Lost Pyramids of the Aztecs Episode 1 (Ancient History Documentary)

the magnificent aztec empire one of the most powerful civilizations the world has ever seen the aztecs were fearsome they were clever they were a force to be reckoned with 700 years ago the aztecs dominated mexico they were ruthless warriors and ingenious engineers but after just 200 years their vast empire was wiped out by spanish invaders they would never have seen metal weapons they'd never seen guns before there was likely lightning or thunder for centuries archaeologists have been trying to understand who the aztecs were and how they built their remarkable empire can a series of new investigations and a groundbreaking experiment help solve these mysteries our cameras have been granted unique access to follow investigators as they venture inside rarely seen ancient sites from brand new excavations that reveal astonishing secrets about how the aztecs lived and [Music] died to spectacular drawings that may explain the truth about their origins will these extraordinary clues and a pioneering attempt to build a real aztec pyramid if we get this wrong there is a high likelihood that our pyramid could collapse shine a light on the incredible secrets of the aztecs and reveal what life was like inside one of the greatest empires in history mexico city one of the world's largest home to more than 21 million people from beneath these modern streets an astonishing hidden world emerges the capital of the aztec empire tenochtitlan in the 15th century this was the largest city in the americas and one of the biggest on earth at its center was a great pyramid templo mayor now it lies in ruins but it was once the heart of the aztec world the temple mayor was constructed by the aztecs as the cosmic center of their universe absolutely everything relating to religious life political life in the aztec empire all came down to this central point archaeologist david walton has been studying the aztecs for 10 years he wants to investigate who they were and how they were able to build these stunning monuments 600 years ago this was a brightly colored pyramid towering over 60 meters high one of the most magnificent temples in the americas temple mayor was the center of a huge sacred complex the seat of power of the aztec empire around it the aztecs built their capital city tenochtitlan sitting on an island in the middle of a lake this sprawl of houses canals and causeways covered 13 square kilometers and housed up to 200 000 people so many people think about the aztecs as this primitive brutal society but what's so impressive about them are the engineering skills that they had the ingenuity the tenacity that they had to build such a great empire in such an inhospitable location in the 15th century the aztec empire dominated the region now called mexico it covered an area the size of great britain and was home to up to 15 million people but why did the aztecs decide to build their capital city on an island in the middle of a lake and how were they able to build extraordinary structures like templo mayor building a city on marshy ground would have presented an incredible challenge so it's so impressive that it's still standing this was not done by primitive society in the heart of aztec country outside mexico city david searches for answers he wants to understand the secrets behind how the aztecs built their incredible pyramids [Music] the fact that aztec structures are beneath modern mexico city means that we really don't know how the aztecs actually built their pyramids david plans to undertake an ambitious experiment to investigate how the aztecs constructed great monuments like templo mayor he's gearing up to build a modern-day replica aztec pyramid hey lucas how are you doing david works with mexican architect lucas cantu together they're attempting something that hasn't been done for centuries that's the culture it's very interlocked with mexican history but but in a way it's also very mysterious because what we know now is about going to archaeological sites and archaeological sites are in a ruined state so we actually don't know much and a lot of it is just hypothesis and imagining what was it like the aztecs had no metal tools or wheeled vehicles there were no horses in the americas at the time to find out how they managed david and lucas plan to use as many traditional tools and techniques as possible to build their own aztec pyramid so in a way we're gonna we're gonna keep it very raw but obviously it's going to be a little bit more bumpier and got it so okay their plan is to build a scale model five meters square and two meters tall with three tiers we're thinking we're going to have big challenges in just by building this because we've never actually done it so we're going to have a lot of setbacks just by trying to work around with the tools we're not used to working with there are so many things we don't know this isn't like building a house i've never done this before lucas has never done this before i mean we're just trying to figure it out before they can start they need to understand more about who the aztecs were and where they came from in mexico city there's an ancient document that's so precious almost no one is allowed to see it it's known as the boturini codex library director baltazar brito decodes a reproduction to search for clues about the origins of the aztecs the aztecs didn't have an alphabet instead they used images to record every detail of their lives in los codis believes the codex was made in the early 16th century just before the fall of the aztec empire he wants to see if it will tell him where they came from in search of a new home the aztecs traveled across mexico for 200 years eventually they arrived in a valley with a lake rich in bird life and fish lake takes cockle on an island in the lake they saw an eagle landing on a cactus with a snake in its beak they believed this was a sign from the gods in this sacred place they founded a new city and called it the place of the cactus rock [Music] is fundamental mexican on the spot where they saw this supernatural message the aztecs built the towering templo mayor it's just one of thousands of pyramids and temples the aztecs built across their empire many are still standing today 13 kilometers north of templo it's home to the best preserved pyramid in the aztec world archaeologist beatriz zuniga investigates how it was constructed no but what kind of stone is the pyramid made of their trees takes a closer thanks to the region's volcanic past the aztecs were surrounded by a ready supply of different types of volcanic stone the main material they used for templo mayor is called material the aztecs used the local volcanic stone to construct a pyramid 30 meters high and over 60 meters long sourcing and cutting all this rock by hand would have been an epic task last question significant using manpower alone the aztecs created magnificent pyramids to or and inspire their people how do they extract so much stone without metal tools at this quarry outside mexico city archaeologist david walton investigates how the aztecs cut the blocks they needed for their monumental structures hey alejandro how are you doing good to see you he works with aztec expert alejandro pastrana to cut a stone like the ones at templo mayor the main material the aztecs used was a volcanic rock called tesonte it's still one of the most popular stones in the mexican construction industry this is a fantastic stone you can find a red slantly grey decently descently was a multi-functional stone for walls floors sculptures it's hard but it's not heavy at this quarry they extract red the rusty color comes from its high iron content the aztecs exploited places like this to get the stone for their pyramids you can see the volcano has several flows and sometimes the blocks fell down and after the aztecs caught the size adequate to carry david wants to cut a block that's a similar size to the ones used in the pyramids of templo mayor and tenayuka but how did the aztecs manage to quarry such large quantities of stone without the help of metal tools and machines [Applause] historian caroline dodds panic has been studying the aztecs for more than two decades she investigates another ancient codex she believes it holds the key to understanding how the aztecs got the stone to build their magnificent pyramids the florentine codex was compiled in the 16th century by a franciscan friar it has over 2 000 beautiful illustrations which were drawn by indigenous artists and it also has spanish and indigenous language texts describing indigenous culture society and the conquest in 12 books the codex runs to a staggering 2400 pages covering every aspect of aztec life it's probably the most valuable source of information on the aztecs in the world the manuscript is so precious but actually i've never seen it in person it's kept in temperature control conditions in florence that's why it's called the florentine codex and it is so important and valuable as an artifact for the history of aztec culture that we just aren't allowed to touch it the 12 books of the codex cover everything from religion and society to the conquest the pages caroline wants to examine are the ones that deal with daily life they explain all the different jobs that people do from priests to farmers and of course stone masons this is a wonderful illustration of aztec stone working from the beginning of the process to the end of people in the background quarrying the stone and then people splitting it into manageable blocks there's a chap here with a stone axe with a wooden handle and then right down at the front people with chisels and again stone hammers to split the stone and work the stone workers did this hard labor all year round even in the heat of summer just how difficult a job is this [Music] at the quarry david and alejandro gear up to cut the block they need for the pyramid [Music] they work with stone tools modeled on the ones shown in the codex all right ready to go here let's go alejandro has found a piece of tison clay that he thinks is the right hardness his heart is soft okay all the way around here start cutting into it that way and then come down over there it's time to put their theories into practice [Music] at a quarry in mexico archaeologist david walton investigates how the aztecs built their pyramids he's using a stone hammer to cut the tizontlay a volcanic rock but the tools are not easy to work with oh oh man look at that so this was yeah like a constant repair of these tools let alone the hours that it takes to actually take a block out from the salmon you can imagine how i'm working laborers spent months cutting thousands of stones by hand it's difficult and dangerous work oh oh man yeah i cut my hand right here so yeah we're talking about blisters cuts on people's hands this is a a really really kind of hard task for people to do aztec stone masons had years of practice and experience but for david and alejandro it seems like an impossible job try with this if they're going to get even one block cut in time they'll need help he's an expert in cutting stone by hand he switches to metal tools to get the task done here let me try to give it a go oh man this is heavy even with modern equipment it's still a tough job it's taken them four hours of back-breaking work but eventually the stone is free yes that's awesome all right good job good job it would take thousands more stones like this to make a full pyramid the size of templo mayo [Music] oh yeah oh perfect yeah while ciro breaks the stone into portable pieces david wants to find out more about aztec tools the aztecs didn't have metal so what kind of material did they use for tools to cut things the aztec use said obsidian obsidian obsidian is a volcanic glass it forms during an eruption when lava cools rapidly the area around mexico city is a major source of obsidian but how do you make a tool out of glass this is a piece of this one plate a hammer stone okay so you're gonna hit you're gonna hit this core with this hammer stone and we're gonna get a tool out of what you're using right now exactly okay alejandro needs to try to chip off a piece without it shattering put your hair but will the new tool be sharp enough you can try yeah okay yep caught what that is super shorter [Applause] the razor sharp obsidian slices the leather like a knife through butter it's magic that is incredible in fact it's better than a knife okay i'll try a steel knife got it what look at that i'm the aztecs thought obsidian was created by the gods when lightning struck the earth it was so precious they even used it as a religious offering once ciro has finished breaking up the block the team faces the next challenge that the aztecs would have encountered how did they transport all their heavy building material to the pyramid site you know the aztecs don't have animals for to carry the products the aztecs move all in pump lines a top line is a woven strap attached to a bag or basket okay yes got it so we put all the stones in here and then how does this work like where does this part go okay this is uh the principal court you know and you put here on your head ah wow many traditional societies still use tamplines today the aztecs made theirs from the leaves of the agave plant i showed you one leaf okay so how do we get the fiber out alejandro uses his obsidian blade to cut the leaf the super sharp volcanic glass slices through easily [Music] can you see the fire wow i can see him this is one there it is this is one field got it an after twist oh okay when you dry twist it up to make cord yeah exactly the aztecs used agave fibers for weaving ropes cloth and baskets like these tamplines so this is the tool this is what we need to get our stones to the pyramid you will be a really aztec porter all right let's go let's go let's do this the aztecs needed thousands of porters to transport items from place to place they made up the largest sector of the aztec workforce [Music] all right yeah that's pretty heavy okay are you ready i think i'm ready yeah yeah all right let's go let's go and aztec porter would have had to carry at least 40 kilos of goods or stone on foot walking for days over rough terrain all right just about 25 miles to go it's back-breaking work why did the aztecs go to so much trouble to build their enormous monuments what were the pyramids for [Music] the answer may lie at this incredible ancient complex almost 50 kilometers north east of templo mayo the site is called teotihuacan it's over 1 000 years older than any aztec pyramid sergio gomes has been working here for over 30 years he investigates if there might be a link between this stunning city and the aztecs important personas is home to three main pyramids and more than two dozen smaller structures the biggest is the pyramid of the sun it's the third largest pyramid in the world towering over 70 meters high but 700 years before the aztecs founded their empire this remarkable civilization mysteriously collapsed [Music] abandoned sergio believes there's a link between this eerie ghost city and the aztec people seven centuries later despite the aztecs thought these incredible structures could only have been built by the gods they believed was the center of all creation inspired by pyramid builders before them they built their own monuments like the ones they saw here is an element sergio wonders if these pyramids might have a similar purpose to the ones in egypt [Music] [Music] the pharaohs of egypt built their pyramids as elaborate tombs each pyramid contains a hidden chamber where the pharaoh was laid to rest are the mexican pyramids the same searching for answers sergio investigates one of the main monuments principle is the temple of a mysterious entrance leads deep underneath the temple sergio was the first person to set foot [Music] inside [Music] encounter at teotihuacan in mexico archaeologist sergio gomez explores a tunnel that's nearly 2 000 years old it leads more than 100 meters directly underneath the temple of the feathered serpent what is this place and why was it built in contrary [Music] sergio and his team removed more than 1300 tons of soil and debris to find out what lay behind [Music] at the end of the tunnel the team found a spacious chamber inside were four green stone figurines arranged to face the center of the temple above the floor around them was once a sculpted landscape of jagged mountains and deep valleys flowing with pools of mercury on the ceiling a glittering layer of powdered fool's gold created the illusion of a starry night sky what was this strange landscape hidden right under the temple of the feathered serpent sergio believes this was a sacred ritual space america universe is but is it a tomb sergio predicted further discoveries inside the chamber provide a clue these stunning treasures appear to be the grave goods of a rich and important person the landscape represents the underworld where he will reside for all eternity but if this is a tomb believes the king's body was probably disposed of by a rival ruler but the objects suggest this eerie underworld beneath the temple is indeed a tomb just as he predicted so were aztec pyramids also used as tombs no traces of burials have been found inside aztec pyramids they were places of worship not graves the most important templo mayor sat at the heart of a huge sacred complex designed to honor the gods but this holy place was built on an island in the middle of a lake what can its challenging location reveal about the aztecs engineering skills at templo mayor archaeologist david walton investigates when you look down here at the temple mayor you can get a sense of how much work was invested here to make this temple it must have taken so much central planning and organization to put something like this on such an undesirable spot the city of tenochtitlan was home to two hundred thousand residents with so many inhabitants keeping people and goods moving was vital tennochtilan was the heart of the aztec empire so it was absolutely crucial to have an effective transportation system bringing things in and out the aztecs used their engineering know-how to create a sophisticated city layout [Music] the island where the aztecs founded their city was five kilometers across here they built the ceremonial center with the templo mayor at its heart but as the population grew tenochtitlan had to expand and spread out into the lake canals and dirt roads ran through the reclaimed land and canoes were the main means of transport to reach the lake shore the aztecs built three huge causeways up to 11 kilometers long creating a city the spanish later called the venice of the new world the aztecs constructed a pioneering transport system which allowed them to bring the goods they needed to the city center this revolutionary town planning can still be seen in mexico city today even though the aztec empire is gone today modern mexico city is built on the layout that the aztec put here for their capital some of the major streets in mexico city run right along the major causeways that were there at 10ht lawn when the aztec were in control tenochtitlan has been destroyed but much of templo mayor is still standing how is this possible david heads into mexico city center to investigate he's on a mission to build a pyramid using aztec methods but building in mexico city poses a unique challenge over 700 years ago when the aztec first came here it was an island and a huge lake so when they had to figure out how to build all of the pyramids and sculptures and big monuments they had to figure out how to deal with the soft brown [Music] mexico city is no longer a lake after the spanish took over in the 16th century they drained the water and built the city over the top all these buildings are sitting on what used to be the lake bed it's causing huge problems you can see some stones up on the walls are straight and some of them are kind of curving like this and if we look at the sidewalk you can see the same type of thing that's the building sinking down into the ancient lake bed [Music] in many areas the ground is soft and unstable parts of mexico city are sinking up to a meter every year there are buildings just like this all over mexico city that are crooked and sinking down and that's a problem to figure out [Music] david needs to make sure his pyramid doesn't suffer the same fate as these collapsing buildings but how a discovery at templo mayor shows how the aztecs solved the problem here archaeologists have unearthed wooden pilings driven deep into the ground they supported the monuments and ensured they didn't sink to build a pyramid the aztecs first rammed wooden poles into the earth and made walls of hand-cut stone and mortar around these foundations to construct the first tier they poured in tons of rubble and earth then they repeated the process to build a small pyramid as their power grew they built bigger pyramids over the top to create stone giants like templo mayon the aztecs constructed 78 monuments in the heart of tenochtitlan covering an area the size of 22 football pitches armed with this information david's team begin work on their pyramid [Music] they use pilings made of wood to replicate the aztec techniques this area of central mexico was once dominated by a very very dense forest with pine oak and cypress trees and what the sx probably did was use probably pine or oak for their foundational pilings the team estimates the pyramid will weigh at least 20 tons they calculate how many pilings they need to support it they decide to use a grid of 25 stakes spaced 80 centimeters apart this may be the most important decision of the entire build if we get this wrong if we don't place our pilings in the right place there is a high likelihood that our pyramid could [Music] collapse [Music] outside mexico city the construction team begin to build the foundations of their pyramid [Music] they must make sure the pilings are properly sunk into the ground so they'll support the weight of the monument but digging with traditional wooden tools isn't easy so we're finding it hard to do it and it's taking too long we've broken a few pieces lucas is amazed at just how strong and dedicated the aztecs were i don't think we're going to be able to do 25 holes with wood sticks so i think we're going to have to change and just use metal reverse even with metal tools it takes the team an entire day to install all the pilings now lucas needs to make sure they're strong enough to support the pyramid so right now they're wobbly but actually when we fill the core in they're gonna get stronger so everything's gonna get tighter as it gets filled up the only way to find out if they've got the foundations right is to start building they hoped to end up with a pyramid that would please the aztec gods but who were these gods and why do they need such great monuments aztec historian caroline dodds penick investigates clues in the pages of an ancient codex this stunning manuscript is a detailed account of life in the aztec world this is an image of a priest dressed as tlarlock the water god god of fertility and rain you can tell it's larloc because he's got his heron feather headdress he's holding a shield with a water flower on it and he has a reed staff one of clarlock's main roles was to send rain to nourish the growing crops it was crucial for the aztecs to worship him to ensure the success of the next harvest the codex also provides information about the aztecs chief god khuitsi lapochtly quits laporchly is god of war he is the god of the son and he's the tribal god of the aztecs here in the picture he is wearing hummingbird feathers because of his name which means something like hummingbird from the south and he's also holding a snake staff the snake staff is the juke the fire serpent and that's an association with the sun as god of the sun quetzal apache makes the sun rise each day performing rituals to him will ensure that this happens as god of war he's also responsible for the aztecs military success war is enormously important to aztec culture because warfare is one of the central ways in which their city sustains itself they have to go to war or threaten people with war in order to bring in the goods and the food which allow this city on an island to succeed but there's another reason why quicksilver was so important according to legend his mother was a goddess who wore a skirt of snakes and had four hundred sons and one daughter when she became pregnant with whitsilapochtli they plotted to kill her but quicily was born fully armed and slaughtered his brothers who turned into the stars in the sky then he ripped his sister apart and when he threw her from the sacred mountain she turned into the moon quetzal apache himself transformed into the sun the all-powerful creator this myth is incredibly important in aztec society because switzerland as well as being the sun god is the tribal god he symbolizes aztec society he symbolizes tenochtitlan itself and the myth symbolizes the aztecs triumphing over the first threat to their power and influence at sacred pyramid sites like templo mayor the aztecs performed ceremonies to huitsila to ensure the continued survival of their society if they didn't it would be a catastrophe the aztecs believed that we are living in the fifth creation of the world there have been four versions of the earth before and that each of those was destroyed they also believe that the fifth age will be the last age and so at the end of this world will come the apocalypse to stave off armageddon the aztecs had to perform regular rituals they're living in a really fatalistic way and this is why they believe that they have to nourish their gods and support them in order to keep the world going for the aztecs pyramids were the only way they could appeal to the gods and make sure the sun would rise and life continued at the build site david and lucas have laid out the footprint of their pyramid and prepared the foundations after looking at our foundations i think the aztecs would be pleased i think that we're doing a good job now they can start the challenge of building the monument itself they're attempting something that has not been tried since aztec times the first job is to prepare the stones for the pyramid walls this is great to salt lake and we're going to use this for the outside of our pyramid because it's a little bit stronger than the softer red to something we're going to use for the core you can see right now that all these are pretty rough that's not going to work for our pyramid we're going to need to use hand tools to chisel down flat sides on all of these stones guilds of aztec craftsmen worked on a production line cutting shaping others preparing mortar or laying the stones we're basically using the same techniques as the aztecs the only difference is we're using metallic tools but i think the banging of the stones and everything is exactly the same as dust exceed even with metal tools it's a slow and difficult process the stones are uneven not perfectly shaped blocks like the ones used on egyptian pyramids lucas's next challenge is to work out how to fit them together okay so so right now we're more or less arranging some of the stones to see if they fit it's sort of like a possum got it so we're kind of like making our own puzzle pieces in a way exactly and then for example if this is bothering the puzzle you just chip it off and then you can fit it better each stone must be perfectly flat to create the smooth outer finish of the monument balthazar is gonna sort of like flatten even more this this uh stone so he's just uh seeing the little bumpy parts and taking them out with the chisels oh man there's a lot of chips coming off of this oh i just got hit again man so for the aztecs just thousands of people working at the site doing something like this chips flying around everywhere with the stone shaping squad hard at work the construction team begins to build it's crucial they make sure the sloping sides are at the right angle if we get the angles wrong at the bottom it's going to affect everything in a much more visibly noticeable way as we keep getting closer to the top the pyramid is going to just look all kinds of crazy david also worries the foundations may not be strong enough to support the weight of the entire pyramid as our pyramid starts getting bigger it's going to start getting heavier and i think the chance of it sinking down into the ground is going to increase just as well as the walls possibly collapsing in on each other so it's really as we keep going that i start getting a little more nervous after four days of precision craftsmanship finally the walls of the first layer are complete david thinks the aztec king would be pleased with their progress so far it's really starting to take shape i mean this looks like an aztec pyramid we had it on the design but to actually see it in real life i i'm i'm beyond excited to keep going the lost aztec world is slowly giving up its secrets magnificent ancient monuments an eerie tunnel hidden for almost 2 000 years and a priceless manuscript are finally revealing the truth about the powerful aztec civilization but as the team continue to build their aztec pyramid they will solve even more mysteries about what it took to create some of the most magnificent temples the americas had ever seen next time what can an ancient cemetery reveal about how the aztecs grew their powerful empire how did they feed their rapidly expanding population and what really happened during aztec rituals the person would be stretched back over a sacrificial stone and in the middle you can see another priest is taking the heart out [Music] and lost pyramids of the aztecs continue same time next week at 8. burning questions tomorrow night from nelson to churchill should we rethink the heroes we honor the battle for britain's heroes is at 10. next tonight an xcia operative goes down a dangerous rabbit hole in search of a kidnapped child mark wahlberg stars and all the money in the world coming up

Channel: Ancient History Nerd

Views: 2,783

Rating: 4.7446809 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: TlwYSfHU0Go

Length: 47min 3sec (2823 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 03 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/alower1]

Thanks for posting! This reminds me of the kind of stuff that used to be on the history channel.. now it’s all aliens and hillbillies