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It's gigantic.
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Why did they build it in this place?
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So, there's something underneath us?
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[ laughs ] that's stone!
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Look at that!
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Something just went right by the camera.
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Let's see what's down here.
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♪
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high in the mountains of bolivia and peru
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is one of the most intriguing places on the planet --
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lake titicaca.
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It's the largest lake in south america
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and the highest navigable body of water in the world.
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And according to legend, it might also have been home
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to one of the most advanced ancient civilizations
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in the americas.
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I'm not talking about the inca, but a far older
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and more mysterious culture known as the tiwanaku.
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Predating the inca by more than 1,000 years,
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they built massive stone temples
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that, to this day, have barely been excavated.
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The inca believe the tiwanaku
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were the first people to walk the earth
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and that their capital city was once so massive and so complex,
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it must have been built by gods or giants.
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They erected bizarre structures with cryptic symbols
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that have given rise to conspiracy theories
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of alien contact.
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And to this day, stories persist
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that an even more magnificent city
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is hidden deep underwater.
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It might sound like fantasy,
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but recent scans of their ruined metropolis
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reveal it might be larger
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and more advanced than anyone believed.
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And the discovery of mysterious sunken ruins
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has some people saying
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that the so-called atlantis of the andes
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might actually be real.
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So, who built the city of tiwanaku and how?
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And is more of their ancient empire really hidden underwater?
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A journey to the heart of the world's most legendary lake
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might finally lead to answers.
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♪
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my name is josh gates...
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Look! [ laughs ]
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...Explorer, adventurer...
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That is it!
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...And a guy who ends up in some very strange situations.
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Ah, ah, aah, haa!
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With a degree in archaeology
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and a passion for the unexplained,
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I travel to the ends of the earth,
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investigating the greatest legends in history.
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Okay, let's punch it.
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This is "expedition unknown."
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-- captions by vitac -- www.Vitac.Com
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captions paid for by discovery communications
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I'm in bolivia to meet an expert on the tiwanaku
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in the highest capital city on earth.
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[ dog barking ]
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[ panting ]
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♪
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welc-- [ exhales deeply ]
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[ breathing heavily ]
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forget it. Forget it.
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Oh, god.
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"welcome to la paz" is what I was going for.
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At an altitude of 12,000 feet,
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this place literally takes your breath away,
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especially since getting around means going even higher.
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♪
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this is the teleferiqo.
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It is the world's highest and longest aerial cable-car system.
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It was built a few years ago
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to counteract the crushing gridlock down in the city.
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And as of today, there are six different cable-car lines,
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20 stations, and more than 900 gondolas,
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gliding above a sea of humanity.
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♪
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on the crowded streets below are the descendants of the inca,
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aymara natives, and even the enigmatic tiwanaku.
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It's a blend of cultures
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that makes for some interesting shopping.
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Like here, at the witches market...
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Hola. ...A one-stop ritual shop,
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selling everything from dried llama fetuses,
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which is like the local version of a lucky rabbit's foot,
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to the unavoidable andean pan flute.
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You know, a lot of people don't know this.
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I actually took four years of andean pan flute in college.
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[ pan flute music plays ]
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still got it.
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Still got it.
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I give the pipes a rest and make my way
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to the la paz national archaeological museum.
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I've arranged to meet with archaeologist alexei vranich,
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one of the world's foremost authorities on the tiwanaku.
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Tiwanaku, this is not a household name to most people.
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This is not something everybody's heard of,
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so, what is tiwanaku?
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It's a place up at 13,000 feet above sea level
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right on the shores of lake titicaca.
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But it's also a people. The people who built it?
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The people who built it.
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You have this megalithic site.
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The scale is so big.
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Some of these stones are tremendous.
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These stones are so large.
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When the first travelers came through,
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they referred to it as the american stonehenge.
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Wow.
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Gates: And much like stonehenge,
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tiwanaku is one of the world's greatest mysteries.
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Located about 50 miles west of la paz,
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tiwanaku was built around 100 b.C.,
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more than 1,000 years before the inca arrived on the scene.
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The site consists of a large complex of huge stone structures
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built near the coast of lake titicaca.
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You look at it, and you think, "where did this come from?
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Why did they build it in this place?"
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it's in the middle of nowhere.
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You go there, and there's just nothing,
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which has given rise to a lot of wild theories.
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The ruins feature cryptic gateways, otherworldly carvings,
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and impossibly large walls,
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leading conspiracy theorists to claim
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the site must have been built with alien assistance.
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Even the inca, when they arrived at the ruins
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500 years after the tiwanaku collapsed,
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were stunned by the size
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and perfection of the stonework.
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You know, in fact, the inca justification to rule
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was based on the idea that they were the firstborn.
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The gods made them. They went out to conquer.
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Then all of a sudden, they get to tiwanaku,
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and they're like, "oh, no.
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There's something here that's clearly older than us
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and even better." right.
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So, what do they do?
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They just change their history around.
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They said, "in fact, we were born here."
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so, the inca suddenly were born at tiwanaku?
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They rearranged it a bit and said, "look what we made."
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right.
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Gates: The precision stonework and massive blocks used at tiwanaku
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are more advanced than anything found
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in the americas at the time.
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So, how did they build this engineering marvel?
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You will need to understand what the tiwanaku were
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and what the site is like.
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You have to go to this one location.
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Perfect.
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Gates: So early the next morning -- and I do mean early...
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...I drive the 50 miles from la paz to tiwanaku...
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...To mark a very special occasion.
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It's just after 5:00 a.M., and I've arrived at tiwanaku,
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a place named after the mysterious people
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who once lived here,
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so, what am I doing here in the freezing darkness?
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Well, to this day, locals believe
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that this is the most important moment of the year
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in the most important place --
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sunrise on the winter solstice.
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I'm not alone here.
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Thousands of people are descending on this ancient site,
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seeking good fortune for the coming year.
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Even the president of bolivia, evo morales,
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is in attendance,
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donning traditional garb
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to soak in the first rays of light
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at a mysterious stone structure called the gate of the sun.
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The tiwanaku believed the sun was created
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by a powerful deity known to us as the staff god.
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The inca would later call him viracocha.
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Legend says he emerged from the waters of the nearby lake,
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creating the sun and building the advanced city of tiwanaku
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with the help of giants.
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All around me are the descendants of the tiwanaku,
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and while it might sound crazy, many of them really believe
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that this site was built by a god and an army of giants.
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But when the sun comes up, it's not hard to see why.
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As the first rays of light pierce the frigid air,
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thousands of hands are held up to the rising sun...
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♪
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...And the mysterious city is revealed.
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♪
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there are sprawling temples, colossal walls, channels,
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and stone gutters for water and mysterious carvings.
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To find some hard answers as to how it was all built,
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I wait for the crowds to disperse
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and then meet with leading archaeologist
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jose ignacio gallegos
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at the so-called gate of the sun.
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So, the first thing I notice are these beautiful carvings.
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So let's talk about the big guy in the middle.
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This is viracocha?
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The staff god?
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So, he literally comes out of these waters,
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and he sort of creates everything?
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Gallegos: Yeah.
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The really impressive part of this gate, of course,
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is just the gate itself.
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Andesite?
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This was originally one piece of stone?
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And they moved this by hand? -Yeah.
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That's the part of this I don't get.
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Yes, it is. It is.
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And they didn't just move this stone a few feet.
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The andesite quarry is 55 miles away,
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but how it got here
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is just one of the many mysteries
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surrounding the sun gate.
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I've also heard some very outlandish stories about, like,
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animals that are hidden here in the glyphs.
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So, what do people see here?
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An ancient elephant,
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oh, with, like, the eye and the trunk here?
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Yeah.
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Prehistoric elephants disappeared from south america
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more than 10,000 years ago, suggesting to some that tiwanaku
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was the first major city in human history
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and inspiring wild speculation
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that it was built with ancient alien assistance.
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But jose has a much less "stargate"-y theory.
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So, this is not evidence of ice age encounters here?
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Good. Okay. No, this is good.
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We're getting the real story here.
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I like this.
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Gates: Modern archaeologists date the gate
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and the rest of the city to about 1,500 years ago,
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not 10,000.
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That still doesn't explain how this place was built,
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and jose says that new finds at the site
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are only deepening the mystery.
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Gates: One thing you can't tell in the dark
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is how big this place is.
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How big is it?
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Two square miles? Yeah.
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That's only the parts you've excavated?
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Yeah. That's crazy.
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And this huge mound that we see over here, is that natural?
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All of it?
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That's gigantic.
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Gates: I'm in bolivia amidst the ancient ruins of tiwanaku,
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a city of gigantic stones that were somehow moved here
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nearly 2,000 years ago.
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Legends say the city was built by an enigmatic god
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who came from the nearby lake
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or even ufos.
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But I'm here for the truth,
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and archaeologist jose ignacio gallegos
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may be about to crack the code
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on how this colossal city was really made.
255
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And this huge mound that we see over here, is that natural?
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All of it? Yep.
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So, this is like a pyramid?
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That's gigantic.
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How much of this has been excavated?
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3% of the pyramid has been excavated?
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Crazy.
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Gates: The akapana pyramid is a massive structure
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that once stood five stories tall
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00:13:05,180 --> 00:13:08,920
and is wider than the great pyramid of giza in egypt.
265
00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:11,720
Archaeologists believe that, at the city's height,
266
00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:16,690
between 20,000 and 40,000 people lived or traveled here.
267
00:13:16,690 --> 00:13:19,060
This culture may have controlled an empire
268
00:13:19,060 --> 00:13:22,160
that extended from the coast of peru to bolivia
269
00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:24,130
and northern chile.
270
00:13:24,130 --> 00:13:27,800
And the heart of that empire was the capital city of tiwanaku,
271
00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:29,440
home to some of the most mysterious
272
00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:31,200
construction in the world.
273
00:13:31,210 --> 00:13:34,740
And the most baffling of all is the pumapunku temple complex.
274
00:13:36,210 --> 00:13:38,140
And this place just gets weirder and weirder.
275
00:13:38,150 --> 00:13:39,150
Yeah.
276
00:13:39,150 --> 00:13:40,350
What are these here?
277
00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:44,120
They are. They're like giant h's.
278
00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:45,790
Feels like lego set.
279
00:13:47,860 --> 00:13:50,490
So all these little indentations that we see on the side,
280
00:13:50,490 --> 00:13:51,760
all these little elements,
281
00:13:51,760 --> 00:13:53,860
they're meant to link these things together?
282
00:13:53,860 --> 00:13:57,360
Gates: Interlocking channels carved in the rocks,
283
00:13:57,370 --> 00:13:59,370
mysterious shapes,
284
00:13:59,370 --> 00:14:00,770
cryptic symbols,
285
00:14:00,770 --> 00:14:03,140
and doorways within doorways.
286
00:14:03,140 --> 00:14:06,570
The original function of these ruins has been lost to time,
287
00:14:06,580 --> 00:14:10,740
but recent excavations may offer crucial clues.
288
00:14:10,750 --> 00:14:13,850
Archaeologists have found thousands of ceramic vessels
289
00:14:13,850 --> 00:14:15,480
for drinking chicha --
290
00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:17,820
an alcoholic beverage made from corn,
291
00:14:17,820 --> 00:14:21,020
as well as imagery depicting psychedelic rituals.
292
00:14:21,020 --> 00:14:22,590
They've even uncovered implements
293
00:14:22,590 --> 00:14:26,230
for snorting hallucinogenic compounds.
294
00:14:26,230 --> 00:14:27,790
In short, this place may have been
295
00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:30,230
the ancient equivalent of burning man,
296
00:14:30,230 --> 00:14:32,330
a ceremonial center built to honor
297
00:14:32,330 --> 00:14:36,270
the enigmatic deities of the sun and the nearby lake.
298
00:14:40,180 --> 00:14:41,840
Wait. Is this one stone?
299
00:14:45,910 --> 00:14:48,750
No...Way.
300
00:14:48,750 --> 00:14:50,980
Gates: These blocks are the biggest in tiwanaku
301
00:14:50,990 --> 00:14:53,750
and some of the largest in the ancient americas.
302
00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:57,890
Each weighs as much as 100 cars, and consider this --
303
00:14:57,890 --> 00:15:00,530
the tiwanaku didn't have the wheel,
304
00:15:00,530 --> 00:15:03,930
yet the builders somehow moved every stone to the site
305
00:15:03,930 --> 00:15:06,100
from someplace else.
306
00:15:06,100 --> 00:15:08,130
This was not here? Nope.
307
00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:13,110
No. Impossible. [ laughs ]
308
00:15:13,110 --> 00:15:14,940
crazy.
309
00:15:14,940 --> 00:15:16,410
Gates: All the stones at tiwanaku
310
00:15:16,410 --> 00:15:19,580
were quarried from one of two places --
311
00:15:19,580 --> 00:15:22,180
from deep in the mountains 10 miles away,
312
00:15:22,180 --> 00:15:24,580
and from the other side of lake titicaca,
313
00:15:24,590 --> 00:15:26,620
more than 55 miles away.
314
00:15:28,690 --> 00:15:30,760
And in a sunken courtyard nearby,
315
00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:32,430
you can even come face-to-face
316
00:15:32,430 --> 00:15:35,260
with some of the ancient builders.
317
00:15:35,260 --> 00:15:37,300
Wow, look at that!
318
00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:44,040
Leaders and priests... Yeah, that's right.
319
00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:45,710
...Kings.
320
00:15:45,710 --> 00:15:47,510
That, by the way, is an alien.
321
00:15:47,510 --> 00:15:48,640
That's not human. -No.
322
00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:50,910
Even you think that doesn't look human.
323
00:15:50,910 --> 00:15:52,550
It's either an ugly guy or an alien,
324
00:15:52,550 --> 00:15:53,750
but I think, case closed,
325
00:15:53,750 --> 00:15:55,520
this place was built by extraterrestrials.
326
00:15:55,520 --> 00:15:56,620
That's it. You're right.
327
00:15:56,620 --> 00:15:58,380
This place was built by aliens, for sure.
328
00:15:58,390 --> 00:16:00,250
Gates: All joking aside, jose believes
329
00:16:00,260 --> 00:16:02,820
the real answer to how tiwanaku was built
330
00:16:02,820 --> 00:16:04,690
isn't up in the stars,
331
00:16:04,690 --> 00:16:07,360
but rather lies hidden beneath our feet.
332
00:16:11,300 --> 00:16:14,070
Revolutionary scans conducted by unesco
333
00:16:14,070 --> 00:16:18,070
used 3-d imaging drones to build a topographical map.
334
00:16:18,070 --> 00:16:20,770
This map revealed disturbances in the landscape
335
00:16:20,780 --> 00:16:23,380
that jose is racing to investigate.
336
00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:29,920
So, these are the things that we know about.
337
00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:31,920
What did you find on the scan that we didn't know about?
338
00:16:37,060 --> 00:16:39,160
35 acres of new finds?
339
00:16:40,300 --> 00:16:43,000
Gates: To put this in perspective, the scan suggests
340
00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:45,060
tiwanaku is about 10 times larger
341
00:16:45,070 --> 00:16:47,570
than anyone previously believed.
342
00:16:47,570 --> 00:16:50,300
Jose thinks these foundations buried underground
343
00:16:50,310 --> 00:16:52,240
may be the key to understanding
344
00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:55,740
how the massive stone structures of tiwanaku were built.
345
00:17:01,620 --> 00:17:02,950
So, that's a totally buried structure?
346
00:17:02,950 --> 00:17:03,950
Yeah.
347
00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:07,190
No idea what that is?
348
00:17:09,460 --> 00:17:11,290
And where is this in relation to where we're standing?
349
00:17:16,260 --> 00:17:18,500
Gates: Jose has an imaging expert on standby
350
00:17:18,500 --> 00:17:20,670
to investigate the buried ridges.
351
00:17:20,670 --> 00:17:25,040
We make our way to the site where I find a familiar face.
352
00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:26,040
Bob leonard.
353
00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:27,910
Josh gates, how you doing, brother?
354
00:17:27,910 --> 00:17:29,710
Gates: I last worked with him in guatemala
355
00:17:29,710 --> 00:17:33,880
on my search for the tombs of the maya snake kings.
356
00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:35,580
So, what's the plan out here, guys?
357
00:17:35,580 --> 00:17:37,020
Well, we've been looking at jose's scans,
358
00:17:37,020 --> 00:17:38,680
and they look like there's something really interesting here,
359
00:17:38,690 --> 00:17:40,320
and so what we do now is go in and confirm it
360
00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:41,520
with ground-penetrating radar.
361
00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:43,960
All right. Let's rock and roll. Come on.
362
00:17:45,390 --> 00:17:47,730
Gates: Gpr sends radio waves into the ground
363
00:17:47,730 --> 00:17:49,900
and can detect the presence of structures
364
00:17:49,900 --> 00:17:52,070
hidden more than a dozen feet down.
365
00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:57,440
I drag the unit in a grid pattern
366
00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:00,170
over the area indicated by the scans
367
00:18:00,180 --> 00:18:03,780
while bob takes note of any disturbances in the data.
368
00:18:06,850 --> 00:18:08,210
Bob, I just ran over some cow poop.
369
00:18:08,220 --> 00:18:09,620
I'm sorry. Great.
370
00:18:09,620 --> 00:18:11,980
Let's just call it a $15,000 piece of equipment
371
00:18:11,990 --> 00:18:14,550
and try to keep it out of the [bleep] please.
372
00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:16,560
Sorry. I'll do my best.
373
00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:23,730
♪
374
00:18:23,730 --> 00:18:25,130
can you hold it right there, josh?
375
00:18:25,130 --> 00:18:26,300
That looks really interesting.
376
00:18:26,300 --> 00:18:28,940
See how that blue got a lot fatter there?
377
00:18:28,940 --> 00:18:29,940
Look at that.
378
00:18:29,940 --> 00:18:31,400
Yeah. Yeah.
379
00:18:31,410 --> 00:18:32,710
It almost looks like a depression.
380
00:18:32,710 --> 00:18:33,970
Yeah, some kind of a pit.
381
00:18:33,980 --> 00:18:36,710
That dirt looks disturbed.
382
00:18:39,510 --> 00:18:41,310
Okay, great. Let's go back over this again,
383
00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:42,550
see if we hit it on the other way.
384
00:18:42,550 --> 00:18:43,750
All right.
385
00:18:43,750 --> 00:18:46,390
Gates: We tag our first radar hit --
386
00:18:46,390 --> 00:18:50,060
an unusual sunken area covered over with topsoil.
387
00:18:50,060 --> 00:18:53,990
It appears to be man-made, so we continue scanning.
388
00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:56,200
Whoa! That's getting some good hits.
389
00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:57,930
Look at that. Look at that.
390
00:18:57,930 --> 00:18:59,870
-Right there! -Yeah.
391
00:18:59,870 --> 00:19:00,970
Yeah, that's crazy.
392
00:19:00,970 --> 00:19:02,140
That's the biggest thing we've hit.
393
00:19:02,140 --> 00:19:03,300
See how that bumps up?
394
00:19:03,300 --> 00:19:04,540
-Yeah. -Bumps up.
395
00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:09,310
It's a monster. Yeah.
396
00:19:09,310 --> 00:19:10,640
So there's something right underneath us
397
00:19:10,650 --> 00:19:12,040
that runs this whole length here?
398
00:19:12,050 --> 00:19:13,510
Yeah.
399
00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:14,810
Is it possible to dig it?
400
00:19:18,650 --> 00:19:20,750
Okay. Yeah, let's dig.
401
00:19:23,120 --> 00:19:25,420
Gates: Workers arrive on the scene within minutes
402
00:19:25,430 --> 00:19:28,260
and start clearing away the thick brush
403
00:19:28,260 --> 00:19:30,000
for a small test pit.
404
00:19:32,930 --> 00:19:34,700
You know, bob, there are more shovels around here, I think.
405
00:19:34,700 --> 00:19:35,800
I can get you one.
406
00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:37,640
Well, but my hands are full over here.
407
00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:39,310
I got, you know, expensive gear all over me.
408
00:19:39,310 --> 00:19:41,010
Oh, I understand. I understand.
409
00:19:41,010 --> 00:19:46,650
♪
410
00:19:46,650 --> 00:19:48,980
the first foot or so yields nothing.
411
00:19:53,660 --> 00:19:56,390
But soon, we feel resistance.
412
00:19:56,390 --> 00:19:57,620
-Oh. -Hey.
413
00:19:57,630 --> 00:19:59,090
I got something.
414
00:19:59,090 --> 00:20:00,790
You have it down there? Yeah.
415
00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:02,500
Oh, there's something here. Hold on.
416
00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:06,500
Ha! Look at that!
417
00:20:06,500 --> 00:20:08,800
That is stone!
418
00:20:19,810 --> 00:20:21,250
Gates: I'm on a mission to find out
419
00:20:21,250 --> 00:20:25,380
how the mind-boggling ancient city of tiwanaku was built.
420
00:20:25,390 --> 00:20:29,590
Stone blocks weighing 100 tons were moved here from far away,
421
00:20:29,590 --> 00:20:30,860
but how?
422
00:20:30,860 --> 00:20:33,760
Now satellite scans and our own radar survey
423
00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:36,060
have revealed something hidden underground
424
00:20:36,060 --> 00:20:39,400
that might provide the answer.
425
00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:40,630
Oh.
426
00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:42,130
I got something.
427
00:20:42,140 --> 00:20:43,900
You have it down there? Yeah.
428
00:20:43,910 --> 00:20:46,610
Oh, there's something here. Hold on.
429
00:20:46,610 --> 00:20:47,670
Stone? Yeah.
430
00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:50,210
Ha! That's stone! Look at that!
431
00:20:53,820 --> 00:20:56,520
That is stone!
432
00:20:56,520 --> 00:20:59,050
This is a wall. Yeah.
433
00:20:59,050 --> 00:21:00,220
It keeps going over. Hey.
434
00:21:00,220 --> 00:21:02,260
I mean, this really is the edge of a wall.
435
00:21:05,390 --> 00:21:06,690
Nice work, man. [ laughs ]
436
00:21:06,690 --> 00:21:09,900
gates: This is a major find,
437
00:21:09,900 --> 00:21:13,730
but curiously, one member of our team isn't celebrating.
438
00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:20,670
The gpr hit was bigger than that,
439
00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:23,210
so there's got to be more wall.
440
00:21:23,210 --> 00:21:24,910
Okay, let's try and open this up this way a little bit.
441
00:21:24,910 --> 00:21:27,380
Let's see what's down here.
442
00:21:27,380 --> 00:21:30,650
So, clay, some sort of a surface here, clay.
443
00:21:30,650 --> 00:21:33,250
We carefully scrape away more topsoil.
444
00:21:33,250 --> 00:21:34,890
And...
445
00:21:35,860 --> 00:21:37,690
Ah, more stone.
446
00:21:37,690 --> 00:21:40,790
Look at that. Nice work, man.
447
00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:44,200
Lo and behold, there's another structure
448
00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:46,300
running parallel to the first.
449
00:21:46,300 --> 00:21:47,700
This isn't just a small piece.
450
00:21:47,700 --> 00:21:49,300
On the radar and on your scans,
451
00:21:49,300 --> 00:21:51,970
this looks like it extends way out in both directions.
452
00:21:53,470 --> 00:21:56,440
Okay, so, million-dollar question is, what is this?
453
00:21:56,440 --> 00:21:58,180
What are we looking at?
454
00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:03,120
Like canals?
455
00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:06,090
And what about that sunken pit that we saw with the radar?
456
00:22:06,090 --> 00:22:08,050
Could that be tied to all this?
457
00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:13,090
That pit is some sort of water-collection system
458
00:22:13,090 --> 00:22:15,030
like a reservoir?
459
00:22:15,030 --> 00:22:17,000
There is evidence all over tiwanaku
460
00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:18,600
of the importance of water,
461
00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:20,130
like the mysterious staff god
462
00:22:20,130 --> 00:22:23,070
who supposedly came from the waters of the lake
463
00:22:23,070 --> 00:22:26,110
and the gutters and channels seen around the main temple
464
00:22:26,110 --> 00:22:29,310
to collect and convey water around the site.
465
00:22:37,150 --> 00:22:38,950
Okay. What'd you find?
466
00:22:43,260 --> 00:22:45,860
Jose theorizes that the walls we just discovered
467
00:22:45,860 --> 00:22:47,530
were part of a canal system
468
00:22:47,530 --> 00:22:50,860
that brought controlled rivers of water into the city.
469
00:22:52,370 --> 00:22:54,000
And satellite imagery confirms
470
00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:56,640
that these canals connected natural waterways
471
00:22:56,640 --> 00:23:00,840
near the stone quarry in the mountains down to the city.
472
00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:09,480
Even if they have these canals coming down from the mountains,
473
00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:12,180
how do they get the stones down the canals?
474
00:23:12,190 --> 00:23:13,590
You float them?
475
00:23:13,590 --> 00:23:14,590
[bleep]
476
00:23:14,590 --> 00:23:16,020
[ laughs ] no.
477
00:23:16,020 --> 00:23:17,320
How do you float them?
478
00:23:18,990 --> 00:23:21,130
Reed boats? Like this?
479
00:23:21,130 --> 00:23:22,760
Boats made out of this... -Yes.
480
00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:24,530
...Float a 100-ton stone?
481
00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:32,170
They still work with this?
482
00:23:36,010 --> 00:23:38,110
It seems like an improbable solution
483
00:23:38,110 --> 00:23:40,880
to the mystery of tiwanaku's construction.
484
00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:43,280
Could boats made from blades of grass
485
00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:46,520
really carry stones weighing hundreds of tons?
486
00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:49,190
I'm skeptical, to say the least.
487
00:23:49,190 --> 00:23:53,290
So, I bid jose and bob farewell and set my sights west
488
00:23:53,290 --> 00:23:55,830
to the place where the uros people still live
489
00:23:55,830 --> 00:23:59,700
and still carry on traditions that date back to the tiwanaku.
490
00:23:59,700 --> 00:24:08,170
♪
491
00:24:08,180 --> 00:24:09,810
outside of these cities in bolivia,
492
00:24:09,810 --> 00:24:11,980
there's a whole lot of, well, not much,
493
00:24:11,980 --> 00:24:13,210
but there is one site
494
00:24:13,210 --> 00:24:15,980
that dominates this otherwise dusty landscape.
495
00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:19,850
Lake titicaca.
496
00:24:19,850 --> 00:24:21,220
[ record scratches ]
497
00:24:21,220 --> 00:24:22,320
what are you, 12 years old?
498
00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:23,660
That's the name of the lake.
499
00:24:23,660 --> 00:24:25,860
Okay? That's its name --
500
00:24:25,860 --> 00:24:27,430
lake titicaca.
501
00:24:27,430 --> 00:24:30,960
Let's just... Back to the package, please.
502
00:24:30,970 --> 00:24:33,500
[ clears throat ]
503
00:24:33,500 --> 00:24:35,170
as I was saying, lake titicaca
504
00:24:35,170 --> 00:24:37,470
is the largest lake in south america
505
00:24:37,470 --> 00:24:41,010
and the highest navigable body of water on earth.
506
00:24:41,010 --> 00:24:43,510
The route to puno, where the uros people live,
507
00:24:43,510 --> 00:24:46,880
offers up some of its most spectacular vistas.
508
00:24:51,190 --> 00:24:55,090
The lake is so big that it actually spans two countries,
509
00:24:55,090 --> 00:24:58,560
so it's time to say goodbye to bolivia...
510
00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:00,460
And hello to peru.
511
00:25:00,460 --> 00:25:02,190
Gracias.
512
00:25:06,070 --> 00:25:07,730
Across the sort of border,
513
00:25:07,740 --> 00:25:10,540
I make my way to the western shore of lake titicaca
514
00:25:10,540 --> 00:25:12,270
and the village of puno.
515
00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:17,810
At the edge of the water, I meet an old friend,
516
00:25:17,810 --> 00:25:20,980
an author specializing in ancient andean cultures,
517
00:25:20,980 --> 00:25:22,150
brien foerster,
518
00:25:22,150 --> 00:25:24,750
and an expert in the uros people,
519
00:25:24,750 --> 00:25:27,050
local guide gustavo morales.
520
00:25:27,050 --> 00:25:28,490
They've spent decades
521
00:25:28,490 --> 00:25:30,820
investigating tiwanaku's legends.
522
00:25:30,830 --> 00:25:32,290
Welcome to lake titicaca.
523
00:25:32,290 --> 00:25:35,130
Beautiful place to be in the world.
524
00:25:35,130 --> 00:25:37,830
I've just come from the ruins at tiwanaku.
525
00:25:37,830 --> 00:25:39,430
How did they get these stones there?
526
00:25:39,430 --> 00:25:42,000
The red-sandstone quarry is 10 miles away.
527
00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:43,070
Yeah.
528
00:25:43,070 --> 00:25:44,670
And the andesite quarry's 55 miles away.
529
00:25:44,670 --> 00:25:46,570
Well, that's why I'm here because that's the part
530
00:25:46,570 --> 00:25:49,210
that really I couldn't get my head around, you know?
531
00:25:49,210 --> 00:25:51,680
In working with the archaeologist at the site,
532
00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:52,810
he was saying that one of the theories
533
00:25:52,810 --> 00:25:54,580
is they used this stuff, reeds,
534
00:25:54,580 --> 00:25:56,550
and so he wanted me to come meet the uros people.
535
00:25:56,550 --> 00:25:58,150
Now, who are the uros? Let's start with that.
536
00:25:58,150 --> 00:26:00,920
Well, the uros is another ancient civilization
537
00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:02,520
always around the lake titicaca.
538
00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:04,520
And they were experts on building with reeds.
539
00:26:04,530 --> 00:26:06,530
And so, what about this idea
540
00:26:06,530 --> 00:26:08,790
that they could've constructed something out of reeds
541
00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:12,030
to move tons and tons of stone?
542
00:26:12,030 --> 00:26:13,270
Is it possible?
543
00:26:13,270 --> 00:26:14,530
I think it is.
544
00:26:14,540 --> 00:26:16,640
But in order to understand, you need to see it.
545
00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:17,870
And we've arranged a boat
546
00:26:17,870 --> 00:26:19,610
to take us all to the uros islands
547
00:26:19,610 --> 00:26:21,410
to go and visit the uros people.
548
00:26:21,410 --> 00:26:22,880
Okay, great. Where is it?
549
00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:24,710
Out there. Wait, is this it?
550
00:26:24,710 --> 00:26:26,680
It is. Yes, that's it.
551
00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:28,750
[ laughs ]
552
00:26:28,750 --> 00:26:30,320
is that made of reeds? It is.
553
00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:32,080
Come on.
554
00:26:32,090 --> 00:26:35,690
Gates: The boat approaching the docks is a marvel of ancient design.
555
00:26:35,690 --> 00:26:36,860
Nearly everything,
556
00:26:36,860 --> 00:26:38,820
even the puma heads on the front,
557
00:26:38,830 --> 00:26:40,930
is made from natural reeds.
558
00:26:40,930 --> 00:26:43,300
We climb aboard to test it out.
559
00:26:43,300 --> 00:26:49,900
♪
560
00:26:49,900 --> 00:26:53,010
this is the coolest boat I've ever seen.
561
00:26:53,010 --> 00:26:54,470
I'm amazed by this thing.
562
00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:57,240
I mean, these reeds right now are carrying the weight of...
563
00:26:57,240 --> 00:26:59,450
One, two, three, four, five people.
564
00:26:59,450 --> 00:27:01,710
Just the fact that we're standing up here
565
00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:04,820
means that these reeds actually can support a lot of weight.
566
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:12,520
Nine tons?
567
00:27:14,930 --> 00:27:16,200
Okay.
568
00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:18,460
And actually, the size of the boat is unlimited.
569
00:27:18,470 --> 00:27:19,930
All you do is add more and more reeds,
570
00:27:19,930 --> 00:27:21,230
and you get bigger and bigger and bigger.
571
00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:22,600
Right.
572
00:27:24,370 --> 00:27:27,210
So, these things really could have carried huge stones.
573
00:27:27,210 --> 00:27:28,340
Well, as you're about to see,
574
00:27:28,340 --> 00:27:31,780
they can carry a lot more than that.
575
00:27:31,780 --> 00:27:36,280
We take our plant-based transport further into the lake.
576
00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:39,280
Soon, we see specks of land on the horizon.
577
00:27:39,290 --> 00:27:41,150
Gustavo, what's this ahead of us?
578
00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:43,890
Josh, welcome to the uros islands.
579
00:27:43,890 --> 00:27:45,520
These are man-made? Yes, they are.
580
00:27:45,530 --> 00:27:47,030
All made of reeds.
581
00:27:47,030 --> 00:27:48,930
Oh, man!
582
00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:04,040
Gates: I'm in the heart of south america's lake titicaca
583
00:28:04,050 --> 00:28:05,510
investigating the theory
584
00:28:05,510 --> 00:28:08,380
that the tiwanaku used boats made of reeds,
585
00:28:08,380 --> 00:28:10,150
like the one I'm on right now,
586
00:28:10,150 --> 00:28:12,420
to ferry stones to their capital.
587
00:28:12,420 --> 00:28:14,150
It turns out that the uros people
588
00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:18,690
still use this technology today and on a grand scale.
589
00:28:18,690 --> 00:28:20,530
Gustavo, what's this ahead of us?
590
00:28:20,530 --> 00:28:22,630
Josh, welcome to the uros islands.
591
00:28:24,700 --> 00:28:26,330
These are man-made? Yes, they are.
592
00:28:26,330 --> 00:28:28,200
All made of reeds.
593
00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:29,900
Oh, man!
594
00:28:31,970 --> 00:28:33,210
Before us is a sight
595
00:28:33,210 --> 00:28:35,670
unlike anything I have ever witnessed --
596
00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:38,910
a floating civilization built with ingenuity
597
00:28:38,910 --> 00:28:41,650
and billions of blades of lake grass.
598
00:28:41,650 --> 00:28:43,550
It's like another world.
599
00:28:48,090 --> 00:28:50,020
We dock our floating salad,
600
00:28:50,020 --> 00:28:54,630
and I step off onto what feels like terra firma -- sort of.
601
00:28:54,630 --> 00:28:58,060
I cannot believe I'm walking on an island made of reeds.
602
00:28:58,070 --> 00:28:59,260
Mm-hmm.
603
00:29:02,340 --> 00:29:04,600
And it's not just the island.
604
00:29:04,610 --> 00:29:07,740
There are houses, playgrounds, kitchens,
605
00:29:07,740 --> 00:29:12,340
schools, and this thing -- all built from the same stuff.
606
00:29:12,350 --> 00:29:15,410
In fact, there are 120 reed islands
607
00:29:15,420 --> 00:29:17,750
floating together in lake titicaca,
608
00:29:17,750 --> 00:29:20,920
and they're growing more of them every day.
609
00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:23,990
The reed islands are capable of supporting fishing...
610
00:29:23,990 --> 00:29:25,520
Like an ice-fishing hole... Exactly that.
611
00:29:25,530 --> 00:29:27,160
...But a reed-fishing hole. Yes.
612
00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:29,760
...Agriculture, and if the crops aren't plentiful,
613
00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:34,500
the reeds turn out to be plenty tasty on their own.
614
00:29:34,500 --> 00:29:36,770
It tastes like celery. It really does.
615
00:29:36,770 --> 00:29:38,000
You could build with this stuff,
616
00:29:38,010 --> 00:29:41,170
and you could make a killer bloody mary.
617
00:29:41,180 --> 00:29:42,540
Give it a little stir.
618
00:29:44,310 --> 00:29:47,150
Gates: But brien and gustavo didn't just bring me here to prove
619
00:29:47,150 --> 00:29:50,650
that these reeds could've moved the stones at tiwanaku.
620
00:29:50,650 --> 00:29:53,090
They've been investigating another mystery --
621
00:29:53,090 --> 00:29:55,350
rumors of a lost tiwanakan city
622
00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:58,260
sunken in the depths of lake titicaca.
623
00:29:58,260 --> 00:30:02,160
Josh, she's cristina. She's the chief of this island.
624
00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:06,130
Gates: To hear the folklore behind the so-called atlantis of the andes,
625
00:30:06,130 --> 00:30:09,300
brian and gustavo sit me down with the island's chief,
626
00:30:09,300 --> 00:30:11,170
cristina suaña coila.
627
00:30:11,170 --> 00:30:12,740
There's so many stories
628
00:30:12,740 --> 00:30:15,270
about the tiwanaku here in this lake.
629
00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:16,880
What do your people know about them?
630
00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:19,310
Translator: I remember that, many times,
631
00:30:19,310 --> 00:30:21,150
my grandfather would tell us stories
632
00:30:21,150 --> 00:30:24,650
about a tiwanakan city under lake titicaca.
633
00:30:27,220 --> 00:30:28,490
He said that sometimes,
634
00:30:28,490 --> 00:30:30,420
you could see the underwater city shine
635
00:30:30,420 --> 00:30:32,890
because it was made out of gold.
636
00:30:32,890 --> 00:30:34,560
Do you put any credence in these myths
637
00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:36,330
that there's something under the lake?
638
00:30:36,330 --> 00:30:39,730
I always listen to what indigenous people have to say
639
00:30:39,730 --> 00:30:41,600
because they're the ones that know their history.
640
00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:42,800
Right.
641
00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:44,040
There are many stories about this lost city.
642
00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:45,400
It's like atlantis. Right.
643
00:30:45,410 --> 00:30:46,510
If the ruins are real,
644
00:30:46,510 --> 00:30:48,170
why do you think they haven't been located?
645
00:30:48,180 --> 00:30:50,010
There are new efforts to explore the lake,
646
00:30:50,010 --> 00:30:52,240
and there are archaeologists working on this right now.
647
00:30:52,250 --> 00:30:54,080
Right now, they are? Yes, they are.
648
00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:57,250
There are many ancient sites around lake titicaca
649
00:30:57,250 --> 00:30:59,890
that most peruvians don't know about.
650
00:30:59,890 --> 00:31:05,060
One that we found recently has a large stone coiled serpent,
651
00:31:05,060 --> 00:31:07,960
and the serpent's eyes are facing tiwanaku.
652
00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:10,100
And the area is called wiñayamarca.
653
00:31:10,100 --> 00:31:11,400
Wiñayamarca?
654
00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:14,570
Wiñayamarca. And wiñayamarca means "eternal city."
655
00:31:14,570 --> 00:31:16,440
that's its name? Yes.
656
00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:19,570
That obviously is describing a place
657
00:31:19,570 --> 00:31:21,310
likely made out of stone.
658
00:31:21,310 --> 00:31:22,640
Right, something that lasts.
659
00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:24,040
Exactly. Great.
660
00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:25,910
Cristina, thank you very much.
661
00:31:25,910 --> 00:31:27,350
Gracias. I appreciate it.
662
00:31:27,350 --> 00:31:28,710
Thank you.
663
00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:30,320
Gates: While brien and gustavo continue their research
664
00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:33,350
with the uros people,
665
00:31:33,350 --> 00:31:36,960
I catch a new ride to begin my new mission
666
00:31:36,960 --> 00:31:39,830
to track down the ultimate tiwanaku legend --
667
00:31:39,830 --> 00:31:42,360
the lost city of lake titicaca,
668
00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:45,300
the fabled atlantis of the andes.
669
00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:49,200
Now, this is what I'm talking about.
670
00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:51,170
Look at this thing -- lap of luxury.
671
00:31:51,170 --> 00:31:53,570
This thing even has armchair ashtrays.
672
00:31:53,570 --> 00:31:55,640
You don't find that on a reed boat...
673
00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:57,680
Because it would be a major fire hazard.
674
00:31:59,910 --> 00:32:01,810
Right now, this high-tech hydrofoil
675
00:32:01,820 --> 00:32:04,450
is carrying me from the uros floating islands
676
00:32:04,450 --> 00:32:08,290
to a part of the lake called wiñayamarca, the eternal city.
677
00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:12,960
Explorers have been searching different parts of the lake
678
00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:16,030
for the fabled underwater city for decades.
679
00:32:16,030 --> 00:32:19,060
In 1968, the great jacques cousteau himself
680
00:32:19,070 --> 00:32:21,870
spent weeks searching for the ruins.
681
00:32:21,870 --> 00:32:25,170
But he never searched the waters of wiñayamarca.
682
00:32:25,170 --> 00:32:27,440
Now I'm meeting with underwater archaeologist
683
00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:29,470
marcial medina huanca,
684
00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:31,510
who has uncovered the best evidence yet
685
00:32:31,510 --> 00:32:34,810
of this lost atlantis.
686
00:32:34,820 --> 00:32:37,020
Marcial, hola. Mucho gusto.
687
00:32:37,020 --> 00:32:38,020
Josh. Marcial.
688
00:32:38,020 --> 00:32:39,120
Nice to meet you.
689
00:32:39,120 --> 00:32:41,220
Pleasure. What is this?
690
00:32:41,220 --> 00:32:42,790
[ speaking spanish ]
691
00:32:42,790 --> 00:32:46,160
translator: These are remains of a lost tiwanaku temple.
692
00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:47,830
It is? Yes.
693
00:32:47,830 --> 00:32:49,030
It was a massive structure
694
00:32:49,030 --> 00:32:51,660
with a coiled snake carved at its center,
695
00:32:51,670 --> 00:32:53,200
perhaps representing a deity.
696
00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:55,530
It's huge. [ speaking spanish ]
697
00:32:55,540 --> 00:32:58,200
gates: Marcial uncovered these ruins only recently,
698
00:32:58,210 --> 00:33:01,210
and they're virtually unknown to the outside world.
699
00:33:01,210 --> 00:33:03,240
If they were built by the tiwanaku,
700
00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:05,040
they would be among the only structures
701
00:33:05,050 --> 00:33:07,210
found outside of their main capital.
702
00:33:07,210 --> 00:33:09,680
And so do you think there were other tiwanaku buildings here?
703
00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:12,020
Yes, I think this was a city that sank
704
00:33:12,020 --> 00:33:14,690
as the levels of the lake changed.
705
00:33:14,690 --> 00:33:15,950
Do you think there's more out there?
706
00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:18,020
Sí. Can you prove it?
707
00:33:18,030 --> 00:33:19,320
Sí, se por probar.
708
00:33:19,330 --> 00:33:20,330
Yeah? Se por probar.
709
00:33:20,330 --> 00:33:23,300
I'd like to see that.
710
00:33:23,300 --> 00:33:25,700
Gates: Marcial is confident that the ruins lead out
711
00:33:25,700 --> 00:33:27,600
to an underwater city.
712
00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:30,040
To test his theory, we head to the nearby docks
713
00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:32,170
to meet his sonar-scanning team,
714
00:33:32,170 --> 00:33:35,540
krist geriene and rob veal from codiscovery,
715
00:33:35,540 --> 00:33:38,740
a company specializing in underwater survey tech.
716
00:33:38,750 --> 00:33:39,750
We ready to go?
717
00:33:39,750 --> 00:33:41,380
We're all set. All the gear is set.
718
00:33:41,380 --> 00:33:43,120
Okay.
719
00:33:46,550 --> 00:33:48,250
Gates: We cast off and head to the area
720
00:33:48,260 --> 00:33:50,920
directly offshore from the temple ruins.
721
00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:52,690
There, we'll run a search grid,
722
00:33:52,690 --> 00:33:54,760
working our way from the center of the lake
723
00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:56,460
back toward the temple.
724
00:33:56,460 --> 00:33:57,830
Es aquí.
725
00:33:57,830 --> 00:33:59,030
-This is it? -Sí.
726
00:33:59,030 --> 00:34:00,670
Okay, great. We're here.
727
00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:03,840
You guys ready to scan?
728
00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:04,870
Yeah. Okay.
729
00:34:04,870 --> 00:34:06,140
Yeah, let's get into it. Come on.
730
00:34:06,140 --> 00:34:07,710
[ engine starts ]
731
00:34:07,710 --> 00:34:10,840
to see if the ruins onshore are just the tip of the iceberg,
732
00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:12,380
we're going to deploy the team's
733
00:34:12,380 --> 00:34:14,580
otherworldly looking secret weapon.
734
00:34:14,580 --> 00:34:17,520
So, the nova ray was designed to be towed
735
00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:19,520
or fly under its own power. Got it.
736
00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:22,050
I've equipped this particular model today
737
00:34:22,060 --> 00:34:24,290
with an exterior forward-scan sonar.
738
00:34:24,290 --> 00:34:25,590
Awesome.
739
00:34:25,590 --> 00:34:28,030
Under the wing on the skids, I have a side-scan sonar,
740
00:34:28,030 --> 00:34:30,630
so we can look side to side
741
00:34:30,630 --> 00:34:32,330
at the same time as we're looking forward.
742
00:34:32,330 --> 00:34:34,230
This thing's got two sonar systems
743
00:34:34,230 --> 00:34:36,030
and one, two, three, four cameras onboard?
744
00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:37,200
That's correct.
745
00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:38,400
And so are you helping to manage the tow?
746
00:34:38,410 --> 00:34:40,210
Correct. I'll be on the back of the boat
747
00:34:40,210 --> 00:34:41,970
managing the vehicle and the cable.
748
00:34:41,980 --> 00:34:43,710
Got it. All right. Well, let's get into it, guys.
749
00:34:43,710 --> 00:34:45,380
Come on. Let's do it.
750
00:34:49,650 --> 00:34:51,250
Gates: We get the unit up and running...
751
00:34:51,250 --> 00:34:53,250
-There we go. -She's in.
752
00:34:53,250 --> 00:34:54,950
...And monitor the readings coming in
753
00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:57,460
as the nova ray stitches the data together,
754
00:34:57,460 --> 00:35:01,060
painting a detailed picture of the lake bed in real time.
755
00:35:01,060 --> 00:35:03,300
Look at that. Unbelievable.
756
00:35:03,300 --> 00:35:05,060
Marcial, what are we looking for down here?
757
00:35:05,070 --> 00:35:07,070
[ speaking spanish ]
758
00:35:07,070 --> 00:35:09,870
translator: We're looking for stonework underwater,
759
00:35:09,870 --> 00:35:13,540
anything that can connect to the ruins we saw on land.
760
00:35:17,610 --> 00:35:20,910
Gates: At first, all we see is an endless bed of reeds.
761
00:35:20,910 --> 00:35:26,520
♪
762
00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:31,920
and then we pick up something unusual, something big.
763
00:35:31,930 --> 00:35:33,190
Right there, look at that.
764
00:35:33,190 --> 00:35:34,530
Something just went right by the camera.
765
00:35:34,530 --> 00:35:36,390
Yep, that had a nice straight line.
766
00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:37,400
There's something there.
767
00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:39,230
Excelente!
768
00:35:49,110 --> 00:35:50,640
Gates: All along the edge
769
00:35:50,640 --> 00:35:52,640
of lake titicaca in bolivia and peru
770
00:35:52,650 --> 00:35:55,710
are ancient ruins whose origins and meanings
771
00:35:55,720 --> 00:35:57,850
remain shrouded in mystery.
772
00:35:57,850 --> 00:35:59,720
But about 50 miles from the border,
773
00:35:59,720 --> 00:36:03,460
there's one site I've always wanted to visit.
774
00:36:03,460 --> 00:36:04,660
So, this is incredible.
775
00:36:04,660 --> 00:36:07,190
This is the so-called gate of the gods.
776
00:36:07,190 --> 00:36:09,490
This gigantic stone carved doorway
777
00:36:09,500 --> 00:36:13,670
that may date back to the inca or even to the tiwanaku.
778
00:36:13,670 --> 00:36:17,440
No one knows for sure who made the carving or why,
779
00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:19,270
but legend holds that an inca priest
780
00:36:19,270 --> 00:36:20,910
fleeing spanish conquistadors
781
00:36:20,910 --> 00:36:25,980
came here with a sacred artifact called the golden sun disc.
782
00:36:25,980 --> 00:36:28,810
He inserted it into a circular notch in the carving
783
00:36:28,820 --> 00:36:31,720
and was miraculously teleported to safety.
784
00:36:33,390 --> 00:36:35,420
So, I don't happen to have a golden sun disc,
785
00:36:35,420 --> 00:36:37,590
but according to the story, if you just step into the gate,
786
00:36:37,590 --> 00:36:39,160
you'll actually disa--
787
00:36:39,160 --> 00:36:42,390
guys! Guys, it works!
788
00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:44,660
It totally works!
789
00:36:44,670 --> 00:36:45,900
What? Whoo!
790
00:36:54,740 --> 00:36:56,270
Gates: I'm in south america
791
00:36:56,280 --> 00:36:58,910
investigating the legend of an ancient city
792
00:36:58,910 --> 00:37:01,910
built by the mysterious tiwanaku civilization
793
00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:05,250
that may be lost in the depths of lake titicaca.
794
00:37:05,250 --> 00:37:08,250
We've used sonar to scan the lake bed for ruins
795
00:37:08,260 --> 00:37:11,290
and just got a significant hit.
796
00:37:11,290 --> 00:37:12,560
Right there, look at that.
797
00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:13,860
Something just went right by the camera.
798
00:37:13,860 --> 00:37:15,660
Yep, that had a nice straight line.
799
00:37:15,660 --> 00:37:16,660
There's something there.
800
00:37:16,660 --> 00:37:19,060
Excelente!
801
00:37:19,070 --> 00:37:20,770
That could be a stone.
802
00:37:22,570 --> 00:37:24,940
And those stones would be made out of what material?
803
00:37:24,940 --> 00:37:27,670
[ speaking spanish ] [ speaking spanish ]
804
00:37:27,670 --> 00:37:30,040
andesite.
805
00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:34,010
Andesite -- the exact type of stone we saw at tiwanaku.
806
00:37:34,010 --> 00:37:37,920
This could be a major breakthrough.
807
00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:40,920
Marcial and I quickly gear up to investigate.
808
00:37:44,660 --> 00:37:47,290
High-altitude diving, though, is no joke.
809
00:37:47,290 --> 00:37:49,790
Because we're at 12,500 feet,
810
00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:52,830
the pressure underwater is three times more intense,
811
00:37:52,830 --> 00:37:54,970
which means less time at the bottom.
812
00:37:54,970 --> 00:38:00,340
♪
813
00:38:00,340 --> 00:38:05,710
♪
814
00:38:05,710 --> 00:38:07,980
beneath the boat, the water is clear,
815
00:38:07,980 --> 00:38:10,250
but that doesn't mean it's easy to see.
816
00:38:10,250 --> 00:38:13,520
We carefully enter an eerie forest of reeds.
817
00:38:13,520 --> 00:38:15,550
♪
818
00:38:24,300 --> 00:38:26,500
♪
819
00:38:42,620 --> 00:38:45,050
we continue searching for cut stone,
820
00:38:45,050 --> 00:38:47,790
but it's like looking for a needle in a reed stack,
821
00:38:47,790 --> 00:38:49,520
and every time we touch the bottom,
822
00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:53,790
huge clouds of silt rise up to plunge us into twilight.
823
00:39:02,770 --> 00:39:04,400
The clock is ticking.
824
00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:05,800
We have just 20 minutes left
825
00:39:05,810 --> 00:39:07,910
before we'll be forced to ascend.
826
00:39:07,910 --> 00:39:10,440
Luckily, the thick vegetation clears,
827
00:39:10,440 --> 00:39:13,350
revealing something truly incredible.
828
00:39:30,760 --> 00:39:34,230
The wall stretches out as far as the eye can see.
829
00:39:34,230 --> 00:39:37,170
We follow it and reach a far larger structure,
830
00:39:37,170 --> 00:39:41,370
ruins of something big, perhaps even the remains of a city.
831
00:39:41,380 --> 00:39:46,610
♪
832
00:40:01,500 --> 00:40:03,800
we're both stunned by the discovery
833
00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:06,430
and deeply out of breath from the altitude.
834
00:40:06,430 --> 00:40:09,200
Marcial and I make a few more laps around the ruins
835
00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:11,440
and then return to the surface.
836
00:40:13,570 --> 00:40:15,110
Whoo!
837
00:40:15,110 --> 00:40:17,580
Wow!
838
00:40:17,580 --> 00:40:18,580
Unbelievable.
839
00:40:18,580 --> 00:40:21,480
It's this huge structure. -Mucho.
840
00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:22,750
Yeah, there's so much stuff,
841
00:40:22,750 --> 00:40:25,220
and you can see all the cut stones.
842
00:40:25,220 --> 00:40:26,720
[ speaking spanish ]
843
00:40:26,720 --> 00:40:28,950
translator: We found wall after wall.
844
00:40:28,960 --> 00:40:30,360
It's crazy.
845
00:40:32,490 --> 00:40:34,090
You think this could be part of a city?
846
00:40:34,090 --> 00:40:35,330
Sí.
847
00:40:35,330 --> 00:40:38,230
And what percentage of this lake have you searched?
848
00:40:38,230 --> 00:40:41,500
Translator: 0.001%
849
00:40:41,500 --> 00:40:42,770
that's it?
850
00:40:42,770 --> 00:40:44,900
[ laughs ] nothing.
851
00:40:44,910 --> 00:40:46,000
A lot of work left to be done.
852
00:40:46,010 --> 00:40:48,170
Hey, great job.
853
00:40:48,180 --> 00:40:50,340
Oh, that was awesome.
854
00:40:50,340 --> 00:40:51,680
Whoo! Loco.
855
00:40:51,680 --> 00:40:54,410
Crazy. Loco is right.
856
00:40:54,410 --> 00:40:56,150
That's loco.
857
00:40:58,650 --> 00:41:00,990
Gates: Marcial and his colleagues will return to the site
858
00:41:00,990 --> 00:41:04,460
with more resources to see if the atlantis of the andes
859
00:41:04,460 --> 00:41:06,930
is as extensive as legends claim.
860
00:41:10,030 --> 00:41:12,800
The tiwanaku worshipped an enigmatic god
861
00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:14,430
who came from the lake,
862
00:41:14,430 --> 00:41:16,900
which seems fitting since these waters appear
863
00:41:16,900 --> 00:41:20,440
to have both created and destroyed their accomplishments.
864
00:41:22,540 --> 00:41:24,610
Discoveries suggest their capital
865
00:41:24,610 --> 00:41:27,050
was a place of mind-altering rituals
866
00:41:27,050 --> 00:41:29,110
brought to life by canals
867
00:41:29,120 --> 00:41:32,550
used to float masterful monuments into place.
868
00:41:32,550 --> 00:41:37,060
♪
869
00:41:37,060 --> 00:41:39,790
and now, it seems another of their cities
870
00:41:39,790 --> 00:41:42,230
may have been drowned beneath the waves.
871
00:41:42,230 --> 00:41:45,860
But thanks to the determined archaeologists and explorers
872
00:41:45,870 --> 00:41:48,430
investigating the tiwanakus' history,
873
00:41:48,440 --> 00:41:52,100
the true extent of their achievements...
874
00:41:52,110 --> 00:41:54,070
Is finally being revealed.
875
00:41:54,070 --> 00:41:58,380
♪
65154
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