Original subtitles

[MUSIC PLAYING]

>> In many places on our planet, men and women have left

mysterious traces behind them.

These are geoglyphs, designs left

on hillsides or the ground made by the hand of man.

Most of these designs have been erased by passing time,

but some have passed through history to reach us.

It's a miracle that we can still admire some of them.

While no one knows the name of their creators,

all the geoglyphs are shrouded in mystery and legend.

What was it that led people to conceive these enormous shapes

and to leave a message in the ground which would

last throughout the millennia?

>> We know that gods and goddesses were very important

way back in the past.

>> Really, making shapes, carving them into the ground,

that's not too difficult. On the other hand,

planning on such a big scale, that's impressive work.

>> The Nazca civilization, which is mainly known for its lines,

didn't just produce that.

>> He's iconic.

He's unique.

He attracts a lot of interest.

And he generates a lot of storytelling.

>> It's an enigmatic shape.

No one knows when it dates from or who made it.

>> We can't be sure why it was made in the first place.

So these things are mysterious fundamentally.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

>> We will go to England, where many geoglyphs can be found.

We will also visit South America, in the Atacama Desert,

where different peoples at different moments in history

have left these mysterious designs in the ground.

Let us begin with the most enigmatic, the Nazca Lines.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Every year, thousands of tourists

cross the Atacama Desert in Peru to come face

to face with one of the greatest mysteries of humanity's

history.

Of all the geoglyphs in the world,

the Nazca Lines are certainly the most famous.

However, upon arrival, there is just a desert

plain to be found, a jumble of stones and dust

with nothing at all growing and no sign

of any archaeological treasure.

Only by getting up onto a platform

can a small part of the puzzle here be seen.

Two figures are visible, a tree and a hand.

As well, there are long straight lines

stretching out towards the horizon.

But to fully comprehend the beauty

of the geoglyphs of Nazca, they must be seen from above.

Since the only way to see the lines properly is from a plane,

flights are in great demand.

Nazca Airport is the second biggest in Peru.

>> The lines can be seen from raised ground,

but in my opinion the clearest view of the lines is surely

to see them from a plane.

From the sky, you can best see the true shapes of the lines.

>> We came from Korea.

Now, after waiting for 45 minutes,

we'll be able to see the lines from a plane.

>> I've seen so many reports on this and photos.

There's a lot of mystery surrounding

this, where it came from, who made it, how they made it.

>> Since no one can explain scientifically what they are,

what they mean, or why they were made,

we've come here ourselves to get an idea of what these lines

represent.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

>> But a sandstorm rises over the town.

All flights are canceled.

Our pilot, Eduardo Herran, offers

to take us as close as possible to the lines.

Eduardo isn't just a pilot.

He's fascinated by the Nazca Lines.

Aboard his microlight plane, he has discovered hundreds.

He takes us to the edge of town.

This is where El Tela, the weaving loom, is to be found.

It's one of the rare geoglyphs that can be closely approached,

and which allows us to understand

how these lines were traced.

>> In reality, it's very simple.

The stones are pushed to the sides and the center is swept.

This means that a layer which has more white clay in it

stands out against the dark surface.

This is how the lines were made.

It's really not very complicated.

>> Most of the lines could have been made with simple tools

such as stakes of wood and ropes.

But their precision proves that the Nazca civilization

understood mathematics.

Many people, like Eduardo, are convinced

that the Nazcas had some way of getting up high so they

could check their work.

>> From the ground, they're not easy to make out.

And what we can see from here is rather shapeless.

But the further up in the sky you are,

the easier it is to see what these people were

trying to say to us.

So if you ask me whether the ancient people could fly,

I would say yes.

I think they used kites made from canvas and feathers

to look at their work.

>> Another of the mysteries of the Nazca Lines is

their incredible longevity.

They can still be seen after 2,000 years

without anyone looking after them.

The first reason for that is geographic.

The lines are in the most arid desert on the planet,

where it never rains and where vegetation is rare.

The absence of humidity means there is very little erosion.

But sandstorms can also play a part in this.

>> All the surface dust is pulled off as if the lines were

being swept.

So after one of these storms, I like

to fly my microlight because it's possible

that the winds have made new marks visible.

I think the ancient people knew about this effect of the wind

and used it as a maintenance system to keep the lines clear.

>> Next morning, the sandstorm has died down.

Flights progressively start again at the airport.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

After a few minutes flying, the great straight lines

are the first that we can see.

They seem to stretch out for kilometers.

Smaller designs can also be seen, some of which

represent animals.

The monkey, the spider, and the hummingbird

are only some of the hundreds of geoglyphs

to be found on the plain.

Anyone flying over these lines is struck by these questions.

Who made this?

Why?

How can these marks be so precise, so straight?

And what was the meaning of these symbols?

Why did this tradition of line tracing last over 1,000 years?

And everyone at Nazca has their own explanation

of the lines' origin.

The straight lines could have been

sacred ways where gatherings or sacrifices took place.

Other people think the lines were part

of a cult of mountain worship.

The zaniest explanation comes from a writer coming up

with the idea that the lines could

have been used as a landing field by extraterrestrials.

This hypothesis is reinforced by a mysterious design

on a mountainside which could be an alien or a man

with the head of an owl.

>> What we can see here is a model of the plane with

the lines.

This is only the commercialized part of the area,

so to speak, where all the flights are made.

Here you can find the monkey, the dog, and the hummingbird.

But this just represents 10% of the lines.

We are confronted here by a monumental document.

>> To better understand the Nazca Lines,

we can try to tour around the other geoglyphs on the planet.

While the Nazca Lines are the most famous,

they're not the only geoglyphs.

Others are to be found in England,

where dozens of what are called Hill Figures can be found.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

The Wilmington Long Man is at least 300 years old.

Neither its makers nor the motives for its making

are known.

The figure was forgotten, then rediscovered one fine day.

>> Up until the 19th century, it had become grown over.

And there was a woman living there

who noticed one day when it had snowed

that the snow was melting to reveal the image of a man,

of a figure.

Just because the snow was melting slightly differently

in the channels.

And so this figure came out of the snow,

and that's how it was discovered.

>> Philip Carr-Gomm is a druid.

His relationship with the giant began 20 years ago.

When one of his friends died, he undertook a pilgrimage on foot

which ended at the Wilmington Long Man.

>> The reason why you have these figures in this particular part

of Britain is because the topsoil is quite thin.

And so you have the white chalk, and then you

have a thin layer of soil.

So it's very easy to cut down with a spade and cut it out,

and then you can see the white chalk.

>> At one time, the chalk could no longer be seen.

The marks were therefore replaced

with cement painted white.

Despite these restorations, the Long Man

remains a special place for the region's druids.

>> In druidism, we treat all of the Earth as sacred.

And there are also special spots that

seem to be especially sacred or very important.

And this is one such spot.

Eight times a year, our local druid group

has a big festivity here.

Eight times a year.

The solstices, the equinoxes, and so on.

If you were in Wiltshire, if we were

in another part of England, we would meet at a stone circle.

But here, we don't have a stone circle.

Instead we meet here.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

>> Many legends surround the giant.

Is it a lover sitting to mourn the loss of his beloved?

A giant wounded by a stone thrown by another giant?

Difficult to know who made it and why.

But beyond the legends that the design inspires,

Philip Carr-Gomm thinks that the main thing is the effect

it has on people now.

>> And so it's a human figure.

And because it's merely the outline,

it somehow symbolizes every man, every woman.

And onto this very simple image, we can project all our feelings

and our thoughts about humanity and what it means to be human.

I think it's important to find places for you

to go when either something difficult has happened

in your life, or perhaps you just need time on your own.

Life has become a little stressful or difficult.

[DRUM MUSIC]

>> Geoglyphs can still play a spiritual role for mankind.

And in Chile, people are fighting to protect this

ancient cult. On the Cerro Unitas Hill,

an 86 meter-long figure has been contemplating

the plain for centuries.

The Atacama Giant was made before the arrival

of the Spanish, between the year 1,000 and 1,400.

The figure is the work of the Aymara people,

and represents a Puma man.

>> The Atacama giant is a very important place

for communication with the cosmos.

It's a convergence point for positive energy.

>> The Atacama Giant isn't the only geoglyph on this hill.

There are also mysterious circles, a feline design,

and human figures.

As at Nazca, the geoglyphs have been drawn simply

by moving stones and have lasted through time thanks

to the special climate of the desert.

The Aymaran culture behind these figures

is a people of 22 million spread out over Chile, Peru, Bolivia,

and Argentina.

The Aymaran culture has a deep respect for nature,

especially Mother Earth, Pachamama.

Javier Vilca is fighting to save and transmit this culture.

>> A long time ago, our ancestors surely made offerings

to nature in this place to bring rain, to demand plenty,

to calm the storms, lessen the earthquakes,

surely because our culture is integrated,

convivial and harmonious, and respectful of nature.

>> For centuries there was open access to the Giant,

and it was possible to walk upon the lines.

But tourism and the irresponsible behavior of some

menaced its protection.

For some years now, access has been prohibited.

>> We can't go up on the hill.

I'd like to go up there and see what's there.

At this distance, we can only see that there's something.

But what is it?

I'd like to see to define that more precisely.

It should be what we call a sacred table, a place where you

can pray and give offerings.

But, well, the day will come when we see these places return

to the indigenous people, the true heirs of this culture.

>> After the arrival of the Spanish,

different political regimes tried to break up the Aymaran

culture.

Javier Vilca battles daily to transmit

the knowledge of that culture to new generations,

but it is difficult to communicate and conserve

these traditions.

It's a different view of the world

which has to be taught anew to the youngest.

>> Our ancestors made their offerings before going fishing

to the water god, [SPANISH].

They went to sea and brought back their catch.

Why Because they had implored their god

and the sea for its blessing.

The sea is an important source of nutrition.

It feeds us.

It's something tremendous.

And because of that, it must be loved.

It must be preserved, because the sea brings benefits

to every one of us.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

>> Javier Vilca regrets that the elements which would allow us

to decode the geoglyphs have been lost over time.

He goes to the Cerro Pintados site,

a few kilometers away from the Atacama Giant.

Here, the whole side of the mountain

is covered with geoglyphs.

>> There was an important route which went from Altiplano

to the sea and passed by here.

We don't know since when, but we do

know it has been here for several thousand years.

We can't decode all of this precisely

because our wise men, the [SPANISH],,

are no longer with us.

They left when the conquistadors arrived.

So amongst all the signs that are here, there are only four

we can easily recognize and that we still use in our weaving.

Like the water king, which is represented by the toad.

We can also recognize the marriage symbol, these two

little doves, which allow us to see clearly which is the man

and which is the woman.

Then we have the llama, which is a very important animal, part

of life for indigenous Aymaran society.

There is also the sign we call [SPANISH],, which

is a symbol we recognize and preserve because it represents

the direction of life.

>> Geoglyphs still hold a place in various beliefs.

Cults that are still dedicated to them by some people

give us an idea of the link there

could have been in the past between the geoglyphs

and their makers.

The cults devoted to the Nazca Lines

couldn't have been that different to those still

existing today in England and Chile,

but this knowledge has been lost over time.

The Nazca Lines were only rediscovered in 1924,

when planes began to fly over South America.

But after 100 years of research, their exact significance

remains an enigma.

The explanations given remain for the moment just theories.

Like the lines, there are a lot of theories.

It was a woman, Maria Reiche, who

began to really study the geoglyphs

in a scientific fashion.

In the 1940s, this enthusiast devoted her life

to studying and protecting the site.

Without her work and obstination,

the lines would probably have been destroyed.

After many years of study, Maria Reiche ended up with a theory

that the lines are a sort of star calendar,

and their orientation is linked to the stars.

Maria Reiche discovered that some of the lines

pointed to the solstice, like those which crossed

the design of the spider.

So are the Nazca Lines an immense calendar

drawn on the ground?

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Several hundred kilometers from there on the Pacific coast,

another geoglyph can perhaps help

us to understand the mystery of the Nazca Lines.

The Candelabro de Paracas is now in the heart

of a national park.

Land access is impossible, and you

have to get there by boat as thousands of tourists

do each year.

[BOAT ENGINE]

>> Juan Carlos Heaton, the director of the reserve,

takes us to see the famous Candelabra .

>> Many research workers have come here.

One of them was Maria Reiche, who was Peruvian and German.

She undertook astronomical and mathematical research

on the lines and shapes of Nazca.

She tried to make a connection between the symbols

and an astronomical calendar for the civilizations that

lived here.

In that context, this figure is also

associated with the Nazca culture.

The Candelabra has a lot to do with astronomy and the Nazca

Lines, a theory which other scientists have confirmed.

>> The Candelabra has all the qualities of a compass.

>> This could be the Southern Cross seen by day.

It has the same direction with the top

of the Candelabra showing the south,

and the base signifying the north.

It resembles the Southern Cross exactly,

according to Maria Reiche.

So this design could serve as a reference

for daytime navigation.

We could also say that this design functions

in the same way as a marker.

>> This simple trace in the ground is actually visible out

at sea to a distance of 20 kilometers,

but it's impossible to know whether it was made

by navigators of antiquity or by 17th century pirates.

>> We don't know its exact date.

Scientists can't tell if it is 10,000 or 500 years old.

But we do know that the pre-Incan ancestors

of Peruvians, as well as the Incas themselves,

were very good navigators.

The whole coast of Peru and South America

was known to the Peruvians of antiquity.

>> The idea that Nazca is an astronomical calendar is

attractive, but the great majority of lines don't point

to any star or constellation.

Since the geoglyphs are often visible from far off,

they've often been thought of as a kind of sign post,

and not only in the desert.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

English geoglyphs are mostly white horses.

There are nearly 20 across the country.

Amongst the oldest is the Uffington White Horse.

It must be the first in this long tradition,

as it dates from between 1,400 and 1,600 years before our era,

towards the end of the Bronze Age.

There are several mysteries associated with the White

Horse, and there are many theories

as to its significance.

Harriet Vered is a historian.

She knows the White Horse well.

In her opinion, it is above all a geographical marker.

>> We're talking about preliterate people who had no

maps, no GPS, no navigational equipment.

This is the veil of the White Horse.

And of course, from down there you

actually get the best view of the White Horse

because the White Horse isn't really supposed

to be viewed from close.

>> The horse can in fact be seen from the whole valley.

It has impressive dimensions, over 100 meters long

and 35 meters high.

The white chalk stands out so as to make

the design visible from afar.

>> Every now and then, let's say every 10 miles,

something like that, that would be a day's journey,

if you've got flocks of animals for instance.

So you would want junctions.

You would want sign posts saying,

this is where you can stop off and rest, and probably

pay for it too.

But you would have to have somewhere for people

and animals to stay overnight.

So it must've been a sign post.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

>> The horse is such a good reference point that it had

to be covered up during the Second World War.

It was too easy to recognize for enemy aircraft.

And there is a second hypothesis about what it represents.

>> Actually, it's probably not a horse.

It's probably a dragon.

They didn't call it polaris.

They called it draconus.

Draconus meaning dragon.

So we think that from a navigational point of view,

the dragon was a very important symbol.

And this is why we think that it's

a dragon rather than a horse.

>> Andy Foley is the site's curator.

He knows the legend well, and what happened to the dragon

with the arrival of Christianity.

>> Saint George and the dragon had a fight on here.

George won.

He killed the dragon.

The blood came forth, and was so poisonous that it

burnt the grass down here, and that's why we have this mark.

Nothing grows there because of the dragon's blood, OK?

>> Whether the figure is of a horse or a dragon,

its design is striking, very refined, and very modern.

>> The horse is, as you say, very stylized.

It's, as I say, 110 meters long as

if it's always running across these high hills

up here that we have.

This was done in the Bronze Age or the Iron Age, 800 BC,

a long time ago.

But the people then were very artistic, very stylistic.

So yes, they could draw wonderful things like this.

They could make wonderful rings and jewelry.

So they're very stylistic.

But they could be very barbaric as well because

in the hill fort behind us, we found skeletons

with the arms and the legs and the head all chopped off.

So they could be beautiful stylistic but also barbaric.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

>> Geoglyphs are mysterious and have given rise to many

legends.

But it is always difficult to find the truth

amongst the different conflicting theories.

While some seem to have been reference

points for past travelers, this explanation

doesn't fit the Nazca Lines, which are

hard to see from the ground.

However, archaeologists are interested

by the special relation of the Nazca civilization with water.

One theory links the lines to irrigation.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Alex from the Ministry of Culture

takes us to visit the Cantalloc aqueducts.

>> The ancient Nazca were great hydraulic engineers.

They built irrigation channels, one

of them being the aqueducts of Cantalloc which is still in use

today.

>> The Nazca civilization was in the middle of the desert.

The balance with nature was precarious,

and finding water was a daily worry.

Droughts and climate variations brought about catastrophes

and famines for the population.

The Nazca did everything they could so as not to depend

on rare rainfalls.

Especially, they built complex irrigation systems.

Mastering irrigation allowed the Nazca civilization

to develop agriculture and to have

an impressively large population for such a desert environment.

Thanks to this, thousands of people lived around the city.

Their wells, still visible, are incredible constructions

as much for their design as for their way of working.

>> It has a spiral shape which makes access easier,

which is very useful for periodic cleaning

as the villagers have to work to keep the water clear.

When the earth moves, as it does in earthquakes, for example,

then there are stones that collapse

and there are branches which block the passages.

>> The spiral shape not only means that the underground

channels can be maintained, but also mean that a lot of people

can get into work at the same time.

According to the partisans of the water theory,

some of the marks on the plain follow the underground network.

Others mark out groundwater sites.

Cults would move around on these lines calling for rain,

and leaving offerings to ask for more favorable climate.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

But once again, a recent study shows

that most of the signs and marks are not linked to water.

While water was vital to the Nazca culture,

it was not the main reason for the creation of the lines.

It's incredibly complicated to try and explain the geoglyphs.

The marks have remained, but the memory of their creators

has faded.

In the absence of reliable archaeological data,

it's difficult to resolve their mysteries.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

The little village of Cerne Abbas in England

also has a chalk geoglyph, a giant of 55 meters by 50,

representing a naked man armed with a club.

To distinguish between different theories,

here an original method was tested.

For years, it was thought that this figure

dated from pre-history.

But 30 years ago, it was realized

that there was no indication of its existence before 1694.

>> Yes.

The first reference we have to the Stone Giant

is in the church warden's accounts for 1694,

which was discovered by Vivian Vale here actually in Cerne

Abbas.

"For repairing the giant, three shillings."

>> The absence of historical records aroused

Katherine's curiosity.

She was then working at the University of Bournemouth.

Katherine decided to organize a public trial

where different specialists could

come to defend their opinions about the giant's origins.

Two main hypotheses stood out.

>> The figure looks prehistoric, and so it could belong

to the [INAUDIBLE] pre-Roman period,

as an ancient Celtic warrior god waving his club around.

But it has been suggested by one or two authorities that in fact

it was cut out on the orders of Denzil Holles,

who was lone [? overson ? ] estate in the 1640s,

'50s, during the English Civil War.

And Denzil Holles started off as being much pro Oliver Cromwell,

led the revolution against the king.

He saw the slaughter and the hatred

and the damage and changed sides and decided

to support the king.

When he finally returned home in 1654,

he had commissioned, he had cut on the hillside

this satirical image of Oliver Cromwell,

because Oliver Cromwell was known to his supporters

in the form of the pagan god Hercules,

the god of great strength.

So in that sense, it's a political lampoon.

>> After the debates, a vote was held to decide on the favorite

theory.

The score was close between the two theories.

While some continue to believe the giant is

several thousand years old, the theory

of a gigantic satirical drawing seemed credible to many people.

In England, this design has passed into posterity

for another reason.

This is surely because of the impressive size

of a certain portion of his anatomy.

>> Well, the giant, of course, is a powerful image of male

fertility, of male strength.

Virility, I think, is the right word.

And therefore one does understand

that sometimes courting couples or women who have difficulty

in conceiving come to spend time at the giant,

and they may be fortunate.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

>> The Cerne Abbas Giant, a powerful image which a lot

of adverts have used to sell their brand.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

>> There are a good many of those.

Here's another one.

Here he is.

As an image, he's used quite a lot in all sorts of ways.

As I say, he's said to be the only pornographic material

which is accepted by the post office,

indeed by the tourist authorities.

So yes, he's used quite often for this type of context.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

>> The giant is a geoglyph with many faces,

a satirical and political design,

making prayers come true, being an advertising mascot.

Is it possible that the Nazca Lines also

had multiple functions for the region's inhabitants?

[MUSIC PLAYING]

In the 1980s, a major discovery reshuffled the deck

and opened up new perspectives.

The Citadel of Cahuachi.

What can be seen today is just a tiny part of a vast complex.

Soledad from the Archaeological Service takes us there.

>> Excavations at Cahuachi began in 1982.

But the entire surface was buried.

Now we presume that just 5% of the total archaeological

complex has been brought to light.

So of course, there's a lot more to dig up and discover.

>> Since they lack the means, archaeologists are advancing

very slowly at the site.

But its purpose can already be determined.

Cahuachi isn't a citadel as was thought when it was discovered.

It was a religious center which had incredible importance

in its time.

It stretched over 24 square kilometers

and welcomed thousands of pilgrims each year.

At the time, it was the equivalent

of Mecca or the Vatican.

>> There's a relationship between the lines

and the citadel.

The geoglyphs are found in front of the most important

ceremonial centers on the plain.

But at the back part of the citadel,

we've also found a variety of lines and trapezoids, geoglyphs

which have an important link with Cahuachi.

The same civilization which build the citadel

made the geoglyphs.

As for their impressive size, the people

here must have considered that their gods could

contemplate the geoglyphs.

They were offerings to the gods, made so they could see them.

>> People came from very far away on pilgrimage,

and thousands of people lived here to welcome the visitors.

The key to better understanding of the lines

seems to be to better understand the whole of this civilization,

but the Nazca did not only leave behind their geoglyphs.

The lines are just one of the many means of expression

used by this civilization.

Giuseppe Orefici is one of the region's

principal archaeologists.

>> As we've seen, the Nazca civilization was impressive

because it had many forms of expression ranging from

ceramics to geoglyphs, as well as all the other systems

of expression.

This shows us the grandeur of this civilization which,

based on a theocracy, dominated a very large territory

for over 1,000 years.

>> The Nazca civilization was very advanced from

a technological point of view, not just in irrigation but also

in construction, mathematics, music, agriculture,

and pottery.

>> The iconographic themes which are found in the Nazca Lines

show us that they had a great ability to reproduce scale

drawings.

This was because they managed to succeed

in reproducing using gigantic lines the iconography found

on ceramics.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

>> With such a rich and varied culture,

the diversity and precision of the Nazca design seems a little

less astonishing.

But despite all these discoveries,

the Nazca Lines keep most of their secrets,

and it has to be accepted that some of them

will always remain a mystery.

Doubtless in the years to come, sleeping geoglyphs

will be discovered, especially thanks to the growing

precision of satellite imagery.

So they will continue to feed legend and generate

stories of the supernatural.

But the geoglyphs offer us one last enigma.

What do we do with them now?

At Nazca, some sites are protected,

but there are so many designs spread out

over such a vast surface that some have not even been listed.

And in Chile, on the flanks of Cerros Pintados,

the great vulnerability of the geoglyphs is clear.

The enormous fresco is pierced with holes that

have degraded the geoglyphs.

This is because of mining prospecting,

looking for saltpeter deposits at the end of the 19th century.

>> Here we can see the traces of those which were degraded

and destroyed because people at the time of saltpeter mining

didn't have the slightest idea of the value of this giant

message.

They called these places the Painted Mountains,

but in reality they're not paintings

and this has nothing to do with the original name

of the mountains.

This shows their ignorance of the value of the geoglyphs,

which are so important.

Today, at least the intention is to protect these.

Because these ceremonial sites were sacred,

they need to be given back that value.

As these sites are returned to us,

we'll re-establish the great harmony

with nature that once existed.

>> But protecting them isn't enough.

Most geoglyphs risk disappearing if they are not maintained.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

On the same site as the Nazcas, an even more

ancient civilization had begun to create

geoglyphs, the Paracas.

These designs had almost disappeared

and were very difficult to see, so a restoration campaign

was begun.

Johny Isla, Director of the Archaeological Service,

comes with his team to restore the precious designs.

>> What we're going to do is take some photographs so that

we can get a scale.

After that, the piles of stones weren't there originally,

so we'll take them away.

Practically, that's what we're going to do.

At the Palpa site, we've identified nearly 80 groups

of figures of this type.

They were all disappearing because they

had been made on the mountain slopes

where there's a lot of erosion, sometimes rain, people passing

by, earth movements, and also dust and wind which

caused erosion.

We identified several different groups, such as this one here,

which has been restored by putting the stones back

in place, which makes the figure more visible.

Basically what we're doing is lifting the stones which

have fallen inside the figures and putting them back

on the sides so that the figure keeps its original contours,

and in that way it can be seen from far off.

It's a technique which we use for buildings,

but with geoglyphs it's the first time

that we've used it to bring them back to their original state.

Sometimes we have to clear away the earth that builds up

on the stone with brushes and nothing else,

and in some cases when we're restoring them

we use a little water to clean the stones so as

to make them more visible.

Nothing more.

It's a very simple technique, but it takes a lot of time.

>> We clean them carefully, just enough to be able to visualize

them without altering them.

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>> Maintenance and restoration are also part of daily life

around the Uffington White Horse.

More than 250,000 people come each year to visit the site

and to do all sorts of strange things inspired by the legends.

>> Nice.

One is that if you stand in the eye of the horse and you spin

round three times, it will bring you luck.

But if I see you, I will tell you off.

It's not good.

Erosion is one of our biggest problems.

I mean, all this, this is because of people stepping.

We ask don't step on the horse, so they step here.

And then you multiply this by thousands.

This is why you get marks like this and like that.

It's where people step.

Every time.

That's a step, you see?

And that's the problem.

But it keeps me busy.

There is always work to do here, OK?

>> But there's no question of closing the site.

The powers that be want people to have access to the horse

and to know its history.

So the geoglyph has to be maintained every year.

400 people work in relay over two days

to renew the surface level of chalk.

>> This is how we chalk the horse.

The method hasn't changed in thousands of years.

It's exactly the same.

This is our technology.

We could, if we want, today the men who make the roads,

they have the pneumatic--

you know?

Yes, you could do that here, but it's not the same, is it?

It's not the story.

We want to do it.

We want to keep tradition alive.

That's what it's all about.

This is our heritage, the heritage of England.

So we want to keep it.

We want to use people, not machines.

>> The Uffington White Horse has thus been looked after from

generation to generation for over 3,000 years.

Elsewhere in the country, other geoglyphs

have been lost for lack of maintenance,

and covered back over by vegetation.

Today, English Hill Figures are mainly

looked after by institutions or groups of local inhabitants.

Some are still made, keeping the tradition alive.

The latest was made in 2006, near

to the Channel Tunnel entrance.

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In 1990, Katherine launched a project with her students.

>> In the months following the trial,

I thought it would be an interesting thing to do

to conduct some exercise in experimental archeology,

and to tape out a giantess, a Hill Figure.

She is the same.

She's much the same height.

She is slimmer.

She is a mirrored version of him, quite literally.

But of course without the same accouterments

that the male has, although she's recognizably female.

>> To respect proportions and guide the design,

Katherine and her team used a grid.

Creating a geoglyph was an intense experience

for several hours, which allowed them to put themselves

into the shoes of and to better understand the creators

of the original work.

>> As we discovered with the giantess,

they're not difficult to lay out.

This is not an exercise which is too difficult.

It doesn't take long to do.

I'm sure the creator, whoever it was,

definitely saw the end result of his work.

Yes, of course he did.

And the people who helped him to dig out the figure.

Yes, of course they did.

Didn't take long.

>> Designing and creating geoglyphs remains a living

tradition.

And although it's the artists who

practice land art who come closest

to the works of our ancestors, we

create geoglyphs all over the planet,

sometimes without realizing it.

Here, it's the grid pattern of streets in a United States

ghost town.

There, a satellite staging marker in the Chinese Gobi

Desert.

Geoglyphs might seem to merely be historical curiosities,

but they are also the last unique vestiges

of some civilizations.

Will what we create today also voyage through history?

What will this teach those who study us

in the thousands of years to come?

Will these be the only traces we leave behind us if we vanish?

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