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00:00In Chile's Atacama Desert, researchers uncover a grisly scene.
00:05The man's skull showed evidence of blunt force trauma.
00:09Is it possible he was the victim of a brutal attack?
00:12In Luxor, Egypt, a team of archaeologists discover ancient ruins.
00:17As the excavation continued, it became increasingly obvious that this wasn't just a settlement.
00:22It was an entire city.
00:24So what was this place, and who built it?
00:26In China's Takla Makan Desert, explorers come across an extraordinary sight.
00:33They began finding vast areas filled with carved wooden vessels that looked a lot like modern-day canoes.
00:39It wasn't until they looked more closely that they realized these vessels weren't empty.
00:44They were coffins.
00:47Ancient lost cities.
00:49Forgotten treasures.
00:52Mysterious structures.
00:53As new technology uncovers remarkable tales hidden beneath the deserts of the world,
01:00the secrets in the sand will finally be revealed.
01:05The arid Atacama Desert lines the coasts of northwestern Chile, stretching north to south for over 600 miles.
01:24It's the driest non-polar desert in the world.
01:27The average rainfall is less than one inch per year.
01:32And except for a few small springs, there are no complete bodies of water from the Loa River in the north to the town of Shanaral in the south,
01:39a distance of over 300 miles.
01:41The dry conditions of the desert are exacerbated by a long history of geological disasters.
01:49Earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, making this Pacific coastal area one of the harshest environments on Earth.
01:58But despite the brutal climate and conditions, there's evidence of human settlement in the area going back as far as 12,000 years.
02:07They were mostly hunter-gatherers who managed to adapt and survive on the rich marine life the ocean provided,
02:15such as fish, mollusks, birds, and whatever mammals they were able to catch.
02:20Over the millennia, they developed tools to help the cause, such as fish hooks and harpoons made from shells.
02:29A team of researchers funded by the Chilean government is surveying a section of northwestern coastal Chile when they make a startling discovery.
02:40It was a burial site with a grave containing four skeletons from roughly 3,000 BCE, dating to the Stone Age.
02:47The desert conditions had kept the remains well-preserved, so it was possible to identify them as two adult males, one adult female, and one child.
02:57One of the adult male skeletons was almost completely intact, but it was positioned weirdly.
03:03Both arms were pointing outwards in different directions, and one leg was extended away from the rest of the body.
03:10But it was the man's skull that really piqued curiosity and offered a potential clue as to the cause of death.
03:19The back of his skull showed evidence of blunt force trauma.
03:23Is it possible he was the victim of a brutal attack?
03:27And if so, then who was the aggressor?
03:30The Atacama Desert is filled with the remains of those who have suffered a violent death.
03:36By roughly 1,000 BCE, a form of desert farming had emerged in northern Chile that frequently led to bloodshed.
03:44There's evidence of farmers coming to severe blows with gruesome results,
03:49likely because the different communities were all competing for the same limited resources of water and fertile land.
03:56In one section of the Atacama, the graves of 194 farmers who lived roughly 3,000 years ago
04:07were excavated and examined for markers of interpersonal violence.
04:12Many of the skeletons had snapped ribs, broken collarbones, multiple facial fractures,
04:17and more telling, puncture wounds in the groin, lung, and spine.
04:21The sheer brutality of these deaths is an accurate reflection of the kinds of conflicts we see around the world
04:29whenever a society shifts from hunter-gatherer to agrarian.
04:33With that shift comes ownership of the land.
04:37You get these classes.
04:38You get wealth and disparity.
04:40You have haves and have-nots.
04:43You combine those social factors with that environment,
04:46and with severe food and water scarcity,
04:49and you've got a tinderbox for deadly confrontation.
04:54So it's certainly possible that the traumatic injury found on the adult male's skull in the Atacama
04:59was the result of interpersonal violence,
05:02or a larger-scale conflict with the rival group.
05:06It's not uncommon to find evidence of such events in the region.
05:09A team of scientists studying ancient Peruvian cultures
05:14were surveying a section of the Atico River Valley
05:17when they came upon an undiscovered burial site.
05:22The grave held 24 people, men, women, and children.
05:27Analysis of the remains found a number of physical injuries to those bodies,
05:32any of which could have resulted in death.
05:35But the skeletons weren't alone in the grave.
05:37They were buried along with elaborate grave goods,
05:40such as ceramics, bones, stone, and textiles,
05:44dating to the early formative period, between 1800 and 1000 BCE.
05:50This meant that the bodies had been buried to a ritualistic standard,
05:54and with a significant amount of care and attention.
05:59The combination of gruesome deaths, followed by careful burials,
06:03suggests their group was victorious in some kind of conflict.
06:08A win for their community would mean the victors could bury their dead
06:12according to their traditions.
06:13Is that what happened to the people discovered in the Atacama?
06:17But here's the thing.
06:19Of the four individuals found at the Atacama site,
06:22only one of the skeletons exhibited injuries associated with trauma.
06:26And there were no grave goods found.
06:29So it's unlikely that these people all died in a conflict
06:32and were given a heroic burial.
06:34An examination of the entire adult male skeleton
06:38reveals another potentially violent cause of death.
06:42A closer look at the blunt force trauma inflicted on the skull
06:46confirmed that whatever struck him did not kill him.
06:50The wound had partially healed after the blow.
06:52That doesn't rule out the possibility of an interpersonal attack,
06:57which he may have survived.
06:59But there are additional injuries to his body
07:02that point in another direction.
07:04The man has a broken rib cage
07:06and is missing his cervical vertebrae and both shoulder joints.
07:10So he definitely suffered some kind of full-body trauma,
07:13whether or not it killed him.
07:15But if it wasn't the result of violence,
07:18is it possible he was the victim of a natural disaster?
07:20Chile is one of the most seismically active places on Earth.
07:29In May of 1960,
07:30the country suffered the most powerful earthquake
07:33in recorded history,
07:35registering somewhere between a magnitude 9.4 and 9.6.
07:40The Valdivia earthquake shook southern Chile for 10 minutes,
07:44killing over 1,600 people.
07:46It also triggered a series of deadly tsunamis
07:50that devastated several Pacific islands, including Hawaii.
07:54And it's not just a modern phenomenon.
07:57The geological record of coastal Chile
07:59contains evidence of powerful tsunamis
08:01going back as far as 5,000 years.
08:04So there's proof that natural disasters
08:06were as much a threat to human life in prehistory
08:09as they are today.
08:11The Chilean coastline was also a casualty
08:14of repeated deadly storms,
08:16thanks to naturally occurring phenomena
08:18called El Niño and La Niña.
08:21They're the opposing extreme warm and cold weather patterns
08:25that have a direct impact
08:27on the surface waters of the Pacific
08:29and can result in flooding,
08:31wildfires, and vicious storms.
08:33It's a pattern that has struck Chile
08:35every two to seven years.
08:37The fact that the Atacama burial site
08:41contains several bodies
08:42certainly supports the possibility
08:44of a natural disaster.
08:47Multiple burials have often been used
08:49in South America to reconcile
08:50the sheer number of dead
08:52after a single event casualty,
08:53like an earthquake.
08:56Samples from all four skeletons
08:58are taken for comparison and diagnosis
09:01by a joint team of Chilean
09:03and British researchers,
09:04which leads to a breakthrough.
09:16Samples from all four skeletons
09:18are taken for comparison and diagnosis
09:21by a joint team of Chilean
09:23and British researchers,
09:24which leads to a breakthrough.
09:27The bone marrow of the individual
09:29with the skull injury
09:30was filled with the preserved remains
09:32of ocean life,
09:33including tiny algae called diatoms.
09:38The diatom test is used by forensic teams
09:41to determine if an individual
09:42has died from drowning.
09:45When someone drowns,
09:46inhaled water filled with microscopic algae
09:48can enter the bloodstream
09:50and travel throughout the body.
09:52So even after the lungs collapse,
09:54it can be transported into closed systems
09:57such as bone marrow.
09:58The fact that this one individual
10:01had diatom traces of marine life
10:03in his bone marrow
10:04confirmed he had indeed died from drowning.
10:08Even more telling,
10:09the other three skeletons' bone marrow
10:11showed no traces of diatoms,
10:13so death by drowning was ruled out for them.
10:16It was also determined
10:17that he met his fate in shallow salt water.
10:21He had swallowed a significant amount of sediment
10:22in his final moments,
10:24and sediment tends not to float
10:26in high concentrations in deeper waters.
10:28So the picture that emerged
10:29was that of an accidental drowning
10:31as opposed to a natural disaster.
10:34Further examination of the man's skeleton
10:36provides another clue.
10:39The wear and tear on his bones,
10:40including marks on his arms and legs
10:42where the muscles had once attached,
10:45showed the hallmarks of a repetitive activity
10:47akin to a fisherman's tasks,
10:49like rowing, harpooning,
10:51and even squatting
10:52to retrieve a harvest of shellfish.
10:54Based on this,
10:56it was believed the individual died
10:57from accidentally drowning
10:59in turbulent coastal waters
11:01while on a fishing venture.
11:03The trauma to his ribcage and vertebrae
11:05may have been caused
11:06by being thrown against the rocks
11:08along the shore.
11:10And as for the mass grave,
11:11there are a number of potential explanations,
11:14including the possibility
11:15that the man was simply buried
11:16along with other deceased family members.
11:18The Stone Age Fisherman
11:21is just one of Chile's
11:23many hidden stories
11:24brought to life
11:25through a combination
11:26of modern forensics
11:28and good old-fashioned
11:29deductive reasoning.
11:31With the mystery now solved,
11:33we have a greater understanding
11:35and appreciation
11:35of the dangers
11:36of prehistoric marine life.
11:38The city of Luxor
11:50stands on the east bank
11:52of the River Nile,
11:53surrounded by some
11:55of the most famous
11:56archaeological sites
11:57in the world.
11:59The region around Luxor
12:01could be considered
12:01the world's greatest
12:03open-air museum.
12:04The modern city
12:05is exactly where
12:06the ancient Egyptian capital city
12:08of Thebes once stood.
12:11Thebes was huge,
12:12spanning about 36 square miles.
12:15By 1500 BCE,
12:17around 75,000 people lived here,
12:19making it the biggest city
12:21in the world at the time.
12:23Thebes was split into two halves,
12:25a city for the living
12:26and a city for the dead.
12:29The main part of the city
12:30lay along the east bank
12:32of the river,
12:33where administrative buildings,
12:35homes, and markets
12:36were all built in clusters
12:38around huge temples.
12:41The Theban necropolis
12:42lay on the west bank,
12:44where royal tombs
12:45and mortuary complexes
12:46covered more than
12:47three square miles.
12:49The Theban necropolis
12:51is home to both
12:52the Valley of Kings
12:53and the Valley of Queens.
12:55This is where some
12:55of the most famous
12:56archaeological discoveries
12:58of all time
12:58have been made.
13:00One of these
13:01was in 1922,
13:02when Howard Carter
13:03and his team
13:04uncovered the tomb
13:05of Tutankhamen,
13:06filled with extraordinary
13:07solid gold grave offerings.
13:12A team of archaeologists
13:14searching an area
13:15near the Valley of the Kings
13:16stumble upon
13:17an unexpected discovery.
13:20The team had hoped
13:21to find an ancient
13:22mortuary complex
13:23dedicated to Tutankhamen,
13:24where his subjects
13:25would have placed
13:25funerary offerings
13:26when he died.
13:27But instead,
13:29they began to uncover
13:30layers and layers
13:31of mud bricks.
13:33It wasn't long
13:33before they realized
13:34they were walls,
13:35spreading out
13:36in all directions.
13:39These walls
13:40were incredibly
13:41well-preserved,
13:43sometimes standing
13:44up to nine feet high.
13:46Behind them,
13:47they discovered
13:47various other structures
13:49filled with objects
13:50of daily life.
13:51There were homes,
13:53what looked like
13:54administrative buildings,
13:55and even
13:56a large bakery.
13:58As the excavation
13:59continued,
14:00it became increasingly
14:01obvious that this
14:02wasn't just a settlement.
14:03It was an entire city.
14:05So what was this place,
14:07and who built it?
14:10The lost city
14:12stands beside
14:12another set
14:13of ancient ruins,
14:14which may offer clues
14:16about its construction.
14:17This adjacent site
14:19is huge,
14:20spanning around
14:2030,000 acres.
14:23More than 3,000 years ago,
14:25an enormous royal residence
14:26stood here,
14:27built by the pharaoh
14:27Emonhotep III
14:28as a show of royal
14:30and economic strength.
14:32It was known
14:33as the Palace of Joy
14:34and included huge
14:36living quarters
14:36for the elite,
14:37as well as a temple
14:38dedicated to the god
14:39Amun,
14:40and even a massive
14:41artificial harbor.
14:43When Emonhotep III
14:44took the throne
14:45around 1386 B.C.,
14:47his empire stretched
14:49from the Euphrates
14:50to the Sudan
14:51and enjoyed lucrative
14:52trade relations
14:53with Asia
14:54and other territories
14:56in the Middle East.
14:57As a result,
14:58he commissioned
14:59colossal building works
15:00in and around Thebes,
15:02including the palace
15:03and his own tomb complex,
15:06parts of which
15:07still stand to this day.
15:09So,
15:10could the lost city
15:11be one of Amunhotep's
15:12massive construction projects?
15:15Historical records
15:16from ancient Egypt
15:17tell of a city
15:17called Dazzling Aten,
15:19named after
15:20the Egyptian sun god
15:21and founded
15:21during Amunhotep III's reign.
15:25Archaeologists
15:26had searched
15:26for this place
15:27for years
15:27without any luck.
15:29Maybe
15:29this legendary
15:30lost city
15:31has finally been found.
15:34Many of
15:34Amunhotep III's
15:36construction projects
15:37were stamped
15:38with his royal seal,
15:39and we see
15:40this same seal
15:41on many of the bricks
15:42used to build
15:43the curving walls
15:44of the lost city.
15:45They also found
15:47colorful pottery,
15:48jewelry,
15:49scarab amulets,
15:50and other artifacts
15:51all marked
15:52in honor of
15:52Amunhotep III.
15:54Given all of this,
15:56we can assume
15:56that this lost city
15:57is, in fact,
15:58Aten,
15:59finally uncovered
16:00after years
16:01of fruitless searching.
16:04As excavations
16:06continue
16:06at the Aten site,
16:08one object in particular
16:09stands out to the team.
16:11Inside
16:13one of the ancient
16:14buildings,
16:14they found a vessel
16:15filled with 22 pounds
16:17of boiled meat
16:18preserved
16:19for thousands of years.
16:21The clay
16:22was stamped
16:22with the year 37,
16:24which is roughly
16:251353 BCE.
16:27This is right
16:28around the time
16:29Amunhotep III
16:30passed on the throne
16:31to his son,
16:32Amunhotep IV.
16:34We know
16:35the two ruled together
16:36as father and son
16:37for a short time
16:38because several structures
16:40inside Aten
16:40show both of their names.
16:42But then
16:43things suddenly changed.
16:47Many of the homes
16:48and workshops
16:49look as though
16:50they were sealed up
16:51and left in a hurry.
16:53This suggests
16:54that Amunhotep IV
16:56left thieves
16:57after taking power,
16:59taking many
17:00of the residents
17:00with him.
17:02But why would
17:03a young pharaoh
17:04leave a city
17:05that had stood
17:06as the ancient
17:08Egyptian capital
17:09for 150 years?
17:22Clues to the pharaoh's
17:23sudden disappearance
17:24lie in another
17:26archaeological site
17:27over 150 miles
17:29north of Aten.
17:31Here on the outskirts
17:32of a large desert bay,
17:34archaeologists have long
17:35studied intriguing
17:36hieroglyphics carved
17:38into the surrounding
17:39limestone cliffs.
17:41European travelers
17:42first noticed
17:42these carvings
17:43in the early 1700s,
17:45but it took over
17:46100 years
17:47before they were
17:48finally translated.
17:49When we were able
17:51to read them,
17:51it became clear
17:52that they were
17:53boundary stelae,
17:54monuments built
17:55by the ancient Egyptians
17:57to mark the edges
17:58of towns and cities.
18:00There are 16
18:02boundary stelae here
18:03with the largest
18:05measuring over
18:0625 feet high.
18:08They tell the story
18:09of a pharaoh
18:10on an unusual mission
18:12to build a city
18:13dedicated to
18:15one god only,
18:17Aten.
18:18According to the stelae,
18:20this city once held
18:22temples,
18:23mansions,
18:24and tomb complexes
18:25all dedicated to Aten,
18:28who is most often
18:29depicted as a solar disk.
18:31The dates on the stelae
18:33line up with
18:34Amenhotep IV's reign,
18:36but his name
18:37is nowhere to be seen.
18:38Instead,
18:39they address the pharaoh
18:40as Akhenaten.
18:42Could there have been
18:42two rulers
18:43overseeing Egypt
18:44at the same time?
18:46The answer lies
18:48in the beliefs
18:48of a surprisingly
18:50radical
18:50and progressive ruler.
18:53Amenhotep IV
18:54was a cultural revolutionary.
18:56During his reign,
18:57he developed
18:57an entirely new
18:58artistic movement,
18:59where the stiff,
19:01two-dimensional silhouettes
19:02we commonly associate
19:03with ancient Egypt
19:04gave way to more
19:05naturalistic portraits
19:06with elongated features.
19:08But his main concern
19:10was with religion.
19:12For over 3,000 years,
19:14ancient Egyptian rulers
19:16and their subjects
19:17worshipped a whole
19:18pantheon of gods.
19:20They had over
19:202,000 deities.
19:23Amenhotep IV
19:24decided he wanted
19:25to do away
19:26with all but one
19:27of these gods,
19:28the solar disk,
19:30Aden.
19:31He was so devoted
19:33that he even
19:34changed his name
19:35from Amenhotep IV
19:36to Akhenaten,
19:38which roughly translates
19:40to
19:40in service of Aden.
19:43Part of his mission
19:44to revolutionize
19:45ancient Egyptian religion
19:46meant discarding
19:48his father's legacy
19:49and moving
19:50the capital city
19:51away from Thebes
19:53to a new city.
19:55And he succeeded.
19:58The new city
19:59marked by the
20:00boundary stele
20:01was named Akhetaten,
20:02or Horizon of Aden,
20:04and was built
20:05around two huge temples
20:07dedicated to Aden,
20:08as well as
20:09the king's royal residences.
20:11The names of
20:12all other deities
20:13were erased
20:14from temple walls,
20:15and household altars
20:16were built
20:17for residents
20:17that showed
20:18the royal family
20:19worshipping Aden.
20:21It would have taken
20:22a lot of effort
20:23to actually change
20:24deeply held
20:25Egyptian beliefs
20:26this radically.
20:27So the crucial question is,
20:29did it work?
20:30Despite the pharaoh's
20:32best efforts,
20:33a series of
20:34archaeological discoveries
20:35point to a growing
20:36sense of dissatisfaction
20:38among his people.
20:40Akhenaten's father
20:41was a master of diplomacy,
20:43but his son
20:43was anything but.
20:45In 1887,
20:46a local woman
20:47discovered a cache
20:48of 300 clay tablets
20:49engraved with
20:50cuneiform writing.
20:51analysis found
20:53that these were
20:54actually letters
20:55written during
20:56Akhenaten's rule
20:57and exchanged
20:58between Egypt's
20:59royal court
20:59and the neighbouring states.
21:02These are filled
21:03with complaints
21:03about Akhenaten,
21:04from foreign rulers
21:05complaining about
21:06the quality of his gifts
21:07to his lax attitude
21:08towards his military.
21:10Even Akhenaten's
21:12own subjects
21:13pushed back
21:14against him.
21:15Members of the
21:16religious elite
21:17were incredibly upset
21:18with the erasure
21:19of many of their gods,
21:21and ordinary citizens
21:22secretly defied
21:24the orders
21:24to worship
21:25just one god.
21:28One especially
21:29shocking discovery
21:30brings Akhenaten's
21:32unpopularity
21:33into even sharper focus.
21:37Akhenaten had left
21:38specific instructions
21:39for his burial
21:39in a set of royal tombs
21:41carved into the rock
21:42surrounding Akhenaten.
21:43The walls were decorated
21:46with reliefs
21:46of his family
21:47worshipping Akhenaten,
21:48rewriting typical
21:49Egyptian funeral rituals.
21:51The tombs were forgotten
21:52for thousands of years,
21:54but when archaeologists
21:55finally began excavating,
21:57they found that
21:58the illustrations
21:58had been defaced
21:59and the pharaoh sarcophagus
22:01had been smashed.
22:03To this day,
22:04we can't be sure
22:05who was responsible
22:07for the destruction
22:08of Akhenaten's tomb,
22:09but there is a suspect.
22:10Akhenaten's son
22:12was none other
22:13than Tutankhamen,
22:14who inherited the throne
22:16at only nine years old.
22:18Throughout his 10-year reign,
22:20he went to extreme lengths
22:21to cut his father
22:22out of Egyptian history.
22:24He relocated the capital
22:25back to Thebes
22:26and reinstated
22:28the old gods.
22:30Tutankhamen's efforts
22:31were incredibly successful,
22:33and only when the ruins
22:35of Akhenaten
22:36were discovered
22:36did we learn
22:38the true extent
22:39of his father's
22:40troubled legacy.
22:42While we don't know
22:43for sure,
22:44it seems that
22:45smashing Akhenaten's tomb
22:46was part of this erasure.
22:49To this day,
22:50the whereabouts
22:51of his mummy
22:52are still unknown.
22:55The lost city of Aten
22:57and the ruins of Akhenaten
22:59stand as powerful time capsules,
23:02allowing archaeologists
23:03to reconstruct
23:04the tumultuous power dynamics
23:06between three generations
23:08of infamous ancient
23:10Egyptian kings.
23:20In the southern part
23:22of the Xinjiang Uyghur
23:23autonomous region
23:24lies a vast depression
23:26known as the Tarim Basin.
23:28The Tarim Basin
23:31is one of the most
23:32landlocked places
23:33in the world.
23:34It's almost as far
23:35from the ocean
23:36as you can get
23:37anywhere on earth.
23:38And right in the center
23:40of that basin
23:41lies the Taklamakan Desert,
23:43which stretches
23:43130,000 square miles.
23:46That is bigger
23:47than the entire state
23:49of New Mexico.
23:50Huge mountain ranges
23:51block almost all rain
23:53from the desert,
23:53making it one of the driest
23:55places in the country.
23:56In the central region,
23:58an average of only
23:5910 millimeters of rain
24:00falls each year.
24:04European explorers
24:05making their way
24:06through the unforgiving
24:07Taklamakan
24:08come across
24:09an extraordinary sight.
24:11They began finding
24:12vast areas filled
24:14with carved wooden vessels
24:15that looked a lot
24:16like modern day canoes,
24:17the last thing you'd expect
24:19to find in the desert.
24:21Stranger still,
24:22the vessels were often
24:23accompanied by what
24:24looked like oars,
24:25stuck into the earth
24:26so they pointed
24:27straight up to the sky.
24:29It wasn't until
24:30they looked more closely
24:31that they realized
24:32these vessels
24:32weren't empty.
24:34They were coffins.
24:37These sites
24:38are actually
24:38massive graveyards,
24:40some containing
24:41hundreds of bodies.
24:43The burials span
24:44over 2,000 years
24:45with the earliest
24:46dating back to
24:462100 BCE.
24:48The bodies
24:49are incredibly
24:50well preserved,
24:51so much so
24:52that some mummies
24:53were found
24:53with their eyelashes
24:54still intact.
24:56Unlike a lot
24:58of other cultures
24:58that mummified
24:59their dead on purpose
25:00using elaborate rituals
25:02and chemicals
25:03and all this other stuff,
25:04the mummies here
25:05are just a byproduct
25:06of the environment.
25:08It's so dry
25:09in the desert
25:09that basically
25:10it just stops
25:11the decomposition process,
25:13leaving behind
25:13these extraordinary
25:15mummified remains.
25:16one thing that really
25:21stuck out
25:21was that many
25:22of the mummies
25:23seemed to have had
25:24blonde or red hair,
25:25blue eyes,
25:26and stood well
25:27over six feet tall.
25:29Because these features
25:30are typically found
25:31in populations
25:32farther west,
25:33debate immediately
25:34sparked about
25:35where these people
25:36came from.
25:37Could they have
25:37traveled here?
25:39If they had,
25:40where did they
25:41come from?
25:41Intriguing objects
25:52buried alongside
25:53the Taklamakan mummies
25:55provide glimpses
25:56into their lives.
25:57The mummies were buried
25:59with numerous grave offerings,
26:01including grains
26:02such as wheat,
26:03barley, and millet.
26:04Also found
26:05were the bones
26:06and horns
26:06of herd animals
26:07like cows,
26:08sheep, and goats.
26:09Some people
26:10were even buried
26:11with pieces of cheese
26:12hung around their necks.
26:15We can't be exactly sure
26:16why these grave goods
26:17were left behind.
26:19It could be
26:20that they were offerings
26:21to some sort of deity
26:22or that they might
26:23accompany the dead
26:24into the afterlife.
26:26Based on the animal remains,
26:28these were probably
26:29successful farmers,
26:31raising flocks
26:31of various animals
26:32they could use
26:33for food and for hides.
26:35In fact,
26:36many of the coffins
26:37have animal skins
26:37stretched over them,
26:39possibly to protect
26:40the body.
26:42The evidence
26:43of livestock
26:43leads experts
26:45to wonder
26:45whether the Tarim Basin mummies
26:47may have descended
26:48from ancient nomads.
26:51The Yamnaya people
26:52were an incredibly
26:53powerful culture
26:54that mastered animal husbandry
26:55roughly 5,000 years ago.
26:57Over time,
26:59they began migrating
27:00east en masse,
27:01sweeping across Europe
27:02and interbreeding
27:03with various other cultures.
27:05In the span
27:06of a few centuries,
27:07they made up
27:08about half
27:08of the genetic makeup
27:09of Central Europeans.
27:12There were also
27:13the Afanasievo people
27:15who farmed herds
27:15of cattle and sheep
27:16and horses
27:17in the Altai Mountains
27:19and eventually spread
27:20all the way across
27:21Siberia and Mongolia.
27:23They're sometimes considered
27:25an eastern offshoot
27:26of the Yamnaya.
27:27Could another wave
27:29of migration
27:29have taken them
27:31farther south
27:32into the Tarim Basin?
27:33That scenario
27:34seems unlikely
27:35when you look
27:36at funerary practices.
27:38The Yamnaya
27:39would typically
27:39inter their dead
27:40in pits
27:41that were then
27:42covered by wooden planks
27:43and earthen mounds
27:44called korgans.
27:46The Afanasievo rituals
27:48also involved
27:49building these
27:50impressive korgans
27:51on top of the deceased.
27:52These would then
27:53be surrounded
27:54by a ring
27:54or a square
27:55of stones.
27:57There's no evidence
27:59to suggest
27:59that the Yamnaya
28:00or Afanasievo
28:01ever interred
28:02their dead
28:02in boat-shaped coffins.
28:04So it's not likely
28:05that the Tarim Basin mummies
28:06belong to either culture.
28:09In the search
28:10for information
28:11about the mysterious burials,
28:13experts turn
28:13to one of the mummies
28:14most surprising features,
28:17their clothing.
28:19Thanks to the
28:19incredible preservation,
28:20we can even see
28:21how well-dressed
28:23some of these mummies are.
28:24One example of that
28:25that stands out
28:26is the man from Hami.
28:28He was found
28:29with a spectacular collection
28:31of hats.
28:33The man from Hami
28:34isn't the only
28:35Tarim Basin mummy
28:36famous for headwear.
28:38In the lost city
28:38of Subeshi,
28:39a group of women
28:40were discovered,
28:41all buried wearing
28:42tall, pointed black hats.
28:45Today,
28:45they're known as
28:46the witches of Subeshi.
28:48The textiles
28:49from both of these sites
28:51reveal potential clues
28:52about where these people
28:53may have come from.
28:55Among the fabrics
28:56recovered from the burial
28:57of the man from Hami
28:58were plaids
29:00that were made
29:00using a diagonal
29:01twill weave.
29:03These fabrics
29:04match those found
29:05in Celtic sites
29:06around Europe
29:07dating from approximately
29:08the same period.
29:10The hats found
29:12with the witches
29:12of Subeshi
29:13also echo European fashions,
29:15like the tall,
29:16pointed hats
29:16called hennens.
29:18These similarities
29:19beg the question,
29:20how could these trends
29:21have reached
29:22the Tarim Basin?
29:23Did Europeans
29:24migrate here?
29:25Are the mummies
29:26of European descent?
29:29The answers may lie
29:30in one of the world's
29:31most famous trade routes.
29:34People often talk
29:35about the Silk Road
29:36as though it's this one highway
29:37that used to be there,
29:38but it wasn't one road.
29:40It was a vast network
29:41of routes
29:42that stretched
29:42over 4,000 miles
29:44and it linked
29:44the powerful civilizations
29:46of Rome and China.
29:48It emerged
29:49about 130 BCE
29:50and for over 1,500 years,
29:53traders used it
29:54to carry silk to the west
29:55while textiles
29:57and precious metals
29:58went to the east.
29:59The Silk Road
30:00cut through
30:01some of the most
30:02imposing landscapes
30:03in the world,
30:04including the Gobi Desert,
30:06the Pamir Mountains
30:07and crucially,
30:08the Tarim Basin.
30:10Could the Silk Road
30:11be connected
30:12to the mummies?
30:14A team
30:14of international researchers
30:16comes together,
30:17determined to devise
30:19a study that could reveal
30:20where the mummies
30:21came from.
30:22Using tooth
30:23and bone samples
30:24from 13 of the Tarim mummies,
30:26they set out
30:27to conduct
30:27a thorough genomic analysis,
30:29the first such analysis
30:30of any prehistoric population
30:32in the region.
30:33Genomic studies
30:34look at a person's
30:35entire genetic makeup
30:36rather than individual genes.
30:39These data
30:39are then compared
30:40to those
30:41from other populations
30:42to understand
30:43how any given sample
30:44fits into the grand scheme
30:46of human history.
30:49The samples taken
30:50from the mummies
30:50were compared
30:51to several sets
30:52of ancient DNA
30:53as well as
30:54to modern populations.
30:56And contrary
30:56to earlier theories,
30:58the genomic study
30:58proved that these people
31:00did not migrate
31:01to the basin
31:01from Russia
31:02or Europe.
31:03They were without a doubt
31:04local.
31:08Not only were they local
31:09to the Tarim Basin,
31:10the mummies
31:11had links to the land
31:12going back
31:12nearly 200 generations.
31:14And the study
31:15also found
31:16that these people
31:17were extremely inbred.
31:19mummies found
31:20in cemeteries
31:21almost 250 miles apart
31:23shared DNA
31:24as closely
31:25as siblings would.
31:28Given their location,
31:29it's very possible
31:30that these people
31:31came into contact
31:32with merchants
31:33traveling along
31:34the Silk Road,
31:35which meant
31:36access to goods
31:37from all over
31:38Europe and Asia.
31:39And this would explain
31:40the textiles found
31:41in some of the graves.
31:43And despite not
31:44intermarrying
31:45with these travelers,
31:46it seems as though
31:47the Tarim people
31:48were welcome
31:49to their ideas
31:50and maybe even
31:51their fashion trends.
31:53The Tarim Basin culture
31:55was a population
31:56that was genetically isolated,
31:59yet still open
32:00to outside influences.
32:02They stand
32:03as an extraordinary example
32:05of a people
32:05who seemingly welcomed
32:07cultural exchange
32:08while maintaining
32:09their own unique traditions.
32:11built atop
32:23of a series of hills,
32:25the city of Jerusalem
32:26stands between
32:27the arid mountains
32:28of Jordan
32:28to the east
32:29and the coastal plains
32:31of the Mediterranean
32:32to the west.
32:34During spring and fall,
32:35the city is beset
32:37by a particularly strong wind
32:39known as the Hamsin.
32:40The Hamsin
32:44is a hot,
32:45sand-filled windstorm
32:46that usually blows in
32:47from the southeast.
32:49It can reach temperatures
32:50of up to 104 degrees
32:52and blow continuously
32:53for up to four days.
32:56It gets its name
32:57from the Arabic word
32:58for 50
32:59because the winds
33:00tend to come
33:00within the same
33:0150-day period
33:02each year.
33:04Jerusalem is considered
33:05one of the oldest,
33:07continuously inhabited cities
33:09in the world.
33:11Around 5,000 years ago,
33:13the first Canaanite settlements
33:15appeared in the area
33:16before it was conquered
33:18and renamed
33:19the City of David.
33:21In the early 16th century,
33:24the Ottomans constructed
33:25what we now call
33:27the Old City,
33:29a walled enclave
33:30built just north
33:31of the original
33:32City of David.
33:33Over time,
33:34modern Jerusalem
33:36expanded around
33:37these two ancient centers,
33:39blending thousands
33:40of years of history
33:41into the city
33:42we know today.
33:45In the district
33:46of Silwan,
33:47among the ruins
33:48of the City of David,
33:50a group of archaeologists
33:51makes a surprising discovery.
33:54They were working
33:55at a site
33:56known as
33:56the Javati Parking Lot,
33:58the most extensive
33:59archaeological dig
34:00in all of Jerusalem,
34:01and were hoping
34:03to find the oldest remnants
34:04of the City of David
34:05when they came across
34:07a totally unexpected structure.
34:10There,
34:11carved right into the bedrock,
34:13was an enormous trench.
34:16The cut section
34:17was massive,
34:18between 20 and 30 feet deep
34:20and around 115 feet wide.
34:24The neat, steep sides
34:26and even dimensions
34:28made it clear
34:29that this depression
34:30was no natural feature.
34:32It was dug by hand.
34:35But just what was
34:36this enormous cut
34:38in the bedrock?
34:46This mysterious trench
34:48isn't the only enormous structure
34:50dug into the bedrock
34:52beneath Jerusalem.
34:53Along the southern slope
34:55of the City of David
34:56lies an ancient reservoir
34:57known today
34:59as the Pool of Siloam.
35:02During the Bronze
35:03and Iron Ages,
35:04the City of David
35:05was the core
35:06of ancient Jerusalem.
35:08It was built
35:09on a narrow,
35:10elongated plateau
35:10leading down
35:11to the Kidron Valley.
35:14For thousands of years,
35:16the residents
35:16depended on this valley
35:17because it was home
35:19to the Gihon Spring,
35:20the city's primary
35:21water source.
35:23Around 3,000 years ago,
35:25the city was ruled
35:26by King Hezekiah
35:28who oversaw
35:29a time of immense
35:30political turmoil.
35:31He took part
35:32in a series of revolts
35:33in Palestine
35:34that gained support
35:35in Egypt
35:36and threatened the rule
35:37of the Assyrian king,
35:39Sennacherib.
35:40He knew the Assyrians
35:41would be out for revenge
35:43and that fortifying
35:44the city would be crucial
35:45in repelling their attacks.
35:49The Gihon Spring
35:50just outside
35:51the city walls
35:52was especially important
35:54from a tactical point
35:55of view.
35:56If an army did invade,
35:58the water supply
35:59from the stream
36:00would be key
36:01to supporting
36:02the attacking soldiers.
36:04To cut off
36:05the water supply
36:05from the Assyrians,
36:07Hezekiah cut a tunnel
36:08through nearly 2,000 feet
36:11of bedrock
36:11to redirect water
36:13from the spring
36:14into a large reservoir
36:16behind the city walls
36:18called the Pool of Siloam.
36:20The original pool
36:22of Siloam
36:23was roughly 53 feet long,
36:25but over the years
36:26it was expanded
36:27to 225 feet.
36:30Could the trench
36:30found in the ruins nearby
36:32have been a part
36:33of this enormous
36:34water feature?
36:35Or could it have acted
36:36as another reservoir,
36:38keeping water flowing
36:39to the city's population
36:40even if it came
36:41under siege?
36:44A re-examination
36:45of previous digs
36:46in the area
36:47leads to a breakthrough.
36:48It turns out
36:50this latest discovery
36:51was part
36:52of a larger pattern.
36:54In the 1960s,
36:55a British archaeologist
36:56working to the east
36:58of the Javati parking lot
36:59discovered a similar ditch
37:01carved into the earth.
37:03Several decades later
37:05in the early 2000s,
37:06a different team
37:07working farther north
37:08discovered yet another area
37:10that had been sliced through.
37:12When we piece
37:14these discoveries together,
37:16it suddenly becomes clear
37:17that this isn't
37:19a series of trenches.
37:21What we're looking at
37:22are different sections
37:23of a single
37:24enormous moat.
37:27Based on the existing evidence,
37:29it seems likely
37:30that it once extended
37:31the entire width
37:32of the ridge
37:33of the city of David.
37:35Moats have historically
37:36been built
37:37as a defense mechanism.
37:39Could this be
37:40the case here too?
37:41Ninety miles north
37:43of Jerusalem
37:44lies the Tal Hazur
37:45archaeological site,
37:47where a similar structure
37:48provides a possible clue.
37:51During the Bronze Age
37:52and into the Iron Age,
37:54Hazur was one of the largest
37:55and most prosperous cities
37:57in the region.
37:59This city was located
38:00on a crucial trade route
38:02connecting Egypt,
38:03Syria, and Babylon,
38:04which allowed it
38:05to expand quite rapidly.
38:07Estimates suggest
38:08that at its peak,
38:09up to 40,000 people
38:11may have lived here.
38:14But despite its importance,
38:16Hazur was lightly fortified
38:18and vulnerable
38:19to potential invaders.
38:21To protect themselves,
38:23the ancient Canaanites
38:24built a wall
38:25around the city
38:26and fortified it
38:27with a deep,
38:28steep-sided moat.
38:30Similar city walls
38:32and defensive moats
38:33have been uncovered
38:34in other ancient cities
38:35in the region,
38:36including Samaria
38:37and Jezreel.
38:39Together,
38:39these discoveries suggest
38:41that defensive moats
38:43were a fairly common feature
38:45of urban fortifications
38:46during the Bronze
38:47and Iron Ages.
38:49Could Jerusalem's moat
38:51be part of this same tradition?
38:53The keys to unlocking
39:02the mystery
39:03of the Jerusalem moat
39:04may lie in the city's
39:05unique geography
39:06and layout.
39:10Most ancient cities
39:11are built on hills
39:12that rise high above
39:13the surrounding land.
39:15And in part,
39:16this was a military strategy.
39:17If an army were to attack,
39:19defenders of the city
39:21would be able
39:21to see the soldiers coming
39:23from as far away
39:24as possible.
39:26Jerusalem's planning
39:27and layout
39:28are radically different.
39:30The city is on
39:31a narrow ridge
39:32that slopes upwards
39:33from south to north.
39:35Ancient Jerusalem
39:36lay on the southeastern
39:38part of the ridge,
39:39downhill from
39:39the highest point.
39:41This was likely
39:42because the city
39:43depended so heavily
39:44on the Gihon Spring,
39:46which lay in the
39:46Kidron Valley nearby.
39:48This configuration
39:49made the city vulnerable
39:51to armies coming
39:52from the north
39:52who would have
39:53the advantage
39:54of attacking
39:54from a higher point
39:55of elevation.
39:58The moat lay
39:59on the northern side
40:00of the city,
40:01between the residents
40:02and the highest point
40:04of the ridge.
40:05With a width
40:05of roughly 115 feet,
40:08this single addition
40:09would make the city
40:10significantly harder
40:11to invade.
40:12If armies were
40:13to attack from above,
40:15they would find themselves
40:16trapped and helpless,
40:17allowing Jerusalem's military
40:19to pick them off
40:20before they could
40:21breach the city walls.
40:24Despite compelling evidence
40:26painting the moat
40:27as a defensive structure,
40:29doubt still lingers.
40:30While it makes sense
40:32to build a moat here
40:33to protect the ancient
40:35core of Jerusalem,
40:36we can't know for sure
40:38whether or not
40:39this was its true purpose.
40:41Many mysteries
40:42still remain
40:44surrounding this
40:45ancient structure,
40:46including when
40:47it was built.
40:48While it seems
40:49to have been in use
40:50by the 9th century BCE,
40:53there are very few clues
40:54as to when
40:55it was first dug.
40:57And what's more,
40:59the moat might be part
41:00of a much larger
41:01and far more intricate complex
41:02that we have yet
41:03to uncover.
41:05Two sets of strange,
41:07smoothly carved rock channels
41:08have also been found
41:09in the Givati parking lot.
41:11And based on their location,
41:12they may have once connected
41:13to the Royal Administrative Quarter
41:15during the Iron Age.
41:17So the moat may have
41:18a connection to these channels,
41:20but their exact purpose
41:21remains a complete mystery.
41:26What we do know
41:27is that as the city
41:28of Jerusalem expanded
41:29across the ridge
41:30and crept northwards,
41:32the need for the moat
41:33eventually disappeared.
41:35When it came time
41:36to build outside
41:36the ancient city walls,
41:38residents seemed to have
41:39filled in the huge structure,
41:41burying it for thousands
41:42of years,
41:43only for it to be
41:44now rediscovered.
41:46As work continues
41:47at the Givati parking lot,
41:49researchers continue
41:50to piece together
41:51the geography
41:53of ancient Jerusalem,
41:55unearthing ruins
41:55that raise just as many
41:57questions as they answer.
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