All language subtitles for Strangest.Things.S02E06.The.Dixon.Relics.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_eng

[narrator]
Could these weird objects

unlock the secrets
of the Great Pyramid?

Perhaps these are
an escape artist's toolkit

for the soul of the Pharaoh.

[narrator] What was this
lethal device for?

The crazy thing
is that it's being used

in shops on children.

[narrator] Is this proof
that ancient Romans

beat Columbus
to the Americans?

This head doesn't fit.

It's an object
that shouldn't be there.

[narrator]
These are the most remarkable

and mysterious objects
on Earth,

hidden away in museums,

laboratories,
and storage rooms.

Now, new research
and technology can get

under their skin...

like never before.

We can rebuild them,

pull them apart,

and zoom in to reveal
the unbelievable,

the ancient,

and the truly bizarre.

These are the world's
Strangest Things.

[narrator]
These three simple objects,

a sphere, a hook,

and five fragments of wood

were discovered
in a secret shaft

in the Great Pyramid of Giza.

When these objects were found,
it was huge news.

[narrator] Because they're
the only items ever recovered

from inside
this massive pyramid.

And we have absolutely
no idea what they are.

Now,
with the latest technology,

we're bringing these strange
objects out into the light.

[narrator] The stone sphere is
about the size of a baseball.

The stone is clearly
roughly made.

It has a scratch particularly

evident all around
its circumference.

[narrator] The corroded
copper hook splits

into two curving prongs,

formfitting stick out
near the base.

[Dr. Somara] It looks like
it's supposed to attach

to something else.

But what?

We just don't know.

[narrator] And the five
fragments of wood,

once bore strange
score marks.

For more than 4,000 years,
the Great Pyramid,

where they were found,
has captivated people.

There are still
lots of mysteries

around it that
we haven't been able to crack.

[Dr. Bellinger] Is it possible
that these objects

could somehow shed light

on some of these mysteries?

[narrator] Or could they be
a red herring?

Are they even authentic?

Or are they a later
object planted?

[narrator] Could these really
have belonged to the builders

of the Great Pyramid?

Why were they hidden
inside it,

and what are they for?

[Dr. Bellinger] It's 1872,
and Dr. James Grant,

a physician,
and Waynman Dixon,

an engineer, are exploring
the Great Pyramid.

The interior of the Great
Pyramid is a bit of a warren

of passageways and openings.

[narrator] Inside, they make
the discovery of their lives.

Grant and Dixon
were looking for shafts

leading out
of the Queen's Chamber.

Dixon's got his tools.

He's hammering,

he's chiseling away.

And lo and behold,
he finds one,

and breaks through into it.

And on the other side,
they find a second shaft.

[narrator]
It's in these shafts,

they discovered the three
mysterious objects.

It makes headlines
right across the globe.

[Dr. Bellinger] We're in
the Great Pyramid of Egypt,

the poster child monument
for this ancient culture.

And this is the first time

anything had been found
inside of it.

[narrator] The objects become
known as the Dixon Relics.

Could they explain
some of the mysteries

of the Great Pyramid?

The only surviving

ancient wonder of the world.

This is built at a time

where they hadn't even
invented the wheel.

[narrator] And the pyramid
itself holds few clues

to these mysteries.

At this point in time,

the Egyptians
weren't even decorating

the inside of their tombs
with hieroglyphic carvings

that could be read
to shed some light

on what they were doing there
and why.

[narrator]
The pyramid holds no bodies,

no grave goods, nothing.

That's what makes the
Dixon Relics such a big deal.

If they are genuine,

they might help unlock
the pyramid's secrets.

But if they're imposters,

they tell us nothing.

Is it possible that someone
plants them later?

Unfortunately,
there is a long line

of people who have
the opportunity to plant

the Dixon Relics
in the pyramid.

Dixon and Grant were far
from the first people

to pass through the pyramid
and take out things.

The ancient Greeks
and Romans passed through,

and as European colonialism
really expanded, and Egypt,

a mania took hold
of the world.

Even Napoleon came
to visit the Great Pyramid,

and reportedly spent the night
alone inside of it.

[narrator] The only way
to know that these artifacts

weren't planted by one
of these later visitors

is to date them.

The spear and the hook wind
up in the British Museum.

The wood, on the other hand,
at some point disintegrated,

broke into five pieces

which were placed
into a cigar box

and that went missing.

[narrator] The stone and metal
cannot be dated,

and that is all they have.

The real question of whether
these objects were left

by the builders of the pyramid

couldn't be answered
without the wood.

[narrator] The wood fragments
disappear sometime

in the late '40s.

It's a dead-end.

[narrator] In 2019, at the
University of Aberdeen,

an assistant curator

is working
in the Asia Collection.

She comes across
this strange lacquered box,

which doesn't quite
seem like it belongs,

because she recognizes that
it's decorated with elements

from the old Egyptian flag.

She discovers
that it contains

these five wooden fragments.

[narrator] The rediscovery
of the fragments

changes everything.

Now they can carbon date
the relics,

and discover if they're
the real deal or not.

But the results are a shock.

[Dr. Marina]
It was over 500 years earlier

than the date of the building
of the Great Pyramid,

which was really surprising.

[narrator] Five hundred years
is quite some gap.

[Dr. Bellinger] In terms
of the ancient Egyptians,

that's way before
they were even thinking

about building pyramids.

[narrator]
Is it really plausible

that something so old
could still be in use

500 years after it was made?

[Dr. Marina] Egypt doesn't
have a lot of wood

of good quality,

and so these would have been
imported from Lebanon.

And because this was very
costly to bring to Egypt,

they would be reused
once they lost

their initial purpose.

[narrator] In fact,
archeological excavations

are now revealing that
the ancient Egyptians often

repurposed old wood,

particularly in later
monuments and tombs.

So despite the wood's
great age,

their discovery inside
the younger Great Pyramid

fits with what we know
of ancient Egypt.

But that doesn't answer
the big question,

what are they for?

[narrator] When the
Dixon Relics
are first discovered,

some experts believe
they could be

sophisticated
surveyor's instruments,

an Egyptian
builder's toolkit.

[Dr. Somara]
Building these pyramids

wasn't just about moving
gigantic blocks.

It was also about precision.

And from the base
of the pyramid,

all the way to its apex,

it's 51.5 degrees.

Get that wrong at the bottom,

and you're hugely out by
the time you get to the top.

[narrator]
Egyptians already know

that getting your angles
wrong is a big problem.

This pyramid is built
by Khufu's dad, Sneferu.

It's known
as the Bent Pyramid.

[Dr. Bellinger]
Essentially, it looks
as if Sneferu's Pyramid

originally was built at too
steep an angle and it failed.

Recognizing their error,
the Egyptians corrected it,

and it looks a bit wonky
as a result.

Clearly the ancient Egyptians

eventually arrived
at the conclusion

that 51 degrees
is the optimal angle

to build your pyramid.

A set of tools
to help keep you on track

was probably a necessity
to hit that very precise mark.

[narrator] The Dixon Relics
could explain the mystery

of how the builders achieve
this in the Great Pyramid.

These could be parts
of actually one single tool.

The wood could be the handle
attached to the hook,

and then the ball
could have been attached

also to this instrument
as a sort of plumb bob.

[Dr. Somara]
The way a plumb bob works

is it's essentially a weight
hanging off a string.

And thanks to gravity,
you get perfect verticals.

[narrator] That would explain
the groove around the sphere.

By adding just a few pieces
of missing wood,

the Dixon Relics
become even more,

a multi angle plumb bob,

one that not only allows you
to measure verticals,

but horizontal,
and diagonals as well.

But there is a problem
with this theory.

The missing section of wood
to make it work is... missing.

There is another explanation.

Some experts have suggested
the Dixon Relics explain

a different mystery
of the Great Pyramid.

Its four corners

line up with the four
cardinal directions

true north, south,
east, and west,

with a margin of error of less
than a 10th of a degree.

[narrator] Getting this
orientation right is central

to ancient Egyptian beliefs
in the afterlife.

[Dr. Marina]
The stars in the north

were considered immortal
for the ancient Egyptians.

By building the pyramids
and orienting them

towards the stars,

the Egyptian pharaohs

would also become deities

at their death

and join these stars.

[narrator] To achieve
this vital orientation

of the King's tomb,

the ancient Egyptians can use

a special tool
called the merkhet,

the instrument of knowing.

[Dr. Marina] The merkhet looks
like a plumb bob,

and it was employed
to locate a particular star

in a specific point
in the sky.

They will orient
these instrument

towards the meridian,

the line that goes

from the north to the south.

One key thing
about the merkhet

is that it was used
in conjunction

with a long forked device
called a bay.

[narrator] And that looks
very much like one piece

of the Dixon Relics.

[Dr. Somara]
So used in tandem,

they could help you determine
exactly where true north was,

and to help you
line up the structure

with the pole stars.

[Dr. Bellinger]
And it raises the question
of whether the Dixon Relics

were somehow
a device just like this.

[narrator] But some experts
are unconvinced.

Because if these
are precious tools,

why hide them away inside
one of the mysterious shafts?

Four of these hidden shafts
have been discovered,

two in the King's Chamber
and two in the Queen's.

No one knows
what they are for.

Could these strange things
hold the answer?

[narrator] In 1993,
more than a hundred years

after Dixon
and Grant's discovery,

a German engineer,
Rudolf Gantenbrink,

sets out to discover
the purpose of the shafts.

[Dr. Bellinger]
Gantenbrink sends a robot

into these
inaccessible shafts.

[Dr. Bellinger] And the robot
comes up against a dead-end.

But intriguingly,

there are two copper pins
in the wall.

He also finds
a squared off wooden pole,

looks kind of familiar.

[narrator] Perhaps like
the Dixon Relic wood looks

before it disintegrated.

Could this explain
the three strange objects?

Because if you lay the pole
Gantenbrink found,

the length of wood,

and the copper hook
end to end,

it seems as if all three
could connect together

as one long hooking tool.

One of the theories that comes
out of this, is that perhaps,

the Dixon Relics
are essentially

an escape artist's toolkit
for the soul of the Pharaoh.

Perhaps the stone was to pound

through the wall,
and the hook would connect

to these pins,
and the wooden pole

would allow him
to lever his way out and up

into the sky to take his place
in the realm of the Gods.

[narrator]
But as with every theory

about the Dixon Relics,
there's a hitch.

The hook and the pins,
they don't match up.

[narrator]
The copper pins in the shaft

are approximately
three inches apart.

But the double ended hook is
no more than two inches wide.

The hook doesn't fit.

We may never know the true
purpose of the Dixon Relics,

but one thing experts
are confident about,

these are the real deal.

They were hidden in the Great
Pyramid by its builders

four and a half thousand
years ago.

Whether they are
builder's tools

or a Pharaoh's escape system,

they remain some
of the most precious relics

of a lost world.

[narrator] In the Michigan
History Center is a curious,

polished wooden cabinet.

It looks like some kind
of Flash Gordon movie prop.

But this is a real machine.

And it produces a type of
radiation known to be lethal.

The crazy thing is that it's
not some very sophisticated

and essential medical device.

It's being used in shops
on children.

[narrator]
Using state-of-the-art
digital imaging,

we can examine this strange
device in minute detail.

This is the Adrian
Fluoroscope.

Made in the 1930s,
it stands nearly

four-feet high,
two-feet wide,

and almost three-feet deep.

[Dr. Mark] This is a beautiful
instrument,

looks very professional,

polished wood on the outside.

It looks the part.

[narrator] Its top is covered
in switches and dials.

[Dr. Sarah]
It has three metal ports

that look a little bit
like binoculars.

And you can stand and look
down into the machine.

[narrator] Near the base
is a small step,

with a wide opening
into the machine's interior,

which is where the damage
could be done.

This contraption is actually
potentially very dangerous,

but it was used for decades

all across
the Western Hemisphere.

[narrator] How does it work?

Who came up
with this dangerous idea?

And what happened
to the people who used it?

[narrator] Zoom in to the base
of the Adrian Fluoroscope

and there's a very obvious
clue as to its purpose.

You can see at the bottom,
there's a hole

that is just the right size
for a human foot.

[narrator] Curious machines
like this one,

sold under names
like the Pedoscope

or the Foot-o-scope,

were once a common feature
in shoe stores.

The idea of this device

was that instead of having
your feet simply measured,

you were going to use
latest technology to really

precisely decide how well
a shoe fitted your foot.

[narrator] In this machine,

low-tech rulers are out.

In their place,
come high-tech X-rays

that magically reveal
the hidden structure

of the foot.

The person responsible
for the technology

that leads to
the Foot-o-scope is this man,

superstar inventor
Thomas Alva Edison.

[Dr. Sarah] In May 1896,

at the National Electric
Light Association,

he debuted his new invention,
the fluoroscope.

Hundreds of people lined up

and essentially they would
stand in front of a screen,

and they were able to see
the insides of their body.

They could see
their whole skeleton.

[narrator] Edison's
astonishing new technique

wows the crowds.

It becomes known
as fluoroscopy.

It gave the moving images
of the skeleton

that you could
very easily create

with one of these
X-ray devices

and a screen.

It didn't need
any high-tech equipment,

so it quite quickly
became commercialized.

[Dr. Sarah]
Essentially, what you did,

was you would go in
to the shoe shop,

you try on a shoe,
and then with the shoe on,

you would put your foot
inside the Foot-o-scope.

[narrator] The X-ray tube
inside the base

bombards the shoe from
underneath with radiation.

A fluorescent screen
sits above the shoe.

The image on it reveals
the customer's foot

inside the shoe.

And that's where the strange
metal castings

on the top of the machine
earned their keep.

The Foot-o-scope
has three viewing ports.

One of them was a bit
lower than the others.

One would be
for the salesperson.

The other would be
for the parent.

And the third one
would be for the child,

who was usually
really fascinated

to see the inside their foot.

[Dr. Philip] They were
instructed to wiggle

their toes and the idea
was that you then see

how much room there was.

[Dr. Sarah]
So you can imagine that

this was quite sensational.

We like super high-tech,
super sciencey stuff.

So if you have a simple
machine that measures a foot,

that's not nearly as good
as a crazy X-ray machine

that measure the foot with
the hyper invisible science.

And that can be a bit
of a problem because often

the super sciencey thing
doesn't work better

than the very simple
version of things.

[narrator] So does this
high-tech showstopper

actually work?

The real problem was that
it wasn't the bones

that mattered so much
in shoe-fitting,

as the soft tissue around it.

And this was invisible
to the X-rays.

[narrator]
So that's a no, then.

Today, the idea
of X-ray shoe-fitting

seems a little like overkill.

So why create this device
in the first place?

[narrator] Its development
really takes off

in the First World War.

The most likely origin story
is that of a medical doctor

who worked for the military
called Dr. Jacob Lowe.

[narrator] Dr. Lowe
is inundated by soldiers

with foot injuries
that need X-rays

to assess the damage.

The solution to his backlog
turns out to be a fluoroscope

turned on its side.

The advantage of fluoroscopy

was that you could
examine the foot

without having to remove
the boot,

and so you could do it
much more efficiently.

[narrator] When the war ends,
Lowe realizes

he's sitting on a big idea.

[indistinct chatter]

[Dr. Sarah] Lowe sees a real
opportunity here,

and he modifies the device

for the shoe-fitting
industry.

He forms the Foot-o-scope
Corporation

and they filed their patent
in 1919.

[narrator] In January, 1920,

Lowe reveals his
revolutionary

shoe-fitting device
to the world

at a retailer's convention
in Boston.

[Dr. Sarah]
This tells us quite a lot

about the scientific
importance

of the device in that it
wasn't really about science,

it was much more about
selling.

[narrator] Incased in
expensive mahogany,

devices like the Adrian
Fluoroscope

don't come cheap.

The $900 price tag,

the equivalent
of $13,000 today,

represents a major investment
for any shoe store

that wants one.

But all over the world,
people go crazy

for wonder machines
like this.

[Dr. Philip]
People loved them.

So people would go
into shoe stores

just to see their feet
in the device

rather than even
to buy shoes.

[Dr. Sarah]
Ultimately, this is a kind of
technological performance

that doesn't really have
any useful purpose,

but it is a really
good sales device.

[narrator]
The popularity of this device

and its rivals grows.

By their peak in the 1950s,

there are thousands
of machines in use

across the world,

but there is one
major problem.

[Dr. Sarah] No one's really
thought to ask.

Is it safe?

[narrator] At the turn
of the 20th century,

little is known about
the danger of X-rays.

The clues were there
all the way back in 1896,

the scientist Nikola Tesla
put his finger in an X-ray

and came out with burns.

He didn't realize that those
were actually radiation burns

caused by the X-ray, though.

[narrator] Thomas Edison,
inventor of the fluoroscope,

is probably aware
of the risks

after his assistant,
Clarence Dally,

falls seriously ill.

His hair starts to fall out.

He begins to experience
nausea and dizziness.

He starts to experience
lesions on the skin.

He does actually
have skin grafts

from other parts of his
body onto his hands,

but the lesions still remain.

Eventually, he has to have
both of his arms amputated

and within a short
period of time,

he actually dies
from radiation sickness.

[narrator] By 1920,

when the Adrian Fluoroscope
arrives,

the dangers X-rays posed to
humans are becoming obvious.

Exposure from X-rays can have
very detrimental effects.

For example,
you could lose your eyesight,

you could get burns.

Infertility can very
easily develop,

cancer can grow,
so you have all types

of very nasty effects
from radiation.

[narrator] Yet despite the
increasingly visible risks,

machines like this
Adrian Fluoroscope

are not the only ones
capitalizing

on the new science.

Even the side effect of hair
loss from X-ray exposure

is an opportunity
to make a fast buck.

In the 1920s,
Physicist Albert Geyser

invents the Tricho machine.

It uses X-rays
to zap unwanted hair.

The client would come
and sit and would be...

Basically the X-ray source
would be put in front of them

and they would be irradiated
in ways that would destroy,

you know,
hair producing cells.

But that of course
have the potential

to inflict all kinds of
other damage as well.

[narrator]
Seventy-five Tricho clinics

opened across
the United States.

It's estimated that tens
of thousands of women

probably used these machines.

[narrator]
It isn't until the 1970s

that the awful consequences
of the Tricho system

finally emerged.

Over 30% of women
who had used it

developed skin lesions,
ulcers, or even cancer.

So just how dangerous
are X-ray shoe-fitters?

[Dr. Mark]
Admitting X-rays all the time
because you want to see

your foot in real
time imagery,

so you get a lot of radiation

and nothing protects you
from it.

It was, you know, estimated
that a single shoe-fitting

could end up giving you

what was considered to be
the safe dose of radiation

that you shouldn't exceed
over an entire year.

[narrator] In 1946,

the American Standards
Association

issues a safety code

that strictly limits
X-ray exposure levels.

But that doesn't mean
this machine is safe.

Even when later on the dangers
of X-rays were recognized

and lead shielding was added
to these devices,

one couldn't rely on that
to make them any safer,

that maybe the shielding
wouldn't be properly fitted.

It would be leaky.

[narrator] But was anyone
actually harmed

by a shoe-fitting machine?

There are surprisingly
few recorded cases

of shoe-fitting induced
radiation damage

amongst customers.

Staff are not always
so lucky.

One case is documented
of a foot model

or a leg model that
was radiated so much

that her leg
had to be amputated.

[Dr. Sarah] The real danger
was to sales people

because they were doing it
several times a day

and they were also
often actually

placing their hands inside

and adjusting the foot.

We do know of one
case of a woman

who was affected by severe
radiation induced dermatitis

and there were probably
many other cases

who just haven't realized
that that was the cause.

[narrator] By the early 1950s,

the American medical
organizations

are issuing warnings
of the dangers

of shoe-fitting fluoroscopes.

[Dr. Sarah]
People had begun to realize

that it probably
wasn't a good idea

to irradiate your customers.

By 1957, Pennsylvania
became the first state

to ban the Foot-o-scope.

Switzerland followed
suit in 1959.

[narrator] The last X-ray
shoe-fitting machine

is still in use
in the shoe store

in West Virginia
as late as 1981.

And as recently as 2004,

another case of skin cancer

is linked to radiation
exposure

from a shoe-fitting machine.

But the true scale of damage
done may never be known.

In the vault of the Museo
Nacional de Antropologia

in Mexico City lies a strange

terracotta carving of a head.

It's really unusual.

[narrator] For 90 years,
this face has confounded

historians and archeologists.

This is what people call
an out of place object.

It's an object that
shouldn't be there.

[narrator] Now,
using the latest technology,

we can reexamine
this incredible object

in minute detail.

This is the Calixtlahuaca
head.

[Dr. Steele]
It's about the size
of a golf ball,

just a couple of
centimeters across

and we think it might
once have been part

of a tiny statue.

[narrator]
The face is of a bearded man

with wavy hair wearing a cap.

Some archeologists believe

they have seen
this look before.

[Dr. Marina]
The style of the face
and the beard

looks very similar to what
we see in Roman statues

from the 2nd century CE.

[narrator]
Which is unremarkable

until you consider
where the head turns up.

[Dr. Abigail]
It was found with a group
of grave offerings

inside an Aztec tomb

sometime between
1476 and 1510 AD.

[narrator]
That should be impossible

because it is before
Europeans reached

this part of the Americans.

I feel pretty confident
in saying that

there weren't any Romans
in the Americas.

[narrator]
Some experts have suggested

we need to tear up
our history books.

But what's really
going on here?

Exactly how old is it?

Is it Roman?

Could it really have reached
America before Columbus?

Or is this something
else entirely?

[narrator] The strange
terracotta head is discovered

on an archeological site
37 miles west of Mexico City.

In the 1930s,
Jose Garcia Payon

was excavating a tomb

in the ancient city
of Calixtlahuaca.

[narrator] The city
was founded around 1476

by the Aztec Emperor
Axayacatl

and it remains an outpost
of the empire

until its residents
rebelled in 1510.

[Dr. Marina]
The emperor at the time
Moctezuma II

reacted by destroying
the city

aside from its temple
completely

and moving its inhabitants
to a different place.

[narrator] The city only
exists for 34 years.

So when Payon opens
this Aztec tomb,

he knows that the chronology
has to be between

1476 and 1510.

[narrator]
1510 predates the arrival

of the first Europeans
in Mexico by seven years.

And what makes this story
so mysterious

is that the grave
hasn't been touched

since it was sealed
sometime before 1510.

[Dr. Marina]
As Payon was excavating,

he had to go through three
archeological levels

until he got to the tomb.

So the... There doesn't seem
to be any disturbance

of the contents
of this burial.

[narrator] They know that it's
the tomb of an Aztec nobleman

because it still contains
typical luxury grave goods
like these,

including gold
and precious gems.

But one item stands out.

[Dr. Pennock]
Then amongst them is this

small head with a beard.

You don't see anything
like it elsewhere

in these sorts of offerings.

[narrator] It becomes known
as the Calixtlahuaca head.

Why are archeologists
so certain

there's something
wrong with it?

For a start, its thick
wavy hair looks nothing

like a period description
of the Aztecs.

The hairstyle was coarse

and straight kind of cut
across the forehead.

[narrator] And a full beard
would be even more alien

to most Aztecs.

[Dr. Abigail]
Hair on the face was
considered unpleasant

and there are stories
of mothers putting hot cloths

on the skin to prevent
hair from growing

and tweezing any hairs
that were there.

[narrator]
Nothing about it makes sense.

[Dr. Abigail]
This head doesn't fit

with what we know
of Aztec art.

It's a complete outlier.

[narrator]
The alien nature of the head

leads to an extraordinary
suggestion.

Because Archeologist
Eric Behringer

believes he recognizes
the style

and it is a long way
from any Aztec

6,000 miles away.

Behringer identified
this as possibly Roman

and said that it looked a bit
like some 2nd century AD

Roman styles in art.

[narrator] A second classical
scholar, Bernard Andre

suggests an even more
precise Roman date.

He thinks it belongs
to the Severan period,

which dates
from 193 to 235 AD.

And when you look at
the Severan emperors,

you can see a likeness.

But how can a Roman head
end up in an Aztec tomb

that is sealed years
before Europeans arrive here?

If this head really is Roman,

it implies that Payon
has stumbled on something

historically ground shaking,

evidence that the Romans
have crossed the Atlantic

centuries before Columbus.

[Dr. Marina]
But the academic community
reacted to this as

something that was
completely outlandish.

It could have never happened.

[narrator] And something odd
about the head's announcement

to the world
also troubles them.

Payon's excavation
takes place in 1933,

but his first full report
on the head doesn't appear

until nearly 30 years later.

[Dr. Abigail]
When this is such
a sensational object,

it's kind of hard
to get your head around

how you would find
something like this

and then leave it unpublished
for that amount of time.

[narrator]
For a further 30 years,

the head is ignored.

Until in 1995,
Archeologist Romeo Hristov

reopens the debate.

Hristov got special permission

to drill a tiny sample
out of the head

and the dust was sent to one
of the Max Planck institutes

in Germany for
thermoluminescent analysis.

[narrator] This technique
can date inorganic material

like pottery.

Although there are problems
with the sample,

the test suggests
that the head is between

750 and 2,890 years old.

[Dr. Abigail] So what the
thermoluminescence
does suggest

is the idea that this object
is probably pre-Columbian.

It predates the period
of European colonization.

[narrator] And the dates
do fit with the sculpture

being Roman.

Could a head from Europe
really have reached Mexico

before the first Europeans?

[narrator]
The problem with the Romans

reaching the Americas
with this terracotta head

before the first Europeans
is this,

3,000 miles
of Atlantic Ocean.

Romans are not known
as ocean sailors.

They prefer the relative
shelter of the Mediterranean.

Hristov explains this
by proposing what he calls

the drift voyage theory.

[Dr. Abigail]
So the drift theory is this
idea that the Romans had

a loss or abandoned ship
that somehow just drifted

to the South Americas.

[narrator]
This idea is supported

by a recent archeological
discovery

of a Roman trading post
in the Atlantic Ocean

on the Canary Islands.

Once they found evidence
of Roman trade

in the Canary Islands,
they then said,

"Oh, well,
the prevailing currents

could have carried a ship."

And I mean, who could
say that it couldn't?

[narrator] And there have been
other claims of Roman finds
in the Americas...

amphoras, coins,
even a Roman sword.

But there's a catch.

[Dr. Abigail]
The problem with these
objects is that

people are trying to create
a connection.

One example are the amphorae,

which were made by
a Portuguese potter

in the 1960s and actually
put in the ocean

as a means of aging them.

[narrator] Later discovered
accidentally by a diver,

they were mistaken
for genuine Roman jars.

And there is one other
stumbling block

to the drift theory.

[Dr. Abigail]
Apart from this head,

there is literally
nothing else to substantiate

the arrival of a Roman ship
in South America.

[narrator] Most historians
and archeologists believe

drift theory requires
too many leaps of faith.

Perhaps there is an
altogether simpler

explanation for the head.

Maybe it's not European
in the first place.

Evidence suggests
that it wasn't unknown

for Aztec graves to contain
non-Aztec objects.

[Dr. Pennock] The indigenous
people in this period

are clearly interested
in exotic objects.

You see lots of shells
brought from the coast

brought long distances
for symbolic meaning

and occasionally small objects

like Olmec heads
from more ancient cultures.

[narrator] The Olmec
civilization ruled in Mexico

for a thousand years

from around 1400 to 400 BCE.

[Dr. Pennock]
The Olmecs were a very
sophisticated civilization

with advanced architecture.

They developed some
of the styles of building

that we're familiar
with like step pyramids.

They mapped the heavens.

They really are a blueprint

for some of the later
civilizations

in Mexico.

[narrator] And they were
expert sculptors.

They've left behind a real
legacy of wonderful archeology

including these very famous
monolithic heads.

[narrator]
But not all their sculptures

were monumental.

[Dr. Pennock] There's also
a small Olmec sculpture

shown as a kneeling figure
who has a beard.

[narrator]
Excavations of Aztec graves

have found evidence
that Aztecs collected

Olmec artifacts
as grave goods.

There's even the case
of a small Olmec head

being found in the offerings

of the Templo Mayor
at Tenochtitlan.

So it's clearly been
treasured or traded

for a long period of time.

[narrator] Could this strange
head also be Olmec?

[Dr. Pennock]
It's the right time period,
the right continent,

but the reality is that
we have never seen

anything like this
that is of Olmec origin.

[narrator]
Maybe there's an altogether

simpler explanation.

What if it was never buried
in the tomb

in the first place?

[Dr. Abigail]
Professor John Paddock,

who was a famous Professor
of Mesoamerican Studies,

often told stories
to his students

about how one
of the excavators

on Payon's excavation

actually dropped the head
there as a joke.

[narrator] Supporters
of the head's authenticity

say Payon's son
is certain his father

was always present
on the dig.

So there was no opportunity
to plant the head.

[Dr. Abigail]
As someone who's
been on digs,

it's very difficult
to be there

guarding the dig
the entire time.

[narrator] But if it is
just a practical joke,

why does no one ever
own up to it?

Possibly because there's
a gap of nearly 30 years

before Payon reports
the find.

[Dr. Abigail]
If it was done as a hoax,

no one is really going
to wanna step up

30 years later and say,

"Oh, yeah, oops,
that was me."

The laughter period has kind
of finished for that.

So that makes it difficult.

[narrator] No eyewitnesses
to the dig are still alive.

So whilst the hoax story
makes perfect sense,

we can't prove it.

Definitive answers about this
strange object remain elusive

and perhaps that's
unsurprising.

[Dr. Pennock]
Humans love a mystery.

We want to see something
that changes

our understanding,
but sometimes

we just have to accept
that a thing out of place

is just an isolated object

and we're not going to know
how it got there

or exactly why it was there
or who made it.

And we just kind of have
to accept that uncertainty.