 00:27:15,008 and they were also often actually 548 00:27:15,043 --> 00:27:16,525 placing their hands inside 549 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:18,353 and adjusting the foot. 550 00:27:18,387 --> 00:27:20,146 We do know of one case of a woman 551 00:27:20,180 --> 00:27:24,318 who was affected by severe radiation induced dermatitis 552 00:27:24,353 --> 00:27:25,974 and there were probably many other cases 553 00:27:26,008 --> 00:27:28,284 who just haven't realized that that was the cause. 554 00:27:29,491 --> 00:27:31,353 [narrator] By the early 1950s, 555 00:27:31,387 --> 00:27:33,146 the American medical organizations 556 00:27:33,180 --> 00:27:35,111 are issuing warnings of the dangers 557 00:27:35,146 --> 00:27:38,387 of shoe-fitting fluoroscopes. 558 00:27:38,422 --> 00:27:39,974 [Dr. Sarah] People had begun to realize 559 00:27:40,008 --> 00:27:41,560 that it probably wasn't a good idea 560 00:27:41,594 --> 00:27:43,974 to irradiate your customers. 561 00:27:44,008 --> 00:27:47,249 By 1957, Pennsylvania became the first state 562 00:27:47,284 --> 00:27:48,767 to ban the Foot-o-scope. 563 00:27:48,801 --> 00:27:52,043 Switzerland followed suit in 1959. 564 00:27:52,077 --> 00:27:54,318 [narrator] The last X-ray shoe-fitting machine 565 00:27:54,353 --> 00:27:56,491 is still in use in the shoe store 566 00:27:56,525 --> 00:27:59,939 in West Virginia as late as 1981. 567 00:27:59,974 --> 00:28:02,422 And as recently as 2004, 568 00:28:02,456 --> 00:28:04,111 another case of skin cancer 569 00:28:04,146 --> 00:28:06,008 is linked to radiation exposure 570 00:28:06,043 --> 00:28:08,111 from a shoe-fitting machine. 571 00:28:09,698 --> 00:28:14,043 But the true scale of damage done may never be known. 572 00:28:20,767 --> 00:28:24,077 In the vault of the Museo Nacional de Antropologia 573 00:28:24,111 --> 00:28:26,870 in Mexico City lies a strange 574 00:28:26,905 --> 00:28:29,594 terracotta carving of a head. 575 00:28:29,629 --> 00:28:31,387 It's really unusual. 576 00:28:33,008 --> 00:28:35,767 [narrator] For 90 years, this face has confounded 577 00:28:35,801 --> 00:28:38,560 historians and archeologists. 578 00:28:38,594 --> 00:28:41,939 This is what people call an out of place object. 579 00:28:41,974 --> 00:28:44,284 It's an object that shouldn't be there. 580 00:28:49,284 --> 00:28:51,456 [narrator] Now, using the latest technology, 581 00:28:51,491 --> 00:28:54,077 we can reexamine this incredible object 582 00:28:54,111 --> 00:28:55,801 in minute detail. 583 00:28:57,422 --> 00:29:00,525 This is the Calixtlahuaca head. 584 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:02,215 [Dr. Steele] It's about the size of a golf ball, 585 00:29:02,249 --> 00:29:03,939 just a couple of centimeters across 586 00:29:03,974 --> 00:29:05,732 and we think it might once have been part 587 00:29:05,767 --> 00:29:08,043 of a tiny statue. 588 00:29:08,077 --> 00:29:09,905 [narrator] The face is of a bearded man 589 00:29:09,939 --> 00:29:13,008 with wavy hair wearing a cap. 590 00:29:13,043 --> 00:29:14,801 Some archeologists believe 591 00:29:14,836 --> 00:29:17,353 they have seen this look before. 592 00:29:17,387 --> 00:29:20,422 [Dr. Marina] The style of the face and the beard 593 00:29:20,456 --> 00:29:24,939 looks very similar to what we see in Roman statues 594 00:29:24,974 --> 00:29:28,215 from the 2nd century CE. 595 00:29:28,249 --> 00:29:30,801 [narrator] Which is unremarkable 596 00:29:30,836 --> 00:29:33,594 until you consider where the head turns up. 597 00:29:35,077 --> 00:29:38,146 [Dr. Abigail] It was found with a group of grave offerings 598 00:29:38,180 --> 00:29:40,525 inside an Aztec tomb 599 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:45,974 sometime between 1476 and 1510 AD. 600 00:29:46,008 --> 00:29:47,870 [narrator] That should be impossible 601 00:29:47,905 --> 00:29:50,077 because it is before Europeans reached 602 00:29:50,111 --> 00:29:52,525 this part of the Americans. 603 00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:54,353 I feel pretty confident in saying that 604 00:29:54,387 --> 00:29:56,663 there weren't any Romans in the Americas. 605 00:29:57,939 --> 00:29:59,732 [narrator] Some experts have suggested 606 00:29:59,767 --> 00:30:02,905 we need to tear up our history books. 607 00:30:02,939 --> 00:30:05,353 But what's really going on here? 608 00:30:06,491 --> 00:30:08,698 Exactly how old is it? 609 00:30:08,732 --> 00:30:10,560 Is it Roman? 610 00:30:10,594 --> 00:30:14,008 Could it really have reached America before Columbus? 611 00:30:14,939 --> 00:30:17,870 Or is this something else entirely? 612 00:30:26,491 --> 00:30:28,870 [narrator] The strange terracotta head is discovered 613 00:30:28,905 --> 00:30:33,008 on an archeological site 37 miles west of Mexico City. 614 00:30:33,043 --> 00:30:36,422 In the 1930s, Jose Garcia Payon 615 00:30:36,456 --> 00:30:38,249 was excavating a tomb 616 00:30:38,284 --> 00:30:41,663 in the ancient city of Calixtlahuaca. 617 00:30:43,870 --> 00:30:47,077 [narrator] The city was founded around 1476 618 00:30:47,111 --> 00:30:50,629 by the Aztec Emperor Axayacatl 619 00:30:50,663 --> 00:30:53,249 and it remains an outpost of the empire 620 00:30:53,284 --> 00:30:56,077 until its residents rebelled in 1510. 621 00:30:58,387 --> 00:31:01,180 [Dr. Marina] The emperor at the time Moctezuma II 622 00:31:01,215 --> 00:31:04,353 reacted by destroying the city 623 00:31:04,387 --> 00:31:06,249 aside from its temple completely 624 00:31:06,284 --> 00:31:09,249 and moving its inhabitants to a different place. 625 00:31:10,456 --> 00:31:13,663 [narrator] The city only exists for 34 years. 626 00:31:16,491 --> 00:31:19,353 So when Payon opens this Aztec tomb, 627 00:31:19,387 --> 00:31:23,387 he knows that the chronology has to be between 628 00:31:23,422 --> 00:31:27,767 1476 and 1510. 629 00:31:27,801 --> 00:31:30,077 [narrator] 1510 predates the arrival 630 00:31:30,111 --> 00:31:34,043 of the first Europeans in Mexico by seven years. 631 00:31:35,077 --> 00:31:37,939 And what makes this story so mysterious 632 00:31:37,974 --> 00:31:40,180 is that the grave hasn't been touched 633 00:31:40,215 --> 00:31:44,215 since it was sealed sometime before 1510. 634 00:31:44,249 --> 00:31:46,215 [Dr. Marina] As Payon was excavating, 635 00:31:46,249 --> 00:31:49,836 he had to go through three archeological levels 636 00:31:49,870 --> 00:31:52,111 until he got to the tomb. 637 00:31:52,146 --> 00:31:55,698 So the... There doesn't seem to be any disturbance 638 00:31:55,732 --> 00:31:59,180 of the contents of this burial. 639 00:31:59,215 --> 00:32:01,939 [narrator] They know that it's the tomb of an Aztec nobleman 640 00:32:01,974 --> 00:32:05,663 because it still contains typical luxury grave goods like these, 641 00:32:05,698 --> 00:32:09,008 including gold and precious gems. 642 00:32:09,043 --> 00:32:10,974 But one item stands out. 643 00:32:13,215 --> 00:32:14,594 [Dr. Pennock] Then amongst them is this 644 00:32:14,629 --> 00:32:16,801 small head with a beard. 645 00:32:16,836 --> 00:32:19,146 You don't see anything like it elsewhere 646 00:32:19,180 --> 00:32:20,870 in these sorts of offerings. 647 00:32:22,491 --> 00:32:26,111 [narrator] It becomes known as the Calixtlahuaca head. 648 00:32:27,594 --> 00:32:29,836 Why are archeologists so certain 649 00:32:29,870 --> 00:32:31,939 there's something wrong with it? 650 00:32:37,215 --> 00:32:40,180 For a start, its thick wavy hair looks nothing 651 00:32:40,215 --> 00:32:43,146 like a period description of the Aztecs. 652 00:32:43,180 --> 00:32:45,043 The hairstyle was coarse 653 00:32:45,077 --> 00:32:48,249 and straight kind of cut across the forehead. 654 00:32:49,525 --> 00:32:51,801 [narrator] And a full beard would be even more alien 655 00:32:51,836 --> 00:32:53,525 to most Aztecs. 656 00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:55,456 [Dr. Abigail] Hair on the face was considered unpleasant 657 00:32:55,491 --> 00:32:58,043 and there are stories of mothers putting hot cloths 658 00:32:58,077 --> 00:33:00,663 on the skin to prevent hair from growing 659 00:33:00,698 --> 00:33:04,525 and tweezing any hairs that were there. 660 00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:07,111 [narrator] Nothing about it makes sense. 661 00:33:07,146 --> 00:33:08,663 [Dr. Abigail] This head doesn't fit 662 00:33:08,698 --> 00:33:11,387 with what we know of Aztec art. 663 00:33:11,422 --> 00:33:14,629 It's a complete outlier. 664 00:33:14,663 --> 00:33:16,249 [narrator] The alien nature of the head 665 00:33:16,284 --> 00:33:19,180 leads to an extraordinary suggestion. 666 00:33:19,215 --> 00:33:21,836 Because Archeologist Eric Behringer 667 00:33:21,870 --> 00:33:25,146 believes he recognizes the style 668 00:33:25,180 --> 00:33:28,318 and it is a long way from any Aztec 669 00:33:28,353 --> 00:33:32,043 6,000 miles away. 670 00:33:32,077 --> 00:33:36,249 Behringer identified this as possibly Roman 671 00:33:36,284 --> 00:33:40,767 and said that it looked a bit like some 2nd century AD 672 00:33:40,801 --> 00:33:42,767 Roman styles in art. 673 00:33:44,043 --> 00:33:46,836 [narrator] A second classical scholar, Bernard Andre 674 00:33:46,870 --> 00:33:49,732 suggests an even more precise Roman date. 675 00:33:50,836 --> 00:33:52,836 He thinks it belongs to the Severan period, 676 00:33:52,870 --> 00:33:56,801 which dates from 193 to 235 AD. 677 00:33:58,767 --> 00:34:01,077 And when you look at the Severan emperors, 678 00:34:01,111 --> 00:34:04,456 you can see a likeness. 679 00:34:04,491 --> 00:34:08,111 But how can a Roman head end up in an Aztec tomb 680 00:34:08,146 --> 00:34:11,870 that is sealed years before Europeans arrive here? 681 00:34:17,008 --> 00:34:19,663 If this head really is Roman, 682 00:34:19,698 --> 00:34:22,008 it implies that Payon has stumbled on something 683 00:34:22,043 --> 00:34:24,629 historically ground shaking, 684 00:34:24,663 --> 00:34:27,318 evidence that the Romans have crossed the Atlantic 685 00:34:27,353 --> 00:34:29,939 centuries before Columbus. 686 00:34:29,974 --> 00:34:34,111 [Dr. Marina] But the academic community reacted to this as 687 00:34:34,146 --> 00:34:36,663 something that was completely outlandish. 688 00:34:36,698 --> 00:34:39,732 It could have never happened. 689 00:34:39,767 --> 00:34:42,077 [narrator] And something odd about the head's announcement 690 00:34:42,111 --> 00:34:44,525 to the world also troubles them. 691 00:34:44,560 --> 00:34:48,284 Payon's excavation takes place in 1933, 692 00:34:48,318 --> 00:34:51,008 but his first full report on the head doesn't appear 693 00:34:51,043 --> 00:34:53,870 until nearly 30 years later. 694 00:34:53,905 --> 00:34:56,836 [Dr. Abigail] When this is such a sensational object, 695 00:34:56,870 --> 00:34:58,698 it's kind of hard to get your head around 696 00:34:58,732 --> 00:35:02,043 how you would find something like this 697 00:35:02,077 --> 00:35:06,491 and then leave it unpublished for that amount of time. 698 00:35:07,905 --> 00:35:09,353 [narrator] For a further 30 years, 699 00:35:09,387 --> 00:35:10,905 the head is ignored. 700 00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:18,111 Until in 1995, Archeologist Romeo Hristov 701 00:35:18,146 --> 00:35:20,525 reopens the debate. 702 00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:22,111 Hristov got special permission 703 00:35:22,146 --> 00:35:24,146 to drill a tiny sample out of the head 704 00:35:24,180 --> 00:35:26,698 and the dust was sent to one of the Max Planck institutes 705 00:35:26,732 --> 00:35:30,767 in Germany for thermoluminescent analysis. 706 00:35:30,801 --> 00:35:33,284 [narrator] This technique can date inorganic material 707 00:35:33,318 --> 00:35:35,249 like pottery. 708 00:35:35,284 --> 00:35:37,732 Although there are problems with the sample, 709 00:35:37,767 --> 00:35:39,905 the test suggests that the head is between 710 00:35:39,939 --> 00:35:45,284 750 and 2,890 years old. 711 00:35:45,318 --> 00:35:48,249 [Dr. Abigail] So what the thermoluminescence does suggest 712 00:35:48,284 --> 00:35:52,215 is the idea that this object is probably pre-Columbian. 713 00:35:52,249 --> 00:35:56,491 It predates the period of European colonization. 714 00:35:57,629 --> 00:35:59,525 [narrator] And the dates do fit with the sculpture 715 00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:01,594 being Roman. 716 00:36:01,629 --> 00:36:04,629 Could a head from Europe really have reached Mexico 717 00:36:04,663 --> 00:36:06,525 before the first Europeans? 718 00:36:18,215 --> 00:36:20,043 [narrator] The problem with the Romans 719 00:36:20,077 --> 00:36:22,284 reaching the Americas with this terracotta head 720 00:36:22,318 --> 00:36:25,077 before the first Europeans is this, 721 00:36:25,974 --> 00:36:29,801 3,000 miles of Atlantic Ocean. 722 00:36:29,836 --> 00:36:32,560 Romans are not known as ocean sailors. 723 00:36:32,594 --> 00:36:36,284 They prefer the relative shelter of the Mediterranean. 724 00:36:36,318 --> 00:36:39,318 Hristov explains this by proposing what he calls 725 00:36:39,353 --> 00:36:42,008 the drift voyage theory. 726 00:36:42,043 --> 00:36:45,594 [Dr. Abigail] So the drift theory is this idea that the Romans had 727 00:36:45,629 --> 00:36:48,939 a loss or abandoned ship that somehow just drifted 728 00:36:48,974 --> 00:36:50,629 to the South Americas. 729 00:36:51,663 --> 00:36:53,215 [narrator] This idea is supported 730 00:36:53,249 --> 00:36:55,387 by a recent archeological discovery 731 00:36:55,422 --> 00:36:58,043 of a Roman trading post in the Atlantic Ocean 732 00:36:58,077 --> 00:36:59,698 on the Canary Islands. 733 00:37:00,974 --> 00:37:04,180 Once they found evidence of Roman trade 734 00:37:04,215 --> 00:37:06,767 in the Canary Islands, they then said, 735 00:37:06,801 --> 00:37:08,974 "Oh, well, the prevailing currents 736 00:37:09,008 --> 00:37:10,594 could have carried a ship." 737 00:37:10,629 --> 00:37:14,801 And I mean, who could say that it couldn't? 738 00:37:14,836 --> 00:37:19,560 [narrator] And there have been other claims of Roman finds in the Americas... 739 00:37:19,594 --> 00:37:24,249 amphoras, coins, even a Roman sword. 740 00:37:25,422 --> 00:37:27,043 But there's a catch. 741 00:37:27,077 --> 00:37:29,870 [Dr. Abigail] The problem with these objects is that 742 00:37:29,905 --> 00:37:33,939 people are trying to create a connection. 743 00:37:33,974 --> 00:37:36,043 One example are the amphorae, 744 00:37:36,077 --> 00:37:38,387 which were made by a Portuguese potter 745 00:37:38,422 --> 00:37:41,249 in the 1960s and actually put in the ocean 746 00:37:41,284 --> 00:37:44,732 as a means of aging them. 747 00:37:44,767 --> 00:37:47,318 [narrator] Later discovered accidentally by a diver, 748 00:37:47,353 --> 00:37:50,939 they were mistaken for genuine Roman jars. 749 00:37:50,974 --> 00:37:52,801 And there is one other stumbling block 750 00:37:52,836 --> 00:37:54,629 to the drift theory. 751 00:37:54,663 --> 00:37:56,491 [Dr. Abigail] Apart from this head, 752 00:37:56,525 --> 00:38:01,698 there is literally nothing else to substantiate 753 00:38:01,732 --> 00:38:05,180 the arrival of a Roman ship in South America. 754 00:38:06,594 --> 00:38:09,215 [narrator] Most historians and archeologists believe 755 00:38:09,249 --> 00:38:12,629 drift theory requires too many leaps of faith. 756 00:38:14,180 --> 00:38:16,318 Perhaps there is an altogether simpler 757 00:38:16,353 --> 00:38:18,318 explanation for the head. 758 00:38:19,905 --> 00:38:22,698 Maybe it's not European in the first place. 759 00:38:26,905 --> 00:38:29,284 Evidence suggests that it wasn't unknown 760 00:38:29,318 --> 00:38:33,318 for Aztec graves to contain non-Aztec objects. 761 00:38:33,353 --> 00:38:35,491 [Dr. Pennock] The indigenous people in this period 762 00:38:35,525 --> 00:38:37,732 are clearly interested in exotic objects. 763 00:38:37,767 --> 00:38:39,732 You see lots of shells brought from the coast 764 00:38:39,767 --> 00:38:41,836 brought long distances for symbolic meaning 765 00:38:41,870 --> 00:38:44,249 and occasionally small objects 766 00:38:44,284 --> 00:38:49,111 like Olmec heads from more ancient cultures. 767 00:38:49,146 --> 00:38:51,491 [narrator] The Olmec civilization ruled in Mexico 768 00:38:51,525 --> 00:38:53,111 for a thousand years 769 00:38:53,146 --> 00:38:57,663 from around 1400 to 400 BCE. 770 00:38:57,698 --> 00:39:01,629 [Dr. Pennock] The Olmecs were a very sophisticated civilization 771 00:39:01,663 --> 00:39:03,629 with advanced architecture. 772 00:39:03,663 --> 00:39:06,732 They developed some of the styles of building 773 00:39:06,767 --> 00:39:08,629 that we're familiar with like step pyramids. 774 00:39:08,663 --> 00:39:10,077 They mapped the heavens. 775 00:39:10,111 --> 00:39:11,525 They really are a blueprint 776 00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:13,180 for some of the later civilizations 777 00:39:13,215 --> 00:39:15,180 in Mexico. 778 00:39:15,215 --> 00:39:18,008 [narrator] And they were expert sculptors. 779 00:39:18,043 --> 00:39:21,870 They've left behind a real legacy of wonderful archeology 780 00:39:21,905 --> 00:39:25,594 including these very famous monolithic heads. 781 00:39:26,836 --> 00:39:28,387 [narrator] But not all their sculptures 782 00:39:28,422 --> 00:39:30,456 were monumental. 783 00:39:30,491 --> 00:39:33,456 [Dr. Pennock] There's also a small Olmec sculpture 784 00:39:33,491 --> 00:39:36,111 shown as a kneeling figure who has a beard. 785 00:39:36,146 --> 00:39:38,284 [narrator] Excavations of Aztec graves 786 00:39:38,318 --> 00:39:40,629 have found evidence that Aztecs collected 787 00:39:40,663 --> 00:39:43,491 Olmec artifacts as grave goods. 788 00:39:43,525 --> 00:39:45,870 There's even the case of a small Olmec head 789 00:39:45,905 --> 00:39:48,077 being found in the offerings 790 00:39:48,111 --> 00:39:51,525 of the Templo Mayor at Tenochtitlan. 791 00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:54,387 So it's clearly been treasured or traded 792 00:39:54,422 --> 00:39:56,698 for a long period of time. 793 00:39:56,732 --> 00:40:00,008 [narrator] Could this strange head also be Olmec? 794 00:40:00,043 --> 00:40:03,008 [Dr. Pennock] It's the right time period, the right continent, 795 00:40:03,043 --> 00:40:04,836 but the reality is that we have never seen 796 00:40:04,870 --> 00:40:07,594 anything like this that is of Olmec origin. 797 00:40:08,939 --> 00:40:10,077 [narrator] Maybe there's an altogether 798 00:40:10,111 --> 00:40:11,767 simpler explanation. 799 00:40:14,284 --> 00:40:16,215 What if it was never buried in the tomb 800 00:40:16,249 --> 00:40:17,905 in the first place? 801 00:40:22,284 --> 00:40:24,111 [Dr. Abigail] Professor John Paddock, 802 00:40:24,146 --> 00:40:28,594 who was a famous Professor of Mesoamerican Studies, 803 00:40:28,629 --> 00:40:31,353 often told stories to his students 804 00:40:31,387 --> 00:40:34,318 about how one of the excavators 805 00:40:34,353 --> 00:40:36,008 on Payon's excavation 806 00:40:36,043 --> 00:40:39,525 actually dropped the head there as a joke. 807 00:40:39,560 --> 00:40:41,387 [narrator] Supporters of the head's authenticity 808 00:40:41,422 --> 00:40:44,008 say Payon's son is certain his father 809 00:40:44,043 --> 00:40:46,801 was always present on the dig. 810 00:40:46,836 --> 00:40:50,008 So there was no opportunity to plant the head. 811 00:40:50,043 --> 00:40:52,422 [Dr. Abigail] As someone who's been on digs, 812 00:40:52,456 --> 00:40:55,008 it's very difficult to be there 813 00:40:55,043 --> 00:40:58,008 guarding the dig the entire time. 814 00:40:58,043 --> 00:41:00,318 [narrator] But if it is just a practical joke, 815 00:41:00,353 --> 00:41:02,905 why does no one ever own up to it? 816 00:41:02,939 --> 00:41:06,008 Possibly because there's a gap of nearly 30 years 817 00:41:06,043 --> 00:41:08,043 before Payon reports the find. 818 00:41:09,491 --> 00:41:11,767 [Dr. Abigail] If it was done as a hoax, 819 00:41:11,801 --> 00:41:14,318 no one is really going to wanna step up 820 00:41:14,353 --> 00:41:15,870 30 years later and say, 821 00:41:15,905 --> 00:41:19,077 "Oh, yeah, oops, that was me." 822 00:41:19,111 --> 00:41:22,767 The laughter period has kind of finished for that. 823 00:41:22,801 --> 00:41:24,594 So that makes it difficult. 824 00:41:26,767 --> 00:41:30,043 [narrator] No eyewitnesses to the dig are still alive. 825 00:41:30,077 --> 00:41:32,870 So whilst the hoax story makes perfect sense, 826 00:41:32,905 --> 00:41:34,491 we can't prove it. 827 00:41:37,353 --> 00:41:41,939 Definitive answers about this strange object remain elusive 828 00:41:41,974 --> 00:41:44,353 and perhaps that's unsurprising. 829 00:41:45,387 --> 00:41:47,180 [Dr. Pennock] Humans love a mystery. 830 00:41:47,215 --> 00:41:49,387 We want to see something that changes 831 00:41:49,422 --> 00:41:51,939 our understanding, but sometimes 832 00:41:51,974 --> 00:41:53,698 we just have to accept that a thing out of place 833 00:41:53,732 --> 00:41:55,491 is just an isolated object 834 00:41:55,525 --> 00:41:58,353 and we're not going to know how it got there 835 00:41:58,387 --> 00:42:01,732 or exactly why it was there or who made it. 836 00:42:01,767 --> 00:42:05,180 And we just kind of have to accept that uncertainty.