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00:00The man's skull showed evidence of blunt force trauma.
00:04Is it possible he was the victim of a brutal attack?
00:07In Luxor, Egypt, a team of archaeologists discover ancient ruins.
00:12As the excavation continued, it became increasingly obvious that this wasn't just a settlement.
00:17It was an entire city.
00:19So what was this place, and who built it?
00:22In China's Taklamakan Desert, explorers come across an extraordinary site.
00:27They began finding vast areas filled with carved wooden vessels that looked a lot like modern-day canoes.
00:34It wasn't until they looked more closely that they realized these vessels weren't empty.
00:39They were coffins.
00:41Ancient lost cities.
00:44Forgotten treasures.
00:47Mysterious structures.
00:49As new technology uncovers remarkable tales hidden beneath the deserts of the world.
00:55The secrets in the sand will finally be revealed.
01:10The arid Atacama Desert lines the coasts of northwestern Chile, stretching north to south for over 600 miles.
01:19It's the driest non-polar desert in the world.
01:22The average rainfall is less than one inch per year.
01:27And 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, a distance of over 300 miles.
01:36The dry conditions of the desert are exacerbated by a long history of geological disasters.
01:44Earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, making this Pacific coastal area one of the harshest environments on Earth.
01:53But despite the brutal climate and conditions, there's evidence of human settlement in the area going back as far as 12,000 years.
02:02They were mostly hunter-gatherers who managed to adapt and survive on the rich marine life the ocean provided, such as fish, mollusks, birds, and whatever mammals they were able to catch.
02:15Over the millennia, they developed tools to help the cause, such as fish hooks and harpoons made from shells.
02:22A team of researchers funded by the Chilean government is surveying a section of northwestern coastal Chile when they make a startling discovery.
02:33It was a burial site with a grave containing four skeletons from roughly 3,000 BCE, dating to the Stone Age.
02:42The 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.
02:52One of the adult male skeletons was almost completely intact, but it was positioned weirdly.
02:58Both arms were pointing outwards in different directions, and one leg was extended away from the rest of the body.
03:06But it was the man's skull that really piqued curiosity and offered a potential clue as to the cause of death.
03:14The back of his skull showed evidence of blunt force trauma.
03:18Is it possible he was the victim of a brutal attack?
03:22And if so, then who was the aggressor?
03:24The Atacama Desert is filled with the remains of those who have suffered a violent death.
03:32By roughly 1,000 BCE, a form of desert farming had emerged in northern Chile that frequently led to bloodshed.
03:39There's evidence of farmers coming to severe blows with gruesome results,
03:44likely because the different communities were all competing for the same limited resources of water and fertile land.
03:54In one section of the Atacama, the graves of 194 farmers who lived roughly 3,000 years ago
04:02were excavated and examined for markers of interpersonal violence.
04:07Many of the skeletons had snapped ribs, broken collarbones, multiple facial fractures,
04:12and more telling, puncture wounds in the groin, lung, and spine.
04:16The sheer brutality of these deaths is an accurate reflection of the kinds of conflicts we see around the world
04:24whenever a society shifts from hunter-gatherer to agrarian.
04:28With that shift comes ownership of the land.
04:32You get these classes.
04:33You get wealth and disparity.
04:35You have haves and have-nots.
04:37You combine those social factors with that environment, with severe food and water scarcity,
04:44and you've got a tinderbox for deadly confrontation.
04:49So it's certainly possible that the traumatic injury found on the adult male skull in the Atacama
04:54was a result of interpersonal violence or a larger-scale conflict with the rival group.
05:01It's not uncommon to find evidence of such events in the region.
05:04A team of scientists studying ancient Peruvian cultures
05:09were surveying a section of the Atico River Valley
05:12when they came upon an undiscovered burial site.
05:17The grave held 24 people, men, women, and children.
05:22Analysis of the remains found a number of physical injuries to those bodies,
05:27any of which could have resulted in death.
05:30But the skeletons weren't alone in the grave.
05:32They were buried along with elaborate grave goods such as ceramics, bones, stone, and textiles,
05:39dating to the early formative period between 1800 and 1000 BCE.
05:45This meant that the bodies had been buried to a ritualistic standard
05:49and with a significant amount of care and attention.
05:52The combination of gruesome deaths followed by careful burials
05:58suggests their group was victorious in some kind of conflict.
06:03A win for their community would mean the victors could bury their dead
06:07according to their traditions.
06:08Is that what happened to the people discovered in the Atacama?
06:12But here's the thing.
06:14Of the four individuals found at the Atacama site,
06:17only one of the skeletons exhibited injuries associated with trauma.
06:22And there were no grave goods found.
06:24So it's unlikely that these people all died in a conflict
06:27and were given a heroic burial.
06:29An examination of the entire adult male skeleton
06:33reveals another potentially violent cause of death.
06:36A closer look at the blunt force trauma inflicted on the skull
06:41confirmed that whatever struck him did not kill him.
06:44The wound had partially healed after the blow.
06:48That doesn't rule out the possibility of an interpersonal attack,
06:52which he may have survived.
06:54But there are additional injuries to his body that point in another direction.
06:59The man has a broken rib cage and is missing his cervical vertebrae
07:03and both shoulder joints.
07:05So he definitely suffered some kind of full-body trauma,
07:08whether or not it killed him.
07:10But if it wasn't the result of violence,
07:13is it possible he was the victim of a natural disaster?
07:18Chile is one of the most seismically active places on Earth.
07:22In May of 1960, the country suffered the most powerful earthquake
07:28in recorded history,
07:30registering somewhere between a magnitude 9.4 and 9.6.
07:35The Valdivia earthquake shook southern Chile for 10 minutes,
07:39killing over 1,600 people.
07:42It also triggered a series of deadly tsunamis
07:45that devastated several Pacific islands, including Hawaii.
07:49And it's not just a modern phenomenon.
07:51The geological record of coastal Chile
07:54contains evidence of powerful tsunamis going back
07:57as far as 5,000 years.
07:59So there's proof that natural disasters
08:01were as much a threat to human life in prehistory
08:04as they are today.
08:06The Chilean coastline was also a casualty
08:09of repeated deadly storms,
08:11thanks to naturally occurring phenomena
08:13called El Niño and La Niña.
08:16They're the opposing extreme warm and cold weather patterns
08:20that have a direct impact on the surface waters of the Pacific
08:24and can result in flooding, wildfires, and vicious storms.
08:29It's a pattern that has struck Chile every two to seven years.
08:32The fact that the Atacama burial site contains several bodies
08:38certainly supports the possibility of a natural disaster.
08:42Multiple burials have often been used in South America
08:45to reconcile the sheer number of dead
08:47after a single event casualty like an earthquake.
08:51Samples from all four skeletons
08:53are taken for comparison and diagnosis
08:56by a joint team of Chilean and British researchers,
09:00which leads to a breakthrough.
09:11Samples from all four skeletons
09:13are taken for comparison and diagnosis
09:16by a joint team of Chilean and British researchers,
09:19which leads to a breakthrough.
09:21The bone marrow of the individual
09:24with the skull injury
09:25was filled with preserved remains of ocean life,
09:28including tiny algae called diatoms.
09:33The diatom test is used by forensic teams
09:36to determine if an individual has died from drowning.
09:39When someone drowns,
09:41inhaled water filled with microscopic algae
09:43can enter the bloodstream
09:45and travel throughout the body.
09:47So even after the lungs collapse,
09:49it can be transported into closed systems
09:52such as bone marrow.
09:54The fact that this one individual
09:56had diatom traces of marine life in his bone marrow
09:59confirmed he had indeed died from drowning.
10:03Even more telling,
10:04the other three skeletons' bone marrow
10:06showed no traces of diatoms,
10:08so death by drowning was ruled out for them.
10:11It was also determined that he met his fate
10:13in shallow salt water.
10:16He had swallowed a significant amount of sediment
10:17in his final moments,
10:19and sediment tends not to float
10:21in high concentrations in deeper waters.
10:23So the picture that emerged
10:24was that of an accidental drowning
10:26as opposed to a natural disaster.
10:29Further examination of the man's skeleton
10:31provides another clue.
10:34The wear and tear on his bones,
10:35including marks on his arms and legs
10:37where the muscles had once attached,
10:40showed the hallmarks of repetitive activity
10:42akin to a fisherman's tasks,
10:44like rowing, harpooning,
10:46and even squatting
10:47to retrieve a harvest of shellfish.
10:50Based on this,
10:51it was believed the individual died
10:52from accidentally drowning
10:54in turbulent coastal waters
10:56while on a fishing venture.
10:58The trauma to his ribcage and vertebrae
11:00may have been caused
11:01by being thrown against the rocks along the shore.
11:05And as for the mass grave,
11:06there are a number of potential explanations,
11:08including the possibility
11:10that the man was simply buried
11:11along with other deceased family members.
11:14The Stone Age Fisherman
11:16is just one of Chile's many hidden stories
11:19brought to life
11:20through a combination of modern forensics
11:23and good old-fashioned deductive reasoning.
11:26With the mystery now solved,
11:28we have a greater understanding
11:30and appreciation of the dangers
11:31of prehistoric marine life.
11:38The city of Luxor stands
11:46on the east bank of the River Nile,
11:48surrounded by some of the most famous
11:51archaeological sites in the world.
11:54The region around Luxor
11:56could be considered
11:56the world's greatest open-air museum.
11:59The modern city is exactly
12:01where the ancient Egyptian capital city
12:03of Thebes once stood.
12:06Thebes was huge,
12:07spanning about 36 square miles.
12:10By 1500 BCE,
12:12around 75,000 people lived here,
12:14making it the biggest city
12:16in the world at the time.
12:18Thebes were split into two halves,
12:20a city for the living
12:21and a city for the dead.
12:23The main part of the city
12:25lay along the east bank of the river,
12:28where administrative buildings,
12:30homes, and markets
12:31were all built in clusters
12:33around huge temples.
12:35The Theban necropolis
12:37lay on the west bank,
12:39where royal tombs
12:40and mortuary complexes
12:41covered more than
12:42three square miles.
12:44The Theban necropolis
12:46is home to both
12:47the Valley of Kings
12:48and the Valley of Queens.
12:50This is where some of the most
12:51famous archaeological discoveries
12:53of all time have been made.
12:55One of these was in 1922,
12:57when Howard Carter and his team
12:59uncovered the tomb of Tutankhamen,
13:01filled with extraordinary
13:02solid gold grave offerings.
13:07A team of archaeologists
13:09searching an area
13:10near the Valley of the Kings
13:11stumble upon
13:12an unexpected discovery.
13:15The team had hoped
13:16to find an ancient mortuary complex
13:18dedicated to Tutankhamen,
13:19where his subjects
13:20would have placed
13:20funerary offerings
13:21when he died.
13:23But instead,
13:24they began to uncover
13:25layers and layers
13:26of mud bricks.
13:26It wasn't long
13:29before they realized
13:29they were walls,
13:30spreading out
13:31in all directions.
13:34These walls
13:35were incredibly
13:36well-preserved,
13:38sometimes standing
13:39up to nine feet high.
13:41Behind them,
13:42they discovered
13:42various other structures
13:44filled with objects
13:45of daily life.
13:47There were homes,
13:48what looked like
13:49administrative buildings,
13:50and even a large bakery.
13:53As the excavation continued,
13:55it became increasingly obvious
13:56that this wasn't
13:57just a settlement.
13:58It was an entire city.
14:00So what was this place,
14:02and who built it?
14:05The lost city stands
14:07beside another set
14:08of ancient ruins,
14:10which may offer clues
14:11about its construction.
14:12This adjacent site
14:14is huge,
14:15spanning around
14:1530,000 acres.
14:18More than 3,000 years ago,
14:20an enormous royal residence
14:21stood here,
14:22built by the pharaoh
14:22Amenhotep III
14:23as a show of royal
14:25and economic strength.
14:26It was known
14:28as the Palace of Joy
14:29and included
14:30huge living quarters
14:31for the elite,
14:32as well as a temple
14:33dedicated to the god Amun,
14:35and even a massive
14:36artificial harbor.
14:37When Amenhotep III
14:39took the throne
14:40around 1386 BCE,
14:43his empire stretched
14:44from the Euphrates
14:45to the Sudan
14:46and enjoyed lucrative
14:48trade relations
14:49with Asia
14:49and other territories
14:51in the Middle East.
14:52As a result,
14:53he commissioned
14:54colossal building works
14:55in and around Thebes,
14:57including the palace
14:58and his own tomb complex,
15:01parts of which
15:02still stand to this day.
15:04So, could the lost city
15:06be one of Amenhotep's
15:07massive construction projects?
15:10Historical records
15:11from ancient Egypt
15:12tell of a city
15:13called Dazzling Aten,
15:14named after the Egyptian sun god
15:16and founded during
15:17Amenhotep III's reign.
15:20Archaeologists had searched
15:21for this place for years
15:22without any luck.
15:24Maybe this legendary
15:25lost city
15:26has finally been found.
15:29Many of Amenhotep III's
15:31construction projects
15:32were stamped
15:33with his royal seal.
15:34And we see
15:35this same seal
15:36on many of the bricks
15:37used to build
15:38the curving walls
15:39of the lost city.
15:40They also found
15:42colorful pottery,
15:43jewelry,
15:44scarab amulets,
15:44and other artifacts
15:46all marked in honor
15:47of Amenhotep III.
15:49Given all of this,
15:51we can assume
15:51that this lost city
15:52is, in fact, Aten,
15:54finally uncovered
15:55after years
15:56of fruitless searching.
15:59As excavations continue
16:01at the Aten site,
16:03one object in particular
16:04stands out to the team.
16:07Inside one of the
16:08ancient buildings,
16:09they found a vessel
16:10filled with 22 pounds
16:12of boiled meat
16:13preserved for
16:15thousands of years.
16:16The clay was stamped
16:17with the year 37,
16:19which is roughly
16:201353 BCE.
16:22This is right around
16:23the time
16:24Amenhotep III
16:25passed on the throne
16:26to his son,
16:27Amenhotep IV.
16:29We know the two
16:31ruled together
16:31as father and son
16:32for a short time
16:33because several structures
16:35inside Aten
16:35show both of their names.
16:37But then,
16:38things suddenly changed.
16:39Many of the homes
16:43and workshops
16:44look as though
16:45they were sealed up
16:46and left in a hurry.
16:48This suggests
16:49that Amenhotep IV
16:51left thieves
16:52after taking power,
16:54taking many
16:55of the residents
16:55with him.
16:57But why would
16:58a young pharaoh
16:59leave a city
17:00that had stood
17:01as the ancient
17:03Egyptian capital
17:04for 150 years?
17:17Clues to the pharaoh's
17:18sudden disappearance
17:19lie in another
17:21archaeological site
17:22over 150 miles
17:24north of Aten.
17:26Here on the outskirts
17:27of a large desert bay,
17:29archaeologists
17:29have long studied
17:30intriguing hieroglyphics
17:32carved into the surrounding
17:34limestone cliffs.
17:36European travelers
17:37first noticed
17:38these carvings
17:38in the early 1700s,
17:40but it took over
17:41100 years
17:42before they were
17:43finally translated.
17:44When we were able
17:46to read them,
17:46it became clear
17:47that they were
17:48boundary stelae,
17:50monuments built
17:51by the ancient Egyptians
17:52to mark the edges
17:53of towns and cities.
17:55There are 16
17:57boundary stelae here,
17:59with the largest
18:00measuring over
18:0125 feet high.
18:03They tell the story
18:04of a pharaoh
18:05on an unusual mission
18:07to build a city
18:08dedicated to
18:10one god only,
18:12Aten.
18:14According to the stelae,
18:15this city once held
18:17temples, mansions,
18:19and tomb complexes
18:20all dedicated to Aten,
18:23who is most often
18:24depicted as a solar disk.
18:27The dates on the stelae
18:28line up with Amenhotep IV's reign,
18:31but his name is
18:32nowhere to be seen.
18:33Instead, they address
18:35the pharaoh as Akhenaten.
18:37Could there have been
18:37two rulers overseeing
18:39Egypt at the same time?
18:41The answer lies
18:43in the beliefs
18:43of a surprisingly radical
18:45and progressive ruler.
18:48Amenhotep IV
18:49was a cultural revolutionary.
18:51During his reign,
18:52he developed an entirely
18:53new artistic movement,
18:54where the stiff,
18:56two-dimensional silhouettes
18:57we commonly associate
18:58with ancient Egypt
18:59gave way to more
19:00naturalistic portraits
19:01with elongated features.
19:03But his main concern
19:05was with religion.
19:07For over 3,000 years,
19:10ancient Egyptian rulers
19:11and their subjects
19:12worshipped a whole
19:13pantheon of gods.
19:14They had over 2,000 deities.
19:18Amenhotep IV decided
19:20he wanted to do away
19:21with all but one
19:22of these gods,
19:23the solar disk,
19:25Aden.
19:26He was so devoted
19:28that he even changed
19:29his name from
19:30Amenhotep IV to Akhenaten,
19:33which roughly translates
19:35to in service of Aden.
19:38Part of his mission
19:39to revolutionize
19:40ancient Egyptian religion
19:41meant discarding
19:43his father's legacy
19:44and moving the capital city
19:46away from Thebes
19:48to a new city.
19:49And he succeeded.
19:53The new city
19:54marked by the boundary stele
19:56was named Akhetaten,
19:58or Horizon of Aden,
19:59and was built around
20:00two huge temples
20:02dedicated to Aden,
20:03as well as
20:04the king's royal residences.
20:06The names of all
20:07other deities
20:08were erased
20:09from temple walls
20:10and household altars
20:11were built
20:12for residents
20:12that showed
20:13the royal family
20:14worshipping Aden.
20:16It would have taken
20:17a lot of effort
20:18to actually change
20:19deeply held
20:20Egyptian beliefs
20:21this radically.
20:22So the crucial question is,
20:24did it work?
20:25Despite the pharaoh's
20:27best efforts,
20:28a series of
20:29archaeological discoveries
20:30point to a growing
20:31sense of dissatisfaction
20:33among his people.
20:34Akhenaten's father
20:36was a master
20:36of diplomacy,
20:37but his son
20:38was anything but.
20:40In 1887,
20:41a local woman
20:42discovered a cache
20:43of 300 clay tablets
20:44engraved with
20:45cuneiform writing.
20:47Analysis found
20:48that these were
20:49actually letters
20:50written during
20:51Akhenaten's rule
20:52and exchanged
20:53between Egypt's
20:54royal court
20:54and the neighbouring states.
20:57These are filled
20:58with complaints
20:58about Akhenaten,
20:59from foreign rulers
21:00complaining about
21:01the quality of his gifts
21:02to his lax attitude
21:03towards his military.
21:06Even Akhenaten's
21:07own subjects
21:08pushed back
21:09against him.
21:10Members of the
21:11religious elite
21:12were incredibly upset
21:13with the erasure
21:14of many of their gods,
21:16and ordinary citizens
21:17secretly defied
21:19the orders
21:19to worship
21:20just one god.
21:22One especially
21:24shocking discovery
21:25brings Akhenaten's
21:27unpopularity
21:28into even sharper focus.
21:30Akhenaten had left
21:33specific instructions
21:34for his burial
21:34in a set of royal tombs
21:36carved into the rock
21:37surrounding Akhenaten.
21:39The walls were decorated
21:41with reliefs
21:41of his family
21:42worshipping Akhenaten,
21:43rewriting typical
21:44Egyptian funeral rituals.
21:46The tombs were forgotten
21:47for thousands of years,
21:49but when archaeologists
21:50finally began excavating,
21:52they found that
21:53the illustrations
21:53had been defaced
21:54and the pharaoh's
21:56sarcophagus
21:56had been smashed.
21:57To this day,
21:59we can't be sure
22:01who was responsible
22:02for the destruction
22:03of Akhenaten's tomb,
22:04but there is a suspect.
22:06Akhenaten's son
22:07was none other
22:08than Tutankhamen,
22:09who inherited the throne
22:11at only nine years old.
22:13Throughout his 10-year reign,
22:15he went to extreme lengths
22:16to cut his father
22:17out of Egyptian history.
22:19He relocated the capital
22:20back to Thebes
22:21and reinstated
22:23the old gods.
22:25Tutankhamen's efforts
22:26were incredibly successful,
22:28and only when the ruins
22:30of Akhenaten were discovered
22:31did we learn
22:33the true extent
22:34of his father's
22:35troubled legacy.
22:37While we don't know
22:38for sure,
22:39it seems that
22:40smashing Akhenaten's tomb
22:42was part of this erasure.
22:44To this day,
22:45the whereabouts
22:46of his mummy
22:47are still unknown.
22:50The lost city of Aten
22:52and the ruins of Akhenaten
22:54stand as powerful time capsules,
22:57allowing archaeologists
22:58to reconstruct
22:59the tumultuous power dynamics
23:01between three generations
23:03of infamous ancient Egyptian kings.
23:06In the southern part
23:17of the Xinjiang Uyghur
23:18autonomous region
23:19lies a vast depression
23:21known as the Tarim Basin.
23:25The Tarim Basin
23:26is one of the most
23:27landlocked places
23:28in the world.
23:29It's almost as far
23:30from the ocean
23:31as you can get
23:32anywhere on Earth.
23:33And right in the center
23:35of that basin
23:36lies the Taklamakan Desert,
23:38which stretches
23:38130,000 square miles.
23:41That is bigger
23:42than the entire state
23:44of New Mexico.
23:45Huge mountain ranges
23:46block almost all rain
23:48from the desert,
23:49making it one of the driest
23:50places in the country.
23:51In the central region,
23:53an average of only
23:5410 millimeters of rain
23:55falls each year.
23:59European explorers
24:00making their way
24:01through the unforgiving
24:02Taklamakan,
24:03come across
24:04an extraordinary sight.
24:06They began finding
24:07vast areas
24:08filled with carved
24:09wooden vessels
24:10that looked a lot
24:11like modern day canoes,
24:12the last thing
24:13you'd expect to find
24:14in the desert.
24:16Stranger still,
24:17the vessels were often
24:18accompanied by what
24:19looked like oars
24:20stuck into the Earth
24:21so they pointed
24:22straight up to the sky.
24:24It wasn't until
24:25they looked more closely
24:26that they realized
24:27these vessels weren't empty.
24:29They were coffins.
24:30These sites are actually
24:33massive graveyards,
24:35some containing
24:36hundreds of bodies.
24:38The burials span
24:39over 2,000 years
24:40with the earliest
24:41dating back to 2100 BCE.
24:43The bodies are
24:44incredibly well preserved,
24:46so much so
24:47that some mummies
24:48were found
24:48with their eyelashes
24:49still intact.
24:51Unlike a lot
24:53of other cultures
24:53that mummified
24:54their dead on purpose
24:56using elaborate rituals
24:57and chemicals
24:58and all this other stuff,
24:59the mummies here
25:00are just a byproduct
25:01of the environment.
25:03It's so dry
25:04in the desert
25:04that basically
25:05it just stops
25:06the decomposition process,
25:08leaving behind
25:09these extraordinary
25:10mummified remains.
25:14One thing
25:15that really stuck out
25:16was that many
25:17of the mummies
25:18seemed to have had
25:19blonde or red hair,
25:20blue eyes,
25:21and stood well
25:22over 6 feet tall.
25:24Because these features
25:25are typically found
25:26in populations farther west,
25:28debate immediately sparked
25:30about where these people
25:31came from.
25:32Could they have traveled here?
25:34If they had,
25:35where did they come from?
25:46Intriguing objects
25:47buried alongside
25:48the Taklamakan mummies
25:50provide glimpses
25:51into their lives.
25:53The mummies were buried
25:54with numerous grave offerings,
25:55including grains
25:57such as wheat,
25:58barley, and millet.
25:59Also found
26:00were the bones and horns
26:01of herd animals
26:02like cows, sheep, and goats.
26:04Some people
26:05were even buried
26:06with pieces of cheese
26:07hung around their necks.
26:10We can't be exactly sure
26:11why these grave goods
26:12were left behind.
26:14It could be
26:15that they were offerings
26:16to some sort of deity
26:17or that they might
26:18accompany the dead
26:19into the afterlife.
26:21Based on the animal remains,
26:23these were probably
26:24successful farmers,
26:26raising flocks
26:26of various animals
26:27they could use
26:28for food and for hides.
26:30In fact,
26:31many of the coffins
26:32have animal skins
26:32stretched over them,
26:34possibly to protect
26:35the body.
26:37The evidence of livestock
26:38leads experts
26:40to wonder whether
26:41the Tarim Basin mummies
26:42may have descended
26:43from ancient nomads.
26:45The Yamnaya people
26:47were an incredibly
26:48powerful culture
26:49that mastered animal
26:50husbandry roughly
26:515,000 years ago.
26:53Over time,
26:54they began migrating
26:55east en masse,
26:56sweeping across Europe
26:57and interbreeding
26:58with various other cultures.
27:00In the span
27:01of a few centuries,
27:02they made up about
27:03half of the genetic makeup
27:04of Central Europeans.
27:07There were also
27:08the Afanasievo people
27:10who farmed herds of cattle
27:11and sheep and horses
27:12in the Altai mountains
27:14and eventually spread
27:15all the way across
27:16Siberia and Mongolia.
27:18They're sometimes considered
27:20an eastern offshoot
27:21of the Yamnaya.
27:23Could another wave
27:24of migration
27:24have taken them
27:26farther south
27:27into the Tarim Basin?
27:29That scenario
27:29seems unlikely
27:30when you look
27:31at funerary practices.
27:33The Yamnaya would
27:34typically inter
27:35their dead in pits
27:36that were then covered
27:37by wooden planks
27:38and earthen mounds
27:39called korgans.
27:41The Afanasievo rituals
27:43also involved
27:44building these impressive
27:45korgans on top
27:46of the deceased.
27:47These would then
27:48be surrounded by a ring
27:49or a square of stones.
27:52There's no evidence
27:54to suggest that the Yamnaya
27:55or Afanasievo
27:56ever interred their dead
27:57in boat-shaped coffins.
27:59So it's not likely
28:00that the Tarim Basin mummies
28:01belong to either culture.
28:04In the search
28:05for information
28:06about the mysterious burials,
28:08experts turn to
28:09one of the mummies'
28:10most surprising features,
28:12their clothing.
28:14Thanks to the incredible
28:15preservation,
28:15we can even see
28:16how well-dressed
28:18some of these mummies are.
28:19One example of that
28:20that stands out
28:21is the man from Hami.
28:23He was found
28:24with a spectacular
28:25collection of hats.
28:28The man from Hami
28:29isn't the only Tarim Basin mummy
28:31famous for headwear.
28:33In the lost city
28:33of Subashi,
28:34a group of women
28:35were discovered,
28:36all buried wearing
28:37tall, pointed black hats.
28:40Today, they're known
28:41as the witches
28:41of Subashi.
28:42The textiles
28:45from both of these sites
28:46reveal potential clues
28:47about where these people
28:48may have come from.
28:50Among the fabrics
28:51recovered from the burial
28:52of the man from Hami
28:54were plaids
28:55that were made
28:55using a diagonal
28:56twill weave.
28:58These fabrics
28:59match those found
29:00in Celtic sites
29:01around Europe
29:02dating from
29:03approximately
29:03the same period.
29:05The hats found
29:07with the witches
29:07of Subashi
29:08also echo
29:09European fashions,
29:10like the tall,
29:11pointed hats
29:11called Hennens.
29:13These similarities
29:14beg the question,
29:15how could these trends
29:16have reached
29:17the Tarim Basin?
29:18Did Europeans
29:19migrate here?
29:20Are the mummies
29:21of European descent?
29:24The answers may lie
29:25in one of the world's
29:26most famous trade routes.
29:29People often talk
29:30about the Silk Road
29:31as though it's
29:32this one highway
29:33that used to be there,
29:33but it wasn't one road.
29:35It was a vast network
29:36of routes
29:37that stretched
29:37over 4,000 miles,
29:39and it linked
29:39the powerful
29:40civilizations
29:41of Rome
29:42and China.
29:43It emerged
29:44about 130 BCE,
29:46and for over
29:461,500 years,
29:48traders used it
29:49to carry silk
29:50to the west
29:50while textiles
29:52and precious metals
29:53went to the east.
29:55The Silk Road
29:55cut through
29:56some of the most
29:57imposing landscapes
29:58in the world,
29:59including the Gobi Desert,
30:01the Pamir Mountains,
30:02and crucially,
30:03the Tarim Basin.
30:05Could the Silk Road
30:06be connected
30:07to the mummies?
30:09A team of
30:10international researchers
30:11comes together,
30:12determined to devise
30:14a study that could reveal
30:15where the mummies came from.
30:18Using tooth and bone samples
30:19from 13 of the Tarim mummies,
30:21they set out to conduct
30:22a thorough genomic analysis,
30:24the first such analysis
30:25of any prehistoric population
30:27in the region.
30:28Genomic studies
30:29look at a person's
30:30entire genetic makeup
30:31rather than individual genes.
30:34These data are then
30:35compared to those
30:36from other populations
30:37to understand
30:38how any given sample
30:39fits into the grand scheme
30:41of human history.
30:44The samples taken
30:45from the mummies
30:46were compared
30:46to several sets
30:47of ancient DNA
30:48as well as
30:49to modern populations.
30:51And contrary
30:51to earlier theories,
30:53the genomic study
30:53proved that these people
30:55did not migrate
30:56to the basin
30:56from Russia or Europe.
30:59They were without a doubt
30:59local.
31:03Not only were they local
31:04to the Tarim Basin,
31:05the mummies had links
31:06to the land
31:07going back nearly 200 generations.
31:09And the study also found
31:11that these people
31:12were extremely inbred.
31:15Mummies found in cemeteries
31:16almost 250 miles apart
31:18shared DNA
31:19as closely
31:20as siblings would.
31:23Given their location,
31:24it's very possible
31:25that these people
31:26came into contact
31:27with merchants
31:28traveling along the Silk Road,
31:30which meant access to goods
31:32from all over Europe and Asia.
31:34And this would explain
31:35the textiles found
31:36in some of the graves.
31:38And despite not intermarrying
31:40with these travelers,
31:41it seems as though
31:42the Tarim people
31:43were welcome to their ideas
31:45and maybe even
31:46their fashion trends.
31:48The Tarim Basin culture
31:50was a population
31:51that was genetically isolated,
31:54yet still open
31:55to outside influences.
31:56They stand as an
31:58extraordinary example
32:00of a people
32:00who seemingly welcomed
32:02cultural exchange
32:03while maintaining
32:04their own unique traditions.
32:06built atop a series of hills,
32:20the city of Jerusalem
32:21stands between
32:22the arid mountains
32:23of Jordan to the east
32:24and the coastal plains
32:26of the Mediterranean
32:27to the west.
32:29During spring and fall,
32:30the city is beset
32:32by a particularly strong wind
32:34known as the Hamsin.
32:36The Hamsin is a hot,
32:40sand-filled windstorm
32:41that usually blows in
32:42from the southeast.
32:44It can reach temperatures
32:45of up to 104 degrees
32:47and blow continuously
32:48for up to four days.
32:51It gets its name
32:52from the Arabic word
32:53for 50
32:54because the winds
32:55tend to come
32:55within the same
32:5650-day period each year.
32:59Jerusalem is considered
33:00one of the oldest
33:02continuously inhabited cities
33:04in the world.
33:05Around 5,000 years ago,
33:08the first Canaanite settlements
33:10appeared in the area
33:11before it was conquered
33:13and renamed
33:14the City of David.
33:16In the early 16th century,
33:19the Ottomans constructed
33:20what we now call
33:22the Old City,
33:24a walled enclave
33:25built just north
33:26of the original
33:27City of David.
33:28Over time,
33:30modern Jerusalem
33:31expanded around
33:32these two ancient centers,
33:33blending thousands
33:35of years of history
33:36into the city
33:37we know today.
33:40In the district
33:41of Silwan,
33:42among the ruins
33:43of the City of David,
33:45a group of archaeologists
33:46makes a surprising discovery.
33:48They were working at a site
33:51known as the Javati Parking Lot,
33:53the most extensive
33:54archaeological dig
33:55in all of Jerusalem,
33:57and were hoping to find
33:58the oldest remnants
33:59of the City of David
34:00when they came across
34:02a totally unexpected structure.
34:06There,
34:06carved right into the bedrock,
34:08was an enormous trench.
34:10The cut section
34:12was massive
34:13between 20 and 30 feet deep
34:15and around 115 feet wide.
34:19The neat,
34:21steep sides
34:21and even dimensions
34:23made it clear
34:24that this depression
34:25was no natural feature.
34:27It was dug by hand.
34:30But just what was
34:31this enormous cut
34:33in the bedrock?
34:34This mysterious trench
34:43isn't the only
34:44enormous structure
34:45dug into the bedrock
34:47beneath Jerusalem.
34:48Along the southern slope
34:50of the City of David
34:51lies an ancient reservoir
34:53known today
34:54as the Pool of Siloam.
34:57During the Bronze
34:58and Iron Ages,
34:59the City of David
35:00was the core
35:01of ancient Jerusalem.
35:02It was built
35:04on a narrow,
35:05elongated plateau
35:06leading down
35:06to the Kidron Valley.
35:09For thousands of years,
35:11the residents
35:11depended on this valley
35:12because it was home
35:14to the Gihon Spring,
35:15the city's primary
35:16water source.
35:18Around 3,000 years ago,
35:20the city was ruled
35:21by King Hezekiah,
35:23who oversaw a time
35:24of immense political turmoil.
35:26He took part
35:27in a series of revolts
35:28in Palestine
35:29that gained support
35:31in Egypt
35:31and threatened
35:32the rule
35:32of the Assyrian king,
35:34Sennacherib.
35:35He knew the Assyrians
35:36would be out for revenge
35:38and that fortifying
35:39the city would be crucial
35:40in repelling
35:41their attacks.
35:44The Gihon Spring
35:45just outside
35:46the city walls
35:47was especially important
35:49from a tactical point
35:50of view.
35:51If an army
35:52did invade,
35:53the water supply
35:54from the stream
35:55would be key
35:56to supporting
35:57the attacking soldiers.
35:58To cut off
36:00the water supply
36:01from the Assyrians,
36:02Hezekiah cut a tunnel
36:03through nearly 2,000 feet
36:06of bedrock
36:06to redirect water
36:08from the spring
36:09into a large reservoir
36:11behind the city walls
36:13called the Pool of Siloam.
36:15The original pool
36:17of Siloam
36:18was roughly 53 feet long,
36:20but over the years
36:21it was expanded
36:22to 225 feet.
36:25Could the trench
36:25found in the ruins nearby
36:27have been a part
36:28of this enormous
36:29water feature?
36:30Or could it have acted
36:31as another reservoir,
36:33keeping water flowing
36:34to the city's population
36:35even if it came
36:36under siege?
36:39A re-examination
36:40of previous digs
36:41in the area
36:42leads to a breakthrough.
36:43It turns out
36:45this latest discovery
36:46was part
36:47of a larger pattern.
36:49In the 1960s,
36:50a British archaeologist
36:51working to the east
36:53of the Javati parking lot
36:54discovered a similar ditch
36:56carved into the earth.
36:58Several decades later
37:00in the early 2000s,
37:01a different team
37:02working farther north
37:04discovered yet another area
37:05that had been sliced through.
37:07When we piece
37:09these discoveries together,
37:11it suddenly becomes clear
37:12that this isn't
37:14a series of trenches.
37:16What we're looking at
37:17are different sections
37:18of a single
37:19enormous moat.
37:22Based on the existing evidence,
37:24it seems likely
37:25that it once extended
37:26the entire width
37:27of the ridge
37:28of the city of David.
37:31Moats have historically
37:32been built
37:32as a defense mechanism.
37:34Could this be
37:35the case here too?
37:36Ninety miles north
37:38of Jerusalem
37:39lies the Tal Hazur
37:40archaeological site,
37:42where a similar structure
37:43provides a possible clue.
37:46During the Bronze Age
37:47and into the Iron Age,
37:49Hazur was one of the largest
37:50and most prosperous cities
37:52in the region.
37:54This city was located
37:56on a crucial trade route
37:57connecting Egypt,
37:58Syria, and Babylon,
37:59which allowed it
38:00to expand quite rapidly.
38:02Estimates suggest
38:03that at its peak,
38:05up to 40,000 people
38:06may have lived here.
38:09But despite its importance,
38:11Hazur was lightly fortified
38:13and vulnerable
38:14to potential invaders.
38:16To protect themselves,
38:18the ancient Canaanites
38:19built a wall
38:20around the city
38:21and fortified it
38:22with a deep,
38:23steep-sided moat.
38:25Similar city walls
38:27and defensive moats
38:28have been uncovered
38:29in other ancient cities
38:30in the region,
38:31including Samaria
38:32and Jezreel.
38:34Together,
38:34these discoveries suggest
38:36that defensive moats
38:38were a fairly common feature
38:40of urban fortifications
38:41during the Bronze
38:42and Iron Ages.
38:45Could Jerusalem's moat
38:46be part of this same tradition?
38:48The keys to unlocking
38:57the mystery
38:58of the Jerusalem moat
38:59may lie in the city's
39:01unique geography
39:02and layout.
39:05Most ancient cities
39:06are built on hills
39:07that rise high above
39:08the surrounding land.
39:10And in part,
39:11this was a military strategy.
39:13If an army were to attack,
39:14defenders of the city
39:16would be able
39:16to see the soldiers coming
39:18from as far away
39:19as possible.
39:21Jerusalem's planning
39:22and layout
39:23are radically different.
39:25The city is on
39:26a narrow ridge
39:27that slopes upwards
39:28from south to north.
39:30Ancient Jerusalem
39:31lay on the southeastern
39:33part of the ridge,
39:34downhill from
39:34the highest point.
39:36This was likely
39:37because the city
39:38depended so heavily
39:39on the Gihon Spring,
39:41which lay in the
39:41Kidron Valley nearby.
39:43This configuration
39:44made the city
39:45vulnerable to army
39:46coming from the north
39:47who would have the advantage
39:49of attacking
39:49from a higher point
39:50of elevation.
39:53The moat lay
39:54on the northern side
39:55of the city,
39:56between the residents
39:57and the highest point
39:59of the ridge.
40:00With a width
40:00of roughly 115 feet,
40:03this single addition
40:04would make the city
40:05significantly harder
40:06to invade.
40:07If armies were
40:08to attack from above,
40:10they would find themselves
40:11trapped and helpless,
40:12allowing Jerusalem's military
40:14to pick them off
40:15before they could
40:16breach the city walls.
40:19Despite compelling evidence
40:21painting the moat
40:22as a defensive structure,
40:24doubt still lingers.
40:25While it makes sense
40:27to build a moat here
40:28to protect the ancient
40:30core of Jerusalem,
40:31we can't know for sure
40:33whether or not
40:34this was its true purpose.
40:36Many mysteries still remain
40:39surrounding this ancient structure,
40:41including when it was built.
40:43While it seems
40:44to have been in use
40:45by the 9th century BCE,
40:48there are very few clues
40:49as to when it was first dug.
40:52And what's more,
40:54the moat might be part
40:55of a much larger
40:56and far more intricate complex
40:57that we have yet to uncover.
41:00Two sets of strange,
41:02smoothly carved rock channels
41:03have also been found
41:04in the Givati parking lot.
41:06And based on their location,
41:07they may have once connected
41:08to the Royal Administrative Quarter
41:10during the Iron Age.
41:12So the moat may have
41:13a connection to these channels,
41:15but their exact purpose
41:16remains a complete mystery.
41:21What we do know
41:22is that as the city of Jerusalem
41:23expanded across the ridge
41:25and crept northwards,
41:27the need for the moat
41:28eventually disappeared.
41:30When it came time
41:31to build outside
41:31the ancient city walls,
41:33residents seemed to have
41:34filled in the huge structure,
41:36burying it for thousands of years,
41:38only for it to be now rediscovered.
41:41As work continues
41:42at the Givati parking lot,
41:44researchers continue
41:45to piece together
41:46the geography
41:48of ancient Jerusalem,
41:50unearthing ruins
41:50that raise just as many questions
41:53as they answer.
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