Ancient Aliens s17e01 Episode Script
The Lost City of Peru
1
Narrator:
On the western side
of south america
Is a land of exotic jungles,
vast plains,
And astounding
archaeological sites.
Giorgio a. Tsoukalos:
All throughout that
region of the world,
We have some
of the most incredible
Architectural structures
on planet earth.
Narrator:
But could
new discoveries reveal
That the true history of peru
Is far more incredible
than we ever imagined?
Hugh newman:
The dating of caral
has really put into question
The origins of civilization
and the planet.
Tsoukalos:
This excavation
has put the entire region
Into a new light.
Narrator:
Ancient astronaut theorist
Giorgio tsoukalos is joined
by author david childress
And investigative mythologist
william henry
To examine evidence
suggesting that peru was home
To an advanced civilization
thousands of years ago
David childress:
These discoveries
are changing the face
Of south american archaeology.
Narrator:
And was influenced
by beings from another world.
The message is consistent
throughout all these discoveries
That extraterrestrials
were helping to advance us.
I mean, this is about
as exciting as it gets.
Narrator:
There is a doorway
in the universe.
Beyond it is
the promise of truth.
It demands
we question everything
We have ever been taught.
The evidence is all around us.
The future is
right before our eyes.
We are not alone.
We have never been alone.
Peru is actually
one of my favorite
Places to visit on the planet,
And we've all been to peru.
This is what's so
great about that whole region
Because it seems
as if this whole area
Continues to give us
new pieces of information.
Henry:
And we're just beginning to
uncover what's actually there.
It's kind of like
a wild frontier down there.
I mean, worlds meet
down there, don't they?
It's really, uh, just
The most mysterious place,
and it's a very large country
That goes from
deserts along the coast
Up into the mountains,
Down into the jungles
It has literally
- Every climate in the world.
- Tsoukalos: Mm-hmm.
And it's also a treasure trove
For the ancient astronaut theory
- Henry: Yeah.
- Because there are
many megalithic sites
And especially in the legends
- And the mythologies
of that place.
- Yep.
You have stories of giants
and of, uh, gods,
The children of the sun.
Narrator:
The country of peru
in western south america
Is known for its many ancient
archaeological wonders
From the massive
stone walls of cusco
To the magnificent terraces
at ollantaytambo,
To the majestic mountain
citadel of machu picchu.
These incredible sites
have long been connected
To a great civilization that
emerged in the 13th century ad
Known as the inca.
The inca pretty much
Not just
dominated the landscape,
They changed the landscape.
They had
these major massive cities
From one end of the andes
to the other end of the andes.
And in between
each of these cities,
They had this incredible
road network.
We have to think about the inca
As part of this aggressive trend
Of ideas
and of culture and tradition.
Narrator:
In 1526, spanish conquistadors,
Led by francisco pizarro,
arrived in peru,
And over the course
of the following four decades,
Conquered the inca empire.
While the inca only flourished
For a little
more than two centuries,
Mainstream archaeologists
remain astonished
By their engineering
and construction achievements.
But a mounting body
of evidence suggests
Many of peru's astounding
structures may, in fact,
Have been built by a much
earlier civilization.
The incas were
pretty recent, really,
-To the spanish.
They're not the oldest,
-henry: Right.
- Henry: Right.
- Childress: They had
only existed
- About 200 years before
the spanish arrived.
- Right. Yeah.
And allegedly,
during that period,
They built all these
giant megaliths around cusco,
Sacsayhuamán, even machu picchu
and ollantaytambo,
And they would have
just completed them
- Wait
- Like, a hundred years
before the spanish.
Wait a second, wait a second.
But here's the deal.
That is mainstream
archaeology's opinion.
When you ask the local,
Including the local
archaeologists
And tour guides, yes,
They will tell tour groups
that yes, this is all inca,
But when you have deep
conversations with them,
They all agree that
many of those structures
Are pre-inca.
And this is where
the opinions diverge.
- Henry: Right.
- Who were the pre-inca?
Narrator:
In April 2019,
David childress traveled to peru
With author hugh newman to meet
With jorge luis delgado,
A local expert on
and a descendant of the inca.
Jorge believes that many
of peru's most incredible
Ancient structures do, in fact,
predate the inca.
Childress:
All right. Here we are.
Narrator:
On this day,
jorge took david and hugh
To one of peru's
most mysterious sites:
A location outside of cusco
Known only as the x-zone.
Overlooking the sprawling
stone fortress of sacsayhuamán,
The x-zone is an impressive
collection of megalithic ruins,
Rock-cut monuments and a maze
of underground tunnels.
- Henry: It's incredible.
- Childress: What kind
of technology
Does it take to cut these
so perfectly and straight
And then fit them in
where you can't fit
A piece of paper
or a razor blade in here.
Henry:
It seems like they're softening
the stones somehow,
And they're kind of shaping it
and then putting it back in.
Like some magical technology.
Narrator:
Naylamp was the deity
Worshipped by the sican people
who settled in northern peru
Around 750 ad,
centuries before the inca.
Their oral traditions
Describe naylamp
as a strange being
With sharp birdlike features
Who, upon his death,
sprouted wings
And then ascended into the sky.
Is it possible that
these traditional beliefs
Are grounded in fact,
as the sican people claim?
And, if so,
could naylamp have been,
As ancient astronaut
theorists suspect,
An extraterrestrial being?
I think that the incas
found these places.
They identified them as very
important, and they moved in.
They say so in one
of the earliest books
Written about that region.
Diego de landa
was the one who wrote it.
It says that
the incas themselves
Said this was not built by us.
-We also have the local legends
-henry: Yeah.
That say that there
were celestial visitors.
They were not gods. They were
visiting extraterrestrials.
Henry:
Well, here's where now we get
Fact backing up
the local knowledge,
Lore, understanding in this.
1994 archaeologist ruth shady
Is exploring north of lima,
and she said,
-"that hill over there
that looks artificial to me."
-tsoukalos: Mm-hmm.
So she goes
and gathers some soldiers.
They do some excavating.
Lo and behold,
here's this what?
Ten-story-tall pyramid.
And that became known
as the site of
- Caral.
- Right.
Narrator:
First discovered in 1905,
The site of caral-supe, often
referred to as simply caral,
Was initially thought to be
little more than a scattering
Of insignificant
and possibly modern ruins.
But while investigating
the site in 1994,
Peruvian archaeologist
ruth shady solÃs
Came to the astonishing
revelation that caral
Was once a vast
and highly sophisticated city.
When you visit caral, you find
a huge archaeological complex.
There is a large sunken
amphitheater to the south.
There's a major pyramid
to the north
And then there are
more minor pyramids
That surround a central area.
There are also other buildings,
residential buildings,
So it's a really huge complex.
Narrator:
But the most
extraordinary discovery
Was still to come.
While excavating the pyramid's
foundation in 1999,
Ruth shady and her team
unearthed the preserved remains
Of ancient mesh bags woven
from a long durable grass
Known as shicra.
Up until this time,
there had been no way
To scientifically determine
the age of caral
Since it is not possible
to perform radiocarbon dating
On inorganic material
like stone ruins.
With the discovery
of the grass bags,
Archaeologists now had
the organic material they needed
To determine just how old
caral really was.
And what they found was
nothing less than shocking.
Carbon dating of the bags
Revealed that caral predated
the inca civilization
By more than 3,000 years.
Schoch:
This site went back at least
To 2600 bc or earlier.
So that was putting it
back 4,600 or more years,
Which made it
one of the oldest sites
As far as civilization
in the americas.
Newman:
Caral could be
the mother culture
Of the whole of south america.
The dating of caral
has really put into question
The origins of civilization
on the planet.
Narrator:
The dating of caral to 2600 bc,
A revelation made just a little
more than two decades ago,
Completely upended history's
well-established timeline.
And continuing excavation
has produced evidence
Suggesting the site
is even older.
These discoveries at caral
Are changing the face
of south american archaeology
And we don't even know what
New discoveries they're going
to be making in the future.
I mean, you have a choice.
If you're an archaeologist,
You're either really excited
right now or really nervous
Because the chronology
has been obliterated,
And now we have to ask
were extraterrestrials
Helping to advance us?
And caral is hinting
At that as well. Definitely.
Incredible.
Have either of you
been to caral?
- No.
- No.
- Well, this is great
Because on our video call
Is our good friend
brien foerster
-And he's just been to caral,
and I can't wait to hear
-awesome.
- What he has to report to us.
- Absolutely.
- Oh, right.
Hey, brien. Good to see you.
- Childress: Hi, brien.
- Gentlemen.
Tsoukalos:
It's been a long time.
Always a pleasure to visit
With my ancient aliens
compatriots.
- Are you at your house
in paracas?
- Foerster: Yeah.
I've just come back
from an incredible
Ancient site called caral
On the central coast of peru.
Caral has only been excavated
For possibly
the last 20 or 30 years.
It was a huge trading center
That connected the coast
of peru, the highlands of peru,
And even the amazon jungle
4,500 years ago.
Narrator:
Aside from featuring the remains
Of many impressive
ancient structures,
Caral appears
to have been designed
Very much
like a modern metropolis
With specific districts
dedicated to various trades,
Along with dwellings for as many
as 3,000 inhabitants.
Beardsley:
At caral,
We've got this incredible
urban planning.
It has indications
of the use of science.
Definitely engineering,
definitely mathematics
When we start looking at
the planning, the structure
Of these particular sites.
It's a huge complex. They're
discovering more and more of it.
So as you drive off the highway
Towards caral,
there are ruins on the left side
And the right side
going on for miles.
So it was a very major center.
Probably the most incredible
thing is the central pyramid.
It's quite massive,
and the excavations are ongoing.
Narrator:
Standing some 90 feet tall,
The great pyramid of caral
occupies an area of five acres
Or nearly four football fields.
A 30-foot-wide staircase rises
From a sunken circular plaza
at the base of the pyramid
Passing over
three terraced levels
Until it reaches
the top of a platform
That features the remains
of a large atrium
And some kind of structure
designed for continuous burning.
But just what was its purpose?
Newman:
It's quite tall,
and it's thought that
The ceremonial aspect
of the site was carried out
From the top
of this particular pyramid.
And the chief priests,
or shaman,
Could actually see over
the whole domain of caral
And actually almost see
to the coast on a clear day.
And so it could have been used
for astronomical observations.
Narrator: Recently unearthed
archaeological evidence
Suggests that,
during the same period,
Approximately 4,600 years ago,
While ziggurats were being
built in mesopotamia,
As well as
the step pyramids in egypt,
Incredibly similar structures
Were being constructed in caral.
Was this by pure coincidence?
Ancient astronaut theorists
believe the evidence suggests
They could be
profoundly connected.
It's almost as if there was
some kind of syzygy going on
Between egypt
and the caral civilization
Of northern peru
at exactly the same time.
These monuments
quite clearly are meant
To connect us
with otherworldly environments.
They were both constructed
around 2600 bc.
I find that very
intriguing indeed.
Caral is dated
to about the same time
That the saqqara
step pyramid was built.
Do you see a correspondence
between those two sites?
It's just curious
that this timeline
Keeps coming up about ancient
places being 4,500 years old.
Like the pyramids in egypt
And other locations
around the world.
Henry:
I think that there was
a pre-flood civilization,
Everything collapsed and then
around this period 3000 bc
Then all of a sudden there's
this reset in the ancient world.
Yeah, that very much
seems to be the case.
Narrator:
In ancient traditions
around the world,
There are accounts
of a lost civilization
That existed on earth that was
destroyed by a great flood
Such as the vedas texts
of india,
The babylonian poem
the epic of gilgamesh,
The bible's book of genesis,
And the incan myth
of the unu pachakuti.
According to geologist
dr. Robert schoch,
A growing body
of evidence suggests
That these stories
are based on historical events,
And that such a cataclysm
May actually have
occurred around the end
Of the last ice age
12,000 years ago.
We now know, based on
a lot of geological data,
That there were incredible
Climatic changes
at the end of the last ice age.
My work has put it all
together that
This was based on major solar
outbursts that change conditions
On the surface
of the earth dramatically.
And to make
a very big story very short,
There were
well-developed cultures,
Sophisticated cultures,
civilization on earth
That were devastated
by the events
At the end of the last ice age.
Narrator:
According to dr. Schoch,
This cataclysm thrust
humanity into a dark age
For thousands of years.
Until new civilizations
emerged around the globe
At remarkably similar times.
Schoch:
After thousands of years,
civilizations reemerged
Around the same time period,
Between about 3500 bc
To 2500 bc or so.
We have that
in the old world with egypt,
With mesopotamia,
In asia
with the chinese cultures.
Caral is, I believe, evidence
of this in the americas
Of the reemergence
of civilization.
Can you tell us why,
in your opinion,
It is such an important
ancient site?
I think the most
important thing was that
People of caral
were in some way connected
To the ancient deity
called viracocha,
Which we find
in other cultures in peru
And other
locations around the world.
- Wow.
- Henry: They found
the gourd buried near caral
That had the image
of the staff god on it,
And they
were able to date it to
What? Like, 2300 bc?
Meaning it was created
- By people who lived at caral.
- Foerster: Yeah. Exactly.
It makes caral the oldest
radiocarbon-tested
Ceremonial complex
in the americas.
It is quite likely
that the people of caral
Were in some way
connected to the
Ancient deity called viracocha,
which we find in other cultures
In peru and other locations
around the world.
So you're referring to
the so-called staff god, right?
The guy with the two staffs.
Yeah, very much so.
So the staff god
that was found at caral,
I mean, it's really
the same guy viracocha,
On the gate of the sun
at tiahuanco, right?
Yeah, very similar.
I mean, of course,
The, uh, depictions
are relatively crude,
But they seem
It seems to depict
The same kind of deity
or ancestor or ancient visitors.
Narrator:
While exploring a burial site
near caral in 2003,
Archaeologist alvaro ruiz
made a remarkable discovery.
One of the artifacts
that is uncovered and recovered
In caral-supe
is this gourd fragment.
And on this gourd fragment
is an image of this
What has come
to be called a staff god.
So it's this little guy,
and he's standing holding
What appears to be a staff
in each of his hands.
Narrator:
Incredibly, radiocarbon
dating of the gourd fragment
Revealed that it is
roughly 4,300 years old.
The artifact's extraordinary age
Suggests the deity drawn on it
Was worshipped
by the people of caral.
But even more astonishing
to archaeologists
Is the fact that
the so-called staff god
Bears a striking similarity
to a figure
Worshiped by the inca
some 3,000 years later.
The staff god
was a form of viracocha.
And this is
exactly the same figure
That's seen again and again
In pre-columbian art,
At places like tiahuanco
on the gateway of the sun,
One of the most
important structures
That existed in south america.
There you have
exactly the same figure.
Viracocha was the primary
deity of the andes
Going back
many thousands of years.
He was thought to be the founder
of all the ancient sites
We see in peru
and bolivia today,
Including tiahuanco, cusco,
Sacsayhuamán, machu picchu
and many others.
And he formed them and built
them along this alignment
Called the path of viracocha
Which stretches
southeast to northwest
Across the whole country.
Beardsley:
This must have been,
in our estimation,
An important symbol because
we see this particular symbol
Being reused and adopted
In other places
for several thousand years.
So we see, basically, everything
That becomes civilization,
that become the inca,
We see in caral-supe.
It's kind of strange
that, uh, the motif
Has remained, which would
suggest that that motif
Was incredibly important
to the local populations.
Foerster:
Well, that's
a good point because
That, again,
shows the connection between
The same kind
of deity or ancestor
We see at tiahuanco or pumapunku
Or in cusco itself,
- Which is pretty incredible.
- That's pretty amazing.
You know, that
I mean, that there's
Something that something
has to be said about that.
We, of course, have made
the suggestion viracocha
May have been some type
of a visitor from another planet
Because also,
the gear that he is wearing,
For all intents and purposes,
Looks like
a modern-day astronaut.
- Childress: Yeah, true.
- Tsoukalos: Well,
if that were true,
It would tie in to this whole
Worship of viracocha
that can be found
All throughout
peru and south america.
- Yeah, that very much seems
to be the case.
- Tsoukalos: Amazing.
Brien, thank you very much
for your time. It was wonderful
To connect with you,
even if it's like this,
And I cannot wait
to see you again
Face-to-face in person.
That will be a pleasure. Thanks
to all three of you gentlemen.
- Tsoukalos: Thank you.
- Childress: Thanks, brien.
- Okay. Thank you.
And, you know, what a
See, to me
The whole idea
that this staff god only exists
In south
or central america No.
- No.
- It that symbolism
Or that motif exists
- Worldwide.
- Childress: Worldwide.
And it's well known
in egypt and sumeria,
- Ancient india.
- Henry: Right.
Childress:
It's interesting, too,
how when you look at
The viracocha god
At the on the gate
of the sun at tiahuanco,
On either side of him
Are these birdmen,
birdmen who can fly.
- Tsoukalos: Right. And what
- Childress: Coming to him.
Tsoukalos:
And what better symbolism
to signify flight
- Than showing people with wings?
- Henry: Right.
You know, I mean, we have the
same thing in ancient sumeria.
- Mm-hmm.
- You know, it is quite possible
That this was symbolism
to signify people
Coming from the sky.
Narrator: Curiously, examples
of godlike figures
That are depicted
as half man and half bird,
Much like the figure of naylamp
That was worshipped by the
sican people of northern peru,
Can be found throughout
the ancient world
From the anunnaki in mesopotamia
To the hindu
god garuda in india,
The tengu in japan,
The birdmen of easter island,
And the kachinas revered
by numerous tribes
In north america.
There is even a 44,000-year-old
cave painting in indonesia
That archaeologists
have determined
To be a humanlike figure
with a bird's head.
We also have the local legends,
And they're very clear in saying
that viracocha came
- And gave instructions, so
- Henry: Right.
- To-to create civilization.
- Tsoukalos: Yes.
-To create these buildings.
All these giant pyramids.
-Right.
Tsoukalos:
According to the legends,
The knowledge
of building these things
Was given by the so-called
gods from the stars.
This has been
our argument all along.
That our origin of any of
our ancient civilizations
Dates much further back
Into our distant past
than what we're being told.
And that these civilizations
all over the world
-Are more connected,
but archaeologists were saying
-right.
- They had no contact.
- Henry: Right.
But now in south america
they're proving
That's completely wrong,
And all of these cultures
in south america
Into the highlands, into
the jungle, all along the coast,
They're all connected,
and we have all the geoglyphs
- All over south america.
- Right.
And, of course, nazca is
so famous for its geoglyphs,
But caral has the oldest.
Narrator:
The nazca lines present one
of peru's greatest mysteries
Hundreds of massive designs
carved into the desert floor,
Created on a scale
to only be understood
From high above the earth.
It is estimated that the
earliest of these lines,
Called geoglyphs,
were made around 500 bc.
But in the year 2000,
while excavating caral,
Archaeologists
discovered a geoglyph
That they believe
dates to the same period
As the ancient city itself,
Which would make it, by far,
the oldest geoglyph
Ever found in peru.
Its shape is nearly
impossible to discern
From the ground,
but when viewed from the sky,
The profile of a face
is clearly recognizable.
The geoglyph face
is constructed of stones
Laid out to
create the figure itself.
It has its mouth open.
It's looking
towards one direction,
And also it has what looks like
kind of wavy hair,
Although this could actually be
Blood spurting out of its head.
The caral geoglyph
is the oldest known
In peru or bolivia.
It's at least 2,000 years older
than nazca, maybe more.
And so it does suggest
this was the forerunner
To all the nazca geoglyphs,
and this maybe even influenced
The nazca civilization.
So all of this, again,
Seems to suggest a commonality.
What I might call a super
complex of civilization,
So not just
one civilization in isolation
But a number
of related civilizations
That cover
a very long period in time
And go back to a very
remote period ultimately.
Yeah, you have to wonder
about the geoglyph at caral
Because the geoglyphs at nazca
are obviously meant to be seen
- From the air by the gods.
- Right. Right.
So you would think the geoglyph
at caral has the same meaning.
And I've seen, too,
where viracocha
Supposedly told the nazca people
to make those lines.
That's one of the legends.
I also think maybe
this is a type of calling card,
And there are other
geoglyphs around the world
That correspond with each other
because you have these lines,
These figures, these,
you know, things wanting
To communicate
with the celestial realm,
And you have
to wonder why because
- Coincidence no longer
holds water.
- Right.
Narrator:
When the nazca lines
were first discovered in 1927,
They were considered
a unique phenomenon.
But in recent years, with the
benefit of satellite imagery,
Thousands of ancient geoglyphs
Are being found
not just in south america
But all over the world.
In asia, the middle east,
Africa, north america,
And even europe.
The fact of the matter is that
we have geoglyphs worldwide.
And so you have to wonder why.
The idea in the ancient
astronaut theory
Is fairly simple
And that is that our ancestors,
Regardless of ancient cultures,
They were visited
by the same teachers.
There's another famous
glyph, uh, farther south
From nazca in northern chile
called the atacama giant.
- Tsoukalos: Right.
- Childress: And it's actually
the largest of all the geoglyphs
In south america,
and he too seems
To be holding a staff,
and has an animal with him.
- Yeah. He's like this, kind of.
- Yeah, like that.
- Henry: Yeah.
- Childress: Uh-huh.
- Tsoukalos: Right.
Childress:
Perhaps he's also a
A depiction of viracocha.
To me, the most important
thing about all of this is that
The structures
at caral correspond
- With the constellation
of the pleiades.
- Henry: That's right.
-And so whenever I see stuff
like that, it's like, you know,
-okay. That's interesting. Yeah.
All right, obviously,
Our ancestors were able
to observe the stars.
Nobody's ever questioned that
or debated that.
The power of observation
was huge and important,
- But why pick the pleiades?
- Henry: That's right.
They call it "heaven's mirror,"
is a term; using the expression
"as above, so below,"
they're trying to create
A physical connection
to these places.
Narrator:
The excavation of caral
Over the past two and a half
decades has produced
A number of
archaeological marvels.
But for ancient
astronaut theorists,
One of the most significant,
In terms of possibly
explaining its origins,
Is its curious
and seemingly deliberate design.
Collins: What has been noticed
about the layout
Of the different structures
and buildings at caral,
Is that they seem to reflect
the astronomical positions
Of the star cluster
known as the pleiades.
And this seems to be
almost beyond coincidence.
Newman:
It's almost like a star mirror.
We have the pleiades in the sky,
and it mirrors on earth.
It looks just like caral.
The main pyramid would be
the central star alcyone,
And all the other
structures in the complex
Match all the other stars
in the pleiades.
So there's-there's a real kind
of theory that's come forward
That they were trying to map
the stars onto the earth.
Narrator:
For ancient astronaut theorists,
The layout of caral is made
even more significant
Due to the fact
that the pleiades
Was also of central importance
to the inca,
Who would emerge in peru
more than 3,000 years later.
Foerster:
The inca had a very strong
connection with the pleiades.
At their ceremonial center
called the coricancha in cusco,
The rising
of the pleiades corresponded
With the planting of crops
in September of each year.
Newman:
There's even
a real inca tradition
Of the ancestors
coming from the pleiades.
So we have to question: Did they
actually come from pleiades?
But it does suggest, especially
along with the viracocha figure
That was found there,
That much of the inca tradition,
The technology
and sophistication
May have come from the
caral-supe civilization.
Narrator:
Could caral really have been
designed to mirror the pleiades?
Curiously, it is only
the latest in a long line
Of ancient sites
that have been found
To mirror the star cluster,
Such as the winterbourne stoke
barrow in England,
The nuragic structures
on the island of sardinia,
And chaco canyon in new mexico
To name just a few.
Henry:
The seven pyramids
of tikal are an example.
The pyramids of abusir
in egypt is another example.
The tomb complex
of the hongwu emperor,
The founder of the ming dynasty,
It mirrors
the pattern of the pleiades.
It's almost as if these ancient
cultures are signaling to us
Or leaving a trail
for us to follow that says,
"this is where
our gods came from."
Or, "this is where
humans came from, or the place
That we're in fact trying to
ultimately travel or return to."
The hawaiians say
their royal ancestors
Came from the pleiades.
The cherokee in east tennessee
say the same thing.
So divergent cultures are
saying exactly the same thing,
And there's always the message,
"we were visited by beings
who came from this star system."
You have to wonder why.
In this case,
the pleiades, to me
Suggests that someone wanted to
leave behind a message showing
- Where they came from.
- Exactly.
Tsoukalos:
I think this
is fascinating because
It's basically a calling card.
We're gonna go all
around the planet.
We're gonna build
similar structures.
You're gonna
see our calling card,
And it always wants you
to remember the pleiades.
I completely agree with you,
And, you know, the fact
Look, if there was only
-Caral worldwide
that had this thing,
-right.
Then fine, there's no argument.
But the fact that there
are dozens of examples
Like that in ancient times,
That is the point.
You know, this whole excavation
of caral has put
The entire region
into a new light,
And if you think about it,
This excavation
has only just begun,
So who knows what
we'll discover in the future
And what other keys we'll find.
Childress:
So are there amazing discoveries
Still to be found in south
america? There may well be.
I absolutely think so because
There are vast swathes
of areas in south america
Where, you know, who knows
What we'll find in the future
because there's nobody there.
Narrator: In 2019,
archaeologists uncovered
An ancient settlement
in the country of bolivia,
Just south of peru,
that dates back
An astonishing 10,600 years.
While excavation
has not revealed
A sophisticated city like caral,
Experts believe
that it is just one
Of many ancient sites still left
To be uncovered
in south america.
And that it may only be
a matter of time
Before we are forced
to rewrite history once again.
One has to wonder if one day
Archaeology will agree with us.
And I think that this is the
direction we're actually going
Because they've always said,
"oh, you know,
Everything is established,
we kind of know everything."
And the truth of the matter
is that they don't, and caral
-Has proven this because when
you look at these pyramids
-henry: Exactly.
In different regions
of the world,
They correspond with each other.
But the depiction of
this staff god, one could argue,
"oh, you know, this is just
a deity holding a staff,"
Or whatever,
but the fact that worldwide
Not just in tiwanaku,
not just in caral
We have this motif of this being
holding two staffs.
- Right. Right.
- That is important.
The message is consistent
That extraterrestrials were not
only intervening but they were
- Helping to advance us.
- Well, gentlemen,
This has been
a fascinating conversation,
And you know, this is
what's so great about peru
And that whole region because
It continues to give us
new pieces of information.
Look, there can be so much more
to discover, and, no doubt,
It will shock us
Even more than
what we found at-at caral.
We're gonna find something
irrefutable very soon, I think.
- It's gonna change everything.
- Tsoukalos: Right.
And I really think that,
you know, the more
Archaeological evidence we find
That is connected to the stars
With a combination of stories
Of gods that once were here,
It'll only be a matter
of time where even
The most dismissive
archaeologists will have to say,
"man. Maybe these guys sitting
at this table were right."
Exactly.
Captioning provided by
a+e networks
Narrator:
On the western side
of south america
Is a land of exotic jungles,
vast plains,
And astounding
archaeological sites.
Giorgio a. Tsoukalos:
All throughout that
region of the world,
We have some
of the most incredible
Architectural structures
on planet earth.
Narrator:
But could
new discoveries reveal
That the true history of peru
Is far more incredible
than we ever imagined?
Hugh newman:
The dating of caral
has really put into question
The origins of civilization
and the planet.
Tsoukalos:
This excavation
has put the entire region
Into a new light.
Narrator:
Ancient astronaut theorist
Giorgio tsoukalos is joined
by author david childress
And investigative mythologist
william henry
To examine evidence
suggesting that peru was home
To an advanced civilization
thousands of years ago
David childress:
These discoveries
are changing the face
Of south american archaeology.
Narrator:
And was influenced
by beings from another world.
The message is consistent
throughout all these discoveries
That extraterrestrials
were helping to advance us.
I mean, this is about
as exciting as it gets.
Narrator:
There is a doorway
in the universe.
Beyond it is
the promise of truth.
It demands
we question everything
We have ever been taught.
The evidence is all around us.
The future is
right before our eyes.
We are not alone.
We have never been alone.
Peru is actually
one of my favorite
Places to visit on the planet,
And we've all been to peru.
This is what's so
great about that whole region
Because it seems
as if this whole area
Continues to give us
new pieces of information.
Henry:
And we're just beginning to
uncover what's actually there.
It's kind of like
a wild frontier down there.
I mean, worlds meet
down there, don't they?
It's really, uh, just
The most mysterious place,
and it's a very large country
That goes from
deserts along the coast
Up into the mountains,
Down into the jungles
It has literally
- Every climate in the world.
- Tsoukalos: Mm-hmm.
And it's also a treasure trove
For the ancient astronaut theory
- Henry: Yeah.
- Because there are
many megalithic sites
And especially in the legends
- And the mythologies
of that place.
- Yep.
You have stories of giants
and of, uh, gods,
The children of the sun.
Narrator:
The country of peru
in western south america
Is known for its many ancient
archaeological wonders
From the massive
stone walls of cusco
To the magnificent terraces
at ollantaytambo,
To the majestic mountain
citadel of machu picchu.
These incredible sites
have long been connected
To a great civilization that
emerged in the 13th century ad
Known as the inca.
The inca pretty much
Not just
dominated the landscape,
They changed the landscape.
They had
these major massive cities
From one end of the andes
to the other end of the andes.
And in between
each of these cities,
They had this incredible
road network.
We have to think about the inca
As part of this aggressive trend
Of ideas
and of culture and tradition.
Narrator:
In 1526, spanish conquistadors,
Led by francisco pizarro,
arrived in peru,
And over the course
of the following four decades,
Conquered the inca empire.
While the inca only flourished
For a little
more than two centuries,
Mainstream archaeologists
remain astonished
By their engineering
and construction achievements.
But a mounting body
of evidence suggests
Many of peru's astounding
structures may, in fact,
Have been built by a much
earlier civilization.
The incas were
pretty recent, really,
-To the spanish.
They're not the oldest,
-henry: Right.
- Henry: Right.
- Childress: They had
only existed
- About 200 years before
the spanish arrived.
- Right. Yeah.
And allegedly,
during that period,
They built all these
giant megaliths around cusco,
Sacsayhuamán, even machu picchu
and ollantaytambo,
And they would have
just completed them
- Wait
- Like, a hundred years
before the spanish.
Wait a second, wait a second.
But here's the deal.
That is mainstream
archaeology's opinion.
When you ask the local,
Including the local
archaeologists
And tour guides, yes,
They will tell tour groups
that yes, this is all inca,
But when you have deep
conversations with them,
They all agree that
many of those structures
Are pre-inca.
And this is where
the opinions diverge.
- Henry: Right.
- Who were the pre-inca?
Narrator:
In April 2019,
David childress traveled to peru
With author hugh newman to meet
With jorge luis delgado,
A local expert on
and a descendant of the inca.
Jorge believes that many
of peru's most incredible
Ancient structures do, in fact,
predate the inca.
Childress:
All right. Here we are.
Narrator:
On this day,
jorge took david and hugh
To one of peru's
most mysterious sites:
A location outside of cusco
Known only as the x-zone.
Overlooking the sprawling
stone fortress of sacsayhuamán,
The x-zone is an impressive
collection of megalithic ruins,
Rock-cut monuments and a maze
of underground tunnels.
- Henry: It's incredible.
- Childress: What kind
of technology
Does it take to cut these
so perfectly and straight
And then fit them in
where you can't fit
A piece of paper
or a razor blade in here.
Henry:
It seems like they're softening
the stones somehow,
And they're kind of shaping it
and then putting it back in.
Like some magical technology.
Narrator:
Naylamp was the deity
Worshipped by the sican people
who settled in northern peru
Around 750 ad,
centuries before the inca.
Their oral traditions
Describe naylamp
as a strange being
With sharp birdlike features
Who, upon his death,
sprouted wings
And then ascended into the sky.
Is it possible that
these traditional beliefs
Are grounded in fact,
as the sican people claim?
And, if so,
could naylamp have been,
As ancient astronaut
theorists suspect,
An extraterrestrial being?
I think that the incas
found these places.
They identified them as very
important, and they moved in.
They say so in one
of the earliest books
Written about that region.
Diego de landa
was the one who wrote it.
It says that
the incas themselves
Said this was not built by us.
-We also have the local legends
-henry: Yeah.
That say that there
were celestial visitors.
They were not gods. They were
visiting extraterrestrials.
Henry:
Well, here's where now we get
Fact backing up
the local knowledge,
Lore, understanding in this.
1994 archaeologist ruth shady
Is exploring north of lima,
and she said,
-"that hill over there
that looks artificial to me."
-tsoukalos: Mm-hmm.
So she goes
and gathers some soldiers.
They do some excavating.
Lo and behold,
here's this what?
Ten-story-tall pyramid.
And that became known
as the site of
- Caral.
- Right.
Narrator:
First discovered in 1905,
The site of caral-supe, often
referred to as simply caral,
Was initially thought to be
little more than a scattering
Of insignificant
and possibly modern ruins.
But while investigating
the site in 1994,
Peruvian archaeologist
ruth shady solÃs
Came to the astonishing
revelation that caral
Was once a vast
and highly sophisticated city.
When you visit caral, you find
a huge archaeological complex.
There is a large sunken
amphitheater to the south.
There's a major pyramid
to the north
And then there are
more minor pyramids
That surround a central area.
There are also other buildings,
residential buildings,
So it's a really huge complex.
Narrator:
But the most
extraordinary discovery
Was still to come.
While excavating the pyramid's
foundation in 1999,
Ruth shady and her team
unearthed the preserved remains
Of ancient mesh bags woven
from a long durable grass
Known as shicra.
Up until this time,
there had been no way
To scientifically determine
the age of caral
Since it is not possible
to perform radiocarbon dating
On inorganic material
like stone ruins.
With the discovery
of the grass bags,
Archaeologists now had
the organic material they needed
To determine just how old
caral really was.
And what they found was
nothing less than shocking.
Carbon dating of the bags
Revealed that caral predated
the inca civilization
By more than 3,000 years.
Schoch:
This site went back at least
To 2600 bc or earlier.
So that was putting it
back 4,600 or more years,
Which made it
one of the oldest sites
As far as civilization
in the americas.
Newman:
Caral could be
the mother culture
Of the whole of south america.
The dating of caral
has really put into question
The origins of civilization
on the planet.
Narrator:
The dating of caral to 2600 bc,
A revelation made just a little
more than two decades ago,
Completely upended history's
well-established timeline.
And continuing excavation
has produced evidence
Suggesting the site
is even older.
These discoveries at caral
Are changing the face
of south american archaeology
And we don't even know what
New discoveries they're going
to be making in the future.
I mean, you have a choice.
If you're an archaeologist,
You're either really excited
right now or really nervous
Because the chronology
has been obliterated,
And now we have to ask
were extraterrestrials
Helping to advance us?
And caral is hinting
At that as well. Definitely.
Incredible.
Have either of you
been to caral?
- No.
- No.
- Well, this is great
Because on our video call
Is our good friend
brien foerster
-And he's just been to caral,
and I can't wait to hear
-awesome.
- What he has to report to us.
- Absolutely.
- Oh, right.
Hey, brien. Good to see you.
- Childress: Hi, brien.
- Gentlemen.
Tsoukalos:
It's been a long time.
Always a pleasure to visit
With my ancient aliens
compatriots.
- Are you at your house
in paracas?
- Foerster: Yeah.
I've just come back
from an incredible
Ancient site called caral
On the central coast of peru.
Caral has only been excavated
For possibly
the last 20 or 30 years.
It was a huge trading center
That connected the coast
of peru, the highlands of peru,
And even the amazon jungle
4,500 years ago.
Narrator:
Aside from featuring the remains
Of many impressive
ancient structures,
Caral appears
to have been designed
Very much
like a modern metropolis
With specific districts
dedicated to various trades,
Along with dwellings for as many
as 3,000 inhabitants.
Beardsley:
At caral,
We've got this incredible
urban planning.
It has indications
of the use of science.
Definitely engineering,
definitely mathematics
When we start looking at
the planning, the structure
Of these particular sites.
It's a huge complex. They're
discovering more and more of it.
So as you drive off the highway
Towards caral,
there are ruins on the left side
And the right side
going on for miles.
So it was a very major center.
Probably the most incredible
thing is the central pyramid.
It's quite massive,
and the excavations are ongoing.
Narrator:
Standing some 90 feet tall,
The great pyramid of caral
occupies an area of five acres
Or nearly four football fields.
A 30-foot-wide staircase rises
From a sunken circular plaza
at the base of the pyramid
Passing over
three terraced levels
Until it reaches
the top of a platform
That features the remains
of a large atrium
And some kind of structure
designed for continuous burning.
But just what was its purpose?
Newman:
It's quite tall,
and it's thought that
The ceremonial aspect
of the site was carried out
From the top
of this particular pyramid.
And the chief priests,
or shaman,
Could actually see over
the whole domain of caral
And actually almost see
to the coast on a clear day.
And so it could have been used
for astronomical observations.
Narrator: Recently unearthed
archaeological evidence
Suggests that,
during the same period,
Approximately 4,600 years ago,
While ziggurats were being
built in mesopotamia,
As well as
the step pyramids in egypt,
Incredibly similar structures
Were being constructed in caral.
Was this by pure coincidence?
Ancient astronaut theorists
believe the evidence suggests
They could be
profoundly connected.
It's almost as if there was
some kind of syzygy going on
Between egypt
and the caral civilization
Of northern peru
at exactly the same time.
These monuments
quite clearly are meant
To connect us
with otherworldly environments.
They were both constructed
around 2600 bc.
I find that very
intriguing indeed.
Caral is dated
to about the same time
That the saqqara
step pyramid was built.
Do you see a correspondence
between those two sites?
It's just curious
that this timeline
Keeps coming up about ancient
places being 4,500 years old.
Like the pyramids in egypt
And other locations
around the world.
Henry:
I think that there was
a pre-flood civilization,
Everything collapsed and then
around this period 3000 bc
Then all of a sudden there's
this reset in the ancient world.
Yeah, that very much
seems to be the case.
Narrator:
In ancient traditions
around the world,
There are accounts
of a lost civilization
That existed on earth that was
destroyed by a great flood
Such as the vedas texts
of india,
The babylonian poem
the epic of gilgamesh,
The bible's book of genesis,
And the incan myth
of the unu pachakuti.
According to geologist
dr. Robert schoch,
A growing body
of evidence suggests
That these stories
are based on historical events,
And that such a cataclysm
May actually have
occurred around the end
Of the last ice age
12,000 years ago.
We now know, based on
a lot of geological data,
That there were incredible
Climatic changes
at the end of the last ice age.
My work has put it all
together that
This was based on major solar
outbursts that change conditions
On the surface
of the earth dramatically.
And to make
a very big story very short,
There were
well-developed cultures,
Sophisticated cultures,
civilization on earth
That were devastated
by the events
At the end of the last ice age.
Narrator:
According to dr. Schoch,
This cataclysm thrust
humanity into a dark age
For thousands of years.
Until new civilizations
emerged around the globe
At remarkably similar times.
Schoch:
After thousands of years,
civilizations reemerged
Around the same time period,
Between about 3500 bc
To 2500 bc or so.
We have that
in the old world with egypt,
With mesopotamia,
In asia
with the chinese cultures.
Caral is, I believe, evidence
of this in the americas
Of the reemergence
of civilization.
Can you tell us why,
in your opinion,
It is such an important
ancient site?
I think the most
important thing was that
People of caral
were in some way connected
To the ancient deity
called viracocha,
Which we find
in other cultures in peru
And other
locations around the world.
- Wow.
- Henry: They found
the gourd buried near caral
That had the image
of the staff god on it,
And they
were able to date it to
What? Like, 2300 bc?
Meaning it was created
- By people who lived at caral.
- Foerster: Yeah. Exactly.
It makes caral the oldest
radiocarbon-tested
Ceremonial complex
in the americas.
It is quite likely
that the people of caral
Were in some way
connected to the
Ancient deity called viracocha,
which we find in other cultures
In peru and other locations
around the world.
So you're referring to
the so-called staff god, right?
The guy with the two staffs.
Yeah, very much so.
So the staff god
that was found at caral,
I mean, it's really
the same guy viracocha,
On the gate of the sun
at tiahuanco, right?
Yeah, very similar.
I mean, of course,
The, uh, depictions
are relatively crude,
But they seem
It seems to depict
The same kind of deity
or ancestor or ancient visitors.
Narrator:
While exploring a burial site
near caral in 2003,
Archaeologist alvaro ruiz
made a remarkable discovery.
One of the artifacts
that is uncovered and recovered
In caral-supe
is this gourd fragment.
And on this gourd fragment
is an image of this
What has come
to be called a staff god.
So it's this little guy,
and he's standing holding
What appears to be a staff
in each of his hands.
Narrator:
Incredibly, radiocarbon
dating of the gourd fragment
Revealed that it is
roughly 4,300 years old.
The artifact's extraordinary age
Suggests the deity drawn on it
Was worshipped
by the people of caral.
But even more astonishing
to archaeologists
Is the fact that
the so-called staff god
Bears a striking similarity
to a figure
Worshiped by the inca
some 3,000 years later.
The staff god
was a form of viracocha.
And this is
exactly the same figure
That's seen again and again
In pre-columbian art,
At places like tiahuanco
on the gateway of the sun,
One of the most
important structures
That existed in south america.
There you have
exactly the same figure.
Viracocha was the primary
deity of the andes
Going back
many thousands of years.
He was thought to be the founder
of all the ancient sites
We see in peru
and bolivia today,
Including tiahuanco, cusco,
Sacsayhuamán, machu picchu
and many others.
And he formed them and built
them along this alignment
Called the path of viracocha
Which stretches
southeast to northwest
Across the whole country.
Beardsley:
This must have been,
in our estimation,
An important symbol because
we see this particular symbol
Being reused and adopted
In other places
for several thousand years.
So we see, basically, everything
That becomes civilization,
that become the inca,
We see in caral-supe.
It's kind of strange
that, uh, the motif
Has remained, which would
suggest that that motif
Was incredibly important
to the local populations.
Foerster:
Well, that's
a good point because
That, again,
shows the connection between
The same kind
of deity or ancestor
We see at tiahuanco or pumapunku
Or in cusco itself,
- Which is pretty incredible.
- That's pretty amazing.
You know, that
I mean, that there's
Something that something
has to be said about that.
We, of course, have made
the suggestion viracocha
May have been some type
of a visitor from another planet
Because also,
the gear that he is wearing,
For all intents and purposes,
Looks like
a modern-day astronaut.
- Childress: Yeah, true.
- Tsoukalos: Well,
if that were true,
It would tie in to this whole
Worship of viracocha
that can be found
All throughout
peru and south america.
- Yeah, that very much seems
to be the case.
- Tsoukalos: Amazing.
Brien, thank you very much
for your time. It was wonderful
To connect with you,
even if it's like this,
And I cannot wait
to see you again
Face-to-face in person.
That will be a pleasure. Thanks
to all three of you gentlemen.
- Tsoukalos: Thank you.
- Childress: Thanks, brien.
- Okay. Thank you.
And, you know, what a
See, to me
The whole idea
that this staff god only exists
In south
or central america No.
- No.
- It that symbolism
Or that motif exists
- Worldwide.
- Childress: Worldwide.
And it's well known
in egypt and sumeria,
- Ancient india.
- Henry: Right.
Childress:
It's interesting, too,
how when you look at
The viracocha god
At the on the gate
of the sun at tiahuanco,
On either side of him
Are these birdmen,
birdmen who can fly.
- Tsoukalos: Right. And what
- Childress: Coming to him.
Tsoukalos:
And what better symbolism
to signify flight
- Than showing people with wings?
- Henry: Right.
You know, I mean, we have the
same thing in ancient sumeria.
- Mm-hmm.
- You know, it is quite possible
That this was symbolism
to signify people
Coming from the sky.
Narrator: Curiously, examples
of godlike figures
That are depicted
as half man and half bird,
Much like the figure of naylamp
That was worshipped by the
sican people of northern peru,
Can be found throughout
the ancient world
From the anunnaki in mesopotamia
To the hindu
god garuda in india,
The tengu in japan,
The birdmen of easter island,
And the kachinas revered
by numerous tribes
In north america.
There is even a 44,000-year-old
cave painting in indonesia
That archaeologists
have determined
To be a humanlike figure
with a bird's head.
We also have the local legends,
And they're very clear in saying
that viracocha came
- And gave instructions, so
- Henry: Right.
- To-to create civilization.
- Tsoukalos: Yes.
-To create these buildings.
All these giant pyramids.
-Right.
Tsoukalos:
According to the legends,
The knowledge
of building these things
Was given by the so-called
gods from the stars.
This has been
our argument all along.
That our origin of any of
our ancient civilizations
Dates much further back
Into our distant past
than what we're being told.
And that these civilizations
all over the world
-Are more connected,
but archaeologists were saying
-right.
- They had no contact.
- Henry: Right.
But now in south america
they're proving
That's completely wrong,
And all of these cultures
in south america
Into the highlands, into
the jungle, all along the coast,
They're all connected,
and we have all the geoglyphs
- All over south america.
- Right.
And, of course, nazca is
so famous for its geoglyphs,
But caral has the oldest.
Narrator:
The nazca lines present one
of peru's greatest mysteries
Hundreds of massive designs
carved into the desert floor,
Created on a scale
to only be understood
From high above the earth.
It is estimated that the
earliest of these lines,
Called geoglyphs,
were made around 500 bc.
But in the year 2000,
while excavating caral,
Archaeologists
discovered a geoglyph
That they believe
dates to the same period
As the ancient city itself,
Which would make it, by far,
the oldest geoglyph
Ever found in peru.
Its shape is nearly
impossible to discern
From the ground,
but when viewed from the sky,
The profile of a face
is clearly recognizable.
The geoglyph face
is constructed of stones
Laid out to
create the figure itself.
It has its mouth open.
It's looking
towards one direction,
And also it has what looks like
kind of wavy hair,
Although this could actually be
Blood spurting out of its head.
The caral geoglyph
is the oldest known
In peru or bolivia.
It's at least 2,000 years older
than nazca, maybe more.
And so it does suggest
this was the forerunner
To all the nazca geoglyphs,
and this maybe even influenced
The nazca civilization.
So all of this, again,
Seems to suggest a commonality.
What I might call a super
complex of civilization,
So not just
one civilization in isolation
But a number
of related civilizations
That cover
a very long period in time
And go back to a very
remote period ultimately.
Yeah, you have to wonder
about the geoglyph at caral
Because the geoglyphs at nazca
are obviously meant to be seen
- From the air by the gods.
- Right. Right.
So you would think the geoglyph
at caral has the same meaning.
And I've seen, too,
where viracocha
Supposedly told the nazca people
to make those lines.
That's one of the legends.
I also think maybe
this is a type of calling card,
And there are other
geoglyphs around the world
That correspond with each other
because you have these lines,
These figures, these,
you know, things wanting
To communicate
with the celestial realm,
And you have
to wonder why because
- Coincidence no longer
holds water.
- Right.
Narrator:
When the nazca lines
were first discovered in 1927,
They were considered
a unique phenomenon.
But in recent years, with the
benefit of satellite imagery,
Thousands of ancient geoglyphs
Are being found
not just in south america
But all over the world.
In asia, the middle east,
Africa, north america,
And even europe.
The fact of the matter is that
we have geoglyphs worldwide.
And so you have to wonder why.
The idea in the ancient
astronaut theory
Is fairly simple
And that is that our ancestors,
Regardless of ancient cultures,
They were visited
by the same teachers.
There's another famous
glyph, uh, farther south
From nazca in northern chile
called the atacama giant.
- Tsoukalos: Right.
- Childress: And it's actually
the largest of all the geoglyphs
In south america,
and he too seems
To be holding a staff,
and has an animal with him.
- Yeah. He's like this, kind of.
- Yeah, like that.
- Henry: Yeah.
- Childress: Uh-huh.
- Tsoukalos: Right.
Childress:
Perhaps he's also a
A depiction of viracocha.
To me, the most important
thing about all of this is that
The structures
at caral correspond
- With the constellation
of the pleiades.
- Henry: That's right.
-And so whenever I see stuff
like that, it's like, you know,
-okay. That's interesting. Yeah.
All right, obviously,
Our ancestors were able
to observe the stars.
Nobody's ever questioned that
or debated that.
The power of observation
was huge and important,
- But why pick the pleiades?
- Henry: That's right.
They call it "heaven's mirror,"
is a term; using the expression
"as above, so below,"
they're trying to create
A physical connection
to these places.
Narrator:
The excavation of caral
Over the past two and a half
decades has produced
A number of
archaeological marvels.
But for ancient
astronaut theorists,
One of the most significant,
In terms of possibly
explaining its origins,
Is its curious
and seemingly deliberate design.
Collins: What has been noticed
about the layout
Of the different structures
and buildings at caral,
Is that they seem to reflect
the astronomical positions
Of the star cluster
known as the pleiades.
And this seems to be
almost beyond coincidence.
Newman:
It's almost like a star mirror.
We have the pleiades in the sky,
and it mirrors on earth.
It looks just like caral.
The main pyramid would be
the central star alcyone,
And all the other
structures in the complex
Match all the other stars
in the pleiades.
So there's-there's a real kind
of theory that's come forward
That they were trying to map
the stars onto the earth.
Narrator:
For ancient astronaut theorists,
The layout of caral is made
even more significant
Due to the fact
that the pleiades
Was also of central importance
to the inca,
Who would emerge in peru
more than 3,000 years later.
Foerster:
The inca had a very strong
connection with the pleiades.
At their ceremonial center
called the coricancha in cusco,
The rising
of the pleiades corresponded
With the planting of crops
in September of each year.
Newman:
There's even
a real inca tradition
Of the ancestors
coming from the pleiades.
So we have to question: Did they
actually come from pleiades?
But it does suggest, especially
along with the viracocha figure
That was found there,
That much of the inca tradition,
The technology
and sophistication
May have come from the
caral-supe civilization.
Narrator:
Could caral really have been
designed to mirror the pleiades?
Curiously, it is only
the latest in a long line
Of ancient sites
that have been found
To mirror the star cluster,
Such as the winterbourne stoke
barrow in England,
The nuragic structures
on the island of sardinia,
And chaco canyon in new mexico
To name just a few.
Henry:
The seven pyramids
of tikal are an example.
The pyramids of abusir
in egypt is another example.
The tomb complex
of the hongwu emperor,
The founder of the ming dynasty,
It mirrors
the pattern of the pleiades.
It's almost as if these ancient
cultures are signaling to us
Or leaving a trail
for us to follow that says,
"this is where
our gods came from."
Or, "this is where
humans came from, or the place
That we're in fact trying to
ultimately travel or return to."
The hawaiians say
their royal ancestors
Came from the pleiades.
The cherokee in east tennessee
say the same thing.
So divergent cultures are
saying exactly the same thing,
And there's always the message,
"we were visited by beings
who came from this star system."
You have to wonder why.
In this case,
the pleiades, to me
Suggests that someone wanted to
leave behind a message showing
- Where they came from.
- Exactly.
Tsoukalos:
I think this
is fascinating because
It's basically a calling card.
We're gonna go all
around the planet.
We're gonna build
similar structures.
You're gonna
see our calling card,
And it always wants you
to remember the pleiades.
I completely agree with you,
And, you know, the fact
Look, if there was only
-Caral worldwide
that had this thing,
-right.
Then fine, there's no argument.
But the fact that there
are dozens of examples
Like that in ancient times,
That is the point.
You know, this whole excavation
of caral has put
The entire region
into a new light,
And if you think about it,
This excavation
has only just begun,
So who knows what
we'll discover in the future
And what other keys we'll find.
Childress:
So are there amazing discoveries
Still to be found in south
america? There may well be.
I absolutely think so because
There are vast swathes
of areas in south america
Where, you know, who knows
What we'll find in the future
because there's nobody there.
Narrator: In 2019,
archaeologists uncovered
An ancient settlement
in the country of bolivia,
Just south of peru,
that dates back
An astonishing 10,600 years.
While excavation
has not revealed
A sophisticated city like caral,
Experts believe
that it is just one
Of many ancient sites still left
To be uncovered
in south america.
And that it may only be
a matter of time
Before we are forced
to rewrite history once again.
One has to wonder if one day
Archaeology will agree with us.
And I think that this is the
direction we're actually going
Because they've always said,
"oh, you know,
Everything is established,
we kind of know everything."
And the truth of the matter
is that they don't, and caral
-Has proven this because when
you look at these pyramids
-henry: Exactly.
In different regions
of the world,
They correspond with each other.
But the depiction of
this staff god, one could argue,
"oh, you know, this is just
a deity holding a staff,"
Or whatever,
but the fact that worldwide
Not just in tiwanaku,
not just in caral
We have this motif of this being
holding two staffs.
- Right. Right.
- That is important.
The message is consistent
That extraterrestrials were not
only intervening but they were
- Helping to advance us.
- Well, gentlemen,
This has been
a fascinating conversation,
And you know, this is
what's so great about peru
And that whole region because
It continues to give us
new pieces of information.
Look, there can be so much more
to discover, and, no doubt,
It will shock us
Even more than
what we found at-at caral.
We're gonna find something
irrefutable very soon, I think.
- It's gonna change everything.
- Tsoukalos: Right.
And I really think that,
you know, the more
Archaeological evidence we find
That is connected to the stars
With a combination of stories
Of gods that once were here,
It'll only be a matter
of time where even
The most dismissive
archaeologists will have to say,
"man. Maybe these guys sitting
at this table were right."
Exactly.
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