0:00:11 > 0:00:14When Christopher Columbus passed by this part
0:00:14 > 0:00:18of Central America in 1502, he found a people bedecked in gold.
0:00:18 > 0:00:23Europeans later named this land Costa Rica - the Rich Coast.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28'But their initial interest in these lands,
0:00:28 > 0:00:32'unlike other parts of Central America, was fleeting.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35'And until the turn of the 20th century,
0:00:35 > 0:00:38'archaeologists ignored this part of the world too.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43'And yet hidden here for centuries was a treasure trove of ancient
0:00:43 > 0:00:47'art and a history of powerful, independent societies.
0:00:52 > 0:00:57'This was a land of mysterious stone spheres with vast settlements
0:00:57 > 0:01:00'spreading deep into tropical valleys,
0:01:00 > 0:01:04'and clinging to the slopes of forbidding mountains.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07'And in this spectacular, vibrant landscape, amongst volcanoes
0:01:07 > 0:01:12'and raging rivers, between oceans and continents, people
0:01:12 > 0:01:16'created art and architecture which was astonishing in its complexity.'
0:01:18 > 0:01:20Who were these people that Columbus saw,
0:01:20 > 0:01:22draped from head to toe in gold?
0:01:22 > 0:01:25Why were their elaborate settlements abandoned,
0:01:25 > 0:01:26and what did they leave behind?
0:01:32 > 0:01:36'My name is Jago Cooper. I'm a specialist in the archaeology
0:01:36 > 0:01:42'of the Americas. In this series, I will be exploring the rise
0:01:42 > 0:01:44'and fall of forgotten civilisations,
0:01:44 > 0:01:48'from the crystal clear seas of the Caribbean,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51'to the new world's most impressive pyramids,
0:01:51 > 0:01:55'over the smoking volcanoes of Costa Rica,
0:01:55 > 0:01:59'and deep underground in the caves of Central Mexico.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06'I'll travel in the footsteps of these peoples
0:02:06 > 0:02:10'to reveal their secrets, to unearth the astonishing cultures
0:02:10 > 0:02:13'that flourished amongst some of the most dramatic landscapes
0:02:13 > 0:02:14'in the world.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20'And there are few landscapes more dramatic than Costa Rica,
0:02:20 > 0:02:25'where 1,000 years ago, forgotten peoples battled against the elements
0:02:25 > 0:02:29'to build a string of cities whose remains snake across this land.'
0:02:29 > 0:02:32I want to find out the story of these people.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34Find out why they rose, flourished,
0:02:34 > 0:02:38and fell - and why that story has remained a mystery for centuries.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00'Much of Costa Rica's ancient art
0:03:00 > 0:03:04'and architecture was rediscovered during the 20th century.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09'These discoveries helped us identify dozens of important
0:03:09 > 0:03:12'settlements, which had lain buried and forgotten
0:03:12 > 0:03:13'for hundreds of years.'
0:03:16 > 0:03:19Archaeologists group together southern Costa Rica
0:03:19 > 0:03:23and northern Panama under the term "Chiriqui" - a period roughly
0:03:23 > 0:03:28800 to 1,500AD, when a collection of powerful societies arise.
0:03:28 > 0:03:29A period of religious,
0:03:29 > 0:03:34political and population growth that ends as suddenly as it began.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45'It's a story that archaeologists are only just beginning
0:03:45 > 0:03:46'to piece together.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50'And to begin to understand the civilisation of the Chiriqui
0:03:50 > 0:03:54'era, we need to understand the landscape in which they lived.'
0:04:10 > 0:04:14This land is crushed between two oceans, with the Atlantic
0:04:14 > 0:04:17just down there and the Pacific behind.
0:04:17 > 0:04:18Just 100 miles between them.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22These mountains rise up, with these steep valleys and ridges.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25It's a hot, humid, mountainous terrain.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35The climate and landscape combine to make this
0:04:35 > 0:04:36a challenging environment.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42And Costa Rica is home to some of nature's most destructive forces.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44We're coming over the Turrialba volcano,
0:04:44 > 0:04:47it's absolutely spectacular.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50You can see the smoke coming out of the crater,
0:04:50 > 0:04:52cos it's still very active, this volcano.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56You can understand why, for decades,
0:04:56 > 0:05:01historians believed no significant societies could have existed here.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04The landscape seemed too hostile, too fractured,
0:05:04 > 0:05:06for major settlements to flourish.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10Instead, they focused their attention on what lay at either
0:05:10 > 0:05:12end of this narrow strip of land.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15To the north, you'll find the empires of the Maya,
0:05:15 > 0:05:18and to the south, the famous cultures of the Andes.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20But it's here, in this narrow isthmus,
0:05:20 > 0:05:23hidden away in these valleys beneath the forest canopies,
0:05:23 > 0:05:28that we find a whole series of vibrant cities waiting to be explored.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34In the centuries before the Spanish conquest,
0:05:34 > 0:05:38a complex and connected series of settlements rose in this
0:05:38 > 0:05:42part of the world, from central Costa Rica right down to Panama.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46They were able to flourish because this terrain
0:05:46 > 0:05:50isn't as inhospitable as it appeared to the Europeans.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53There's plenty of water, and volcanic ash creates a rich,
0:05:53 > 0:05:55fertile soil.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58But even once interest was piqued, finding these lost
0:05:58 > 0:06:01cities in this landscape can be something of a challenge.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15On average, nearly three metres of rain fall every year,
0:06:15 > 0:06:17obliterating wooden structures and organic material.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22And rain feeds this spectacular tropical vegetation,
0:06:22 > 0:06:25which just engulfs anything man-made within a few years.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38'But deep in the agricultural heart of the country,
0:06:38 > 0:06:41'archaeologist Jeff Frost and his colleagues have spent
0:06:41 > 0:06:44'the last two decades working at a site called Rivas.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49'It's a site where we discover the first clues
0:06:49 > 0:06:52'about how the Chiriqui people lived - and died.'
0:06:53 > 0:06:55So, where should we start?
0:06:55 > 0:06:58- So this is actually the site? - This is the site. This is it.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01So there's actually people living on it right now, then?
0:07:01 > 0:07:06Yes, it looks like they've utilised some of the stone circles here
0:07:06 > 0:07:07and built right upon them.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09So some of these walls you see here,
0:07:09 > 0:07:12these stones are actually parts of the site.
0:07:14 > 0:07:19'The modern world may be encroaching on the ancient ruins of Rivas,
0:07:19 > 0:07:22'but roughly 700 years after it was abandoned,
0:07:22 > 0:07:24'the outline of a settlement is still visible.'
0:07:27 > 0:07:31It consists mostly of stone circles ranging from about ten metres
0:07:31 > 0:07:34in diameter to about 30 metres in diameter.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36This looks like... Is that one there, coming round here?
0:07:36 > 0:07:38Yeah, exactly, we're just about to enter one here.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40- You can see the other side of it here.- Mm-hm.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42And it circles round this way.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44And on that side of it we have one of the other architectural
0:07:44 > 0:07:48features, which is a series of steps coming up from a causeway.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51And these, they look almost like they are level platforms -
0:07:51 > 0:07:53do you think these have been humanly levelled,
0:07:53 > 0:07:55or have they just taken advantage of naturally flat ground?
0:07:55 > 0:07:58It looks like what was happening here was they were modifying
0:07:58 > 0:08:01the natural landscape, so as you move up from one terrace to the next,
0:08:01 > 0:08:04these are natural terraces, but what they have done is they have
0:08:04 > 0:08:08moved the rocks around into the positions that work for them.
0:08:08 > 0:08:09And where are we standing here?
0:08:09 > 0:08:12What is this stone platform, do you think, telling us?
0:08:12 > 0:08:16This is one of probably about 30 stone circles in this site.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20This isn't one of the largest ones, but it's pretty close.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24This one's about 20 metres in diameter, and is constructed of
0:08:24 > 0:08:29these large boulders that would have been moved into these positions.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33This originally would have been a covered space, most likely,
0:08:33 > 0:08:38so if we had been standing here in AD 1,000 or so,
0:08:38 > 0:08:42we would have been inside one of these large, conical structures.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48The evidence suggests that Rivas consisted largely of these
0:08:48 > 0:08:51structures - probably homes - for several hundred years.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55These families would have harvested maize
0:08:55 > 0:08:57and other crops for subsistence.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01But Jeff believes that at one particular moment
0:09:01 > 0:09:05in the Chiriqui era, Rivas underwent a substantial change.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09A collection of homes was transformed into an important
0:09:09 > 0:09:12religious site - one which looked very different.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17They completely rebuilt the site, and that involved building
0:09:17 > 0:09:21the main monumental architecture on this central axis.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25The central axis consisted of plazas, these stone circles,
0:09:25 > 0:09:31steps, staircases, causeways - all arranged sequentially
0:09:31 > 0:09:34in order to move people from one end of the site, through the site,
0:09:34 > 0:09:39and then eventually up to the Panteon de la Reina above.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43There were probably ceremonial specialists, funerary specialists,
0:09:43 > 0:09:46chiefs, priests, all of whom would have helped
0:09:46 > 0:09:50control the activities and guide participants through.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55This strikes me as really important.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58Rivas was completely rebuilt.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01Houses were replaced with grand plazas.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05And processional roads transformed Rivas from a village
0:10:05 > 0:10:07into a place of pilgrimage.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11The main road led people to a ridge-top cemetery called
0:10:11 > 0:10:14Panteon de la Reina - the "Pantheon of the Queen" -
0:10:14 > 0:10:18which was once one of the biggest cemeteries in the region.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22'And perhaps one answer to the mystery of this transformation
0:10:22 > 0:10:26'can be found in the way that the Chiriqui treated their dead.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28'1,000 years ago,
0:10:28 > 0:10:32'the processions through Rivas would have ended at gravesites here.'
0:10:32 > 0:10:35- There's one right there. - Where? OK, cool.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41- That thing there? - That's the top of one.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47So how would these things have been around the grave,
0:10:47 > 0:10:48do you think?
0:10:48 > 0:10:49From the best we can tell,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52they probably didn't mark individual graves,
0:10:52 > 0:10:54but probably groups of graves.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58In the way that the cemetery was organised, deceased members
0:10:58 > 0:11:02of a single family would have been buried near one another.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05So it does appear that they would have commemorated those
0:11:05 > 0:11:08individuals and then when they themselves died
0:11:08 > 0:11:11they would have been buried with their deceased family members.
0:11:13 > 0:11:18'The bodies buried here are long gone, devoured by the tropical soil.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22'And sadly, human hands have emptied the graves of valuable artefacts,
0:11:22 > 0:11:25'vital clues to Chiriqui life.'
0:11:25 > 0:11:29You can see, if you look around here, all these marks in the soil
0:11:29 > 0:11:32are looted graves, or at least places where
0:11:32 > 0:11:34looters thought there were graves.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38So you can define the boundaries of these cemeteries pretty accurately,
0:11:38 > 0:11:42by just defining where these holes are.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47'But we can guess what the looters were looking for - gold.'
0:11:48 > 0:11:51It is said that there were literally pounds
0:11:51 > 0:11:54and pounds of gold coming out of this site every day for months.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58So the looters would have systematically gone through
0:11:58 > 0:12:01here, trying to find the graves, digging them up, tunnelling
0:12:01 > 0:12:05to the ones on either side of it and then just taking out the gold.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10Heartbreaking though it is to lose
0:12:10 > 0:12:13so much of the treasure of Rivas, it's not surprising.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19Today, gold is the ultimate symbol of wealth and power.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23And because they placed so much gold in their ancestors' graves, perhaps
0:12:23 > 0:12:26it held a similar significance for the Chiriqui people.
0:12:26 > 0:12:32They certainly used it as an emblem of authority among certain figures.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35We know that chiefs often had large amounts of gold.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38Other high-status individuals, elites,
0:12:38 > 0:12:40would have worn lots of gold.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42Probably many commoners didn't have access to gold, so it was
0:12:42 > 0:12:47one of those ways of defining who was in charge and who wasn't.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57'The gold in these sites gives us some clues about the structure
0:12:57 > 0:13:01'of Chiriqui society, but there are so many questions to answer.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06'What intrigues me most about this hidden world at Rivas is
0:13:06 > 0:13:10'the sudden change that occurs here - the unexplained metamorphosis
0:13:10 > 0:13:12'from a residential settlement
0:13:12 > 0:13:15'to what appears to be a place of pilgrimage.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19'It was a major change in how the Chiriquis
0:13:19 > 0:13:20'organised their settlement,
0:13:20 > 0:13:24'which in turn would have changed the way they lived their lives.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28'Walking around the site helps me to visualise the landscape,
0:13:28 > 0:13:31'understand the lives of the people who were living here.'
0:13:31 > 0:13:34There's a lot more going on in this part of the world
0:13:34 > 0:13:35than was thought for a long time.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39What's behind this rapid change at Rivas around 900 AD?
0:13:39 > 0:13:43And what's the motivation behind this big phase of construction?
0:13:43 > 0:13:46Is the answer connected to the large amounts of gold coming
0:13:46 > 0:13:48out of the cemetery at the top of the hill?
0:14:06 > 0:14:10The Museo Nacional in San Jose holds many of Costa Rica's
0:14:10 > 0:14:12pre-Columbian artefacts.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17'I've come here to talk to Myrna Rojas, who manages the collections,
0:14:17 > 0:14:19'to find out if these objects can help explain
0:14:19 > 0:14:22'what happened at Rivas.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25'There is, of course, a lot of gold in the stores here.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28'But, intriguingly,
0:14:28 > 0:14:31'there are also artefacts from a different source - jade.'
0:14:31 > 0:14:34TRANSLATION:
0:14:42 > 0:14:46These pieces of jewellery are made from jadeite -
0:14:46 > 0:14:47a form of the gemstone jade.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53Evidence suggests that, before gold,
0:14:53 > 0:14:57jade was the precious material of choice for people in this region.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00These beautiful depictions of animals, birds and gods
0:15:00 > 0:15:05represented agriculture, vitality, the power of life itself.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12We haven't found a major source of jadeite in Costa Rica.
0:15:12 > 0:15:17But we do know it was mined in modern-day Guatemala,
0:15:17 > 0:15:19over 500 miles to the north.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23And we know the use of jadeite flourished in the Mayan empire.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28This is a surprisingly important fact.
0:15:28 > 0:15:33If the Chiriqui were importing jade from the societies to the north,
0:15:33 > 0:15:35they were also forming other connections -
0:15:35 > 0:15:40probably trading not only goods, but also ideas and customs.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45So, whilst jade was being used, the Chiqirui were clearly in contact
0:15:45 > 0:15:49and exchanging influences with their northern neighbours.
0:16:30 > 0:16:32But around 700 AD,
0:16:32 > 0:16:37something strange happened in Costa Rica - people stopped using jade,
0:16:37 > 0:16:39and started using gold.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49The earthiness of the jade was replaced by a fine,
0:16:49 > 0:16:53delicate gold-work which I've seen many times before, not to the north,
0:16:53 > 0:16:56but to the south, over 600 miles away in the Andes.
0:16:59 > 0:17:04These little shamanic figurines hint at a developing religious
0:17:04 > 0:17:07culture different from that of the jade artefacts.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11They suggest that religious faith is bound up not just with
0:17:11 > 0:17:15the spiritual, but also with the physical well-being of the Chiriqui.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57We saw that in the graves above Rivas,
0:17:57 > 0:17:59gold was associated with power.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06And it's likely that gold was controlled, and worn,
0:18:06 > 0:18:08by the leaders of that society.
0:18:10 > 0:18:16So gold had a political role and a religious role, conferring
0:18:16 > 0:18:19both status in the community, and religious connections.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39The transition from jade to gold is critical to
0:18:39 > 0:18:42understanding how the Chiriqui world changed.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46If the presence of jade signified influence from the North, then the
0:18:46 > 0:18:50growing importance of gold suggests that influences had now shifted.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55Which brings us back to our theme of connections,
0:18:55 > 0:18:57because as the jade starts to disappear here,
0:18:57 > 0:18:59we know that to the north,
0:18:59 > 0:19:02the great Mayan city states were in a state of decline.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06So, is it the case that as trade routes to the north are disrupted,
0:19:06 > 0:19:11people here looked south, where the dominant cultures valued gold?
0:19:15 > 0:19:17And, if they did, what does that tell us
0:19:17 > 0:19:20about the lives of the people of the Chiriqui golden era?
0:19:22 > 0:19:26'How would the change of attention from North to South change them?
0:19:26 > 0:19:30'How did they live? And what did they believe in?'
0:19:34 > 0:19:39In 1872, the forerunner of the American United Fruit Company
0:19:39 > 0:19:42built a railway line connecting coastal ports to the interior,
0:19:42 > 0:19:45in order to get its banana crop to market.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54But during construction of the railway, one of the workers
0:19:54 > 0:19:57found some unusual objects hidden in the undergrowth.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03'Purely by accident, the country's biggest banana exporter had
0:20:03 > 0:20:07'stumbled upon a lost city even more important than Rivas.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11'The clue was 30 beautiful pieces of gold.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16'Today, the once-lost settlement of Las Mercedes is
0:20:16 > 0:20:18'managed by the EARTH University...'
0:20:18 > 0:20:20HE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:20:21 > 0:20:23'..and has been extensively
0:20:23 > 0:20:26'studied by Ricardo Vazquez of the National Museum.'
0:20:31 > 0:20:34So this is the cut coming through one of the buildings?
0:20:34 > 0:20:36This is... exactly, one of the buildings,
0:20:36 > 0:20:39and this is the cut of a tramway for bananas.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42And this is the expanse of the site looking out over the...
0:20:42 > 0:20:43Right. Exactly.
0:20:43 > 0:20:48We are at the northern most part of the architectural court.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50Yeah, if you look at the relief of the site, there are quite
0:20:50 > 0:20:51a lot of mounds.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54There is one over there, there is one over here.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56So how far do these mounds spread out?
0:20:56 > 0:20:59- It's about 11 hectares.- Wow.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03- The architectural court entails 11 hectares.- That's massive.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07'Las Mercedes offers us an opportunity to confirm the theory
0:21:07 > 0:21:12'that a change in influences helped start the transformation at Rivas.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14'And it does just that.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17'It appears that, like Rivas, Las Mercedes underwent big
0:21:17 > 0:21:20'changes shortly after the decline of the jade trade.'
0:21:20 > 0:21:24The monumental architecture that we can see now
0:21:24 > 0:21:28started at around 900 AD and continues all
0:21:28 > 0:21:34the way for about three or four centuries. Only around 7.5%
0:21:34 > 0:21:39of the site is occupied by what we call group areas.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42I mean, features that qualify as households.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45In which case, when we think about this site, we're not just
0:21:45 > 0:21:48thinking about a big town full of residential complexes.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51We're thinking about a space which brings together people from the
0:21:51 > 0:21:55region at different times to meet, and what are they doing when they come here?
0:21:55 > 0:21:59One thing we know is that now we are finding some gathering places
0:21:59 > 0:22:04like plazas that are integrated into the administrative complex.
0:22:04 > 0:22:09These plazas are really interesting because they are also paved.
0:22:09 > 0:22:14That means they've got quite a bit of people getting into the plazas.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21Las Mercedes looks like it was an important settlement, where
0:22:21 > 0:22:24people congregated to celebrate important events.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32'And, although looting has occurred here too, thousands of artefacts
0:22:32 > 0:22:35'have been recovered from the site, and the surrounding area.'
0:22:35 > 0:22:37What type of artefacts are coming out?
0:22:37 > 0:22:41Well, gold, jade artefacts. Ceramic artefacts.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47But perhaps the most impressive types of artefacts
0:22:47 > 0:22:52are the stonework and the beautiful statues.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54Some of them human size.
0:22:54 > 0:22:59In other words, the site was filled with public sculptures.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02I mean, sculptures that were decorating the site.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04What do you think these artefacts tell us about what type
0:23:04 > 0:23:07of site it is? If you imagine walking through this vegetation,
0:23:07 > 0:23:10you've got these big stone sculptures you walk through -
0:23:10 > 0:23:12what does that say about the people who were living here,
0:23:12 > 0:23:13the type of site it was?
0:23:13 > 0:23:17Right, I mean, it looks like they were trying to impress people,
0:23:17 > 0:23:19the people who came into the site,
0:23:19 > 0:23:25and not only with the sculptures but also with the architecture, and they
0:23:25 > 0:23:30wanted to create that psychological impression to the visitors.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38Next to the plazas, where hundreds of people would once have gathered,
0:23:38 > 0:23:40was the biggest house in the settlement.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42This was the house of the chief,
0:23:42 > 0:23:45and was at the heart of public life in Las Mercedes.
0:23:45 > 0:23:50This is the area that we think is the very heart
0:23:50 > 0:23:53of the administrative centre.
0:23:53 > 0:23:58That area over there used to be where the main mound was placed
0:23:58 > 0:24:04and the whole thing relates to observations done by the
0:24:04 > 0:24:11Spaniards, where the Spaniards say the house of the chief was
0:24:11 > 0:24:16a very high house - the main house -
0:24:16 > 0:24:20and also that was his office.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22That was his administrative quarters.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26And right beside it there was another similar house that
0:24:26 > 0:24:32was for his family, where his sons, daughters, wives, were living.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38Even centuries after it was abandoned, you can still feel
0:24:38 > 0:24:41that this was the centre of Las Mercedes.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45Many of the grandest statues were found scattered around here.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49And there are tantalisingly ambiguous hints at just how
0:24:49 > 0:24:51dramatic a spot this would have been.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54There's a depression in here, in this nice, circular,
0:24:54 > 0:24:56semi-circular wall running round.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58What do you think the role of this depression in front of that
0:24:58 > 0:25:02- mound would have been? - We started with two hypotheses.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06The first one was a sunken plaza that was paved,
0:25:06 > 0:25:08and that's why it's so wet.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12And the second one is that it was a reflecting pool.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16Now, we are leaning more towards the second hypothesis, that it was
0:25:16 > 0:25:21a reflecting pool, because all around the area is a pavement that
0:25:21 > 0:25:25slopes down into the plaza. That means that it was collecting
0:25:25 > 0:25:28water, rain water, and bringing it to the plaza.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31And then this is really interesting,
0:25:31 > 0:25:35because it will reflect what was the main house, in a way.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37Visually, it would have been very dominating,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40if you have this big house structure on top of this big mound
0:25:40 > 0:25:43and you're walking and approaching it through a reflecting pool.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45The whole thing, the whole vista, would have been quite dramatic.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48To me, it's really clear
0:25:48 > 0:25:53that the site was dominated by the political figure.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59I'm getting a sense of how these settlements were organised.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01It's not just the gold, or the statues,
0:26:01 > 0:26:05it's the way the people have manipulated the landscape itself,
0:26:05 > 0:26:10creating a reflecting pool outside the chief's house to emphasise
0:26:10 > 0:26:14the importance of the dwelling, and of the individual inside.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18The intention was to leave no-one in any doubt the chief was at the
0:26:18 > 0:26:23centre of political power here, and that implies religious power too.
0:26:27 > 0:26:28'But something else strikes me -
0:26:28 > 0:26:34'the plazas suggest Las Mercedes was designed to be seen - to be visited
0:26:34 > 0:26:38'by people from the surrounding valleys and further afield.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41'This meant people came here to visit.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44'And, at the edge of the site, Ricardo and his team
0:26:44 > 0:26:47'have discovered how these visitors were drawn in.'
0:26:48 > 0:26:51- So, underneath here is the road, then?- Yes.- Nice.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55This is the very end of one of the two roads leading to Las Mercedes.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58And how long does the road go -
0:26:58 > 0:27:01if Mercedes is... How far down the road is Mercedes?
0:27:03 > 0:27:05It's 1,700 metres from here exactly,
0:27:05 > 0:27:07according to the map.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13This seemingly random jumble of boulders was once a road
0:27:13 > 0:27:17seven metres wide, meticulously constructed using
0:27:17 > 0:27:21thousands of stones extracted from nearby rivers.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24They're almost like procession ways between sites.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27So when you get close to a site, you start to walk along it,
0:27:27 > 0:27:30and you have a sense of drama and arrival?
0:27:30 > 0:27:32That's exactly what we think they are.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34That's the function they had.
0:27:34 > 0:27:40But also they are just formalised entrances to the site.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44They were for controlling access to the site.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51These roads were hacked out of the forest across this region.
0:27:51 > 0:27:55They would have been used to connect settlements which otherwise
0:27:55 > 0:27:59would have been cut off from one another by the tropical landscape.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01And a grand causeway like this,
0:28:01 > 0:28:05emerging from the forest as people approached Las Mercedes,
0:28:05 > 0:28:07signifies just how important it was.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12The implications of this road are profound,
0:28:12 > 0:28:15because it requires hard labour - labour that needs to be
0:28:15 > 0:28:19controlled and co-ordinated by someone - a political hierarchy.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23And the purpose of these roads is to connect both practically
0:28:23 > 0:28:28and ideologically communities together, which suggests trade,
0:28:28 > 0:28:32interaction, a linked network of sites, sites similar or perhaps
0:28:32 > 0:28:36larger than Las Mercedes, hidden somewhere in these valleys.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46But to find those other communities in this landscape
0:28:46 > 0:28:48is difficult and arduous.
0:28:48 > 0:28:52Sometimes, a river works better than a road.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31It's coming to remote valleys like this that you remember
0:29:31 > 0:29:34just how extreme this part of the world can be.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37It's a land full of environmental hazards - earthquakes,
0:29:37 > 0:29:41volcanoes, floods and landslides.
0:29:41 > 0:29:45But it's that ability to control the environment, harness its power,
0:29:45 > 0:29:48that takes great skill, and it's key to understanding
0:29:48 > 0:29:50how the cities emerged here.
0:29:56 > 0:30:01'The natural world played a central role in pre-Colombian life.
0:30:01 > 0:30:05'In order to flourish, cities had to be built in harmony
0:30:05 > 0:30:08'with the landscape, hugging the contours of hills,
0:30:08 > 0:30:12'guarding against the destructive power of fire and water.'
0:30:17 > 0:30:22Water is key to understanding the landscapes here in Costa Rica.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24It cascades down from the steep volcanic slopes
0:30:24 > 0:30:28and funnels through raging rivers like this one.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31It's what makes the landscape so lush and provides so much food.
0:30:31 > 0:30:34But it is also dangerous. Floods are common,
0:30:34 > 0:30:38and they can wash away villages and settlements in an instant.
0:30:42 > 0:30:45'But as well as providing fertile territory,
0:30:45 > 0:30:48'the rivers serve another purpose.
0:30:48 > 0:30:50'River networks connect people,
0:30:50 > 0:30:54'and so were critical to trade and communication for the Chiriqui.'
0:30:54 > 0:30:57It's no coincidence that many settlements
0:30:57 > 0:30:59were built where rivers met.
0:30:59 > 0:31:03And here, between two rivers and on the slopes of an active volcano,
0:31:03 > 0:31:06we find our largest settlement yet.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13It is the greatest example of these peoples' ability
0:31:13 > 0:31:17to harness their tough natural environment.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23This is Guayabo de Turrialba,
0:31:23 > 0:31:26a site which once housed several thousand inhabitants
0:31:26 > 0:31:30and likely dominated life in these lush valleys 1,000 years ago.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38Archaeologists have uncovered only a portion of this site.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41Much of it still lies under the forest.
0:31:41 > 0:31:46But what we can see is a highly developed, highly organised,
0:31:46 > 0:31:50and powerful settlement, which thrived for hundreds of years.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54Since controlled excavations began here in the 1960s,
0:31:54 > 0:31:58archaeologists have uncovered dozens of mounds.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00Just like the stone circles of Rivas,
0:32:00 > 0:32:03these would have been the foundations of large homes.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08And as at Rivas and Las Mercedes, there's more than homes.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12In this case wide plazas, roads,
0:32:12 > 0:32:15and even functioning aqueducts have been discovered.
0:32:15 > 0:32:20Guayabo is the clearest example of just how impressive settlements
0:32:20 > 0:32:23in Costa Rica had become in the centuries before Europeans arrived.
0:32:27 > 0:32:31Mauricio Murillo has studied and written about Guayabo's history.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35He believes that here, again, the most significant architecture
0:32:35 > 0:32:39was completed in a short burst at the end of the first millennium.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06There's a genius to this architecture.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09Guayabo lies over 1,000 metres above sea level,
0:33:09 > 0:33:12on the slopes of the Turrialba volcano.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17It is drenched by three metres of rain every year.
0:33:18 > 0:33:22And yet the people who built it were able to use this unpromising
0:33:22 > 0:33:24natural environment to their advantage.
0:33:59 > 0:34:01As well as guarding against flooding,
0:34:01 > 0:34:03the people who built Guayabo
0:34:03 > 0:34:07harnessed the natural flow of water through the landscape.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10As the clouds broke on the volcano above,
0:34:10 > 0:34:14rainwater was captured by a series of aqueducts and then directed
0:34:14 > 0:34:18into communal tanks for drinking, bathing, and ritual purposes.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23Everything in Guayabo is on a bigger scale compared to what
0:34:23 > 0:34:26I have seen so far, but the similarities are clear.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31This road stretches deep into the forest, just like at Las Mercedes.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36You can see how it controlled access to the site,
0:34:36 > 0:34:39funnelling people into the centre -
0:34:39 > 0:34:41a central highway like the one at Rivas
0:34:41 > 0:34:45which led religious processions up to the Panteon de la Reina.
0:34:45 > 0:34:49And the construction of such a complex settlement
0:34:49 > 0:34:52suggests a significant level of political control.
0:35:14 > 0:35:18A chief would have been the most important political figure
0:35:18 > 0:35:22in the community, standing at the top of an elite group of citizens,
0:35:22 > 0:35:26and commanding the loyalty and labour of people for miles around.
0:36:06 > 0:36:10But it wasn't just political control that the chief commanded.
0:36:11 > 0:36:16'We can see a design that suggests the chief controlled nature itself,
0:36:16 > 0:36:20'from the fiery volcano above to the running water below.'
0:36:22 > 0:36:26In the middle of this plaza is a striking stone-built mound.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28This would have been the residence of the chief, and on top
0:36:28 > 0:36:31would have been a wooden structure, with a conical, thatched roof.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34What I really like about the mound
0:36:34 > 0:36:36is that it makes the most of the landscape.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39The entrance procession would have led up here, and you would
0:36:39 > 0:36:43have seen this chief's house framed by the Turrialba volcano behind.
0:36:43 > 0:36:45It really gives a sense of power
0:36:45 > 0:36:48and dominance of the landscape to the chief within.
0:36:51 > 0:36:55And like at Las Mercedes, water appears to have been funnelled
0:36:55 > 0:36:59'into these shallow pools in front of this residence.
0:36:59 > 0:37:04'It would have been an awesome sight for any visitor to Guayabo.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07'The wide road led them directly to this spot.
0:37:07 > 0:37:13'In front of them the chief's house, reflected in a large pool of water.'
0:37:13 > 0:37:15Behind the house, the fiery volcano,
0:37:15 > 0:37:19the most potent force in the natural world.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23Human construction and the natural world combined to emphasise
0:37:23 > 0:37:25the power of the chief and their allies.
0:37:27 > 0:37:29'At all three sites I've visited,
0:37:29 > 0:37:31'there has been a rapid transformation
0:37:31 > 0:37:35'at around the time jade ran out, and gold started to dominate.'
0:37:38 > 0:37:41We can't say that gold alone explains the changes.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45But I'm convinced it is part of the answer.
0:37:46 > 0:37:48'It makes me wonder what other developments
0:37:48 > 0:37:51'are associated with gold.'
0:37:51 > 0:37:55All the sites I've visited in Costa Rica so far seem to have undergone
0:37:55 > 0:37:57significant change around about the same time,
0:37:57 > 0:38:00at the end of the first millennium AD.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03And this usually involved a period of expansion and growth.
0:38:03 > 0:38:07Politically, it's a picture of cities being controlled by chiefs,
0:38:07 > 0:38:10and religion always plays a key part at each site.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14This period of dramatic growth always seems to be associated
0:38:14 > 0:38:17with the arrival of gold and if that's the case then the next
0:38:17 > 0:38:20question has to be, where did the gold come from?
0:38:28 > 0:38:32For centuries, prospectors have headed to southern Costa Rica
0:38:32 > 0:38:36to pan for gold in the rivers which empty into the Pacific Ocean.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41More than 90% of the gold in San Jose's museums
0:38:41 > 0:38:44comes from that part of the country.
0:38:44 > 0:38:46And that's where I'm heading now.
0:38:56 > 0:39:00Occasionally gold nuggets as big as eggs have been washed out
0:39:00 > 0:39:03'of the rivers and streams which crisscross southern Costa Rica,'
0:39:03 > 0:39:06making this area a great source of gold.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10'And making it an important bridge between Costa Rica
0:39:10 > 0:39:13'and cultures to the south.' Woo-hoo!
0:39:15 > 0:39:18Archaeologists believe people from the south,
0:39:18 > 0:39:21who already worshipped gold, sailed up the Pacific Coast
0:39:21 > 0:39:24in search of new sources, and to trade with the people here.
0:39:26 > 0:39:28And one of the most important trading posts
0:39:28 > 0:39:32was at the mouth of the Diquis Delta on the Isla del Cano.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42This island was a trading post for gold.
0:39:42 > 0:39:45But that culture of gold didn't spontaneously emerge here.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48It developed with influences from further afield -
0:39:48 > 0:39:50almost certainly from down that coast,
0:39:50 > 0:39:55where great gold working cultures of South America were emerging.
0:40:00 > 0:40:04'Just as jade is associated with connections to the north,
0:40:04 > 0:40:06'so gold signifies a connection with the south.'
0:40:08 > 0:40:10Gold was central to the people of the Andes.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14To them, it was much more than a simple metal.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17Gold objects were associated with political power
0:40:17 > 0:40:19and spiritual authority.
0:40:20 > 0:40:24So in societies where control over gold was limited to a select few,
0:40:24 > 0:40:28these individuals wielded huge power over the community.
0:40:28 > 0:40:30Is this what happened here?
0:40:30 > 0:40:33The emergence of powerful chiefs
0:40:33 > 0:40:36who ruled thanks to their control of gold?
0:40:36 > 0:40:39Chiefs who could command large scale building projects
0:40:39 > 0:40:41and the expansion of settlements.
0:40:42 > 0:40:47On this island where the two worlds met, the gold is long gone.
0:40:47 > 0:40:49But there are hints that an important society
0:40:49 > 0:40:51did once exist here.
0:40:56 > 0:41:00These are some of the stone spheres of the Diquis Delta.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05Nearly 300 of them have been found
0:41:05 > 0:41:11and production peaked during the Chiriqui era.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13These spheres aren't created on a whim.
0:41:13 > 0:41:15They are found throughout the region.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18What role did they play in the lives of the people who lived here?
0:41:18 > 0:41:22They must mean something. The question is, what?
0:41:31 > 0:41:34There are many outlandish theories about them -
0:41:34 > 0:41:37that they are aligned with Stonehenge, with Easter Island,
0:41:37 > 0:41:40even that they were part of the lost city of Atlantis.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47All of which, we can safely say, are nonsense.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49'But whatever their purpose,
0:41:49 > 0:41:52'the effort that went into their creation is remarkable.'
0:41:55 > 0:41:57This has been carved from an igneous rock
0:41:57 > 0:41:59where the outcrops are on the mainland,
0:41:59 > 0:42:02transported over 12 miles out to this island.
0:42:02 > 0:42:04It tells us something about how significant these pieces
0:42:04 > 0:42:07of monumental architecture are to the society that they are being
0:42:07 > 0:42:11transported across the landscape and placed in places like this.
0:42:15 > 0:42:20Today, these spheres are everywhere in southern Costa Rica.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24In parks, in schools, even in people's gardens.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27They have become a national symbol.
0:42:28 > 0:42:30And once again, we have the humble banana
0:42:30 > 0:42:34to thank for inadvertently uncovering Costa Rica's past.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41We've seen how the people here tried to live in harmony
0:42:41 > 0:42:44with the landscape, building roads, settlements.
0:42:44 > 0:42:48But not all the people who came here were so careful.
0:42:48 > 0:42:50Some, like the United Fruit Company,
0:42:50 > 0:42:52have radically altered the landscape.
0:42:52 > 0:42:56In the 1930s, they came here and took down the large rainforest that
0:42:56 > 0:43:02covered southern Costa Rica and put in huge banana plantations instead.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05But during the process of the constructions of the plantations,
0:43:05 > 0:43:07they discovered hundreds of stone spheres
0:43:07 > 0:43:10that had lain hidden for over 400 years.
0:43:25 > 0:43:27'The National Museum's Francisco Corrales
0:43:27 > 0:43:31'is in charge of excavating one of these old banana plantations.'
0:43:32 > 0:43:36Finca 6 is the centre of the sphere-making culture in Costa Rica.
0:44:11 > 0:44:16The spheres were created using simple hammers.
0:44:16 > 0:44:20These would be used to batter and chip away at massive rocks
0:44:20 > 0:44:23until they were almost perfectly spherical.
0:44:25 > 0:44:27'Some have a smooth, polished finished,
0:44:27 > 0:44:30'achieved by rubbing sand across the surface.'
0:45:06 > 0:45:10Centuries of rain and flooding have covered this site in deep layers
0:45:10 > 0:45:16of sediment, leaving much of what was once here barely visible today.
0:45:16 > 0:45:20But Francisco and his colleagues believe there is much more
0:45:20 > 0:45:22to be discovered beneath these banana plants.
0:46:00 > 0:46:04This site could be even bigger than Guayabo - a huge settlement
0:46:04 > 0:46:09which may well have dominated this landscape 1,000 years ago.
0:46:09 > 0:46:12And although the spheres are unique to the south,
0:46:12 > 0:46:14the society that created them
0:46:14 > 0:46:18sounds similar to the settlements I've visited further north.
0:46:18 > 0:46:22'Societies in which rank was important.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25'In which political and religious power were concentrated
0:46:25 > 0:46:28'in the hands of a few significant individuals.'
0:47:30 > 0:47:34The spheres are mainly found in southern Costa Rica.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37They aren't found in Rivas, Guayabo, or Las Mercedes.
0:47:40 > 0:47:44That shows that these settlements were independent of one another,
0:47:44 > 0:47:47each with its own distinct culture.
0:47:47 > 0:47:50And yet the similarities are clear.
0:47:50 > 0:47:54Here, as further north, the chief and their allies used impressive
0:47:54 > 0:47:58architecture like roads and statues to emphasise their power.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04And at Finca 6 you can get an idea of just how powerful
0:48:04 > 0:48:07the local chief was when you consider the effort required
0:48:07 > 0:48:09to build his city of spheres.
0:48:21 > 0:48:25It's a two-hour horse ride deep into the Talamanca Mountains,
0:48:25 > 0:48:27to the spot where archaeologists now believe
0:48:27 > 0:48:29the spheres began their life.
0:48:41 > 0:48:44This sphere was not meant to remain here.
0:48:44 > 0:48:46It was abandoned unfinished.
0:48:48 > 0:48:51It was hewn out of one of the massive boulders
0:48:51 > 0:48:55which cover this forest, making this place a quarry.
0:48:55 > 0:48:59'And if this is the quarry, then moving these spheres into place
0:48:59 > 0:49:02'must have been a truly enormous task.'
0:49:20 > 0:49:24In between here and the valley below are rivers, ravines,
0:49:24 > 0:49:27and steep slopes covered in dense vegetation.
0:49:30 > 0:49:34So moving spheres like this, many weighing several tonnes,
0:49:34 > 0:49:37down to the valley can only have been achieved
0:49:37 > 0:49:40by a highly organised and obedient society.
0:50:26 > 0:50:30This has profound implications for our understanding
0:50:30 > 0:50:33of the way of life of the indigenous peoples in Costa Rica.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36The spheres demonstrated power.
0:50:36 > 0:50:40'Firstly, the power over nature to make them, and secondly,
0:50:40 > 0:50:44'the power required to physically move them across the landscape.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48'And all of this revolves around the power of the chief,
0:50:48 > 0:50:52'who was able to command this incredible production'
0:50:52 > 0:50:54and who would have the biggest
0:50:54 > 0:50:57and most impressive spheres placed outside their house.
0:50:57 > 0:51:01Looking at this sphere I can't help but see a complex, inventive,
0:51:01 > 0:51:04and significant society behind it.
0:51:04 > 0:51:07Just like Rivas, Guayabo, Rivas, and Las Mercedes,
0:51:07 > 0:51:10there is an explosion in building and art around the same time,
0:51:10 > 0:51:14when gold becomes the dominant material in the region.
0:51:14 > 0:51:16And the way people live becomes more hierarchical,
0:51:16 > 0:51:19centred on rank, status, and power.
0:51:19 > 0:51:21But when the Europeans arrived,
0:51:21 > 0:51:24they did not find a harmonious, prosperous people.
0:51:24 > 0:51:26They found a world at war.
0:51:31 > 0:51:35In the 16th century, Spanish accounts of brutal
0:51:35 > 0:51:38indigenous warfare in this part of the world were common.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42'One account describes roads piled high
0:51:42 > 0:51:44'with hundreds of severed human heads.
0:51:46 > 0:51:49'And that is the great unsolved questions
0:51:49 > 0:51:51'of the Chiriqui era in Costa Rica.
0:51:51 > 0:51:55'What happened? What caused this warfare?'
0:51:55 > 0:51:59And why, when the Spanish arrived at the start of the 16th century,
0:51:59 > 0:52:02did they find so many of these settlements
0:52:02 > 0:52:04in decline or abandoned altogether?
0:52:11 > 0:52:15One clue could lie deep in the Southern Costa Rican mountains.
0:52:21 > 0:52:25After the arrival of the Spanish we know that the indigenous people
0:52:25 > 0:52:28retreated here to the remote Talamanca mountains
0:52:28 > 0:52:30next to the modern-day border with Panama.
0:52:30 > 0:52:33And whilst we cannot identify the direct descendants of the people
0:52:33 > 0:52:37of the Chiriqui era, we know that these indigenous populations
0:52:37 > 0:52:39have managed to hold on to their beliefs,
0:52:39 > 0:52:42customs and practices for hundreds of years.
0:53:01 > 0:53:06The people who live here today are known as the Bribri.
0:53:06 > 0:53:1015,000 live in scattered communities along the Panamanian border.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14For many years they have existed on the fringes -
0:53:14 > 0:53:18a reminder of Costa Rica's pre-Columbian past
0:53:18 > 0:53:20'but not quite part of its modern story.'
0:53:33 > 0:53:37'Meyor Leandro is a local Bribri community leader.
0:53:37 > 0:53:39'Like a shaman of old,
0:53:39 > 0:53:42'he is responsible for the health of the people who live here.
0:53:42 > 0:53:45'And today, he has invited me into his surgery.'
0:53:47 > 0:53:50So, the baby is seven months old, called Asley,
0:53:50 > 0:53:53and the mother has brought her here cos she's been poorly.
0:53:54 > 0:53:58And now Meyer Leandro is starting to prepare some of the plants
0:53:58 > 0:54:03to try to and improve and solve the problem.
0:54:05 > 0:54:09So, Meyor Leandro is toasting these leaves and then brushing them
0:54:09 > 0:54:11over Asley, the little baby.
0:54:16 > 0:54:20I don't understand how this treatment is helping little Asley
0:54:20 > 0:54:24but Leandro's attitude to the causes of illness
0:54:24 > 0:54:28is one that has existed amongst the Bribri for hundreds of years.
0:54:53 > 0:54:56There's an interesting concept about where illnesses come from.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59They are described as being strangers from far away and when
0:54:59 > 0:55:02they visit the body they bring with them the sickness and the vomiting.
0:55:02 > 0:55:06So, a big part of this ceremony is about purification to get rid
0:55:06 > 0:55:10of that stranger and send them far away from the village.
0:55:13 > 0:55:17If people believe disease is brought to the village from outside
0:55:17 > 0:55:20then two things can occur.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23Either you break off contact with your neighbours,
0:55:23 > 0:55:26sending your community into isolation and decline,
0:55:26 > 0:55:29or you retaliate against the attack.
0:55:29 > 0:55:33So, could this have been the cause of the conflict the Spanish saw?
0:55:35 > 0:55:37Leandro blames the Spanish for bringing disease
0:55:37 > 0:55:39and discord to this world.
0:56:01 > 0:56:04There is another possibility.
0:56:04 > 0:56:06That the very success of the Chiriqui era
0:56:06 > 0:56:09sowed the seeds of its own downfall.
0:56:10 > 0:56:12As the people became more adept at mastering
0:56:12 > 0:56:15their tropical environment, populations rose
0:56:15 > 0:56:18and resources, once bountiful, became scarce...
0:56:19 > 0:56:22..leading to conflict.
0:56:23 > 0:56:27We don't have enough information to say for sure.
0:56:27 > 0:56:30But whether we blame competition for resources or disease,
0:56:30 > 0:56:33we can say one thing for certain.
0:56:34 > 0:56:39Connections had nourished trade and ideas and sustained growth.
0:56:39 > 0:56:42When the connections fractured, these societies fell.
0:56:43 > 0:56:46So by the time the Spanish fought their way inland,
0:56:46 > 0:56:51the great settlements were already in decline or had been abandoned.
0:56:51 > 0:56:53All that was left was their gold.
0:56:55 > 0:56:59The people here had thrived by reaching out to the communities
0:56:59 > 0:57:03in the north and to the south but those links are broken.
0:57:03 > 0:57:05For the first time the Chiriqui people
0:57:05 > 0:57:08and their neighbours become isolated.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11With isolation comes insecurity.
0:57:11 > 0:57:13And with insecurity comes conflict.
0:57:23 > 0:57:26Four centuries of rain and the suffocating spread
0:57:26 > 0:57:31of tropical vegetation obscured the legacy of the Chiriqui era.
0:57:31 > 0:57:35Only now are their substantial achievements coming back into view.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40The cities of this era were controlled by chiefs
0:57:40 > 0:57:44who built powerful networks far beyond these valleys.
0:57:44 > 0:57:47These people shared ideas and traded peaceably
0:57:47 > 0:57:50with one another for hundreds of years.
0:57:53 > 0:57:56Gold was critical to growth and change
0:57:56 > 0:57:58and we have started to uncover
0:57:58 > 0:58:03some of the spectacular remains of their vibrant societies.
0:58:09 > 0:58:12We know much more than we did just a few decades ago
0:58:12 > 0:58:14about this incredible land that was once
0:58:14 > 0:58:17relatively unexplored archeologically.
0:58:17 > 0:58:20Now we know the people of the Chiriqui era,
0:58:20 > 0:58:22how they thrived through their connections
0:58:22 > 0:58:25between empires and between oceans.
0:58:25 > 0:58:27How they harnessed the power of one of the wildest
0:58:27 > 0:58:30and most challenging environments in the world.
0:58:30 > 0:58:34And how they produced some of the most unusual, beautiful,
0:58:34 > 0:58:38and impressive art and engineering feats in the Americas.