WEBVTT

00:03.269 --> 00:05.472 align:start
The coastal deserts
of Peru were home to

00:05.505 --> 00:10.844 align:start
elaborate civilizations
long before the Incas arrived.

00:10.877 --> 00:12.245 align:start
Ah, that would
be something,

00:12.278 --> 00:14.147 align:start
you know if they
found something.

00:14.180 --> 00:16.883 align:start
Treasures from the
colossal to the minute

00:16.916 --> 00:20.086 align:start
can still be found

00:20.086 --> 00:26.593 align:start
as well as ancient traditions
that are still in practice.

00:29.963 --> 00:31.531 align:start
Funding for
        The Desert Speaks

00:31.564 --> 00:34.534 align:start
was provided by
Desert Program Partners,

00:34.567 --> 00:37.570 align:start
representing concerned viewers
making a financial commitment

00:37.570 --> 00:41.041 align:start
to the education about and
preservation of deserts.

00:41.074 --> 00:43.410 align:start
And by the
Stonewall Foundation.

00:43.443 --> 00:46.179 align:start
Additional funding provided by
The Nature Conservancy.

00:50.717 --> 01:15.909 align:start
♪ music ♪

01:19.045 --> 01:21.514 align:start
Along much of the coast
of northern Peru,

01:21.514 --> 01:24.918 align:start
it rains only in El Niño years.

01:24.951 --> 01:28.021 align:start
The landscape is dry and
barren but it's dotted

01:28.054 --> 01:31.458 align:start
with prehistoric cities
whose architecture is

01:31.491 --> 01:35.495 align:start
monumental on an
international scale.

01:35.528 --> 01:39.365 align:start
The pyramids of adobe
tower over the countryside

01:39.399 --> 01:42.268 align:start
and conceal treasures of
gold and silver

01:42.268 --> 01:46.005 align:start
equaled only in ancient Egypt.

01:46.039 --> 01:48.174 align:start
This is possible because
of the emergence of

01:48.174 --> 01:52.112 align:start
hydraulic societies
governed by complex

01:52.145 --> 01:58.551 align:start
and powerful bureaucracies.

01:58.551 --> 02:00.753 align:start
These ancient
civilizations are

02:00.787 --> 02:02.622 align:start
clustered along rivers
running down from the

02:02.655 --> 02:05.358 align:start
Andes of northern Peru.

02:05.391 --> 02:07.127 align:start
No one knows their
history better than

02:07.160 --> 02:10.964 align:start
my archeologist friend
Axel Neilsen.

02:10.997 --> 02:17.637 align:start
Our first stop is at the
eroded pyramid city of Túcume.

02:21.007 --> 02:23.376 align:start
One of the distinctive
characteristics of

02:23.409 --> 02:27.147 align:start
developments in the
coastal valleys of the

02:27.180 --> 02:32.051 align:start
Andes is the concentration
of population in urban center.

02:32.085 --> 02:39.359 align:start
And this is related to the
high circumscription

02:39.392 --> 02:42.195 align:start
And this is related to the
high circumscription

02:42.228 --> 02:46.065 align:start
of resources in these areas.

02:46.099 --> 02:48.301 align:start
The development of life in
this area depends on the

02:48.334 --> 02:50.670 align:start
exploitation of the sea
and the exploitation of

02:50.703 --> 02:54.607 align:start
agriculture through
intensive irrigation.

02:54.607 --> 02:57.243 align:start
Hey, Axel, why'd you
bring me up here?

02:57.243 --> 02:59.979 align:start
Well, you know, the city
is so big that unless we

02:59.979 --> 03:02.415 align:start
go up a hill like this
one, we won't be able to

03:02.448 --> 03:04.851 align:start
appreciate the size of it.

03:04.884 --> 03:06.452 align:start
Well, and it's the
only hill around.

03:06.486 --> 03:08.521 align:start
Yeah.

03:08.521 --> 03:11.157 align:start
Well, all the other
elevations you see are

03:11.157 --> 03:17.030 align:start
artificially made, are
adobe mounds and pyramids.

03:17.063 --> 03:19.399 align:start
The Chimú, this is the
kingdom that developed

03:19.432 --> 03:21.935 align:start
right before the expansion
of the Inca in the

03:21.968 --> 03:25.572 align:start
northern coastal valleys
of Peru, took irrigation

03:25.605 --> 03:28.908 align:start
to the highest
level of complexity.

03:28.908 --> 03:30.643 align:start
They developed canals that
would bring water from

03:30.643 --> 03:35.982 align:start
one valley to the next.

03:36.015 --> 03:38.585 align:start
And imagine at the time
there were more people

03:38.618 --> 03:43.289 align:start
around so probably the fields
were even larger than today.

03:43.289 --> 03:45.225 align:start
And the whole thing,
probably the landscape

03:45.258 --> 03:47.627 align:start
then resembled what
it is now, right?

03:47.660 --> 03:51.130 align:start
Yes, probably very similar.

03:51.164 --> 03:54.067 align:start
These mounds and pyramids
were used as the sites of

03:54.100 --> 03:57.837 align:start
palaces and burial
grounds for the rulers.

03:57.837 --> 04:01.140 align:start
The city flourished
around 1300.

04:01.174 --> 04:03.743 align:start
The site was probably
abandoned by the time the

04:03.776 --> 04:08.047 align:start
Spanish conquered the area,
which was around 1532 or 33.

04:08.047 --> 04:10.516 align:start
Tradition has it that
Túcume was founded by one

04:10.550 --> 04:14.087 align:start
of the 12 grandsons
of Naylamp.

04:14.120 --> 04:16.356 align:start
This is a mythical
character that arrived

04:16.389 --> 04:19.425 align:start
from the sea on a raft.

04:19.425 --> 04:22.662 align:start
And he commanded all his
12 grandsons to found a

04:22.695 --> 04:26.466 align:start
city, each one of them,
and this sort of parallels

04:26.499 --> 04:29.669 align:start
archeological evidence
that shows that the polity

04:29.702 --> 04:33.072 align:start
of Lambayeque developed
out of several, probably

04:33.072 --> 04:36.709 align:start
10 or 12, independent
city states.

04:36.709 --> 04:39.178 align:start
And looking at the
intensity of agriculture

04:39.212 --> 04:41.948 align:start
around here, you
can realize why the

04:41.981 --> 04:44.884 align:start
construction and
coordination of irrigation

04:44.884 --> 04:47.854 align:start
systems must have been a real
important political concern.

04:47.887 --> 04:50.690 align:start
Yeah, the life comes from
the people who run the water.

04:50.723 --> 04:53.760 align:start
I've heard that before.

04:53.793 --> 04:59.299 align:start
In addition to pyramids
Túcume has grand mesquites

04:59.332 --> 05:02.635 align:start
and living representatives
of an ancient race

05:02.635 --> 05:08.141 align:start
of medicinal dogs.

05:08.174 --> 05:11.244 align:start
This gnarly old mesquite
here maybe one of the

05:11.277 --> 05:14.480 align:start
ancestors of our mesquites
in the southwest.

05:14.480 --> 05:17.317 align:start
In the central and
southern Andes there are

05:17.350 --> 05:19.719 align:start
more than 30 species of
mesquites, most of them trees.

05:19.752 --> 05:22.021 align:start
And none of them have any
straight lumber just like

05:22.021 --> 05:24.724 align:start
ours, but all of
them have character.

05:24.757 --> 05:26.993 align:start
That's the way
mesquites are.

05:27.026 --> 05:27.794 align:start
Chala!

05:27.827 --> 05:29.228 align:start
Ven!

05:29.262 --> 05:30.596 align:start
(whistling)

05:30.630 --> 05:31.764 align:start
Chimú dogs.

05:31.764 --> 05:33.132 align:start
Chala.

05:33.132 --> 05:35.401 align:start
Aren't these amazing dogs?

05:35.401 --> 05:37.270 align:start
But these are apparently,
these are pre-Columbian breed.

05:37.303 --> 05:39.372 align:start
Yeah, they are
called Chimú.

05:39.405 --> 05:41.441 align:start
Like Chimú, which was the
name of the civilization

05:41.474 --> 05:43.309 align:start
that was here at the
time of the conquest.

05:43.309 --> 05:44.777 align:start
They're amazingly
affectionate.

05:44.777 --> 05:46.379 align:start
Look at that.

05:46.412 --> 05:48.781 align:start
Look she's got a Mohawk.

05:48.781 --> 05:50.550 align:start
She's, and then they
got this one little bit.

05:50.583 --> 05:55.054 align:start
They are the
most loving dog.

05:55.054 --> 05:57.623 align:start
Yeah, that's my ear.

05:57.657 --> 06:02.428 align:start
She likes to be in
laps, she's a lap dog.

06:04.964 --> 06:07.433 align:start
The same people who built
Túcume constructed a host of

06:07.433 --> 06:11.270 align:start
pyramids throughout the area,
including one at Sipán.

06:11.304 --> 06:14.340 align:start
Inside that pyramid,
huaqueros, or grave

06:14.340 --> 06:17.477 align:start
robbers, discovered a
trove of gold and silver

06:17.510 --> 06:22.915 align:start
artifacts that exceeded
anyone's imagination.

06:22.915 --> 06:25.318 align:start
You know, David, I think
that the royal tombs of

06:25.351 --> 06:27.587 align:start
Sipán are the most
fantastic discovery in the

06:27.620 --> 06:30.056 align:start
history of Peruvian
archeology.

06:30.089 --> 06:31.524 align:start
Well, I think I the
history of the New World.

06:31.557 --> 06:33.192 align:start
I don't think there's
anything like it.

06:33.192 --> 06:34.827 align:start
Yeah, I think that
would be fair to say.

06:34.827 --> 06:36.829 align:start
The whole building here,
and it's a huge investment

06:36.829 --> 06:39.031 align:start
by both Peruvian
government, I think

06:39.065 --> 06:41.401 align:start
international funds too,
dedicated to the discovery

06:41.434 --> 06:43.336 align:start
of one tomb.

06:43.369 --> 06:45.671 align:start
Yes, actually a series of
tombs, you know, it's the

06:45.705 --> 06:48.875 align:start
Lord of Sipán and
his predecessors.

06:48.908 --> 06:51.210 align:start
This is the first time
that the royal tomb of the

06:51.210 --> 06:52.979 align:start
Moche was found intact by
archeologists before the

06:53.012 --> 06:54.514 align:start
looters got there.

06:54.547 --> 06:56.482 align:start
And what a discovery.

06:56.482 --> 07:02.021 align:start
Can you imagine
finding this?

07:02.021 --> 07:05.892 align:start
Wow, that would
be something.

07:05.925 --> 07:08.461 align:start
You know if I found
something like this I would

07:08.494 --> 07:10.363 align:start
know I'm close to a king
because this was the crown.

07:10.396 --> 07:11.697 align:start
This was his crown.

07:11.731 --> 07:12.865 align:start
Solid gold.

07:12.865 --> 07:14.734 align:start
Yes.

07:14.767 --> 07:16.536 align:start
And this is another
important emblem

07:16.569 --> 07:18.204 align:start
of the Lord of Sipán.

07:18.237 --> 07:19.972 align:start
These were worn
by warriors only.

07:19.972 --> 07:22.108 align:start
These are like a
coxal protector.

07:22.141 --> 07:24.544 align:start
This was hanging from the
waist of every warrior.

07:24.577 --> 07:26.779 align:start
So they had a king warrior
and that was the key

07:26.779 --> 07:27.914 align:start
that this was the top?

07:27.947 --> 07:29.449 align:start
Yes.

07:29.482 --> 07:31.150 align:start
There was nobody
higher than this.

07:31.150 --> 07:33.286 align:start
Exactly and warrior
emblems were very

07:33.319 --> 07:35.688 align:start
important as
signs of power.

07:35.721 --> 07:38.357 align:start
As you see in this staff
the image you have there

07:38.391 --> 07:41.127 align:start
engraved represents a
warrior with a prisoner who

07:41.160 --> 07:49.001 align:start
is naked and you know deprived
of his weapons and uniform.

07:49.001 --> 07:52.171 align:start
When they found all these
emblems they knew this was

07:52.171 --> 07:54.674 align:start
a king and the most
important thing, I mean

07:54.707 --> 07:56.776 align:start
for a long time these
emblems have been known

07:56.809 --> 08:00.646 align:start
from murals and
paintings and pottery.

08:00.646 --> 08:02.281 align:start
In other things that
they had found.

08:02.281 --> 08:04.417 align:start
Exactly and archeologists
thought these were

08:04.450 --> 08:06.752 align:start
mythical characters, but
when they found the tomb

08:06.786 --> 08:08.888 align:start
of the Lord of Sipán, they
suddenly realized that

08:08.921 --> 08:12.291 align:start
these were the emblems
of real people.

08:12.291 --> 08:13.993 align:start
Wow, in other words this
isn't just a story,

08:14.026 --> 08:16.062 align:start
this is the real guy.

08:16.095 --> 08:19.131 align:start
Yeah, this was one of the
keys of this discovery.

08:19.165 --> 08:21.634 align:start
Apart from the
astonishment of this

08:21.667 --> 08:24.337 align:start
discovery, what were the
archeologists finding out

08:24.370 --> 08:26.239 align:start
when they saw this?

08:26.272 --> 08:29.308 align:start
Well, I think one of the
most eloquent expressions

08:29.308 --> 08:31.777 align:start
of the power of the Lord
of Sipán is that when he

08:31.811 --> 08:35.882 align:start
went to the grave he took with
him several people.

08:35.915 --> 08:39.318 align:start
For instance, they found
eight people that were

08:39.318 --> 08:43.689 align:start
sacrificed to go to the
tomb with the Lord of Sipán.

08:43.689 --> 08:46.559 align:start
One of them, the first
was a, a soldier that was

08:46.592 --> 08:49.028 align:start
scarred in the tomb.

08:49.061 --> 08:50.897 align:start
He had amputated his two
feet so he wouldn't leave

08:50.930 --> 08:53.900 align:start
his post guarding the tomb.

08:53.933 --> 08:56.369 align:start
That'll slow
him down, yeah.

08:56.402 --> 08:58.271 align:start
Yeah, this is one of the
finest pieces they found

08:58.304 --> 09:00.006 align:start
in the tomb.

09:00.039 --> 09:01.173 align:start
Gold on one side and
silver on the other.

09:01.207 --> 09:02.608 align:start
Silver.

09:02.608 --> 09:04.577 align:start
And they say this
represents a duality, you

09:04.610 --> 09:05.912 align:start
know, gold associated
with the sun, and silver

09:05.945 --> 09:07.780 align:start
associated with the moon.

09:07.813 --> 09:09.749 align:start
Look at this.

09:09.782 --> 09:12.218 align:start
This is was one of the
chest pieces that the body

09:12.251 --> 09:15.421 align:start
was wearing in the coffin.

09:15.454 --> 09:16.989 align:start
Look at the thousands and
thousands of pieces of shell.

09:16.989 --> 09:18.658 align:start
Spondylus from Ecuador?

09:18.691 --> 09:20.259 align:start
Yes, and malachite
probably.

09:20.259 --> 09:24.030 align:start
Yeah.

09:24.063 --> 09:25.731 align:start
These are the ears posts
that the priest

09:25.731 --> 09:28.000 align:start
was wearing in the grave.

09:28.000 --> 09:29.602 align:start
And a nose, I don't know,
what would you call that?

09:29.635 --> 09:31.837 align:start
A narigara.

09:31.871 --> 09:33.639 align:start
Yeah, but there's not a
good English word for it,

09:33.639 --> 09:35.408 align:start
but that would cover
his nose real well.

09:35.441 --> 09:36.576 align:start
Yeah, it would insulate
the Lord and his mouth

09:36.609 --> 09:39.478 align:start
from all the mortals.

09:39.512 --> 09:40.780 align:start
And here he is.

09:40.813 --> 09:42.214 align:start
That's him.

09:42.248 --> 09:43.749 align:start
This is him.

09:43.749 --> 09:46.419 align:start
That's his actual remains.

09:46.452 --> 09:49.355 align:start
Well, he's less impressive
in death than he was in life.

09:49.388 --> 09:56.596 align:start
Yeah, I guess we're
all similar in death.

09:56.629 --> 09:58.998 align:start
This painting is a
reconstruction of how the

09:59.031 --> 10:02.168 align:start
funeral of the Lord of
Sipán could have been.

10:02.201 --> 10:06.205 align:start
Here you see the visitors,
the old people, directing

10:06.205 --> 10:08.908 align:start
the ceremony, the new lord
already appointed that is

10:08.941 --> 10:11.877 align:start
directing the funeral and
you see the coffins there

10:11.911 --> 10:15.047 align:start
with the sacrificed women
and soldiers and servants

10:15.047 --> 10:20.252 align:start
that went into the tomb
with the Lord of Sipán.

10:23.289 --> 10:25.424 align:start
One of the things that the
Moche represented in their

10:25.424 --> 10:27.660 align:start
pottery were the
different stages of life.

10:27.693 --> 10:29.495 align:start
For instance, they have
pots where they show

10:29.528 --> 10:31.931 align:start
sexual relations, they
show pots were they show

10:31.964 --> 10:34.300 align:start
birth, they show children,
they show young people,

10:34.333 --> 10:37.703 align:start
warriors for instance,
they show adults, farmers,

10:37.703 --> 10:41.240 align:start
they showed old people,
and they also show the

10:41.240 --> 10:45.745 align:start
afterlife in the
form of skeletons.

10:45.778 --> 10:48.614 align:start
The Moche were in my
opinion among the best

10:48.614 --> 10:50.816 align:start
goldsmiths of the history
of Peru and this is one

10:50.816 --> 10:52.284 align:start
of my favorite pieces.

10:52.318 --> 10:53.085 align:start
These are spiders.

10:53.085 --> 10:54.887 align:start
Yes.

10:54.920 --> 10:56.856 align:start
Each one of them
represents a spider in its

10:56.889 --> 10:59.225 align:start
web and each one of these
pieces has more than

10:59.258 --> 11:04.397 align:start
100 points of welding.

11:07.266 --> 11:09.969 align:start
This section shows
recovered loot from Peru

11:10.002 --> 11:11.971 align:start
all over the world.

11:12.004 --> 11:13.873 align:start
Yeah, that's actually how
the archeologists found

11:13.906 --> 11:15.975 align:start
out that there was an
important tomb in Sipán

11:16.008 --> 11:18.544 align:start
because the looters didn't
agree on their share of

11:18.577 --> 11:21.414 align:start
the loot so one of them
went to the police and

11:21.447 --> 11:23.883 align:start
reported the other ones
and that's how they police

11:23.916 --> 11:27.386 align:start
traced the existence
of the tombs.

11:27.386 --> 11:29.422 align:start
There's just no
honor among thieves.

11:29.455 --> 11:31.791 align:start
But this was worth
apparently $600,000 on the

11:31.824 --> 11:33.225 align:start
international market
in Philadelphia.

11:33.225 --> 11:35.061 align:start
The FBI recovered it.

11:35.094 --> 11:37.229 align:start
Yeah, this is one of the
pieces they, they sold

11:37.229 --> 11:39.765 align:start
before the archeologists
got to the site.

11:39.765 --> 11:42.034 align:start
You know the pieces were
so valuable that during

11:42.034 --> 11:44.503 align:start
the excavations the
archeologists had to be

11:44.503 --> 11:46.472 align:start
guarded the entire time by
the army and the police

11:46.505 --> 11:49.442 align:start
to keep the looters away.

11:49.475 --> 12:03.456 align:start
(music playing)

12:09.595 --> 12:12.131 align:start
100 miles away from Sipán a

12:12.164 --> 12:14.400 align:start
different culture,
the Moche, constructed

12:14.433 --> 12:17.737 align:start
pyramids 500 years
earlier, even more vast

12:17.770 --> 12:22.108 align:start
than those built
later in the north.

12:22.141 --> 12:25.144 align:start
The notion that the world
is made of the interplay

12:25.177 --> 12:28.080 align:start
of opposites, and that
opposite poles are

12:28.080 --> 12:30.483 align:start
necessary for the
reproduction of life was a

12:30.516 --> 12:34.220 align:start
very important concept
in Andean culture.

12:34.253 --> 12:36.422 align:start
You can see it here at
Moche in the existence

12:36.455 --> 12:38.824 align:start
of two main temples.

12:38.824 --> 12:41.393 align:start
Huaca del Sol is a temple
devoted to the sun and

12:41.427 --> 12:44.563 align:start
Huaca de la Luna, a temple
devoted to the moon.

12:44.563 --> 12:46.799 align:start
In the funerary office of
the Lord of Sipán where

12:46.832 --> 12:49.602 align:start
they combined silver,
which was related

12:49.635 --> 12:52.671 align:start
symbolically to the moon
and gold, symbolically

12:52.705 --> 13:00.379 align:start
related to the sun.

13:00.379 --> 13:02.715 align:start
That's Huaca del Sol.

13:02.748 --> 13:06.285 align:start
This is the largest adobe
made monument in the

13:06.318 --> 13:09.188 align:start
entire New World and what
you see now is only one

13:09.221 --> 13:11.590 align:start
fifth of what it
was originally.

13:11.590 --> 13:13.459 align:start
It kind of breaks
your heart.

13:13.492 --> 13:15.327 align:start
It was deliberately
destroyed by Spaniards

13:15.327 --> 13:18.564 align:start
placer mining it for gold.

13:18.597 --> 13:21.267 align:start
Yeah, they diverted the
Rio Moche, you know the

13:21.300 --> 13:25.538 align:start
Moche River, to erode
this side of the monument.

13:25.571 --> 13:29.475 align:start
It took a lot of bricks
to build these huacas.

13:29.508 --> 13:32.044 align:start
Well, they have estimated
that for Huaca del Sol,

13:32.077 --> 13:34.380 align:start
which is the biggest one,
they used 100 million bricks.

13:34.413 --> 13:36.248 align:start
100 million bricks.

13:36.248 --> 13:38.384 align:start
Just in that building.

13:38.417 --> 13:41.754 align:start
So they got 500 workers,
each one has to make 200,000.

13:41.787 --> 13:43.789 align:start
That's, that's right.

13:43.789 --> 13:45.357 align:start
That's a big task.

13:45.357 --> 13:47.293 align:start
Yeah, that's
a lot of work.

13:47.326 --> 13:49.028 align:start
Each brick has a different
distinctive mark and they

13:49.061 --> 13:51.797 align:start
have detected about a
hundred different marks,

13:51.797 --> 13:55.734 align:start
which probably means that
different communities were

13:55.768 --> 13:58.838 align:start
contributing their labor
to the construction of the

13:58.871 --> 14:01.240 align:start
monument and they left
their distinctive mark

14:01.273 --> 14:03.309 align:start
for it to be remembered.

14:03.342 --> 14:07.313 align:start
They had already paid
their taxes, you see?

14:11.083 --> 14:12.818 align:start
You recognize
this character?

14:12.818 --> 14:15.054 align:start
Looks like a jaguar?

14:15.087 --> 14:16.388 align:start
So, yeah.

14:16.388 --> 14:17.690 align:start
It is a jaguar?

14:17.723 --> 14:21.193 align:start
Like human and
feline traits.

14:21.193 --> 14:24.330 align:start
They call it Ai Apaec.

14:24.363 --> 14:28.300 align:start
This is the first state to
arise in the ancient Andes

14:28.300 --> 14:32.171 align:start
and it integrated between
around 600 kilometers off

14:32.204 --> 14:36.742 align:start
the coastal valleys of
Peru for over 600 years.

14:36.775 --> 14:38.110 align:start
.it's an iguana.

14:38.143 --> 14:39.912 align:start
It's an iguana, huh?

14:39.945 --> 14:42.448 align:start
And it's, look, it's
holding a trophy head.

14:42.481 --> 14:44.516 align:start
So it's, yeah, a head
that's been decapitated

14:44.550 --> 14:46.485 align:start
from the body.

14:46.485 --> 14:49.521 align:start
Yeah, decapitation is
one of the major icons

14:49.555 --> 14:53.425 align:start
throughout Andean history.

14:53.425 --> 14:56.295 align:start
It looks like a
octopus on the mural.

14:56.328 --> 14:58.797 align:start
Well, you know, I think
that's again the god

14:58.831 --> 15:02.468 align:start
Ai Apaec which is represented
sometimes fused,

15:02.501 --> 15:05.871 align:start
as a human fused with
different animals.

15:05.871 --> 15:07.473 align:start
In this case it's an
octopus, sometimes it's

15:07.506 --> 15:13.078 align:start
a feline, a fox, a vulture.

15:13.078 --> 15:15.147 align:start
God, this gives us a
little idea what

15:15.180 --> 15:16.682 align:start
the original outside
looked like.

15:16.715 --> 15:18.050 align:start
Yeah, look.

15:18.083 --> 15:19.351 align:start
Iguanas on the top.

15:19.351 --> 15:20.753 align:start
And then spiders.

15:20.786 --> 15:22.888 align:start
Spiders, yeah.

15:22.888 --> 15:24.423 align:start
Just like, you remember
the gold necklace of one

15:24.456 --> 15:25.557 align:start
of the lords of Sipán?

15:25.591 --> 15:27.693 align:start
Yes, yes.

15:27.726 --> 15:29.228 align:start
And then there are these
guys doing some kind of

15:29.261 --> 15:30.796 align:start
ritual dance
all in a line.

15:30.829 --> 15:32.598 align:start
Yeah, and they are carrying.

15:32.631 --> 15:34.333 align:start
Look, it goes all the way
around here.

15:34.366 --> 15:35.467 align:start
Yeah, they are carrying
maces so they,

15:35.467 --> 15:39.405 align:start
they had to be warriors.

15:39.438 --> 15:43.108 align:start
While the Moche pyramids
stressed verticality,

15:43.108 --> 15:46.478 align:start
20 miles away and more than
500 years later the Chimús

15:46.478 --> 15:49.581 align:start
built on a horizontal
scale unequaled

15:49.615 --> 15:54.153 align:start
anywhere else in the world.

15:54.186 --> 15:58.157 align:start
Chan Chan was the capital
of the Chimú kingdom.

15:58.190 --> 16:01.927 align:start
It was the second largest
state in the pre-Hispanic

16:01.927 --> 16:06.165 align:start
Andes, second only
to the Inca Empire.

16:06.198 --> 16:08.400 align:start
Axel, I can hardly
conceive how vast this

16:08.400 --> 16:12.171 align:start
complex called
Chan Chan is.

16:12.204 --> 16:16.642 align:start
I heard it's 14 square
kilometers and you can

16:16.675 --> 16:19.878 align:start
see, this for instance,
this is just one plaza of

16:19.912 --> 16:24.116 align:start
one of the nine palaces
and that doesn't count

16:24.149 --> 16:27.386 align:start
the commoner residence area.

16:27.419 --> 16:29.688 align:start
Where all the, all the
working folk lived?

16:29.688 --> 16:32.057 align:start
Yes, mostly specialized
artisan like goldsmiths

16:32.057 --> 16:35.694 align:start
and potters and weavers.

16:35.694 --> 16:38.797 align:start
What's most confusing is
that as vast as it is,

16:38.797 --> 16:40.899 align:start
there's no high point that
we have today where

16:40.933 --> 16:43.135 align:start
you can see your way out.

16:43.168 --> 16:45.537 align:start
It's like a maze
that never ends.

16:45.537 --> 16:47.673 align:start
Yes, that's a, that's
a sharp contrast

16:47.706 --> 16:49.274 align:start
with the Moche architecture.

16:49.308 --> 16:50.943 align:start
Yeah, those huge pyramids.

16:50.976 --> 16:53.545 align:start
Pyramids.

16:53.545 --> 16:56.682 align:start
And it was inhabited by
near 40 or 50 thousand people.

16:56.715 --> 17:00.686 align:start
All of them were rulers
or nobility or part of the

17:00.719 --> 17:04.590 align:start
courts of the rulers or
servants and specialized

17:04.623 --> 17:08.427 align:start
artisans that lived in special
quarters within the city.

17:08.460 --> 17:11.730 align:start
It is all made of adobe
and it has characteristic

17:11.730 --> 17:17.336 align:start
wall decorations
made of mud.

17:17.369 --> 17:20.739 align:start
Chan Chan has these miles
of walls with these sort

17:20.739 --> 17:23.242 align:start
of embossed three-dimensional
designs on them.

17:23.275 --> 17:25.277 align:start
Amazing!

17:25.310 --> 17:27.079 align:start
I would say this is the most
famous characteristic

17:27.112 --> 17:28.280 align:start
of the city.

17:28.313 --> 17:30.549 align:start
Uh-huh.

17:30.582 --> 17:33.218 align:start
All the palaces are decorated
with this kind of technique.

17:33.218 --> 17:36.889 align:start
And if you look at the motifs,
most of them refer to the sea.

17:36.922 --> 17:40.793 align:start
You see fish for instance
and this step-like motif

17:40.826 --> 17:43.128 align:start
is a representation
of water.

17:43.128 --> 17:44.963 align:start
So there would be
fish in the waves.

17:44.997 --> 17:47.232 align:start
In the waves.

17:47.232 --> 17:50.302 align:start
And this friezes here
represent not wafers

17:50.335 --> 17:52.938 align:start
but nets, fishing nets.

17:52.971 --> 17:54.206 align:start
Fishing nets.

17:54.239 --> 17:56.442 align:start
Well, it makes
sense, yeah.

17:56.475 --> 17:57.576 align:start
I'd have figured it out
sooner or later but,

17:57.609 --> 18:00.045 align:start
yeah, you're right.

18:00.045 --> 18:03.248 align:start
The economy of Chan Chan,
like most states in the

18:03.248 --> 18:06.919 align:start
Peruvian coast, was
based on a combination of

18:06.952 --> 18:11.790 align:start
maritime resources, which
it's clearly reflected in

18:11.790 --> 18:14.793 align:start
the emphasis that the
iconography of Chan Chan

18:14.793 --> 18:18.397 align:start
puts on the sea and fish
and, and sea fowl and

18:18.430 --> 18:22.134 align:start
in intensive agricultural.

18:22.167 --> 18:24.670 align:start
And the Chimú developed
the most ambitious

18:24.703 --> 18:29.441 align:start
irrigation projects to be
carried on the coast of Peru.

18:29.441 --> 18:32.945 align:start
The city of Chan Chan
got its water from the aquifer.

18:32.978 --> 18:36.548 align:start
They built these wells
and there are more than a

18:36.548 --> 18:39.685 align:start
hundred of these spread
throughout the city.

18:39.718 --> 18:44.323 align:start
At some point they run
out of low ground, in the city.

18:44.356 --> 18:47.493 align:start
At that point they built
these inter-valley canals

18:47.526 --> 18:50.963 align:start
that would bring water to this
valley from other valleys.

18:50.996 --> 18:53.732 align:start
And that not only allowed
them to expand their

18:53.732 --> 18:56.301 align:start
agricultural fields but
also by feeding more water

18:56.301 --> 18:59.271 align:start
into the valley, they
raised the water table.

18:59.304 --> 19:02.774 align:start
So they were able to expand the
city into higher ground.

19:02.808 --> 19:05.177 align:start
Boy, they were. Think
of that project.

19:05.210 --> 19:08.847 align:start
They were a hydraulic
society of the first rank.

19:08.847 --> 19:11.617 align:start
Although more than a
century and a half of

19:11.650 --> 19:14.186 align:start
research has been
conducted on the

19:14.219 --> 19:16.889 align:start
archeology of Peru, the
archeological heritage of

19:16.922 --> 19:20.659 align:start
this country is so rich
and so vast, that we still

19:20.692 --> 19:24.163 align:start
know very little about the
complexity and the history

19:24.196 --> 19:29.835 align:start
of pre-Hispanic
peoples in this area.

19:29.868 --> 19:32.204 align:start
Unfortunately, although
there is a lot of

19:32.237 --> 19:34.339 align:start
archeological research
being done in Peru, both

19:34.339 --> 19:38.010 align:start
by Peruvian archeologists
and foreign expeditions,

19:38.043 --> 19:41.480 align:start
the destruction of the
cultural heritage of this

19:41.513 --> 19:45.050 align:start
country in the hands of
huaqueros or looters, is

19:45.083 --> 19:49.688 align:start
so intense that I feel we
are going to lose a lot of

19:49.721 --> 19:54.126 align:start
that evidence before we
can know more about the past.

19:54.159 --> 20:00.599 align:start
(music playing)

20:00.632 --> 20:02.768 align:start
The coastal people, like their

20:02.801 --> 20:05.237 align:start
eco-successors, are still
with us along Peru's

20:05.270 --> 20:08.774 align:start
coast, carrying on their
ancient traditions.

20:08.807 --> 20:11.310 align:start
Their reed boats, which
they call caballitos del

20:11.343 --> 20:19.418 align:start
mar, little sea horses, are made
from a reed called totora.

20:19.451 --> 20:22.721 align:start
The caballitos and totora
were first developed by

20:22.754 --> 20:26.491 align:start
the late pre-ceramic populations
of the coast of Peru.

20:26.525 --> 20:29.962 align:start
This is about 5000 years
ago, the time right before

20:29.995 --> 20:33.065 align:start
the introduction
of agriculture.

20:33.098 --> 20:36.101 align:start
The exploitation of sea
resources was the key to

20:36.134 --> 20:39.504 align:start
the economy of the
time and the caballitos

20:39.538 --> 20:43.242 align:start
probably meant a very
important change in that

20:43.275 --> 20:45.744 align:start
economy because a lot of
people do fish away from

20:45.777 --> 20:49.047 align:start
the sea shore, and
therefore to tap into the

20:49.047 --> 20:52.818 align:start
very rich sea resources
that are brought to this

20:52.851 --> 20:56.688 align:start
coast by the
Current of Humboldt.

20:56.688 --> 20:59.725 align:start
       Barbudo, Lisa, Raya,
  Tachema, Lisa, Idorna y Suco.

20:59.758 --> 21:06.198 align:start
These are some of
the different kinds of fish.

21:06.231 --> 21:09.067 align:start
My grandfathers were
fisherman,

21:09.067 --> 21:11.403 align:start
my father
was a fisherman.

21:11.436 --> 21:13.805 align:start
It's a lifestyle that gets
passed on from generation

21:13.805 --> 21:18.076 align:start
to generation.

21:18.076 --> 21:19.811 align:start
The Incas were
also fishermen.

21:19.811 --> 21:22.748 align:start
It's passed on through
many generations.

21:22.781 --> 21:27.753 align:start
They were very
important for sea trade.

21:27.786 --> 21:30.956 align:start
They were very
important for sea trade.

21:30.989 --> 21:33.892 align:start
They used caballitos and
totora and totora rafts to

21:33.892 --> 21:37.296 align:start
trade all along the coast
of Peru up to Ecuador and

21:37.329 --> 21:43.135 align:start
down the coast some 1000
kilometers away from here

21:43.168 --> 21:45.737 align:start
where they controlled
several islands off the

21:45.737 --> 21:50.342 align:start
shore of, of
Nazca and Paracas.

22:01.620 --> 22:03.722 align:start
It is surprising that
the tradition of making

22:03.755 --> 22:05.924 align:start
caballitos and totora has
survived with not many

22:05.924 --> 22:11.963 align:start
changes for 5000 years.

22:14.933 --> 22:18.103 align:start
And it still provides the
basis of subsistence for

22:18.136 --> 22:23.008 align:start
many families in
northern Peru.

22:23.041 --> 22:24.710 align:start
I brought the totora seeds
from Chan Chan

22:24.743 --> 22:27.045 align:start
to plant my totoral.

22:27.045 --> 22:29.548 align:start
Most of totorales in Chan
Chan are gone, but now

22:29.581 --> 22:32.417 align:start
there are more
around here.

22:32.417 --> 22:37.723 align:start
Many more totorales
than back in Chan Chan.

22:42.761 --> 22:46.498 align:start
Each family in  La Menchaca
has a plot or two or three

22:46.531 --> 22:49.935 align:start
where they maintain their
supply of totora, which is

22:49.968 --> 22:52.537 align:start
the reed from which
they make their boats.

22:52.537 --> 22:55.040 align:start
They maintain these
very carefully and have

22:55.073 --> 22:58.043 align:start
maintained them in the
family for generations.

22:58.076 --> 23:00.278 align:start
They cut the reeds just
above the water line so

23:00.312 --> 23:03.215 align:start
that they will grow back
into long strips that they

23:03.248 --> 23:05.917 align:start
can then use to
make their boats.

23:05.917 --> 23:08.019 align:start
Every few years, however,
they find it necessary to

23:08.053 --> 23:10.922 align:start
dig out the plants by the
roots and plant shoots so

23:10.922 --> 23:14.092 align:start
that they will have an
unending supply of the

23:14.092 --> 23:23.268 align:start
caballitos del mar, the
little horse of the sea.

23:23.301 --> 23:25.771 align:start
All the fishermen make
their own caballitos.

23:25.804 --> 23:33.612 align:start
Right here, there are
35 fishermen working.

23:33.645 --> 23:36.248 align:start
When the ocean's
calm, we fish all day.

23:36.281 --> 23:38.216 align:start
When it's not, we don't.

23:38.216 --> 23:40.285 align:start
It impossible to manage
the boat and fish at the

23:40.318 --> 23:45.791 align:start
same time which
battling big waves.

23:45.824 --> 23:48.393 align:start
Here it's our custom to share
the catch amongst families.

23:48.393 --> 23:50.762 align:start
Some days I might not have
anything, but they do,

23:50.762 --> 23:52.831 align:start
so they're help me out.

23:52.864 --> 23:54.332 align:start
That's how related
families survive together.

23:54.366 --> 23:57.402 align:start
It's our custom.

24:01.840 --> 24:04.409 align:start
Of course, the Incas made
their own caballitos and

24:04.409 --> 24:07.212 align:start
their patachos, sometimes
they went far out from

24:07.245 --> 24:08.880 align:start
shore to the islands
because they couldn't

24:08.880 --> 24:10.949 align:start
find fish along the coast.

24:10.982 --> 24:15.220 align:start
That's the way it was.

24:15.253 --> 24:23.628 align:start
♪ music ♪

24:23.628 --> 24:26.698 align:start
The desert civilizations
of ancient

24:26.731 --> 24:30.202 align:start
coastal Peru, rose and
fell over the millennia,

24:30.235 --> 24:34.306 align:start
mostly as a result
of climate change or conquest.

24:34.339 --> 24:37.676 align:start
Today we are learning more about
these brilliant empires.

24:37.709 --> 24:40.645 align:start
The greatest impediment to
increased understanding is

24:40.645 --> 24:43.648 align:start
the greed of international
art collectors and the

24:43.648 --> 24:49.654 align:start
complicity of
the huaqueros.

24:49.654 --> 24:51.923 align:start
Together they deprive
Peruvians of their

24:51.923 --> 24:54.526 align:start
patrimony and the rest of
the world of some of its

24:54.559 --> 24:59.030 align:start
greatest art treasures.

25:02.467 --> 25:04.903 align:start
Only three gates that
cross the wall. In the

25:04.936 --> 25:07.672 align:start
mountaintop cloud forests
of northern Peru lie

25:07.672 --> 25:11.877 align:start
monumental remnants of
pre-Incan civilizations.

25:11.910 --> 25:16.114 align:start
In the towns you can find
stunning artifacts that

25:16.114 --> 25:23.755 align:start
testify to the complexity
of those societies.

25:23.788 --> 25:27.993 align:start
And out on the streets you
can find peculiar hats.

25:28.026 --> 25:30.562 align:start
Next time on The
         Desert Speaks .

25:32.964 --> 25:35.267 align:start
This drawing that is a
replica of one found on a

25:35.300 --> 25:39.471 align:start
vessel represents a king
which has the emblems that

25:39.504 --> 25:41.907 align:start
were found in the tomb of
what they call the Lord of

25:41.940 --> 25:45.143 align:start
Sipán, the coxal protector
for instance or the crown

25:45.143 --> 25:47.312 align:start
and this other person
which they called the

25:47.345 --> 25:50.715 align:start
priest which is handing
a cup to the king.

25:50.715 --> 25:53.151 align:start
They found the tomb of
this person too holding

25:53.151 --> 25:57.322 align:start
a cup in his right hand.

25:57.355 --> 26:00.225 align:start
And this is the cup he was
holding in his right hand.

26:02.160 --> 26:03.828 align:start
Funding for
        The Desert Speaks

26:03.862 --> 26:06.431 align:start
was provided by
Desert Program Partners,

26:06.464 --> 26:09.367 align:start
representing concerned viewers
making a financial commitment

26:09.367 --> 26:12.704 align:start
to the education about and
preservation of deserts.

26:12.737 --> 26:14.839 align:start
And by the
Stonewall Foundation.