All language subtitles for Secrets.in.the.Sand.S02E07.1080p.WEB.h264-FREQUENCY_track3_[eng]

[narrator]
A strange tomb is uncovered
in Egypt's Valley of the Kings.

But while excavating
below the temple,

a wooden coffin
was discovered largely intact.

But the most arresting aspect
of the mummy was its face.

It was open mouth
as if screaming.

So who was this person
and what happened to her?

A team of archaeologists is
studying aerial footage in Iraq

when they make
a surprising discovery.

The images showed evidence
of the subsurface remains

of a huge complex
that had gone undiscovered

up until that point.
But what was this place?

In the vast desert
of New Mexico,

researchers unearthed
an ancient roadway.

But this was no modern road.

Its origins went back
roughly a thousand years.

It was assumed the road
was somehow connected

to the Pueblo settlements,
but its exact purpose

and function was a mystery.

Ancient lost cities...

...forgotten treasures...

...mysterious structures.

As new technology uncovers
remarkable tales hidden beneath

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

will finally be revealed.

East of Egypt's Nile River,
the city of Luxor

spreads across a dry flood
plain for 150 square miles.

Like most of Egypt,
Luxor has a hot desert climate,

making it clear and sunny
pretty much every day.

It's so dry that a year can
pass without a single

drop of rain.

And yes, the Nile does provide
water for agriculture,

but the surrounding geography
is as dry as a bone.

You've got desert landscapes,
rolling sand dunes,

rocky plateau,
and mountains.

Today, the city is
a thriving center of commerce

and industry, but Luxor is best
known as the former city

of Thebes, capital
of Upper Egypt during the Middle

and New Kingdom eras.

Thebes first rose to prominence
in the 4th century BCE

after the Peloponnesian War,

when it became
a major military force.

And it remained a powerful
capital for most

of the following 500 years.

Many of the ancient monuments
and temples can still be seen

dotting the urban landscape
of Luxor.

On the west bank
is the Theban Necropolis,

featuring
the Valley of the Kings,

an ancient burial ground
for Egyptian pharaohs, noblemen,

and their families from the 18th
to the 20th Dynasty.

A team of archaeologists
is excavating a tomb

in the Valley of the Kings

when they make
a surprising discovery.

There's a long row
of connected mortuary temples

in a valley called
Deir el-Bahari.

That's an Arabic name
for a monastery.

Below the temples
is a series of individual tombs,

including one temple
for the site's architect,

Senenmut,
along with his parents.

But while excavating
below the temple,

a wooden coffin was discovered,
largely intact.

[Dr. Agbedor] The coffin
was opened to reveal a mummy,

also intact, of an adult female.

It was laying on its back
with extended legs and both arms

were angled inward so the hands
were covering the pelvic area.

But the most arresting aspect
of the mummy was its face.

It was open mouth
as if screaming.

So who was this person
and what happened to her?

[Dr. Cantor]
The mummy was just
over five feet in length

from heel to crown.

Its reddish brown skin
was hard and thick and intact.

Its fingernails and toenails
were also all accounted for,

and while some of
the mummy's teeth were missing,

those present were large,
white, and strong.

Aside from the open mouth
scream position,

the other notable feature
was a large, thick wig braided

right into the mummy's
sparse hair

on either side of the skull.

The wig was composed
of dark human hair

falling to the shoulders
as opposed to being bound,

as was the tradition.

So is it possible
the mummy's wig

could be a clue to her identity
and her fate?

The use of wigs
and hair extensions

is an illustration
of the Egyptians' desire

to attain physical beauty
through lavish accessories.

[Dr. Riskin]
Wigs and extensions were
frequently used

in Egyptian funerary rites,

along with other symbols
of wealth and power,

like precious amulets
and jewelry.

But those were all also worn
by living Egyptians,

men and women,
for the same reasons,

to indicate
their socioeconomic status.

Egyptians crafted
the wigs from human hair

and supplemented them
with plant or flax fibers.

It's believed that dark
or black hair was preferred

as it represented
youthful beauty.

And while a lot of effort
went into the aesthetics

such as styling
with curls and braids,

the wigs were also practical

as they protected
shaven scalp from the sun

and maintained hygiene
by reducing lice.

The close examination
of the Screaming Woman's wig

leads to a critical connection.

The mummy's wig was cleaved
in two halves down the center,

much like a middle part
of natural hair,

and the braids were tapered
slightly at each end.

It was an arrangement
that was very similar

to that of another female mummy
buried nearby,

the mother of the tomb's
designer and builder, Senenmut.

Senenmut is best known today
for being the architect

of the mortuary temple
of Queen Hatshepsut,

a female pharaoh who ruled
for more than 20 years,

starting in 1479 BCE.

Her temple was
a stunning example

of ancient Egyptian design,
with three levels of terraces

all connected by ramps.

As chief architect, Senenmut
would have had high status

in Hatshepsut's court.

And with that, he was
entitled to such privileges

as securing a burial spot
for his parents

among the royals
and other elites.

However, while Senenmut's
own tomb was to be built

under Queen Hatshepsut's
courtyard,

along with his parents,
it was never completed.

[Dr. Cantor]
Even more mysterious is
the fate of Senenmut himself.

He left public life abruptly,
and we still don't know why.

And his remains were never
interred in his elaborate

but unfinished tomb.

With so many open questions
surrounding Senenmut,

we can't conclude
with any degree of certainty

that the Screaming Woman
was a relative of the architect.

Professor Sahar Saleem,

whose forensic and historical
analysis of the Screaming Mummy

revealed another clue.

All of the vital organs,
including the brain

of the Screaming Woman,
were still intact,

and there was a complete absence
of incisions to the body.

This was inconsistent
with the traditional

Egyptian embalming process
for high status individuals,

in which the body's viscera
was removed before burial.

[Dr. Riskin] It's possible that
the people doing the embalming

did a sloppy job,
maybe they were rushed,

maybe they just didn't know
what they were doing,

they were incompetent,
I don't know.

That feels unlikely to me.

I think a better explanation
is that the mummy,

the Screaming Woman,
just wasn't a member

of the royal family
or the elite class at all.

That idea is supported
by the fact that aside

from two scarab rings
on her left hand,

there were practically
no jewels or ornaments

or grave goods on the mummy
or surrounding the coffin.

Also, her recumbent
body position,

where both arms were inclined
toward her groin,

was inconsistent
with other elite women's burials

in the New Kingdom.

Female members
of the royal family

were typically buried
with the left arm flexed

across the chest
and the right arm to the side.

So is it possible that
the Screaming Woman

was some kind of outlier,
a commoner buried

among the elite of Egypt?

A team of archaeologists
is excavating a tomb

in the Valley of the Kings

when they make
a surprising discovery,

The Screaming Woman.

The Egyptians believed
that it was critical

to preserve the bodies
of their pharaohs and kings

in order to ensure their
safe passage into the afterlife.

This involved removing
vital organs,

but also dehydrating
the body with salt,

and then covering
the dried skin

with a blend
of natural substances, oils,

fats, and resins,
to prevent decay.

Samples taken from the skin
of the Screaming Woman revealed

she'd been embalmed with juniper
and frankincense resin.

Not only were these
costly items,

but they likely had
to be imported

from neighboring countries.

Hair fibers from the wig
had been dyed red with henna,

a rare dye prepared
with the powdered leaves

of the henna tree.

Taken together, the expensive
imported embalming materials

plus the well-preserved
condition

of the Screaming Woman's body
indicate that her burial was

consistent with those
of the pharaohs and elites

that surrounded her.

So maybe she was a member
of that elite class after all.

Although rare,
the Screaming Woman

isn't the only mummy in Egypt
to be discovered

with its mouth open wide.

During the 18th Dynasty,
Princess Ahmose-Meritamun became

the great royal wife
of her younger brother,

the Pharaoh Amenhotep I.

As with the Screaming Woman,
Meritamun's remains

were discovered
in a wooden coffin

in the Deir el-Bahari section

of the Theban Necropolis.

Her face also an open mouth
death mask.

A CT scan
of Meritamun's skeleton

revealed the young queen
had suffered

from sclerosis and arthritis,

both of which can result
in bone curvatures

and constrictions
of the body's joints.

These findings indicate she may
have died of a heart attack,

and her body was not found
before rigor mortis kicked in.

And Meritamun's open mouth
was likely due to the natural

postmortem muscle relaxation.

So it's possible

that the Screaming Woman's
open mouth

was a direct result of a serious
health condition or disease.

If that's the case,
is that what killed her?

A CT scan performed
on the mummy leads

to a breakthrough.

The opening and closing
of the mouth is controlled

by a bunch of muscles around
the temporal mandibular joint.

Ordinarily,
when those muscles relax,

like when you're asleep
or after you die,

the mouth opens a little bit,

but this extreme gait,
this wide open mouth,

suggests that the muscles
were firing.

So did that happen
after death from rigor mortis,

or is this something
that happened during death?

To keep the mouth closed
for burial,

Egyptian embalmers
typically wrap

the deceased's mandible

around the skull,
keeping it shut.

But the Screaming Woman's mouth
was discovered

in an unnaturally wide position,

as if she had been crying out
in agony when she died.

[scream]

And there's
a biological phenomenon

that supports this possibility,

a rare event
called a cadaveric spasm,

which causes muscles to freeze
in the position the person

was in at the time of death,
not unlike rigor mortis.

[Anthea]
Cadaveric spasms are
usually associated with brutal,

violent deaths under extreme

physical conditions
and emotions.

So while the exact cause
of death can't be determined

for the Screaming Woman,
nor her identity,

the expression on her face
certainly aligns

with intense suffering and pain.

The screaming mummy
remains a fascinating curiosity

and its discovery offers a true
time capsule for just one

of the human mysteries
of ancient Egypt

waiting to be solved.

Roughly 185 miles southeast
of Baghdad lies Tello, Iraq,

a city
in the Dhi Qar Governorate.

The region is known
as the cradle of civilization

because it was home
to the Sumerians,

the oldest known culture
in Mesopotamia.

They were responsible for a host
of human advancements,

including the development
of cuneiform,

one of the earliest known
writing systems

that involved
engraving pictograms

and symbols into clay
with a reed stylus.

The Sumerians
were also pioneers

in math, science,
architecture,

and societal organization,
all of which helped to build

the foundations
for future civilizations.

Archaeological evidence tells
us that the Sumerians built

about a dozen city-states
in the fourth millennium BCE.

These urban centers
are the first known cities

in world history.

One of them, known as Girsu,
stood where the modern city

of Tello in Iraq
is located today.

At its peak, around 2500 BCE,
Girsu was the heart

of the Lagash city-state.

The walled city covered
an area around 600 acres,

and some estimates
put the population at between

15,000 and 20,000 people.

Girsu was
first discovered in 1877

by a French archaeologist,
and it was extensively excavated

over the next 56 years.

But political instability
and armed conflict in the area

put a halt to any further
exploration in the 1930s,

and Girsu was largely forgotten
about, but not by everyone.

A team comprised of British
and Iraqi archaeologists

are analyzing
drone footage of Girsu

when they notice
something unexpected.

The images showed evidence
of the subsurface remains

of a huge complex
that had gone undiscovered

up until that point.
So what was this place?

Cuneiform tablets discovered
by the French excavations claim

that Girsu was considered
a sacred city because it was

said to be home
to the sanctuary of Ningirsu,

the Sumerian god of war,
who was revered because he was

believed to battle
mythical beasts,

which ensured
the spring rains would come

and provide water
for the irrigation-based

agricultural systems
of the region.

[Anthea]
But the French teams were
never able to locate this

legendary temple
dedicated to Ningirsu,

leaving some doubt
as to whether or not

it even existed.

So is it possible that
the complex detected

by the drone images
is this elusive structure?

In 2020, archaeologists
investigating an area

of Girsu known as Uruku,
which means "The Sacred City "

unearthed evidence
of ceremonial practices

dedicated to Ningirsu.

It was a huge find.

Over 300 broken ceremonial
ceramic cups, bowls,

jars, spouted vessels,
and many animal bones.

One of the artifacts found
was a fragment of a vase

with an inscription
dedicated to Ningirsu.

The items were
in or near a ritual pit

known as a "favissa"
that was around eight feet deep.

The vessels found
were probably used

in a ceremonial banquet

before being ritually
thrown into the pit,

while the bones were likely
the remains of animals

that were either eaten
or killed during sacrifices.

The area also had a thick layer
of ash, believed to be

the remnants
of large ritual fires.

The ceremonial ceramics,
the evidence of fire,

and a favissa indicate that this
is where religious gatherings

took place and where the people
of Girsu gathered to feast

and pay respects to their gods.

In 2024,
researchers discovered

a cuneiform tablet
from the 15th century BCE

at the Alalakh archaeological
site in Reyhanli,

a southern Turkish city
near the border with Syria.

At the time the tablet was
inscribed, Alalakh was

the capital of the kingdom
of Mukish and the largest city

in the region.

It was occupied
by the Amorites, a culture

from western Mesopotamia.

The tablet itself is tiny,
measuring only

1.6 by 0.6 inches,
and weighing just 28 grams.

It's written in Akkadian,
one of the oldest known

Semitic languages,

and it's one that's no longer
spoken anywhere in the world.

Akkadian's cuneiform script
was made up of around 600 signs,

some of which represented
full words, while some were

just single syllables.

When they translated
the tablet, it was discovered

that it details the purchase
of chairs, tables, and stools

by an unknown buyer,
basically an ancient receipt

or bill of sale for furniture.

While it may seem like
kind of a mundane item,

it actually offers insights
into the economic systems

of the region during
the Late Bronze Age.

So maybe the tablets discovered
at Girsu tell a similar story,

and the complex isn't a temple,
but rather a marketplace

for business transactions.

[Anthea]
Sure enough, they unearth
the mud-brick walls

that make up
the mystery complex,

and the scope of it
is staggering.

This was no simple structure.

There are what looks
to be the remains

of different buildings
and multiple rooms and chambers.

But that still doesn't tell us
exactly what it was

and what purpose it served.

The cuneiform tablets
are analyzed in the hopes

that they will provide
some answers,

and the researchers
are stunned by the results.

The tablets are essentially

the government's administrative
archives of Girsu

from when the city
was under the control

of the Akkad dynasty,
from 2300 to 2150 BCE.

This is an incredible find.

It's the oldest physical
evidence of the first empire

in recorded history.

Girsu was one of the Sumerian
cities conquered

by the Mesopotamian king
Sargon around 2300 BCE.

Sargon developed a new form
of government by vanquishing

all the Sumerian settlements
and creating what many call

the first empire in the world.

Until the discovery
of the tablets,

information on this empire
was scarce.

The only documented records
were fragments

of royal inscriptions or copies

of unreliable Akkadian
inscriptions

recorded much later.

The tablets could be called
the spreadsheets of the empire,

and they reveal
a complicated bureaucracy,

Deliveries and expenditures

on everything from textiles
and precious stones,

to fish
and domesticated animals,

to flour and barley.

Some of the tablets even have
maps of canals,

architectural layouts
of buildings, and other plans.

Believed to have been built
around 4,500 years ago,

the Lord Palace of the Kings
was the centerpiece

of the grand city of Girsu,

but it had been lost
for centuries.

The palace complex
would've been a central part

of Sumerian city life,

with the king
and his court residing there.

It was also
an administrative center,

a hub for governing the city
and its surrounding territories.

Incredibly, other excavations
at Girsu finally uncovered

the main temple dedicated
to Ningirsu, called E-ninnu,

also known as the "Temple
of the White Thunderbird."

It was located near
the palace complex,

showing just how intertwined
religious and imperial life were

during the Sumerian period.

Before these excavations,
the existence of the palace

and temple was only known
because of passing references

made to them
that were discovered

by the early French excavation.

The Lord Palace of the King's
discovery sheds light

on the history,
culture, and governance

of the ancient Sumerian
civilization,

and offers valuable insight
into the daily life

of one of the oldest cities
on the planet.

The Northwestern region
of Arabia extends

tens of thousands of miles
between modern-day Jordan

and into the ecoregion
of Iraq.

This is a vast,
incredibly arid ecoregion

with annual rainfall
generally between

just two and eight inches.

There are also extreme
temperature variations,

with lows of just 35 degrees
in winter and highs reaching up

above 100 degrees in summer.

Plants like small shrubs

and certain hardy desert flowers
do actually grow here,

and the animal species
in the area include predators

like foxes, caracals,
and honey badgers,

as well as herds of ibexes
and antelopes.

These animals graze alongside
domesticated herds of cattle,

sheep, and goats who belong
to the nomadic pastoralists

who live throughout the desert.

In fact, despite
the inhospitable climate,

the region has a rich history
of human presence

dating back thousands of years.

In Saudi Arabia,
a team working at the Al-Natah

archaeological site notice
an unusual structure

rising out
of the desert landscape.

The outer reaches of the site
are marked by the remains

of an enormous wall.

In some places, there are only
a few piles of brick to tell us

where it stood, and other parts
are covered in piles of rubble.

Still, based on the existing
evidence, it's estimated

to have once been
over nine miles long.

The southern reaches
of the site show us

how formidable
this wall really was.

Here, the ruins
are up to 19 feet thick,

and two large towers were added.

A fortification this huge,
with defensive features

like these, was likely
built for protection.

The question is, from what?

Excavations in the central
area of the Al-Natah site

yield another discovery
that raises more questions.

There's a group
of tall circular towers

with high, stepped walls.

The overall look
of these monuments

is somewhat reminiscent
of the monumental-stepped tombs

found in ancient Egypt.

When the team
entered the towers,

they discovered that
they contained burial chambers,

just like the pyramids.

These stepped tombs have been
deliberately built in groups

to form an impressive
ancient necropolis,

a term that comes
from the Greek "nekros,"

meaning "dead person,"
and "polis," meaning "city".

In both ancient Greece
and later in ancient Rome,

necropolises would often line
the roads leading in and out

of major cities,
dividing the living

and the dead.

We can see the same trend
in ancient Egypt,

where huge necropolises
sit along the banks of the Nile,

directly across from the cities
they were associated with.

The Al-Natah necropolis
was built during

the third millennium BCE.

Most Greek and Egyptian
necropolises built around

the same time are associated
with large cities that were

home to thousands
of permanent residents.

But things were
totally different

on the Arabian Peninsula.

Unlike ancient Rome,
Greece or Egypt, this region was

dominated by nomadic
pastoralists who would travel

across the peninsula
with herds of grazing animals.

Thousands of years ago,
these groups developed

their own unique
burial traditions,

constructing elaborate funerary
avenues where their dead would

be laid to rest under mounds
of stones called cairns.

But the monumental tombs
at Al-Natah aren't anything

like these graves.

The enormous wall
and elaborate necropolis

at Al-Natah aren't
at all consistent

with nomadic traditions.

Instead, both of these features
point to a sedentary population,

raising the possibility that
a permanent settlement

once existed here.

Excavations
in the eastern part of Al-Natah

turned up thousands
of pottery shards.

Most of them were
from simple bowls and jars,

some of which were once used
to store food.

There were grinding stones,
too, all of which would have

been crucial for cooking
during the Bronze Age.

The pottery was associated
with the remains

of ancient buildings.

Up to 70 of them once stood
here, lining narrow streets

that would have measured
only six feet across.

The amount of domestic
kitchenware found tells us

that these buildings were
likely homes that made up

a residential quarter.

[Dr. Leonard]
The existence of this
extraordinary walled settlement

tells us there were
two competing ways of life

being established here,

a nomadic culture that traveled
through the desert,

and a sedentary population

that decided to lay down
permanent roots.

History is filled
with examples of clashes

between sedentary
and nomadic peoples,

like during the Ming Dynasty,

when the Great Wall of China
was massively expanded

to keep northern Steppe nomads
from moving south.

Based on the level
of fortification at Al-Natah,

it could be that the town
also came into conflict

with the surrounding nomads.

But what could have caused
these tensions between

the nomadic and the settled way
of life in the first place?

A look back at ancient climate
patterns may shed light

on the origins of these
extraordinary settlements.

Humans have inhabited
the Arabian desert

for thousands of years.

For a long time,
the climate was relatively mild,

and savanna-like grasslands
spread over huge areas.

But roughly 6,000 years ago,
things changed dramatically.

[Anthea]
Around 4000 BCE,

a phenomenon known
as "rapid climate change"

caused a massive decrease
in precipitation

across the peninsula.

The environment transformed
and left humans to figure out

how best to adapt.

Many continued to live
nomadically, but over time,

others chose to settle.

During the Bronze Age,
this region would have been

greener than other areas
of the desert,

and would have seemed
a natural place to build

a permanent town.

And it wasn't alone.

Across Northwestern Arabia,
several other oases reveal

intriguing similarities
to the settlement at Al-Natah.

[Anthea] Qurayyah is
a huge archaeological site

stretching over 750 acres.

The area is marked
by a massive brick wall

which once surrounded
the entire oasis.

Over time, a residential area
also grew here,

just like the one at Al-Natah.

During the Bronze
and Iron Ages,

these settlements appeared
around oases

across Northwestern Arabia.

Many of them were designed
similarly,

with internal ramparts

dividing the various sections
of the town,

which were big enough
to accommodate hundreds

of permanent residents.

The people who lived inside
these walled oases built wells

and intricate channels
to collect surface water.

They used the water
to grow crops, orchards,

and olive trees,
as well as to support

local craft production.

These fortified towns
flourished in large part

due to their strategic location.

Each town functioned as
one node in an entire network,

right at the intersection
of the major powers

of Egypt, the Levant,
and Southern Arabia.

A comparison
of the walled oasis

to other Bronze Age settlements
shows an intriguing trend.

The oasis settlements
are thought to have supported

a population of
a few hundred people,

which makes them much smaller
than some of the cities

growing around the same time,
like the Egyptian capital,

Memphis, which would have been
home to thousands of residents.

[Dr. Leonard]
Despite being relatively small
compared to major cities,

these settlements represent
a huge shift in the history

the Arabian Peninsula,
when slow urbanism

radically changed
the desert landscape

over the course
of hundreds of years.

The settlement at Al-Natah
seems to have persisted

for roughly a millennium
before the town was

more or less abandoned.

The reason why
is still a mystery.

Today, Al-Natah provides us
with an invaluable glimpse

into the past, where these
extraordinary walled oases

formed a bridge between
the region's nomadic past

and its increasingly
urban future.

Nestled in a remote corner
of northwestern New Mexico,

the Chaco Canyon carves
its way through 10 miles

of ancient sandstone.

With an elevation of 6,200 feet,
during the summer,

Chaco Canyon is a sun-scorched
desert with temperatures

frequently reaching
the mid-90s Fahrenheit.

The winters are long
and can get bitterly cold.

And on top of that,
the canyon only gets about

two to five inches
of rain per month.

Despite the harsh conditions,
there's evidence

of human activity in the area
going back as early as 2900 BCE.

These groups were largely
nomadic until around 200 AD,

when the first farmers
settled and built

small pit houses.

Then, around 850 CE,
the Pueblo peoples began

to build permanent homes
and ceremonial structures

in the area, and that changed
the entire landscape.

The Pueblo, who were
the native ancestors

of the Hopi and Acoma
of today, among others,

constructed massive
stone and mortar buildings

called greathouses, which soared
to four or five stories

and contained
hundreds of rooms.

Construction on the greathouses
continued for 300 years,

until about 1150, when the area
was abruptly abandoned.

Today, the Chaco Canyon is one
of the most researched sites

of the ancient Americas.

The whole area is rich
with cultural artifacts

from early Pueblo settlers,

and the walls of the canyon
itself are embedded with fossils

going back thousands of years
before that.

50 miles south of the canyon,
a New Mexico gas company

is collecting data for a future
pipeline, working in tandem

with a team of archaeologists,
when they make

an unusual discovery.

50 miles south of
the Chaco canyon,
a New Mexico gas company

is collecting data for a future
pipeline, working in tandem

with a team of archaeologists,
when they make

an unusual discovery.

They identified a long segment
of road extending

from southeast to northwest
in a perfectly straight line.

The road was excavated directly
into the sandstone bedrock

for roughly 250 feet,

at which point it entered
the valley flats below,

where all visible traces
of it disappeared.

But this was no modern road.

Its origins went back
roughly 1,000 years.

[Teddy] Based on a nearby
archaeological site featuring

several Pueblo communities
to the southeast.

It was assumed the road
was somehow connected

to the Pueblo settlements.

But its exact purpose
and function was a mystery.

[Dr. Leonard]
Given that the greathouses

required large amounts of heavy
raw materials to build them,

is it possible the ancient road
was a former transport route

for the construction
of Pueblo settlements?

The design principle
behind the greathouses

was a unique blend
of form and function.

They were geometric
constructions

made with careful craftsmanship,

with walls of stone
and adobe plaster

covered with timber roofs.

Now, those wooden roofs are
long gone now, but the walls

have done surprisingly well
through the passage of time.

The houses were feats
of brilliant engineering,

often including
water collection systems,

storage units,
and sight lines that allowed

for rapid communication.

Entrances were generally
south or southeast-facing,

which provided shade
from the summer sun and warmth

from the winter sun.

At the center of most complexes,
there was an open plaza,

which was believed
to serve as a gathering space

for communal
and religious purposes.

One of the best known
greathouses

was also the largest,

located
at the Pueblo Bonito site,

also within the Chaco Canyon.

It was built in stages
between 850 and 1150 CE,

with stone wall materials
that had to be transported

from off-site,

and timber that came
from a wooded area

of ponderosa pines
surrounding the settlement.

[Dr. Leonard] In addition
to the building foundations,

archaeologists at Pueblo Bonito
found traces of Mexican cacao

and pottery shards imported
from Central America,

over 1200 miles away,

likely intended as offerings
for rituals and ceremonies.

So it's possible
the newly discovered road

was used both as a pathway
for building materials

and as a trade route.

But further examination
of the ancient road presents

a bigger puzzle.

It was lined on the north side
by a raised strip of land

called a berm, created
from fist-sized clumps

of sandstone and earth.

It was determined
that the digging of the road

into the sandstone,
along with the creation

of the elevated berms,
would have required

over 6,600 cubic feet
of bedrock to be removed.

This would have demanded
a massive amount of labor,

which indicated
the road's importance.

But the most baffling aspect
of the road was its width.

At over 20 feet across,
it exceeded

all practical necessity
for a society

with no wheeled vehicles
and no pack animals.

Put simply, this road
was much bigger

than it needed to be,
especially if its only purpose

was the transportation of goods.

So is it possible
it served another purpose?

A deeper dive
into the spiritual traditions

of the Pueblo peoples reveals
a compelling explanation.

[Dr. Leonard]
Pueblo Native Americans
practiced the Kachina religion,

a belief system that featured
hundreds of divine beings

acting as intermediaries
between the human world,

the gods, and the celestial
world of astronomy.

The religion was also
at the center of civic life,

as Pueblo villages were governed
by Kachina religious councils.

[Dr. Riskin]
Spiritual practices
didn't just impact daily life.

Many Pueblo buildings
and structures are believed

to have been built
with archaeo-astronomy in mind,

which means they were built
specifically to align

with solar and lunar cycles.

Entire villages were
specifically planned

with consideration
of celestial alignments,

like the sun's path
during a solstice,

or during an equinox.

One of the most famous examples
is the Sun Dagger,

a Chaco Canyon discovery
that was originally created

to focus the sunlight
onto an elaborate rock carving.

Three large stone slabs
were set against the cliff

to channel the sun's rays
onto two spiral petroglyphs,

marking the solstices,
equinoxes,

and the lunar standstills
of the 18.6-year cycle

of the moon.

It's believed these events
formed the basis

of important Pueblo rituals
and ceremonies.

Is it possible the ancient road
was created

for a similar celestial purpose?

A survey of the surrounding
area leads to a critical clue

into the spiritual traditions
of the Pueblo peoples.

A large crescent-shaped wall
of stacked stone was discovered

on a flat section of earth
adjacent to the road.

Measuring 35 feet east to west

and 46 feet across
south to north,

the round structure
was created

from fist-sized chunks
of sandstone,

connecting directly
to the ancient road.

The structure was identified
as an "Herradura."

That means horseshoe,
and we've seen those before.

They're essentially
roadside shrines for the Pueblo,

typically identified as such
by their shape and by the shards

of pottery and ceramics
that are found in the vicinity.

These are artifacts widely
interpreted as offerings

to the gods.

The discovery of the Herradura
roadside shrine definitely

suggested the road
was connected to some kind

of ritual and that the landscape
itself played an integral role

in that ritual.

However, up to that point,
all the research was based

on data collected
at ground level,

so any available
evidence was limited

to the road's physical
properties and dimensions,

what could only be seen
by the naked eye.

But the use of cutting-edge
technology leads

to a breakthrough.

When the size and scale
of the investigation increased

to include entire landscapes,

a decision was made to use
an imaging process called

"LiDAR," which stands for
"light detection and ranging."

It's a remote-sensing tech
that creates digital 3D models

of environments by measuring
the relative distance

of objects to the earth
with pulsing laser light.

[Dr. Riskin]
For the road south
of Chaco Canyon,

a filter was applied
to the images

that made it look
like light was coming

from different angles
and altitudes.

And what emerges from that is
this 3D picture of the landscape

that exaggerates anomalies,
making things visible

to the human eye
that normally would not be.

The LiDAR images
deliver not one,

but two surprising revelations.

First, the data showed
that the ancient road

extended for at least
another three and a half miles.

It continued
in a straight line,

regardless of where
the road led,

over earthen ramps,

descending into valleys,
even incorporating

man-made staircases
cut right into the rock.

Even more shocking,
the LiDAR revealed the presence

of a second straight road,
parallel to the first one

and about 115 feet
directly southwest.

The second road
also displayed evidence

of an Herradura roadside shrine,

and it too was
uncharacteristically wide,

measuring
almost 20 feet across.

Initially, the two roads
appeared to run

perfectly parallel
to each other.

However, a closer look revealed
they slowly came together

to a point in the distance.

At the near end,
the widest space between

the two roads
was roughly 120 feet.

From that point,
the roads seemed to converge,

measuring just 50 feet
across at its most narrow.

An enormous amount of effort
went into the planning

and building of both roads.

So given the Pueblo
emphasis on sacred topography,

plus the significance
of celestial events

in their calendar,

is it possible
that these two roads

were pointing towards
an important spiritual landmark

on the horizon?

A survey of the surrounding
area provides the answer.

From the perspective
of the first Herradura Shrine,

as well as various points
along the second road,

both roads form
a clear visual trajectory

towards a single landmass

directly southeast --
Mount Taylor.

And Mount Taylor
is an eminently sacred mountain

among contemporary
Pueblo and Diné

living in northwestern
New Mexico.

The survey also indicated that
both roads ran at an azimuth

of approximately 120 degrees
and that the second road

corresponded with the position
of the winter solstice

at the original Gasco site.

[Dr. Riskin]
As the shortest day of the year
and the longest night,

winter solstice marks the point
at which the sun reaches

the most southerly position
in the sky over the course

of its entire annual cycle.

Suspecting the sun would rise
over Mount Taylor in alignment

with both roads during
the winter solstice,

researchers returned
to the site on the morning

of December 21st.

As anticipated
and as if on cue,

the sun rose dramatically
over the mountain

in perfect alignment
with the two road corridors

when is viewed
from the center of the roadbed.

For the Pueblo peoples,
the awe-inspiring view

of the sun rising
over Mount Taylor

likely symbolized
the powerful relationship

between the natural

and spiritual worlds
and exemplifies the role

the celestial calendar played
in guiding religious life.

The ancient roads

of the Chaco Canyon
reveal the Pueblo

to have been masters
at imbuing urban planning

with a deep connection
to the sacred

and a keen understanding
of cosmology.