0:00:01.293,0:00:02.926 Deep within the jungle 0:00:02.926,0:00:07.296 "We're talking about a civilization discovered in the middle of the rain forest." 0:00:07.296,0:00:10.043 Cryptic remains of a lost civilization. 0:00:10.043,0:00:14.471 One that spanned a continent for more than a thousand years 0:00:14.471,0:00:17.775 "They definitely had attributes of the supernatural" 0:00:17.775,0:00:20.072 They were the ancient Maya 0:00:20.072,0:00:27.362 Their rulers filled vast cities with sky high pyramids, ornate palaces, and lavish plazas. 0:00:27.362,0:00:30.571 They were masters of their environment 0:00:30.571,0:00:34.522 "They were very resourceful in figuring out how to harness the energy. 0:00:34.522,0:00:43.328 Creating amazingly sophisticated works of art and engineering, and sustaining a civilization for 1,500 years." 0:00:43.328,0:00:49.537 Then, after generations of prosperity and innovation, the ancient civilization collapsed. 0:00:49.537,0:00:52.797 Turning bustling cities into ghost towns 0:00:52.797,0:00:56.404 to be reclaimed by mother nature. 0:00:56.404,0:01:04.009 Centuries later, answers to the mysteries surrounding these majestic people and the god-like kings who ruled them 0:01:04.077,0:01:09.882 tell a story of conquest, ingenuity and disaster. 0:01:20.491,0:01:25.213 869 AD in the lowlands of the Guatemalan jungle 0:01:25.213,0:01:27.697 The Maya are becoming desparate. 0:01:27.697,0:01:33.115 Food and clean water are dwindling. Thousands of people are starving 0:01:33.115,0:01:37.275 and malnutrition and disease are ravaging the population. 0:01:37.275,0:01:42.957 The Maya no longer trust their divine rulers to appease their gods. 0:01:42.957,0:01:49.731 Political turmoil plagues the kingdoms, and one by one, the great city states are being abandoned. 0:01:49.731,0:01:53.488 The ancient Maya civilization is crumbling. 0:01:53.536,0:01:57.620 "City after city, area after area begins to fail. 0:01:57.620,0:02:00.793 The cities are abandoned, the kings disappear 0:02:00.793,0:02:06.022 and what had been Classic Maya culture really comes to an end." 0:02:06.022,0:02:09.051 What happened to this great people? 0:02:09.092,0:02:13.092 Even today, scholars are still mystified 0:02:13.092,0:02:16.457 "We know that the people began to disappear. 0:02:16.529,0:02:19.501 The question is: How did this happen?" 0:02:19.501,0:02:25.981 The answer may lie in complex hieroglyphics known as the Maya code. 0:02:25.981,0:02:32.506 "A hieroglyph is a complex way of conveying all the information 0:02:32.506,0:02:37.337 that Maya people could think or express. 0:02:37.337,0:02:44.022 And it is the only example in the Americas of a complete complex system of writing." 0:02:44.022,0:02:48.535 Today, these cryptic symbols reveal a history of brutal warfare, 0:02:48.535,0:02:53.509 larger than life rulers, and the rise and fall of an enigmatic people. 0:02:53.509,0:02:59.771 Hi I'm Peter Weller and I'm standing on top of this beautiful temple deep in the rainforest of southern Mexico 0:02:59.771,0:03:04.686 near the border with Guatemala, And this was the heart of the civilization of the ancient Maya. 0:03:04.686,0:03:07.699 For years, archaeologists believed that the ancient Maya 0:03:07.699,0:03:13.560 were peacefully separated into forty or so independent city-states, each with their own dynasty of kings. 0:03:13.560,0:03:16.741 From what we could tell, there seemed to be trade, communication, 0:03:16.741,0:03:26.030 but there didn't seem to be any particular imperial aggression motivated by a thirst for land power outside of a king's own territory. 0:03:26.069,0:03:30.533 But in the last half century these theories are starting to fly in the face of a different story 0:03:30.533,0:03:37.707 because hieroglyphics like this one, remnants of the ancient Maya's advanced writing system, are painting a whole new picture. 0:03:37.724,0:03:42.153 The touchy feely 1960s new age ideas on a gentle and loving people 0:03:42.153,0:03:49.674 are being fast replaced by a much more complex reality of city-states butting heads in bloody clashes. 0:03:49.719,0:04:01.337 And now we have evidence that brutal battles and human sacrifice were fundamental components of life among the ancient Maya. 0:04:01.536,0:04:09.571 But the evolution of the Maya civilization into this complex network of city-states didn't happen overnight. 0:04:09.571,0:04:14.830 "The Maya came into existence probably a couple of thousand years before Christ." 0:04:14.851,0:04:18.611 By 500 BC population was on the rise 0:04:18.611,0:04:25.235 and small communities were turning into the first major Maya sites located throughout Central America. 0:04:25.235,0:04:32.577 Fully organized kingdoms were ruling the region by 250 AD, with mighty rulers at the helm. 0:04:32.612,0:04:35.059 "They had powerful rulers. 0:04:35.059,0:04:40.142 They were in competition with each other, and sometimes this competition led to war." 0:04:40.142,0:04:45.038 For the Maya, it was war led by kings, in the name of the gods. 0:04:45.077,0:04:48.738 "Maya kings were people like us 0:04:48.813,0:04:52.894 but, for the Maya they definitely had attributes of the.supernatural." 0:04:52.894,0:04:59.713 The price of devotion had brutal, and sometimes deadly consequences 0:04:59.713,0:05:02.445 "The people owed a blood debt to the gods. 0:05:02.445,0:05:08.057 It wasn't that they didn't regard human life or human blood highly, quite the contrary. 0:05:08.057,0:05:15.478 Human blood and human life was the most precious, the most sacred thing that could be offered to the gods 0:05:15.478,0:05:20.984 in order to repay the blood-debt that was incurred at creation." 0:05:20.984,0:05:26.019 Blood-letting and human sacrifice dominated the kings' strategic thinking 0:05:26.019,0:05:34.111 They picked allies, and attacked neighbors, all with an eye on appeasing their deities, and staying autonomous. 0:05:34.111,0:05:37.866 "Unlike Rome, in the case of the Maya we're not dealing with one empire, 0:05:37.866,0:05:41.291 instead, we're dealing with a series of rival kingdoms." 0:05:41.291,0:05:46.051 By the third century AD, Maya civilization was flourishing. 0:05:46.051,0:05:50.011 No city ever succeeded in dominating all the others 0:05:50.011,0:05:55.673 but one seat of power was on the rise. Its name was Tikal. 0:05:55.673,0:06:02.744 "Tikal is one of the few cities that goes strong in the pre-classic period, before the time of Christ 0:06:02.822,0:06:07.651 and then it just continues, pretty much unabated, all the way until the end of the classical period. 0:06:07.651,0:06:10.617 This is a city that never really lost it." 0:06:10.651,0:06:16.842 But in the sixth century, a rival power named Calakmul threatened Tikal's success. 0:06:16.842,0:06:21.670 "The Maya had these two, great, dynastic capitals. Calakmul and Tikal. 0:06:21.670,0:06:24.871 Those two cities essentially locked horns. 0:06:24.871,0:06:28.841 It's really Calakmul that seems to engage in this action 0:06:28.841,0:06:36.301 in which the engineer alliances all the way around Tikal, essentially boxing in their enemy." 0:06:36.301,0:06:41.973 It would be up to an ambitious and visionary leader to build a center of military power. 0:06:41.973,0:06:44.804 One that would take on Calakmul. 0:06:44.804,0:06:49.057 HIs name was Yikin Chan Kawil. 0:06:49.102,0:06:52.949 He would construct one of the most iconic structures of the Maya. 0:06:52.949,0:06:56.496 A pyramid that would stand the test of time. 0:06:56.496,0:06:59.684 The Temple of the Giant Jaguar. 0:06:59.684,0:07:02.932 "The most valuable monument was one that took a lot of effort. 0:07:02.932,0:07:09.442 So, a big temple pyramid is an indication of your power, your strength, your prestige. 0:07:09.484,0:07:16.313 It is a way of drawing people into your city because it shows what an awesome powerful ruler you are." 0:07:16.313,0:07:21.981 Building in a semitropical environments with rudimentary materials was a unique challenge 0:07:21.981,0:07:27.371 especially when the goal was to build vertically, using stone age technology 0:07:27.371,0:07:34.741 "Most of the technology that we associate with big stone constructions were unknown to the Maya 0:07:34.805,0:07:37.312 They did not have beasts of burden. 0:07:37.323,0:07:40.664 They didn't have metal tools." 0:07:40.664,0:07:50.404 What the Maya did have was a virtually unlimited supply of malleable limestone, and a great deal of manpower. 0:07:50.404,0:07:58.061 "Your labor was one of the things that you were required to give to the king on an annual basis." 0:07:58.061,0:08:06.207 Blocks of limestone were quarried, and then pushed, pulled, or carried by sheer force to the construction site. 0:08:06.282,0:08:12.944 "They used something that we call the tumpline. this is a rope passed around the forehead. 0:08:12.983,0:08:18.144 And in that they could carry literally, at times, hundreds of pounds of debris." 0:08:18.144,0:08:21.770 Level by level the pyramid was built skyward. 0:08:21.770,0:08:26.854 Wooden scaffolding supported the laborers and the structure as it expanded. 0:08:26.854,0:08:33.341 Skilled masons shaped the limestone with stone tools and wooden mallets. 0:08:33.341,0:08:39.518 Though the interior was filled with unrefined rubble, the exterior was deceivingly manicured. 0:08:39.560,0:08:45.477 Covered in a strong mortar known as Mayan stucco, and painted red. 0:08:45.477,0:08:52.466 "Even though they knew of the wheel, even though they knew of metal, they elected not to make practical use of either of these things 0:08:52.466,0:09:01.692 and I think, in part, it was because in their worldview something was much more valuable if a lot of human labor went into it." 0:09:01.692,0:09:07.028 At nearly 150 feet, The Temple of the Giant Jaguar emerged 0:09:07.028,0:09:10.628 Facing West toward the setting sun. 0:09:10.657,0:09:16.810 The ancient skyscraper would command the attention of all who set foot in Tikal's grand plaza 0:09:16.851,0:09:21.150 As symbol of power and redemption. 0:09:21.150,0:09:26.069 But Yikin Chan Kawil's engineering marvel was just the beginning. 0:09:26.069,0:09:32.434 In 736, Kawil had defeated his ultimate rival, Calakmul. 0:09:32.434,0:09:41.987 Then, in 743 and 744, he attacked and eviscerated two critical Calakmul allies that surrounded Tikal 0:09:41.987,0:09:46.811 El Peru to the west and Naranjo to the East. 0:09:46.811,0:09:52.452 Finally, the suffocating noose that had once strangled Tikal was broken. 0:09:52.452,0:09:59.938 "In celebration of this, he built a series of major expansions to the palace, new pyramids. 0:09:59.938,0:10:02.496 And when we look at Tikal today 0:10:02.496,0:10:06.247 In many cases we're looking at the fruits of that success." 0:10:06.247,0:10:13.861 He may have even launched the construction of the tallest of Tikal's structures, Temple Four. 0:10:13.861,0:10:17.320 Made of 250 thousand cubic yards of stone 0:10:17.320,0:10:23.006 The massive pyramid stretched more than 210 feet, or 22 stories high, 0:10:23.006,0:10:26.570 Nearly as tall as the towers of the Brooklyn Bridge. 0:10:26.570,0:10:34.257 It jutted far above the dense rainforest canopy, with a 180 degree view of the city. 0:10:34.257,0:10:40.238 In the distance, other Maya cities were also ambitiously building toward the sky. 0:10:40.238,0:10:44.359 But at that moment, with King Yakin Chan Kawil at the helm 0:10:44.396,0:10:51.746 Tikal was the unchallenged powerhouse of the Maya civilization. 0:10:51.746,0:10:55.388 But Tikal was not alone. 0:10:55.388,0:10:59.016 Out of sight, about 250 miles to the West 0:10:59.016,0:11:04.319 Another dynasty is forging the construction of a great acropolis. 0:11:04.319,0:11:08.954 There, in the seventh century, a king with a vision would emerge. 0:11:08.954,0:11:17.348 He would turn one of the wettest cities in the world into a Mecca of new world architecture. 0:11:29.417,0:11:34.907 611 AD. On the outskirts of the Maya world, in Southeast Mexico 0:11:34.907,0:11:42.214 A city by the name of Palenque is on the ropes. 0:11:42.418,0:11:48.662 It launches a last-ditched defense against regional powerhouse Calakmul. 0:11:48.701,0:11:55.827 Pelenque's forces are overwhelmed, and the king is killed, with no male heir to the throne. 0:11:55.827,0:12:01.934 Because Maya kings were thought to be divine lords, their lineage is key to survival. 0:12:02.006,0:12:05.479 The end of a dynasty usually spelled disaster. 0:12:05.479,0:12:13.206 Yet, at this critical moment, one of the greatest building campaigns in Maya history was about to begin in Pelenque 0:12:13.206,0:12:21.028 And the king behind it would remain unknown until the middle of the twentieth century. 0:12:21.028,0:12:26.185 "In 1949, some of the questions regarding the mysterious dynasty of Palenque are answered 0:12:26.185,0:12:32.195 When archaeologist Alberto Ruz Lhuillier is excavating this 75 foot high temple now called 0:12:32.195,0:12:36.132 The Temple of Inscriptions. 0:12:36.132,0:12:41.073 Now, I'm in pretty good shape, but those guys had headdresses, and big robes 0:12:41.073,0:12:46.888 Obsidian knives and swords. 0:12:46.888,0:12:50.885 I thought I'm in pretty good shape, for an old guy anyway 0:12:50.906,0:12:53.519 But I don't know how they did it. 0:12:53.519,0:12:56.783 And I don't know how Alberto Ruz Lhullier did it. 0:12:56.783,0:13:01.437 But I still got a lot to go. 0:13:01.437,0:13:07.009 And when he gets up into the sanctuary, he looks around 0:13:07.009,0:13:14.199 And notices on the floor a row of holes covered with stone stoppers 0:13:14.199,0:13:20.822 And he figures out that these holes were made for ropes in order to pull up this slab, Just like a modern trapdoor. 0:13:20.822,0:13:24.134 So he pulls up the slab. This one exactly. 0:13:24.134,0:13:30.813 And he follows a steep staircase filled with dirt and debris. 0:13:30.813,0:13:33.852 He's never seen a Maya pyramid like this before. 0:13:33.852,0:13:39.001 So his men start digging, and digging, and digging 0:13:39.001,0:13:44.094 Into the unknown. 0:13:44.466,0:13:51.666 The wet stairs are very slippery from the moisture, and time, and the rain from the forest 0:13:51.666,0:13:55.229 And he finally finally gets down to a plateau 0:13:55.269,0:13:59.499 And he notices that the whole pathway doubles back and then continues 0:13:59.499,0:14:08.728 And he finds hidden doors, secret passageways, signs that a lot of thought and calculation went into building this structure. 0:14:08.844,0:14:12.937 Finally, after three years, after three long years 0:14:12.937,0:14:18.702 he gets to the bottom of this 80 foot stairway, and there he sees a small corridor 0:14:18.702,0:14:23.217 And in the corridor there's a stone box, and in the box are six skeletons. 0:14:23.255,0:14:28.675 The remains of souls who were sacrificed to protect the person for whom this temple was built, 0:14:28.675,0:14:33.580 But he still doesn't know who that person was, and then he finally sees 0:14:33.652,0:14:35.579 A huge door. 0:14:35.579,0:14:38.662 A massive triangular stone. 0:14:38.710,0:14:45.409 So his men and he open it, and then 0:14:45.409,0:14:48.577 They go in. 0:14:48.850,0:14:56.267 And behind this huge triangular door, is a vaulted crypt about 30 feet long and 23 feet high. 0:14:56.267,0:15:01.692 And inside the crypt is this massive sarcophagus carved from one piece of limestone. 0:15:01.692,0:15:08.046 And on top of this sarcophagus is this magnificent lid with these expertly carved images of a king 0:15:08.046,0:15:12.641 Along this edge, by the way, which is covered by cinnabar, this red stuff. 0:15:12.717,0:15:17.191 It's poison to the touch to keep looters from coming in here and ruining it. 0:15:17.261,0:15:22.239 And by the way, if the ancient Egyptians might have used this we might have had more antiquities coming out of that country today. 0:15:22.312,0:15:24.868 But along this edge is the image of a shield 0:15:24.868,0:15:28.132 and up in the sanctuary is another image of the shield. 0:15:28.204,0:15:32.191 And the ancient Maya word for "shield" is pacal. 0:15:32.191,0:15:38.838 So Alberto Ruz had discovered the tomb of the most important Maya king. 0:15:38.917,0:15:42.848 Pacal the Great." 0:15:42.848,0:15:50.897 Pacal's ascension to the throne in 615 AD came during the most critical time for Palenque. 0:15:50.897,0:16:00.349 With no direct heir, the elders of Palenque turned to an outsider, a royal who lived outside the kingdom, named lady Sak K'uk. 0:16:00.424,0:16:06.478 Now, she returned to Palenque with her adolescent son, Pacal. 0:16:06.549,0:16:12.807 The future of Palenque hung in the balance as the young boy was crowned king by his mother. 0:16:12.807,0:16:16.462 He was just 12 years old. 0:16:16.462,0:16:23.362 "She sort of kept the throne warm for him for over 10 years while he was growing up." 0:16:23.362,0:16:31.141 As the young king grew into adulthood, Pacal had to deify himself to legitimize his rule. 0:16:31.141,0:16:35.577 He declared his mother to be the living embodiment of the first mother 0:16:35.649,0:16:38.835 Who created humans and the gods. 0:16:38.835,0:16:46.514 He then was the son of a goddess, an exalted position that removed any question of his legitimacy. 0:16:46.581,0:16:50.368 "He was almost certainly a charismatic fellow, he had to have been. 0:16:50.412,0:16:54.756 He had no power base. He had to do almost on pure charisma and determination." 0:16:54.796,0:17:00.736 "As a Johnny-come-lately, as someone who needs to prove himself, he's going to be as splashy as possible. 0:17:00.736,0:17:04.787 So he constructs the most gaudy buildings imaginable. 0:17:04.854,0:17:09.075 He is establishing all sorts of new architectural patterns." 0:17:09.075,0:17:13.753 To authenticate his lineage, Pacal set off on a building spree 0:17:13.753,0:17:17.335 to revitalize his battered kingdom. 0:17:17.335,0:17:23.043 One of his first orders of business, the renovation and expansion of the royal palace. 0:17:23.043,0:17:27.638 An impressive structure that sits in the heart of the main plaza. 0:17:27.725,0:17:36.231 More than 70,000 square feet, the palace would become a maze of galleries, chambers, stairways, courtyards, and tunnels 0:17:36.231,0:17:41.007 And was designed to reflect his ideas of grandeur. 0:17:41.007,0:17:50.897 At first, Pacal's architects, like those throughout the Maya world, employed what is called the corbeled vault to support their soaring structures. 0:17:50.983,0:17:55.043 "Now this was a pretty straightforward structure where 0:17:55.043,0:17:59.626 A series, or a line of stones of ever decreasing height are laid on top of each other. 0:17:59.626,0:18:05.730 So it forms, really, a kind of inverted V shape, with a row of capstones along the top." 0:18:05.812,0:18:08.574 But the corbeled vault left something to be desired. 0:18:08.574,0:18:12.541 This basic construction limited interior space and light 0:18:12.541,0:18:18.596 And forced architects to build walls wider than even the space it enclosed. 0:18:18.669,0:18:25.094 Driven by a determined king, Pacal's engineers now looked for solutions to this problem. 0:18:25.094,0:18:29.959 "What the Palenque succeeded in doing was lightening the weight. 0:18:29.959,0:18:35.208 They produced sort of honeycomb structures on the top of these buildings. 0:18:35.208,0:18:39.933 They could make their spans wider, airier, more light could come in" 0:18:39.933,0:18:43.890 These innovations reduced the stress on the load bearing walls 0:18:43.890,0:18:50.429 Creating a more open and inviting feel than the traditional Maya buildings. 0:18:50.498,0:18:55.451 Over 60 years, Pacal's builders became the best in the new world. 0:18:55.451,0:19:02.537 But it wasn't until the end of his rule that Pacal commissioned one of the most complex and imaginative projects 0:19:02.537,0:19:04.715 ever attempted by the Maya. 0:19:04.788,0:19:07.867 The Temple of the Inscriptions. 0:19:07.867,0:19:12.332 "The discovery of The Temple of the Inscriptions changed all our ideas about Maya pyramids. 0:19:12.332,0:19:16.110 They weren't supposed to be mortuary shrines." 0:19:16.110,0:19:24.234 Inside, along a stairway leading down to the tomb, engineers built a psychoduct, or hollow tube. 0:19:24.308,0:19:30.499 "It's a conduit that allows someone on the top of the pyramid to speak into this speaking tube 0:19:30.499,0:19:36.338 and eventually you would be able to, presumably, communicate directly with Pacal in his tomb." 0:19:36.410,0:19:41.853 This 20 ton sarcophagus was built to last an eternity. 0:19:41.853,0:19:48.570 "This actually had a lid which was rolled off to one side, and there was a cavity for his body to be put 0:19:48.570,0:19:54.343 So that when he eventually did die, the door was sealed, and the stairway was blocked." 0:19:54.423,0:19:59.268 His architects and sculptors designed a coffin rich in symbolism. 0:19:59.268,0:20:03.822 Portraying the resurrection of Pacal in the afterworld. 0:20:03.882,0:20:12.137 Royal scribes were ordered to draw a grid to accommodate 640 glyphs that would tell the story of Pacal's reign. 0:20:12.137,0:20:17.788 "Many Maya pyramids don't leave much textual record on them. 0:20:17.788,0:20:21.581 The opposite is the case in the Temple of the Inscriptions. 0:20:21.581,0:20:26.842 Everything about it, from these huge tablets on the summit, to the information inside 0:20:26.905,0:20:33.957 Proclaims that this is the final resting place of the founder of one of the great Maya dynasties." 0:20:34.034,0:20:45.593 In 683, during Pacal's 68th year as king, the 12 year old boy who grew to be one of the great Maya rulers died at the age of 80. 0:20:45.593,0:20:50.257 He was covered in red cinnabar, and adorned in lavish jewlery. 0:20:50.257,0:20:53.998 A jade mask was placed over his face. 0:20:53.998,0:20:57.872 Though the legacy of Pacal the Great would be hard to match 0:20:57.872,0:21:03.436 His son had been waiting on the sidelines for nearly 50 years. 0:21:03.527,0:21:07.547 With the clock ticking, he would launch a series of building projects 0:21:07.547,0:21:14.320 Harnessing the laws of physics, and mother nature. 0:21:27.342,0:21:33.081 684 AD. The mighty king Pacal has engineered Palenque 0:21:33.081,0:21:36.950 To be one of the finest Maya capitals ever known. 0:21:36.950,0:21:45.238 After 68 years on the throne, his body is buried in a tomb that rivals those built for the Egyptian pharaohs. 0:21:45.238,0:21:49.759 Now it is up to his son to build upon his fathers's legacy 0:21:49.759,0:21:53.143 And cement his own reign. 0:21:53.211,0:21:56.675 His name was Kan Bahlam. 0:21:56.758,0:22:01.523 "Pacal was the founder of the dynasty, but his son was a great consolidator. 0:22:01.523,0:22:08.090 He was someone that was going to make sure that that dynasty would continue." 0:22:08.122,0:22:13.913 The 48 year old king immediately threw himself into an ambitious 3 pyramid complex 0:22:13.913,0:22:18.680 That would stand as his own monument for the ages. 0:22:18.752,0:22:22.253 "He designed and constructed the cross group. 0:22:22.253,0:22:29.150 One of the most intricate and beautiful groups of ceremonial temples ever constructed in the Maya world." 0:22:29.150,0:22:34.286 "These are his memorial, and they tower above the palace 0:22:34.286,0:22:41.763 They look down on the works of his father, and in some ways, I think they represent a statement of individuality 0:22:41.763,0:22:48.024 That he himself is going to leave his imprint on the city, just as his father did." 0:22:48.024,0:22:52.266 He ordered his engineers to build three intricate structures. 0:22:52.266,0:23:00.072 The Temple of the Cross, The Temple of the Foliated Cross, and The Temple of the Sun. 0:23:00.151,0:23:03.899 Kan Bahlam's engineers would take a giant leap forward 0:23:03.899,0:23:09.689 Using sophisticated geometric calculations, unsurpassed anywhere in the world 0:23:09.689,0:23:14.741 Based on the Maya's creation of a complete number system. 0:23:14.741,0:23:18.631 "One of the many ways in which the Maya were ahead of their time 0:23:18.631,0:23:22.787 Was in the creation of what we would refer to as 'zero'." 0:23:22.787,0:23:28.355 "With a simple combination of a shell, which represented zero, or completion 0:23:28.355,0:23:35.572 And then a dot, number 1, and then a 5. By just placing them in different positions 0:23:35.572,0:23:41.283 They were able to multiply, you know, and reach incredible numbers." 0:23:41.354,0:23:48.510 "The Greeks and Romans were tremendous engineers, theologians, historians, and so forth 0:23:48.510,0:23:54.011 but were very limited by their mathematical system because they didn't have a zero. 0:23:54.011,0:23:59.984 So you have the irony that they were able to produce great public works, philosophy, and what not 0:23:59.984,0:24:04.633 But, they were really pretty lousy mathematicians compared to the Maya." 0:24:04.633,0:24:08.812 Kan Bahlam's engineers' advanced mathematical observations 0:24:08.812,0:24:14.489 May have included the discovery of proportions like the square roots of rectangles 0:24:14.523,0:24:17.173 And something called the golden mean 0:24:17.173,0:24:22.758 A naturally occurring proportion that can be seen in animals, nature, and even the human body 0:24:22.820,0:24:27.143 As 1 to 1.618. 0:24:27.216,0:24:32.884 "If you measure a person from his head to his belly-button, and then his belly-button to his feet, you get a proportion 0:24:32.884,0:24:35.613 Very close to 1 to 1.618, the golden mean." 0:24:35.688,0:24:40.916 Some scholars believe this proportion has been appearing in structures for thousands of years. 0:24:40.916,0:24:43.914 In places like the pyramids of Giza in Egypt 0:24:43.914,0:24:46.705 And the Parthenon in Greece. 0:24:46.778,0:24:51.008 Davinci's Vitruvian Man is a study of this proportion. 0:24:51.052,0:24:58.277 And some even say he painted the Mona Lisa using this ratio in her features. 0:24:58.277,0:25:01.676 With nothing more than some sticks and a cord 0:25:01.676,0:25:07.694 Kan Bahlam's engineers may have been able to measure the square roots of rectangles. 0:25:07.774,0:25:13.726 In the Temple of the Cross, these shapes would be used to mark the two main piers of the facade 0:25:13.788,0:25:17.469 The width of the medial doorway and the interior walls. 0:25:17.469,0:25:21.495 The golden ratio can be seen in the rear chambers and the base of the structure 0:25:21.568,0:25:27.625 With the side wall as 1, and the back wall as 1.618. 0:25:27.683,0:25:32.481 By using repeated squares and natural proportions in the Temple of the Cross 0:25:32.481,0:25:35.983 A beautifully calculated floor-plan took shape. 0:25:36.070,0:25:42.045 Full of geometry, mythological history, and a king's own legacy. 0:25:42.092,0:25:47.780 But not all engineering in Palenque was done with an eye on the afterlife. 0:25:47.780,0:25:52.581 Palenque's engineers also had to focus on more practical needs. 0:25:52.640,0:25:57.760 "One of the names of Palenque is Lacamha, which means 'place of great waters' 0:25:57.854,0:26:00.663 We have four rivers running through Palenque year-round 0:26:00.734,0:26:05.080 We have dozens of springs. We have water everywhere." 0:26:05.080,0:26:07.796 These riches came with challenges. 0:26:07.796,0:26:10.288 Palenque was surrounded by steep hills 0:26:10.288,0:26:15.171 Natural springs and creeks that carved their way through the base of the site 0:26:15.171,0:26:21.787 Leaving only bits and pieces of flat, water-free land for building. 0:26:21.859,0:26:28.203 "Unlike most Maya cities, the problem facing Palenque wasn't how to store water for the dry season. 0:26:28.279,0:26:31.235 It was how to deal with an overabundance of water. 0:26:31.235,0:26:34.673 As you can see, everything is green here, it rains every day. 0:26:34.673,0:26:41.380 So, to meet this challenge, the city planners devised a unique way of diverting the preexisting streams 0:26:41.380,0:26:46.140 By building subterranean aqueducts that would channel the water underground. 0:26:46.181,0:26:50.545 Thus, saving more land on top for cultivation. 0:26:50.640,0:26:52.858 These tunnels were lined with limestone 0:26:52.858,0:26:57.099 And they were covered with our old friend from Egypt and Greece, the corbeled vault. 0:26:57.140,0:27:01.578 A series of protruding stones, one on top of the other, formed sort of an arch overhead. 0:27:01.622,0:27:08.327 Now these ceilings were so sturdy, they could support the massive weight of Palenque's giant plazas overhead 0:27:08.395,0:27:12.640 So the people were walking along with the water rushing underneath them 0:27:12.640,0:27:19.359 Being diverted away from the city, Just like it is where I live today, in New York City." 0:27:19.359,0:27:21.271 What's even more impressive 0:27:21.347,0:27:28.032 Is that there are signs that Maya engineers may have figured out a way to create water pressure. 0:27:28.032,0:27:34.626 They built water tunnels that ran through the rugged terrain into the city, often directed uphill. 0:27:34.626,0:27:40.039 As they got closer to the main structures, the pipes got incrementally smaller. 0:27:40.108,0:27:42.090 Like Roman fountains 0:27:42.171,0:27:47.171 The water pressure gained momentum as it coursed through increasingly narrower tunnels. 0:27:47.259,0:27:51.555 Eventually allowing for running water throughout Palenque's buildings. 0:27:51.628,0:27:56.911 "We have beautiful systems of sweat baths and swimming pools, and aqueducts. 0:27:56.995,0:28:01.203 In its day, it would have rivaled any of the roman aqueduct systems. 0:28:01.281,0:28:08.473 We don't see this use of water pressure anywhere else. And it doesn't appear again until the Spanish bring the technologies with them." 0:28:08.510,0:28:14.380 Together, Kan Bahlam and his father Pacal ruled Palenque for nearly 100 years. 0:28:14.380,0:28:20.171 Pushing Maya engineering to a level never seen before. 0:28:20.216,0:28:24.805 The future seemed bright for this city on the rise. 0:28:24.873,0:28:28.601 But its years of glory are about to come to a sudden end. 0:28:28.673,0:28:33.660 Something is happening in the Maya world that will cause the classic city-states 0:28:33.660,0:28:36.078 To implode. 0:28:48.813,0:28:54.757 By the eighth century Palenque, Tikal and the other kingdoms of the Maya world 0:28:54.799,0:28:57.158 were expanding across the continent. 0:28:57.158,0:29:06.737 Tall pyramids, unparalleled city planning, and sumptuous royal palaces advertised the glory of the great kings 0:29:06.737,0:29:10.425 Then suddenly, these cities began to unravel 0:29:10.425,0:29:13.592 One after another. 0:29:13.635,0:29:18.394 Royal sculptors stopped carving their monuments with historical information 0:29:18.394,0:29:21.526 And kings halted their construction projects. 0:29:21.526,0:29:27.599 Maya civilization had plunged into darkness. 0:29:28.739,0:29:32.394 "It's not that the entire Maya lowlands is abandoned overnight 0:29:32.394,0:29:39.036 It's that one kingdom falls here, another one 10 years later falls over here, then another one over here." 0:29:39.036,0:29:41.498 "The causes of the Maya collapse 0:29:41.498,0:29:44.228 Remains a great debate among scholars. 0:29:44.228,0:29:48.863 We're really talking about a society that was pushing itself to the limits." 0:29:48.863,0:29:52.373 "There is no one single explanation for this implosion 0:29:52.471,0:29:59.210 but scholars seem to believe that an environmental catastrophe led to a full blown meltdown for the Maya civilization. 0:29:59.210,0:30:06.519 The soil no longer produced crops, thus lack of food and polluted water produced malnutrition and disease. 0:30:06.563,0:30:13.571 The Mayans could no longer count on their kings to intercede with their gods because their great society was in a death spiral 0:30:13.694,0:30:18.880 And their kings, so long counted on for guidance and prosperity, were powerless to stop it. 0:30:18.983,0:30:29.905 So, sadly, but slowly and surely, the people voted with their feet, and the ancient Maya left their beautiful cities forever." 0:30:29.999,0:30:34.404 There were no signs of mass graves. They did not vanish. 0:30:34.477,0:30:37.780 Where did the millions of Mayan go? 0:30:37.780,0:30:40.562 "If you wanted to go where it was happening, you moved North. 0:30:40.562,0:30:42.072 Go north, young man." 0:30:42.072,0:30:47.582 "The cities that die in the south, and that's the only way to describe it is 0:30:47.582,0:30:51.997 They just, go into oblivion, are never really replaced. 0:30:51.997,0:30:55.614 But there are locations all around the Yucatan Peninsula 0:30:55.614,0:31:01.187 Where the cities not only thrived, but they begin to grow explosively." 0:31:01.226,0:31:09.210 This growth was enhanced by an elaborate network of causeways called 'sacbes' or white roads 0:31:09.251,0:31:17.154 "The sacbes weren't just local transport, they were emblems of the great political power of two allied cities 0:31:17.154,0:31:24.407 That had the where-with-all to create this magnificent royal procession-way between their two kingdoms." 0:31:24.407,0:31:27.624 As much as 60 miles long in some places 0:31:27.624,0:31:30.105 They were a marvel of engineering. 0:31:30.105,0:31:34.563 "They would place huge rocks on both sides of the causeway 0:31:34.563,0:31:40.261 And then fill in whatever was in between with cobbles and unfinished rocks and stones. 0:31:40.261,0:31:49.991 And then they cover all the surface with stucco, nice plaster, and then, on it they create this smooth surface." 0:31:49.991,0:31:55.168 In the Yucatan peninsula, the sacbes often charted a course through the rough terrain 0:31:55.168,0:31:58.251 In perfectly straight lines 0:31:58.251,0:32:03.022 "It's not easy to cut a line 60 miles that doesn't deviate even a degree. 0:32:03.022,0:32:06.573 I would really like to know what instruments they used. 0:32:06.573,0:32:08.522 We have no record of it." 0:32:08.522,0:32:14.023 These causeway systems allowed for rebirth, movement, and trade in the North. 0:32:14.097,0:32:19.797 And it is there that the ragged survivors of the southern lowlands hope to find a second chance 0:32:19.797,0:32:23.749 In a Yucatan city called Chichén Itzá. 0:32:23.749,0:32:30.251 "Chichén Itzá came to be the largest, and most powerful city from about 800-1050 or so 0:32:30.251,0:32:33.344 That had a real knack of being a big tent 0:32:33.344,0:32:36.169 So it was a very cosmopolitan place 0:32:36.169,0:32:41.439 And I'm sure it traded handsomely on that reputation." 0:32:41.439,0:32:47.595 One of the buildings unique to the site was El Caracol, an astronomical observatory. 0:32:47.642,0:32:51.203 The Maya were obsessed with both time and the stars 0:32:51.242,0:32:55.279 And spent centuries looking to the sky for answers. 0:32:55.279,0:32:58.199 "The Maya probably had something called a 'noman' 0:32:58.199,0:33:01.305 which is a series of two crossed bars 0:33:01.305,0:33:04.451 And by looking at the intersection of those two bars 0:33:04.451,0:33:08.414 they would be able to focus on something." 0:33:08.414,0:33:14.351 With just basic tools, the Maya were able to track the movement of the stars and planets 0:33:14.351,0:33:16.869 And the passage of time. 0:33:16.869,0:33:22.465 "Like Stonehenge, this was the place where people could make solar and lunar observations." 0:33:22.556,0:33:27.831 The staircase in the front of the building faced 27.5 degrees Northwest 0:33:27.831,0:33:36.800 Out of line with other structures, but in almost perfect alignment with Venus' most northerly position in the sky. 0:33:36.800,0:33:40.759 It was closely aligned with the celestial bodies and occurrences 0:33:40.759,0:33:46.221 Such as the movement of Venus, and the solstices. 0:33:46.221,0:33:51.173 In the higher tower of the building, three openings survive today. 0:33:51.173,0:33:54.558 They are small, narrow, and irregularly placed 0:33:54.558,0:33:58.410 But they align along astronomical sight lines. 0:33:58.410,0:34:06.191 "In the Caracol, we can see in its orientations, and its peculiar displacements, and its odd alignment of buildings 0:34:06.275,0:34:10.847 A focus on what Venus was doing at the time. 0:34:10.890,0:34:15.993 Venus is a kind of variable. An actor up there in the skies. 0:34:15.993,0:34:19.930 Sometimes it moves in this direction, sometimes it moves in that direction. 0:34:19.978,0:34:26.753 The caracol seems to be about looking at Venus when it's come to the end of a certain kind of motion." 0:34:26.753,0:34:33.191 This astute astronomical observation allowed the Maya to build their interlocking calendars 0:34:33.191,0:34:37.722 That were more accurate than any other used in the ancient world. 0:34:37.722,0:34:40.381 "The Maya had two calendars. 0:34:40.431,0:34:48.462 One ritual, and then, you know, the solar calendar that is very very similar to what we use in the western world." 0:34:48.509,0:34:52.951 The Maya measured the solar year to be 365 days. 0:34:52.951,0:35:02.848 Their measurements for the revolution of Venus, and the occurrence of lunar eclipses were equally on target. 0:35:02.848,0:35:10.580 In just 200 years, the Maya had achieved a rebirth in the wake of the catastrophic destruction of their southern cities. 0:35:10.580,0:35:13.888 But now, the North would face an even deadlier enemy. 0:35:13.888,0:35:19.562 One that was capable of annihilating the Maya, while leaving their cities intact. 0:35:31.242,0:35:37.282 In the ninth century, the classic Maya cities suddenly and mysteriously collapsed. 0:35:37.282,0:35:41.013 Ending the era of greatest prosperity and growth. 0:35:41.013,0:35:47.348 Rebirth in the North gave the Maya an opportunity to combine astronomy and engineering 0:35:47.348,0:35:50.939 On an unprecedented scale. 0:35:50.939,0:35:55.546 At Chichén Itzá, signs of continuing obsession with the skies 0:35:55.627,0:36:01.465 Left a permanent mark on Maya architecture. 0:36:01.534,0:36:11.440 The cornerstone of Chichén Itzá was the 98 foot El Castillo, or the castle, built in the ninth or tenth century. 0:36:11.440,0:36:17.388 The 365 steps equal the number of day in the Maya civil calendar. 0:36:17.388,0:36:23.045 52 panels on each side represented the Maya's 52 year cycle. 0:36:23.092,0:36:29.255 Nine terraced levels equaled the 18 month Maya solar calendar. 0:36:29.324,0:36:35.937 And the temple's axis was perfectly aligned so that specific shadows were cast twice a year. 0:36:35.937,0:36:42.405 "For any Maya standing and looking at the northwestern sector of the Castillo 0:36:42.405,0:36:45.134 They would see a balustrade, and then 0:36:45.134,0:36:51.038 A combination of shadows and the sun hitting that part just before sunset 0:36:51.038,0:36:54.032 And then, several triangles form 0:36:54.071,0:37:01.612 And then, at the very bottom of this balustrade you have a nice, carved serpent head. 0:37:01.612,0:37:04.730 A snake coming down from heaven. 0:37:04.772,0:37:08.489 And that is indicating the arrival of the rainy season." 0:37:08.489,0:37:16.103 The Maya saw this phenomenon as a manifestation of the deity Kukulkan. The feathered serpent. 0:37:16.103,0:37:20.577 "The Mayas were able to actually record, you know, the equinox. 0:37:20.577,0:37:24.713 That day in the year where night and day are, you know, last the same. 0:37:24.780,0:37:31.161 Every year, March 21, we see the descent of Kukulkan." 0:37:31.161,0:37:36.354 Surrounding El Castillo, the civic buildings took on a new characteristic 0:37:36.354,0:37:44.994 Spaciousness. With a broad open plaza, temples, marketplaces, a ball court, and colonnades. 0:37:44.994,0:37:50.303 "So the colonnade hold, not only house, you know the feasts and events 0:37:50.376,0:37:53.734 But maybe individuals were brought into the plaza, you know 0:37:53.734,0:37:57.297 The general public was probably invited, depending on the occasion 0:37:57.362,0:38:04.105 To come to the plaza, and witness the arrival of these, you know, traders and merchants." 0:38:04.183,0:38:07.892 Greek or Roman in appearance, these round columns 0:38:07.972,0:38:14.864 Were used as a new type of structural support, and were an architectural first in the Maya world. 0:38:14.937,0:38:19.486 "The benefit of a column is that it allows you to create flat roofs. 0:38:19.561,0:38:23.724 You're not investing all of your energy in creating stone buildings 0:38:23.754,0:38:32.331 that are going to be containing corbel vaults, which may or may not collapse." 0:38:32.331,0:38:35.038 The columns were simple in design. 0:38:35.077,0:38:40.631 Round drums were placed one on top of the other, filled with rubble in between. 0:38:40.631,0:38:43.692 A square section was placed at the top 0:38:43.771,0:38:53.558 And then flat rooftops made of stucco and wood were added to form expansive covered interiors. 0:38:53.558,0:38:59.573 "It involves people more openly in the life of what, of the building and what's happening within it 0:38:59.573,0:39:03.932 Than would have been possible with Maya pyramids of the full classic period. 0:39:04.000,0:39:10.276 Those pyramids are mostly about exclusivity. It's about showing a space, holding it up high 0:39:10.349,0:39:13.724 But allowing very few people to look into it. 0:39:13.800,0:39:17.319 The open column structure's are much more inviting." 0:39:17.319,0:39:20.214 But the welcoming atmosphere didn't last long. 0:39:20.270,0:39:24.396 After more than 200 years of domination over the Yucatan, 0:39:24.396,0:39:28.505 Chichén Itzá suffered a fate similar to its neighbors in the South. 0:39:28.505,0:39:32.328 It mysteriously collapsed. 0:39:32.328,0:39:37.841 When the Spanish arrived on the shores of the Yucatan peninsula in 1517 0:39:37.918,0:39:45.113 Every large cosmopolitan center of the Maya world had been abandoned. 0:39:45.113,0:39:51.591 Even so, a splintered Maya civilization, living in small villages across the countryside 0:39:51.591,0:39:55.525 Put up a sustained fight against the conquistadors. 0:39:55.525,0:39:57.887 "They proved difficult to conquer because 0:39:57.949,0:40:03.206 Rather than taking a king captive, or an emperor, as they did with the Aztec 0:40:03.206,0:40:07.737 They had to conquer one village at a time, and once they'd moved onto the next village 0:40:07.737,0:40:12.426 There'd be one behind them that would then begin to rise and revolt." 0:40:12.426,0:40:16.455 Maya warriors killed conquistadors by the thousands 0:40:16.455,0:40:22.395 But their weapons proved useless against a more potent enemy: disease. 0:40:22.395,0:40:28.446 "Within 100 years, 90% of the population of the new world was gone." 0:40:28.446,0:40:32.078 The Maya who survived faced further persecution. 0:40:32.078,0:40:37.769 Friar Diego de Landa had been sent from Spain to convert the Maya to Christianity 0:40:37.769,0:40:41.885 And he ruthlessly enforced his religious teachings. 0:40:41.885,0:40:47.978 "Diego de Landa was a young idealist who came to the new world trying to save souls 0:40:47.978,0:40:52.799 Trying to win converts to what he referred to as the 'one true faith'. 0:40:52.799,0:40:58.985 But the Maya didn't believe that they should instantly, and forevermore reject all of their own beliefs." 0:40:58.985,0:41:06.437 On July 12, 1562, Landa ordered an 'auto de fe' or burning of the Maya texts 0:41:06.437,0:41:10.549 Believing they were the writing of the devil. 0:41:10.615,0:41:16.531 "This was the end of thousands of years of accumulated knowledge of Maya civilization. 0:41:16.531,0:41:22.166 One of the great tragedies of human history." 0:41:22.166,0:41:25.864 In a lucky twist of fate, four codices survived the inferno 0:41:25.864,0:41:28.809 and wear and tear of time. 0:41:28.809,0:41:32.918 "By the nineteenth century, some of these books that happened to escape 0:41:32.918,0:41:36.034 The clutches of these friars and their destructive urges 0:41:36.034,0:41:39.646 Began to make their way into public attention." 0:41:39.646,0:41:49.093 Today, their survival story is just another mystery in the complex history of the Maya. 0:41:49.093,0:41:56.726 "The fact that they were able to sustain an urban civilization in the rainforest for 1,500 years 0:41:56.726,0:42:00.875 Through all sorts of logistical and other challenges 0:42:00.875,0:42:06.954 Is one that we should admire, and one from which we can stand to learn a great deal." 0:42:06.954,0:42:11.211 Just as the Maya looked from the ground to the sky for guidance 0:42:11.250,0:42:16.227 We are now looking from the sky to the ground for answers. 0:42:16.323,0:42:19.594 In recent years, NASA and the University of New Hampshire 0:42:19.615,0:42:23.179 Have been experimenting with remote sensing technology 0:42:23.179,0:42:28.271 To see if they can determine where undiscovered cities might be hidden. 0:42:28.271,0:42:31.907 Mounds of earth covered in trees that appear on readings 0:42:31.978,0:42:37.783 May actually be ruins of ancient cities that have not been touched for centuries. 0:42:37.783,0:42:44.045 More answers to the Maya mysteries may be right beneath our feet. 0:42:44.045,0:42:46.282 "Maya archaeology is just beginning. 0:42:46.282,0:42:50.918 There are innumerable cities, innumerable temples, innumerable settlements 0:42:50.918,0:42:54.748 That we have not been able to study and excavate. 0:42:54.748,0:42:58.032 I think we are entering a golden age of Maya archaeology 0:42:58.085,0:43:04.628 And I can only see in the next century a time in which this will become one of the best understood civilizations 0:43:04.628,0:43:08.014 Of the ancient world." 0:43:08.053,0:43:12.596 "We now know that the Maya were an innovative and creative and majestic people 0:43:12.596,0:43:14.970 With their own particular taste for violence 0:43:14.970,0:43:17.615 But what is the real allure of the Maya? 0:43:17.646,0:43:21.802 What is the mystique that draws generation after generation the world over 0:43:21.802,0:43:24.855 To this complex and sophisticated civilization? 0:43:24.855,0:43:28.437 Is it the architecture with its serene palaces and temples? 0:43:28.437,0:43:32.598 Or the intricacies of hieroglyphics and art in a complex writing system? 0:43:32.615,0:43:39.306 Or is it the astounding comprehension of astronomy and mathematics, with a concept of zero, unparalleled in antiquity? 0:43:39.374,0:43:43.419 Or is it simply because these remarkable people carved entire cities 0:43:43.493,0:43:51.710 Not just villages and towns, but magnificent cities, right out of some of the most inhospitable landscape in the entire world? 0:43:51.710,0:43:54.448 In the rainforests between Honduras and the Yucatan 0:43:54.448,0:44:00.819 There are literally hundreds and hundreds of Maya sites that are untouched. 0:44:00.819,0:44:05.410 In Palenque alone, there are 1,500 buildings that lie unexcavated. 0:44:05.410,0:44:07.855 Including temples larger than that one. 0:44:07.855,0:44:13.035 And if you consider the archaeological treasures yet to be found in cities like Tikal and Chichen Itza. 0:44:13.035,0:44:15.297 I say, and I'm sure I'm not alone 0:44:15.297,0:44:17.421 That the real allure of the Maya 0:44:17.421,0:44:20.664 The real magic and mystique of this civilization. 0:44:20.699,0:44:26.510 Are the mysteries that still lie buried deep within this jungle."