Original subtitles

Narrator: A maze of tunnels

hidden beneath the world's oldest pyramid.

A strange wall that surrounds a remote cliff-top pyramid.

Cryptic markings carved into a pyramid hidden in a rain forest.

These and other remarkable discoveries

could help solve the mystery

of why so many different cultures around the world

build these enigmatic megastructures.

This here completely rewrites what we thought we knew

about the rise of civilization in the americas.

♪♪

today, investigators use pioneering technology

to reveal the secrets of seven legendary pyramids.

It's kind of scary to think that there's like hundreds,

thousands of tons of stone over our heads right now.

♪♪

martin: This is not a maya hieroglyph.

This is actually something completely alien.

Narrator: We explore lost labyrinths

and unearth human remains to decode the mysteries

of these iconic engineering wonders

that seem to connect cultures

thousands of miles and years apart.

-- Captions by vitac -- www.Vitac.Com

captions paid for by discovery communications

♪♪

today, ancient pyramids can be found

in more than a dozen countries around the world.

Their wide bases, low centers of gravity,

and solid construction

allow early civilizations to build these wonders

high above the rain forest canopy

and visible for miles in the desert,

looming over every other manmade structure.

♪♪

for more than 4,000 years,

diverse cultures separated by both time and space

invest in constructing these enigmatic monuments.

Why?

A clue may lie with the first pyramid ever built,

the step pyramid of djoser.

When constructed 4,700 years ago,

it is the tallest structure in the world

and the first large-scale building made entirely of stone.

It's the prototype for the pyramids

used by pharaohs for centuries,

forever changing egypt's landscape.

It's located in saqqara,

at the center of an enormous complex of ancient structures.

Here, 2,500 acres of sand

preserve the remains of funerary monuments

spanning 3,000 years of egyptian history.

Mastabas, huge rectangular mud brick structures,

are the giant tombstones of high officials.

Alongside them are small pyramids,

the final resting place of later kings and queens of egypt.

And towering over them all is the first pyramid ever built,

the immense step pyramid of djoser.

This grand monument would be the pharaoh's final resting place,

a structure unlike anything the world had ever seen before.

Why does djoser's final resting place

take the form of a pyramid?

Brand-new excavations at the site might provide a clue.

Investigators unearth

hidden underground rooms near the pyramid,

which contain objects he needs in the afterlife.

Under the sand around djoser's pyramid

lies a massive trench 120 feet wide and 60 feet deep.

♪♪

it could be just a quarry

where djoser digs up limestone to build his tomb.

♪♪

but maybe, like the burial chambers under the pyramid,

it is meant to help djoser reach the afterlife.

♪♪

both places hold objects for the dead pharaoh

like food offerings, treasure, and weapons.

♪♪

this could mean the trench is more than just a quarry.

The hidden chambers that branch from the trench

suggest it might become

an important religious feature itself.

The ancient egyptians believed

the pharaoh's spirit will resurrect inside the pyramid

and consume any offerings left for him.

He then embarks on a journey filled with challenges

and obstacles before finally reaching the underworld.

♪♪

investigators believe that

this trench might symbolize his perilous journey

and it might help the pharaoh overcome any obstacles he faces

in his path to the afterlife.

♪♪

the most important part of this journey

starts with the biggest monument in the center of the complex,

the first pyramid ever built,

the step pyramid.

♪♪

why does djoser build it on such a colossal scale?

A clue lies with a structure

built more than 300 years before djoser's pyramid.

Egyptologist aidan dodson

has been working at saqqara for over 30 years.

♪♪

what we've got here actually is the last remains

of the mastaba of queen herneith,

who dates from 2800, 2900 b.C.

Narrator: In its full glory, herneith's mastaba

is 125 feet long,

53 feet wide, and 10 feet tall.

Dodson: If a queen of 200, 300 years earlier

could have something like this, a king is going to want

something really, really special.

Narrator: Before the reign of djoser, egypt is divided

and rife with social unrest.

But when he takes the throne in the 27th century b.C.,

egypt is at peace, prosperous, and united into one nation.

With increased wealth and power,

djoser can build bigger than the mastabas of old.

Djoser needs to make a step change in size and technology

to be able to mark himself out

as the beginning of a great new era.

♪♪

narrator: The first pyramid ever built preserves its history within,

like an immense russian doll.

First, djoser builds a square mastaba

200 feet long and 26 feet tall.

But he wants more.

He extends on all sides, but it's still not enough.

So instead, it becomes the base for the first-ever pyramid,

four stacked mastabas

towering 140 feet above the ground.

He builds around it and adds two more levels

completing the iconic six-step pyramid.

♪♪

stacking smaller mastabas on top of larger ones

is the most stable way to build tall on a massive scale.

Djoser creates the largest structure

the world had ever known

and begins a grand tradition

that transforms ancient civilizations around the globe.

You've got a whole range of new skill sets which are required.

A whole lot of people who probably haven't

worked together at that kind of level.

Narrator: The step pyramid is djoser's tomb,

the final resting place of an almighty pharaoh,

designed to help him into the afterlife.

And the process of constructing the pyramid helps to unite

and organize egyptian society into a powerful nation-state.

♪♪

incredibly, around the same time,

another civilization 12,000 miles away

on the other side of the world constructs its own step pyramid

at caral.

Why do ancient south americans build a massive monument

in the same style as the egyptians?

And is this great pyramid also a tomb

for an almighty ruler?

Gruesome discoveries inside the pyramid may hold the answers.

And why do later egyptian pharaohs construct pyramids

with perfectly smooth sides?

Narrator: Djoser's step pyramid in egypt

is the world's first pyramid.

But amazingly, another civilization

on the other side of the world

starts constructing a giant pyramid in the same step style.

The second wonder is the greater pyramid at caral.

In the heart of peru.

This ancient city is home to five smaller,

mysterious pyramids

that surround the greater pyramid in the center.

How do different cultures

separated by thousands of miles of ocean

devise the same architectural blueprint?

Just like the ancient egyptians,

the people of caral build bigger and taller

by layering smaller platforms on top of larger ones.

This results in the oldest pyramid in the americas.

Buried beneath layers of sand, rock, and rubble

lies the largest pyramid of caral,

abandoned for thousands of years.

The pyramid covers an area of five football fields

at its base,

a giant 60-foot-high structure built from multiple platforms.

In front of it, a bizarre stone ring with 10-foot-high walls

and stairs flanked by two upright monoliths.

Nearby, archeologists find five other pyramid-like buildings.

♪♪

why do the people of caral build their pyramid?

Is this also a tomb for an almighty ruler?

♪♪

at the top of the structure lie the crumbled walls

of a series of interconnected rooms.

At their heart, a ceremonial chamber

of huge significance to the city's elite.

When archeologists excavate this room...

...They discover a gruesome secret.

In the rubble lies the skeleton of a man

not seen for around 4,000 years.

Who could it be?

Can this discovery shed new light

on the purpose of these ancient structures?

Paleopathologist guido lombardi examines

the bones of ancient skeletons

discovered throughout caral's supe valley.

He's trying to work out who these people really are.

Guido examines his spine.

He discovers bony growths on his lower vertebrae.

His feet also show signs of damage.

The evidence tells a tale of incredibly hard labor.

This worker carries huge loads over long distances.

But skull fractures lead guido to believe

his death is no accident.

He suspects the man is attacked,

then thrown into a burial pit while still alive.

The skeleton's position reveals to guido why he died.

The man is killed and buried within the pyramid

as a sacrificial offering to the gods.

Archeologists think the pyramids are the stages

on which religious rituals

are carried out to unite the community.

♪♪

caral's pyramid is once truly magnificent.

The circular plaza is painted white.

This 10-foot-high ring

is a place for ceremonies and large gatherings.

At the top of the vast main staircase,

an altar with a central fireplace

suggests organized religion is at the heart of society.

And to house the city's population,

there are enough buildings for over 3,000 people.

The pyramid is the most imposing structure

in the whole city.

It is central to the organized religion of caral.

Just as djoser's gigantic step pyramid

reflects the pharaoh's importance

in both life and death,

investigators believe the people of caral

build the greater pyramid

to host the most important ceremonies and rituals.

Today, these ruins stand in the middle of a desert

that gets less rain than death valley.

How does a civilization powerful enough

to build such an incredible monument

survive in such a hostile environment?

And in egypt, a new pharaoh experiments

with trailblazing designs

that will change the concept of a pyramid forever.

Narrator: 5,000 years ago, at the same time

the ancient egyptians are building pyramids,

a civilization in south america

is constructing its own monumental structures

in the same style.

Building so many incredible monuments

requires a huge workforce.

Experts believe caral is once home to more than 3,000 people.

But today, the ruins sit in a punishing desert

which gets less rainfall than death valley,

the hottest place on earth.

So how does such a huge population

survive in such a dry and hostile environment?

Jeff rose is an expert in early civilizations

trying to solve this mystery.

The one thing you really need for a settlement

to flourish is water.

You need a water supply

that's both going to provide water for the people

and it's also going to nourish the plants.

So this entire enterprise is contingent on whether or not

there's a reliable source of fresh water.

Narrator: Could the people of caral

rely on such small amounts of rainfall?

A newly discovered mural might hold a clue.

The coastal town of vichama is just outside caral.

Here, archeologists uncover relief carvings

that appear to show a toad hovering above a human face.

In traditional andean belief,

toads are known to represent rain.

The face below could represent

the ancient people that live here.

Experts believe this strange image

shows the people of vichama are waiting and hoping for rain

and might even suggest

a period of drought or climate change.

Do the people of caral have a survival secret

which allows them to build such incredible pyramids?

Jeff joins the archeological team digging for answers.

Archeologist aldemar crispín balta

is hunting for answers.

The supe river trickles through the valley nearby.

Investigators believe they found evidence the people of caral

have a clever way to channel this water to their fields.

This faint channel, barely visible in the rock face,

could be part of one of the oldest irrigation systems

in the americas,

carved out at the same time

the ancient egyptians are constructing canals.

A reliable water supply is crucial for early civilizations

that want to build big.

Aldemar believes what they discover here

is just a tiny fraction

of a massive system of waterways.

But for the people of caral, there is one big problem.

The supe river only flows for five months of the year

between December and April.

The rest of the year, it's dry.

When the river has no water,

the people face the deadly threat of drought.

To survive, they have to find another water source

to feed the canals.

So where is this lifesaving supply?

When the river dries up,

the supe valley has a unique advantage.

Water from high in the andes travels through permeable rock

and emerges in the valley as freshwater springs.

This underground source

ensures farmers have water all year round

to irrigate their thirsty crops,

even in the driest of times.

A year-round water supply makes life possible at caral.

It allows them to irrigate the fields that support

a thriving population.

But incredibly, experts discover the people of caral

don't use this precious water to focus on growing food.

Aldemar's team look for seeds

to uncover what grows in the valley.

They discover the people grew a few vegetables and fruit.

But the most common crop of all comes as a surprise.

Cotton is not a source of food.

The builders of caral's lost pyramids find ingenious ways

to extract every drop of water from their harsh environment.

But why are they using it to grow something they can't eat?

A clue might lie inside one of the five smaller pyramids

found at caral,

a step pyramid more than 60 feet tall

known as the gallery pyramid.

When archeologists first uncover the gallery pyramid,

they discover a treasure trove of unexpected objects,

including an offering that contains fragments of a raft.

When they investigate further,

they unearth something even more surprising.

In what is once the ceremonial hall

on top of the pyramid,

they find the trunk of a tree

surrounded by carefully arranged blue whale vertebrae.

Can these strange relics from the distant sea help to explain

why the people of caral grow crops they can't eat?

Gabriel prieto burmester is an archeologist

who specializes in the marine history of peru.

In his lab, he examines artifacts

from an archeological site

near a coastal town called huanchaco.

The settlement he is studying

is founded about 1,000 years after caral,

but gabriel believes it can still shine a light

on caral's relationship to the sea and its crops.

The first fishermen here hunt sharks with hooks and lines.

Burmester: And we have all these shark vertebrae,

more than 16,000 that we currently excavated.

And of course, we have these beautiful shark teeth,

you know, that tell us about the capacity of these people

to actually hunt these big and large fish.

Narrator: Even so, hunting 10-foot-long sharks

is a risky way to feed their families.

It isn't long before the people of huanchaco

utilize a new, more efficient technology.

These are two beautiful examples of a fishing net.

Narrator: Nets allow them to catch smaller fish,

but in greater numbers.

Perhaps the most important thing is that

they were all made of cotton.

Narrator: Today, the fishermen of huanchaco

still use simple nets

while riding traditional reed boats,

a way of fishing inherited from their ancestors.

Gabriel thinks that by using nets,

these ancient people are able to catch more food than they need.

What they don't eat, they exchange or sell.

Burmester: The fact that they are using fishing nets

to increase their fish catch

tells us about a more open community

that is using a surplus in marine products

to exchange for other goods.

Narrator: Experts think caral grows in size

and wealth through trade.

Trade allows the city to become so prosperous

they can commit resources to build on a scale

never before seen on the continent.

The step pyramids in egypt and caral

share a similar step-shaped design

but have very different purposes.

And why these giant monuments

appear on opposite sides of the world

around the same time remains an unsolved mystery.

50 years after djoser completes the step pyramid in egypt,

a new pharaoh pioneers a different design

and builds some of the most unusual pyramids

the world has ever seen.

How do the egyptians develop perfect, smooth pyramids?

And why do these incredible structures also appear

in central america thousands of years later with new designs

that push the limits of the pyramid shape?

Narrator: The step pyramid of djoser

stacks traditional mastabas on top of each other

and starts a tradition of pyramid building

in ancient egypt.

But 50 years later, it is another pharaoh, sneferu,

who pushes engineering boundaries

to create a new pyramid design.

The most unusual is the third wonder.

The bent pyramid at dahshur.

Like djoser's step pyramid

and the greater pyramid at caral,

a wide base and a low center of gravity

allow sneferu to build a structure

that towers above all others.

So why does sneferu construct a bent pyramid?

Clues could lie with the other pyramids he constructs.

Sneferu builds three different pyramids.

His first, at meidum, looks like a step pyramid

but now lies in ruins.

His next one, the bent pyramid,

has a crooked profile but is in much better condition.

His last, the red pyramid,

is the only one with perfectly straight sides.

Sneferu builds on djoser's step pyramid design

and develops the modern idea of the perfect pyramid.

Is his bent pyramid part of his master plan?

Clues may lie at meidum

among the ruins of sneferu's first pyramid.

Its stepped core is once covered by sides

in a classic pyramid shape,

but these have now gone.

Archeologists believe construction starts here

just before the bent pyramid.

Engineering geologist colin reader

thinks it can tell us

why the bent pyramid is such a strange shape.

That's because both pyramids

used similar construction techniques.

Reader: What we've got from this pyramid at meidum

and also at the bent pyramid is mason's marks,

graffiti that were painted by the quarry gangs

or the builders of the pyramids,

and that graffiti is quite similar.

Some people have suggested that it's so similar,

that the two pyramids were built at the same time.

♪♪

narrator: Meidum starts as a stepped pyramid,

but in the pharaoh's quest for perfection,

he adds an outer shell to fill in its huge steps.

It gives the pyramid straight sides.

But with nothing locking the steps

and the outer shell together,

the layers begin to split and slip down.

Reader: Just as the evidence suggests,

this pyramid collapsed during the last phase of building,

taking that stepped structure

and converting it into a smooth-sided pyramid.

Narrator: Sneferu's idea for smoothing out the steps fails.

But he has already started work on the bent pyramid

using a similar design.

Colin explores if its crooked shape

is due to the same structural weakness at meidum.

Reader: We're here at the bent pyramid at dahshur,

and we're investigating whether there's any signs of movement

or settlement within this pyramid.

Narrator: He starts by examining the exterior.

Here, the damage looks superficial.

Reader: There are cracks.

You can see from the casing around us

that there are cracks running through it,

but that shouldn't be unusual.

Buildings like this will move as they're constructed.

The ground will settle.

Narrator: But colin soon spots something more serious.

As we've come up to the entrance door,

this seam in the casing seems to drop around the entrance.

We look over there. It's flat.

It's horizontal, as all the joints are.

As we get to this point over the passageway,

the casing drops down, runs horizontally,

and then rises up again.

That might be superficial.

We perhaps have to look at whether that goes

any distance inside the structure.

Narrator: Colin heads down a narrow passageway.

Inside the northern entrance,

he finds other stones have also slipped.

Reader: We're at a point about

10 meters inside the northern passage,

and at this point, we've got quite a major movement.

This block here has dropped about 20, 25 centimeters.

Narrator: This crack, running right across the passageway,

reveals a critical structural weakness.

What this big drop tells us is that,

that dip we saw on the casing,

just by the entranceway, isn't superficial.

It runs the full length of this passageway

for about 10 or 11 meters.

We are undoubtedly looking at a major dislocation

in the structure as it was being built.

Narrator: The cracks alert the pyramid builders here

to the risk of catastrophic collapse like at meidum.

Reader: What they intended to build at the bent pyramid

was a true, straight-sided pyramid,

but with collapses here, they might have been concerned

something was going to go wrong at the bent pyramid.

Narrator: The top of the pyramid is too heavy

for the steep angle of the sides.

♪♪

at first, the bent pyramid's cracks

may not look too serious.

Then the meidum pyramid collapses catastrophically.

Fearing the same fate,

the architect here designs a much safer,

but shallower summit.

This gives the bent pyramid its strange shape.

The bent pyramid is the first pyramid with smooth sides,

an astonishing achievement,

but sneferu is never entombed here.

He tries again.

He strives for perfection

and puts everything he learns from the failure

of his first two pyramids into his final masterpiece.

The red pyramid.

Built just after the bent pyramid,

sneferu's third mega tomb, the red pyramid,

is the world's first true pyramid.

Its straight, geometric sides are flawless,

something later pharaohs will copy for generations.

To the ancient egyptians, this perfect pyramid shape

represents rays of sunlight,

a connection to the sun god

that the buried pharaoh strives to become.

It takes sneferu three attempts to build the perfect pyramid.

But his son takes this smooth design to the extreme

and creates something the world will never forget,

one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Our fourth wonder, the great pyramid of giza.

How is it possible to build such a gigantic pyramid

that stands as the tallest structure on earth

for more than 4,000 years?

And why do the egyptians stop building mighty pyramids?

Could clues lie inside one of the last

and strangest pyramids ever built?

Narrator: After centuries of bigger and bigger monuments,

the largest pyramid the world has ever known rises in egypt,

a new pharaoh, khufu,

builds on the success of his father, sneferu,

but surpasses him in scale and ambition

to build the fourth pyramid wonder --

the great pyramid at giza.

The oldest of the seven ancient wonders of the world,

it towers over all of its predecessors,

more than 450 feet tall.

A structure made from over two million solid stone blocks

assembled with breathtaking precision,

many weighing more than a car.

A building with narrow, mysterious tunnels

leading to two massive chambers

built from blocks of the strongest red granite.

The ultimate resting place for a pharaoh's body.

How does khufu build on a scale

that isn't matched for thousands of years?

More than six and a half million tons of solid stone

make up this extraordinary monument.

Huge quantities of a special red granite

form the chambers inside the pyramid.

This stone comes from quarries more than 550 miles away.

How do the ancient egyptians

shift these massive blocks right across their kingdom?

♪♪

there's a clue hidden at the foot of the great pyramid.

Under limestone slabs,

archeologists make a startling discovery --

a deep pit filled with pieces of ancient lebanese cedar wood.

Some look like simple planks.

Others have more elaborate shapes.

What are these ancient bits of wood

and what are they doing under the pyramid?

Scientists think they are parts of a sacred contraption

buried alongside the pharaoh

designed to help him in the afterlife.

♪♪

at the nearby conservation center,

director of restoration essa zidan heads up a team

that stores the wooden pieces as they come out of the pit.

Essa keeps the ancient wooden pieces

safely locked and wrapped up.

He is the first person to touch them

since the ancient egyptians.

Essa hopes this find will be as spectacular as similar pieces

found in a neighboring pit over 60 years ago.

In a museum built directly over the earlier pit,

craftsmen assemble the wooden pieces.

They form a boat buried alongside the pharaoh khufu,

a vessel designed to transport the king in the afterlife.

♪♪

restorers take almost 20 years to carefully preserve

and rebuild this ancient vessel.

Archeologists discover this boat has a very special design,

a design that helps the pyramid builders

transport goods far and wide.

♪♪

khufu's royal boat comes in neatly laid out pieces.

It's an ancient egyptian flat pack design.

Each plank has holes so they can tie together into a ship

which the crew can easily take apart and rebuild.

Archeologists think similar flat pack boats

are carried overland in pieces

and reassembled on the banks of the red sea

to ship in copper from the sinai.

And on the nile, they carry heavy cargo,

precious building blocks for the great pyramid.

Boats turn egypt's river nile into a superhighway

for construction materials and supplies

so builders can transport the red granite

of the king's chamber more than 500 miles in less than a month.

Khufu's society is entirely organized

around pyramid building

with a trained, experienced workforce

and integrated infrastructure that spans the kingdom.

So why do later egyptians never surpass khufu's pyramid?

And why do they eventually stop

building pyramids altogether?

A clue might lie with the next wonder --

the black pyramid.

And can hidden passageways beneath a manmade mountain

in mexico reveal why a new generation of pyramids

appear in central america thousands of years later?

Narrator: The great pyramid of giza is the culmination

of around 100 years of pyramid building in egypt.

But why is this great feat of engineering

never surpassed in scale?

Why do the ancient egyptians stop building pyramids?

A clue may lie with one of the most unusual

and mysterious pyramids of all,

the fifth wonder, the black pyramid.

More than 500 years after

khufu builds the great pyramid at giza,

the black pyramid is one of the final pyramids ever made.

The pharaoh amenemhat iii

constructs this giant pyramid

as his final resting place.

This crumbling ruin is once a magnificent pyramid

that towers 250 feet above the desert,

its entire surface clad in gleaming white limestone

that reflects the sun's rays.

At its base,

a temple where the pharaoh can be worshiped for eternity.

And in front of it,

a courtyard complete with 18 stone pillars.

A walkway flanked by two high walls

leads up to the pyramid.

What causes this masterpiece of ancient engineering

to collapse?

The black pyramid is different to the great pyramids at giza.

Its exterior is not made of stone.

It's made from mud bricks.

Is this evolution in pyramid building

the reason for the catastrophic failure?

I'm so thrilled that I actually get to go into

amenemhat iii's pyramid

because I've been into lots of pyramids and tombs

all over egypt,

but this is the first time I'll go into this one.

I hope I don't get lost.

Narrator: Archeologist salima ikram

investigates his decision to build a pyramid in mud brick.

Sealed 4,000 years ago,

secret tunnels inside the pyramid

have only recently been opened to archeologists.

Salima has unique access to explore this hidden treasure.

♪♪

ikram: Outside, it looks like this pile of rubble.

But when you get inside,

it's this extraordinarily well finished

beautiful interior with tura limestone

that is beautifully polished and so smooth.

They put a huge amount of effort here.

And these joints are terrific

because here you can just -- look at that.

Amazing.

Narrator: The tunnels are made

from the highest quality limestone,

very different to the mud and straw bricks

in the pyramid above.

It is a complete and utter maze here.

One could get lost so easily.

The deeper I go, the more hot and humid and sticky it becomes.

Oh, my god, that is a huge crack.

I can get my whole hand in there.

It's really frightening.

Narrator: Deep underground,

the tunnels show dangerous signs of deterioration.

Salima believes the damage starts

even as the pharaoh's workers

are building his final resting place.

Maybe the king's builders thought that it would be

much better to build in mud brick

because they have all of these passages,

and mud brick is not as heavy as stone.

So maybe they chose mud brick deliberately.

Narrator: But the plan doesn't work.

So many tunnels make the pyramid hollow like swiss cheese.

And even with a lighter brick exterior,

the pyramid collapses.

Pharaoh amenemhat's plan to improve the design

of the pyramid ends in failure.

If the enormous maze of tunnels contributes to the collapse,

why does he need them?

Salima believes he has a very practical reason.

Amenemhat iii must have built so many tunnels

because he wanted to make sure that no tomb robber

found his way to the tomb.

Narrator: In the egyptian belief system,

the pharaoh lives forever in eternity.

But he can only do that if his earthly body remains intact.

This huge maze of tunnels is designed to thwart

even the most determined tomb raider.

Ikram: Once the pharaoh was buried

and all of this was filled up,

no one was meant to be here except for the king

because this was his eternal realm.

Narrator: A pyramid is a monumental grave marker.

It towers above the pharaoh's subterranean burial chamber,

where his body will lie for eternity.

The royal burial includes offerings of food and drink,

even mummified bundles of fine cuts of meat

for the pharaoh to enjoy in the afterlife.

The pharaoh is also buried with unimaginable riches --

precious stone amulets, fine gold and jewelry,

and pottery embellished with jewels.

But if robbers break in and disturb the tomb,

the pharaoh will no longer be immortal.

Amenemhat hopes his maze of tunnels is the solution.

But it helps to cause a catastrophic collapse.

He builds another pyramid more than 50 miles away at hawara

and is entombed there when he dies.

But this, too, is raided, his body desecrated.

500 years later, the rulers of egypt's new kingdom

develop a new strategy to stay safe

and secure in the afterlife

at the valley of the kings.

They construct secret tunnels

hidden inside the sacred mountains --

natural pyramids.

Here, the pharaohs hope their tombs

will remain hidden from grave robbers.

And the famous tomb of tutankhamun

does survive untouched into the modern era.

The age of pyramid building in egypt is over.

But across the atlantic ocean,

the desire to build on a gigantic scale

leads another ancient culture to enter its own pyramid age.

They construct a monument that rivals the scale

of the great pyramid of giza at its base.

Why does the same pyramid shape appear again

thousands of years later on the other side of the world?

And how do so many independent cities

grow wealthy enough to construct such incredible monuments?

Narrator: Thousands of years

after caral succumbs to the desert

and the last pyramid of egypt is built,

a new generation of enormous pyramids

rise in central america,

unlike anything the world has seen before --

the sixth pyramid wonder,

the pyramid of the sun at teotihuacan

in modern-day mexico.

Its base rivals the size of the great pyramid of giza,

covering an area of more than nine football fields.

Each platform is a sturdy foundation for the next,

rising more than 216 feet tall.

It sits at the center of an elaborate plaza

which contains more than 2,000 ancient structures,

including another giant pyramid,

the highly decorative pyramid of the feathered serpent.

Why do the people of teotihuacan build

these enormous monuments across their city?

Archeologist sergio gomez chavez

searches the city's giant pyramid for clues.

He believes the key is to understand

how the pyramid of the sun is used.

The largest pyramid in teotihuacan

hides a surprising secret.

Directly beneath the pyramid of the sun,

archeologists unearth a tunnel in the bedrock.

First, they think it's a natural cave

until they hit a carved-out chamber.

And beyond it, the remnants of 17 thick manmade walls

built to block access to the tunnel.

At the very end of the tunnel,

they find an elaborate chamber carved in the shape of a clover.

Whatever this subterranean vault is designed to hold,

it's meant to be locked away for eternity,

buried under millions of tons of rock.

Did the people of teotihuacan create this pyramid

as a burial chamber for an almighty ruler

like the pyramid tombs of egypt?

Clues might lie with new excavations

at the nearby pyramid of the feathered serpent.

Today, sergio explores a tunnel he's recently uncovered here.

He hopes this tunnel will reveal more of teotihuacan's secrets.

♪♪

the first section of the tunnel

runs nearly 50 feet under the pyramid

to a cross-shaped chamber beneath the steps.

But then it cuts down again into the bedrock

towards the center of the pyramid

and opens out into a second much deeper chamber.

Today, the team carefully remove soil from two ancient pots.

After 2,000 years in soil,

the ceramic is incredibly fragile.

Sergio uncovers thousands of artifacts like this one.

Marks on the pots offer tantalizing hints

of how they are carried.

Sergio believes that all these rare objects

are offerings to the gods.

But does this tunnel lead to a tomb

like those inside the ancient egyptian pyramids?

So far, sergio finds no evidence of human burials.

And dark marks at the very end of the tunnel

suggest this dead end looks very different in the past.

Sergio believes the marks reveal this chamber

is once filled with water, making it a religious shrine,

a gateway to the gods of the underworld.

Today, the water table is over 50 feet below ground.

2,000 years ago, it is much higher,

filling the final chamber

with water to form a subterranean lake,

a replica of the mythical underworld

where the people of teotihuacan make offerings to the gods.

The pyramid of the sun may look similar

to the great pyramids of egypt and the pyramid at caral,

but it serves a completely different purpose.

Archeologists believe ancient priests climbed the tall pyramid

at key times in the celestial calendar

to be closer to their sun god.

But this powerful pyramid-building culture

mysteriously vanishes in the sixth century a.D.,

leaving only their giant monuments behind.

How does teotihuacan's society function?

Shocking discoveries inside the pyramids themselves

offer evidence of a bloodthirsty society

that builds tall on the bones of their enemies

and another civilization in the americas

pushes the boundaries of pyramid design even further,

building far steeper than any pyramid built before.

Narrator: Today, pyramids are found

across multiple continents,

separated by oceans.

Although they look very similar,

they are all built for different reasons

and reveal secrets of the civilizations

that construct them.

Today, teotihuacan stands abandoned.

♪♪

the once-powerful civilization

that builds the giant pyramid of the sun

and the pyramid of the feathered serpent disappears.

They leave little evidence of who they are and how they live.

Archeologists at mexico's largest ancient city

are slowly assembling the pieces of a monster puzzle.

Anthropologist saburo sugiyama examines bones

unearthed from the ancient city of teotihuacan.

Archeologists discover the bones

while tunneling deep inside the body

of the feathered serpent pyramid.

♪♪

inside the central cell is a dark secret --

20 skeletons almost completely intact,

carefully arranged in what looks like a symbolic pattern.

And they're not alone.

In total, over 260 bodies

are built into the fabric and foundation of the building.

The pyramid is a mass grave.

A truly gruesome find.

But the dead can yield valuable clues

to the civilization that lives here 2,000 years ago.

♪♪

who are the people built into the pyramid?

The 20 carefully arranged bodies

lie at the center of the pyramid.

They are surrounded by precious possessions,

suggesting they are members of a social elite.

In long trenches on either side

lie two rows of 18 soldiers

flanked by rows of eight women.

The pattern repeats around the edge of the pyramid --

rows of necklaced soldiers bordered by rows of women.

A cross section of society

entombed in what looks like a sacred symmetry.

But is this an ornate graveyard

or is it gruesome evidence of ceremonial murder?

Saburo searches the bones

for evidence of human sacrifice at teotihuacan.

Incisions on the jaw show that an executioner

has slit the throat of this victim.

♪♪

260 people in total are sacrificed

inside the feathered serpent pyramid,

but who are they?

Saburo finds answers by analyzing the bones of the dead.

Throughout our lives, the water we drink

is locked inside the chemistry of our growing teeth and bones,

and because water alters from place to place,

saburo can extract the ancient chemicals

to work out exactly where these people grow up and live.

Some of the high-status skeletons

seem to be from michoacán 250 miles away.

And some of the soldiers come from guatemala,

900 miles away.

Saburo believes these sacrificial victims

are conquered and captured people.

This is evidence the people of teotihuacan are aggressive

and fight their neighbors using the riches of conquest

to fund the construction of enormous ritual pyramids.

One of their neighbors to the east are the maya.

The maya are a rival civilization

that constructs their own monuments

which push pyramid design further than anyone in history.

Archeologists uncover what happens

when two pyramid-building cultures clash head on.

♪♪

narrator: There are hundreds of pyramids

found all around the world.

The great pyramid of the sun

is the centerpiece of teotihuacan in central america.

But even more pyramids can be found 600 miles away.

Deep inside guatemala's dense rain forest

lie the ruins of a mysterious metropolis --

nearly 3,000 structures hidden in the trees,

including the seventh wonder,

the pyramids of tikal.

The largest pyramid, temple iv,

rises more than 200 feet to pierce through the canopy.

♪♪

it's the largest of the city's six major buildings,

constructed in the 8th century a.D.,

and is the tallest structure ever built by the maya.

It's tikal's greatest architectural achievement

and also its greatest mystery.

Hidden in the thick jungle,

the sides of this incredible pyramid

are far steeper than any pyramid

that has ever been built before anywhere in the world.

♪♪

temple iv is a wonder of engineering.

Constructed of seven platforms

ascended by incredible steep steps,

climbing over 200 feet.

At its top, a shrine to the gods

topped by a distinctive roof comb.

But how this engineering marvel still stands is a mystery.

Constructing such a steep pyramid should be impossible.

So how do the maya do it?

Archeologist arthur demarest is on a quest to find answers.

♪♪

what is most impressive about this pyramid is the steepness.

I mean, you look at the pyramids in egypt and other places,

they're sort of like this.

To make something this steep

without reinforced steel girders

then is incredible.

And it's amazing it's still standing.

It's in pretty good shape.

Narrator: Arthur believes the secret

to how the maya build this pyramid

with such steep sides lies hidden deep inside it.

Going in here now to look at the tunneling excavations

to try to figure out how they pulled this off.

It's kind of scary to think that there's, like, hundreds,

thousands of tons of stone over our heads right now.

You can just hope it's stable.

Narrator: Site director leopoldo gonzalez

helps arthur with the investigation.

Inside each of the temple's platforms,

they find a number of mysterious chambers,

giant box-like compartments with stone walls.

Leopoldo discovers temple iv's builders

pack these box chambers with rubble.

The maya know filling these walled compartments with rock

makes each platform stronger

than if they are made of stones held together with only mortar.

But with so many of them stacked up,

how do the mayan engineers

prevent the entire building from crashing down?

Leopoldo finds a special structure

which he believes makes this particular temple super stable.

Temple iv starts as a rectangular stone platform

made of smaller box rooms

surrounding a stone core that gives the temple strength.

Builders add platforms one on top of the next.

On the last platform, they place a shrine.

The central core's strength makes it possible

to position thousands of tons of cut stone

to make large spaces

for the veneration of gods and ancestors.

The finishing touch is an elaborate roof comb,

43 feet tall, intricately carved with hieroglyphs

and mythical scenes.

Tikal's rulers build the mega temples

as mighty stages for huge rituals.

Arthur thinks these ceremonies

help increase the size and population of tikal.

Demarest: Tikal's power during this period

came from all of the monumental architecture.

These buildings are settings for gigantic rituals,

and that also brings in followers.

And so you just have all of it coming together

to create this magnificence.

Narrator: But how do the people of tikal grow so powerful

they could build pyramids that rivaled those of teotihuacan?

Could these two separate

pyramid-building cultures be linked?

Narrator: Tikal, guatemala.

1,200 years ago, this is a mighty mayan city.

Tikal's rulers build a great pyramid to honor the gods

and draw in devoted citizens to grow their power base.

But how does tikal become powerful enough

to build this monumental pyramid in the first place?

What is the spark that ignites tikal's transformation

into a mayan superpower?

Hieroglyphic expert simon martin hunts for clues.

Martin: When tikal started,

it really wasn't anything particularly special.

There are lots of places like it.

But then something changed.

It began to become a much more dynamic and exciting place.

Narrator: Simon's quest for answers leads him away

from the city's largest temples to one of its smallest.

He believes this building holds the key to understanding

tikal's mysterious rise.

This structure is unlike anything else in the city.

It's a king's palace built just before tikal takes off

in the 4th century a.D.

It has two stories accessed via grand stairways.

Most of tikal's temples and palaces from this time

are enlarged over the years.

New kings add layers

to create some of the towering pyramids we see today.

But this palace is never enlarged.

Why is it preserved?

And can the story of its builder

unlock the answer to tikal's spectacular rise?

♪♪

archeologists know the name of the man who built it --

jaguar paw, 14th king of tikal.

Why is his palace the only one preserved in its original size?

Giant stone inscriptions hold the clues.

But first, simon must decode their information

from ancient mayan.

So, this is the hieroglyphic name of jaguar paw.

And down here in 378,

he enters the water,

which is a metaphor for death.

Narrator: Simon spots something unusual chiseled

close to the date jaguar paw dies,

a strange symbol unlike any other on the stone.

This is not a mayan hieroglyph.

This is actually something completely alien.

It depicts a spear thrower.

Underneath is a phonetic spelling.

And essentially what it tells us here

is the name spear thrower owl.

Narrator: The different language reveals

that outsiders arrive and take over.

But who are they?

Spear thrower owl -- this is something

that we see represented on murals in central mexico

and more particularly at the city of teotihuacan.

Narrator: Teotihuacan is the capital

of a powerful rival civilization

600 miles west of tikal.

Teotihuacan is ruled by spear thrower owl.

It's possible to see him as the guiding authority.

This is the person who everyone who works for.

This is the person who is directing events

way up at teotihuacan.

Narrator: Connecting jaguar paw's death

with spear thrower owl's symbol

reveals an invasion is behind tikal's meteoric rise.

♪♪

through the third century a.D.,

tikal in the east is trading with teotihuacan in the west,

importing ceramics and borrowing its architectural styles.

But in 378 a.D.,

their relationship dramatically changes.

Spear thrower owl sends an army to March on tikal.

The rulers of tikal are overthrown and its king,

jaguar paw, is executed

and replaced with a king from teotihuacan.

With access to teotihuacan's larger resources,

a succession of new dynasties

plot tikal's domination of the mayan world.

Martin: The date in 378 is the most celebrated in maya history.

It's recorded multiple times.

They saw it as being a pivotal moment

which influenced not just tikal

but the whole of maya civilization.

Narrator: The new rulers from teotihuacan

invest in growing tikal's power and prestige.

New architectural influences

lead to grander palaces and pyramids

that transform the city's skyline.

Except for one building.

Martin: So even after all these changes

and there was a new regime in place,

they nonetheless left jaguar paw's palace

entirely intact,

which is obviously a message of some kind.

It's certainly symbolic.

Whatever it is,

it's certainly the end of one era

and the beginning of the next.

♪♪

narrator: In the great clash of pyramid-building cultures,

the rulers of teotihuacan take over tikal.

With the added power of teotihuacan,

the mayan city of tikal can flourish into a superpower

and build some of the most impressive pyramids

on the continent.

This merger makes tikal one of the largest mayan cities,

but it isn't the only one.

The maya built 40 cities across central america,

many with their own pyramids.

Each mayan city is completely independent.

So how do other competitive mayan cities grow wealthy enough

to build their giant pyramids

without the resources of teotihuacan?

A clue might lie with other mayan sites

on the yucatán peninsula,

tulum and chichen itza.

Narrator: The great mayan pyramids of tikal

stand tall above the rain forest canopy in guatemala,

massive monuments that can only be built

with great wealth and power.

But like all mayan cities, tikal is completely independent.

Each mayan city has a rival ruler jostling for supremacy.

They never form an empire.

So how does each mayan city grow wealthy enough

to build their own incredible pyramids

without an empire behind them?

A clue might lie in the coastal ruins of tulum.

Tulum is one of the last cities built and inhabited by the maya,

surviving for more than 70 years after the spanish conquest

in the 16th century a.D.

The temple and structures here are on a smaller scale

than other mayan sites

but appear to be no less important.

A unique defensive wall surrounds tulum.

This feature is not seen anywhere else

in the mayan world.

Why is this place so important to the maya?

The temple now known as el castillo may hold a clue.

The largest structure at tulum is three stories tall,

designed in layers like other mayan pyramids.

A shrine on the top looks out over the ocean

from two distinct windows.

These openings appear to mark a break

in a treacherous barrier reef that surrounds the coastline.

The shrine points to a break in the sea cliffs

and a shallow cove that acts as a perfect landing beach

for trading canoes.

♪♪

tulum is a cliff-top fort sheltered behind 16-feet-tall

and 20-feet-thick walls.

It is the center of a cult that builds a temple

to the descending god

and worships the god of the bee.

In the city square, el castillo,

the tallest building in tulum,

stands on the edge of a cliff.

Connected to both land and sea,

tulum is a trading hub for the maya.

♪♪

the evidence at tulum suggests that the maya here are trading.

Could this be the key to their wealth

which allows them to build giant pyramids?

The answer may lie at one of the most famous mayan sites,

chichen itza.

Chichen itza is centered

on the astonishing temple of kukulcan.

Memo de anda investigates a complex road network

surrounding the city, which might contain clues

to how the maya transport goods for trade.

This amazing road we're working on now,

it's one of the sacbes, or white roads.

You can see it's pretty wide and it's high.

I think they had a lot of functions.

Communicating, that's for sure one of them.

That's the main use of roads is like umbilical cord.

You're just putting the site together.

But there were a lot of reasons just practically or symbolically

or to extend the political boundaries.

Narrator: Archeologists are constantly finding new causeways

called sacbes.

The scale of sacbes they find at chichen itza is vast.

These sacbes crisscross over the city,

connecting the main temples with quarries

and outlying communities.

One leads to a sacred water source

nearly 1,000 feet away through the jungle.

Others stretch out of chichen itza

to distant settlements nearly five miles away.

More than 90 of these white roads are discovered

revealing the complex network of this great metropolis.

They all lead back to the center of chichen itza,

in its prime, a bustling city

with a population of more than 30,000.

These sacbes were really important.

They really helped the cities to thrive.

Narrator: But the causeways on their own

do not make chichen itza powerful enough

to build giant pyramids.

There are no nearby rivers for transport.

It is hundreds of years before the first horses

arrive in mexico, and the maya do not use wheels.

How can people travel longer distances

or shift goods quickly?

♪♪

125 miles northwest of chichen itza,

archeologist jeffrey glover and his team search for clues.

♪♪

water became the highway, you know?

You would have hundreds, thousands of these canoes

annually traveling up and down the coast.

Home sweet home.

Narrator: This is vista alegre,

the site of a mysterious,

long-abandoned coastal settlement.

Jeffrey believes vista alegre is once a seaport like tulum

with connections to chichen itza.

He's trying to find evidence to link the two sites.

Jeffrey and his team find the remains of ancient structures,

shards of obsidian, a glasslike rock

used to carved stone, and fragments of pottery.

But a key clue comes from a particular variety of pottery

known as balantun black-on-slate.

So this is balantun black-on-slate.

It has that lovely trickle design that was really popular

across the yucatán from the classic period.

You know, the cool thing about this, right,

is that it's a domestic ware that's very common at chichen.

It's what you typically would find in households

at chichen.

The pottery evidence shows this settlement is linked

to chichen itza.

Vista alegre is one cog in a highly efficient trading machine

that serves the great city.

Long-distance trade is based on the mayan canoe

and conducted by sea.

Each canoe is up to 60 feet long

and carries several tons of cargo.

Each port is about 25 miles from the next,

the distance that can be traveled by canoe in one day.

This powerful trade network stretches all around the coast,

stepping stones to chichen itza's main port,

isla cerritos.

Up to 400 canoes can trade here at one time.

This lucrative port strengthens chichen itza's power

over the whole peninsula.

The mayan cities are independent and competitive.

But their trade networks allow each society

to grow wealthy enough to build

some of the most impressive pyramids of the americas.

For more than 4,000 years, civilizations around the world

stamped their mark on the landscape

by constructing giant stone pyramids.

With a wide base and each layer acting as a foundation

for the next,

ancient civilizations are able to build tall

and reach the skies.

Each pyramid is built for different reasons --

to ensure a peaceful afterlife,

to display power, or to glorify the gods,

but each one breaks records,

develops technological skills, and sets new standards

of monumental engineering.

Pyramids are taller, wider,

and more massive than almost every other structure

ever created.

Timeless architectural wonders

that long outlast the civilizations that build them

and that will likely survive thousands of years

into the future.

The original seven wonders of the world

only include the great pyramid of giza,

but these seven incredible pyramids

deserve a list of their own.

♪♪

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