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[mystical music]

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 [mystical music continues]

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[epic orchestral music]

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 - [Narrator] The scientific
 discovery of fossilized trees

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 dating back more than
 260 million years

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 has shocked the
 scientific community.

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 Together with other
 recently discovered

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 fossilized plant and
 tree discoveries,

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on Antarctica, these
finds suggest something

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 that should not be.

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 That the world's
 coldest, driest continent

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 was once green and forested.

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 Amongst other things,
 scientists have had to come up

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 with an explanation of how
 trees were able to survive

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within a few degrees of latitude
of the south pole itself,

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where it's dark for
six months of the year.

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 But what does all this mean
 for scientific theories

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 about Antarctica?

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 Will they have to be changed?

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An ancient forested Antarctica.

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Over a hundred years ago, Royal
Naval Officer and explorer,

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Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated
expedition to Antarctica

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 discovered fossils of plants
 on the Beardmore Glacier

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 less than 310 miles
 from the South Pole.

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The expedition's chief
scientist, Edward Wilson

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 recorded these remarkable
 findings in his diary,

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 writing that most
 of the bigger leaves

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 were like Beech leaves
 in shape and venation.

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 At the time, these discoveries
 were dismissed by scientists

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 as mistaken or exaggerated.

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 Their significance
 almost completely ignored

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 for over 100 years.

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 However, over the
 last decade or so,

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 a few scientists
 have begun to suspect

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 that Edward Wilson may
 have been onto something.

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Even so, when proof
was finally discovered,

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they were as shocked as anyone.

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 The fact is, that Antarctica
 has not always been

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a forbidden land of ice.

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 Millions of years ago, when
 the continent was still part

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 of the huge Southern
 Hemisphere landmass

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 called Gondwana, forest
 grew near the South Pole.

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From around 400 million
to 14 million years ago,

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 the Southern continent
 was a very different

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 and much greener place
 than Antarctica is today,

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 with a much warmer climate.

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 The warmth came from the
 size of the land mass itself,

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 with Gondwanaland keeping
 away at the cold currents

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that encircle Antarctica today.

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 Professor Jane Francis of
 the University of Leeds

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 in the UK, has spent 10
 field seasons in Antarctica,

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 collecting fossil plants
 and received the Polar Medal

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from the Queen in 2002.

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 She's still in awe at the
 thought of a green Antarctica.

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 "I still find the idea that
 Antarctica was once forested

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 absolutely mind-boggling.

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 We take it for granted
 that Antarctica

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 has always been a
 frozen wilderness,

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 but the ice caps only
 appeared relatively recently

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in geological history."

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 One of the professor's most
 important fossil discoveries

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 was made in the
 Transantarctic mountains,

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were high up on glaciated peaks,

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 she and her team found
 a sedimentary layer

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 packed full of fragile
 leaves and twigs.

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 Analysis showed that these
 fossils were the remains

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 of stunted bushes of beech,

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dating back to mere 3
to 5 million years old.

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Consequently, they were
some of the last plants

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 to have lived on Antarctica
 before the deep freeze set in.

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 But other fossil discoveries
 from the continent revealed

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 the incredible fact that
 truly sub-tropical forests

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 existed on Antarctica
 during much earlier times

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 during the age of dinosaurs.

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According to Dr. Vanessa Bowman,

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 who works with Francis at
 the university of Leeds,

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"Go back 100 million years ago,

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 and Antarctica was
 covered in lush rainforest

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 similar to those that
 exist in New Zealand today.

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 We commonly find
 whole fossilized logs

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 that must have come
 from really big trees.

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 But the strangest and most
 inexplicably characteristic

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 of these polar forests
 was their adaptation

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 to the Antarctic light regime,

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 close to the pole in
 winter, it is always night.

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 While in the summer, the sun
 shines even at midnight."

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 Professor David Beerling
 the University of Sheffield

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 explained the problem
 that these Antarctic trees

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must have faced.

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During prolonged periods
of warm winter darkness,

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trees consume their food store.

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And if this goes
on for too long,

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 they will eventually starve.

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 To understand how
 these Antarctic trees

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 survived against such
 seemingly insurmountable odds,

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Professor Beerling investigated
the types of plants

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 that once grew on Antarctica.

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What we did was grow
seedlings of these trees

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 in blacked-out greenhouses,

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 where we could simulate
 Antarctic light conditions.

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 We also raise temperature
 and CO2 concentration

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 to match ancient
 growing conditions.

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 We found that trees made so
 much food during the summers

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 that this eventually caused
 photosynthesis to slow down.

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 As a result they couldn't
 fully take advantage

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of the long hot summers
for photosynthesis."

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So, Professor Beerling's
experiments demonstrated

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 that trees were able
 to cope extremely well

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 with the highly
 unusual environment.

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 These hardy ancient trees
 were also able to withstand

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 alternating months of
 pure sunlight and darkness

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 before eventually succumbing
 to history's greatest

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mass extinction.

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 The discovery at fossil trees.

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 In 2016, Erik Gulbranson,
 a paleoecologist

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 from the University of
 Wisconsin, Milwaukee,

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and his team discovered
the oldest polar forest

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 on record from the
 southern polar region.

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 Although the forest has not
 yet been precisely dated,

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Gulbranson believes that
it probably flourished

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 about 280 million years ago
 before being swiftly buried

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in volcanic ash,

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 which fortunately preserved
 it down to the cellular level.

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 In Gulbranson's words,

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 "They're actually some
 of the best preserved

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 fossil plants in the world.

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 The fungi in the wood itself
 were probably mineralized

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 and turned into stone
 within a matter of weeks.

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 In some cases probably while
 the tree was still alive,

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 these things happen
 incredibly rapid.

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 You could have witnessed it
 firsthand if you were there."

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 Ancient fossil trees that
 date back 100 million years,

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 can also be found in a small
 part of Alexander island

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on the west coast of
the Antarctic peninsula

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 with logs up to 23 feet
 high still standing upright.

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Incredibly, the roots of
these coniferous trees

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 are still attached
 to the carbonaceous
 soil deposits today.

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 Scientists from Rice
 University in Houston, Texas

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undertook research on fossil ice

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 from the Antarctic peninsula,

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 and were extremely
 surprised to discover

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 that the region was
 covered in tundra

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 up to 12 million years ago.

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 The continent's
 gigantic ice sheets

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 began forming about
 38 million years ago,

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with the Antarctic
peninsula the last area

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 to be covered in ice.

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There has always
been controversy

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 in the scientific
 community about how quickly

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 this glaciation took place.

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 Scientists have now
 determined the exact species

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of plant that existed on
the Antarctic peninsula

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 12 million years ago, and
 concluded from fossil record

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 that there was a long
 gradual process of glaciation

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 over the peninsula.

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In 2018, more new
forests were discovered

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 by researchers from
 the University of
 Wisconsin, Milwaukee

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 on the frozen slopes of the
 Transantarctic mountains.

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 Here, they discovered gray
 rocks containing fossils

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 from Antarctica's
 ancient forested past.

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 The team discovered fossil
 fragments of 13 trees

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 that are well over
 260 million years old,

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 showing that this
 forest flourished

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 at the end of the
 Permian period,

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 before the first dinosaurs
 walked the Earth.

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 Then came the
 Permian extinction.

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Many geologists and
paleoecologists believe

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 that the Permian extinction
 occurred over the course

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 of 15 million years
 during the latter part

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 of the Permian period,

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 299 million years to
 252 million years ago.

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What caused this
great extinction

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 of 90% of the world's
 species at the time

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 is still shrouded in mystery,

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 though we know it was
 triggered by a volcanic event.

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 However, the team from the
 University of Wisconsin

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actually discovered
five new fossil forests

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 that would have
 lived into and beyond

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the Permian extinction interval.

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 These forests may give
 us a vital information

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 about this mysterious
 extinction event,

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 According to Erik Gulbranson,
 these new findings

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 tell us how these organisms
 were reacting or responding

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 to the climatic or
 environmental changes

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 that were taking place
 during the extinction crisis.

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 Having a fossilized record
 of the extinction interval

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 is our only understanding
 of how life on the planet

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 goes through such an event.

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 A rainforest during
 the age of dinosaurs.

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In April 2020, it was
revealed that scientists

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 had discovered the remains
 of temperate rainforests,

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 which flourished in Antarctica
 around 90 million years ago.

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Fossil remnants of this
forest were discovered

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 on the ocean floor
 in the Amundsen sea

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off the coast of
west Antarctica.

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 The significance of the find
 lies largely in its location,

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 as 90 million years ago,
 this west Antarctic forest

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would have been a mere 560
miles from the then South Pole.

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00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:45,532
 Ulrich Salzmann, a
 professor of paleoecology

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 and paleoclimatology at
 the Northumbria University

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 in the UK, commented,

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 "The numerous plant
 remains indicate

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that 93 to 83 million years ago,

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 the coast of west Antarctica
 was swampy landscape

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 in which temperate
 rainforest grew.

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00:12:00,133 --> 00:12:02,238
Similar to the forest
that can still be found,

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00:12:02,273 --> 00:12:04,309
 say, on New Zealand's
 south island.

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00:12:05,655 --> 00:12:08,037
 in order for such a
 landscape of dense vegetation

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00:12:08,072 --> 00:12:10,039
 to have existed in Antarctica,

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00:12:10,074 --> 00:12:11,316
 there would have had
 to have been little

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00:12:11,351 --> 00:12:13,180
or no ice sheet present.

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00:12:13,215 --> 00:12:15,769
 And carbon dioxide levels
 would need to have been higher

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00:12:15,804 --> 00:12:17,150
 than previously thought."

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00:12:18,323 --> 00:12:20,498
And this exactly is what
scientists now believe

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00:12:20,532 --> 00:12:23,294
 was the case 90 million
 years ago on the continent.

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00:12:24,709 --> 00:12:26,849
 Antarctica continues to
 provide the scientific world

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00:12:26,884 --> 00:12:28,989
 with surprises, which
 will surely mean

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00:12:29,024 --> 00:12:31,302
 they have to constantly
 update many of their theories

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00:12:31,336 --> 00:12:33,787
 about its history
 and prehistory.

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00:12:33,822 --> 00:12:35,547
Who knows what other revelations

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00:12:35,582 --> 00:12:38,550
 about this strange
 continent lie in wait.

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00:12:38,585 --> 00:12:41,243
[intense music]

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00:12:43,832 --> 00:12:46,904
 - [Narrator] Scientists have
 uncovered decorated artifacts

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00:12:46,938 --> 00:12:51,322
 dating from between 40,000
 and 75,000 years ago

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00:12:51,356 --> 00:12:54,981
 from Tanzania, and the
 Southern tip of South Africa,

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00:12:55,015 --> 00:12:57,086
 that show that man
 developed the capacity

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00:12:57,121 --> 00:13:01,539
 for symbolic thought long
 before previously believed.

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00:13:01,573 --> 00:13:05,301
The discovery of these artifacts
could present huge problems

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00:13:05,336 --> 00:13:07,959
to conventional thinking
about human history.

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00:13:09,029 --> 00:13:10,513
Elite human decoration.

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00:13:11,894 --> 00:13:13,965
 The earliest kind of
 decoration used by humans

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00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:15,622
 was probably ochre,

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00:13:15,656 --> 00:13:18,659
 which we know was used
 over 200,000 years ago

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00:13:18,694 --> 00:13:21,904
in the Middle Stone Age
and Middle Paleolithic.

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00:13:21,939 --> 00:13:24,182
 The earliest evidence
 of it's use in Africa

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00:13:24,217 --> 00:13:27,703
 dates back 285,000 years.

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00:13:27,737 --> 00:13:30,706
 "Ochre," is an umbrella
 term for a range of earthy,

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00:13:30,740 --> 00:13:35,607
 iron-rich rocks, composed of
 iron oxides or oxyhydroxides

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00:13:35,642 --> 00:13:40,509
 such as shales, sandstones,
 mudstones, and specularite.

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00:13:40,543 --> 00:13:43,236
 In Africa, ochre is
 still used for protection

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00:13:43,270 --> 00:13:46,826
 from the sun and against
 insects, such as mosquitoes.

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00:13:46,860 --> 00:13:49,000
 It has also been
 scientifically proven

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00:13:49,035 --> 00:13:51,796
 to inhibit the effect
 of UV radiation,

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00:13:51,831 --> 00:13:54,557
 and also has many other uses.

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00:13:54,592 --> 00:13:58,458
 Fascinatingly, ochre appears
 in the archeological record

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00:13:58,492 --> 00:14:01,875
 around the same time as
 anatomically-modern humans

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00:14:01,910 --> 00:14:03,463
and became more frequently used

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00:14:03,497 --> 00:14:05,534
 from about a hundred
 thousand years ago

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00:14:05,568 --> 00:14:08,399
at many Middle Stone Age sites.

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00:14:08,433 --> 00:14:11,160
The origins of symbolic thought.

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00:14:11,195 --> 00:14:13,335
 One of the most often
 debated questions

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00:14:13,369 --> 00:14:15,130
 in the study of early man is,

253
00:14:15,164 --> 00:14:19,168
 when did the origins of
 modern human behavior begin?

254
00:14:19,203 --> 00:14:21,481
 When and where did
 our common ancestors

255
00:14:21,515 --> 00:14:25,140
 first begin to behave in
 ways similar to ourselves?

256
00:14:25,174 --> 00:14:27,314
 Although it is well-known
 that homo sapiens

257
00:14:27,349 --> 00:14:31,629
 were anatomically modern by
 200,000 years ago in Africa,

258
00:14:31,663 --> 00:14:32,872
 there's never been evidence

259
00:14:32,906 --> 00:14:35,253
 to support the idea
 that these humans

260
00:14:35,288 --> 00:14:37,842
 could be capable
 of modern behavior.

261
00:14:37,877 --> 00:14:39,809
 But all that changed
 with the discovery

262
00:14:39,844 --> 00:14:43,813
 of the "Blombos Hands" on
 the 24th of April, 2004,

263
00:14:43,848 --> 00:14:47,990
 by a team of scientists led by
 Dr. Christopher Henshilwood,

264
00:14:48,025 --> 00:14:50,337
a South African
archeologist affiliated

265
00:14:50,372 --> 00:14:52,408
 with University of
 Bergen in Norway,

266
00:14:52,443 --> 00:14:55,964
 and the State University
 of New York at Stony Brook.

267
00:14:55,998 --> 00:14:58,483
 The discovery was
 made at Blombos Cave,

268
00:14:58,518 --> 00:15:00,002
on the shore of the Indian Ocean

269
00:15:00,037 --> 00:15:02,694
 200 miles east of Cape Town.

270
00:15:02,729 --> 00:15:05,456
 Archeologists now
 believe, that due to these

271
00:15:05,490 --> 00:15:06,733
 and other findings,

272
00:15:06,767 --> 00:15:09,701
 most ancient symbolic
 traditions in Africa

273
00:15:09,736 --> 00:15:12,912
 date back at least
 100,000 years.

274
00:15:12,946 --> 00:15:15,121
 Years after these
 amazing discoveries,

275
00:15:15,155 --> 00:15:17,986
new discoveries relating
to early homo sapiens'

276
00:15:18,020 --> 00:15:22,852
 cognitive abilities are still
 challenging mainstream views.

277
00:15:22,887 --> 00:15:25,752
 The Blombos Cave discoveries.

278
00:15:25,786 --> 00:15:28,203
 The archeological
 site at Blombos Cave

279
00:15:28,237 --> 00:15:31,758
 contains Middle Stone Age
 archeological deposits,

280
00:15:31,792 --> 00:15:35,348
including hearths, bone,
stone, marine shells,

281
00:15:35,382 --> 00:15:37,419
 and sand in discrete layers

282
00:15:37,453 --> 00:15:42,286
dated to between 100,000
and 72,000 years ago.

283
00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:44,081
This is seen by many researchers

284
00:15:44,115 --> 00:15:45,979
 as probably the most
 important period

285
00:15:46,014 --> 00:15:49,776
 in the early development
 of modern human behavior.

286
00:15:49,810 --> 00:15:52,744
 Published results from
 Blombos Cave indicate

287
00:15:52,779 --> 00:15:55,264
that some aspects of
modern behavior evolved

288
00:15:55,299 --> 00:15:57,680
 during the early
 late Pleistocene,

289
00:15:57,715 --> 00:16:00,960
 after 100,000 years
 ago in Africa.

290
00:16:00,994 --> 00:16:04,584
 Excavations at the cave match
 recent and older findings

291
00:16:04,618 --> 00:16:07,345
from a number of African
Middle Stone Age sites

292
00:16:07,380 --> 00:16:09,727
 that date to this time period,

293
00:16:09,761 --> 00:16:12,764
 The discoveries at the cave
 show that people apparently

294
00:16:12,799 --> 00:16:15,733
 had the intention to make a
 statement about themselves

295
00:16:15,767 --> 00:16:18,908
 with jewelry about
 30,000 years earlier

296
00:16:18,943 --> 00:16:21,808
 than any previously
 identified personal ornaments

297
00:16:21,842 --> 00:16:24,500
 used by our human ancestors.

298
00:16:24,535 --> 00:16:26,951
This was the conclusion
of the archeologists

299
00:16:26,986 --> 00:16:29,367
 who discovered a
 collection of tiny shells

300
00:16:29,402 --> 00:16:32,198
 pierced with holes, as
 if they had been prepared

301
00:16:32,232 --> 00:16:34,994
for stringing as
primitive beads.

302
00:16:35,028 --> 00:16:37,962
 The 41 pea-sized shell
 beads were uncovered

303
00:16:37,997 --> 00:16:40,792
 in groups arranged
 by sizes and shade.

304
00:16:40,827 --> 00:16:43,692
 Each cluster probably
 representing a single piece

305
00:16:43,726 --> 00:16:44,969
 of jewelry.

306
00:16:45,004 --> 00:16:46,384
 According to researchers,

307
00:16:46,419 --> 00:16:48,800
 the strings of bead
 represent the oldest,

308
00:16:48,835 --> 00:16:53,115
 well-dated examples of people
 making and wearing jewelry.

309
00:16:53,150 --> 00:16:55,324
This can be interpreted
as further evidence

310
00:16:55,359 --> 00:16:57,602
 that these people
 possessed a language

311
00:16:57,637 --> 00:17:01,710
capable of sharing the symbolic
meanings of these objects.

312
00:17:01,744 --> 00:17:04,126
Two years before the
discovery of the beads,

313
00:17:04,161 --> 00:17:07,750
 Dr. Henshilwood reported the
 discovery of other evidence

314
00:17:07,785 --> 00:17:11,168
 of possibly complex symbolic
 thinking by the inhabitants

315
00:17:11,202 --> 00:17:14,654
 of Blombos cave, including
 abstract engravings,

316
00:17:14,688 --> 00:17:18,175
and finely worked bone
tools and weapon points.

317
00:17:18,209 --> 00:17:21,074
 The shell beads of Blombos
 cave were from a small

318
00:17:21,109 --> 00:17:23,904
 snail-like mollusk, which
 must have been brought

319
00:17:23,939 --> 00:17:27,080
by the group from rivers
more than 10 miles away.

320
00:17:27,115 --> 00:17:29,496
All the recovered
shells from Blombos Cave

321
00:17:29,531 --> 00:17:33,086
will carefully pierced
around 75,000 years ago

322
00:17:33,121 --> 00:17:37,194
 using a bone tool to create
 a key hole perforation.

323
00:17:37,228 --> 00:17:40,956
 These were then strung and
 worn as a personal ornament.

324
00:17:40,990 --> 00:17:43,786
 Archeologists discovered
 signs of repeated rubbing

325
00:17:43,821 --> 00:17:46,203
 on the beads, assigned
 that they had been rubbed

326
00:17:46,237 --> 00:17:48,791
 against one another
 and against the cord,

327
00:17:48,826 --> 00:17:53,348
 resulting in discrete use-wear
 surfaces on each bead.

328
00:17:53,382 --> 00:17:56,247
 Such patterns of wear are
 not present on the shells

329
00:17:56,282 --> 00:17:58,353
 in their natural environment.

330
00:17:58,387 --> 00:18:01,563
Microscopic residues of
ochre, discovered inside

331
00:18:01,597 --> 00:18:04,531
 some of the beads probably
 resulted from deliberate

332
00:18:04,566 --> 00:18:08,811
coloring by the wearer or
perhaps by transfer, when worn.

333
00:18:09,985 --> 00:18:12,574
 Henshilwood and other
 researchers believe

334
00:18:12,608 --> 00:18:15,749
 that this small, but
 growing record of very early

335
00:18:15,784 --> 00:18:17,855
artistic artifacts from Africa,

336
00:18:17,889 --> 00:18:20,858
a vital evidence that
modern behavioral traits

337
00:18:20,892 --> 00:18:24,344
 such as the use of external
 symbols developed slowly

338
00:18:24,379 --> 00:18:26,795
over a couple of
hundred thousand years,

339
00:18:26,829 --> 00:18:30,488
 not abruptly after our
 ancestors emerged from Africa,

340
00:18:30,523 --> 00:18:33,008
 as some archeologists
 have suggested.

341
00:18:33,042 --> 00:18:35,459
 However, not all
 researchers agreed

342
00:18:35,493 --> 00:18:37,840
 with Dr. Henshilwood's
 interpretation

343
00:18:37,875 --> 00:18:40,636
 that these mysterious
 artifacts were expressions

344
00:18:40,671 --> 00:18:43,398
of a modern type of creativity.

345
00:18:43,432 --> 00:18:45,745
 Indeed, a few of them
 have even questioned

346
00:18:45,779 --> 00:18:48,886
whether the shells were
actually used as beads.

347
00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:51,544
 Archeologist Randall White
 of New York University,

348
00:18:51,578 --> 00:18:54,719
 for example, does not believe
 that humans made the holes

349
00:18:54,754 --> 00:18:58,171
 in the snail shells saying,
 "I'm disturbed by the fact

350
00:18:58,206 --> 00:19:01,001
that there are no tool traces."

351
00:19:01,036 --> 00:19:03,556
Up until the discoveries
in Blombos Cave,

352
00:19:03,590 --> 00:19:05,661
 the earliest African
 personal ornaments

353
00:19:05,696 --> 00:19:08,871
were 13 ostrich eggshell
beads from Kenya,

354
00:19:08,906 --> 00:19:12,289
dated to 40 to 45,000 years ago.

355
00:19:12,323 --> 00:19:14,670
Other slightly more
recent evidence includes

356
00:19:14,705 --> 00:19:18,536
 a 43,000 year old perforated
 teeth from Bulgaria,

357
00:19:18,571 --> 00:19:22,747
 and 41,000 year old
 marine beads from Turkey.

358
00:19:22,782 --> 00:19:24,715
Discoveries in Tanzania.

359
00:19:24,749 --> 00:19:27,890
 In 2000, archeologists
 reported finding

360
00:19:27,925 --> 00:19:31,377
ostrich eggshell beads,
as well as ochre pencils

361
00:19:31,411 --> 00:19:35,001
 and fish bones at a site in
 the Serengeti National Park

362
00:19:35,035 --> 00:19:36,382
 of Tanzania.

363
00:19:36,416 --> 00:19:38,384
 The archeologists
 were not able to date

364
00:19:38,418 --> 00:19:41,870
 the two carved donut-shaped
 pieces of ostrich shell

365
00:19:41,904 --> 00:19:44,976
precisely, but they came
from the same layer,

366
00:19:45,011 --> 00:19:48,187
as tools from the
African Middle Stone Age

367
00:19:48,221 --> 00:19:52,432
 between 280,000 and
 45,000 years ago.

368
00:19:52,467 --> 00:19:54,676
 For some reason, the
 mysterious discovery

369
00:19:54,710 --> 00:19:57,230
was not announced
until four years later,

370
00:19:57,265 --> 00:20:01,407
 in March 2004 at the
 Paleoanthropology Society

371
00:20:01,441 --> 00:20:03,271
 meeting in Montreal.

372
00:20:03,305 --> 00:20:06,205
Despite the uncertainty
over their exact age,

373
00:20:06,239 --> 00:20:08,828
 one of the archeologists
 who discovered the beads,

374
00:20:08,862 --> 00:20:12,349
 Curtis Marean from the
 Institute of Human Origins

375
00:20:12,383 --> 00:20:16,387
 and Department of Anthropology
 at Arizona State University,

376
00:20:16,422 --> 00:20:19,425
 stated that they were
 unambiguous examples

377
00:20:19,459 --> 00:20:21,737
 of symbolic behavior.

378
00:20:21,772 --> 00:20:24,223
 What is modern human behavior?

379
00:20:24,257 --> 00:20:27,398
But why do decorated beads mean
that we may have discovered

380
00:20:27,433 --> 00:20:30,505
the earliest examples of
modern human thinking?

381
00:20:30,539 --> 00:20:34,129
Research has shown that symbols
cannot exist in isolation,

382
00:20:34,163 --> 00:20:37,822
 but generally form a part
 of interlinked systems.

383
00:20:37,857 --> 00:20:41,101
 Modern human behavior is
 usually defined as behavior

384
00:20:41,136 --> 00:20:44,035
 that is caused by socially
 constructed patterns

385
00:20:44,070 --> 00:20:47,936
 of symbolic thinking,
 actions, and communication.

386
00:20:47,970 --> 00:20:50,387
The capacity for
symbolic thought

387
00:20:50,421 --> 00:20:54,253
is not the main defining factor
for modern human behavior,

388
00:20:54,287 --> 00:20:57,739
 but rather it is the use of
 symbolism to organize behavior

389
00:20:57,773 --> 00:20:59,258
that defines us.

390
00:20:59,292 --> 00:21:02,640
 So, early humans were
 first behaviorally modern

391
00:21:02,675 --> 00:21:04,642
 when symbols became
 an inherent part

392
00:21:04,677 --> 00:21:06,472
 of their daily lives.

393
00:21:06,506 --> 00:21:09,198
 In basic terms, this means
 that people were using

394
00:21:09,233 --> 00:21:12,581
 the artifacts that they made
 to organize their social world

395
00:21:12,616 --> 00:21:15,066
in a similar way as we do today.

396
00:21:15,101 --> 00:21:16,689
 Within each group of people,

397
00:21:16,723 --> 00:21:19,208
 such as those at
 the Blombos Caves,

398
00:21:19,243 --> 00:21:22,557
artifacts may have had meanings
that could be understood

399
00:21:22,591 --> 00:21:24,973
 only by members of that group.

400
00:21:25,007 --> 00:21:27,769
 A good example is the
 design of the bead necklace

401
00:21:27,803 --> 00:21:29,322
discovered in the cave,

402
00:21:29,357 --> 00:21:31,497
 which may have carried
 a significant meaning

403
00:21:31,531 --> 00:21:34,810
 that was not understood by
 people outside the group.

404
00:21:34,845 --> 00:21:37,848
 The findings from Blombos
 cave and from Tanzania,

405
00:21:37,882 --> 00:21:40,678
 and the subsequent
 re-analysis and excavation

406
00:21:40,713 --> 00:21:43,923
 of other relevant sites have
 resulted in a clear change

407
00:21:43,957 --> 00:21:46,719
in our understanding of
the timing and location

408
00:21:46,753 --> 00:21:49,825
 of the development of
 modern human behavior.

409
00:21:49,860 --> 00:21:52,207
 Archeologists believe
 that these discoveries

410
00:21:52,241 --> 00:21:55,210
 undoubtedly reflect the
 acquisition of completely

411
00:21:55,244 --> 00:21:59,248
 modern cognitive abilities by
 Southern African populations

412
00:21:59,283 --> 00:22:01,630
 at least 100,000 ago.

413
00:22:01,665 --> 00:22:02,976
 Although scientists are aware

414
00:22:03,011 --> 00:22:05,358
 that these are vastly
 important discoveries

415
00:22:05,393 --> 00:22:07,947
 in terms of early
 man, they still seem

416
00:22:07,981 --> 00:22:11,364
 to be a little reluctant to
 believe very early dates.

417
00:22:11,399 --> 00:22:12,848
Randall White commented,

418
00:22:12,883 --> 00:22:15,713
 "If the dates hold up, we
 now seem to be seeing a trail

419
00:22:15,748 --> 00:22:19,407
 of representational objects
 that is increasingly older

420
00:22:19,441 --> 00:22:23,065
 as we move back from
 Europe into Africa."

421
00:22:23,100 --> 00:22:25,758
[intense music]

422
00:22:27,829 --> 00:22:30,625
 The Dashka Stone is a
 controversial artifact

423
00:22:30,659 --> 00:22:33,490
 that is believed by some,
 to be the guidelines

424
00:22:33,524 --> 00:22:36,320
 used by the architect
 of the world.

425
00:22:36,355 --> 00:22:38,736
 Known as the, "Map
 of the Creator,"

426
00:22:38,771 --> 00:22:41,152
 The stone tablet has
 baffled researchers

427
00:22:41,187 --> 00:22:44,397
 since its discovery in 1999.

428
00:22:44,432 --> 00:22:47,814
 As impossible as it may
 seem, Russian experts believe

429
00:22:47,849 --> 00:22:52,854
 the stone map could be
 120 million years old.

430
00:22:54,027 --> 00:22:55,615
The Dashka slab depicts
not only the environs

431
00:22:55,650 --> 00:22:57,168
 of the Ural mountains,

432
00:22:57,203 --> 00:23:00,137
 but also a series of civil
 engineering projects,

433
00:23:00,171 --> 00:23:04,659
 including 7,457
 miles of channels,

434
00:23:04,693 --> 00:23:06,108
 several dams,

435
00:23:06,143 --> 00:23:09,457
 and hieroglyphic notations
 of unknown origin.

436
00:23:09,491 --> 00:23:11,769
The accuracy and
perspective of the map,

437
00:23:11,804 --> 00:23:14,254
 suggests that it was
 created from an aerial point

438
00:23:14,289 --> 00:23:15,739
of observation.

439
00:23:15,773 --> 00:23:18,673
 The hieroglyphs have not,
 as of this time of writing,

440
00:23:18,707 --> 00:23:21,123
been deciphered, but are
thought to be related

441
00:23:21,158 --> 00:23:24,195
 to an ancient form of Chinese.

442
00:23:24,230 --> 00:23:27,267
Archeologists from the
Bashkir State University

443
00:23:27,302 --> 00:23:30,305
 discovered the Dashka
 Stone in the Ural mountains

444
00:23:30,339 --> 00:23:34,551
 of eastern Russia on
 July the 21st, 1999.

445
00:23:34,585 --> 00:23:36,484
 The discovers were
 immediately struck

446
00:23:36,518 --> 00:23:38,417
 by the size of the tablet.

447
00:23:38,451 --> 00:23:41,972
 It measures 58 inches
 high, 42 inches wide,

448
00:23:42,006 --> 00:23:45,769
 and six inches thick,
 and weighs one ton.

449
00:23:45,803 --> 00:23:47,460
 Upon further examination,

450
00:23:47,495 --> 00:23:49,773
 the researchers were
 even more stunned.

451
00:23:49,807 --> 00:23:52,361
 The tablet appears to
 show a highly accurate

452
00:23:52,396 --> 00:23:55,917
 topographical map
 Bashkiria, a specific area

453
00:23:55,951 --> 00:23:57,436
 of the Ural Mountains,

454
00:23:57,470 --> 00:24:00,231
 at a scale of
 approximately one to 1.1km.

455
00:24:01,957 --> 00:24:05,720
Alexander Chuvyrov, a professor
at Bashkir State University

456
00:24:05,754 --> 00:24:08,481
who led the team, named
the stone "Dashka,"

457
00:24:08,516 --> 00:24:12,278
 in honor of his grandfather
 who was born on that day.

458
00:24:12,312 --> 00:24:15,074
 He said, "At first sight,
 I understood that this

459
00:24:15,108 --> 00:24:17,145
 was not a simple stone piece,

460
00:24:17,179 --> 00:24:19,354
 but a real map, and
 not a single map,

461
00:24:19,388 --> 00:24:23,427
 but a three-dimensional.
 You can see it yourself."

462
00:24:23,462 --> 00:24:26,879
 The "Map of the Creator," is
 comprised of three levels,

463
00:24:26,913 --> 00:24:30,054
 strongly suggesting that it
 did not originate in nature

464
00:24:30,089 --> 00:24:32,401
 but was artificially made.

465
00:24:32,436 --> 00:24:34,611
 The first layer is
 roughly seven inches

466
00:24:34,645 --> 00:24:38,649
 of a cement or ceramic
 compound based on dolomite.

467
00:24:38,684 --> 00:24:43,033
 The second layer is roughly
 1 inch of diopside glass

468
00:24:43,067 --> 00:24:44,931
 enriched with silicon.

469
00:24:44,966 --> 00:24:47,624
The third layer is only
a few millimeters thick

470
00:24:47,658 --> 00:24:50,627
 and is made of a
 calcium-porcelain mixture,

471
00:24:50,661 --> 00:24:53,215
perhaps to give the
tablet added protection,

472
00:24:53,250 --> 00:24:55,563
 or perhaps to create
 a diffused light

473
00:24:55,597 --> 00:24:57,979
to better illuminate the stone.

474
00:24:58,013 --> 00:25:01,465
 "How did we manage to identify
 the place?" said Chuvyrov.

475
00:25:01,500 --> 00:25:05,365
"At first, we could not
imagine the map was so ancient.

476
00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:08,783
 Happily, relief of today's
 Bashkiria has not changed

477
00:25:08,817 --> 00:25:11,130
 so much within
 millions of years.

478
00:25:11,164 --> 00:25:14,443
We could identify Ufa
Height, while Ufa Canyon

479
00:25:14,478 --> 00:25:16,549
is the main point of our proofs,

480
00:25:16,584 --> 00:25:18,931
 because we carried
 out geological studies

481
00:25:18,965 --> 00:25:21,140
 and found its track
 where it must be

482
00:25:21,174 --> 00:25:23,280
 according to the ancient map.

483
00:25:23,314 --> 00:25:25,075
 Displacement of
 the canyon happened

484
00:25:25,109 --> 00:25:28,388
 because of tectonic stabs
 which moved from east.

485
00:25:28,423 --> 00:25:30,598
The group of Russian
and Chinese specialists

486
00:25:30,632 --> 00:25:34,325
 in the field of cartography,
 physics, mathematics,

487
00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:37,639
geology, chemistry, and
old Chinese language

488
00:25:37,674 --> 00:25:40,228
 managed to precisely
 find out that the slab

489
00:25:40,262 --> 00:25:42,886
contains the map of Ural region,

490
00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:44,819
 with the rivers Belya,

491
00:25:44,853 --> 00:25:46,337
Ufimka,

492
00:25:46,372 --> 00:25:47,856
Sutolka.

493
00:25:47,891 --> 00:25:50,756
 You can see Ufa Canyon, the
 break of the Earth's crust,

494
00:25:50,790 --> 00:25:52,896
 stretched out from
 the city of Ufa,

495
00:25:52,930 --> 00:25:55,070
 to the city of Sterlitimak.

496
00:25:55,105 --> 00:25:59,903
 At the moment, Urshak River
 runs over the former canyon."

497
00:25:59,937 --> 00:26:03,320
 The Dashka stone undoubtedly
 points to a Ural civilization

498
00:26:03,354 --> 00:26:05,943
 more advanced than
 previously suspected.

499
00:26:05,978 --> 00:26:09,878
 However, the claims that it
 was made 120 million years ago

500
00:26:09,913 --> 00:26:13,779
by a geographic creator
are mostly likely false.

501
00:26:13,813 --> 00:26:16,126
The Bashkir researchers
derived this date

502
00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:18,335
from a pair of ancient seashells

503
00:26:18,369 --> 00:26:20,682
found locked in the stone slab.

504
00:26:20,717 --> 00:26:25,066
 The first shell could be as
 old as 500 million years old.

505
00:26:25,100 --> 00:26:29,208
 The second shell could be
 as old as 120 million years.

506
00:26:29,242 --> 00:26:31,969
 Why these shells, still
 intact, were incorporated

507
00:26:32,004 --> 00:26:35,248
 into the tablet, or if they
 were purposefully included

508
00:26:35,283 --> 00:26:38,355
 at all, they cannot
 be known for certain.

509
00:26:38,389 --> 00:26:41,738
 Scientists suspect that aside
 from the ancient shells,

510
00:26:41,772 --> 00:26:45,017
 the tablet was made
 approximately 3000 years ago.

511
00:26:45,051 --> 00:26:48,710
 However, it is exceedingly
 difficult to radiocarbon date

512
00:26:48,745 --> 00:26:51,092
 the engravings themselves.

513
00:26:51,126 --> 00:26:53,646
Great attention has
been paid to the variety

514
00:26:53,681 --> 00:26:57,754
 of magnificent megalithic
 structures around the world.

515
00:26:57,788 --> 00:27:00,446
 Yet very little is
 reported on the mysterious

516
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:03,483
 and impressive set of stone
 structures that can be found

517
00:27:03,518 --> 00:27:05,624
in the Ural Mountains of Russia.

518
00:27:05,658 --> 00:27:09,179
 In the Sverdlovsk Oblast
 region, in the middle Urals,

519
00:27:09,213 --> 00:27:11,491
 there can be found
 numerous dolmens.

520
00:27:11,526 --> 00:27:13,666
 According to controversial
 descriptions,

521
00:27:13,701 --> 00:27:17,325
 a dolmen is a type
 of single-chambered
 megalithic tomb.

522
00:27:17,359 --> 00:27:20,224
However, there is really
no evidence to suggest

523
00:27:20,259 --> 00:27:22,917
that they were initially
constructed as tombs.

524
00:27:22,951 --> 00:27:25,678
Rather, it seems that
subsequent civilizations

525
00:27:25,713 --> 00:27:28,439
 chose to use them
 for this purpose.

526
00:27:28,474 --> 00:27:32,167
 Dolmens are usually comprised
 of two or more vertical stones

527
00:27:32,202 --> 00:27:35,308
supporting a flat
horizontal stone on top.

528
00:27:35,343 --> 00:27:38,518
 There can be variations,
 ranging from relatively simple

529
00:27:38,553 --> 00:27:40,037
to very complex.

530
00:27:40,072 --> 00:27:43,178
 The dolmens in the Urals
 are considered to be small

531
00:27:43,213 --> 00:27:44,801
 compared to other dolmens,

532
00:27:44,835 --> 00:27:48,736
 ranging from approximately
 1.5 to 2.5 meters

533
00:27:48,770 --> 00:27:50,427
 in width and length.

534
00:27:50,461 --> 00:27:53,257
 There is some variance in
 the dolmens of the Urals,

535
00:27:53,292 --> 00:27:55,363
 with two distinct styles.

536
00:27:55,397 --> 00:27:58,780
 The stone plate dolmens are
 created with a mound of stones

537
00:27:58,815 --> 00:28:01,058
 that have an attached chamber.

538
00:28:01,093 --> 00:28:03,854
 These usually have a
 square court in front,

539
00:28:03,889 --> 00:28:06,857
 and are sometimes surrounded
 by smaller stones.

540
00:28:06,892 --> 00:28:09,791
The boulder dolmens are
constructed from large boulders

541
00:28:09,826 --> 00:28:11,517
 that form a chamber.

542
00:28:11,551 --> 00:28:14,969
 The chamber is covered by
 one or more flat stones.

543
00:28:15,003 --> 00:28:18,248
There is some variation
in structure of the
boulder dolmens,

544
00:28:18,282 --> 00:28:20,560
 but they all have
 two entrance points.

545
00:28:20,595 --> 00:28:22,286
 A main entrance to the side,

546
00:28:22,321 --> 00:28:24,772
 and a smaller entrance
 between boulders.

547
00:28:25,980 --> 00:28:28,948
The menhirs are the most
typical type of megalith

548
00:28:28,983 --> 00:28:30,467
 found in the Urals.

549
00:28:30,501 --> 00:28:33,194
 A menhir is a single
 vertical stone.

550
00:28:33,228 --> 00:28:37,060
 They can be found singularly,
 as a monolith, or in groups.

551
00:28:37,094 --> 00:28:39,821
The menhirs found in the
Urals include monoliths

552
00:28:39,856 --> 00:28:43,169
and groupings, and tend
to be roughly finished.

553
00:28:43,204 --> 00:28:45,482
All of the monoliths
discovered to this point

554
00:28:45,516 --> 00:28:48,450
 are located near either a
 settlement or a cemetery

555
00:28:48,485 --> 00:28:53,007
 from the Bronze
 Age, 3300 to 600 BC.

556
00:28:53,041 --> 00:28:57,459
 Some of the menhir groups are
 in rows, 13 to 18 meters long.

557
00:28:57,494 --> 00:29:00,635
 A circular shaped structure
 was discovered at the village

558
00:29:00,669 --> 00:29:03,707
 of Akhunovo in Bashkiria.

559
00:29:03,742 --> 00:29:06,503
Eight menhirs are formed
into a circular shape

560
00:29:06,537 --> 00:29:10,024
 that is approximately
 25 meters in diameter.

561
00:29:10,058 --> 00:29:12,647
 While the dolmens and
 menhirs are amazing

562
00:29:12,681 --> 00:29:14,994
 and mysterious
 structures themselves,

563
00:29:15,029 --> 00:29:18,135
 the most amazing find in
 the Urals are the megaliths

564
00:29:18,170 --> 00:29:21,656
of Vera Island in Lake Turgoyak.

565
00:29:21,690 --> 00:29:24,072
Dating to the Eneolithic period,

566
00:29:24,107 --> 00:29:27,455
 these megaliths are referred
 to as "Megalith Number 1,"

567
00:29:27,489 --> 00:29:31,770
 "Megalith Number 2," "Megalith
 Number 3," "Vera Island 9,"

568
00:29:31,804 --> 00:29:33,633
 and "Vera Island 4."

569
00:29:33,668 --> 00:29:36,809
 Megalith Number 1 is the
 largest megalith structure

570
00:29:36,844 --> 00:29:40,433
on the island, standing
at 16 by 9 meters.

571
00:29:40,468 --> 00:29:43,851
 It's cut into the bedrock
 and covered with capstones.

572
00:29:43,885 --> 00:29:47,578
 It is orientated to the west,
 and includes a long entrance,

573
00:29:47,613 --> 00:29:49,580
 a central hall,
 and two chambers,

574
00:29:49,615 --> 00:29:51,203
 with a connecting corridor.

575
00:29:51,237 --> 00:29:54,793
It includes windows and
sculptures of bulls and wolves.

576
00:29:54,827 --> 00:29:57,554
 It is speculated the
 Megalith Number 1

577
00:29:57,588 --> 00:30:00,764
 served as a temple
 at some point.

578
00:30:00,799 --> 00:30:03,871
 Megalith Number 2, pictured
 in the feature image,

579
00:30:03,905 --> 00:30:06,183
 was found carved
 into a rocky slope

580
00:30:06,218 --> 00:30:08,392
 with a mound
 structure covering it.

581
00:30:08,427 --> 00:30:11,602
It is orientated north
and contain two chambers

582
00:30:11,637 --> 00:30:13,812
connected by a corridor.

583
00:30:13,846 --> 00:30:17,160
 Megalith Number 3 is
 created by large boulders

584
00:30:17,194 --> 00:30:20,232
 with a square pit cut
 into the center rock.

585
00:30:20,266 --> 00:30:22,579
 It's closed off by
 vertical stone slabs

586
00:30:22,613 --> 00:30:25,340
 with massive boulders
 as capstones.

587
00:30:25,375 --> 00:30:29,344
 Vera Island 9 is a cultic
 ritual place with two menhirs,

588
00:30:29,379 --> 00:30:32,416
while Vera Island 4 is a
cultic place surrounded

589
00:30:32,451 --> 00:30:36,765
 by vertical stones with a
 small menhir in the center.

590
00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:39,147
 The megaliths of the
 Urals are undoubtedly

591
00:30:39,182 --> 00:30:41,632
 an impressive sight,
 yet strangely,

592
00:30:41,667 --> 00:30:44,463
 virtually nothing is known
 about who created them,

593
00:30:44,497 --> 00:30:45,671
 how they were built,

594
00:30:45,705 --> 00:30:48,812
or what purpose they
were intended to serve.

595
00:30:48,847 --> 00:30:52,091
 The megaliths stretch across
 an immense area of land,

596
00:30:52,126 --> 00:30:56,026
 suggesting that they were not
 all created by a single group.

597
00:30:56,061 --> 00:30:58,926
Megalith Number 1 on
Vera Island is believed

598
00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:00,720
 to have been a
 temple at some point,

599
00:31:00,755 --> 00:31:03,896
however, other megaliths
present no obvious signs

600
00:31:03,931 --> 00:31:07,072
that they were used for
any religious purposes.

601
00:31:07,106 --> 00:31:09,281
 Nevertheless, it is
 possible that the megaliths

602
00:31:09,315 --> 00:31:12,249
 had a common use in
 spite of the variances

603
00:31:12,284 --> 00:31:14,113
 in size and shape.

604
00:31:14,148 --> 00:31:16,495
It is hoped that further
archeological research

605
00:31:16,529 --> 00:31:18,393
 may help to unravel
 the mysteries

606
00:31:18,428 --> 00:31:20,982
of these spectacular structures,

607
00:31:21,017 --> 00:31:23,743
 as well as the civilization
 that created them

608
00:31:23,778 --> 00:31:25,193
 many millennia ago.

609
00:31:26,091 --> 00:31:28,783
[intense music]

610
00:31:31,027 --> 00:31:33,098
 The Pharos lighthouse
 of Alexandria

611
00:31:33,132 --> 00:31:36,066
 was the last of the seven
 wonders of the ancient world

612
00:31:36,101 --> 00:31:37,757
 to remain standing.

613
00:31:37,792 --> 00:31:39,863
 Ancient travelers
 speak of a mirror,

614
00:31:39,898 --> 00:31:42,176
 and sometimes even
 of a huge lens

615
00:31:42,210 --> 00:31:45,627
 designed to increase the range
 and visibility of the light.

616
00:31:45,662 --> 00:31:48,182
 Some think this mirror
 used in the beacon

617
00:31:48,216 --> 00:31:51,219
 could be used as a weapon
 to concentrate the sun

618
00:31:51,254 --> 00:31:54,429
 and set enemy ships
 ablaze as they approached.

619
00:31:54,464 --> 00:31:57,708
Over the last few decades,
remains of the Pharos lighthouse

620
00:31:57,743 --> 00:32:01,160
 have been turning up in the
 harbor of modern Alexandria,

621
00:32:01,195 --> 00:32:03,507
 giving scholars
 fascinating insights

622
00:32:03,542 --> 00:32:06,994
 into its original
 design and appearance.

623
00:32:07,028 --> 00:32:09,134
 Ancient Alexandria.

624
00:32:09,168 --> 00:32:11,067
 In the Fourth Century BC,

625
00:32:11,101 --> 00:32:14,829
 Alexander the Great is said
 to have founded over 70 cities

626
00:32:14,863 --> 00:32:17,556
 during his conquest of the
 Middle East and Persia,

627
00:32:17,590 --> 00:32:19,661
 many of which bear his name,

628
00:32:19,696 --> 00:32:22,526
 One of Alexander's
 objectives in his conquest

629
00:32:22,561 --> 00:32:25,771
 was to spread Greek culture,
 and a vital part of this

630
00:32:25,805 --> 00:32:28,739
 was the establishment
 of Greek-style cities,

631
00:32:28,774 --> 00:32:31,811
 which could operate the
 centers for the dissemination

632
00:32:31,846 --> 00:32:33,917
 of Greek ideas and culture.

633
00:32:33,952 --> 00:32:37,714
 However, Alexander's conquests
 resulted in Hellenistic

634
00:32:37,748 --> 00:32:40,234
 rather than a pure
 Greek culture.

635
00:32:40,268 --> 00:32:42,305
And this is to say a
combination of elements

636
00:32:42,339 --> 00:32:44,755
 of Greek and local cultures.

637
00:32:44,790 --> 00:32:47,034
 Home to the massive
 Pharos lighthouse,

638
00:32:47,068 --> 00:32:49,553
One of the seven wonders
of the ancient world,

639
00:32:49,588 --> 00:32:51,245
 and a great lost library,

640
00:32:51,279 --> 00:32:53,557
 the Mediterranean sea
 port of Alexandria

641
00:32:53,592 --> 00:32:57,837
was founded by Alexander
the Great around 330 BC.

642
00:32:57,872 --> 00:33:00,116
 And like many other
 cities in his empire,

643
00:33:00,150 --> 00:33:01,945
took its name from him.

644
00:33:01,980 --> 00:33:05,742
 After his death in 323
 BC Alexander's empire

645
00:33:05,776 --> 00:33:07,986
 was left in the hands
 of his generals,

646
00:33:08,020 --> 00:33:10,989
 with Ptolemy the First
 Soter taking Egypt

647
00:33:11,023 --> 00:33:15,165
 and making Alexandra
 his capital in 320 BC.

648
00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:18,030
 Formerly a small fishing
 village on the Nile delta,

649
00:33:18,065 --> 00:33:22,000
 Alexandria became the seat of
 the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt

650
00:33:22,034 --> 00:33:25,693
 and developed into
 a great intellectual
 and cultural center,

651
00:33:25,727 --> 00:33:28,903
 perhaps the greatest city
 in the ancient world.

652
00:33:28,937 --> 00:33:32,113
 The city of Alexandria
 founded in the small port town

653
00:33:32,148 --> 00:33:36,290
of Rhacotis, was designed by
Alexander's personal architect,

654
00:33:36,324 --> 00:33:39,258
Dinocrates, and
incorporated the finest

655
00:33:39,293 --> 00:33:41,847
 in Hellenic planning
 and architecture.

656
00:33:41,881 --> 00:33:44,263
 The city was admired,
 a few centuries later

657
00:33:44,298 --> 00:33:47,611
by the Greek geographer
and historian Strabo,

658
00:33:47,646 --> 00:33:51,029
 63 BC to 21 AD, who wrote,

659
00:33:51,063 --> 00:33:54,032
 "The city has magnificent
 public precincts

660
00:33:54,066 --> 00:33:57,173
 and royal palaces, which
 cover a fourth or even third

661
00:33:57,207 --> 00:33:58,933
 of the entire area.

662
00:33:58,967 --> 00:34:00,728
 For just as each
 of the kings would,

663
00:34:00,762 --> 00:34:02,247
from a love of splendor,

664
00:34:02,281 --> 00:34:04,939
 add some ornaments to
 the public monuments,

665
00:34:04,973 --> 00:34:08,149
 so he would provide
 himself at his own expense

666
00:34:08,184 --> 00:34:11,704
 with the residence in addition
 to those already standing.

667
00:34:11,739 --> 00:34:14,983
 The museum also forms
 part of the royal palaces.

668
00:34:15,018 --> 00:34:18,194
It has a covered walk,
an arcade with recesses

669
00:34:18,228 --> 00:34:20,437
 and seats and a large house,

670
00:34:20,472 --> 00:34:23,337
 in which is the dining
 hall of the learned members

671
00:34:23,371 --> 00:34:24,821
 of the museum.

672
00:34:24,855 --> 00:34:27,203
 In the great harbor at
 the entrance on the right,

673
00:34:27,237 --> 00:34:30,137
 there is the island
 and the tower Pharos.

674
00:34:30,171 --> 00:34:31,966
 And on the other
 side of the rocks

675
00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:34,934
 and the promontory Lochias
 with the royal palace.

676
00:34:34,969 --> 00:34:36,764
 As one sails into the harbor,

677
00:34:36,798 --> 00:34:39,836
there are on the left,
the inner royal palaces,

678
00:34:39,870 --> 00:34:41,872
 which are joined
 to those on Lochias

679
00:34:41,907 --> 00:34:45,221
 and have groves and
 many colorful lodges.

680
00:34:45,255 --> 00:34:47,361
 The Pharos lighthouse.

681
00:34:47,395 --> 00:34:49,397
 The lighthouse of
 Alexandria was built

682
00:34:49,432 --> 00:34:53,574
 by Sostratus of Cnidus on the
 edge of the island of Pharos,

683
00:34:53,608 --> 00:34:56,887
 outside the harbors of
 Alexandria during the reigns

684
00:34:56,922 --> 00:34:59,166
of Ptolemy the First and Second.

685
00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:01,927
 It was finished during the
 reign of Ptolemy the Second

686
00:35:01,961 --> 00:35:04,136
in about 280 BC.

687
00:35:04,171 --> 00:35:06,759
With a height of over 330 feet,

688
00:35:06,794 --> 00:35:08,451
 it was so impressive
 that it featured

689
00:35:08,485 --> 00:35:09,693
in the established list

690
00:35:09,728 --> 00:35:12,248
 of the seven wonders
 of the ancient world.

691
00:35:12,282 --> 00:35:15,182
 It was such an architectural
 and technical success

692
00:35:15,216 --> 00:35:17,494
 that it has remained
 the archetypal

693
00:35:17,529 --> 00:35:19,669
 of all lighthouses since.

694
00:35:19,703 --> 00:35:21,774
 For hundreds of years,
 the lighthouse was,

695
00:35:21,809 --> 00:35:23,362
 after the pyramids of Giza,

696
00:35:23,397 --> 00:35:26,814
the tallest manmade
structure in the world.

697
00:35:26,848 --> 00:35:28,574
 According to ancient sources,

698
00:35:28,609 --> 00:35:30,818
 the lighthouse was
 built of limestone,

699
00:35:30,852 --> 00:35:33,131
 described as white
 in some sources,

700
00:35:33,165 --> 00:35:37,135
 in three stages, all of
 which sloped slightly inward,

701
00:35:37,169 --> 00:35:39,896
 the lowest was square,
 the next octagonal,

702
00:35:39,930 --> 00:35:41,898
and the top cylindrical.

703
00:35:41,932 --> 00:35:44,176
 A wide spiral ramp
 led to the top,

704
00:35:44,211 --> 00:35:46,420
 where a fire burned at night.

705
00:35:46,454 --> 00:35:49,112
Some ancient sources
attest to a giant statue

706
00:35:49,147 --> 00:35:53,081
on top of a structure, possibly
representing Zeus Soter,

707
00:35:53,116 --> 00:35:56,188
 or even Alexander
 the Great himself.

708
00:35:56,223 --> 00:35:59,364
First century AD Roman
writer, Pliny the Elder,

709
00:35:59,398 --> 00:36:02,021
describes the origins
of the Pharos lighthouse

710
00:36:02,056 --> 00:36:05,473
as he knew them in his
work, "Natural History."

711
00:36:05,508 --> 00:36:08,614
 "The cost of its
 erection was 800 talents.

712
00:36:08,649 --> 00:36:11,997
 They say, and not to
 emit the Magnanimity

713
00:36:12,031 --> 00:36:14,448
 that was shown by the
 king on this occasion,

714
00:36:14,482 --> 00:36:16,622
 he gave permission
 to the architect

715
00:36:16,657 --> 00:36:19,763
to inscribe his name
upon the edifice itself.

716
00:36:19,798 --> 00:36:23,319
 The object of it is, by the
 light of its fires at night,

717
00:36:23,353 --> 00:36:26,701
 to give warning to ships
 of the neighboring shoals,

718
00:36:26,736 --> 00:36:30,360
 and to point out to them,
 the entrance to the Harbor."

719
00:36:30,395 --> 00:36:32,569
 The Pharos lighthouse
 certainly seemed to produce

720
00:36:32,604 --> 00:36:35,123
 wonderment to many
 of those who saw it.

721
00:36:35,158 --> 00:36:38,644
 Caesar himself admired that
 it was of great height,

722
00:36:38,679 --> 00:36:40,543
 a work of wonderful
 construction,

723
00:36:40,577 --> 00:36:43,097
 which took its name
 from the island.

724
00:36:43,131 --> 00:36:45,064
According to later Arab sources,

725
00:36:45,099 --> 00:36:47,205
there was even a mirror
on the lighthouse,

726
00:36:47,239 --> 00:36:49,068
 probably a polished bronze,

727
00:36:49,103 --> 00:36:51,036
 which was used to
 reflect a flame

728
00:36:51,070 --> 00:36:53,487
 over a greater
 distance out to sea.

729
00:36:53,521 --> 00:36:55,351
 Some writers believed
 that the mirror

730
00:36:55,385 --> 00:36:58,699
 may also have function as
 a reflector of the sun.

731
00:36:58,733 --> 00:37:01,149
Sometimes even directing
it onto enemy ships,

732
00:37:01,184 --> 00:37:03,911
 to blind them as they
 approach the city.

733
00:37:03,945 --> 00:37:06,741
 Another tale said that it was
 possible to use the mirror

734
00:37:06,776 --> 00:37:09,951
 to magnify the image of
 the city of Constantinople,

735
00:37:09,986 --> 00:37:12,747
 more than 1700 miles
 across the sea,

736
00:37:12,782 --> 00:37:14,749
 to observe what was
 happening there.

737
00:37:15,888 --> 00:37:19,685
 On a pilgrimage to
 Mecca in 1182 or 1183,

738
00:37:19,720 --> 00:37:23,275
 an Arab traveler and writer
 traveled through Alexandria,

739
00:37:23,310 --> 00:37:24,621
 where he saw Pharos.

740
00:37:24,656 --> 00:37:27,210
 The structure was obviously
 still in use then,

741
00:37:27,245 --> 00:37:28,660
 and in good repair.

742
00:37:28,694 --> 00:37:31,594
 He described it as,
 "A guide to voyagers,

743
00:37:31,628 --> 00:37:33,285
 for without it,
 they could not find

744
00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:35,356
 the true course to Alexandria.

745
00:37:35,391 --> 00:37:37,979
 It can be seen for
 more than 70 miles

746
00:37:38,014 --> 00:37:40,119
 and is of great antiquity.

747
00:37:40,154 --> 00:37:42,639
It is most strongly
built in all directions

748
00:37:42,674 --> 00:37:45,470
 and competes with
 the skies in height.

749
00:37:45,504 --> 00:37:47,368
 Description of it falls short,

750
00:37:47,403 --> 00:37:49,267
the eyes fail to comprehend it,

751
00:37:49,301 --> 00:37:50,958
 and words are inadequate.

752
00:37:50,992 --> 00:37:53,305
 So vast is the spectacle.

753
00:37:53,340 --> 00:37:55,997
We measured one of the
four sides and found it

754
00:37:56,032 --> 00:38:00,588
 to be more than 50 arms
 lengths, almost 112 feet.

755
00:38:00,623 --> 00:38:04,351
 It is said that in height,
 it is more than 150 qamah,

756
00:38:04,385 --> 00:38:06,698
One qamah is the
height of a man.

757
00:38:06,732 --> 00:38:10,805
 Its interior is awe inspiring
 site in its amplitude,

758
00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:13,946
 with stairways and entrances
 to numerous apartments,

759
00:38:13,981 --> 00:38:17,260
 so that he who penetrates and
 wanders through its passages

760
00:38:17,295 --> 00:38:18,744
 may be lost.

761
00:38:18,779 --> 00:38:22,127
 In short, words fail to
 give a conception of it."

762
00:38:23,059 --> 00:38:24,198
 Over the centuries,

763
00:38:24,232 --> 00:38:26,545
earthquakes badly
damaged the lighthouse.

764
00:38:26,580 --> 00:38:30,308
Though, there are records of
regular repairs and extensions.

765
00:38:30,342 --> 00:38:33,345
 In the 12th century, the
 lighthouse was still standing,

766
00:38:33,380 --> 00:38:36,624
almost 1500 years
after its construction.

767
00:38:36,659 --> 00:38:40,490
But in the 1300's, it was
damaged severely by earthquakes.

768
00:38:40,525 --> 00:38:42,975
 It was still standing in 1349.

769
00:38:43,010 --> 00:38:46,772
 It was an Arab writer, visited
 it in April of that year.

770
00:38:46,807 --> 00:38:49,879
 He noted, "Having gone to
 the lighthouse on my return

771
00:38:49,913 --> 00:38:52,191
 from Marghrib in the year 750,

772
00:38:52,226 --> 00:38:55,298
I observed that it state
of disrepair was such,

773
00:38:55,333 --> 00:38:57,265
 that it was no longer
 possible to enter,

774
00:38:57,300 --> 00:39:00,476
 nor to reach the door
 giving access to it.

775
00:39:00,510 --> 00:39:02,961
It was not until the
end of the 15th century,

776
00:39:02,995 --> 00:39:06,102
 that the lighthouse
 of Alexandria was
 completely dismantled

777
00:39:06,136 --> 00:39:09,381
 and disappears from the
 historical record for good.

778
00:39:09,416 --> 00:39:12,419
 The lighthouse's granite
 foundations were later reused

779
00:39:12,453 --> 00:39:15,560
in the fort constructed
on the site.

780
00:39:15,594 --> 00:39:17,216
 New evidence.

781
00:39:17,251 --> 00:39:20,703
 In 1994, a French-Egyptian
 archeological team

782
00:39:20,737 --> 00:39:24,741
 made some fascinating finds in
 the waters of Pharos island.

783
00:39:24,776 --> 00:39:27,123
 Hundreds of huge stone blocks.

784
00:39:27,157 --> 00:39:29,781
It's believed that some of
these blocks fell into the sea,

785
00:39:29,815 --> 00:39:32,162
 when the lighthouse was
 destroyed by an earthquake

786
00:39:32,197 --> 00:39:33,957
 in the 1300s.

787
00:39:33,992 --> 00:39:36,270
 A number of statues
 were also discovered,

788
00:39:36,304 --> 00:39:38,686
 including a colossal
 statue of a king

789
00:39:38,721 --> 00:39:41,309
dating to the third century BC,

790
00:39:41,344 --> 00:39:44,140
that seemed to represent
Ptolemy the Second.

791
00:39:44,174 --> 00:39:48,455
 In the 1960s, a companion
 statue of a queen as Isis

792
00:39:48,489 --> 00:39:50,457
 was discovered nearby.

793
00:39:50,491 --> 00:39:54,288
 These statues representing the
 deified Ptolemy and his wife,

794
00:39:54,322 --> 00:39:57,187
 who once positioned just
 below the great lighthouse

795
00:39:57,222 --> 00:39:59,776
 facing the entrance
 to the harbor.

796
00:39:59,811 --> 00:40:02,676
 According to Chris Scarre
 of Cambridge University,

797
00:40:02,710 --> 00:40:05,817
 "Their finds confirm that
 one side of the Pharos

798
00:40:05,851 --> 00:40:08,509
collapsed into the sea,
and that much material

799
00:40:08,544 --> 00:40:11,167
 from this amazing structure
 still lie scattered

800
00:40:11,201 --> 00:40:12,686
 on the seabed.

801
00:40:12,720 --> 00:40:15,792
 Only now, can we begin to
 appreciate the true extent

802
00:40:15,827 --> 00:40:18,346
and importance of the remains."

803
00:40:18,381 --> 00:40:20,556
 Excavations carried
 on intermittently

804
00:40:20,590 --> 00:40:22,454
 at the site over the years,

805
00:40:22,489 --> 00:40:26,044
 and by July 2015,
 archeologists had identified

806
00:40:26,078 --> 00:40:31,083
 no less than 2,843 blocks
 from the Pharos lighthouse.

807
00:40:32,257 --> 00:40:33,914
 Investigations are
 ongoing at the site,

808
00:40:33,948 --> 00:40:36,364
And one can only wonder
what fascinating remains

809
00:40:37,918 --> 00:40:40,541
from the great lighthouse
archeologists will turn up next.

810
00:40:40,576 --> 00:40:44,131
 In May 2015, it was revealed
 that Egyptian authorities

811
00:40:44,165 --> 00:40:46,996
 that approved plans for the
 construction of a replica

812
00:40:47,030 --> 00:40:49,619
of the Pharos lighthouse
as close as possible

813
00:40:49,654 --> 00:40:51,897
 to its original location.

814
00:40:51,932 --> 00:40:54,382
 Apparently, this ambitious
 plan came up against

815
00:40:54,417 --> 00:40:56,868
 some resistance, and
 nothing has been heard of it

816
00:40:56,902 --> 00:40:58,490
in the last five years.

817
00:40:58,525 --> 00:41:02,080
So, one can only assume
it has been abandoned.

818
00:41:02,114 --> 00:41:04,738
[intense music]

819
00:41:07,430 --> 00:41:10,157
 New revelations about
 the Maya calendar,

820
00:41:10,191 --> 00:41:11,883
 are frequently
 been headline news

821
00:41:11,917 --> 00:41:13,816
 over the last decade or so,

822
00:41:13,850 --> 00:41:17,026
 especially after the
 predicted disasters of 2012

823
00:41:17,060 --> 00:41:18,510
never happened.

824
00:41:18,545 --> 00:41:22,134
 However, a 2016 documentary
 claimed to have decoded

825
00:41:22,169 --> 00:41:23,653
 the mysteries of the calendar,

826
00:41:23,688 --> 00:41:27,381
 and revealed dire warnings
 about the future of humanity,

827
00:41:27,415 --> 00:41:30,280
 and also claimed to have
 discovered incredible evidence

828
00:41:30,315 --> 00:41:33,456
of extraterrestrial
contacts with the Maya.

829
00:41:33,491 --> 00:41:35,147
 The Maya calendar.

830
00:41:35,182 --> 00:41:38,944
 the Maya were a sophisticated
 Mesoamerican civilization

831
00:41:38,979 --> 00:41:41,844
whose territory included
present day Guatemala,

832
00:41:41,878 --> 00:41:45,848
 Belize, Honduras, El
 Salvador, and the southeastern

833
00:41:45,882 --> 00:41:50,542
 Mexican states of Tabasco,
 Yucatan, and Quintana Roo.

834
00:41:50,577 --> 00:41:54,132
 The six centuries from
 about AD 250 to 900,

835
00:41:54,166 --> 00:41:56,859
 was the classic period
 of Mayan culture,

836
00:41:56,893 --> 00:41:59,378
 when their artistic and
 intellectual achievements

837
00:41:59,413 --> 00:42:02,658
 were the equal of any
 pre-Colombian civilizations

838
00:42:02,692 --> 00:42:04,452
in the Americas.

839
00:42:04,487 --> 00:42:06,524
The Maya were the first
people of the Americas

840
00:42:06,558 --> 00:42:08,560
 to keep historical records.

841
00:42:08,595 --> 00:42:12,081
Most of which had on
stele, stone monuments,

842
00:42:12,115 --> 00:42:15,809
 and contain records of civil
 events in Mayan calendric

843
00:42:15,843 --> 00:42:17,811
 and astronomical knowledge.

844
00:42:17,845 --> 00:42:19,882
 Perhaps the supreme
 example of the Maya's

845
00:42:19,916 --> 00:42:22,850
cultural accomplishments
is that extraordinary

846
00:42:22,885 --> 00:42:24,783
 intricate calendar system,

847
00:42:24,818 --> 00:42:28,546
 which had a major influence
 on the later Aztec calendar.

848
00:42:28,580 --> 00:42:30,996
 The calendar became
 ominously significant

849
00:42:31,031 --> 00:42:32,826
 in the early 21st century,

850
00:42:32,860 --> 00:42:35,553
 as according to one
 reading of it states,

851
00:42:35,587 --> 00:42:39,729
 on the winter solstice around
 the 21st of December, 2012,

852
00:42:39,764 --> 00:42:42,387
there were supposed to
be a catastrophic flood

853
00:42:42,421 --> 00:42:45,252
 in which the world
 would be destroyed.

854
00:42:45,286 --> 00:42:48,600
 The incredible complexity of
 the Maya calendrical systems

855
00:42:48,635 --> 00:42:50,775
 can perhaps be
 explained in part,

856
00:42:50,809 --> 00:42:53,605
 by a need for power
 and influence.

857
00:42:53,640 --> 00:42:55,883
 Decisions about dates
 for sacred events,

858
00:42:55,918 --> 00:42:58,472
and the agricultural
cycle were in the hands

859
00:42:58,506 --> 00:43:01,579
of the Maya priests ,who
decided by consulting

860
00:43:01,613 --> 00:43:03,719
 the calendars when
 the time is right

861
00:43:03,753 --> 00:43:06,204
 to perform certain tasks.

862
00:43:06,238 --> 00:43:08,655
 The priests' abilities
 to decipher meaning

863
00:43:08,689 --> 00:43:11,485
 from the calendars in
 terms of, for example,

864
00:43:11,519 --> 00:43:14,592
 when to sow and reap, or
 which were favorable days

865
00:43:14,626 --> 00:43:18,112
for marriage or war, meant
that they were able to exercise

866
00:43:18,147 --> 00:43:21,391
 an immense amount of
 control over the population.

867
00:43:21,426 --> 00:43:23,393
 As the average citizen
 was not required

868
00:43:23,428 --> 00:43:25,982
 to comprehend this
 complex calendar,

869
00:43:26,017 --> 00:43:28,295
 the priests basically
 had a free rein

870
00:43:28,329 --> 00:43:31,229
 to make the system as
 intricate as suited them.

871
00:43:32,264 --> 00:43:34,888
 The end of the world in 2012?

872
00:43:34,922 --> 00:43:37,753
 The winter solstice
 of December AD, 2012

873
00:43:37,787 --> 00:43:40,687
in the Mayan Long
Count, signified the end

874
00:43:40,721 --> 00:43:45,070
of the 13th Baktun cycle
that begun in 3114 BC.

875
00:43:46,589 --> 00:43:49,109
 the conclusion of the Mayan
 calendar on this date,

876
00:43:49,143 --> 00:43:52,215
 alarmed many people who
 believe that this signified

877
00:43:52,250 --> 00:43:54,597
the violent destruction
of the world.

878
00:43:54,632 --> 00:43:57,255
 But did the Maya actually
 predict such a cataclysm

879
00:43:57,289 --> 00:43:58,912
 with that calendar?

880
00:43:58,946 --> 00:44:01,846
 One of the most important
 of the beliefs of the Maya,

881
00:44:01,880 --> 00:44:04,952
 was the idea of a
 cyclical universe,

882
00:44:04,987 --> 00:44:07,437
 where the earth goes
 through recurring creations

883
00:44:07,472 --> 00:44:08,887
 and destructions.

884
00:44:08,922 --> 00:44:11,683
 In the Book of Counsel, the
 sacred book of the Maya,

885
00:44:11,718 --> 00:44:14,168
 probably written in
 the late 16th century,

886
00:44:14,203 --> 00:44:15,963
 but dating back much earlier,

887
00:44:15,998 --> 00:44:18,069
 descriptions of
 successive creations

888
00:44:18,103 --> 00:44:20,416
 and destructive
 floods are prominent.

889
00:44:20,450 --> 00:44:23,730
 There are also
 descriptions of the 3114 BC

890
00:44:23,764 --> 00:44:26,698
 creation on various
 Mayan monuments,

891
00:44:26,733 --> 00:44:30,322
 such as the monolith
 known as "Stele C,"

892
00:44:30,357 --> 00:44:32,014
at a city in Guatemala.

893
00:44:33,118 --> 00:44:35,258
 Such text also
 described creation,

894
00:44:35,293 --> 00:44:38,020
 including the organization
 of the gods for example,

895
00:44:38,054 --> 00:44:41,195
 and not destruction, and also
 relate to mythical events

896
00:44:41,230 --> 00:44:45,613
 much further back in
 time than 3114 BC.

897
00:44:45,648 --> 00:44:47,857
 The Maya calendar's
 also determined dates

898
00:44:47,892 --> 00:44:49,341
 far into the future,

899
00:44:49,376 --> 00:44:51,067
 such as the royal anniversary,

900
00:44:51,102 --> 00:44:55,658
 which will occur
 in October of 4772,

901
00:44:55,693 --> 00:44:57,591
 hardly something that
 they would have done

902
00:44:57,625 --> 00:45:00,145
 if the world had
 already ended by then.

903
00:45:00,180 --> 00:45:02,941
What the Maya calendar indicates
for the winter solstice

904
00:45:02,976 --> 00:45:06,531
 of 2012 should have been
 interpreted as the conclusion

905
00:45:06,565 --> 00:45:09,327
 of an old, and the
 beginning of a new cycle,

906
00:45:09,361 --> 00:45:11,432
 rather than the
 end of the world.

907
00:45:11,467 --> 00:45:14,539
 The ancient Maya calendar
 cycle still survives today

908
00:45:14,573 --> 00:45:17,749
 in southern Mexico and
 the Guatemalan Highlands,

909
00:45:17,784 --> 00:45:20,062
where it is looked after
by calendar priests

910
00:45:20,096 --> 00:45:22,271
 or day keepers
 who still maintain

911
00:45:22,305 --> 00:45:25,861
 the 260-day sacred
 count for divination

912
00:45:25,895 --> 00:45:28,001
 and other ritual activities.

913
00:45:28,967 --> 00:45:30,797
Recent research.

914
00:45:30,831 --> 00:45:34,248
 In 2016, further research
 into Maya calendar

915
00:45:34,283 --> 00:45:37,286
reveal that the ancient
culture may have been much more

916
00:45:37,320 --> 00:45:40,703
aware of nature than
experts first believed.

917
00:45:40,738 --> 00:45:44,742
Abuelo Lolmay, an expert
on Mayan spirituality,

918
00:45:44,776 --> 00:45:47,296
 explained why the
 calendar was so important

919
00:45:47,330 --> 00:45:50,195
 and integral to
 his predecessors.

920
00:45:50,230 --> 00:45:52,888
 "The sacred calendar
 is the most important,

921
00:45:52,922 --> 00:45:56,512
 because it's the one that
 governs the life of humanity.

922
00:45:56,546 --> 00:45:59,618
 Not only individuals, but
 also plants and animals

923
00:45:59,653 --> 00:46:01,137
 and all of nature.

924
00:46:01,172 --> 00:46:04,762
 The days of the sacred
 calendar are 260 days,

925
00:46:04,796 --> 00:46:07,005
 combined with 13 numbers.

926
00:46:07,040 --> 00:46:11,354
After reaching 13, it begins
with one to 13 again and so on,

927
00:46:11,389 --> 00:46:14,392
 until completing
 the cycle of 260.

928
00:46:14,426 --> 00:46:16,463
 The same year, a
 controversial film

929
00:46:16,497 --> 00:46:19,190
made by investigative
journalist and filmmaker

930
00:46:19,224 --> 00:46:22,365
 Elizabeth Thieriot,
 called, "Mayan Revelations:

931
00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:24,920
 Decoding Baqtun" was released.

932
00:46:24,954 --> 00:46:27,163
 The film, which
 was shot in 2012,

933
00:46:27,198 --> 00:46:29,683
 features previously
 unseen Mayan artifacts

934
00:46:29,717 --> 00:46:34,688
 from the sites of Tikal
 and Quiriguá in Guatemala.

935
00:46:34,722 --> 00:46:36,794
 The film claimed to be
 a guide to the secret

936
00:46:36,828 --> 00:46:40,038
 of how to live a fulfilled
 life through spirituality,

937
00:46:40,073 --> 00:46:42,178
 following the Mayan example.

938
00:46:42,213 --> 00:46:44,629
But one of the most
controversial parts of the film

939
00:46:44,663 --> 00:46:47,287
is a contention that,
although Mayan writings

940
00:46:47,321 --> 00:46:49,254
 did not predict the
 end of the world

941
00:46:49,289 --> 00:46:51,843
 when the calendar
 cycle ended in 2012,

942
00:46:51,878 --> 00:46:53,776
 it does predict
 that three-quarters

943
00:46:53,811 --> 00:46:56,192
 of the Earth's population
 will be wiped out

944
00:46:56,227 --> 00:46:59,333
 in the ensuing 15 to 20 years.

945
00:46:59,368 --> 00:47:02,060
 The film also revealed
 for the first time,

946
00:47:02,095 --> 00:47:04,718
that there is a chamber
inside the Mayan pyramid

947
00:47:04,752 --> 00:47:06,824
 at Calakmul, which
 has been dubbed,

948
00:47:06,858 --> 00:47:11,069
"The Temple of the Mayan
extraterrestrial inscriptions."

949
00:47:11,104 --> 00:47:13,692
 The producer of the
 film, Raul Julia-Levy,

950
00:47:13,727 --> 00:47:16,730
 said about extraterrestrial
 connections with the Maya,

951
00:47:16,764 --> 00:47:19,215
"According to the Mayan
council, archeologists

952
00:47:19,250 --> 00:47:22,287
 have been lying to the world
 and covering things up.

953
00:47:22,322 --> 00:47:24,980
They don't know how to
read the Mayan codices,

954
00:47:25,014 --> 00:47:27,983
and they don't know what
the Mayan council knows.

955
00:47:28,017 --> 00:47:31,434
 This planet is not designed
 for 7 billion people.

956
00:47:31,469 --> 00:47:33,505
 These sacred books
 would encourage humans

957
00:47:33,540 --> 00:47:35,991
to explore and
colonize other planets,

958
00:47:36,025 --> 00:47:37,924
 just like the Mayans did.

959
00:47:37,958 --> 00:47:40,996
 Mexico will release
 codices, artifacts,

960
00:47:41,030 --> 00:47:43,239
and significant
documents with evidence

961
00:47:43,274 --> 00:47:46,104
 of Mayan and
 extraterrestrial contact,

962
00:47:46,139 --> 00:47:48,693
 and all of their information
 will be corroborated

963
00:47:48,727 --> 00:47:50,281
 by archeologists.

964
00:47:50,315 --> 00:47:52,973
 I was told by the
 officials that the Mayans

965
00:47:53,008 --> 00:47:56,563
 and the extraterrestrials
 had a history of exchange.

966
00:47:56,597 --> 00:47:59,911
 This is as official
 as it can get."

967
00:47:59,946 --> 00:48:03,984
 In 2011, Julia-Levy made a
 black and white photo public,

968
00:48:04,019 --> 00:48:08,471
which he said was taken in
Southern Guatemala in the 1930s,

969
00:48:08,506 --> 00:48:11,405
 showing a sculpted
 had over 50 feet high,

970
00:48:11,440 --> 00:48:13,062
 carved in the jungle.

971
00:48:13,097 --> 00:48:16,721
 According to a letter by
 archeologist Hector E. Mejia,

972
00:48:16,755 --> 00:48:19,793
 the monument astonishingly
 dates back to between

973
00:48:19,827 --> 00:48:23,935
 3500 and 5,000 BC, and
 is apparently evidence

974
00:48:23,970 --> 00:48:25,868
 of a superior civilization,

975
00:48:25,903 --> 00:48:28,733
 unlike any known to
 have lived on Earth.

976
00:48:28,767 --> 00:48:31,632
 Julia-Levy claimed there
 were government conspiracy

977
00:48:31,667 --> 00:48:35,188
surrounding the photo
and the head it depicts.

978
00:48:35,222 --> 00:48:38,570
 Apparently after the photo
 was taken in the late 1930s,

979
00:48:38,605 --> 00:48:41,194
 it was only published
 once in a magazine,

980
00:48:41,228 --> 00:48:43,817
and then was immediately
removed from circulation

981
00:48:43,851 --> 00:48:45,957
 by order of the
 government of England.

982
00:48:45,992 --> 00:48:47,959
 He also said that the
 head had been removed

983
00:48:47,994 --> 00:48:51,066
 from the Guatemalan jungle
 and taken to the United States

984
00:48:51,100 --> 00:48:53,068
 to a secret location.

985
00:48:53,102 --> 00:48:55,484
This controversial
photo was also included

986
00:48:55,518 --> 00:48:57,624
 in Elizabeth's film.

987
00:48:57,658 --> 00:49:01,662
However, in 2012, Hector
E. Mejia publicly stated

988
00:49:01,697 --> 00:49:03,837
 that what he had
 written to Julia-Levy

989
00:49:03,871 --> 00:49:05,770
 had been completely misquoted.

990
00:49:05,804 --> 00:49:08,738
 And he believed that the
 head in the photo was a fake.

991
00:49:08,773 --> 00:49:10,188
 He even found
 evidence that it was,

992
00:49:10,223 --> 00:49:13,605
 in fact, a modern carving
 made shortly before the photo

993
00:49:13,640 --> 00:49:15,711
was taken in the 1930s.

994
00:49:16,643 --> 00:49:18,438
 Latest discoveries.

995
00:49:18,472 --> 00:49:20,992
In May, 2012,
newspapers ran the story

996
00:49:21,027 --> 00:49:23,477
 of the discovery of
 that archeologists

997
00:49:23,512 --> 00:49:25,583
 believed to be the
 oldest known version

998
00:49:25,617 --> 00:49:27,343
 of the Mayan calendar.

999
00:49:27,378 --> 00:49:29,794
 The incredible find was
 made at the large Maya site

1000
00:49:29,828 --> 00:49:32,555
of Xultun in Guatemala.

1001
00:49:32,590 --> 00:49:35,248
Archeologists discovered
astronomical tables

1002
00:49:35,282 --> 00:49:38,009
 dating back to the
 ninth century BC,

1003
00:49:38,044 --> 00:49:41,254
 painted and carved on the
 wall of a residential building

1004
00:49:41,288 --> 00:49:44,740
 charting planetary movements,
 moon and star patterns,

1005
00:49:44,774 --> 00:49:47,881
 and predictions for the
 positions of celestial bodies

1006
00:49:47,915 --> 00:49:50,780
 thousands of years in
 the past or future.

1007
00:49:50,815 --> 00:49:53,645
 These tablets, which predate
 the oldest known finds

1008
00:49:53,680 --> 00:49:58,512
 by at least 500 years, span
 a period of over 7,000 years,

1009
00:49:58,547 --> 00:50:01,412
 stretching far beyond
 the present age.

1010
00:50:01,446 --> 00:50:04,346
 Some researchers believe the
 newly discovered depictions

1011
00:50:04,380 --> 00:50:07,176
of the Maya calendar
depicts the relationship

1012
00:50:07,211 --> 00:50:09,040
 of the lunar cycle to Jupiter,

1013
00:50:09,075 --> 00:50:11,284
 which would be
 fascinating if true.

1014
00:50:11,318 --> 00:50:14,563
The co-author of the study
describing the incredible finds

1015
00:50:14,597 --> 00:50:18,498
 was Anthony Aveni, a professor
 of astronomy, anthropology,

1016
00:50:18,532 --> 00:50:21,225
 and Native American
 studies at Colgate.

1017
00:50:21,259 --> 00:50:24,021
 Aveni said, "We're currently
 expanding the study

1018
00:50:24,055 --> 00:50:26,368
 of the possible
 astronomical implications

1019
00:50:26,402 --> 00:50:28,128
 of these Xultun inscriptions,

1020
00:50:28,163 --> 00:50:31,752
and I think it's entirely
possible that the Jovian period

1021
00:50:31,787 --> 00:50:33,651
 might've been involved
 as one of the periods

1022
00:50:33,685 --> 00:50:35,273
 of commensuration.

1023
00:50:35,308 --> 00:50:37,931
There isn't much more
we can say at this time,

1024
00:50:37,965 --> 00:50:40,416
 as there are no other
 inscriptions at Xultun

1025
00:50:40,451 --> 00:50:44,420
 that might relate to Jupiter,
 at least as far as we know."

1026
00:50:44,455 --> 00:50:46,526
 Aveni added that it
 was no great surprise

1027
00:50:46,560 --> 00:50:48,907
 that the Maya were keeping
 astronomical records

1028
00:50:48,942 --> 00:50:51,600
 so early, the evidence
 of those records

1029
00:50:51,634 --> 00:50:54,154
 simply did not
 survive colonization,

1030
00:50:54,189 --> 00:50:57,606
or centuries of exposure
in a tropical climate.

1031
00:50:57,640 --> 00:51:00,264
 But some of the paintings
 at Xultun did survive,

1032
00:51:00,298 --> 00:51:02,645
 escaping destruction
 from weathering,

1033
00:51:02,680 --> 00:51:04,268
 and even more surprisingly,

1034
00:51:04,302 --> 00:51:06,580
 avoiding the
 attentions of looters.

1035
00:51:07,581 --> 00:51:10,205
[intense music]

1036
00:51:12,724 --> 00:51:16,107
 Divers working on a submarine
 project in Macdonald lake

1037
00:51:16,142 --> 00:51:18,868
 in the Halliburton forest
 and wildlife reserve,

1038
00:51:18,903 --> 00:51:21,802
Ontario, Canada,
discovered a submerged,

1039
00:51:21,837 --> 00:51:23,770
man-made ancient
stone structure,

1040
00:51:23,804 --> 00:51:28,326
 possibly 5,000 to
 10,000 years old.

1041
00:51:28,361 --> 00:51:30,639
 For some, this is
 irrefutable evidence

1042
00:51:30,673 --> 00:51:33,676
 of a long lost civilization
 that inhabited the region

1043
00:51:33,711 --> 00:51:35,954
before the last ice age.

1044
00:51:35,989 --> 00:51:38,509
 One or two researchers
 have linked the discovery

1045
00:51:38,543 --> 00:51:43,203
 to Canada's Stonehenge, a huge
 5,000 year old stone wheel

1046
00:51:43,238 --> 00:51:45,516
 discovered south of Alberta.

1047
00:51:45,550 --> 00:51:47,138
 Who were the people
 who constructed

1048
00:51:47,173 --> 00:51:50,659
 these mysterious monuments,
 and what do they represent?

1049
00:51:52,143 --> 00:51:54,870
 The Halliburton Forest and
 Wildlife Reserve Limited,

1050
00:51:54,904 --> 00:51:56,458
 is a privately-owned forest,

1051
00:51:56,492 --> 00:52:00,462
 comprising 120 square miles
 in Halliburton County,

1052
00:52:00,496 --> 00:52:02,326
Ontario, Canada.

1053
00:52:02,360 --> 00:52:06,778
The owner-manager of the 25,000
hectare Halliburton forest

1054
00:52:06,813 --> 00:52:09,885
 is Dr. Peter Schleifenbaum,
 who inherited it

1055
00:52:09,919 --> 00:52:11,369
from his father.

1056
00:52:11,404 --> 00:52:13,992
 Recently, various
 sources on the net

1057
00:52:14,027 --> 00:52:17,651
 carried a story about
 a submarine survey
 of Macdonald lake,

1058
00:52:17,686 --> 00:52:20,792
 a popular tourist attraction,
 which apparently took place

1059
00:52:20,827 --> 00:52:22,518
in 2008.

1060
00:52:22,553 --> 00:52:25,142
 According to the story
 during the survey,

1061
00:52:25,176 --> 00:52:28,110
divers encountered an
ancient stone structure,

1062
00:52:28,145 --> 00:52:30,388
which was thought to be
proof of the presence

1063
00:52:30,423 --> 00:52:33,357
of a mysterious ancient
culture in the area,

1064
00:52:33,391 --> 00:52:36,567
 life from central
 Ontario ancestors.

1065
00:52:36,601 --> 00:52:39,915
 Staff at the Halliburton
 forest and wildlife reserve

1066
00:52:39,949 --> 00:52:42,642
would often see this
unusual stone structure

1067
00:52:42,676 --> 00:52:45,127
 balanced on the
 top of a rock ledge

1068
00:52:45,162 --> 00:52:48,648
 at a depth about 40 feet
 below the present lake level,

1069
00:52:48,682 --> 00:52:50,443
 whilst in the tour submarine,

1070
00:52:50,477 --> 00:52:53,998
 which was in existence for
 a few years at the site.

1071
00:52:54,032 --> 00:52:57,484
 The structure consists of
 a 1000-pound elongated,

1072
00:52:57,519 --> 00:53:01,247
 south-pointing rock sitting
 on a baseball-sized stone

1073
00:53:01,281 --> 00:53:05,216
 at each side, which in turn
 rested on a massive slab.

1074
00:53:05,251 --> 00:53:08,461
 Initially, the structure was
 considered a complex version

1075
00:53:08,495 --> 00:53:11,636
 of a glacial erratic,
 rocks carried by glaciers

1076
00:53:11,671 --> 00:53:14,846
 thousands of years ago, and
 left where they happen to melt

1077
00:53:14,881 --> 00:53:17,228
 at the end of one of
 the recent ice ages.

1078
00:53:17,263 --> 00:53:20,300
 However, when various
 geologists and archeologists

1079
00:53:20,335 --> 00:53:22,509
examined images on the subject,

1080
00:53:22,544 --> 00:53:25,892
 some express doubts
 about its natural origin.

1081
00:53:25,926 --> 00:53:28,032
 The main objection
 was that the structure

1082
00:53:28,066 --> 00:53:30,586
 has straight edges
 rather than rounded,

1083
00:53:30,621 --> 00:53:33,624
 which would normally
 characterize rocks
 scoured by glaciers.

1084
00:53:34,832 --> 00:53:36,903
One alternative was that
the mysterious structure

1085
00:53:36,937 --> 00:53:38,387
 was manmade,

1086
00:53:38,422 --> 00:53:41,356
 but the problem was how
 could that be established?

1087
00:53:41,390 --> 00:53:44,393
 The Halliburton Forest and
 Wildlife Reserve limited

1088
00:53:44,428 --> 00:53:47,258
decided to hire an
underwater archeologist

1089
00:53:47,293 --> 00:53:49,709
to examine the
structure more closely,

1090
00:53:49,743 --> 00:53:52,643
 apparently after a brief
 examination of the structure,

1091
00:53:52,677 --> 00:53:54,921
 this unnamed
 archeologist concluded

1092
00:53:54,955 --> 00:53:57,924
 that it was undoubtedly the
 result of human activity,

1093
00:53:57,958 --> 00:54:00,202
 rather than an
 accident of nature.

1094
00:54:00,237 --> 00:54:02,618
The company also
employed a statistician

1095
00:54:02,653 --> 00:54:05,207
 to calculate the probability
 of these seven rocks

1096
00:54:05,242 --> 00:54:07,727
 in the lake falling
 on top of each other

1097
00:54:07,761 --> 00:54:10,454
 to create what looked
 like a structure.

1098
00:54:10,488 --> 00:54:13,077
 The statistician determined
 that the probability

1099
00:54:13,111 --> 00:54:15,769
 of seven rocks falling
 into such positions

1100
00:54:15,804 --> 00:54:19,256
 at the right time and place
 was almost impossible.

1101
00:54:19,290 --> 00:54:22,120
But if the structure was
manmade, what was it?

1102
00:54:22,155 --> 00:54:23,950
 Who built it and when?

1103
00:54:23,984 --> 00:54:25,883
 Some researchers
 think it resembled

1104
00:54:25,917 --> 00:54:29,335
 the prehistoric stone cairns
 found throughout the world,

1105
00:54:29,369 --> 00:54:32,027
which serve as
monuments, burial sites,

1106
00:54:32,061 --> 00:54:36,583
 markers for ceremonial land,
 or even navigational aids.

1107
00:54:36,618 --> 00:54:41,174
 Other thing it may be a burial
 chamber or perhaps a dolmen.

1108
00:54:41,208 --> 00:54:44,626
Dolmens are a type of
single-chamber megalithic tomb,

1109
00:54:44,660 --> 00:54:49,665
 mostly dating from the early
 neolithic, 4,000 to 3000 BC.

1110
00:54:51,046 --> 00:54:52,703
 Found in a variety of
 places throughout the world,

1111
00:54:52,737 --> 00:54:54,567
but mostly in Northwest Europe,

1112
00:54:54,601 --> 00:54:57,294
 particularly in the
 region of Brittany France,

1113
00:54:57,328 --> 00:54:59,192
 Britain, and Ireland.

1114
00:54:59,226 --> 00:55:01,815
 The thick layer of silt
 covering some of the surfaces

1115
00:55:01,850 --> 00:55:04,818
 of the structures indicate
 that they are very old,

1116
00:55:04,853 --> 00:55:07,027
but beyond that, without
further evidence,

1117
00:55:07,062 --> 00:55:10,168
 it was impossible to
 say when it was built.

1118
00:55:10,203 --> 00:55:13,275
 However, when geologists
 were consulted on the matter,

1119
00:55:13,310 --> 00:55:15,242
 they apparently
 pointed to a drought

1120
00:55:15,277 --> 00:55:17,935
 which may have hit eastern
 North America between

1121
00:55:17,969 --> 00:55:20,834
 9,000 and 7,000 BC.

1122
00:55:20,869 --> 00:55:23,320
At this time,
conditions were so dry,

1123
00:55:23,354 --> 00:55:25,356
 that water levels
 in the Great Lakes

1124
00:55:25,391 --> 00:55:27,945
were as much as 165 feet lower,

1125
00:55:27,979 --> 00:55:30,982
and inland lakes like Macdonald
lake may well have been

1126
00:55:31,017 --> 00:55:34,814
 at least 40 feet lower
 than their current levels.

1127
00:55:34,848 --> 00:55:36,850
 If the structure at
 the Macdonald lake

1128
00:55:36,885 --> 00:55:39,232
 is a prehistoric
 monument of some kind,

1129
00:55:39,266 --> 00:55:42,477
 why was it situated in
 such a remote place?

1130
00:55:42,511 --> 00:55:46,273
 One theory is that the sparse
 local population at the time

1131
00:55:46,308 --> 00:55:49,380
 may have been attracted
 to the spot by lake trout,

1132
00:55:49,415 --> 00:55:52,383
 often described
 as glacial relict,

1133
00:55:52,418 --> 00:55:54,730
 as they are a holdover
 from the ice age

1134
00:55:54,765 --> 00:55:58,113
and live mainly in deep
cold water habitats.

1135
00:55:58,147 --> 00:56:01,254
 One geologist suggested
 that in prehistoric times,

1136
00:56:01,288 --> 00:56:03,532
 Macdonald lake was
 not a lake at all,

1137
00:56:03,567 --> 00:56:05,707
 but part of an
 ancient river system,

1138
00:56:05,741 --> 00:56:08,813
 which made an ideal
 habitat for the trout,

1139
00:56:08,848 --> 00:56:11,229
 but no prehistoric
 monuments of the cairn

1140
00:56:11,264 --> 00:56:13,749
 or dolmen-type exist
 in the USA, Canada,

1141
00:56:13,784 --> 00:56:17,097
 or anywhere else in the
 world dated to anywhere near

1142
00:56:17,132 --> 00:56:20,135
 9,000 to 7,000 BC.

1143
00:56:20,169 --> 00:56:22,862
 Does that make this structure
 the oldest in the world?

1144
00:56:22,896 --> 00:56:27,142
 Or should the glacial erratic
 theory be examined further?

1145
00:56:27,176 --> 00:56:29,386
 However, attractive
 these explanations

1146
00:56:29,420 --> 00:56:30,973
 for the lake
 Macdonald's structure

1147
00:56:31,008 --> 00:56:33,182
 being a prehistoric
 monument are,

1148
00:56:33,217 --> 00:56:36,703
 without further
 evidence obtained in
 an independent study,

1149
00:56:36,738 --> 00:56:40,155
 or excavation unconnected
 with the Halliburton forest

1150
00:56:40,189 --> 00:56:41,950
 and wildlife reserve limited,

1151
00:56:41,984 --> 00:56:45,609
 such as contemporary artifacts
 or signs of manmade tooling

1152
00:56:45,643 --> 00:56:49,578
 marks on the stones, we
 cannot say this for sure.

1153
00:56:49,613 --> 00:56:52,098
 There are one or two
 researchers who have linked

1154
00:56:52,132 --> 00:56:54,411
the underwater structure
at lake Macdonald

1155
00:56:54,445 --> 00:56:58,173
 to a mysterious monument
 known as Canada's Stonehenge.

1156
00:56:58,207 --> 00:57:01,210
This would make the lake
Macdonald prehistoric structure

1157
00:57:01,245 --> 00:57:04,455
 later in date, say
 around 3000 BC,

1158
00:57:04,490 --> 00:57:07,320
 though, still
 unique to the area.

1159
00:57:07,354 --> 00:57:10,841
 In his 2008 book
 "Canada's Stonehenge:

1160
00:57:10,875 --> 00:57:13,084
Astounding archeological
discoveries

1161
00:57:13,119 --> 00:57:17,226
 in Canada, England and Wales,"
 author Gordon R. Freeman

1162
00:57:17,261 --> 00:57:19,988
 puts forward the theory
 that the ancient structure

1163
00:57:20,022 --> 00:57:22,162
 is a prehistoric calendar.

1164
00:57:22,197 --> 00:57:25,476
 A summary of the book on
 Freeman's website states,

1165
00:57:25,511 --> 00:57:28,548
the discovery of a 5,000
year-old sun temple

1166
00:57:28,583 --> 00:57:30,343
 and an ancient time machine.

1167
00:57:30,377 --> 00:57:33,553
 Stone age calendar in
 Canada, led scientist

1168
00:57:33,588 --> 00:57:37,730
Gordon Freeman to groundbreaking
discoveries in Stonehenge.

1169
00:57:37,764 --> 00:57:42,182
 During field work and
 research from 1986 to 2006,

1170
00:57:42,217 --> 00:57:44,564
 Freeman found
 striking similarities

1171
00:57:44,599 --> 00:57:47,878
 between the surface
 geometry of the two sites.

1172
00:57:47,912 --> 00:57:50,121
These similarities push
back the boundaries

1173
00:57:50,156 --> 00:57:53,193
 of written history and have
 far-reaching implications

1174
00:57:53,228 --> 00:57:56,887
 for North American
 and European history.

1175
00:57:56,921 --> 00:57:59,510
 Could the same mysterious
 ancient cultures

1176
00:57:59,545 --> 00:58:01,443
 have built Canada's Stonehenge

1177
00:58:01,478 --> 00:58:03,687
 and the lake
 Macdonald structure?

1178
00:58:03,721 --> 00:58:05,654
 Perhaps they were both
 related to ancient,

1179
00:58:05,689 --> 00:58:08,001
 astronomical observations?

1180
00:58:08,036 --> 00:58:10,797
 Freeman describes what he
 discovered at the ancient site

1181
00:58:10,832 --> 00:58:13,938
 of Canada's Stonehenge
 located in Vulcan County,

1182
00:58:13,973 --> 00:58:15,837
 Alberta in his book,

1183
00:58:15,871 --> 00:58:19,150
 "I had found an amazingly
 accurate year-round calendar

1184
00:58:19,185 --> 00:58:22,084
in this sun temple
marked with rock lines,

1185
00:58:22,119 --> 00:58:25,950
 pointing to sunrises, and
 sets at critical dates.

1186
00:58:25,985 --> 00:58:28,988
 I later learned of arguments
 going on, mainly negative,

1187
00:58:29,022 --> 00:58:31,266
about whether Stonehenge
contained marked

1188
00:58:31,300 --> 00:58:34,545
observation lines to the
summer solstice sunrise,

1189
00:58:34,580 --> 00:58:36,961
and the winter solstice sunset.

1190
00:58:36,996 --> 00:58:39,377
 By applying what I had
 learned in Alberta,

1191
00:58:39,412 --> 00:58:42,726
 to observing sunrises and
 sets through Stonehenge,

1192
00:58:42,760 --> 00:58:46,350
 I found that an accurate
 entire year-round calendar

1193
00:58:46,384 --> 00:58:48,317
 exists in Stonehenge."

1194
00:58:49,629 --> 00:58:52,390
 The term "Canada's Stonehenge"
 refers to the monument

1195
00:58:52,425 --> 00:58:54,841
 known by archeologists
 and historians

1196
00:58:54,876 --> 00:58:57,534
 as Majorville medicine wheel.

1197
00:58:57,568 --> 00:59:02,021
 Draw between 70 and 150 native
 American stone structures

1198
00:59:02,055 --> 00:59:04,471
 known as medicine
 wheels spread over

1199
00:59:04,506 --> 00:59:07,785
 the northern United States
 and Southern Canada.

1200
00:59:07,820 --> 00:59:09,994
 Though each individual
 structure is unique,

1201
00:59:10,029 --> 00:59:12,687
 the shape of the most common
 type of medicine wheel

1202
00:59:12,721 --> 00:59:15,793
 resembles that of a wagon
 wheel lying on its side

1203
00:59:15,828 --> 00:59:18,520
 with the central can, from
 which lines of cobblestone

1204
00:59:18,555 --> 00:59:22,455
 radiate outwards to a
 surrounding ring of stones.

1205
00:59:22,489 --> 00:59:24,215
The diameter of medicine wheels,

1206
00:59:24,250 --> 00:59:27,736
 as well as the number and
 length of their spokes varies.

1207
00:59:27,771 --> 00:59:30,463
 The largest so far
 discovered has a diameter

1208
00:59:30,497 --> 00:59:32,258
 of around 80 feet.

1209
00:59:32,292 --> 00:59:34,053
 Occasionally, there
 will be a break

1210
00:59:34,087 --> 00:59:35,537
 in the outer stone circle

1211
00:59:35,572 --> 00:59:39,092
 to allow a stone pathway
 or entrance into the center

1212
00:59:39,127 --> 00:59:40,611
 of the structure,

1213
00:59:40,646 --> 00:59:42,648
 and sometimes one of the
 spokes can be considerably

1214
00:59:42,682 --> 00:59:45,823
longer than the others, perhaps
signifying the importance

1215
00:59:45,858 --> 00:59:48,515
 of the direction in
 which it's pointing.

1216
00:59:48,550 --> 00:59:51,967
 The dates of these medicine
 wheels also vary considerably.

1217
00:59:52,002 --> 00:59:55,592
 But it is acknowledged that
 the oldest so far investigated

1218
00:59:55,626 --> 00:59:57,386
 is the Majorville
 medicine wheel,

1219
00:59:57,421 --> 01:00:01,183
which was started
around 5,500 years ago.

1220
01:00:01,218 --> 01:00:03,220
There was no doubt that
wheel may have served

1221
01:00:03,254 --> 01:00:05,187
 some astronomical function,

1222
01:00:05,222 --> 01:00:07,638
 but it is more probable that
 this would have been part

1223
01:00:07,673 --> 01:00:11,262
 of a wider ritual use perhaps
 involving hunting magic

1224
01:00:11,297 --> 01:00:13,437
 or Buffalo fertility.

1225
01:00:13,471 --> 01:00:15,922
 This is not to say that
 native Americans were not

1226
01:00:15,957 --> 01:00:18,684
sophisticated enough
to build observatories.

1227
01:00:18,718 --> 01:00:21,410
 Far from it, but in
 one sense to state

1228
01:00:21,445 --> 01:00:24,068
 that the Majorville medicine
 wheel was built only

1229
01:00:24,103 --> 01:00:27,002
 to make complex
 astronomical calculations

1230
01:00:27,037 --> 01:00:29,487
is to apply modern Western ideas

1231
01:00:29,522 --> 01:00:32,767
from a 21st century
technology-dominated era

1232
01:00:32,801 --> 01:00:34,492
 back into the past.

1233
01:00:34,527 --> 01:00:37,323
 This explanation
 reflects our own concerns

1234
01:00:37,357 --> 01:00:40,947
 with timekeeping, calendars,
 computers, and space.

1235
01:00:40,982 --> 01:00:43,743
Not necessarily those
of the native Americans

1236
01:00:43,778 --> 01:00:47,195
 who built and used
 Canada's Stonehenge.

1237
01:00:47,229 --> 01:00:49,887
[intense music]

1238
01:00:52,925 --> 01:00:55,686
 In the 1820s, England
 medical doctor

1239
01:00:55,721 --> 01:00:58,689
and paleontologist
Gideon Algernon Mantell,

1240
01:00:58,724 --> 01:01:02,417
discovered some of the first
dinosaur fossils ever recorded.

1241
01:01:02,451 --> 01:01:04,108
 But inside the
 millions of years,

1242
01:01:04,143 --> 01:01:06,179
old deposits of chalk and flint,

1243
01:01:06,214 --> 01:01:08,423
 he also claimed to
 have discovered coins

1244
01:01:08,457 --> 01:01:10,080
 and other antiquities.

1245
01:01:10,114 --> 01:01:11,944
 Is his account to be trusted?

1246
01:01:11,978 --> 01:01:14,671
 If so, how did they get there?

1247
01:01:14,705 --> 01:01:18,502
Gideon Algernon Mantell
and dinosaur fossils.

1248
01:01:18,536 --> 01:01:21,194
 Physician, geologist,
 and paleontologist,

1249
01:01:21,229 --> 01:01:24,197
 Gideon Algernon Mantell
 was born in Sussex, England

1250
01:01:24,232 --> 01:01:28,339
 on the 3rd of February,
 1790, the son of a shoemaker.

1251
01:01:28,374 --> 01:01:30,894
 Mantell studied
 medicine in London,

1252
01:01:30,928 --> 01:01:33,724
 but in 1811 returned to Sussex

1253
01:01:33,759 --> 01:01:36,209
 where he became a
 successful surgeon.

1254
01:01:36,244 --> 01:01:39,350
 But from an early age, his
 passion had been geology,

1255
01:01:39,385 --> 01:01:41,490
 and he developed an
 interest and passion

1256
01:01:41,525 --> 01:01:43,941
 for the various types of
 fossils that could be found

1257
01:01:43,976 --> 01:01:47,807
 in the chalk quarries in the
 countryside near his home.

1258
01:01:47,842 --> 01:01:50,948
 He practiced from his
 house in Castle Place,

1259
01:01:50,983 --> 01:01:53,571
 and at the same time made
 significant discoveries

1260
01:01:53,606 --> 01:01:56,160
in the field and began
to build up a collection

1261
01:01:56,195 --> 01:01:59,681
 of what became known as
 his, "Mantellian museum."

1262
01:01:59,716 --> 01:02:01,579
When he started digging fossils,

1263
01:02:01,614 --> 01:02:05,445
 all the known fossils
 assemblages from
 Cretaceous England,

1264
01:02:05,480 --> 01:02:07,413
a geological period that lasted

1265
01:02:07,447 --> 01:02:11,279
 from about 145 to 66
 million years ago,

1266
01:02:11,313 --> 01:02:12,763
 where marine.

1267
01:02:12,798 --> 01:02:14,800
 but Mantell discovered
 the remains of terrestrial

1268
01:02:14,834 --> 01:02:17,216
 and freshwater
 ecosystems that he named,

1269
01:02:17,250 --> 01:02:20,633
 "The strata of the
 Tilgate forest."

1270
01:02:20,667 --> 01:02:23,774
As early as 1820, he
had begun to find bones

1271
01:02:23,809 --> 01:02:26,881
 of gigantic animals, and at
 that time also discovered

1272
01:02:26,915 --> 01:02:28,779
 a strange fossilized tooth,

1273
01:02:28,814 --> 01:02:31,264
 unlike anything he'd
 ever seen before,

1274
01:02:31,299 --> 01:02:34,164
 but perhaps belonging
 to a huge herbivore.

1275
01:02:34,198 --> 01:02:36,787
 One day, the animal
 associated with this unusual

1276
01:02:36,822 --> 01:02:40,308
odd-tooth would prove to be
among his greatest contributions

1277
01:02:40,342 --> 01:02:41,688
 to science.

1278
01:02:41,723 --> 01:02:44,174
 But at first, the scientific
 community rejected

1279
01:02:44,208 --> 01:02:47,971
his ideas about being
from an unknown species.

1280
01:02:48,005 --> 01:02:51,215
 French zoologist and
 statesman, George Cuvier,

1281
01:02:51,250 --> 01:02:53,804
 who established the science
 of comparative anatomy

1282
01:02:53,839 --> 01:02:57,808
 and paleontology, thought
 it belonged to a rhinoceros.

1283
01:02:57,843 --> 01:02:59,810
 Although the great
 Cuvier's dismissal

1284
01:02:59,845 --> 01:03:01,985
 was difficult to
 accept for Mantell,

1285
01:03:02,019 --> 01:03:05,057
 he persisted and sent
 Cuvier more teeth,

1286
01:03:05,091 --> 01:03:07,059
 eventually persuading
 him to reconsider

1287
01:03:07,093 --> 01:03:08,819
 his earlier decision.

1288
01:03:08,854 --> 01:03:10,787
 Cuvier wrote Mantell a letter,

1289
01:03:10,821 --> 01:03:13,030
 confirming his
 support of his idea,

1290
01:03:13,065 --> 01:03:14,618
 which Mantel proudly presented

1291
01:03:14,652 --> 01:03:17,552
at the Geological
Society's next meetings.

1292
01:03:17,586 --> 01:03:20,762
 In the words of Mantell's
 biographer, Dennis Dean,

1293
01:03:20,797 --> 01:03:22,868
 "What a pleasure it
 must have been for him

1294
01:03:22,902 --> 01:03:24,801
to confront his former critics,

1295
01:03:24,835 --> 01:03:26,941
 who, more than
 two years earlier,

1296
01:03:26,975 --> 01:03:29,875
 had sneered at his
 epoch-making fossils

1297
01:03:29,909 --> 01:03:32,601
 and rather openly at himself,

1298
01:03:32,636 --> 01:03:35,915
 the non-university son of
 an unlettered shoemaker.

1299
01:03:35,950 --> 01:03:38,884
 Now, all that was changed
 for Gideon had done more

1300
01:03:38,918 --> 01:03:41,679
 than win Cuvier's
 sanction or approval.

1301
01:03:41,714 --> 01:03:44,855
 Almost single-handedly, and
 despite the virtual unanimous

1302
01:03:44,890 --> 01:03:47,824
disapproval of his most
esteemed colleagues,

1303
01:03:47,858 --> 01:03:49,791
 he had persuaded
 the French authority

1304
01:03:49,826 --> 01:03:52,794
 to change his mind,
 yet, so graciously

1305
01:03:52,829 --> 01:03:56,073
 that Cuvier had willingly
 recanted in public."

1306
01:03:56,108 --> 01:03:58,696
 The fossil teeth belonged
 to an animal that Mantell

1307
01:03:58,731 --> 01:04:00,319
 called the Iguanodon,

1308
01:04:00,353 --> 01:04:03,253
 which he realized was
 an extinct colossal

1309
01:04:03,287 --> 01:04:04,806
 herbivorous reptile,

1310
01:04:04,841 --> 01:04:08,292
 and until his discovery,
 completely unknown to science.

1311
01:04:08,327 --> 01:04:11,123
However, it was not until 1842,

1312
01:04:11,157 --> 01:04:13,953
 that it was first recognized
 as a new type of animal,

1313
01:04:13,988 --> 01:04:15,506
 a dinosaur.

1314
01:04:15,541 --> 01:04:17,923
 It was reconstructed
 in a life-sized model

1315
01:04:17,957 --> 01:04:20,477
 together with models
 of other dinosaurs

1316
01:04:20,511 --> 01:04:22,134
 in the grounds of
 the Crystal Palace

1317
01:04:22,168 --> 01:04:24,999
in south London in 1854.

1318
01:04:25,033 --> 01:04:28,692
 The Crystal Palace was a cast
 iron and plate glass structure

1319
01:04:28,726 --> 01:04:31,695
originally built in Hyde
Park, London to house

1320
01:04:31,729 --> 01:04:35,078
 the Great Exhibition of 1851.

1321
01:04:35,112 --> 01:04:38,702
 In 1833, Mantell moved
 his family to Brighton

1322
01:04:38,736 --> 01:04:41,774
 where his medical practice
 failed to such a degree

1323
01:04:41,808 --> 01:04:44,639
 that the town council allowed
 him to turn his big house

1324
01:04:44,673 --> 01:04:48,091
 into a public museum,
 showcasing his extraordinary

1325
01:04:48,125 --> 01:04:49,437
 discoveries.

1326
01:04:49,471 --> 01:04:50,921
 Admission cost to shilling,

1327
01:04:50,956 --> 01:04:53,096
 in those days around
 half a day's wages

1328
01:04:53,130 --> 01:04:55,719
 for a laborer or servant.

1329
01:04:55,753 --> 01:04:58,791
 Algernon Mantel wrote many
 books throughout his life,

1330
01:04:58,825 --> 01:05:01,794
 and was a respected member
 of the Geological Society

1331
01:05:01,828 --> 01:05:06,212
 of London, of which he became
 vice president in 1848.

1332
01:05:06,247 --> 01:05:09,836
In 1835, he was awarded
its highest honor,

1333
01:05:09,871 --> 01:05:13,012
 The Wollaston Medal, the
 only person in its history

1334
01:05:13,047 --> 01:05:14,565
 to receive it.

1335
01:05:14,600 --> 01:05:18,776
 Mantel was elected a fellow
 of the Royal society in 1825

1336
01:05:18,811 --> 01:05:22,125
 and received a
 Royal medal in 1849.

1337
01:05:22,159 --> 01:05:25,714
 Mantell also kept a
 regular journal from 1818

1338
01:05:25,749 --> 01:05:29,270
 until the days before
 his death in 1852.

1339
01:05:29,304 --> 01:05:31,410
 Half of this journal
 has been published,

1340
01:05:31,444 --> 01:05:35,241
 whilst the remaining available
 in typed transcripts.

1341
01:05:35,276 --> 01:05:37,278
 Mantell's first and
 most important book

1342
01:05:37,312 --> 01:05:41,765
 published in 1822 was, "The
 Fossils of the South Downs,

1343
01:05:41,799 --> 01:05:45,079
or illustrations of
the Geology of Sussex."

1344
01:05:45,113 --> 01:05:47,633
 This work is now known
 mainly for the large number

1345
01:05:47,667 --> 01:05:50,843
 of fossils, almost all of
 which were invertebrates

1346
01:05:50,877 --> 01:05:53,950
 from the Cretaceous
 and tertiary strata.

1347
01:05:53,984 --> 01:05:55,848
But particularly from the chalk

1348
01:05:55,882 --> 01:05:58,471
 that Mantell described
 and illustrated.

1349
01:05:58,506 --> 01:06:01,543
 A great number of new
 species named by him,

1350
01:06:01,578 --> 01:06:05,582
 and now familiar
 to paleontologists
 all over the world.

1351
01:06:05,616 --> 01:06:08,102
Out of place artifacts.

1352
01:06:08,136 --> 01:06:11,208
 In "The Fossils of the
 South Downs," Mantell makes

1353
01:06:11,243 --> 01:06:14,798
an extra ordinary statement
about finding manmade artifacts

1354
01:06:14,832 --> 01:06:18,457
 in ancient flint nodules
 found in the chalk deposit,

1355
01:06:18,491 --> 01:06:21,736
 as well as similarly
 extraordinary finds
 from elsewhere.

1356
01:06:21,770 --> 01:06:25,360
 He says, "I cannot refrain
 from mentioning in this place,

1357
01:06:25,395 --> 01:06:28,018
 the extraordinary
 circumstances of coins

1358
01:06:28,053 --> 01:06:31,884
 and other antiquities having
 been found enclosed in them.

1359
01:06:31,918 --> 01:06:34,197
 Mr. Knight Spencer,
 in a letter published,

1360
01:06:34,231 --> 01:06:36,889
in Bakewell's
Introduction to Geology,

1361
01:06:36,923 --> 01:06:39,547
 relates the following
 interesting story.

1362
01:06:39,581 --> 01:06:44,207
 In 1791, 200 yards north
 of the ramparts of Hamburgh

1363
01:06:44,241 --> 01:06:48,832
 in a sandy soil, M. Lieskey
 of the city picked up a flint,

1364
01:06:48,866 --> 01:06:52,353
 and knocking it against
 another, broke it in two.

1365
01:06:52,387 --> 01:06:53,837
 In the center of the fracture,

1366
01:06:53,871 --> 01:06:56,150
 he observed an
 ancient brass pin,

1367
01:06:56,184 --> 01:06:57,668
 and picking up the other half,

1368
01:06:57,703 --> 01:07:02,052
he found the corresponding
mold of the pin, so laid bare."

1369
01:07:02,087 --> 01:07:04,123
 Mantell goes on to
 quote another example

1370
01:07:04,158 --> 01:07:06,194
 of the discovery
 of manmade objects,

1371
01:07:06,229 --> 01:07:08,196
where they should not have been.

1372
01:07:08,231 --> 01:07:09,991
 This time taken from an issue

1373
01:07:10,026 --> 01:07:13,167
of the gentleman's
magazine from the 1700s,

1374
01:07:13,201 --> 01:07:15,997
where mentioned was made
of an ancient brass key,

1375
01:07:16,032 --> 01:07:20,001
having been found in a block
of chalk at Guilford in Surrey.

1376
01:07:20,036 --> 01:07:22,521
What can possibly be the
explanation for these

1377
01:07:22,555 --> 01:07:24,350
 extraordinary finds?

1378
01:07:25,800 --> 01:07:28,147
 The presence of such coins
 and other manmade artifacts

1379
01:07:28,182 --> 01:07:30,149
 embedded in what
 appeared to be rock,

1380
01:07:30,184 --> 01:07:32,151
laid down millions of years ago,

1381
01:07:32,186 --> 01:07:35,120
 has suggested to some people
 that there's a problem

1382
01:07:35,154 --> 01:07:38,778
 with the way in which
 archeological dating
 has carried out.

1383
01:07:38,813 --> 01:07:41,229
The subject of artifacts
found in context

1384
01:07:41,264 --> 01:07:44,094
 that are way out of sync
 with the accepted chronology

1385
01:07:44,129 --> 01:07:47,373
 of human history, known as
 "Out of place artifacts,'

1386
01:07:47,408 --> 01:07:50,031
 has always been a
 controversial one.

1387
01:07:50,066 --> 01:07:54,035
Some researchers insist that
at various times in prehistory,

1388
01:07:54,070 --> 01:07:56,727
 we've reached a high
 level of civilization,

1389
01:07:56,762 --> 01:07:59,005
 only for it to be
 subsequently destroyed

1390
01:07:59,040 --> 01:08:03,079
 without a trace by natural
 or manmade catastrophes.

1391
01:08:03,113 --> 01:08:05,943
 These outer place artifacts
 are apparently the evidence

1392
01:08:05,978 --> 01:08:10,638
 for advanced civilizations
 existing in remote antiquity.

1393
01:08:10,672 --> 01:08:13,158
However, all is not as it seems.

1394
01:08:13,192 --> 01:08:15,539
 At least with
 Mantell's examples.

1395
01:08:15,574 --> 01:08:18,439
 As regards his own finds
 inside the flint nodules,

1396
01:08:18,473 --> 01:08:21,062
 he adds in his book,
 that it may be considered

1397
01:08:21,097 --> 01:08:24,721
 as decisive of the
 comparatively recent formation

1398
01:08:24,755 --> 01:08:27,655
of flint in certain situations.

1399
01:08:27,689 --> 01:08:31,245
 Of the find mentioned in the
 gentleman's magazine, he says,

1400
01:08:31,279 --> 01:08:33,212
that inquiries into the account

1401
01:08:33,247 --> 01:08:37,354
 proved to be too apocryphal
 to be worthy of credit.

1402
01:08:37,389 --> 01:08:39,425
 Mantell returns to the
 subject of such apparently

1403
01:08:39,460 --> 01:08:41,841
 out-of-place artifacts
 in an article

1404
01:08:41,876 --> 01:08:45,155
entitled "On the remains
of man and works of art

1405
01:08:45,190 --> 01:08:47,468
 embedded in rocks and
 strata," published

1406
01:08:47,502 --> 01:08:51,575
 in the Archeological Journal
 volume seven in 1850.

1407
01:08:51,610 --> 01:08:54,164
In this work, he states
a number of examples

1408
01:08:54,199 --> 01:08:57,547
 of ancient manmade objects
 being encased in rock,

1409
01:08:57,581 --> 01:08:59,169
 and says that they
 could all be explained

1410
01:08:59,204 --> 01:09:01,861
by natural geological processes.

1411
01:09:01,896 --> 01:09:04,278
 In one example, which
 he quotes, he says,

1412
01:09:04,312 --> 01:09:06,694
"During my early
attempts to investigate

1413
01:09:06,728 --> 01:09:10,111
 the geological structure of
 the southeast of England,

1414
01:09:10,146 --> 01:09:13,252
 I one day received a note
 from a South Down farmer,

1415
01:09:13,287 --> 01:09:16,393
 informing me of the discovery
 of a large iron nail

1416
01:09:16,428 --> 01:09:19,948
 in the center of flint, which
 he had accidentally broken.

1417
01:09:19,983 --> 01:09:22,641
 I immediately rode a
 distance of some 20 miles

1418
01:09:22,675 --> 01:09:25,264
 to inspect this
 wonderful curiosity,

1419
01:09:25,299 --> 01:09:27,232
 and was not a little
 surprised to find

1420
01:09:27,266 --> 01:09:30,269
 my correspondent's statement
 apparently borne out.

1421
01:09:30,304 --> 01:09:33,410
 For he placed in my
 hands, a large roll stone,

1422
01:09:33,445 --> 01:09:35,378
 closely resembling externally,

1423
01:09:35,412 --> 01:09:38,346
the usual flint boulders
of the plowed lands

1424
01:09:38,381 --> 01:09:39,761
 of chalk districts,

1425
01:09:39,796 --> 01:09:42,247
 and which had been
 split down the middle.

1426
01:09:42,281 --> 01:09:45,215
On one side was embedded
a large iron nail,

1427
01:09:45,250 --> 01:09:47,666
and deeply impressed on
the opposite surface,

1428
01:09:47,700 --> 01:09:49,840
the corresponding mold.

1429
01:09:49,875 --> 01:09:53,189
 The slight inspection detected
 the nature of this specimen.

1430
01:09:53,223 --> 01:09:57,538
It was not a flint, but an
aggregation of fine silica sand

1431
01:09:57,572 --> 01:10:00,196
that had been converted
into compact sandstone

1432
01:10:00,230 --> 01:10:03,371
 by a solution of iron
 derived from the nail,

1433
01:10:03,406 --> 01:10:05,787
 which had served as
 a nucleus to the sand

1434
01:10:05,822 --> 01:10:08,928
 that had gradually
 accumulated around it.

1435
01:10:08,963 --> 01:10:12,035
 The facts described by Cohen
 and Knight doubtless admits

1436
01:10:12,069 --> 01:10:15,556
 of the same explanation, the
 narrators having mistaken

1437
01:10:15,590 --> 01:10:20,388
a sandstone and modern formation
for a genuine flint nodule.

1438
01:10:20,423 --> 01:10:23,357
 When residing at Brighton,
 I obtained many specimens

1439
01:10:23,391 --> 01:10:26,567
 of recent ironstone from the
 fishermen who drenched them up

1440
01:10:26,601 --> 01:10:28,224
 from the Bristol channel.

1441
01:10:28,258 --> 01:10:31,951
Cannonballs, horseshoes,
nails, chains,

1442
01:10:31,986 --> 01:10:35,369
 fragments of bolts,
 bars, anchors, and so on,

1443
01:10:35,403 --> 01:10:37,957
 formed in the nuclei
 of these masses.

1444
01:10:37,992 --> 01:10:40,236
Some of which were
exceedingly interesting

1445
01:10:40,270 --> 01:10:42,790
 from the variety of
 shells, zoophytes,

1446
01:10:42,824 --> 01:10:44,309
 and other marine productions,

1447
01:10:44,343 --> 01:10:47,588
 promiscuously impacted in
 the same block of stone."

1448
01:10:47,622 --> 01:10:51,247
 [intense orchestral music]

1449
01:11:45,197 --> 01:11:49,581
 [intense orchestral
 music continues]