Explora el fascinante mundo de las pirámides perdidas de los aztecas en este documental cautivador. A través de imágenes impactantes y una narrativa envolvente, descubriremos las majestuosas estructuras que alguna vez dominaron el paisaje mesoamericano y su conexión con la vida y la muerte en la antigua civilización azteca. Las pirámides de la muerte, en particular, eran epicentros de rituales sagrados y ceremonias que honraban a los dioses y a los antepasados. Este documental no solo presenta la historia arquitectónica de estas impresionantes construcciones, sino que también ofrece una mirada profunda a las creencias y tradiciones que las rodeaban. A medida que exploramos las técnicas de construcción y los hallazgos arqueológicos, nos adentramos en el misterio de por qué estas pirámides fueron olvidadas y qué legado han dejado en la cultura moderna. Este es un viaje educativo y revelador que conectará a los espectadores con la rica herencia de los aztecas. No te pierdas la oportunidad de aprender sobre uno de los pueblos más influyentes de la historia y las maravillas que crearon.
**Hashtags:** #PirámidesAztecas, #DocumentalHistoria, #CivilizaciónAzteca
**Keywords:** pirámides perdidas, aztecas, pirámides de la muerte, documental azteca, historia azteca, arquitectura mesoamericana, rituales sagrados, tradiciones aztecas, civilización antigua, legado cultural.
**Hashtags:** #PirámidesAztecas, #DocumentalHistoria, #CivilizaciónAzteca
**Keywords:** pirámides perdidas, aztecas, pirámides de la muerte, documental azteca, historia azteca, arquitectura mesoamericana, rituales sagrados, tradiciones aztecas, civilización antigua, legado cultural.
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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