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00:00A disturbing find, uncovered in one of the driest places on Earth, reveals a violent past.
00:07They uncovered the remains of a staggering 96 humans.
00:12The discovery of a gigantic geoglyph leads to an international mystery.
00:17The total diameter of the figure is an astonishing 28 kilometers.
00:23This thing is huge.
00:25But who was behind it?
00:27And baffling bones are exposed in Chile.
00:32The more they dug, the more the sands revealed bone after bone.
00:36There are pieces of a puzzle waiting to be solved.
00:42Astonishing discoveries on Earth from the depths of the desert.
00:49Ancient plus cities.
00:52Forgotten treasures.
00:55Mysterious structures.
00:59Extraordinary curiosities, once lost to the sands of time, are revealed.
01:05As new technology uncovers remarkable tales, hidden beneath the deserts of the world,
01:11the secrets in the sand will finally be exposed.
01:30The northern region of the state of South Australia is one of the most arid, barren places on the continent.
01:39This vast desert plain is dotted with dry salt lake beds, and little else.
01:47Except for some cattle stations, small remote communities, and indigenous groups,
01:53the area is largely uninhabited due to the harsh conditions.
02:00A pilot was flying a small plane between the towns of Kuba Pedi and Mari.
02:07On a plateau approximately 60 kilometres west of Mari, he spotted something strange on the desert floor.
02:20He couldn't believe his eyes.
02:23Deep, thick lines, several kilometres long, appear to have been carved into the earth.
02:28And when he gets a better look, it seems to be the huge figure of a man.
02:34He has a prominent beard, wears a headband, and has his hair tied back.
02:37And his left hand is holding something above his head.
02:45The lines that make up the image are about 70 to 90 metres wide.
02:51From top to bottom, it measures 4.2 kilometres.
02:55And the total diameter of the figure is an astonishing 28 kilometres.
03:02It's visible from over 5,000 feet in the air.
03:06This thing is huge.
03:09When the pilot changed his flight path to get a clearer view,
03:13he noticed something else on the figure.
03:16What looked like ritualistic scarring on his chest.
03:20Some Aboriginal groups of Australia practice scarification,
03:23which is cutting one's body intentionally to produce scars.
03:27Beyond aesthetic purposes, they used scarification to mark certain milestones in life.
03:32Marriage, the birth of a child, the death of a loved one,
03:37given the hair style, the headband, and the chest scarring,
03:41the figure might be an Aboriginal man in a hunting stance.
03:45Could it be an ancient indigenous geoglyph of some kind?
03:54This is Arabana country.
03:56They have native title to over 69,000 square kilometres in the region.
04:01The traditional tribal name of the Arabana is the Angurabana,
04:06which means the land of the mound springs,
04:09waterholes that are vital to sustaining life in the dry desert outback.
04:15The Arabana have lived in this area for thousands of years,
04:18so it's possible that the geoglyph had always been there,
04:21but no one had noticed it before.
04:24The scale of the figure makes it one of the largest geoglyphs in the world,
04:29drawing comparisons to Peru's famous Nazca lines.
04:35The Nazca lines are huge line drawings etched in the ground,
04:40spanning some 50 square kilometres of the Rio Grande de Nazca River Basin,
04:45which is one of the driest places on Earth.
04:49They're thought to be ritual offerings to the gods,
04:52asking for rain in a desert environment.
04:56Some of the lines are believed to be around 2,000 years old.
05:00So, could the geoglyph in Australia be as old as the Nazca lines?
05:09As the Australians continued to explore the site on the ground,
05:13they found modern bamboo stakes every 10 metres,
05:17marking the outline of the figure.
05:20It can't be ancient.
05:22These stakes look like something you'd buy at your local garden centre,
05:25and their placement is so accurate,
05:28it had to be done using GPS coordinates.
05:32People start looking for answers,
05:34and it eventually leads them to satellite images of the plateau.
05:38There's a picture taken on May 27, 1998,
05:42that shows no sign of the figure.
05:44The next available image is from June 28,
05:47and it's clearly visible.
05:49So, we know it must have been built within that time frame.
05:53And so begins one of Australia's most perplexing mysteries.
05:57Who created this mysterious geoglyph in the outback?
06:09For something that big to be built so quickly,
06:13heavy machinery must have been used,
06:16but nobody in the area saw or heard anything.
06:19It's pretty remote, but that's still surprising.
06:25Then, a series of cryptic, anonymous faxes
06:29began arriving at local businesses,
06:32alerting them to the figure's presence.
06:36There is a giant drawing of an aborigine
06:38more than two miles long.
06:40The figure could provide your state of southern Australia
06:43with the type of tourist attraction it is apparently seeking.
06:46Aborigines from local reservations
06:48could also benefit as guides, artists, etc.
06:52Whoever sent this message
06:54must have had intimate knowledge of the figure
06:56as nobody else knew about it
06:58except for the pilot
06:59and the few residents of the area that he told.
07:02Analysis of the language patterns
07:04revealed that much of the phrasing and spelling
07:07seemed to be American.
07:09They used the term reservations
07:11instead of aboriginal country,
07:13which is the Australian terminology.
07:14They also used miles instead of kilometers.
07:18The phrase state of southern Australia is used,
07:21which is wrong.
07:22The state is actually called South Australia.
07:28Spurred on by the developing mystery,
07:30the Australian government and curious citizens
07:33made the journey to get a closer look
07:35at the geoglyph,
07:37now being called Mariman
07:39after the town nearby.
07:41What they found was extraordinary.
07:45It's perfectly proportioned
07:47and so well drawn
07:49that whoever created it
07:51likely drew the figure by hand
07:53then used a computer
07:55to overlay the image
07:56on a satellite photo of the plateau.
07:59They would have had to adjust the scale
08:02to the contours of the land
08:04then map out the outline
08:05using a handheld GPS device.
08:09GPS technology was very new at the time
08:12and only a few industries
08:13would have had access to it.
08:15Mining surveyors, academia, the military.
08:19They discovered something puzzling
08:22during their examination of the site.
08:24A small pit dug near the figure
08:27that contained a satellite image
08:29of the Mariman
08:30as well as a small American flag.
08:33Between the flag,
08:35the American terminology
08:37and the faxes,
08:38necessary GPS expertise,
08:41it all seems to indicate
08:42that Americans were responsible
08:44for the Mariman.
08:47Could the U.S. military
08:49have been behind it?
08:50They would have had the technology,
08:52access to equipment,
08:53and they're experts
08:55at stealth operations.
09:08An enormous geoglyph
09:10appeared in the middle
09:11of the Australian outback,
09:12leaving local residents
09:14wondering who
09:15could have been responsible
09:16for its creation.
09:20The United States Air Force
09:22did have a presence
09:23in the area at the time,
09:24sharing the Joint Defence Facility
09:27Nurengar
09:27with the Australian Defence Force
09:30from 1969 to 1999.
09:34Some have theorised
09:36that Mariman
09:37was a parting gift to the ADF.
09:39But if that's the case,
09:40what's up with all the cryptic messages?
09:42Wouldn't they have just
09:43taken credit?
09:46The U.S. military
09:47officially denied
09:49any involvement
09:50in the creation
09:51of the Mariman.
09:52So if it wasn't them,
09:54who was it?
10:04Several months later,
10:05another clue directed
10:07followers and authorities
10:0816,000 kilometres away
10:11to England
10:12and a mystery buried
10:13near the CERN giant
10:15in Dorset.
10:18The CERN giant
10:20is a 55-metre-tall
10:21geoglyph
10:22of a naked man
10:23holding a large club
10:25carved with chalk
10:26into a hillside
10:27near the village
10:28of CERN Abbas.
10:31We now have
10:32an international
10:33scavenger hunt
10:34on our hands.
10:35The note discovered
10:36had clues
10:37that point towards
10:38tourism
10:38and support
10:39of indigenous athletes
10:41of the Sydney Olympics.
10:43Could this possibly mean
10:45that an indigenous
10:45group was behind it?
10:50The land
10:51where the Mariman
10:52is situated
10:53was part of a contentious
10:55title claim dispute,
10:57leaving some
10:58to speculate
10:58that the geoglyph
11:00was an attempt
11:00to assert ownership
11:01of the land
11:02by the Arabana.
11:03Though the Mariman
11:05appears to be
11:06an aboriginal hunter,
11:07the hairstyle,
11:08headband
11:09and chest scarring
11:10don't match
11:11those of an Arabana man.
11:13And,
11:14if it was a statement
11:15of land ownership,
11:17wouldn't they want
11:17to take credit for it?
11:21Authorities
11:22then turned
11:22their attention
11:23to another clue
11:24buried near
11:25the Longman
11:26of Wilmington
11:27in England.
11:29Similar to
11:30the CERN giant,
11:31the Longman
11:31is a hillside geoglyph.
11:33But instead
11:34of wielding a club,
11:36it's holding
11:37long, narrow sticks
11:38in each hand.
11:41They are directed
11:42to a 1935 book
11:44entitled
11:44The Red Centre
11:46by H.H. Finlayson.
11:47It contains
11:48a photo
11:48of an indigenous hunter,
11:50similar to
11:50the Mariman geoglyph.
11:54The author
11:55of the book
11:55was associated
11:56with the Museum
11:57of South Australia,
11:58but died in 1991,
12:01so he couldn't
12:02be responsible
12:03for the Mariman.
12:05With no other clues,
12:07rumours began
12:08to circulate
12:09about a suspect
12:10who was alive
12:11and well
12:12at the time.
12:13Vardius Goldberg,
12:15an eccentric artist
12:16who liked
12:16to thumb his nose
12:17at authority,
12:18had a history
12:19of creating
12:19large-scale artworks
12:21on the ground.
12:22He's alleged
12:23to have received
12:24$10,000
12:25shortly before
12:26the Mariman
12:27was discovered.
12:28and he told
12:29friends
12:29that he was
12:29working on
12:30a big project,
12:31but he couldn't
12:32reveal any details.
12:35However,
12:36Goldberg passed away
12:37in 2002
12:38without ever confirming
12:40or denying
12:41that he was involved
12:42in the making
12:43of the Mariman.
12:45It's been
12:46almost 25 years
12:47since the Mariman
12:48was discovered,
12:49and in all that time,
12:50not one person
12:51has come forward
12:52to say that
12:53they helped Goldberg
12:54or claim
12:55the geoglyph's
12:55creation
12:56for themselves.
13:00In 2012,
13:02the Australian government
13:03awarded
13:04the Arabana people
13:05native title
13:06of the land
13:07containing
13:08the Mariman.
13:10By this time,
13:11the extreme conditions
13:13of the outback
13:13had eroded
13:14the outline,
13:15leaving it
13:16barely visible.
13:18Looking for ways
13:19to increase
13:20tourism in the area,
13:21the Arabana
13:22joined forces
13:23with a local
13:24business owner
13:24who was asked
13:25to organize
13:26the restoration project.
13:28But even with
13:29advances in technology,
13:30it's a daunting task.
13:35And then,
13:36out of the blue,
13:38one final twist
13:40in the saga
13:40of the Mariman.
13:42An anonymous email
13:43is received
13:44with a set
13:45of highly accurate
13:46coordinates
13:47outlining
13:48the entire figure.
13:50In 2016,
13:52armed with this
13:53precise data,
13:54the team
13:55were able to
13:55fully restore
13:56the Mariman
13:57to its original glory.
14:00To this day,
14:01tourism in the area
14:02continues to flourish,
14:04with visitors
14:05from far and wide
14:06flocking to see
14:08the mysterious wonder
14:09in the desert.
14:10In the end,
14:12we may never know
14:12who created it.
14:13Some say it was
14:14a bored farmer.
14:15Others think it was
14:16a publicity stunt
14:17to drum up tourism.
14:18And the more
14:19conspiracy-minded
14:20even suggest
14:21extraterrestrial involvement.
14:24Perhaps the
14:25enigma of the Mariman
14:26can be summed up
14:28by a quote
14:29from one of the
14:29original anonymous
14:31faxes.
14:31half the art
14:33is mystery,
14:34and so enduring
14:35let it be.
14:49Along the northern
14:51coast of Chile
14:51lies the Atacama,
14:53one of the oldest
14:54and driest deserts
14:56on the planet.
15:00This desert is
15:01believed to be
15:02150 million years old
15:04and covers a nearly
15:051,100-kilometer
15:07stretch of land
15:08between the Andes
15:09mountains
15:09and the Pacific Ocean.
15:12Areca is
15:13Chile's most northern
15:14city,
15:15and is known
15:16as the city
15:17where it never rains.
15:18This hyper-arid
15:20desert landscape
15:21experiences less
15:22than one millimeter
15:23of rain each year
15:25and is largely
15:26devoid of
15:27plants and
15:28animal life.
15:31On the edge
15:33of the town,
15:33the Areca Water
15:35Company were
15:35digging ground
15:36to lay a new
15:37pipeline when
15:38they made a
15:39disturbing discovery
15:40long lost to
15:42the sands of
15:42the Atacama.
15:44Less than a meter
15:45below the surface,
15:46in an area less
15:47than seven square meters,
15:49they uncovered
15:50the remains of a
15:50staggering 96 humans.
15:57The deformed
15:59but well-preserved
16:00human remains
16:00were stuffed
16:01with sticks
16:02and reeds.
16:03They were decorated
16:04with both red
16:05and black clay masks
16:06and elaborate
16:07wigs.
16:09This isn't your
16:10average burial.
16:11These are intentionally
16:13mummified remains.
16:14So who are they?
16:15Using radiocarbon
16:18dating,
16:19archaeologists
16:19were able to
16:20prove that these
16:21extraordinary mummies
16:23were at least
16:247,000 years old.
16:28This area of Chile
16:29was once home
16:30to the Chinchorro,
16:31an ancient culture
16:32of coastal
16:32hunter-gatherers
16:33and fishermen.
16:34They were a
16:35coastal dwelling people
16:36who didn't cast
16:37any pottery
16:38or build any monuments.
16:40They lived from
16:41around 7,000 BCE
16:42to 1,500 BCE,
16:45more than 9,000 years ago.
16:47That means that
16:48these 7,000-year-old
16:50South American
16:51Chinchorro mummies
16:52are more than
16:532,000 years older
16:55than the mummies
16:56of Egypt.
16:56This is an amazing
16:58discovery.
17:00While some of the
17:01bodies have been
17:02inadvertently preserved
17:03by the dry conditions
17:04of the desert climate,
17:06resulting in
17:06naturally baked mummies,
17:08most of the remains
17:09have been intentionally
17:11and meticulously
17:12mummified.
17:14Egyptian mummification
17:16practices involved
17:17laying the human
17:18remains flat
17:19and desiccating them
17:20before wrapping
17:22and entombing them.
17:24However,
17:24in the case of
17:25these Chinchorro mummies,
17:27the human remains
17:27were bundled together
17:28with other materials
17:29and more or less
17:31left to the elements
17:32in shallow grave sites.
17:33And the hyper-dry
17:35conditions of the
17:36Atacama
17:36made the preservation
17:37process even more
17:39effective.
17:41The purposefully
17:42preserved remains
17:43of the Chinchorro
17:44fall into two main
17:46mortuary styles.
17:47Mummies wearing
17:48the black clay masks
17:50that date from
17:515,000 to 3,000 BCE
17:53and ones wearing
17:55red clay masks
17:56that date from
17:572,500 to 2,000 BCE.
18:01The black clay mummies
18:02have been dismembered,
18:03treated, and reassembled,
18:05then stuffed with reeds,
18:06sticks, and ash.
18:08Then they were
18:08dressed with clay
18:09and painted with manganese,
18:11a pigment derived
18:12from local rock formations.
18:14The red clay mummies
18:16were treated
18:16with a more
18:17surgical approach.
18:18Their organs were
18:19removed to dry
18:20the cavities
18:21before the stuffing
18:22process.
18:22They were then
18:23masked and painted
18:25with red ochre,
18:26a naturally red-toned
18:27clay.
18:29Whether men,
18:30women, or children,
18:31these remains
18:32were preserved
18:33with care
18:34and treated
18:35with reverence,
18:36regardless of status.
18:39This is another
18:40difference from
18:40the well-known
18:41Egyptian mummification
18:42practice,
18:43which was primarily
18:44accessible to members
18:45of the elite.
18:46Further inland,
18:48additional excavations
18:50revealed another
18:51six recent burial sites
18:53containing hundreds
18:54of remains.
18:56These naturally
18:57mummified remnants
18:58were dated to
18:59between 1000 BCE
19:01and 600 CE,
19:03long after the
19:04Chinchuro culture
19:05came to an end.
19:07Physical investigation
19:08and X-ray imaging
19:10of these more
19:10recently discovered bones
19:12uncovered shocking
19:13details about how
19:14they may have lived
19:15and died.
19:18They found broken ribs,
19:20cheeks and collarbones,
19:21severe head injuries,
19:23and obvious puncture wounds
19:24to the soft tissue,
19:25including the groin,
19:26lungs, and spine.
19:28These are clear signs
19:30of traumatic injury
19:31due to violence.
19:35Among the remains,
19:37a young woman
19:38drew special attention
19:39because of the brutality
19:41of her injuries.
19:55In Chile's arid
19:56Atacama Desert,
19:57a gruesome discovery
19:59of the remains
20:00of a young woman
20:01revealed a brutal
20:02and violent past.
20:06It's horrifying.
20:10Archaeologists also found
20:12spears, knives,
20:13and stones
20:13tied with ropes
20:15alongside the bodies.
20:17The malicious injuries
20:18coupled with the weapons
20:20makes one wonder
20:21what was the cause
20:22of the violence.
20:25The earlier Chinchuro people
20:27were not strangers
20:27to violence either,
20:29but none were treated
20:30in such an abusive manner
20:31as these later peoples.
20:32There were a number
20:34of fatal wounds
20:35found with the earlier
20:36Chinchuro mummies,
20:37like this adult male
20:38from around 1780 BCE.
20:41He was found
20:42with the head of a harpoon
20:43embedded in his chest,
20:45but the pattern of violence
20:46within this community
20:47appears to have been
20:48more sporadic
20:49than that found
20:49in later communities.
20:52The adult Chinchuro population
20:53did show a smaller range
20:55of healed and fatal wounds.
20:57However, the level
20:58and inconsistency
20:59of these traumas
21:00appears to be representative
21:01of small skirmishes,
21:02nothing like
21:03the consistent levels
21:04of violence
21:05we see in these
21:05later communities.
21:07To gain a better
21:09understanding
21:09of the violence
21:10these communities
21:11were experiencing
21:12and to determine
21:14their origins
21:15and migration patterns,
21:16samples were taken
21:18from 69
21:18of the naturally
21:20preserved mummies
21:21discovered
21:22at the six burial sites.
21:24The result
21:26of the sample analysis
21:27proves that
21:28the mutilated woman
21:29was from further north
21:30in today's Peru.
21:3542 people
21:36in the sample
21:36are believed
21:37to have been
21:38coastal dwellers
21:39living off the sea
21:40and foraging
21:41in the desert.
21:42This group
21:43of 42
21:44would have had
21:45a lifestyle
21:45more similar
21:46to that
21:46of the earlier
21:47Chinchuro peoples.
21:50The remaining 27
21:52shared an isotopic
21:53signature
21:54that indicates
21:54that they lived
21:55on a more varied
21:56terrestrial diet.
21:58This means
21:59they were likely
21:59living deeper
22:00into the Azapa Valley
22:02and were less
22:03reliant on the sea.
22:05This evidence
22:06suggests
22:07that the conflicts
22:08were between
22:08the farmers
22:09of the valley
22:09and the fishermen
22:10along the coast.
22:17At the time
22:18the river valleys
22:19were some of the only
22:20places in the Atacama
22:21with enough water
22:23to grow a greater
22:24range of foods.
22:28It seems
22:29that after many
22:30thousands of years
22:31groups of these
22:32coastal peoples
22:33began moving inland
22:34away from the sea
22:36in an attempt
22:36to forge a new life
22:38building small villages
22:39along these scarce
22:41outcroppings
22:42of viable land.
22:45They planted
22:46corn and chili peppers
22:47likely trading
22:48with and learning
22:49from the non-desert
22:51farming communities
22:52of the north
22:52and east.
22:54Though these
22:55communities
22:55remained small
22:56many people
22:57settling in one area
22:58would naturally
22:59lead to increased
23:00interpersonal conflict.
23:02However,
23:03experts believe
23:03there were larger
23:04forces at play here.
23:09Archaeologists
23:10turned to the environment
23:11examining marine
23:13life,
23:14weather patterns
23:14and conducting
23:15mineral tests
23:16for a more thorough
23:18understanding
23:19of the situation.
23:21Fishermen
23:22are dependent
23:23on the sea
23:23and these ancient
23:24communities
23:25were no different.
23:28Climate scientists
23:29studying historic
23:30patterns of El Nino
23:31believe that this
23:32recurrent natural event
23:34may have played a role
23:35in the violence
23:35that they experienced.
23:40El Nino events
23:41interrupt the cool
23:42upswells of nutrient-rich
23:44water coming from the
23:45depths of the ocean
23:46and replaces them
23:48with warmer water.
23:49This results in less
23:51phytoplankton,
23:52ultimately reducing
23:53the available sea life
23:54that these ancient
23:55fishermen would have
23:56relied on.
23:58Climate scientists
23:59also studied
24:00the discarded shells
24:01and marine life
24:02remains found in dump
24:04sites near these
24:04coastal communities.
24:06These remains are
24:08believed to be food waste
24:09and so they're evidence
24:10of the local diet
24:11at the time.
24:14In the same period
24:15of time that these
24:16people were experiencing
24:17extreme violence,
24:18they also found evidence
24:20of a significant
24:21seafood shortage.
24:23Less seafood
24:24for an extended
24:25period of time
24:26could have made
24:27these people
24:27even more desperate.
24:30El Nino does not
24:31only influence the sea,
24:33it also has a drying
24:34effect on the already
24:35parched Atacama landscape.
24:38This warmer,
24:39drier climate
24:39would have also
24:41added pressure
24:41on these ancient
24:42farmers.
24:44Archaeologists
24:44believed that the
24:46lack of seafood stocks
24:47had led desperate
24:48coastal communities
24:49into the nearby
24:50inland farming
24:51settlements
24:52in search of food.
24:55Under the hottest,
24:56driest desert conditions
24:57exacerbated by El Nino,
24:59communities likely
25:00fought over access
25:01to the most basic
25:02resources like food,
25:04land and water.
25:06As the environment
25:07changed,
25:09so too did the
25:09lifestyles of the
25:10Atacama peoples,
25:12who relied upon
25:13the sustainability
25:14of their resources
25:15and their ability
25:17to defend them.
25:37Abusir is situated on
25:39Egypt's western desert
25:40plateau, only 25
25:42kilometers south of
25:43Cairo.
25:45Despite being so close
25:46to such a large
25:47urban city, it feels
25:50like it's in the
25:50middle of the desert.
25:53The desert at Abusir is
25:55a famed burial ground
25:56of ancient Egypt.
25:57Over the course of
25:58centuries, many of the
26:00kingdom's pharaohs and
26:01nobility were buried
26:02here.
26:03It is here, as well as
26:04in nearby areas like
26:06Giza, where excavations
26:07have revealed incredible
26:09artifacts and structures
26:10that have contributed
26:11significantly to our
26:13understanding of
26:14ancient Egyptian
26:15society.
26:23A team of archaeologists
26:25were excavating a site
26:26when they discovered a
26:28vast collection of
26:29ceramic vessels.
26:32While it isn't unusual
26:34to find ancient ceramics
26:35at archaeological sites,
26:38the sheer volume of
26:39them was astounding.
26:41Inside the vessels,
26:42they find materials that
26:44priests would have on
26:44hand when embalming or
26:45mummifying a body.
26:47So could this actually
26:48be a tomb?
27:01At the famous Egyptian
27:03burial grounds of Abusir,
27:05archaeologists had
27:06discovered a large cache
27:07of ceramic vessels
27:09containing embalming
27:11materials, leading them
27:12to wonder if they'd
27:14uncovered a previously
27:16undiscovered tomb.
27:17In ancient Egypt, the
27:19dead would sometimes be
27:20buried with some of the
27:21instruments and materials
27:22that were used in the
27:23embalming process.
27:24And it appears that this
27:26is what has happened here.
27:30Archaeologists believe this
27:31was what's called a
27:33shaft tomb, essentially a
27:35deep rectangular grave.
27:37The ancient Egyptians
27:39sometimes buried their dead in
27:40tombs such as these, along
27:42with a diverse range of
27:44tools, clothes, and other
27:46necessities they might
27:47require in the afterlife.
27:51But there are literally
27:53hundreds of these
27:54embalming vessels, which
27:55makes one wonder, who are
27:56they all for?
28:00As they continue to excavate
28:02the chamber, they find a set
28:03of four limestone canopic
28:05jars.
28:07Canopic jars are essential
28:09vessels in the rite of
28:10mummification.
28:12Mummification was an
28:14elaborate process which
28:15involved removing the
28:16organs from the body,
28:18treating them, and placing
28:19the liver, intestines,
28:21stomach, and lungs in
28:23canopic jars.
28:25They were then usually
28:27placed next to the deceased,
28:28where they would remain for
28:30all eternity.
28:34The Egyptians believed
28:35that the body was the
28:36home for the soul or
28:37spirit.
28:38If the body was destroyed,
28:40or in other words,
28:41decomposed, the spirit would
28:43be lost.
28:44For this reason, great care
28:46was taken in preserving the
28:48physical manifestation of the
28:49body.
28:50This way, both spirit and
28:52body could continue on
28:54together into the afterlife.
28:57But these four canopic jars
29:00are all empty.
29:01And not only are these jars
29:04empty, but there is no
29:05sarcophagus either.
29:07So if this is actually a
29:10tomb, where is the body?
29:24In 1000 BCE, during the time
29:27that we call the Third
29:28Intermediate Period, embalming
29:30techniques improved, and for
29:31the wealthiest elites, these
29:33advances enabled priests to
29:35treat the viscera and then
29:36place them back inside the
29:37body.
29:38This means the canopic jars
29:40would be included in the
29:41grave for symbolic purposes
29:43only.
29:44So that kind of narrows down
29:46the time period we should be
29:47looking at to sometime in the
29:49Third Intermediate Period or
29:51after.
29:53After cleaning and inspecting
29:55the empty canopic jars, the
29:58archaeologists noticed
29:59inscriptions written across
30:00their surface, indicating the
30:03tomb belonged to a man named
30:05Wahabri Merinith, son of Lady
30:08Aturu.
30:10Throughout ancient Egyptian
30:12history, there were several men
30:14who went by that name.
30:15But a tomb like this would come
30:17at a significant financial cost.
30:19So this Wahabri Merinith would
30:22likely have been a wealthy nobleman
30:23or high official of sorts.
30:27Similar shaft tombs have been
30:28found in the direct vicinity of
30:30this one.
30:31In fact, next to Wahabri Merinith lies
30:35the tomb of one Ujjah Reznet.
30:37Inscriptions on his statue indicate
30:39that he lived around the 6th century
30:41BCE.
30:44This was a period of great volatility
30:47and flux for the kingdom.
30:49In 525 BCE, the Persian army under
30:53King Cambyses II had invaded and
30:56defeated the Egyptians.
30:59Cambyses crowned himself Pharaoh of
31:01Egypt and subjected its people to his
31:04rule.
31:06Ujjah Reznet's life's work is inscribed
31:09on his statue, which reads that he
31:12convinced the occupying powers to
31:14respect local tradition and pay
31:17homage to Egyptian deities.
31:21As they continued to excavate the tomb
31:24of Wahabri Merinith, the archaeologists
31:27uncovered a secondary shaft that
31:30descended 16 metres into the bedrock.
31:33At the bottom, they discovered a large
31:36double sarcophagus composed of two
31:39sections, an outer limestone covering
31:42which encased an inner sarcophagus made
31:45of basalt.
31:46Both appeared to be heavily damaged.
31:48There is clear evidence of looting.
31:51The grave robbers made an opening in the
31:52outer section of the sarcophagus and
31:54then smashed open the inner section in
31:57order to get inside and remove the mummy.
32:00But despite the damage and the looting that
32:03had taken place, they hadn't succeeded in
32:05taking all of their precious items.
32:08The archaeologists discovered that Wahabri Merinith
32:11had also been buried with 402 Ushabti figures.
32:16Ushabtis are small human figurines that were an
32:20essential component of a person's burial.
32:22In the afterlife, when the gods called upon the
32:25deceased to work, he or she could turn to the
32:28Ushabtis, who acted as servants performing
32:31manual labour for the departed.
32:35Inscriptions on his sarcophagus were also found,
32:38which partially translated to commander of foreign
32:42mercenaries.
32:44So, Wahabri Merinith was a commander of mercenaries
32:48who were fighting for the newly minted Persian ruler of
32:51Egypt.
32:55What we can tell from this grave is that Egyptians, despite
33:00intense pressures from the ruling Persians, maintained their
33:04rights and traditions, which might have been very difficult in
33:09the face of Persian occupation.
33:11You can see evidence of this struggle in the statue of
33:15Ujai Hareznet.
33:16He's depicted wearing Persian clothing, but described in the
33:19text carved on the statue as an Egyptian official who lived in
33:23accordance with the traditional rules of Ma'at, or order.
33:28Wahabri Merinith may have been fighting for a foreign power by
33:33commanding their soldiers, but along with his Egyptian peers,
33:37maintained their local traditions at a time of incredible uncertainty.
33:59The Pan-American Highway, a network of roads connecting North and South America, runs
34:06through Chile's Atacama Desert.
34:09While the Atacama may not be the hottest desert, it is one of the driest places on Earth.
34:18Some experts believe that this land, which stretches over a thousand kilometers, is one of the
34:23oldest deserts in the world.
34:28During a routine expansion of the Pan-American Highway, road crews digging new ground discovered
34:35something bizarre in the middle of the desert.
34:39They uncovered massive bones just below the surface, and not just some, but hundreds of
34:44them in a 240-meter-long road cut.
34:49The highway cuts through a harsh landscape, bordered by the Pacific to the west and the desert to
34:54the east.
34:56The bones were found not far from shore, between caldera and the inland town of Copiapó.
35:04Perfectly preserved by the arid climate of the ancient Atacama, these bones are pieces
35:09of a puzzle waiting to be solved.
35:12What ancient creature could they be?
35:14The more they dug, the more the sands revealed bone after bone.
35:18In fact, many whole skeletons were found side by side.
35:23It took only a brief inspection by paleontologists for the answer to become clear.
35:28These are whale bones.
35:33Some whale bones were discovered along with various other marine specimens, lying between
35:38two and a half and seven meters below ground, while the majority of the whale bones were
35:44found at a depth ranging from five to seven meters.
35:47In total, paleontologists counted an astounding 31 whale skeletons.
35:53And not just any whales, these are raw call whales, a type of bailey or toothless whale that
35:59filter food from the sea using large, thin, keratin plates.
36:03The remains represented a wide range of maturation, from calves to full-grown adults.
36:11Rorque whales can be identified by the ventral grooves that extend from their chin all the
36:16way down to their bellies, which allows them to open their mouths extra wide.
36:21Along with the remains of the whales, they uncovered a variety of other extinct marine mammals and
36:27invertebrates, including seals, an aquatic sloth, a walrus whale, sharks, and large fish.
36:37Based on the extinct aquatic sloths and extinct sharks found in the sediments, they were able
36:42to determine that the site dates from the late Myocene era.
36:45So it's between five and 11 million years old.
36:48How did so many whales end up on the edge of the world's driest desert?
36:55One theory is that a tsunami could be responsible.
36:58A tsunami can be caused by several factors.
37:02Large earthquakes that occur near or under the ocean, onshore landslides, and even by volcanic eruptions.
37:14Chile has the fifth highest occurrence of tsunamis in the world, with a total of 166 to date.
37:22One of the biggest tsunamis on record in Chile was a 50-meter high wave.
37:27That type of oceanic event would have the force necessary to disrupt and displace many different
37:33types of marine life.
37:35Depending on their depth at the time of that type of extreme wave, a whale near the beach
37:41could either be pulled out to sea or stranded on the sand.
37:46But we would likely see a lot more disordered and scattered bones as a result of trauma,
37:51rather than the attacked skeletons found here along the highway.
37:55Not to mention the disruption to the land caused by a wave of that size would alter the sedimentary
38:01structure of the sands around the bones, but those changes are not present here.
38:08If they weren't ravaged by a tsunami, the question is, did they swim here?
38:20Paleontologists examining the layout of the site determined that the placement of many of
38:25the intact whales is orthogonal, or lying at a right angle to the flow of the current.
38:32The orientation of the remains indicates that they didn't swim, but were swept there by the currents.
38:40Additionally, experts determined that the majority of whales found in the deposits were positioned
38:45ventral side up, or in other words, on their backs.
38:49When you take into account their bodily orientation and belly up discovery,
38:54it's highly likely that these whales washed up dead or dying, only to be trapped and buried by the sand.
39:02So how did so many marine animals get trapped here?
39:09The location of where these whales were found is what's known as a supertidal flat,
39:14an area of land extending just beyond the reach of high tide.
39:21These flats were cut off from the beach by rock formations,
39:24preventing marine life from entering or exiting,
39:27unless there was extremely high tides or rough storm waters.
39:31This accounts for the lack of apparent scavenging by marine life,
39:35other than some hungry, but now fossilized, crabs.
39:39The Atacama Desert is also incapable of supporting large land animals
39:44that would be interested in scavenging on this salty feast.
39:48The restricted flat, coupled with the hyper-arid desert climate,
39:52created an excellent environment for in-situ decay.
39:56The whales likely experienced a quick death in the ocean before being carried to the flat.
40:02So what killed these whales?
40:05Stranding or beaching occurs when large sea mammals or fish
40:09end up on the shore, unable to return to the water on their own.
40:14While there can be extenuating circumstances,
40:18this is usually due to sickness or injury,
40:21extreme weather, or navigational errors.
40:28While the beaching of lone animals is somewhat common,
40:32mass strandings are much more rare.
40:37Statistically, tooth whales have a greater likelihood of mass stranding
40:41due to the fact that they're highly social and live in larger groups,
40:45compared to baleen whales.
40:48In the late 1980s,
40:5014 humpback whales,
40:52another variety of baleen whale,
40:55were discovered beached along 50 kilometers of coastline,
40:59around Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
41:02The humpbacks showed no signs of bodily trauma,
41:05but their stomach contents showed high concentrations of toxins
41:08that likely caused their death.
41:11Could something similar have happened to these Chilean whales?
41:15Unlike the beached humpback whales,
41:17the team couldn't test the stomach contents of the rocker whales,
41:22but their skeletal remains could hold the answer.
41:26Experts identified orange stained blotches
41:29that they believed to be the remains of algal mats.
41:34Algal mats are multi-layered sheets of microorganisms
41:37that form on the surface of water or rocks.
41:39When these mats reproduce at excessive rates,
41:42they can result in harmful algal blooms,
41:44also known as red or green tides.
41:48Best estimates are that this massive ancient whale deposit
41:51is the result of rapid death at sea
41:54due to ingested toxins created by harmful algal blooms.
42:00Runoff from the iron-rich Andes mountains combined with swells of nutrient-rich ocean water
42:06would have created the perfect storm for algal blooms.
42:15The whale remains have all been recovered and transported to museums for safekeeping.
42:21Named Cerro Bayana or Whale Hill
42:24for the sheer volume of rocker whales discovered there.
42:28This site will continue to enhance researchers' understanding of ocean life
42:34for years to come.
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