Documental La pirmides perdidas de los Aztecas - Las pirmides de la muerte online DocumaniaTVcom
En este episodio, los arqueólogos investigan el extraordinario descubrimiento de más de 100 esqueletos antiguos enterrados en una colina en las afueras de la ciudad de México, intentan decodificar los secretos de un misterioso manuscrito antiguo para revelar los secretos del sacrificio ritual azteca y finalmente logran completar su innovador experimento. para construir una réplica de la pirámide azteca.
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00:00The majestic Aztec Empire, one of the most powerful civilizations that the world has ever seen.
00:10The Aztecs were fearsome, intelligent, a force to be reckoned with.
00:15700 years ago, the Aztecs dominated Mexico.
00:19They were relentless warriors and skilled engineers.
00:23But 200 years later, their vast empire was annihilated by the Spanish invaders.
00:29They would never have seen metal weapons or firearms.
00:33It was as if they were softening lightning or thunder.
00:36For centuries, archaeologists have tried to clarify who the Aztecs were and how they raised their imposing empire.
00:45Can a new series of investigations and a revolutionary experiment help solve these mysteries?
00:52Our cameras have had the exclusive privilege of being able to follow the investigators
00:57as they delve into these ancient and exceptional sites.
01:01Will these extraordinary clues and a revolutionary attempt to build an Aztec pyramid
01:09shed some light on the incredible secrets of the Aztecs
01:14and reveal what life was like in one of the greatest empires in history?
01:22The Lost Pyramids of the Aztecs
01:29In the 15th century, the Aztecs built the most formidable empire in the Americas
01:36and ruled from one of the largest cities in the world.
01:43In their hearts, they built imposing pyramids to worship their gods,
01:48using the resources of their ever-growing empire.
01:56Today, archaeologists are investigating how they controlled such a large territory.
02:04We find a clue in Metepec, 55 kilometers west of Mexico City.
02:10On this slope, archaeologists have made a dark discovery.
02:16The skeletons of 118 men and women,
02:20some buried at a shallow depth and others at almost two meters.
02:26Many were buried lying down, but a few have their knees flexed,
02:33some have ceramics, and others do not.
02:38All these skeletons date from the 15th century, the rise of the Aztec mandate.
02:45What can they tell us about the power that the Aztec empire had?
02:53Archaeologist Carmen Carvajal is examining one of the skeletons in the cemetery.
02:59The size of the bones and skull suggest that it was a 35-year-old man.
03:09Next to the jaw, there is a black stone that gives Carmen a clue about his life.
03:17This is an obsidian element, it is a kiss,
03:21and it was placed in this part of the skull.
03:25Carmen believes that the stone was a symbol of high social status.
03:30This individual, as he belonged to a noble class,
03:35at the time of his death, he was given a special treatment.
03:42The body was buried with offerings to help the man in his way to the beyond.
03:47All these vessels are the remains of the tomb.
03:52All these vessels are from the Aztec group.
03:57The malacates, the seals, the objects of copper, the tweezers, the needle.
04:05The offerings show that it is an Aztec skeleton.
04:11But many of the bodies were not buried with these same offerings.
04:17Carmen believes that some skeletons are not Aztec,
04:22but of the local tribe Matlatzinca.
04:27Why did they bury the Aztecs with the Matlatzinca?
04:34When the Aztecs arrived in the valley of Toluca and found this Matlatzinca group,
04:41possessed of the whole valley, the first thing they did was to conquer them.
04:48After defeating the Matlatzinca, the Aztecs absorbed them into their empire.
04:55The Matlatzinca began to fight in the Aztec armies,
04:59and the two tribes lived side by side.
05:06The Aztecs coexisted with their ancient enemies.
05:11But Carmen wants to know more about how they took control.
05:18Nearby, in Calixtlahuaca, archaeologists have discovered a clue.
05:26Unlike most Aztec monuments, this structure is round.
05:32Due to its shape, it is dedicated to the deity of Hecate,
05:38Hecate, god of the wind.
05:42The temples in honor of the Aztec god of the wind did not have a specific orientation.
05:48They were built to facilitate the wind blowing around them,
05:52and to reflect that the wind came from all directions.
05:56The monument is round, giving allusion to the movement of the wind.
06:02It is not only an Aztec temple.
06:06It has older stone structures inside its walls.
06:12On this side we see the staircase of the time before the Aztecs.
06:19The extraordinary Aztec temple contains another temple inside.
06:25When the Aztecs dominated the region, they did not destroy the old structures.
06:29The Aztecs build on what is already there, possibly for reuse,
06:36but more than anything for symbolism.
06:40It is to cover the previous power and impose theirs.
06:50This temple is a good example of how the Aztecs imposed their mandate.
06:54The Aztecs not only conquered the Madlatsinka, but they took over the whole region.
07:03What was life like in the cities they ruled?
07:10This is Tlatelolco.
07:13600 years ago, it was the second most important city in all of America.
07:19It is located 2 km from Templo Mayor.
07:23Tlatelolco was the commercial capital of the Aztecs.
07:30In its heart, there was a large ceremonial complex,
07:34with an imposing pyramid in the center.
07:40The most important of the Aztecs,
07:43with 25,000 visitors every day.
07:48Tlatelolco was the commercial headquarters of the Aztecs,
07:52but new excavations have revealed dark secrets hidden in the center of the city.
08:00Archaeologist Salvador Guillem is excavating the pyramids.
08:05The pyramids were built by the Aztecs,
08:09The archaeologist Salvador Guillem is excavating an incredible site in Tlatelolco.
08:17It is called the Great Basement.
08:20When we started doing the archaeology of this space,
08:23we started with very clear questions.
08:27How were they built? What were they built for?
08:31He hopes to shed some light on how the Aztecs used the ceremonial buildings of the cities of the empire.
08:50The black stone on the floor and the red stone that decorates the walls,
08:55indicate that it could have been a building dedicated to the god of war.
09:01They were going to be prayer houses,
09:04houses in which perhaps the warriors went up to do a kind of penance, a kind of fast.
09:12In this ceremonial building,
09:15the Salvador team has found a series of rooms around the central altar.
09:20They are digging out ceramics and incense.
09:30But they have just discovered something amazing.
09:35Human bones.
09:44Here they sacrificed people to honor the gods.
09:50Paola, the archaeologist,
09:53is currently looking for more elements,
09:57more parts of that sacrifice,
10:00to understand what God dedicated it to.
10:04Ceremonial monuments like this were vital in the Aztec society.
10:09But how they were built is a secret that has been buried for centuries.
10:20In a construction area on the outskirts of Mexico City,
10:25archaeologist David Walton
10:28and architect Lucas Cantu
10:31continue their revolutionary experiment of building a replica of an Aztec pyramid.
10:37David and Lucas have finished the first level of the pyramid.
10:45Now they have to go up.
10:50We are starting with the second level.
10:54The ropes mark the angles and the correct levels.
10:58We work by taking them as a reference.
11:02As they add more weight to the pyramid,
11:06the team has to find out how the Aztecs prevented the walls from collapsing.
11:13With sloped walls, if they have nothing to hold them up,
11:16they will collapse themselves.
11:20They are putting tezontle in the pyramid,
11:24a volcanic stone, to get a solid structure.
11:31The Egyptian pyramids hide tombs inside.
11:36But the tezontle shows that the Aztec pyramids were not hollow.
11:40Any offering they wanted to leave to honor the gods in the pyramids,
11:45they had to leave it in the corners, in front of the stairs.
11:50Or we could have put the offering under the foundations of the pyramid
11:55before starting to build it.
11:59David and Lucas have to make sure that the stones stay together
12:04as the structure grows.
12:08They are testing the Aztec method to make mortar.
12:15The first thing to do is to spray the tezontle.
12:19Yes.
12:21And how do we do that?
12:23We put some stones on top.
12:26And now we crush them, right?
12:31David will try to sift them.
12:37And now we're going to take some lime.
12:42They're going to mix the tezontle powder with lime.
12:46The Aztecs got it from the limestone.
12:49When you cook the limestone at high temperatures and you pour water on top,
12:54there's a reaction and you get this powder.
12:58Can you pour some water?
13:00Sure.
13:02So this is what you're going to use to stick our pyramid together?
13:06Yes, it's going to make the pyramid hold.
13:09This mortar is crucial to keep the walls in place.
13:19The experiment makes David appreciate how the Aztecs built these monuments.
13:26What I'm learning from the work of the Aztecs
13:29is how much work it really takes.
13:33We're not talking about a week or a month.
13:37We're talking years to build some of these structures.
13:44Thanks to the strength of the work of the Aztecs,
13:48they had the material and the manpower to build their incredible pyramids.
13:54But how did they keep control of the people and the resources?
14:00In Tenochtitlan, David is examining the ruins of the city
14:05to find out how military power drove this empire.
14:10One of the clues could be near Templo Mayor.
14:14The archaeologists who work in Templo Mayor
14:18have discovered a new structure in the north.
14:21Outside, a staircase flanked by eagle sculptures
14:25and a wall carved with skulls.
14:31Inside, benches decorated with warrior processions.
14:38Two statues of Miclante Cutli, the god of death,
14:42preside over one of the entrances,
14:45with the chest exposed and the liver hanging.
14:50We might look a little different.
14:52It's terrifying, gruesome, completely unpleasant.
14:56But for the Aztecs, there was a strong connection
15:00between life and death.
15:02In fact, they wanted to go from life to death.
15:06These references to war and death suggest
15:10that this building could be one of the most important structures
15:14in the sacred enclosure of the city.
15:17The House of the Eagle Warriors.
15:19The Eagle Warriors were the elite of the Aztec warriors.
15:24Here in the House of the Eagle Warriors,
15:27they meditated, prayed, held ceremonies
15:30and organized the troops, all in this place.
15:34The sons of noble families received military training
15:38to become Eagle Warriors,
15:41the most feared Aztec warriors.
15:49They wore an eagle-shaped cloak,
15:52decorated shields with feathers
15:55and spears with sharp obsidian blades.
16:01But many Aztec weapons, such as the atlatel,
16:05were not designed to kill,
16:08but to stun.
16:12The main function of an Eagle Warrior
16:15was to get prisoners to serve as human sacrifices
16:19for the gods.
16:23The Aztec warriors of the elite, like the Eagle Warriors,
16:27were the driving force, the secret weapon
16:30with which the Aztecs conquered and dominated
16:33the peoples of Mesoamerica.
16:38The Eagle Warriors of Tenochtitlan
16:41were the nucleus of an incredible military alliance.
16:46In order to control the empire,
16:49the Aztecs joined forces with Texcoco to the east
16:53and Tlacopan to the west.
16:57The alliance grew rapidly
17:00until it conquered an area of about 220,000 square kilometers
17:05that extended to both coasts
17:08and to Guatemala in the south.
17:13In addition to their skills and sophistication,
17:16the Aztec army still holds many mysteries.
17:22What was needed to enter this elite army?
17:3180 kilometers southwest of Templo Mayor, in Malinalco,
17:36archaeologist Beatriz Zúñiga is looking for a temple
17:40that could reveal more secrets about the elite of Aztec warriors.
17:46To find it, she has to climb 427 stairs
17:50to the top of a hill, 120 meters above the valley.
17:56Upon reaching the top, Beatriz discovers some curious statues
18:00of animals on the stairs leading to the temple.
18:05On each side are the figures of jaguars.
18:09We see that they are perfectly carved figures
18:12and they are made on the natural stone of the hill.
18:18The jaguar statues reveal that this temple was used
18:22by another division of the elite of Aztec soldiers,
18:27that of the jaguar warriors.
18:32Beatriz is investigating the temple.
18:36Inside are three seats.
18:38Two of them are eagles with open wings
18:42and the other is sculpted in the shape of a jaguar.
18:49The ears are pointed,
18:52the nose is represented,
18:55the gills and the fangs.
18:59The seats indicate that the jaguar and eagle warriors
19:03met here to celebrate rituals.
19:05In this place, the initiation ceremony of the jaguar warriors
19:09was held.
19:13She has found something even more intriguing.
19:17In the center of the room there is an altar
19:21and behind a circular hole in the ground.
19:25There is evidence, there are records
19:29that the warriors practiced this ritual.
19:32So they offered their blood.
19:35Surely this was a deposit
19:38to place this part of the human body
19:41that was being offered.
19:44The Aztecs, who wanted to become eagle or jaguar warriors,
19:48came to offer their blood to the gods
19:51in initiation rituals.
19:56The jaguar warriors,
19:59who were part of a fearsome class of warriors
20:03willing to fight and kill for the empire.
20:09At the University of Sheffield,
20:12the historian Caroline Dodge Pennock
20:15goes to the Florentine Codex
20:18to find out what happened to the one
20:21who was defeated by the eagle and jaguar warriors.
20:24This picture, although it is not on scale,
20:27is an excellent representation
20:30of how human sacrifices were practiced
20:33on a daily basis in Aztec culture.
20:36We can see that there were five priests.
20:39Four of them held the victim by the extremities,
20:43stretched him over the stone of sacrifices
20:46and the fifth took his heart out.
20:49It is estimated that the Aztecs
20:51sacrificed more than 20,000 men,
20:54women and children for the gods each year.
21:00What seems frightening to us today
21:03was a divine need for the Aztecs.
21:06For them, it was a way to keep the gods happy
21:10and to guarantee that the sun would rise every morning.
21:14And death was nothing more than the beginning
21:17of the victim's role in the ritual.
21:20In Calixtlahuaca, experts are looking for evidence
21:24of what happened to the bodies that were sacrificed.
21:30Archaeologist Carmen Carvajal has a clue.
21:35Some small circular stones
21:38protruding from a curved wall.
21:41Here we have the representation of skulls
21:45made in the Aztec ritual.
21:47These stone skulls reveal the bloody fate
21:51that awaited the victims when they died.
21:54There had to be a separation of the skull
21:58and a gradation in the part of the temples
22:02to be able to insert the stick there.
22:06Then they were placed on a stone
22:10and then they were placed on a stone
22:13and then they were placed on a stone
22:17which was exhibited in the main square of the temple.
22:22The skulls were exposed to demonstrate
22:26the Aztec power and terrorize the enemies.
22:32The pyramids were important
22:35because the location of a sacrifice
22:38conditioned its success.
22:40They are facing their biggest challenge.
22:43To discover how the Aztecs built them.
22:50In the construction area, the second level of the Aztec pyramid is already finished.
22:58Now they will start working on the third and last level.
23:03As the pyramid gets bigger,
23:05the most difficult challenge that the Aztec workers faced comes.
23:11One of the challenges we have for the height of the pyramid
23:15is how to place the blocks at the next level.
23:18In the case of the Aztecs, the difference in height was tremendous
23:23between the different levels of the pyramids.
23:26We imagine blocks falling,
23:28maybe on top of someone's head,
23:31causing damage, another risk of the Aztec construction process.
23:36It was an exhausting and dangerous job.
23:41David believes that the Aztecs persevered because it was crucial to their world.
23:48Building temples like this had to be done with love,
23:52something that involved the whole community.
23:55It was not a person who said,
23:57Come on, build me a pyramid.
23:59It was a whole civilization saying,
24:02We need this.
24:04Let's put our love into this,
24:06blood, sweat and tears,
24:08and let's make a pyramid that we will all enjoy.
24:12The construction of these pyramids involved the whole society.
24:19What was life like under the Aztec rule?
24:23Today, in Tenayuca,
24:25researchers are studying the life of the Aztecs.
24:30They had a very rigid class system that dictated how they lived.
24:36All the populations in the pre-Hispanic era had sectors.
24:40On one side was the ceremonial center,
24:42on the other were the palaces,
24:45and on the other were the areas where the bulk of the population lived.
24:50Beatriz is examining the ruins of a house
24:53to see who lived here.
24:55The type of material is quarry stone,
24:58which meant bringing the stone from there,
25:02hiring staff to cut the stone,
25:05to place it.
25:07So all that this implies,
25:09to build a house,
25:11could not be done by a family of peasants.
25:14There are many places in Tenayuca
25:17where you can see how they added rooms,
25:21how they raised the levels,
25:24how they expanded.
25:27In the Aztec empire,
25:29parents, grandparents and children lived under the same roof.
25:35A population that grew so fast
25:37offered the Aztecs a lot of labor to build the pyramids.
25:41But to feed so many workers
25:43was also a Herculean challenge.
25:49In its heyday,
25:51the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan,
25:53was the home of up to 200,000 people.
25:57But it was isolated,
25:59in the center of a lake.
26:02How did the Aztecs get food?
26:05Xochimilco,
26:07a settlement 25 kilometers south of Templo Mayor,
26:11could help solve the mystery.
26:15Here, the agricultural expert Ricardo Rodríguez
26:19is investigating how the Aztecs cultivated.
26:22Let's go.
26:23Ready.
26:26It says here,
26:27that the Aztecs used to cultivate
26:32This is part of Mexico City,
26:34and it's the last part of pre-Hispanic times.
26:38Today, Xochimilco is a prosperous cultivation district.
26:43But a thousand years ago,
26:45there was absolutely no land here.
26:48It was all water.
26:51Where did the land come from?
26:54Look at the posts,
26:56and how narrow the canal is.
26:58It's a work of man,
27:00it's not natural.
27:03These fields are called chinampas.
27:07The Aztecs who lived in Tenochtitlan
27:09did not have land to cultivate food or raise animals,
27:13so they built these fields out of nowhere.
27:17The question is, how did they build the chinampas?
27:20How did they make them?
27:22How is it possible that out of nowhere
27:24they could build these chinampas?
27:26That's the question.
27:30Ricardo has met with Chucho,
27:32a man who works in the chinampas.
27:35Most of the information has been translated
27:38through generations.
27:40My father is the one who taught me
27:43the work of the chinamperia.
27:47With old tools and techniques,
27:49they are building a chinampa
27:51to discover how it was made.
27:53The first thing we are going to do
27:55is to put four pillars
27:58in the water
28:01to make a square.
28:07The next thing is to tie the posts
28:09with branches and reeds
28:11and fill the center with grass
28:13to create an island.
28:15Then the team adds layers of mud
28:17to assemble the chinampa.
28:21The mud smells very bad
28:23because it has excrement from the fish
28:25and at that time,
28:27I suppose from the Aztecs.
28:31Finally, it is necessary to check
28:33if it is strong enough
28:35to work on the chinampas.
28:39The chinampas are built
28:41with the help of the chinampas
28:43so it is quite strong
28:45to work on it.
28:51Chucho takes his first steps
28:53on the new chinampa.
28:57Does it work?
28:59It works very well.
29:01Great job.
29:03This is amazing.
29:05Now you have a small island
29:07to grow food.
29:09The experiment has been a success.
29:13The team is planting
29:15bushes around the chinampa
29:17to keep it together.
29:19This is the last stick
29:21to complete our chinampa
29:23and finally it is ready.
29:25Well done.
29:29These islands created by humans
29:31supported the growing
29:33Aztec empire.
29:35The chinampas are very fertile
29:37and they give seven harvests
29:39per year.
29:41The chinampas fed
29:43the large population
29:45of Tenochtitlan
29:47but there was another problem
29:49that affected the Aztecs.
29:51This water is salty.
29:53It is very good for the plants
29:55but only for them.
29:57We cannot drink it.
29:59If the water of the lake
30:01is salty,
30:03where did the Aztecs
30:05get the drinking water from?
30:12In Texcocinco,
30:1430 kilometers to the east
30:16of Templo Mayor,
30:20archaeologist Marta Hernández
30:23is looking for evidence
30:25to help her solve the mystery.
30:29Texcocinco was built
30:31in the 15th century
30:33by an ally of the Aztecs,
30:35King Nezahualcoyotl.
30:38This was his place
30:40of royal retreat.
30:42Nezahualcoyotl
30:44was known
30:46as a connoisseur
30:48of the techniques
30:50and systems
30:52of water management.
30:56To channel the water
30:58around Texcocinco,
31:00King Nezahualcoyotl
31:02built an aqueduct
31:048 kilometers long
31:06at the bottom of the valley.
31:08He transported the water
31:10from the springs
31:12of the nearby Mount Tlaloc
31:14through a system of channels
31:16with wells to regulate
31:18the flow of the water.
31:20This is the last of the aqueducts
31:22because it is the one that
31:24directly carries the water
31:26to Texcocinco,
31:28to that huge enclosure.
31:30This aqueduct reveals
31:32that the Aztecs
31:34were public
31:36and that they used
31:38these skills in Tenochtitlán.
31:40They put beds of reeds
31:42on Lake Texcoco
31:44and anchored them
31:46with wooden stakes.
31:48Then they covered them
31:50with earth, mud and stone
31:52to sink the bed
31:54to the bottom of the lake,
31:56thus creating artificial islands
31:58with some separation between them.
32:00Above, they built
32:02a compact structure
32:04that connected with hollow trunks.
32:06Thus, they created
32:08a four-kilometer pipe
32:10to channel the water
32:12from the hills
32:14through the salty lake
32:16to the heart of the city,
32:18where it was distributed
32:20by the houses of the people.
32:22From the aqueducts
32:24to the pyramids,
32:26the Aztecs proved
32:28to be sophisticated workers.
32:30Can a modern construction team
32:32decipher the engineering secrets
32:34that made this success possible?
32:42In the construction area,
32:44the levels of the pyramid
32:46are already finished.
32:48Now, Lucas is investigating
32:50how the Aztecs used lime
32:52to decorate the monuments.
32:54The stucco is basically
32:56lime stucco that's cooked
32:58and it's pulverized.
33:00To get the perfect stucco,
33:02Lucas mixes lime and water
33:04to create a paste.
33:06It's not easy
33:08to get the right consistency.
33:10If it's too watery,
33:12it drips down the walls of the pyramid,
33:14and if it's too solid,
33:16it can break when it dries.
33:18We want the texture
33:20of peanut butter
33:22or guacamole,
33:24something viscous but not liquid.
33:26As it was used
33:28to decorate the pyramids,
33:30lime was very valuable
33:32to the Aztecs.
33:34They collected it
33:36as a tax,
33:38known as contribution,
33:40when they conquered regions
33:42of the empire.
33:44Some pyramids were covered
33:46with white plaster,
33:48but many Aztec monuments
33:50were covered with red.
33:52Lucas and David decided
33:54to dye the red stucco
33:56with a mineral,
33:58hematite.
34:00This is one of the most
34:02common minerals
34:04that you can find.
34:06Red velvet.
34:08The stone is very porous,
34:10so we're going to fill
34:12the pores
34:14to get a uniform surface,
34:16as smooth as possible.
34:20Yeah, the color is pretty good.
34:22It's pretty consistent.
34:24Lucas and David
34:26have solved
34:28one of the most important
34:30mysteries of the Aztec pyramids.
34:34They have discovered
34:36how the Aztecs
34:38saw them.
34:40I'm sure they were brilliant.
34:42It would have been a prime view.
34:44It would have been amazing.
34:46The Aztecs collected materials
34:48throughout the empire
34:50to build the pyramids,
34:52which shows
34:54that they were a powerful force.
34:56But how and why
34:58did this powerful civilization
35:00come to collapse?
35:04Caroline is examining
35:06the Florentine Code
35:08in search of clues
35:10about the fall.
35:12This is an image
35:14of the Spanish
35:16and the great European ships,
35:18which the Aztecs had never seen.
35:20They called them
35:22towers of the sea.
35:24Hernán Cortés
35:26was a Spanish conquistador.
35:28In 1519,
35:30he sailed to Mexico
35:32to conquer the land
35:34with 500 men.
35:36The Aztecs would be amazed
35:38by some of the things
35:40the Europeans carried.
35:42They had never seen
35:44fire,
35:46lightning or thunder.
35:48They had never seen horses.
35:50These are amazing
35:52illustrations
35:54of the things
35:56that transformed
35:58the Aztec world.
36:00Although they had horses
36:02and metal weapons,
36:04the Spanish were outnumbered
36:06by the Aztecs.
36:08It should have been impossible
36:10to conquer them.
36:12This image
36:14shows us
36:16a combination
36:18of Spanish warriors
36:20and indigenous soldiers.
36:22We have Spanish soldiers
36:24on horseback
36:26with armor
36:28that is distinct
36:30from the indigenous warriors
36:32with shields.
36:36Cortés convinced
36:38the local enemies
36:40to join him.
36:42Soon, he was ready
36:44to fight against the Aztec capital.
36:50When Cortés and his army
36:52arrived in Tenochtitlan,
36:54they were amazed
36:56by its size and sophistication.
37:00The Aztecs offered him gold
37:02to convince him
37:04not to declare war on the city.
37:06But the Spaniards
37:08killed the nobles
37:10and took the Aztec king
37:12Moctezuma as a hostage
37:14until the Aztecs
37:16expelled them.
37:20The Spaniards
37:22returned with an even larger army
37:24and destroyed the city.
37:26They killed almost 250,000 people
37:28during the conquest.
37:32This brutal defeat
37:34was the end
37:36of the powerful city of Tenochtitlan.
37:40But what happened
37:42to the rest of the Aztec empire?
37:46In Tlatelolco,
37:48David Walton is investigating
37:50how the conquest ended.
37:54This plaque says
37:56that on August 13, 1521,
37:58heroically defended by Cuauhtémoc,
38:00Tlatelolco fell
38:02Tlatelolco
38:04was the last reducto
38:06of the Aztec empire.
38:10It was the last defense
38:12after the Spaniards
38:14defeated the Aztecs in Tenochtitlan.
38:16David believes he has discovered
38:18why so few Aztec pyramids
38:20are preserved today.
38:22If we look closely,
38:24we can see that this church
38:26is made of tezontle,
38:28the building material
38:30The Spaniards
38:32destroyed all the temples
38:34and used the tezontle for their constructions.
38:36It was a symbolic way
38:38to show their power.
38:42But even with local allies,
38:44metal weapons and horses,
38:46how could the Spaniards
38:48completely destroy the Aztecs?
38:52David believes that success
38:54is due to something else.
38:56One of the factors
38:58that facilitated the conquest
39:00was that the Spaniards
39:02brought with them diseases
39:04such as papyrus, serampion,
39:06or smallpox, which decimated
39:08the local populations.
39:10It is estimated that by 1520,
39:12smallpox had killed
39:1440% of the local population.
39:20The Spaniards decimated
39:22the Aztecs
39:24and erased the knowledge
39:26of the Aztecs who built
39:28their extraordinary pyramids.
39:34Lucas and David
39:36have to experiment
39:38to face one of the most
39:40complicated parts of the pyramid,
39:42the stairs.
39:44The stairs can be
39:46the most important part
39:48of the pyramid.
39:50The purpose or function
39:52of an Aztec pyramid
39:54depends on the height.
39:56They are using traditional techniques
39:58to mark the balustrades
40:00and the stairs,
40:02leveling them as the Aztecs
40:04would have done.
40:06I'm pretty sure they used ropes.
40:08They were probably made
40:10with organic agave fibers
40:12or something like that.
40:14Building the stairs
40:16requires total precision.
40:18You have to shape the stones
40:20not by one, but by two faces.
40:22And the Aztec stairs
40:24have to be perfectly symmetrical.
40:28With the stairs,
40:30the main challenge is to make
40:32the balustrades and the stairs
40:34look like a sculpture.
40:36They have to be
40:38absolutely perfect.
40:40They're done.
40:44This revolutionary pyramid
40:46is finally finished.
40:48David and Lucas now understand
40:50how important the pyramids
40:52were for the Aztecs.
40:56I'm at the top of this pyramid
40:58and it feels so awesome.
41:00I can see the surrounding valley
41:02and I really have a sense
41:04that I'm up above everyone else.
41:06It's like the Aztec priests
41:08used to do when they celebrated
41:10rituals here on this same spot
41:12say 700 years ago.
41:14The pyramid is almost
41:16two meters high
41:18and five meters wide.
41:20It took five weeks
41:2220 tons of stone
41:24and mortar
41:26and a team of 12 workers.
41:28Yeah, Lucas!
41:30Wow!
41:32This is awesome!
41:34Look at how well it holds
41:36the mortar.
41:38Yeah, it's all well held
41:40and I think we've added
41:42some raw stone,
41:44organic material.
41:46I really like the cornerstones
41:48of the corners.
41:50They're all consistent
41:52from top to bottom.
41:54Yeah, it's very geometric.
41:56I've always admired the Aztecs
41:58but now I really do.
42:00Having done this
42:02I just think it really
42:04gives you a better sense
42:06of how much skilled they were
42:08and how good they were
42:10and the society
42:12that they formed.
42:14It's an area
42:16that we have to pay
42:18a lot of attention to
42:20when we think of
42:22all these societies
42:24in ancient times.
42:26Every day
42:28archaeologists discover
42:30more things about
42:32the Aztec empire
42:34from magnificent monuments
42:36to incredible
42:38ancient manuscripts.
42:40Experts are finally
42:42discovering the Aztec world.
42:44The Aztecs
42:46turned a small
42:48swampy island
42:50into one of the largest
42:52cities of their time.
42:54In their heart
42:56they built an imposing
42:58pyramid in honour
43:00of their most important gods.
43:02They provided their huge
43:04population with food
43:06and fresh water
43:08that they channeled
43:10and lived and died
43:12with their neighbouring rivals.
43:20All of this created
43:22one of the most advanced
43:24and powerful empires
43:26of the Americas.
43:28Nowadays
43:30most of their secrets
43:32could still be hidden
43:34under the modern city of Mexico.
43:36But piece by piece
43:38they are bringing the mysteries
43:40of the past to light.
44:08Music
44:10Music