00:00Specialists have discovered the oldest lacustrine village ever discovered in Europe,
00:06hidden under the waters of Lake Doride, between Albania and North Macedonia.
00:10This lake, meanwhile, is also of remarkable antiquity.
00:14It is considered to be one of the oldest in the world.
00:17Before this discovery, a village located in the Italian Alps held the record with about 7,000 years of existence.
00:24However, data from radiocarbon analysis reveals that the village submerged in Lake Doride
00:30was built between 6,000 and 5,080 years BC,
00:35making it 1,000 years older than any other village in Europe.
00:39This neolithic village, which housed between 200 and 500 inhabitants,
00:43constitutes one of the very first known sedentary human communities.
00:48This discovery would not be as fascinating without the mystery that surrounds it.
00:53The inhabitants had erected a fortress of wooden stakes all around their village,
00:58probably to protect themselves.
01:01But what for? This danger remains mysterious.
01:05The villagers took care to build their homes on piles above the lake,
01:10surrounding them with these wooden defenses.
01:13Why these elaborate precautions?
01:15This is precisely the question that archaeologists are trying to answer.
01:19Are there other unusual plantations?
01:22Absolutely. Take, for example, Göbekli Tepe.
01:26This site brings us back to the origins of the first permanent settlements
01:29and invites us to question everything we think we know about the emergence of organized society.
01:39It seems that the inhabitants of this place were particularly attached to specific practices,
01:44probably rituals or gatherings.
01:47About 11,000 years ago, these ancients sculpted huge blocks of limestone
01:52and, in an even more mysterious way, transported them to the other side of the mound.
01:58These stones, decorated with animal engravings and human figures, were arranged in circles,
02:04like canvases showing their way of life.
02:07Under these stones, we find the same massive pillars as those erected on the other side of the mound.
02:13Nearly 250 of these pillars emerge from the surface,
02:17and excavations have revealed about 60 more.
02:20These elements are so many messages from the past,
02:23giving us clues about the life and activities of the people who inhabited these places.
02:31These discoveries shake the chronology and classical interpretations of the first human societies.
02:37Although Göbekli Tepe has become a tourist destination,
02:40another site nearby, Karahan Tepe, remains less known but just as remarkable.
02:46These two sites defend the idea that breeding would have led to sedentarization.
02:51It would seem rather that the populations were first established in a fixed place
02:55before starting animal domestication.
02:58They also question the traditional hypothesis
03:01that organized societies would have emerged as a result of agriculture.
03:05These ancient sites suggest that structured communities existed before agricultural development
03:11and that they probably practiced cultural or communal rituals.
03:18These structures suggest complex and polyvalent functions rather than simply religious ones.
03:23People would gather in these places to discuss and tell stories,
03:28promoting a collective identity.
03:31These buildings could mark the beginning of a cohesive community,
03:35showing the emergence of horizontal hierarchies and the sharing of knowledge.
03:39Now let's go to the other side of the globe.
03:42In Mexico, unknown pyramids, about 1,500 years old, deserve to be looked at.
03:48These buildings have challenged the centuries
03:50thanks to a unique ingredient from the fig tree of Barbary.
03:54This cactus allowed indigenous builders to design these architectural wonders of the ancient world.
04:00These gray volcanic rock pyramids rise like a chain of miniature mountains.
04:05As we approach, we can see the steps perfectly engraved in the hard rock,
04:10forming a monumental staircase on the highest pyramid.
04:14Two other structures, called the House of the Wind and the House of the Longest Night,
04:19also illustrate this mastery.
04:23According to legend, these structures housed treasures.
04:28However, it was only in the early 2000s,
04:30with the excavations undertaken by Mexican archaeologists,
04:33that their secrets began to be revealed.
04:36The House of the Thirteen Skies, built around 540 BC,
04:42served to mark the passage of time.
04:45At a time when clocks and calendars did not exist,
04:48the ancients referred to the stars to locate important dates.
04:53This pyramid acted like a cosmic calendar.
04:56Its angles were aligned with the solstices and the essential dates for sowing and harvesting.
05:02Even today, when climbing these steps,
05:05the sun aligns perfectly with a specific corner of the pyramid.
05:12But these buildings do not content themselves with following the course of time.
05:16The archaeologists Quiroz and Zepeda seek to unravel the mysteries.
05:21Among the artifacts discovered,
05:23they found that the ancient builders used an adhesive substance
05:27from the leaves of the Barbarian fig tree to solidify their construction,
05:31a technique still used by some indigenous peoples.
05:37The revelations go on.
05:38The House of the Thirteen Skies even delivered a skeleton,
05:41older than the pyramid itself, about a millennium old.
05:44This detail indicates that the ancients transported this body for nearly 950 years,
05:49thus adding another mystery to this fascinating site.
05:54Next step, the Duna of Bologna,
05:57a Spanish dune receding from the Roman ruins of Anfouy.
06:02Located at the border of Europe, facing North Africa,
06:05this sandy formation exceeds 30 meters in height and 200 meters in width.
06:11Under the effect of the winds, the dune moves,
06:14progressively revealing fragments of history deeply buried.
06:18With climate change, these winds intensify,
06:21accelerating the migration of the dune
06:23and revealing traces of the ancient inhabitants of this region.
06:28Archaeologists, while excavating this area,
06:31have discovered ancient graves.
06:34Imagine walking through these sand dunes
06:36to find these tombs full of history.
06:41The sand, like a guardian,
06:42has protected bones, jewels and arrowheads.
06:47But that's not all.
06:49Nearby is an archaeological site from the 2nd century B.C.
06:54dating from the time when the Romans settled there.
06:57They had built a complete city there,
06:59with tombs, a theater and a temple,
07:02all built on the remains of an ancient Phoenician settlement.
07:09A long time ago, an earthquake forced the inhabitants to leave the city,
07:13which remained buried under the sand for centuries.
07:16Today, historians and archaeologists hope
07:19that this perpetually moving landscape will reveal other secrets.
07:24Let's hope that this temporary sand capsule is preserved
07:27and continues to pass on its stories to future generations.
07:32In Peru, archaeologists are studying the Condor Pass,
07:36a 3,000-year-old secret passage.
07:39Curious?
07:41This passage was built in Chavin de Huantar,
07:44an ancient city where the Chavin people lived,
07:49located about 300 km from Lima, the Peruvian capital.
07:55The Chavin people were known for their artistic talent.
07:58Fascinated by birds and felines,
08:00they often integrated these motifs into their works.
08:03Long before the advent of the Inca Empire,
08:08they were among the first sedentary societies of the high Andean plateaus,
08:12cultivating these 2,000-year-old lands before the appearance of the Incas.
08:19In one of the temple buildings,
08:21archaeologists discovered this hidden passage,
08:24which they nicknamed the Condor Pass.
08:27This corridor, which remained closed for centuries,
08:30leads to several rooms of the temple,
08:33offering a rare glimpse of the life of the time.
08:36Lara Croft could not be happier.
08:39Inside this secret passage,
08:41researchers found fascinating objects.
08:45In particular, an imposing pottery,
08:47heavier than a bag of potatoes and adorned with the head and wings of a condor.
08:53It was also a symbol of power for the ancient Andeans.
08:57Excavations have also revealed other potteries,
09:00all discovered in May 2022,
09:02at the time of the opening of this hidden entrance.
09:05All this is therefore quite recent.
09:08The temple complex still contains other structures,
09:11such as terraces,
09:12and many other mysteries remain to be discovered.
09:16Progressing in these hidden passages poses many challenges.
09:20Archaeologists therefore used cameras mounted on robots
09:24to explore the places without risking damaging them or getting stuck there.
09:29Let's wait and see what these excavations will reveal.
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