All language subtitles for Secrets in the Sand S02E01 1080p WEB h264-FREQUENCY_track3_[eng]

[narrator]
A bizarre skeleton is uncovered
in Chile's Atacama Desert.

Is this a human skeleton
that's been altered somehow?

Or could it be
a completely different species?

In the Gobi Desert,

researchers discover
a massive structure

which had been hidden
for centuries.

[Dr. Anthony]
This was no ordinary wall.

It was one of four ramparts

surrounding the remains
of a town

or even a small kingdom.

Archaeologists uncover
a macabre scene

in Peru's Moche Valley.

About 1,000 feet from
the Pacific,

they spotted human bones.

In total, they recovered
137 complete human skeletons.

Could this be
an ancient burial ground?

Ancient lost cities.

Forgotten treasures.

Extraordinary curiosities once
lost to the sands of time

are finally exposed.

As new technology uncovers
remarkable tales hidden beneath

the deserts of the world,
the "Secrets in the Sand"

will finally be revealed.

[wind blowing]

The Atacama Desert dominates
northern Chile's landscape,

extending over 600 miles
from one end to the other.

[Dr. Dan]
The Atacama is one of
the driest deserts in the world.

On average, they get less
than an inch of rain a year,

and that's partly because of
an ocean current in the Pacific

called the Humboldt current.

That brings up
really cold water

from the bottom of the ocean,

and that keeps the air above it
very, very dry.

So any wind blowing into
the desert from the ocean

has no water in it.

[Dr. Alison] The desert is also
surrounded by the Andes

and the Chilean coastal range.

These mountains block moisture
from reaching the desert,

creating a kind of death-zone
for any living plant or animal.

[Teddy] The extreme environment
is almost otherworldly.

In fact, soil samples from
the region are comparable

to samples from Mars.

For decades now,
scientists at NASA

have used the Atacama Desert
as a testing ground

for instruments designed
to explore the red planet.

In the heart of the Atacama,

long-abandoned buildings
have created ghost towns.

The people who once lived
and worked here moved to nearby

cities for a more
comfortable life.

While walking the empty streets
of one of these towns,

an intrepid explorer makes
an astonishing discovery.

In one of the town's
abandoned buildings,

he finds
an extraordinary skeleton.

It's incredibly small,
measuring only six inches

from head-to-toe.

The tiny skull is
especially striking.

It's elongated and has
a distinct cone-shape.

And while typical
human skeletons

have 12 pairs of ribs,
this one only has ten.

It's really bizarre
and certainly raises

a lot of questions.

Is this a human skeleton that's
been altered somehow?

Or could it be a completely
different species?

The skeleton soon enters
the world of rare artifacts,

eventually landing in the hands
of a private collector

in Spain, where it sparks
intrigue and controversy.

As it so happens,
this collector

was a UFO enthusiast,

so it wasn't long
before this skeleton caused

a big stir
in the UFO community.

You had all these
UFO believers claiming that

this body's unique morphology

only had one
possible explanation.

It couldn't possibly be human.
It had to be an alien.

Unsurprisingly,
these claims attracted a lot

of media attention.

A team of scientists caught
wind of the story and offered

to sequence the skeleton's DNA
to find out once and for all

whether the bones belonged
to a human or to some other,

maybe unidentified, species.

The scientists began
a series of tests

on the Atacama skeleton,
now nicknamed "Ata."

Their results lead to
a resounding conclusion.

[Teddy]
Using skeletal radiography,

computed tomography, or CT,
and whole-genome sequencing,

they proved that Ata is beyond
a doubt human.

They even go one step further
and identify her as a female.

[Anthea] Looking at the body,
you can see that her skeleton

was actually mummified.

Was this done deliberately?

Could a burial ritual
have resulted

in Ata's striking
bone abnormalities?

Ata's remarkable preservation

may point to a link
between this tiny skeleton

and one of the world's oldest
mummification rituals.

[Dr. Dan]
The Atacama Desert is home

to the oldest mummies
in the world,

like 2,000 years older
than Egyptian mummies.

These astonishing remains

belong to
the Chinchorro culture.

They're the first marine
hunter-gatherers

that settled in this desert.

And they settled between 7,000
and 9,000 years ago.

[Dr. Alison]
The oldest Chinchorro mummy,
known as the Acha Man,

was found near the city of
Arica and is estimated to be

over 9,000 years old.

Over the course of
the last century,

hundreds of these mummies
have been uncovered

along Peru's desert beaches.

Some of the mummies were
preserved naturally,

desiccated by the extreme heat
and dry conditions.

But others were mummified
artificially,

according to
a precise ritual.

[Teddy] First, the Chinchorro
would remove the skin

and soft tissue from the body.

The cavities left behind were
then stuffed with leaves,

feathers, sticks,
and other natural fibers

before the skin was sewn
back on with reeds.

The last step involved
attaching thick black hair

to the mummy's head and covering
its face with a clay mask

and openings for
the eyes and mouth.

These rituals were performed
on both children and adults,

which begs the question,

could Ata be one of these
Chinchorro mummies?

Could the mummification process

have altered
her skeleton somehow?

To date Ata's remains,
the team conducting

her skeletal analysis focuses
on the DNA fragments.

[Dr. Dan] The Chinchorro mummies
are thousands of years old,

And over that length of time,
DNA degrades.

You get fragmented samples
of low quality,

but that's not what scientists
see with Ata at all.

Her DNA looks great.

[Dr. Alison] Ata's DNA fragments
averaged around 300 base pairs.

Remarkably large for a specimen
that might be very old.

When they compared this data
to established DNA decay models,

they determined that Ata
couldn't be more
than 500 years old.

So she didn't belong to
the Chinchorro culture,

and their mummification rituals
weren't the cause of

her skeletal abnormalities.

So how did her bones form
in this peculiar way?

As genetic testing continues
on the skeleton,

the team analyzing Ata's DNA
makes a breakthrough.

They discovered a serial
of mutations

in seven of Ata's genes.

Many of these mutations are
known to be associated with

bone-development abnormalities,
including dwarfism,

cranial malformations,
rib anomalies,

and premature joint fissures.

While these gene mutations
have all been documented

individually before,
this specific cluster has never

been seen anywhere else.

It's unlikely that Ata would
have survived her many

conditions, and we now think
that she was most likely born

prematurely, at only about
15 weeks old.

[Teddy] While this unique series
of mutations seems to explain

why Ata looks so unusual
to untrained-eyes,

another question
remains unanswered --

Where did she come from?

And could her environment have
played a role in

her unique development?

In the never-ending search for
clues about Ata's history,

experts return to the place
where she was found,

the ghost towns of
the Atacama Desert.

[Dr. Dan] These towns were not
ordinary settlements.

They were mining towns,
and they were established

to extract one mineral
in particular -- saltpeter.

Saltpeter,
or potassium nitrate,

is an essential ingredient
for gunpowder

and for fertilizer,
and it was once so valuable

it was referred to
as "white-gold."

[Dr. Alison]
The Atacama Desert

is the world's largest natural
deposit of saltpeter,

and these small mining
communities thrived for decades.

But life here was
extremely tough.

Long hours in
the hot sun meant that

working conditions were brutal.

And the towns
were entirely dependent

on the saltpeter industry
for survival.

[Teddy]
These towns boomed
for nearly a century,

so much so that Saltpeter
once accounted

for 50%
of Chile's total revenue.

But in the 1930s and 40s,
German chemists realized

they could synthesize
the compound in factories,

saving time and money.

Almost overnight,
the mining towns of the Atacama

lost their lifeline.

[Anthea]
Ata was found in the oldest
of these communities,

a town called La Noria

that was founded in the 1820s

and abandoned just after
the Second World War.

We aren't sure
when Ata was born,

but we do know that she's
less than 500 years old.

Could she have been from
La Noria, where she was found?

The potential link between Ata
and La Noria leads to new,

intriguing possibilities.

Besides its use
in gunpowder and fertilizer,

potassium nitrate
is a common ingredient

in a ton of different foods
and cosmetics.

[Dr. Alison]
In small quantities,
potassium nitrate

is completely safe,
but too much of it can be fatal.

It can be inhaled or absorbed
through the skin,

and high enough levels
of exposure reduces

the blood's ability
to transport oxygen.

This causes a bluish tinge
to the skin,

could cause trouble breathing,
collapse, and even death.

Animal studies have found
that high levels of saltpeter

may have devastating effects
on pregnancy.

Over the course
of several generations,

rats fed a diet high
in potassium nitrate

began to develop
physical malformations,

including cleft palates

and deformations
of the skull and eyes.

The people who lived in
La Noria would have been exposed

to exceptionally high levels
of saltpeter

during the mining process,
as well as in day-to-day life,

so the environment Ata's
parents lived in may have

likely contributed
to her skeletal anomalies.

Despite years of research,

Ata remains
an enduring mystery.

Now, we don't fully understand

whether Ata's malformations
are the result of those toxins

or whether
they're just random mutations.

And we also don't know

a lot of other
very basic things about her.

And the main reason for all
of that is that

she's held
in a private collection

and she's not accessible
for further study.

All in all, Ata's this really
special situation

that has sparked
a ton of controversy.

[Dr. Alison]
Ever since
she entered the spotlight,

people around the world
have called for Ata

to be returned to Chile.

Her genetic analysis suggests

that she was likely
of Chilean descent,

which raises
the very real possibility that

she may have descendants
still living in the country.

Maybe more genetic testing can
be done to find them

and bring Ata home.

To this day, Ata's story
haunts the Atacama Desert.

As calls for
her repatriation continue,

she remains a powerful symbol
of our responsibility

to honor the dead.

[wind blows]

The steps and sand dunes
of the Gobi Desert

stretch for a thousand miles

from Northern China
to Southern Mongolia.

It gets its name from
the Mongolian word

for waterless place.

The Gobi isn't the largest

or even the driest desert
in the world, but it is

the Earth's most
northerly desert.

It's also the least populated
and least visited environment

outside of the polar caps,

no doubt due
to its harsh conditions.

Extreme fluctuations
in temperature

make it inhospitable,
and punishing sandstorms

from the West can bury
everything in their path.

Despite this, the Gobi Desert
boasts a rich human history,

from the clashes of ancient
Chinese dynasties

and the Mongol Empire
to the Silk Road trade route

that facilitated the exchange
of goods, ideas, and beliefs

between East and West.

[Teddy] To the outside world,

the Gobi has largely
remained unknown.

While there have been
folk tales and rumors

about lost cities
and civilizations

buried under the sand,

aside from a handful of European
and American explorers,

most of the desert's secrets

have stayed
with its inhabitants.

A team of explorers is
conducting research

in Western Inner Mongolia,

downstream
from the Ejin River,

when they come across
something unexpected.

[Dr. Amma] There was an enormous
sand dune partially covering

a man-made mud brick structure.

As the sand was cleared away,
the structure was revealed

to be the corner
of two large walls.

[Dr. Anthony] After the rest of
the sand was removed,

they discovered the corner wall
was 13 feet thick

and 30 feet tall.
So this was no ordinary wall.

It was one of four ramparts

surrounding
the remains of a town

or even a small kingdom.

The massive walls roughly form
a rectangle,

1,200 feet across
North to South,

and almost 1,450 feet
from East to West.

There are two openings,
or gates,

on the East
and West sides,

and inside this rectangle,
the crumbled

remains of the town
are pretty much everywhere.

The buildings to the South
are smaller

and appear to be
former dwellings,

while the larger buildings
to the North

are more decorated
and official-looking.

Clearly, this is some kind
of settlement that had been

occupied for a long time

at one point
in the region's long history.

But when?
And by whom?

As a team of archaeologists
proceeds with an excavation,

vital clues
about the city's identity
are uncovered.

[Dr. Amma]
The first structures within
the city walls to be cleared

were five temple-like buildings
to the North.

They resemble pagodas,

which indicates
a Chinese influence,

but they're actually
Tibetan Buddhist temples

called stupas.

But it's what was within
the stupas

that was truly stunning.

Hundreds upon hundreds
of artifacts, statues,

and painted murals filled
with Buddhist iconography

and beautifully
rendered calligraphy.

Much of it was
in shockingly good condition

since the desert climate
had prevented moisture,

and most of the artifacts
were buried and preserved

by the sand.

The researchers turned
their attention

to the city's South end,
which leads to more surprises.

[Dr. Amma]
Many everyday items were found,

like bits of broken pottery,
coins, tools, and more books

and religious artifacts.

Many of the items were from
Eurasia and further afield,

which strongly suggests a once
vibrant hub of busy trade

and cultural exchange.

[Anthea]
Historical records
have indicated

the presence of
a legendary lost city

called Khara-Khoto,
somewhere in the Gobi Desert.

But its location has never
been known.

So is it possible that
this is Khara-Khoto?

Also known as the Black City,

Khara-Khoto was an enclosed
settlement built in 1032 CE

by the Tangut,
a distinct ethnic group

of Northwestern China.

Despite the harsh
desert conditions,

the city grew into
an important mercantile
trade hub

and became a key stop
along the Silk Road.

[Dr. Anthony]
The Silk Road was a network
of trade routes that connected

China to the Western
Mediterranean world

and even beyond.

It didn't only spread goods
and spices, but also cultures,

languages, and beliefs
across continents.

[Anthea]
Khara-Khoto became
a bustling commercial

and cultural epicenter because,
according to records,

it was strategically located,
the only stop in the desert

for hundreds of miles.

Tradesmen making long treks
across the sand for weeks

would stop to do business,

but also to rest and get
supplies like food and water.

But there's a shroud of
darkness surrounding the city.

After flourishing
for hundreds of years,

by the late 14th century,

Khara-Khoto had
vanished without a trace.

As the researchers begin
to delve

into the treasure trove
of relics

collected from the city,

they come across
a significant clue.

[Dr. Amma]
In addition to the religious
artifacts, there were stacks

and stacks of manuscripts,
written texts,

and scriptures in the temples.
But they weren't just Tibetan.

These manuscripts were also
written in other languages,

including Chinese,
and most tellingly,

the rare Tangut script.

This definitely tracks
with the year 1032,

when Khara-Khoto
was said to be

a Tangut stronghold

of the Tibeto-Burman
tribal union.

[Teddy]
Taken in total, all signs
point to the conclusion

that this is
the mysterious dark city

of Khara-Khoto after all.

But one question remains.

How did such a thriving center
just disappear?

Khara-Khoto wasn't the first
ancient city on the Silk Road

that suddenly ceased to exist.

One of the most famous stops
along the trade route was

the walled city and kingdom
of Loulan,

located in Western
China's Xinjiang region.

Loulan was referred to
as an oasis state

due to its proximity
to the lake waters

of the Lop Nur.

However, at some point between
the 3rd and the 7th century,

the city vanished,
and its whereabouts remained

a mystery until
the early 1900s,

when a Swedish explorer

discovered it below
the desert sand.

It was initially believed
Loulan's demise was a result

of climate change.

As the lake waters of Lop Nur
dried up over the years,

Loulan was abandoned,
since the survival of the city

depended on a water supply.

But more recent studies have
shown that the environmental

crisis was partially man-made.

Irrigation practices
of the time

also contributed
to the draining of the lake.

Could this have happened
at Khara-Khoto too?

[Dr. Amma] Khara-Khoto was
located next to a water source,

the Ejin River.

And while the Ejin did
eventually suffer

from a reduction
in water flow,

there's no proof it was

the cause of
Khara-Khoto's demise.

With or without
human intervention.

A closer look at
the region's history may prove

it was human activity
that brought Khara-Khoto

to its premature end --
the human act of war.

[Teddy] Although Khara-Khoto was
established in 1032

and continued to thrive under
the rule of the Tangut-led

Western Xia dynasty,
the city functioned as

a peaceful sanctuary
for several different

cultures and religions.

[Dr. Amma] But just to be safe,
the exterior walls and ramparts

were built to defend against
potential invasions,

which may have allowed
the city to thrive

where other settlements fell
to enemy attack.

However, Khara-Khoto wasn't
going to stay immune forever.

After a series of punishing
attacks from the Mongols,

a nomadic tribe from Central
Asia led by Genghis Khan,

Khara-Khoto was captured
in 1226.

And a year later,
the Tanguts surrendered.

If the Mongols didn't have any
use for the Silk Road,

then Khara-Khoto's reason
for being would have

no longer existed.

It's possible, as one
of the rumors suggested,

that the city fell into ruin
shortly after

the Mongols seized it.

But the aftermath
of the Mongol invasion

tells a different story.

[Anthea]
The reality was that Khara-Khoto
not only continued to prosper

after the Mongol conquests,
but the Mongolian Empire was

instrumental in growing
the Silk Road even further.

This would have resulted
in more traders passing

through the city.

[Teddy] The Mongols held on
for another 150 years,

until the Yuan Dynasty was
overthrown by the Ming Dynasty,

and the Mongols were expelled
from China, with one exception.

A large hold-out army fled
to Khara-Khoto

to plan a counterattack.

When the Chinese
learned of this,

they sent thousands of soldiers,

and in 1372,
defeated the last Mongols

within the city walls.

It's just one of
the many stories

and possible explanations
for an ancient city

that continues
to inspire speculation

even after its discovery.

While it's generally accepted

that Khara-Khoto fell
into decline at some point

after the Chinese reclaimed it
from the Mongols,

we may never know
the exact reason

for its disappearance.

The discovery of Khara-Khoto
revealed a compelling blend

of the rich cultural,
political, and religious life

of ancient China and Mongolia,
a testament to human resilience

and the transient nature
of empires.

The city continues
to beckon explorers

and historians eager
to uncover more of its secrets.

[wind blowing]

The Moche Valley
stretches along

Peru's northern coastline,

spreading out from
the Moche River

into the La Libertad Region.

Despite the fact
that it's so close

to the Pacific Ocean,

Peru's northern coastline
is remarkably dry.

That region gets almost
no precipitation at all,

less than one inch
of rain per year.

The dry climate is partly due
to the Andes Mountains.

As the winds blow from East
to West across Peru,

they carry moisture
from the Amazon rainforest.

The Andes act as a barrier,

trapping the moisture
on their eastern slopes,

leaving the land
to the West much drier.

[Dr. Anthony]
You might think that
agriculture would be impossible

in a place this arid.

But actually, people have been
cultivating this land

since the pre-Columbian era.

The Moche people, whom
this valley is named after,

flourished between
100 and 700 CE

by building sophisticated
canals around the river.

People have lived here

and farmed this land
ever since,

relying on irrigation technology
for survival.

On the outskirts of Trujillo,
the region's capital,

at a site known
as Huanchaquito, Las Llamas,

residents notice
strange objects

protruding from nearby
sand dunes.

About 1,000 feet
from the Pacific,

they spotted what looked
like human bones,

still mostly buried
beneath the sand.

An archaeological team
is summoned

and begins to excavate,

and it isn't long before
they're greeted

with an unsettling scene.

An archaeological team
is summoned

and begins to excavate

at a site known
as Huanchaquito, Las Llamas,

and it isn't long before
they're greeted

with an unsettling scene.

[Dr. Dan]
There are hundreds
of bodies buried here.

In total, they recovered
137 complete human skeletons

in the sand.

So, considering
the sheer number of bodies,

could this be
an ancient burial ground,

maybe built by one of
the pre-Columbian civilizations

that lived here?

Using radiocarbon
dating techniques,

the team successfully dates

dozens of the Huanchaquito,
Las Llamas skeletons.

The results show that the bones
are over 600 years old.

The burials date back to
the middle of the 15th century,

when this land was home

to the ancient
Chimu civilization,

the culture that rose
from the ashes of the Moche.

[Dr. Anthony] The Chimu had
enormous influence,

ruling over 800 miles
of what's today coastal Peru.

Thanks to their advanced
irrigation techniques,

they transformed the desert
valleys into farmland

fertile enough
to support entire cities.

The Chimu capital,
Chan Chan,

was the largest city
in pre-Columbian America,

and it stood just
a 15-minute walk

from Huanchaquito,
Las Llamas.

Today, the ruins of the city
cover 14 square miles.

For over five centuries,
the Chimo Kingdom was

the dominant civilization
in Peru,

until an unexpected
threat loomed.

[Dr. Alison]
In 1470, the Chimu
came face to face

with the infamous
Incan Empire.

The Inca had controlled
their own separate kingdom

for more than 200 years,

until King Tupac Inca Yupanqui
set his sights on Chimu land.

[Dr. Dan] The Incan expansion
was very strategic.

To minimize the risk
of revolution,

they forcibly resettled
huge populations,

scattering distinct
ethnic groups

and absorbing
their major cities.

Using this system,

the Incas eventually managed
to increase their empire

to a population
of 12 million people.

[Anthea]
Given that the skeletons found
at Huanchaquito, Las Llamas

date back to the time
of the Incan expansion,

maybe they could be linked
to some sort of massacre.

Could these people
have been murdered

by invading Incan armies
as a brutal show of power?

[Dr. Alison] A violent massacre
would likely have left behind

a chaotic mass burial,
with the bodies discarded

without ceremony or dignity.

These burials were
anything but.

The bodies had been
carefully arranged,

with many buried
in groups of three.

Traces of cotton
left on the remains

tell us that they were likely
wrapped in shrouds

before being placed
in the ground.

As the archaeologists
carefully excavate the vast

gravesite, they come
to a grim realization.

Looking at the remains,
this one really chilling detail

stands out right away.
These skeletons are small.

In fact, all but three of them
belong to children.

Most of them seem to be between
the ages of about 8 and 14,

but some of them are
as young as 5.

Strangely, among
the children's skeletons

it was determined that

the remains likely belonged
to roughly 200 llamas.

Typically, when we find humans
and animals buried together,

there's a reason for it.

For instance, elite burials
might feature pet

or livestock sacrifices
designed to sustain the dead

and accompany them
in the afterlife.

But even if that's
the case here,

how do you explain the fact
that the vast majority

of these remains are children?

The research team analyzes
the skeletons for any clues

that might reveal just how
these children died,

and it leads
to a disturbing discovery.

[Dr. Dan] A lot of the skeletons
show evidence of clean cut marks

across the sternum and signs
of broken or missing ribs.

That suggests that the rib cage
was forced open to retrieve

vital organs,
most likely the heart.

And that really only leads
to one possible explanation.

These are the remnants
of a massive human sacrifice.

[Anthea] A sacrifice of this
scale would have come

at an enormous cost
to the Chimu,

who prized
their children's lives

above all else.

Not only did children
represent the future

of Chimu communities,
but they also embodied

a high level
of spiritual purity.

Llamas were
also extremely valuable,

essential for travel,
trade, clothing production,

and food.

So what could have warranted
a sacrifice of this magnitude?

[Dr. Alison]
One theory suggests that
the Chimu may have inherited

the practice of human sacrifice
from their Moche ancestors

who lived in the area hundreds
of years earlier.

The Moche frequently depicted
these rituals in their artwork,

often decorating ceramic
vessels with an image known

as the Presentation Scene.

A few miles from
the Chimu sacrifices stands

the Huaca De La Luna --
a sacred Moche monument.

Archaeological digs here have
revealed the bodies

of roughly 70 sacrifice
victims.

Cut marks on the skeletons
indicate that the bodies were

mutilated and dismembered

before being swept
into large pits and abandoned.

[Dr. Anthony]
Based on the bone and
tooth analysis of the remains

at Huaca De La Luna,
it seems unlikely

that the Chimu child sacrifices

were connected
to these Moche rituals.

There's one glaring difference.

The Moche victims were mostly
fully grown men.

Many of them were
in their 30s and 40s.

So these were likely warriors
who had been captured

during territorial battles.

New theories point away
from Moche culture

to the Chimu's own myths
and legends.

The Chimu left
no written records

of their spiritual beliefs,
but we do know that

they worshiped a legendary
character known as Taycanamo.

According to myth,

he was the founder of
the Chimu people,

who emerged from the sea

after hatching
from a golden egg.

Stories tell of Taycanamo

protecting his people
from the sea

by calming storms

and teaching them advanced
agricultural technology.

[Dr. Dan]
In light of
this mythical story,

the orientation
of the sacrifice victims

starts to make sense.

Almost all of those children
are posed

facing the same direction,
and that direction is West,

toward the sea.

So could it be that
these children were sacrificed

in the name of Taycanamo?

In an effort to learn more
of Huanchaquito, Las Llamas

the researchers begin to
investigate the burial grounds,

taking samples from the earth
surrounding the skeletons.

This leads
to a startling revelation.

[Anthea]
The burials were dug through
a layer of mud so thick

that it actually preserved
the footprints of the people

traveling through the area.

Footprints leading back
to the ruins

of the Chimu capital, Chan Chan,
can clearly be seen.

This may well be the evidence
of a macabre procession,

where the children would have
walked to their deaths

from the city.

[Dr. Anthony]
Beneath a layer of mud,

there's loose sand,

indicating that the mud was
most likely linked

to an isolated weather event.

It would have required a huge
amount of water.

Either rainwater or coastal
flooding to produce this mud.

To the Chimu, who relied
on dry weather

and their sophisticated
irrigation systems for food,

this event would have
had profound significance.

[Dr. Alison]
Every few years,
the Northern Coast of Peru

is battered by
a phenomenon known as El Niño.

The surface waters
of the Pacific

become abnormally warm,
leading to increased evaporation

and massive amounts
of rain and flooding.

These sacrifices
were likely performed

in a desperate attempt
to stop torrential rains

from destroying
the Chimu's precious crops.

Until the discovery at
Huanchaquito, Las Llamas,

there was little evidence
the Chimu practiced

human sacrifice at all.

But new discoveries
at the nearby Pampa La Cruz

archaeological site prove
that this was far

from a one-time ritual.

[Dr. Dan] To date, they've found
over 300 child sacrifices

at Pampa La Cruz.

But unlike the sacrifices
at Las Llamas, these children

weren't all killed
at the same time.

They were spread over the course
of several centuries,

with the earliest remains dating
back to 1100 CE,

and the most recent dating
to about 1500 CE.

So all of this is really strong
evidence that child sacrifices

were very much a part
of Chimu culture.

[Dr. Anthony]
These children undoubtedly
gave their lives

in order to ensure the survival
of a much larger community,

maybe even
the entire empire.

As researchers continue to dig

at both the Huanchaquito,
Las Llamas

and Pampa La Cruz sites,

the remains of
these child sacrifices stand

as a stark reminder of a lost
people's struggle for survival

in one of
the world's driest climates.

[wind blowing]

Located on the western delta
of the Nile River,

just 50 miles southeast
of Alexandria,

the Egyptian city of Hosh Isa

stands alone in the district
of Al-Beheira.

[Dr. Alison]
Al-Beheira is extremely
arid and sandy,

despite being so close
to the Mediterranean Sea,

as well as
the Nile River tributaries.

It's also hot.

In the summer,
the temperatures can regularly

get to 93 degrees Fahrenheit,
and it only receives an average

of one sixteenth of an inch
of rainfall per month.

[Dr. Dan]
Now, today, it's mostly rural
and poor, but this area has

a rich history going back more
than 4,000 years.

It's home to some of the first
Coptic Christian monasteries,

a royal palace,
and several ancient fortresses.

Not surprisingly,
Beheira is also home

to a number
of archaeological sites.

It has a long history
of ancient discoveries.

The most famous find was
the Rosetta Stone in 1799.

This was a slab that was
inscribed with three different

and distinct scripts.

This led to the translation

of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic
writing for the first time.

A group of archaeologists
is excavating

a section of Hosh Isa

when they make
a surprising discovery.

They were digging into a wide,
flat area of sand

when they unearthed
what looked like the corner

of a mud brick structure.

As the surrounding debris was
brushed away, what at first

appeared to be just a couple
of densely packed bricks

turned out to be
the foundation

of a building with several
rooms and chambers.

So, what is this place?

[Dr. Dan]
Other mud brick structures
like this one have been

discovered and identified
across the western Nile Delta

of Beheira,
including archaeological sites

containing evidence of
the Roman occupation of Egypt,

which lasted about 700 years,
starting around 30 BCE.

West of the Rosetta Nile
tributary, a large survey

project with 14 dig sites found
examples of a distinctly

Roman cultural practice.

Two of the sites, Kom Al-Ahmar
and Kom Wasit were discovered

to have walls of
mud and red brick buried below

the desert surface.

When the walls were
cleared and cleaned,

the unmistakable form of
an ancient Roman bath complex

called a tholos was revealed.

[Dr. Amma] Smaller artifacts
were also retrieved from

the bath's immediate
surroundings,

including shards of pottery,
brick fragments,

and several coins
with dates consistent

with the Roman occupation.

So maybe the structure
at Hosh Isa

is also from the Roman era.

Further exploration of the dig
site tells a different story.

[Dr. Dan] When they analyzed
the samples taken at Hosh Isa,

they figured out that this mud
brick composite predates

the Roman Empire
by at least 1,000 years.

They figured out that
this structure had to be between

3,000 and 3,200 years old.

That corresponds to an era
known as the 19th Dynasty

of the New Kingdom,

and that goes from
about 1290 to 1190 BCE.

[Dr. Anthony] The 19th Dynasty

was a tremendously important
time in Egypt's history.

It was a period of massive
expansion of the empire,

and this was only achieved
by centuries of aggressive

military conquest combined with
the ability to repel attacks

from enemy forces.

As the excavation continues,
several intriguing artifacts

are uncovered within
the building's many

rooms and chambers.

[Dr. Alison] Some of the rooms
had pottery containers

and storage vessels filled
with fish bones,

animal remains,
and other food provisions.

There were also large granaries
and pottery ovens,

which had clearly been used
for cooking and baking.

[Dr. Dan] In other rooms,
they found items that were

a little bit more personal,
things like beaded pendants

and amulets with
these intricate carvings

of scarab beetles.

Now, those were really popular
throughout Egypt at this time.

The scarab beetle
was associated

with the sun god Khepri,

and that meant that it
had protective powers

for whoever wore it.

[Dr. Anthony] Taken as a whole,
the site's inventory included

domestic items for cooking,
jewelry, and other adornments

for personal wear, as well
as more practical items

like tools and swords.

In other words, this was
an extremely wide variety

of objects found
within a concentrated

and contained space.

So could these recovered
artifacts be proof

of some lost
or forgotten city?

A group of archaeologists
is excavating

a section of Hosh Isa

when they make
a surprising discovery.

It wouldn't be the first time
a contemporary archaeological

dig led to the discovery

of an ancient
Egyptian civilization.

Close to the historic city
of Thebes,

known today as Luxor,

a team of archaeologists were
looking for the undiscovered

mortuary temple of King Tut
when they found something

just as remarkable.

[Dr. Anthony]
They unearthed the remains
of a 3,000-year-old city

so sprawling it invited
comparisons to Pompeii.

The city was called Aten,
or Dazzling Aten,

after yet another
Egyptian sun god.

[Dr. Amma] There were sections
of mud brick walls

that fan out
in all directions.

When it was finally cleared,

the site revealed completed
rooms filled with items

from daily life,
similar to the Hosh Isa site.

With most of the excavation
work at Hosh Isa completed,

the layout of the emerging
structure shocked

the team of archaeologists.

[Dr. Anthony] This was no
city like Aten,

with individual buildings
spread over a large area.

The structure here at Hosh Isa

appeared to be
one single building.

But given the sheer size
and scale of its foundation,

plus the number of rooms,
it must have served

a great civic purpose.

Or could it have been some kind
of grand house or palace?

[Dr. Amma] The layout and design
of the building was unique.

In fact, it was made up of two
large buildings connected by

a single narrow passageway.

The two separate structures
were identical in size

and shape, but that's where
the similarities ended.

[Dr. Alison]
As the excavation continued,
it was revealed to have been

used as a storehouse
for food and provisions.

This was where the granaries
and animal remains were found.

But more significantly,
the first building also stored

a large cache of weapons,
much more than was needed for

any one household.
More like an army.

[Dr. Dan] And it was the second
building that ultimately

revealed its true purpose.

There were rows and rows of mud
brick soldiers' barracks

carved out of the sand.

This building
was a military fort,

and it was totally unlike
any fort

that had ever been
discovered before.

For one thing, the fort was
a standalone structure.

It wasn't connected to any
other buildings

or storage units
or infrastructure, nothing.

So why was such an isolated
fortress built here?

A closer look at
Egypt's military history during

the 19th Dynasty offers
some clues.

[Dr. Anthony] Throughout
the 19th Dynasty, Egypt was

under the constant threat
of attack

from two main adversaries --

One of them was tribes
from Libya,

who first attempted
to invade the Nile Delta

from the West in 1208 BCE.

[Dr. Amma] The second threat was
a collective force known as

the Sea Peoples,
a coalition made up of tribes

of the Shardana,
Shekelesh, Akwasha,

Lukka, and Tursha.

Together, the Sea Peoples
terrorized the Northern Coast

of Africa for almost a century
with brutal naval attacks

from the Mediterranean Sea.

[Dr. Alison]
In response, Egypt doubled
down on its defense by building

impenetrable forts along
a line of strategic outposts.

The fort at Hosh Isa was built
on a military route called

Western War Road for the sole
task of defending

Egypt's northern
and western border.

And given
its well-preserved remains,

it appeared to have
succeeded in that task.

[Dr. Dan]
This fort was standalone
because it contained all

the necessary supplies,
infrastructure within

its fortress walls.

The picture that emerges is
a self-sufficient military

complex filled with
enough food and equipment

to outlast any enemy.

That's a brilliant strategy,
and it worked.

The Sea Peoples were eventually
wiped out by the Egyptians.

Having successfully
served its purpose,

the remarkable fort at
Hosh Isa was likely abandoned

and then lost to time.
Until now.

As experts continue to dig into
its past, more clues will

likely be revealed about
the lives of the soldiers

who lived and fought there.