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00:08You
00:36The history that we were all taught growing up is wrong
00:39My name is Scott Wolter and I'm a forensic geologist
00:44There's a hidden history in this country that nobody knows about
00:47There are pyramids here, chambers, tombs, inscriptions
00:52They're all over this country
00:54We're going to investigate these artifacts and sites
00:57And we're going to get to the truth
00:59Sometimes history isn't what we've been told
01:34I was on vacation in Scotland when I got a call from my friend Alan Butler
01:39He and I have investigated many mysteries together
01:46He told me there is a serpent-shaped mound here at a place called Loch Nell
01:50Serpent mounds are rare
01:53Of the three largest known to exist
01:55One is in the US and two are in Europe
01:59Which begs the question, is there a connection between the people who built the mound in Scotland and the one
02:05in America?
02:08Alan, it's always great to see you
02:09So what you have must be really good
02:11This is something very special
02:13This is a site, it's extremely old as far as we know
02:17It's got folklore and tradition
02:19It's truly amazing and really quite a unique site
02:31We're actually now standing on the head of the serpent mound
02:35And you can see that its sinuous body weaves away on down towards the loch there
02:40If we take a look at this, which is a fairly unusual view of where we're standing now
02:45It was done just at the end of the 1800s
02:48So we're standing right here
02:50Yeah, yeah
02:50The serpent we're standing on is an effigy mound
02:54Effigy mounds are piles of earth and rock in the shape of animals or symbols
03:00Many are so old, their true purpose remains a mystery
03:03But evidence of rituals involving blood, death and fire can make them very intriguing
03:10On the mound that we're on, there was originally a stone circle
03:14With another stone in the centre which was referred to as the altar stone
03:18The body of the serpent itself was discovered at that time to have been covered with very large stones
03:25Maybe these right over here, they're still there it looks like
03:28Yeah
03:28And some of them were burnt stones that had been heated in a fire
03:31And that is fairly typical of what was going on at the end of the Stone Age, the Bronze Age
03:37These large stones that appear to have been worked and formed like a chamber down there
03:42Yeah, yeah, this is fairly typical of Scotland and Great Britain generally
03:45It's what's known as a burial kist
03:48In about 1890 when they looked into it, there was remains of a cremation
03:53There was also a bone knife in there
03:56But other than that it had been robbed out
03:58The people that were here were probably somebody who was a prominent individual
04:02Maybe a king or a ruler
04:03Or a priest
04:04In the culture at that time
04:05Do we have any idea how old this might be?
04:09Well, we think it's probably Bronze Age
04:11So we're talking 2000 BC?
04:13Absolutely, of course there's no way of knowing whether the Bronze Age people came along and modified it
04:19It could be older still
04:20There is a legend in the locality that executions were carried out here
04:24Okay
04:24It's much more likely that what it harks back to is ritual sacrifices
04:33At a significant day in the year, they bring the poor person along, cut their throat, throw them in the
04:40lock
04:44We've got a beautiful lake here
04:45And I can imagine that there was a large glacier that terminated or ended right here
04:52Underneath these glaciers as they're melting
04:54There are rivers that flow under the ice
04:57And they deposit sand and gravel and boulders
05:00And it forms these sinuating, snaking ridges called eskers
05:05And that's exactly what this looks like here
05:08This is probably a natural esker that has been enhanced by man
05:13So the question that people of course are going to ask is
05:15Why a serpent? Why is that so important?
05:18If you look back at human history, you know the serpent or the snake
05:21Has been really significant to humanity almost right from the start
05:26The serpent plays a major role throughout history
05:30In the first book of the Bible
05:32The serpent appeared in the Garden of Eden
05:34And offered Eve the apple from the tree of knowledge
05:37In ancient Egypt, a serpent called a Uraeus is on the forehead of the pharaoh
05:43And represents divine authority
05:45The staff of the Greek god Hermes has two serpents wrapped around it
05:49Like our modern day symbol for medicine
05:54Recently, serpents came up in another investigation closer to home
05:57A legend of a lake monster tied to the Aztecs
06:00This serpent is said to be a protective figure patrolling the waters in Wisconsin
06:06And guarding sacred underwater pyramids
06:09I never saw the serpent myself
06:11But in legend, there is usually some truth
06:15There's no question that serpents were important to whoever built this mound
06:19Sometimes, the same people who revered serpents also held archaeoastronomy
06:25The practice of building things in line with the sun, moon and planets sacred as well
06:31That could be a clue to who built this serpent mound
06:34And possibly the one in the United States
06:36It just keeps a recurring theme, this serpent
06:39And we have it here
06:41Yeah, and in this case, of course
06:42You've also got to think that everybody knows about the Loch Ness monster, you know
06:48But monsters or entities have been associated with many of the lochs in Scotland
06:53They may, to a certain extent, have been trying to reproduce the spiritual entity that they thought lived in the
06:59loch
07:02Well, along with all of this serpent mythology
07:05I'm convinced that a structure like this has to have some archaeoastronomy associated with it
07:10When I look at this photo, if you look in the distance, there are those peaks right there
07:15Absolutely
07:15And you notice how they seem to follow the long orientation of the esker here or of the serpent?
07:22Yes
07:22I'm wondering if there might be some alignments here
07:24I think it's highly likely
07:26You know our experience has been, when we come to ancient sites like this
07:30There's almost always going to be some type of archaeoastronomy involved
07:34Some type of alignments with the stars, the heavens, the moon, the planets, and with geographic features
07:41I would like to see if we have some alignments
07:43I have a brand new app on my phone that I can use
07:46Maybe we've got some solstice or equinox alignments
07:49So, you up for it?
07:50I think that's a great idea
07:51All right, let's do it
07:56I think this serpent mound was intentionally built to align with the peaks of those mountains
08:02I'm taking some basic measurements to determine the orientation of its axis
08:16All right, now I'm going to pull out the app
08:23The Helios Sun Position app can calculate the position of the sun from dawn till dusk on any day at
08:29any time
08:30And allows people to track the sun's path from anywhere on earth
08:35What I'm seeing from here confirms that this mountain is aligned with those mountains
08:40And this app will show me exactly what day of the year the sun passes over that alignment
08:45Here's where the sun rises
08:47Yeah
08:48And it's following that track
08:50Yeah
08:50And there is the mountain right there
08:53We're just past the summer solstice
08:56So the sun should rise on those mountains and then make its arc there on the equinox
09:01We definitely have an east-west alignment along this megalithic structure
09:06There's probably other alignments here involving the moon, the planets, maybe the stars and some other things
09:11Ancient people built alignments into many of the world's most famous sights
09:17Chichen Itza in Mexico is a Mayan marvel
09:20And its main temple, El Castillo, uses the angle of the sun to honor the serpent on specific days of
09:26the year
09:28Stonehenge in England has enormous standing stones that mark important dates, serving as a giant calendar
09:35Even the Washington Monument in D.C. is part of the Federal Triangle that lines up with the stars
09:42But the question for me is, who built this?
09:45Well, we're talking about 2000 B.C., 4000 years ago
09:49We've got people coming in from France and from Spain
09:53It's the start of farming, it's the start of people being settled
09:57But we're talking about people who are practicing pagan rituals, right?
10:00Oh, no doubt about it
10:02We had the kissed here with the human remains
10:05Probably part of some ritual
10:07And maybe human sacrifice
10:08I believe that they took a natural feature and enhanced it with the stones
10:12I think it's probably a glacial esker
10:15They added the stones, perhaps to make the alignment more precise
10:20I know of another serpent mob that has a lot of the same features that we see here
10:25It's massive
10:27In fact, it's two to three times larger than this one
10:30Where's that?
10:31Ohio
10:31If there's a connection between these two sites, I'm gonna find it
10:56I was on vacation in Scotland when I got hooked on a new mystery
11:01A possible ancient connection between a serpent mound in Scotland and one in Ohio
11:06The Scotland Mound definitely has evidence of archaeoastronomy
11:10And probably dates back to at least 2000 B.C.
11:14I think some ancient pagan group may have enhanced a natural formation called an esker for its own ritual purposes
11:24Archaeoastronomy could show that the same thing happened in Ohio
11:28And could be the missing link that helps prove whether the same people built both mounds thousands of years ago
11:49And could be the one with the other of the city
11:49And could get a famous example from the city
11:52But, but they have an entire dynamic ship
11:53And could be the same between these two and one with the most magnificent buildings
11:53Just before the mosque, they have a very busy task, they have a very big deal
11:54They have to be the same thing
11:55And could be the same thing
11:55As long as the fair company
11:55The �idscundity
11:55It's probably to be the same thing
12:01Can you find the same thing
12:02How can you find the same game
12:06Hey Ross, I just got back from Scotland and I looked at the Loch Nell Serpent Mound with
12:11my friend Alan Butler and he said that this Serpent Mound maybe dates back to about 2000
12:16BC.
12:18They've got a burial there for sure that they were able to get some dates on.
12:22To me it looks like a natural geologic feature that's been enhanced by man and there are
12:27some alignments there that were very interesting and of course I thought about the Ohio Serpent
12:32Mound and I wanted to see if there might be a connection.
12:35Yeah there could be a connection.
12:36Our Serpent is similar to the Loch Nell Serpent only it's bigger and its purpose is a mystery
12:43and the best way to see our Serpent Mound is from the sky.
12:47Let's go.
13:06Alexander Solomon Airport Helicopter, Tantango departing to the east in the trapping area.
13:11Please advise Solomon Airport.
13:17Ross is right.
13:19The best way to view this mound is from the air.
13:21It's huge.
13:23If the Serpent Mound were stretched out into a straight line it would measure 1371 feet
13:30from tip to tail.
13:32That's almost as long as four American football fields.
13:38Take a look at that.
13:40There's the Serpent.
13:41Oh you can see it beautifully.
13:45Stunning.
13:45You can see the seven mighty coils.
13:48Oh.
13:49It has three parts to it.
13:50The oval, the small triangular feature of the head, and then the main body.
13:54Wow.
13:55Obviously it was meant to be seen from above.
13:58Could they have built this for the gods?
14:00Well yeah.
14:01If the people on the ground were wanting to impress or attract someone from above, then they would
14:07have created their effigy in a way that would indeed invoke somebody from a heavenly point
14:14of view.
14:15Now, who do the archaeologists think built the mound?
14:19The question of who designed the Serpent Mound still remains a mystery.
14:24The carbon that was discovered solidified a date of about 312 BC.
14:30That would put it squarely in the middle Adena era.
14:32Some carbon from the early Adena era was also found going back to 700 BC because we feel
14:39that the Adena people may have been part of a reconstruction effort.
14:43So, really what you're saying is, is you think it was probably built much earlier, perhaps
14:49thousands of years BC, and then it was rebuilt or modified by a later culture, possibly the
14:55Adena?
14:56Yeah.
14:56There were burials that were found that suggested the Archaic people who were before the Adena,
15:03going back 2,000 BC, even 3,000 BC were thought to have constructed it.
15:08Human bones?
15:09Yeah.
15:10And they were fossilized.
15:12Is this possible that the Serpent could have been here long before the Adena and that the
15:17Adena may have religiously attempted to keep its memory?
15:20Well, that would be analogous to what I saw in Scotland.
15:24We know that we had burials there inside the head of that serpent.
15:28There was actually something called a kist constructed there out of quarried stone, and
15:33that's where they found human bones that dated back 2,000 BC.
15:37Maybe there is a connection.
15:39When I look down here, in the mouth of the serpent, it looks like there's something there.
15:44To me, it looks like an egg.
15:46The oval that's contained in the serpent's mouth has been one of the greatest points
15:52of discussion for earthwork aficionados over the years.
15:55There is debate over what the serpent's egg symbolizes.
15:59Some believe it is a type of sun disk, which could tie this mound back to ancient cultures
16:04such as the Egyptians.
16:06Others believe it is the eye of Horus, another Egyptian symbol.
16:10We know for certain that the serpent can accommodate over 15 possible solar and lunar alignments.
16:20The serpent also reflects from directly above a pattern of stars.
16:26So that's why we say the serpent is the most astonishing effigy anywhere in the world of its
16:33kind.
16:35Some experts believe that along with more than 15 solar and lunar alignments, the Ohio
16:41Serpent Mound also reflects the star constellation Draco.
16:47In Latin, Draco means dragon, and a portion of the constellation does line up with the serpent
16:53mound below.
16:54I think that evidence of alignments proves that this mound was an ancient tool that reflects
17:00something similar to what the original builders were seeing in the heavens.
17:04When we look at Serpent Mound, we're looking at something that was probably created by a
17:08genius, someone that loved astronomy and loved the earth.
17:13An adept.
17:31Ross, one thing we know for sure, it's definitely an effigy mound.
17:35In this case, a serpent or a snake.
17:37And whoever built it went to an awful lot of energy and work.
17:40My question to you is, do you think it's more spiritual or practical in nature?
17:45I think both.
17:46It was apparently functional.
17:48The effigy actually is a scientific instrument that helps to restore the spirit of the planet.
17:56On the practical side, when I was at Loch Nell, I documented a long range alignment.
18:01In this case, it was an equinox alignment where the long axis of the serpent lined up beautifully
18:06with these twin peaks in the distance.
18:08Well, you know, I can show you actually.
18:11Here's the effigy.
18:12Okay.
18:13And you know, we have seven coils.
18:15It's actually three loops going out toward the east and then three coils kind of facing in toward the west.
18:21And on the ones facing east, you get the classical winter solstice, sunrise.
18:27And then if you stand in the most northern coil facing east, you get the summer solstice sunrise.
18:33And then through the oval later that same day, you get the summer solstice sunset.
18:38Maybe that's when people were making pilgrimages.
18:40It could be, but it could also have been used by those old astronomers that lived in the prehistoric times
18:49to sight the various phases of the moon.
18:51So the general orientation or long axis of the snake, in your case, runs north-south,
18:56whereas in Scotland, it was east-west.
18:59East-west.
18:59Yeah, I guess they had the same idea in mind, but they just went about it in a different way.
19:04You mentioned that there are burial mounds.
19:06Why would people want to be buried by the serpent mound?
19:08Like Stonehenge in Great Britain, the serpent may have been one of those great revered pilgrimage places
19:15that people wanted to be associated with in life and in death.
19:21When I visited Stonehenge in England, there are burials there,
19:24probably for the same reason that we have them here.
19:27They would practice rituals.
19:28They would have processions, and it was a very important part of the culture.
19:32Apparently, the same thing happened here.
19:37So far, I see a lot of similarities between the mound in Ohio and the mound in Scotland.
19:42Could there have been a transfer of rituals and rites between pagan people over there
19:48and the Adena people or some other native group here?
19:52Both are serpents, effigy mounds best seen from above.
19:56Both have ceremonial burials, astronomical alignments, and both date back thousands of years.
20:05But what I really want to know is, did the same people build both mounds?
20:10And why did they choose the serpent?
20:15There's no doubt that there's some incredible astronomical alignments here, and they're incredibly precise.
20:20We see the same thing in Scotland, although the question that comes to mind,
20:24there's all kinds of effigies, creatures, and things that they could have made.
20:28Why a serpent? Why a snake?
20:30The serpent is a world symbol from very ancient times of the giver of life.
20:35There's an uncanny connection. A Christian minister back in 1901 said that this serpent was created directly by God
20:42to remind humanity of the fall from grace and that what it has in its mouth is a fruit from
20:49the tree of life.
20:50So, Ross, are you saying that the serpent mound or the shape of it could represent the location of the
20:56Garden of Eden?
21:16My investigation into a link between a serpent mound in Scotland and a similar mound here in Ohio has me
21:22thinking.
21:23There has to be some sort of a connection that ancient travelers brought knowledge from the old world to the
21:29new.
21:31Both sites have archaeoastronomy.
21:34Both have evidence of burials, and both were thought to be spiritual sites.
21:39But what kind of spiritual sites?
21:42Some suspect pagan rituals took place at the serpent mound in Loch Nell, Scotland.
21:47But there could be a spiritual connection of a very different nature going on here.
21:59So, are you saying that the serpent mound is somehow connected to the Garden of Eden?
22:05Native Americans think so. The Cherokee elders are pretty certain of that.
22:12The entire eastern half of the United States, they believe, was once a magnificent garden.
22:17And it was based, we believe, in a mythology.
22:21The Garden of Eden is the biblical Garden of God.
22:25It is mentioned most notably in the book of Genesis as the location where Adam and Eve, the first man
22:30and woman, were created.
22:33They were forced to leave the garden after a serpent convinced them to eat forbidden fruit from the tree of
22:38knowledge.
22:39Over the centuries, many cultures have claimed to know the location of the Garden of Eden.
22:44But to this day, no solid evidence has been found.
22:49This site seems too new to be the actual biblical site.
22:53But the themes of the serpent and of growth and regeneration could be the same.
22:59We definitely have dates through radiocarbon dating that go back about 2,400 years at least.
23:06We've got an effigy mound here that is so large and so important to these people,
23:12they were obviously trying to document something that was bigger than themselves.
23:16Do you think that this mound could somehow be connected to the one in Scotland?
23:19I wouldn't rule that out because the serpent was considered the great father or mother.
23:24It was the provider of life for all vegetation and for all things.
23:30And so once you understand the belief that the serpent is a great symbol of life and regeneration,
23:36then it's kind of hard not to see a connection between Scotland and the United States.
23:42Right.
23:43There are other effigy mounds in the U.S. that are impressive and not that far from here.
23:48Where?
23:48Iowa.
24:03I'm investigating a possible link between an ancient serpent mound in Scotland
24:08and a serpent mound in Ohio here in the United States.
24:11Both are ancient sites, possibly dating back thousands of years with evidence of ceremonial burials and archaeoastronomy.
24:20I think there's a strong possibility that ancient pagan worshippers from Scotland
24:25or some other early group of transatlantic travelers shared knowledge with the earliest inhabitants of the United States.
24:35Ross just told me the Ohio Serpent Mound isn't the only animal-shaped effigy mound in the United States,
24:42and that a site in Iowa could figure into the mystery.
24:46He told me to meet a man who knows a lot about the mound-building cultures here, to ask him
24:51about an ancient connection with voyagers overseas.
24:55Depending on what I find in Iowa, it may be the evidence I need to get to the bottom of
25:00who made these mounds and for what purpose.
25:02Whether it be pagan worship, spiritual rituals, or something else.
25:08Hey Jim, I'm investigating possible connections between a serpent mound site that I visited in Scotland called Loch Nell and
25:16the Serpent Mound in Ohio.
25:18We know those sites date back at least 2,000 years.
25:21Both have archaeoastronomy, and the way those things are laid out, they had to have been designed to be viewed
25:27from above.
25:27I've been studying these mounds for 33 years and surveying them, and I've had a lot of stories from Native
25:36Americans about such things.
25:45Jim, this is a lot bigger area than I imagined. How many mounds are here?
25:50There are around 200 mounds in this park. About 31 of them are effigy mounds.
25:56This was a small part of a much larger complex.
26:00How big are we talking?
26:02Well, it had estimated at least 1,000 mounds, essentially all of which are now destroyed.
26:08It was a sort of an intertribal expression of what appears to be a harmony between the Earth and the
26:16sky and the seasons.
26:18So, you're saying they have archaeoastronomy here?
26:21They do.
26:21People came to these mound groups at certain times of the year for education, where they learned about the sky
26:28and the animals and the stars.
26:32Do we know which Native group built them?
26:34This was in the area that was controlled by what are called the Ho-Chunk.
26:40And stories say that the Ho-Chunk controlled the trade along the rivers, all the way from Lake Superior to
26:48the Gulf.
26:49So that means they were traveling?
26:51They traveled.
26:51There were priests that went across to Europe and to Asia, and people from there came here for training as
27:00well.
27:01So, Jim, what you're saying is that there was a transfer of information through the Native priesthoods, both in Europe,
27:07over here to North America, and back again.
27:10I mean, long before Columbus, right?
27:12That's what they say.
27:14When I was in Scotland, and then when I went to the Serpent Mount in Ohio, I saw things that
27:19definitely connected those two sites.
27:21One was archaeoastronomy, and based on what you've told me about this site here, there seems to be the same
27:27thing going on.
27:28Do I have that right?
27:29Yes.
27:30And keep in mind that the knowledge was spread by the priesthoods.
27:34Across the continents.
27:35And across the seas.
27:37This would explain some of the mysterious artifacts that people have been pondering over for decades and over a hundred
27:44years.
27:45That would answer a lot of questions, yes.
27:48You're saying that these effigy mounds here in Iowa are almost certainly connected to the Serpent Mount in Ohio.
27:54Well, couldn't they then be connected to the Serpent Mount in Scotland as well?
28:25I'm investigating a connection between an ancient Serpent Mount in Scotland,
28:29and similar mounds in the United States.
28:32All of the sites have a sacred purpose, and are best seen from above.
28:37What's more, there is evidence that they were aligned with the heavens.
28:41But why?
28:44Evidence like this, left at the mounds, could be the key to unlocking a global system of shared knowledge and
28:51ideas.
28:51A link between cultures that reaches further back in time than our history books tell us today.
28:59If it can be proven that a group of pagan worshipers, their rituals and their symbols, came from Scotland to
29:05America thousands of years ago,
29:07that would open up a whole new chapter in American history.
29:14So, Jim, it sounds to me like what you're saying is that there was a native priesthood in Europe and
29:20Scotland that shared information with Native Americans over here in North America?
29:25That's what they say here.
29:27Certainly, somebody has to have the knowledge of how to construct that archaeoastronomy.
29:33And I believe that knowledge was shared freely among all tribes and also across the ocean.
29:39That's amazing.
29:43What are we looking at, Jim?
29:45Oh, it's the bear mound of the north group.
29:48It's 137 feet long, about three and a half feet high.
29:52There's a main group with ten other bear mounds of the same shape.
29:57Jim tells me that 1,000 years ago, this entire area used to be covered with hundreds of mounds.
30:03And not just bear mounds, but serpent mounds, too.
30:07Even though they've now been destroyed, the fact they existed during that time could mean they were tied to a
30:13ritualistic, religious group centered around a figure called the plume serpent.
30:19In America, the plume serpent religion was widespread, but their trade empire went far beyond our country's borders, to Mexico
30:27and possibly to Europe.
30:29These people who traded, they went all across this country.
30:33And so those would be the same people that were at Cahokia until they were abandoned about 1200 A.D.
30:43Cahokia is one of the most mysterious sites in America.
30:47It had an outpost called Aztalon, which I've seen.
30:51Jim says Cahokia was also a central hub for the plume serpent religion, a belief that stretched all the way
30:57south into Mexico.
30:58Some experts believe the plume serpent religion connects this Iowa effigy mound site with Cahokia.
31:05In fact, serpent shaped artifacts have been found there.
31:08Any serpent connection is important in my search for the truth.
31:14What happened to those people at Cahokia? Where did they go?
31:17By 1200, they were gone. So the culture kind of collapsed.
31:22Collapsed.
31:23I've now been to three different sites on two different continents.
31:26And between the archaeoastronomy and the effigy mounds at all three places that are best viewed from above, this all
31:34seems to tie these sites together.
31:36But there's one more place that I want to go to that might provide some additional evidence.
31:41Cahokia.
31:46My investigation into an ancient connection between Scotland, Ohio and Iowa thousands of years ago has me thinking that ancient
31:55traders may have brought knowledge here to the United States from across the Atlantic.
32:01All three of these mounds sites have evidence of nearby burials and archaeoastronomy.
32:07All could be connected and were thought to be ancient ceremonial meeting places.
32:13I want to find out whether ancient cultures, possibly from Europe, traveled to the United States and shared knowledge with
32:21Native Americans.
32:37I think evidence at Cahokia could give me the answer. And that's my next stop.
32:43But a regular plane ride over the site won't be enough this time.
32:48I want to look under it to find clues hidden beneath the Earth's surface.
32:53To do that, I'll need to use a technology called LIDAR.
32:58LIDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging.
33:01It uses laser light to scan the surface of the Earth to generate precise 3D information about the terrain below.
33:09This technology essentially removes all vegetation and allows scientists to map the terrain and see what may be buried below.
33:19It's a way to dig up new information without digging at all.
33:22And I think it could be exactly what I need to solve this mystery.
33:31Hey, Jamie, good to see you again.
33:33Good to see you too, Scott.
33:33Well, I'm investigating Cahokia, which was an ancient city, trying to see if maybe there's a connection between this site
33:40and effigy sites I've looked at, both in America and Scotland.
33:44So what kind of connections have you made so far?
33:46Well, I've looked at two serpent mound sites, one in Ohio and one in Scotland.
33:51I was also in Iowa and I looked at an effigy mound site.
33:54They were important ritual sites and they also incorporate elements of archaeoastronomy.
33:59And while I was there, I heard about Cahokia.
34:02And I'm hoping to see if there might be a connection between this site and those sites.
34:07What we're trying to do is see if we can find any effigy mounds with your technology that weren't found
34:12in the past.
34:13I have some pictures of the old LIDAR that was collected.
34:16It was collected at one meter.
34:18This is the old technology?
34:20Correct.
34:20Okay.
34:21We now can collect the data at 30 to 60 points per meter.
34:25Really?
34:25Yeah.
34:26That's a lot better.
34:27If the old LIDAR was looking down at a dog, the new LIDAR would be looking at a flea on
34:33the dog.
34:34That sounds exactly what we're looking for.
34:36If those effigy mounds are there, we'll definitely see them.
34:39Maybe this data you generate will help us tie the site in Scotland with what we have here in America.
35:03In the entire world, there are only a few known Serpent Mound sites.
35:08Two in Europe and a massive one in the United States seem to share similarities.
35:14And I have to wonder, could they be connected?
35:18At each location, I found evidence of similar beliefs and practices.
35:22That evidence could connect native cultures here with cultures across the Atlantic.
35:30Cahokia was once the epicenter of mound building culture in the United States.
35:35In 1200 AD, there were 40,000 people living here, making this city bigger than London or Paris at the
35:43time.
35:43Some experts believe forefathers of an ancient plume serpent religion, which spanned through Mexico and the United States,
35:51used Cahokia as a central meeting place.
35:57Serpent-shaped artifacts have been found here.
35:59But I want to know if there was ever a serpent-shaped mound at this site.
36:05And remote sensing technology called LiDAR is going to help me figure that out.
36:32Right now, I'm flying over the Cahokia Mound site.
36:37The largest mound, Monk's Mound, is 100 feet high and at its base is bigger than the Pyramid of Giza
36:44in Egypt.
36:45This ancient city spread for miles over the Illinois countryside and was once a booming metropolis for the Mississippian mound
36:53-building culture.
36:54What I'm hoping here is that by looking at this data, we might be able to figure out if the
36:59mound-building culture here at Cahokia,
37:01maybe they're connected to these other effigy sites that I saw in both Ohio and Iowa.
37:07And maybe even connect to Scotland.
37:20It's great over here to see the deploy lines north-south and east-west.
37:23All right. Yep. A heck of a lot more detail than the last time, isn't it?
37:27Oh, yeah. This will get it from different angles as well.
37:29The north-south and east-west and with the different overlaps, so.
37:32Cool.
37:45All right, Scott. We're wrapping up our last line here.
37:48We have the scans that we need to compile our liner results.
37:52That sounds great, Chris. I've got an archaeologist who's meeting us on the ground when we land.
37:57Let's process this data and see what we uncovered.
38:12Once Chris hands off the LIDAR data to Jamie, he'll be able to tell me what the data shows.
38:18He'll be able to pinpoint anything interesting hidden under the Earth's surface.
38:23But in order to find out what that data means, I have an expert on Cahokia meeting me here.
38:30He'll be able to interpret any new evidence the LIDAR uncovers.
38:38Hi, Peter. I've been doing research trying to see if there's a connection between effigy sites here in the United
38:44States with the Serpent Mound site that I saw in Scotland.
38:47And I also went to an effigy mound site in Iowa, and I learned there that there is a likely
38:54connection between that site and Cahokia.
38:56Well, Cahokia was the largest human-made construction in the United States before Columbus.
39:03Cahokia brought people in from everywhere.
39:05My understanding is that there's a serpent artifact here at Cahokia, correct?
39:09There's actually a couple.
39:11There was a copper serpent found by an amateur in the late 1800s.
39:16But there's also a very famous figurine called the burger figurine.
39:20And what it shows is a woman who's hoeing the back of a serpent.
39:25It shows that serpent being a figure of fertility.
39:29One of the things I learned at the Effigy Mounds Park was that there's something called a plumed serpent.
39:35The plumed serpent is very broadly shared across the eastern United States.
39:41The plumed serpent is a flying serpent, otherwise known as a dragon.
39:44So, in fact, that idea of this flying serpent probably goes all the way back to the time before Native
39:52Americans came to the United States.
39:54It's probably a very ancient set of ideas.
39:57The rituals that were created at Cahokia embodied that knowledge.
40:02A big part of it was looking at the sun, knowing when the seasons were.
40:06The whole city is lined up with celestial events.
40:10So the big question is, what happened to these people? Where did they go?
40:13The answer is, probably pretty simple, that they just left.
40:17They had a lot of people in a very small place.
40:21They had begun to diminish the soils.
40:24They'd begun to use up wood resources in the area.
40:27And once again, we don't know why.
40:29We just know that by about 1350, the place was pretty much abandoned.
40:35Well, we're definitely seeing connections between these sites that I visited.
40:38Maybe the LiDAR data will give us more information.
40:44Well, Jamie, do you have the data for us?
40:47Yeah, we've got all the data processed so we can go ahead and look at it.
40:50All right.
40:51I think I found some new mounds right here.
40:54There's some more over here that I didn't see in the other data.
40:57Peter, what do you think?
40:58Well, there's an east plaza over here, and I think those may be associated with that.
41:04I think what you're seeing is part of the Woodhenge, which would be right about in that spot.
41:10They may just not have been big enough to be seen.
41:12Okay.
41:13So this is a great improvement.
41:15And also, if we can go to the north, this whole area was all artificially leveled.
41:21Engineered.
41:22So that it would be relatively flat.
41:24So the possibility exists that there could have been an effigy mound there,
41:28but because it's been flattened, we'll never know.
41:31Well, that's true.
41:32Yeah.
41:32I don't think we've found the smoking gun yet.
41:34However, it's still possible that there could have been a connection between those two sites.
41:39At least I'm firmly convinced of that.
41:41I believe that ancient civilizations were much more advanced and intelligent than we give them credit for.
41:47And the possibility does exist that there was contact across the oceans.
41:52I mean, the oceans were like super highways.
41:54I don't believe that they were barriers.
41:56And I really believe that we're just beginning to understand the connections of civilizations
42:00that were here in North America thousands of years ago.
42:05I think effigy mound sites hold the key to understanding our ancestors, where they traveled, and what they believed.
42:12The Loch Nell Serpent Mound in Scotland has evidence of ceremonial burials and alignments with the heavens,
42:18as does the Serpent Mound in Ohio, which hints at a possible connection.
42:24I believe the people who built that Serpent Mound shared or received knowledge with ancient cultures across the ocean,
42:31trading ideas, symbols like the serpent, and who knows what else.
42:36I think there is more evidence of a connection out there, hidden beneath the surface, waiting to be unearthed.
42:43Let's see.
42:46We'll see you again.
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