All language subtitles for Lost Cities of the Amazon Series 1 Part 2 Rise of a Superpower 1080p

Narrator:
The amazon rainforest --

A breathtaking natural wonder.

It has always been seen
as a pristine wilderness,

Home to no more than
a handful of small tribes.

But today, the amazon is at the
center of a monumental mystery.

According to one
centuries-old account,

Giant cities once thrived
in the jungle.

And now,
astonishing discoveries...

This is incredible.

There's so much here.

...Are raising, the question --
could that be true?

There were many people
living in the amazon.

Narrator: With new technology,

Scientists are
searching for clues

To solve the mystery
of a missing civilization...

These were much more
complex societies

Than we thought existed.

Narrator:
...Where they came from...

There's a sign of ancestry
in you

That is very unique
and very special.

...And what happened to them.

For the people living here,
it was a catastrophic event.

And people just ran away.

Narrator:
It's a dangerous place,

But emerging from
the rainforest today

Is the greatest human story
that's never been told.

[ all shouting ]

-- Captions by vitac --
www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

♪

Across the amazon rainforest,

Archeologists today are making
incredible discoveries...

Check this baby.

Narrator:
...Traces of a once great
civilization lost in the jungle.

Mark robinson is one of
hundreds of scientists

Trying to solve a mystery.

How did these lost civilizations

Ever flourish
in such a hostile jungle?

His mission starts by tracing
the footsteps

Of the earliest humans
to ever reach the amazon.

Scientists believe the first
humans to reach the americas

Made an epic migration
across asia.

At least 15,000 years ago,

They crossed an ancient land
bridge from siberia to alaska

Before traveling down
through north america

And finally crossing
through the narrow darién gap

To land in modern-day colombia.

That's where mark
begins his search for clues.

Until now, any attempts to find
evidence of the first amazonians

Here in colombia
have been impossible.

For the last 50 years,
much of the country

Has been a no-go zone
for archeologists

As a brutal civil war played out
between the colombian government

And a rebel group
known as the farc.

But a recent peace agreement
is allowing mark

And a team
of colombian archeologists

To explore the jungles
once more.

♪

Mark targets the cliffs of
serranía la lindosa,

A series of spectacular
rocky outcrops

Bursting out of the jungle

On the northwest fringe
of the amazon.

Early humans
would have been attracted

To prominent landscape features
like this,

So it's the perfect place

To look for traces
of human activity.

♪

♪

What mark finds decorating
the rock walls

Takes him by surprise.

Hundreds of drawings
painted in red ocher.

Strange, intricate patterns --

Animals, plants, human figures.

It all looks prehistoric,
but who painted it?

Mark has studied
similar paintings before.

He can spot clues
that tell him what they mean.

♪

Who painted these images?

Mark scours the strange designs
for clues.

The weird geometric shapes
could be the seeds of plants.

Mark has discovered what these
rock artists were eating.

They painted a virtual menu
on the walls.

And it reveals these people
were hunter-gatherers.

Mark searches for more clues.

[ singing in native language ]

[ whooping ]

♪

In many parts of
the amazon today,

Dance is still a powerful means
of expression.

For the kuikuro people
of brazil's xingu region,

Every stage of life
has a ritual attached to it.

They dance to celebrate
a chief,

A successful hunt,

A good haul of fish,

And the ripening of fruit.

To mark the coming of puberty,

To honor the dead,

And to ward off disease.

Dance is a vital part
of their tradition --

A way to tell stories
from their past

And to pass on their history
to future generations.

A legacy chief afukaká kuikuro
is determined will continue.

Mark wants to know if
the first roots of societies

Like the kuikuro can be traced
to these painted cliffs.

First he must find out
how old they are.

But there's a problem.

Radiocarbon dating won't work.

♪

But there's hope
of finding an answer,

Because last year,

Mark and his team explored
even deeper into the forest.

What they found
was jaw dropping.

There isn't just
one painted wall.

Incredibly, they have identified
another 16 sites,

And even more may lay
hidden in the jungle.

There could be tens of thousands
of images out there,

And any one of them could reveal
who painted these cliffs

And when.

To find out if these paintings

Really are the work
of the first amazonians,

Mark needs to
hunt for more clues.

That means trekking deeper
into the rainforest

To reach new
and unexplored sites.

Narrator:
When the first europeans

Arrived in the amazon
500 years ago,

They claimed to have seen
endless cities

Stretching for miles
along the riverbanks.

But later, explorers saw
no trace of any civilization --

Just a few scattered
nomadic tribes.

It seemed impossible
that a vast population

Could ever flourish here

In one of the most remote,
hostile places on earth.

But across the amazon,

Scientists are now
uncovering evidence

That those early reports
may have been right.

Archeologist mark robinson
is on a mission to trace

That once great civilization
back to its very earliest roots.

Hidden in the colombian jungle

On the northern fringes
of the amazon,

He's found a series

Of spectacular
prehistoric paintings.

But can he prove
they are the work

Of the very first humans
to set foot in south america?

♪

♪

♪

It's time to climb higher.

♪

♪

Hidden among the thousands
of pictures,

Mark finds something strange.

It could be the clue
he's been looking for.

Further along the cliff face
are other extinct animals --

An ancient camel-like creature

And a giant sloth
surrounded by human hunters.

One image surprises mark
most of all.

Mastodons were prehistoric
relatives

Of elephants and mammoths.

And they did once live
on the fringes of the amazon.

Although it's a rough image,
it's vital evidence

To help mark date the paintings.

These paintings were made
by humans

Who lived alongside
the giant prehistoric creatures,

Animals that are now extinct.

They must have been painted
at least 12,000 years ago

When humans were taking
some of their first steps

Into the amazon.

♪

Marc has found traces of some of
the first human life

In the amazon here in colombia.

These paintings were made

Right at the start
of the new stone age,

Perhaps a thousand years
before the dawn of agriculture

In the fertile crescent
of the middle east.

But if amazon history began here
at the northern fringe

Of the forest,
how deep into the jungle

Did those early
hunter-gatherers get.

In brazil, archeologist
edithe pereira believes

She has found an answer.

More than two and a half
thousand miles from colombia,

Close to a town
called monte alegre

On the banks
of the amazon river,

A series of cliffs conceal
an ancient cave

Known as
caverna da pedra pintada --

The cave of the painted rock.

Deep inside the caves,

Edith has discovered
something incredible.

Like the art in colombia,

The ocher paintings themselves
can't be radiocarbon dated.

But these artists
left behind vital clues,

Because while they worked,
they spilled paint,

And some of that paint
fell around their campfires.

With ancient charcoal,

Edith was able to use
radiocarbon dating

To find out how long ago
the rock artist

Reached this cave right at
the heart of the amazon forest.

These caves were painted
at almost exactly the same time

As the cliffs in colombia
more than 1,000 miles away.

Early humans must have
spread quickly

Through the amazon rainforest,

Laying the foundations
for new jungle societies

Right from the very beginning.

But how did that primitive
hunter-gatherer society

Ever become a sophisticated
civilization in the jungle,

One that thrived
for thousands of years

Before the europeans arrived?

Far to the south on the flood
plains of bolivia,

Could these mysterious
manmade jungle islands

Provide the answer?

♪

Narrator: Archeologists have
traced the roots

Of amazon society to colombia

At least 12,000 years ago
and found evidence

That they spread quickly into
the heart of the rainforest.

Now, across the amazon,
they are uncovering evidence

That those early
hunter-gatherers

Eventually flourished
into a great civilization.

But how they made
that major transition

In such a hostile environment

Is one of the greatest
mysteries of the amazon.

And it's a mystery

Earth scientist
umberto lombardo

Is determined to solve.

His mission has taken him
into the lowlands

Of northern bolivia...

To the llanos de mojos,

A vast expanse
of tropical floodplain

Covering an area
the size of illinois.

♪

♪

For six months of the year
in the dry season,

These plains bake hard
under a relentless sun.

But flowing through
this arid land are rivers

Carrying water from the andes
down into the amazon basin.

And when the wet season begins,

The rivers burst
their banks, drowning

The low-lying plains
for half of the year.

Today, this harsh environment
is a land of cowboys and cattle.

But scattered across the plains
are mysterious clues

To a much older society.

Strange islands of forest.

♪

Umberto spots something
very strange

About the ground
the trees are growing on.

[ thudding ]

♪

Incredibly, the bedrock
of the forest island is formed

From a massive pile
of discarded snail shells.

Umberto believes that snails
were a major part

Of the ancient human diet
here in the floodplains.

And he thinks that the first
people to settle here

Built their homes
on top of their leftover meals.

At first, the mounds
were simply trash piles.

But eventually they grew higher

Than the annual floods,

Over many centuries,

The snail shells grew higher and
higher until bushes and trees

Began to grow
on the fertile mounds.

The new islands of the forest
offered shelter

From the sun and safety
from the floods --

The perfect place
to build a home.

♪

They may have been man-made,

But did people ever settle
for good on the islands?

Were these
the accidental foundations

Of the first
settled amazon society?

Umberto and a team
of archeologists

May have found the answer

By digging deep
into the core of the mound.

In amongst
the discarded shells --

Human burials.

♪

♪

Umberto's discovery
is a stroke of luck

Because in amazonia, harsh,
acidic soils mean

That buried bones
are rarely preserved.

But on the forest islands,
chemical deposits

From all of the crushed
snail shells

Have coated the bones in a
thick, protective mineral layer.

♪

♪

♪

Umberto knows that many
prehistoric societies buried

Their dead
beneath their homes.

So these remains could mean
that early amazonians

Were building settled
communities on these mounds.

And the skulls are full
of clues

That tell umberto even more
about how they survived here.

♪

♪

But best of all, radiocarbon
dating shows umberto

When these people lived.

♪

♪

It's an incredible discovery.

These bones are beyond ancient.

While europe was still in
the stone age, 1,000 years

Before the great pyramids
of egypt were built,

2,000 years
before the rise of the maya,

The first amazon societies

Were claiming
south america as their own.

In the llanos de mojos,

They learn to change
the world around them

To create shelter,
security, and food,

And to create a network
of forest islands

That formed one of the amazon's
very first societies.

But what happened
to these forest-island people?

In search of an answer,

Umberto takes soil samples
from the floodplain

Around the forest islands.

♪

♪

Beneath the modern black soil

Is a thick layer of sediment --

The telltale sign
of an ancient flood event.

Below that sediment,

Umberto finds
what he's looking for.

♪

Another layer of black soil

That he believes formed
at the time

The forest-island dwellers
were living here.

♪

♪

The soil cores show that
after people had lived here

For thousands of years,
the river changed its course,

Drowning the entire area beneath
at least 3 feet of water.

♪

♪

To the north lay
the amazon rainforest itself.

The floodplain society

Had learned
to transform their environment

To create permanent homes.

Could they do the same
in the hostile jungle?

♪

♪

Narrator: Archeologists have
traced the path of early humans

From the fringes of the jungle
in northern colombia

To the floodplains of bolivia.

But how did they make the leap
into the hostile forest itself

To lay the foundations for
a future jungle civilization?

In the west of brazil,
on the banks of the upper amazon

And not far
from the town of tefé

Is a small riverside community

Called bom jesus da ponta
de castanha.

♪

The village is surrounded
by rainforest,

Which provides the community

With almost all the food
they need.

But that presents
ecologist carolina levis

And archaeobotanist
mariana cassino

With a mystery...

...Because most jungle soil
is nowhere near fertile enough

To grow crops in.

So how could a village,
let alone a whole civilization,

Feed themselves here
in the jungle?

Carolina and mariana
search the forest for clues.

♪

There is something unusual
about the forest here.

♪

The forest around the village
is densely packed with fruit

And nut trees.

In the wild, they never grow
this close together.

♪

The weirdest thing
is the sheer number

Of ancient towering brazil nut
trees around the village

Growing in clusters
known as stands.

♪

♪

♪

The scientists believe that much
of the jungle around here

Was actually planted
by ancient amazonians.

Local guide jucelino knows
how villagers still plant trees.

♪

♪

Carolina and mariana believe

That ancient populations
selected

And nurtured the best tree
species for centuries,

Creating a bountiful
supply of food.

[ speaking spanish ]

♪

Woman: Mm-hmm.

♪

Even so, a huge civilization

Can't survive
just on fruits and nuts.

Back in the village center,

Carolina and mariana are
searching for even more clues.

Cuidado.

[ speaking spanish ]

The locals have told carolina

And mariana that the founders
of this modern village

Chose the site very carefully.

[ speaking spanish ]

And one thing
in particular led them here --

The color of the soil.

[ speaking spanish ]

♪

♪

Most amazon soils are yellow
or red

And useless for growing crops.

But around the village,

The topsoil
is unusually dark and fertile.

♪

Luckily, the mysterious soil
is also packed with clues --

Fragments of ancient pottery.

♪

♪

This soil is man-made,
transformed into a super-compost

By ancient people
digging charcoal and food

Waste into the ground.

♪

The excavations have shown
these soils

Have been transformed
over a thousand years

Or more to create
a fertile oasis in the jungle.

And it's not just here that
the black earth is being found.

♪

♪

So far,
scientists have identified

Over 1,000 black earth sites
throughout the amazon,

And by mapping the trees

That typically grow
in these fertile soils,

The staggering extent of human
transformation of the amazon

Can be revealed...

Solving the mystery
of how large populations

Could survive in the jungle.

♪

♪

Across the amazon,
scientists are discovering

That the rainforest is anything
but an untouched wilderness.

Now we know vast areas are the
work of ancient amazonians

Who learned to nurture and shape

The jungle enough
to support a civilization.

But now an incredible discovery
is adding a new twist

To the human story
of the amazon.

It undermines one of
the most fundamental beliefs

About the enigmatic people
of the amazon --

That they all share
one family tree

That goes back to north america.
At least 15,000 years ago.

Do these extraordinary people

Actually have roots
somewhere else?

♪

♪

Narrator:
In brazil, paleoanthropologist
ella al-shamahi is on her way

To meet an extraordinary
indigenous community,

The suruí.

Recent research has revealed
that they hold the key

To solving one of
the greatest mysteries

In the rise of
amazon civilizations.

Where did they all come from?

So, would you call this
a frontier town?

Yeah, a frontier town.

More or less, yeah.

Ella is trying to discover
whether the suruí themselves

Can shed any light
on the mystery

Of how their ancient ancestors
first arrived in the amazon.

So, basically, this whole area
used to be indigenous territory.

Yeah, the whole area,
the whole state.

It was virgin rainforest,
I mean, if you can say that.

Yeah.

To reach them,
she has to travel

Through miles of open farmland.

Like many of today's
amazonian people,

The suruí face the constant
threat of deforestation.

But it's not just
their territory and culture

That are at stake --

It's the extraordinary story

Of how their ancestors
arrived in the amazon.

♪

There they are.

Hi.

[ speaking
foreign language ]

[ speaking
native language ]

So nice to meet you.

Chief almir suruí welcomes
ella into the village

To meet his family.

Thank you for coming out.
Okay.

So, is this...
Walk through there.

Hi.
Ah, your brother.

Hi. Ella. Ella.

Ella has come here to share
a revelation

With the suruí.

Scientists
studying blood samples

Collected from them in the 1960s
have found that suruí dna

Tells a remarkable story
about their ancestry.

But no one has ever told them.

♪

-[ laughs ]
-hey.

Hi.
Hi.

♪

Can I ask when and how was
your blood taken?

♪

♪

Did you ever hear
from them again?

Did you ever get
any results from them?

♪

Narrator: Chief almir
gathers his community

To hear
what ella has come to tell them.

Hi.

So, if I do it
this way...

Chief almir:
[ speaking native language ]

How many of you are really
familiar with this map?

There's something
really interesting

About yourselves, actually.
The suruí.

It turns out that you,

Unlike most other indigenous
groups in south america --

You share some dna,

Some ancestry
with people in australia.

♪

It has always been believed

That every indigenous group
in the amazon

Can trace their family tree back
to the same ancient ancestors

Who arrived in south america
at least 12,000 years ago.

But dna from the suruí

And just two other tribes
tells a different story.

It has a distinctive signature

That is only found
in indigenous people

From the andaman islands,

Papua new guinea, and australia.

It means that
you're very unique.

It means that there's something
really interesting

Going on with you.

And there's a sign of ancestry
in you

That really is
is very unique and very special.

The suruís' ancient ancestors
must come from a different place

And a different time from almost
every other tribe in the amazon.

Somehow they are connected
to australia.

And the amazon family tree

Is much more complicated
than we ever realized.

But it seems the revelation

Is not as much of a surprise
to the suruí as ella expected.

♪

If I do it this way...

Narrator: Paleoanthropologist
ella al-shamahi has revealed

To the suruí people that they
share an ancestral link

With indigenous australians,

Making them unique
from other amazonian tribes.

But as the news sinks in,
it seems the idea

That they have exotic ancestry
from a far-off land

Is less of a revelation
to the suruí than ella expected.

♪

♪

The suruí
have made a connection

Between their own
ancestral stories

And the scientific evidence.

Are you surprised
by that?

♪

♪

Scientists are only beginning
to unravel

The great mystery
of the amazon's human story.

But the suruí reveal
that surviving indigenous people

Have a crucial role to play.

Their ancient cultures
contain clues

That can help solve the mystery.

And ella realizes that

Unless their way of life
can be protected,

That knowledge may disappear
forever.

Al-shamahi:
So, this has been

A completely profound
experience, actually.

We, the outside world,
I think, have to give them

So much more respect.

And we scientists
also have to give them

So much more respect and help,

Because if we let the loggers

And the miners win,

We will have lost

One of the most fascinating
pieces of the jigsaw puzzle

When it comes
to amazonian history,

One of the most ancient people,

And it would just be
absolutely devastating.

[ thunder crashes ]

♪

Narrator: Archeologists today
are discovering

How the earliest humans learned

To shape the amazon
rainforest around them,

Laying the foundations
for a great civilization

In the jungle.

Their discoveries
are revolutionizing

Our understanding of this
remarkable environment

And of the future
of its indigenous people,

Who shaped the forest,
but now fight to preserve

Thousands of years
of unbroken heritage.

♪

♪

♪

♪