All language subtitles for The UnXplained s04e13 Wonders of the Ancient World.eng

WILLIAM SHATNER:
A massive golden boulder,

dangling on a cliff,

a 2,000-year-old
mechanical computer

built by the ancients,

and giant messages to the gods

that are only visible
from the sky.

Today, we imagine ourselves
to have reached the pinnacle

of humanity's achievements.

But despite all the advancements
of our modern world,

the sight of a towering pyramid
or an ancient monolith

still fills us with awe,
and makes us ask the question...

How were ancient people
with limited technology

able to build
such incredible wonders?

Well, that is what
we'll try and find out.

? ?

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Here, at this
archaeological site

located in the Beqaa Valley,
is an ancient rock quarry

that contains giant stones

that were carved by ancient man
thousands of years ago.

And some of these rectangular
blocks are so massive

that they are larger
than most railroad cars.

ANDREW COLLINS:
What's so fascinating

about the Baalbek stones is
their sheer size,

because there is nothing else
in the world like it.

One of the huge blocks has
been known for many centuries,

and is called "The Stone
of the Pregnant Woman."

It's around 65 feet long

by about 15 feet
wide and in height.

And this weighs
around 1,000 tons.

And nearby to that is
another stone called

"The Stone of the South."

VALI MAHLOUJI: The Stone
of the South is 50 feet long

and 1,200 tons,
which is equivalent to

the weight of more than
three 747 jumbo jets.

So, the rocks are very large,

and they have attracted
a huge amount of interest

from archaeologists,
from travelers,

and from the people of Baalbek.

In 2014,

the German
Archaeological Institute

were, uh, excavating

around The Stone of
the Pregnant Woman,

and they came across
an even larger block

that weighs 1,650 tons.

This is the largest
block of stone

that's been carved
for use in architecture

anywhere in the world.

HUGH NEWMAN: If you look

at the stone carefully,
you can see it's been

almost like laser-precision cut.

It's such an impressive
feat that, even today,

we can't even imagine how
they could really have done it.

SHATNER: But perhaps
what's even more incredible is

that ancient people managed

to transport some of
these gigantic blocks

all the way up a hill roughly
two-thirds of a mile away

to build one of the most
spectacular structures

from antiquity...

The Roman Temple of Jupiter.

DAVID MIANO: We know when
the Temple of Jupiter was built

because Strabo, the
Roman geographer,

writing in the
first century BCE,

early first century CE,
he mentions the area.

That must have been when the
temple was nearing completion.

But we can only guess

as to how they performed
this amazing task.

SHATNER: The Temple of Jupiter's
construction remains a subject

of fascination among
archaeologists.

But an even greater
mystery is the structure

upon which it was built...
An ancient stone platform

erected an unknown
number of centuries earlier

by a mysterious civilization.

This platform was made out
of massive stones transported

from the Baalbek quarry.

Most notable are three
precision-cut, 800-ton blocks

that are known
as the "Trilithon."

COLLINS: Each one of
those Trilithon blocks is

around 60 to 65 feet in length,

about 15 feet deep.

And they are put together

in such a way as you
can hardly even get a piece

of paper between the two.

MIANO: There is no
way that the Romans

could have lifted one
of these Trilithon stones,

even with one of
their great cranes.

So the Trilithon are the
remains of an even earlier temple.

But who the people were
that established the settlement,

we have no idea.

And as to the question

of how the stones were
carved and transported

and fit into place, we're
struck with questions,

and they continue
to stump us today.

We really have to question

how on earth did they
move these stones?

How they moved
them from the quarry...

Which is just
under a mile away...

And placed them there

is one of the big mysteries
of the ancient world.

Even with today's modern cranes,

you would have to
use so many of them

to move anything near that size.

There's no way it could've
been done. It's almost impossible.

SHATNER: How were the
massive Trilithon stones transported

and laid into place?

It's a mind-boggling feat that
seems to defy explanation.

According to local folklore,

the giant stones of the
Trilithon were carried

from the quarry
by ancient giants

and positioned by genies
using powerful magic.

But modern researchers
have proposed a number

of possible scientific theories

to explain how the gigantic
blocks were moved into position.

MICHAEL WYSESSION:
One technique that's proposed

is that very large earth
ramps were constructed,

used with many ropes and pulleys

to pull these massive
blocks out of the ground

and slide them into position.

Recently, in 2014,
they found evidence

for the use of capstans.

Now, these are
rotating mechanisms

that could have moved
the stone down the hill.

There was a circular
abrasion on one of the stones

that indicated the
usage of a capstan.

So, this could indeed
have been the mechanism

that was used to
move the stones.

SHATNER: Could
the enormous blocks

of the Trilithon have
been moved and positioned

using nothing more than
ropes, logs and pulleys?

It's an interesting theory.

But perhaps the more
important question is,

why would ancient
people choose to use

such absurdly large
stones in the first place?

MIANO: Some people think

that the reason that they
used the stones was because

the hill there was kind of weak

and could be seriously
undermined by an earthquake

or just ground erosion,

and they were afraid
that it wouldn't stand.

So, maybe they
used the bigger stones

to ensure that that part
of the temple would hold.

But we just don't know.

COLLINS: There is
no precedent, really,

or understanding, from an
architectural point of view,

why you would
create these blocks

forming the
Trilithon at Baalbek,

particularly as they are

on the fifth course up.

And they also look so out of
place, because above them,

you have much smaller blocks,
around them much smaller blocks.

So there is a huge mystery to
be uncovered here at Baalbek.

SHATNER: Archaeologists
continue to investigate Baalbek

in the hope of learning who
quarried its massive stones

and how they were
moved into place.

For now, the only thing
that we know for certain

is that this monumental
ancient wonder dwarfs

what we're capable of today.

All over the world, people
have had this obsession

with megalithic monuments
and making things with big stones.

The Incas, for example,
at Sacsayhuaman,

and then of course,
the Easter Island heads,

or the stone circles
in Stonehenge, and

Baalbek is another
of these phenomena

that you find, and it
really makes you wonder,

why did they do
this? Why this size?

Why this weight? When it
would be so much easier

to quarry smaller stones

and drag them
over to the temples.

Perhaps they're
just showing off.

"Look what we can do."

Did the civilization that carved

and moved the Baalbek
stones do so simply

to demonstrate they could?

It's an extraordinary theory.

But what's even more
remarkable is the fact

that the Baalbek stones
aren't the only ancient wonder

that still exists today.

For instance, there's a
2,000-year-old city in Mexico

whose builders
vanished without a trace.

SHATNER: Approximately 30
miles northeast of Mexico City

lies the highlands plateau
known as the "Valley of Mexico."

During the 15th century,

the Aztec empire ruled over
this region in central Mexico.

But not far from
their capital city,

the Aztecs discovered the
ruins of an even bigger metropolis

that was built centuries earlier
by an unknown civilization

that vanished without a trace.

The Aztecs would name this
mysterious city "Teotihuac�n."

COLLINS: The Aztecs
arrived at this site

in the 1400s, which
was already ruined,

and it fascinated them
because, obviously,

they did not know
who had constructed it.

And they called
it "Teotihuac�n,"

which means "the
place of the gods."

PETER JIMENEZ: The
scale of Teotihuac�n...

It's mind-boggling.

That's what really
takes everybody back.

We're talking
about the largest city

in the center of the
Mesoamerican ancient world.

It's a great place,
an incredible place.

SHATNER: All told,
Teotihuac�n covers

an astonishing
eight square miles,

which is roughly the
same size as ancient Rome.

At the heart of the city
is a two-mile-long road

that the Aztecs named
"The Avenue of the Dead."

It is dominated by
three giant pyramids

dedicated to the Sun, the Moon,

and a legendary feathered
serpent known as "Quetzalcoatl."

According to archaeologists,

the urban planning
of Teotihuac�n

was centuries ahead of its time.

COLLINS: It's thought that

possibly as many
as 200,000 people

lived here at its peak.

But ultimately,
the big mystery is,

we don't know who
built Teotihuac�n.

We know who built
the Great Wall of China.

We know who built
the Colosseum in Rome.

And yet, we don't know
who constructed Teotihuac�n.

So, why is this? The fact is,

the builders had
no written language.

So, there was no record
of who constructed it.

JIMENEZ: If you look at
it, the city is built on a grid.

This is something
that's fascinating.

Who were the city planners?

Who actually thought about
this, and how to design it?

That's an interesting thing.

Because the planners behind
this didn't have the wheel,

and there was no
metal in Teotihuac�n.

So, we're talking about,
basically, stone tools

and humans moving
clay, moving stones.

SHATNER: Although Teotihuac�n
remains shrouded in mystery,

archaeologists have carried
out numerous excavations

to learn more about the
origins of this magnificent city.

DAVID WALTON: Through
archaeological research,

we know that the oldest
constructions at Teotihuac�n

are focused in the
northern part of the city.

They date to around,
oh, 300, 400 BC.

But it was really around
100 AD that we start

to see the monumental
construction phases happening,

all the way up through
around 600, 650 AD.

So, the rise of
Teotihuac�n took place

over a period of
about 600 years.

If we could travel back in time

to Teotihuac�n
during its heyday,

we'd be seeing
merchants selling things

along the Avenue of the Dead.

We would see people coming
from all over Mesoamerica

to make pilgrimages to
the monuments at the site.

It was definitely
the cultural hub

of the entire region
of Mesoamerica.

And then, there was a
notable period of collapse.

SHATNER: But if Teotihuac�n
was such a thriving metropolis,

then it begs a question.

Why would the unnamed
builders of this ancient city choose

to abandon it?

Well, according
to archaeologists,

an important clue can be
found along the ancient city's

central boulevard,

where there are burn marks
on the ruins of several temples.

JIMENEZ: Teotihuac�n
was occupied

almost seven to eight centuries.

But the ceremonial
precinct in downtown

was partially burned
down around 550.

And then, the whole
city falls apart after that.

WALTON: Along the
Avenue of the Dead,

there was burning of these
monuments and major temples.

Now, there are some
different theories

on how this could have happened.

- (yelling)
- The first theory is

that some external army,
some external group came in

and sort of wiped
out everything,

destroyed the downtown,
and then people left.

But another theory that
might explain why major areas

of downtown
Teotihuac�n were burned

would be civil war, an
uprising of the local population.

SHATNER: Is it possible

that a civil war caused
the original inhabitants

of Teotihuac�n
to leave their city?

Perhaps.

But some researchers
believe the civilization

that built Teotihuac�n vanished

because of something
far more sinister.

Through archaeological research,

we actually have clear evidence

for human sacrifice
at Teotihuac�n.

One of the more gruesome
discoveries that was made

at Teotihuac�n,

in association with the
Pyramid of the Moon,

was 12 skeletons

that had been bound
behind their backs.

And of these, ten of
them were decapitated.

They probably form
part of a dark ritual

to appease the gods.

What I think
happened is that people

rejected this program
of human sacrifice.

That may have angered
people of Teotihuac�n,

and may explain why it was
abandoned at that point in time.

But these are sort of dynamics
that we just don't know yet

and are still worthy of
future investigation at the site.

Did the builders of Teotihuac�n

abandon their magnificent city

because of ritual
human sacrifice?

Perhaps.

But the only thing we know
for certain is that it was a city

that was far ahead of its time.

Which was also the case

with another wonder
of the ancient world.

It's a 2,000-year-old bronze
device that many claim

was the world's first computer.

SHATNER: The Aegean Sea, 1900.

Just off the coast of the small
Greek island of Antikythera,

a group of Greek divers
are hunting for sea sponges

when they come
across the remains

of an ancient shipwreck.

MIKE EDMUNDS: What
they discovered was the wreck

of a Roman-era trading ship.

And soon it was apparent
that there was a lot

of archaeological
stuff on board.

And during the
years 1900 to 1902,

a major expedition was
mounted from Greece

to pull up everything
they could find.

There were statues,
there were marbles,

beautiful glassware.

And it was clear from
what else was on this ship

that this was a ship that had
gone down in the classical era.

SHATNER: Dozens
of priceless artifacts

were salvaged from the wreckage,

including one object
that defied explanation.

It was the remains
of a coral-encrusted

wooden and bronze
box that, curiously,

looked like a clock.

EDMUNDS: They looked,
and there were gear wheels

inside this bronze.

It was obvious from the
rest of the stuff on the wreck

that this was from
the classical world,

but gear wheels were not
known from the classical world.

And it was then
that they realized

that this particular piece of
bronze was something special.

SHATNER: The artifact was sent

to the National Museum
of Archaeology in Athens.

Archaeologists dated it
to the second century BC,

along with the other
relics found in the wreck,

but they were
unable to determine

what function the
geared object served.

For more than 50 years,

its purpose remained a mystery.

But in 1951,

British physicist Derek
John de Solla Price

began a careful
examination of the artifact

and found something astonishing.

The box contained the workings

of a highly
sophisticated device.

By this point, the mechanism
was in a bunch of different pieces.

There are seven major
fragments labeled "A" through "G."

And there are 75
other, smaller fragments.

Derek de Solla Price
took a renewed interest

in the mechanism.

And he was able to
put the major fragments

into their correct
position for the first time.

EDMUNDS: The Antikythera
Mechanism, as it became known,

is made predominantly of bronze.

It would probably have been
in a wooden case, originally,

possibly with bronze plates
on the front and the back.

It was about the size of
a shoebox, essentially.

There are two
main display faces.

There's the front face
and the back face,

and probably a
handle on the side

that you would have turned in
order to make the thing work.

On the front of the mechanism,

there's something looking
rather like a clock face,

would be the best
way to describe it.

SHATNER: In June 1959,
Price published his findings

in the journal
Scientific American,

and described the
Antikythera Mechanism

as being, "an Ancient
Greek Computer."

KAKU: This was a
spectacular device.

It's an analog computer.

It doesn't use digital. It
uses wheels and gears.

This was a device that
we wouldn't see again

for another 2,000
years, until the 1800s.

SHATNER: But if the
Antikythera Mechanism really was

an ancient computer, then
what was it designed to do?

Well, in 2005,

an international team
of researchers known

as "The Antikythera
Mechanism Research Project"

used cutting-edge
scanning technology

to obtain a detailed 3D image

of the device's inner
workings for the very first time.

And the results were
even more remarkable

than anyone could have imagined.

EDMUNDS: The X-ray
tomography clearly laid out

what the gear trains
must have been.

And also, a complete
reading of basically all

the surviving inscriptions on
the device, both inside and out.

And those inscriptions
are an instruction book

on what the mechanism
is and what it does.

And it's clear from
those inscriptions

that it was intended

that the mechanism
should display the positions

of the planets, as well
as the Sun and the Moon.

IVERSEN: The
Antikythera Mechanism

is an astronomical
computing device

that also visualized

the revolutions
and the time periods

of the Sun, the Moon
and the five planets

that were visible in antiquity,

which are Mercury, Venus,
Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

So, via the gear work,

it mimics the rotation

of the Sun and the
Moon and the planets.

EDMUNDS: It displays
many different things

at a given time.

Where the planets
are in the sky,

where the Moon is in the sky

and what the phase
of the Moon is,

are there going
to be any eclipses

this month, and so on.

We've done some
computer calculations

to work out how accurate
the device would have been,

taking into account
the shape of the teeth,

the slop in the
gears, and so on.

And the answer is, it
shows very accurately

the sort of behavior
of these things.

The Greeks were thinking
really deeply about the universe,

how it worked, what it
means to have a universe

that's in some way
mechanical, that is predictable.

The Greek astronomers
and philosophers

were very interested in
explaining the cosmos.

The idea is that the
stars and the planets

and the Sun and the Moon,
where they are in the sky,

affects what
happens to our lives.

Just like the modern
tradition of astrology.

STEPHEN BURROWS: The
ancient people who created

the Antikythera Mechanism
could see the cycles

that things occurred,

and they wanted a way
to actually predict them.

And that's what
this machine did.

It predicted the future,

and it's a brilliant
piece of mathematics.

SHATNER: To this day,

no one knows who
the ancient genius was

that invented the
Antikythera device, or when.

And since there is no
written record of its creation,

it is doubtful that we
will ever know for certain.

But its existence raises
an intriguing question.

Could there be other
ancient technologies out there,

waiting to be found?

BURROWS: We think that this is

maybe hundreds of
years ahead of its time,

but what we're missing
are all the predecessors

that just didn't last that long.

I think there are a huge
number of engineering feats

that we will never know about
or that we haven't yet discovered.

The Antikythera device
is a stark reminder

that we should never
underestimate the ingenuity

of our ancient ancestors.

And that also is the
case with a number

of mysterious symbols

that have been carved into
the earth all over the world.

SHATNER: Located near the
border of Russia and Mongolia,

this region is known
for its vast grasslands.

But in 2021, archaeologists from
the Russian Academy of Sciences

made a remarkable discovery.

While conducting
an aerial survey,

they spotted an enormous
symbol, known as a geoglyph,

that was formed using
carefully-arranged pebbles

and sandstones.

BAHN: In Central Asia,

we have something
called "the Siberian Bull."

It's a very simple drawing,
just done with dark stones,

making the outline of a tail
and the back legs of an animal.

And, fortunately, it's
linked quite closely

to an early Bronze Age burial,

so we reckon it must
date back to 2000 BCE.

It is some 4,000 years
old, and still there.

Research on this is
still ongoing, but it shows

that there's still so much
about these geoglyphs

and the beliefs and the
values that were held

by the ancient people who
made them that we do not know.

SHATNER: The
Siberian Bull is ten feet tall

and 13 feet long, and
is the first geoglyph

of an animal discovered
in Central Asia.

But what's more remarkable is

that even larger
ancient geoglyphs

have been found
all over the world.

Many of them are so vast

that they can only be
identified from the sky.

BAHN: Geoglyphs are an
astonishing phenomenon.

They're found in many,
many parts of the world,

primarily in deserts.

And they are often of huge size

involving an enormous
amount of work.

Geoglyphs can be divided
up really into the ones

that just look like
geometric shapes to us,

and there are
many, many of those.

You have lines, which
just look like roads

or paths going on for miles.

And then, of course,
you have what seem to us

to be depictions of
birds, animals, humans.

And they must all have
very different meanings

to the cultures
that produced them.

NEWMAN: In March 2022,

archaeological researchers found

what could be the largest
geoglyphs on the planet

in the Thar Desert
of ancient India.

They stretch over
a huge distance,

and one of them kind of
forms into what appears

to be a kind of strange spiral.

There's other ones which
are like sinuous serpents.

MIANO: One of the more
fascinating geoglyphs is

the Uffington White Horse

that was found in
Oxfordshire, England.

They dug trenches, and
they filled them with chalk

to create this beautiful horse,

which itself is 3,000 years old.

And we expect to find
more as time goes on.

SHATNER: Why did
so many ancient cultures

across the world labor to
carve these enormous figures

and symbols that could only
be fully seen from the sky?

Well, according to
some researchers,

it could be because the people
who created the geoglyphs

intended them to be viewed,
not by man, but by gods.

COLLINS: Why would
you create geoglyphs,

which can be
thousands of feet in size,

and only be seen from the air?

And of course, the answer is

that you're appealing to
somebody or something

that is already in the air

and will see what you have done.

They were created to perhaps
appease some kind of god,

to bring water, bring the rains.

It seems a reasonable
supposition that a lot

of these images, which
only make sense from the air,

were very much tied
to things in the heavens.

There are astronomical
orientations

of some of the lines,

and some figures may
represent constellations.

But there are so
many possibilities

because there are
so many hundreds

of different geoglyph types

that you can't simply put
one explanation on all of them.

SHATNER: Recently, a new
theory has been proposed

to explain the famous
Nazca Lines in Peru,

which date back
more than 2,000 years.

BAHN: The great
Nazca Lines are done

in one continuous line,
the monkey or the spider.

We've always assumed

that the people who
made the Nazca Lines

were trying to
communicate with gods,

ancestors, spirits or whatever.

But there was an idea
put forward quite recently

by an American scholar

who thought that some of
the geoglyphs might be linked

to runoff from hills and
channeling the water

and helping the crops to grow.

MIKE TUCKER: There's a
trend in backyard gardening

called "permaculture," where
the gardener digs trenches

and create swells or hills

to sequester the water
or capture the rainfall,

so that way the ecosystem
supports their own garden,

and they don't have to
bring in extra irrigation.

So there's a theory that maybe
the rain lands on these hills,

runs down and saturates
the soil in these spirals,

and the other Nazca Lines
so farmers could grow crops.

And the bigger the geoglyph,
the more food you could produce.

But you can only produce as
much food as you had runoff.

WYSESSION: In places like
where the Nazca Lines are,

we see a very barren,
arid, dry place currently.

But if you went back
thousands of years,

you'd find alternating periods

of extreme rainfall events.

And so, the time when
the Nazca Lines were built

was a time of occasional
extreme rainfall.

And it's quite possible
that they used these lines

as means of capturing
water from these rare

but extreme rain events.

NEWMAN: We don't
have written records

of what they were thinking
or what they were doing

and why they were
building these sites.

But the fact is, there
are different theories

in different parts of the world

as to what they could
have been created for.

But whether it's in a desert,

or whether it's,
like, chalk hill figures

in Ancient Britain,
at least they still exist,

and we can appreciate
and study them today.

Are some of the
massive geoglyphs

found all over the world

actually ingenious
irrigation ditches?

(inhales sharply) It's
an intriguing theory.

But not all ancient wonders
have an apparent purpose.

Sometimes, they're
so inexplicable

that we must simply marvel

at their improbability,

like in the case of a
giant golden boulder

that appears to defy
the laws of physics.

SHATNER: Perched on a cliff

3,600 feet above sea level

is something
that, at first glance,

appears to be an
impossible sight.

It's an enormous boulder
that is covered in gold leaf

and hangs precariously
over the edge of a cliff.

This giant rock is the
size of a two-car garage,

and looks like it's about
to fall off the precipice.

But, incredibly, it never has.

This extraordinary
stone is known as

"The Golden Rock."

NEWMAN: The Golden
Rock in Myanmar

is one of the most important
sites in the Buddhist world.

It's a 600-ton granite boulder.

And the way it sits on
the side of this kind of cliff,

this mountaintop, is-is
absolutely amazing.

You can actually
almost get underneath it.

And if you sneeze the wrong
way, at the wrong angle,

it feels like it would
just knock it off.

But it's been there
for thousands of years.

MIANO: Everybody wonders
how this rock doesn't fall.

It's 50 feet high and
25 feet in diameter.

How it doesn't fall...

it seems to defy
the laws of physics.

It's a Buddhist holy site,
and so on top of it sits

a pagoda 24 feet tall.

And yet, we still can't
figure out how it's not falling.

DOMINIC STEAVU:
This is the holiest

of objects for Buddhist people,

and it has indeed become
a site of pilgrimage,

um, that is active
throughout the year.

Pilgrims make offerings

by applying little
squares of gold leaf.

And over time, this
gold leaf has accrued

all over the rock to the extent
that it is now covered in gold.

The earliest reliable
documents attesting

to The Golden Rock
being a site of pilgrimage

go back about 500 years
to the late 15th century,

and these documents are tied
to the Kingdom of Thay Taung

and, um, their official
stately documents.

However, there is
reason to believe

that The Golden Rock goes
much further back in history

as a sacred site
tied to the Buddha,

and that, in fact, it
might go back all the way

to the time of the Buddha
in the 5th century BCE,

so roughly 2,500 years ago.

SHATNER: Was The Golden Rock
erected thousands of years ago?

And if so, how did
this giant boulder

come to be positioned
in such a precarious way?

Perhaps the answer can
be found by examining

why Buddhists consider
it to be such a holy site.

COLLINS: At some point
in the distant past, it is said

that the Buddha gave a
monk a single piece of hair.

And the monk accepted this

and handed it over
to the ruling king.

And the king said that he
would find a suitable shrine

so that it could be
placed on top of that hair.

And apparently, they
searched everywhere...

and at the bottom
of the ocean found

this huge, great boulder.

And it was then carried
to the top of this mountain

and placed in this
incredibly precarious manner.

And underneath it, apparently,

is the actual hair
of the Buddha.

MIANO: There's a legend
that the Buddha's hair

is what is holding
that boulder in place,

suggesting that even one
small strand of hair from his head

was powerful enough to hold
up such a large and heavy stone.

SHATNER: The notion
that a single hair...

Even one from the
Buddha himself...

Is preventing a 600-ton
boulder from succumbing

to gravity does
seem a bit far-fetched.

So, why doesn't it fall?

Well, according to some experts,

it's likely due to an incredible
feat of ancient engineering.

The word "engineer"
means "ingenious."

And if you look
at the relationship

between The Golden Rock
and the edge of the cliff,

what we see is perfect
balance, if you like.

The center of the weight
of that piece of rock is

going through the
point that it's connected

to the stone below. It must be.

Otherwise, it would
be falling off the edge.

I would say that's
nearly impossible.

But the thing to remember
about the ancient people

who created these marvels
that we see around the world is

that they understood
mathematics,

and they understood physics.

SHATNER: Is it possible

that The Golden Rock is
simply an ingenious feat

of ancient engineering? Perhaps.

But for the faithful,
the mere existence

of such a wondrous
sight is more important

than how it was achieved.

What The Golden Rock
says about humanity is

that people need to feel
in contact with the divine.

For the pilgrims who
go to this sacred site,

it can be an incredibly
powerful and moving experience

to be in contact with
something that is most sacred

and most holy in your tradition.

And this is no different
from the motivations

and what drove
people to visit this site

for the last thousand,
2,000, 3,000 years.

The Golden Rock is proof
that, in spite of everything

we've learned about
physics and engineering,

there are some ancient wonders
that still defy understanding.

But some experts
believe that the key

to unlocking their
secrets is to study

not the structures
themselves, but rather, the DNA

of the people who built them.

SHATNER: Here, on the vast
green pasture of Salisbury Plain,

stands perhaps the most storied
wonder of the ancient world:

Stonehenge.

First constructed
around 3100 BC,

these imposing sarsen and
bluestone monoliths were rebuilt

and repositioned
a number of times

over the next 1,500 years,

eventually settling into
the current configuration.

But today, almost 5,000
years after its creation,

Stonehenge's original
purpose remains

shrouded in mystery.

TIMOTHY DARVILLE: Stonehenge
is a complicated monument.

It's a very long-lived monument.

We're always changing our
interpretations of Stonehenge.

And this is in large
measure because

these societies don't
seem to have had writing.

They haven't written
anything down...

That's come down
to us, at least.

So, we're having
to piece together

our understanding
of the monument

from what we have in
the archaeological record

in the monument itself.

SHATNER: For centuries,

researchers assumed
that the ancient people

who constructed Stonehenge
were native to the British Isles.

But that could be changing.

Because thanks to
modern genetic technology,

researchers have been
able to conduct DNA testing

on Stone Age skeletons
that were recovered

in the area around Stonehenge.

And the results suggested

that Stonehenge's
builders weren't native

to ancient Britain at all.

They may have arrived from
much, much farther away.

COLLINS: It was
generally thought

that Stonehenge... it must have
been built by the local people.

But new DNA evidence suggests

that the builders of Stonehenge

had come from distant
Anatolia, modern-day Turkey.

NEWMAN: DNA analysis that
shows this migration from Turkey

to Ancient Britain is
very, very interesting.

Because what we're finding
here is this direct connection

over a very long period

starting with sites

such as G�bekli Tepe, which
was in Southeast Turkey.

Then we have similar stone
structures like stone circles

or stone avenues in Portugal,
along the Iberian Coast.

Then we have the
sites in Brittany, France,

which again date to
this very early phase.

And then we start seeing
the megalithic constructions

of Ancient Britain.

So, this DNA analysis shows that

they were bringing this
megalithic knowledge.

And this has now been
proved, through DNA research,

from Turkey, through
Europe, into Ancient Britain.

SHATNER: Is it possible that
Stonehenge was constructed

by the same ancient
people from Turkey

that built other massive stone
monuments all over Europe,

as newly-discovered
DNA evidence suggests?

It's one of many
intriguing theories

about ancient engineering

that has been brought to
light by modern technology.

DARVILLE: New technologies are

certainly going to open up a
whole series of new questions.

And it's going to
answer a few things

that we didn't know
too much about.

So, there's still a lot
of work to be done

in figuring out some of
the secrets of ancient times.

We began to realize
that the ancients had

astounding technology
that we didn't think they had,

and some technologies

that are more advanced
than our technology.

And the hope is, even though
there's no written records,

using the science of DNA,

or another advanced technology,

we can get closer and
closer to understanding

how they were able to build
these gigantic structures.

SHATNER:
Whether it's lost cities

or massive geoglyphs,

or ancient computers,

the technological
and engineering ability

of our ancestors never
ceases to amaze us.

One day, modern technology may
help us unlock all the secrets

of these ancient wonders.

But until then, we'll just have
to marvel at their existence,

and understand
that they will remain...

unexplained.

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