0:00:07 > 0:00:10Archaeologists crave unexplored territory.
0:00:12 > 0:00:17Nothing thrills more than new discoveries of ancient civilisations.
0:00:20 > 0:00:21For over a century now,
0:00:21 > 0:00:24Peru has given us treasure after treasure.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28It's a vast country of extremes. From tropical rainforest
0:00:28 > 0:00:30to the dry deserts of the Atacama.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33And in one of the most remote northern regions
0:00:33 > 0:00:37lies the most mysterious kingdom in Peru.
0:00:44 > 0:00:45I'm Jago Cooper
0:00:45 > 0:00:48and, as an archaeologist who specialises in South America,
0:00:48 > 0:00:52I've always been fascinated by the secrets and mysteries
0:00:52 > 0:00:56buried deep in these awe-inspiring and forbidding landscapes.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59The history of this continent has been dominated
0:00:59 > 0:01:02by the stories of the Inca and the Spanish conquistadors.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06But in this series, I'll be exploring an older, forgotten past,
0:01:06 > 0:01:09travelling from the coast to the clouds
0:01:09 > 0:01:11in search of ancient civilisations
0:01:11 > 0:01:14as significant and impressive as anywhere else on Earth.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18In remote northern Peru,
0:01:18 > 0:01:22one such civilisation thrived for over 500 years.
0:01:22 > 0:01:23They were called the Chachapoyas,
0:01:23 > 0:01:26which translates as the People of the Clouds,
0:01:26 > 0:01:31and who they were is one of the greatest archaeological mysteries of the Americas.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51In the year 900 AD, on Andean mountain tops
0:01:51 > 0:01:53lived the Chachapoya people.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59The remnants of Chachapoya culture
0:01:59 > 0:02:02are amongst the most stunning and least understood in South America.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10The Chachapoya, quite frankly, are still a mystery to us.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13All we have to go on are tantalising fragments,
0:02:13 > 0:02:18treasures and artefacts from faraway tropical rainforests,
0:02:18 > 0:02:22tombs placed high on unscaleable cliffs,
0:02:22 > 0:02:25mummies hidden in caves.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29And one of the most impressive archaeological sites in South America.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34How did such a complex and advanced culture bloom
0:02:34 > 0:02:38in this remote part of Peru over 1,000 years ago?
0:02:45 > 0:02:47Before venturing into the mountains,
0:02:47 > 0:02:51my investigation into these enigmatic people
0:02:51 > 0:02:54begins here in the Peruvian capital Lima.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00None of the indigenous South American cultures
0:03:00 > 0:03:04left us written records, so the earliest written accounts
0:03:04 > 0:03:07are the chronicles of the Spanish conquistadors.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15In 1638, a century after the Spanish arrived,
0:03:15 > 0:03:19Father Pedro Calancha - one of the first chroniclers -
0:03:19 > 0:03:21ventured into Chachapoya territory
0:03:21 > 0:03:24and he wrote of the Chachapoya people that they were
0:03:24 > 0:03:28bellicose and indomitable, herbalists and sorcerers.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31And to the amazement of the Europeans, he also wrote
0:03:31 > 0:03:35that they only obey the chief during war time, and not any special one,
0:03:35 > 0:03:39but he who is known to be the most valiant, enterprising and daring.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45Sorcerers on mountain peaks!
0:03:45 > 0:03:49Bellicose Indians who were not controlled by their chiefs!
0:03:49 > 0:03:51Intriguing though these conquistador claims are,
0:03:51 > 0:03:53they're not much to go on.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59The Spanish invaders weren't always reliable eye-witnesses.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03The problem is, only a handful of archaeologists
0:04:03 > 0:04:06have even ventured into the Chachapoya territory.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11So before heading into the Andes, I need a more trustworthy source.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16One of the few who has studied the cryptic Chachapoya
0:04:16 > 0:04:20is Adriana von Hagen, so I met with her to establish the basics.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24What is it that drew you to the Chachapoyas region?
0:04:24 > 0:04:27What do you find so interesting about the Chachapoyas culture?
0:04:27 > 0:04:31Just the fact that there's so little known
0:04:31 > 0:04:34and that the iconography, the imagery -
0:04:34 > 0:04:37that's what I've been studying - what it can reveal about a culture.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41You will notice that all Chachapoya sites, almost all,
0:04:41 > 0:04:44are located on mountain tops or ridges.
0:04:44 > 0:04:49They were known as sorcerers, using Amazonian esoteric knowledge
0:04:49 > 0:04:51of herbs and hallucinogenic drugs.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55So little of the Chachapoyas region seems to have been mapped.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58How much of the archaeology do you think we've actually found?
0:04:58 > 0:05:01Oh, 5%? If that!
0:05:01 > 0:05:04Yeah, I can count on one hand
0:05:04 > 0:05:07the sites that have been excavated scientifically.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10- Incredible, and it's a huge region? - Huge.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14Why do you think more work hasn't been done by archaeologists there?
0:05:14 > 0:05:16Mainly because it's isolated.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18At least it's isolated to us
0:05:18 > 0:05:22in our Western sort of concept of getting to places, distant places.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26I mean, for pre-Colombian people, walking for two weeks was nothing,
0:05:26 > 0:05:30but, for us, even driving for a day is a long way.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41Peru is roughly five times the size of the UK.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43The Chachapoya were found to the north,
0:05:43 > 0:05:46and on the eastern side of the Andean mountains...
0:05:48 > 0:05:51..in 9,500 square miles of challenging terrain.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55After a flight from Lima and a 14-hour drive,
0:05:55 > 0:06:00I finally arrive in what is, to this day, called the Chachapoya region.
0:06:00 > 0:06:04And seeing the epic landscape for the first time, it strikes me
0:06:04 > 0:06:09that this isn't an obvious place to build a civilisation.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13The first humans made their way across Alaska and into North America
0:06:13 > 0:06:17over 14,000 years ago. Over the next 1,000 years,
0:06:17 > 0:06:20they travelled southwards, along the Pacific coastline,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23and through the continental interior
0:06:23 > 0:06:26to colonise and populate South America.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34The Chachapoya culture emerged around 900 AD,
0:06:34 > 0:06:37and some archaeologists believe they emigrated
0:06:37 > 0:06:41to these desolate mountain tops from the lower-lying Amazonian region.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43But we know that when they arrived here,
0:06:43 > 0:06:46they built homes on the hilltops
0:06:46 > 0:06:49and eventually grew to a population of half a million strong.
0:06:49 > 0:06:54They ruled these mountains and valleys for six centuries.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58But the first question surrounding the Chachapoya
0:06:58 > 0:07:01is why settle in this particular region?
0:07:01 > 0:07:04To the west is the Andes, for thousands of miles,
0:07:04 > 0:07:07the highest mountain range in South America.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09To the east, the vast Amazon Basin,
0:07:09 > 0:07:12stretching out, thick, dense tropical rainforest.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14To modern eyes,
0:07:14 > 0:07:18the Chachapoya region appears to be surrounded by barriers.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20Appears to be.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28Archaeologists have to look beyond first appearances.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36This is Rio Utcubamba,
0:07:36 > 0:07:39one of the many rivers that flows through the Chachapoya region.
0:07:39 > 0:07:44Although some of these rivers start just 150 miles from the Pacific coast,
0:07:44 > 0:07:46they defiantly, all, turn eastwards,
0:07:46 > 0:07:50flow into the Amazon Basin and run 3,000 miles out into the Atlantic.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55To modern eyes, the river may seem like another obstacle
0:07:55 > 0:07:58to make ancient life difficult.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00But, of course, it's easier to move over water
0:08:00 > 0:08:04rather than through the jungle or up into the mountains.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08If, as seems likely, the first Chachapoya had rafts and canoes,
0:08:08 > 0:08:11the river takes on a whole new significance.
0:08:11 > 0:08:16It becomes an A-road connecting the Andes with the Amazonian basin.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18Journeys that would take days on foot
0:08:18 > 0:08:21could be completed in just hours on the river.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24At lower levels, there's a hint of the tropical jungle
0:08:24 > 0:08:27and the connections with the vast Amazonian basin,
0:08:27 > 0:08:31the most biologically diverse place on Earth.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34So despite living high in the mountains,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37the Chachapoya could trade with the peoples of the Amazon,
0:08:37 > 0:08:41ensuring a supply of an amazing array of herbs, medicines,
0:08:41 > 0:08:43animals and exotic bird feathers.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50The Chachapoya had chosen an ideal crossroads.
0:08:50 > 0:08:55What appears isolated would actually have been a hub for trade.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58Their lofty communities on the mountain tops
0:08:58 > 0:09:01would have been closely connected with the people down river.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11This is beeswax, a typical product of the upper Amazon,
0:09:11 > 0:09:13It's exactly the type of exotic commodity
0:09:13 > 0:09:17that they would have traded up into the mountains, and beyond.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28So, it seems one thing we can know for certain about the Chachapoya
0:09:28 > 0:09:31is that by using the rivers,
0:09:31 > 0:09:35they could trade with the peoples downstream in the Amazonian basin.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39The vast majority of the materials traded from the tropical regions
0:09:39 > 0:09:43were perishable, but some of that evidence still survives.
0:09:43 > 0:09:48In Chachapoya sites, spectacular head-dresses have been found,
0:09:48 > 0:09:50festooned with exotic feathers of parrots
0:09:50 > 0:09:52from the Amazonian rainforest.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56Animals from the lowlands have been found, mummified and preserved.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59With such a rich supply of resources close by,
0:09:59 > 0:10:02it appears the Chachapoya thrived -
0:10:02 > 0:10:05transporting the tropical goods deep into the Andes.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10These transactions undoubtedly enriched the Chachapoyan knowledge
0:10:10 > 0:10:14of medicine, herbs, hunting and mythology.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17But this wasn't their only frontier.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22The Andes is the longest north-south mountain range in the world.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25The mountains seem to represent an impassable barrier
0:10:25 > 0:10:28between inland South America and the Pacific coast.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33Like the rivers, the mountains might appear to be a massive obstacle
0:10:33 > 0:10:37to the Chachapoya, but again, we shouldn't go on appearances alone.
0:10:39 > 0:10:44Deep canyons like these, carved over centuries by the Rio Maranon,
0:10:44 > 0:10:47provided the lowest routes into the Andes for hundreds of miles
0:10:47 > 0:10:50in either direction. These river valleys acted like funnels
0:10:50 > 0:10:52through which the trade would pass.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58The valleys provided a gateway to the coast,
0:10:58 > 0:11:02just as the rivers opened up trading routes to the Amazon downstream.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05And at Chachapoya sites throughout the region,
0:11:05 > 0:11:07we find traces of that ancient trade.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10I'm going to the town of Chachapoyas,
0:11:10 > 0:11:13the administrative capital of the region.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16Here, the Chachapoyas Ministry of Culture
0:11:16 > 0:11:18has a treasure trove of artefacts hidden away.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24Stacked in a cupboard, there are finds from miles around.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31Watched over by mummified remains from a Chachapoya tomb,
0:11:31 > 0:11:34they're allowing me to take a closer look.
0:11:38 > 0:11:39This is a llama.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43And these llamas are really important.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46They play a crucial role in the life of the Chachapoya.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50Obviously, you don't get any horses in the whole of the Americas
0:11:50 > 0:11:52before the Europeans turn up,
0:11:52 > 0:11:54so the llama is not only used for its meat and its wool,
0:11:54 > 0:11:57it's also the main beast of burden.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01We can see that there's a rope going round the llama's back
0:12:01 > 0:12:03and forming up here to a pack on the back.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06Although this is actually a vessel as it is now,
0:12:06 > 0:12:10it looks like this rope represents that rucksack
0:12:10 > 0:12:11which is on the llama's back
0:12:11 > 0:12:15carrying the produce from the Chachapoyas up into the highlands.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19Lovely.
0:12:19 > 0:12:24This shell was found in the tomb of a Chachapoya warrior in this region.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28We've got these perforations up the sides,
0:12:28 > 0:12:32and even right inside there, you can see right down there,
0:12:32 > 0:12:34the holes inside the shell.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40So to me it looks like this is a flute, a musical instrument.
0:12:40 > 0:12:45This will have come from over 500 kilometres away on the Ecuadorian coastline.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48It gets us thinking about those trade networks
0:12:48 > 0:12:52of the Chachapoya region, going up the river systems across the Andes
0:12:52 > 0:12:54and down the other side.
0:12:57 > 0:13:02This is a little seed pod and it's from the maichil plant,
0:13:02 > 0:13:05which is a seed that only comes from the lowlands
0:13:05 > 0:13:07at altitudes less than 500 metres.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10So it must have come from the Amazon,
0:13:10 > 0:13:13but this shell is clearly a utilitarian shell
0:13:13 > 0:13:15used for a musical instrument.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19Placed on a string and used as a rattle around the wrists and ankles.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21Just like Morris dancers in the UK.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44But goods aren't the only things that pass along busy trade routes.
0:13:44 > 0:13:49With trade comes communication, with communication comes knowledge.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55Walking through a local market really highlights
0:13:55 > 0:13:57the benefits of an effective trade system.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00You don't have to mine your own mines to get metals.
0:14:00 > 0:14:05You don't have to forage for days in the Amazon to get exotic plants.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08What I think is most interesting is having these trade networks
0:14:08 > 0:14:14exposes you to the new, latest arts, technologies, medicinal plants
0:14:14 > 0:14:17and, most importantly, new ideas which can affect your culture.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33So by controlling the trade routes
0:14:33 > 0:14:35between the cultures of the rainforest
0:14:35 > 0:14:39and the kingdoms on the coast, they absorbed ideas from both,
0:14:39 > 0:14:41encountered new artistic techniques,
0:14:41 > 0:14:44and had exotic resources at their disposal.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52Believe it or not, the Chachapoya were pretty cosmopolitan.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08As so often with this elusive community,
0:15:08 > 0:15:12there are only fragments of their vibrant culture remaining.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15There are pictograms and paintings on the hillsides,
0:15:15 > 0:15:18musical instruments and pottery.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26And, most striking of all, their beautiful textiles.
0:15:36 > 0:15:40The Chachapoya region has always been famous for its woven textiles.
0:15:40 > 0:15:45Unfortunately, very few of these Chachapoya textiles survived,
0:15:45 > 0:15:48but the ones that do give us this lovely insight
0:15:48 > 0:15:50into the beliefs and imagery of the Chachapoya.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54THEY SPEAK SPANISH
0:16:10 > 0:16:14Chachapoya tunics and blankets were patterned with colourful animals,
0:16:14 > 0:16:17serpents, and strange frog-like creatures.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21We simply don't know enough to say for sure what these images mean,
0:16:21 > 0:16:25but it does suggest a rich, highly developed, symbolic belief system,
0:16:25 > 0:16:29with influences from both the lowlands and the highlands.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31Decades of work may be needed
0:16:31 > 0:16:33to even begin to understand the imagery
0:16:33 > 0:16:37and the tantalising clues it provides to Chachapoya culture.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46But one artefact found at later-period Chachapoya sites
0:16:46 > 0:16:49embodies the complexities of Chachapoya culture.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51The khipu.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58The khipu is a piece of string encrypted with coded information,
0:16:58 > 0:17:02that seemed to be carried by special persons, known as khipu keepers,
0:17:02 > 0:17:05and were often buried alongside the dead.
0:17:05 > 0:17:10There are just over 600 of these fascinating artefacts in the world,
0:17:10 > 0:17:14including this amazing collection at the museum in Leymebamba.
0:17:14 > 0:17:20Khipus are one of the great unsolved mysteries of modern archaeology.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22When people come to a museum in South America,
0:17:22 > 0:17:25the first thing they're attracted to are the gold objects,
0:17:25 > 0:17:28those glittering, shiny pieces. But the reality is that,
0:17:28 > 0:17:33tucked away in a dusty corner, are these pieces of string. Khipu.
0:17:35 > 0:17:36Khipu are extraordinary.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40In Quechua, the Inca language, khipu means knot.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43These mysterious objects were initially thought to be
0:17:43 > 0:17:48some sort of simple South American abacus, but recent research suggests
0:17:48 > 0:17:51they are far, far more sophisticated than that.
0:17:53 > 0:17:58If we think about our own language, we have 26 letters.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01That gives us 26 different variables. You can then have
0:18:01 > 0:18:04any number or combination of those letters in sequence.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08So if we take that idea of looking for variables and different ways
0:18:08 > 0:18:13that information can be recorded and turn our attention to the khipu.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16There's a main cord, with three different cords that come off it.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20Each of those cords can be spaced at different distances
0:18:20 > 0:18:21along the main cord.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24Each of these subsidiary cords can have a different length.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27There can be different knots positioned at different places
0:18:27 > 0:18:29down each of those subsidiary cords.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32Even the knots themselves have a number of different forms,
0:18:32 > 0:18:34with single knots to double knots,
0:18:34 > 0:18:38to 10 different strings being wrapped around within the same knot.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41There's different colours, there's different twinings.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43You realise there are so many different scales
0:18:43 > 0:18:45which information is locked within.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49Originally thought of as just being a series of numbers,
0:18:49 > 0:18:52what we now know is that locked away within these khipus
0:18:52 > 0:18:56are legends, myths, narratives of the people that made them.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03If, as we suspect, the khipu do contain narratives,
0:19:03 > 0:19:05the significance is enormous.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09It means the Chachapoya and the Inca, who also used khipu,
0:19:09 > 0:19:13had a three-dimensional system of recording stories.
0:19:13 > 0:19:18Hidden in the knots could be the key to unlocking countless secrets.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21So much remains to be understood about the khipu,
0:19:21 > 0:19:24but for now we can just stare at them in wonder.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44We know that the Chachapoya were a trading people,
0:19:44 > 0:19:48and that they absorbed influences from across the region.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50But if their livelihoods were dependent on the river,
0:19:50 > 0:19:53why settle on the less accessible mountain tops above?
0:19:56 > 0:19:58I met with Klaus Koschmieder,
0:19:58 > 0:20:01a German archaeologist who has spent much of his life
0:20:01 > 0:20:03studying the origins of the Chachapoya.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10What's distinctive about a residential complex of the Chachapoya?
0:20:10 > 0:20:13The residential complexes, they are on top of the hills
0:20:13 > 0:20:18while the ceremonial centres, they are on the slopes of the hills.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20Why do you think the Chachapoya
0:20:20 > 0:20:23put those settlements on top of the hills?
0:20:23 > 0:20:26The main reason is that
0:20:26 > 0:20:31the settlements are on the level of the cultivation sites of the fields.
0:20:31 > 0:20:36They were cultivating maize and potatoes. This is in high altitudes.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42In the Andes, different altitudes provide different micro climates
0:20:42 > 0:20:45where different crops could be grown.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47Thus, at the optimum height for cultivation,
0:20:47 > 0:20:51the Cloud People built their impressive villages.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56Settlements can tell us a great deal.
0:20:56 > 0:21:01The architecture and layout of the buildings provide valuable insights
0:21:01 > 0:21:03into the way the Chachapoya lived.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09It's great to be inside one of these Chachapoya structures.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12What's distinctive about Chachapoya architecture?
0:21:12 > 0:21:16Chachapoya structures are round
0:21:16 > 0:21:19and we have a decoration in the form of friezes,
0:21:19 > 0:21:20mostly in zig-zag form.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24That's a universal motif of the Chachapoya people.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26Just looking around this structure,
0:21:26 > 0:21:29I can see these beam slots in the walls.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31What does that tell us about this structure?
0:21:31 > 0:21:35The beam slots were possibly to put a second floor on this house.
0:21:35 > 0:21:40Having multiple storeys in a house is very unusual for South America.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43This is quite a large building, a large structure to be having.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46Yes, this structure is not a habitation site,
0:21:46 > 0:21:49it's a ceremonial site, no?
0:21:49 > 0:21:53And so inside the houses, they were practising rituals and dances.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00I'm amazed to see a 600-year-old, two-storey building
0:22:00 > 0:22:02here in South America. It's almost unheard of.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14I'm struck by how sophisticated these structures are.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17This reconstructed building reveals
0:22:17 > 0:22:20that the Chachapoya were not just talented traders,
0:22:20 > 0:22:22but skilled architects and builders.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27But the settlements pose as many questions as they answer.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31Klaus talked of their ceremonial buildings,
0:22:31 > 0:22:34but we don't know exactly what kind of ceremonies
0:22:34 > 0:22:36the Chachapoya used when in life.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40But we do know about rituals around death,
0:22:40 > 0:22:42which can tell us a great deal.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50I want to see for myself the elaborate Chachapoya burials,
0:22:50 > 0:22:53so I'm going far off the beaten track, beyond the road network,
0:22:53 > 0:22:57where the remains of the Cloud People lie undisturbed to this day.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13THEY TALK IN SPANISH
0:23:13 > 0:23:16This is my horse and it's called the Mad One, El Loco,
0:23:16 > 0:23:19which, er, fills me with a little bit of fear.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31So I've got a lovely saddle of cloth underneath here,
0:23:31 > 0:23:33the stirrups made of old tyres
0:23:33 > 0:23:36and me and El Loco, the horse, are ready to head up the valley.
0:24:09 > 0:24:10El Loco and the other horses
0:24:10 > 0:24:13will take our expedition part of the way up the mountain,
0:24:13 > 0:24:17until we get within sight of the towering cliffs of La Petaca.
0:24:18 > 0:24:23It's tough and arduous terrain, but archaeologists should never grumble
0:24:23 > 0:24:25because it's the very remoteness of these sites
0:24:25 > 0:24:28that have protected them from treasure hunters and looters
0:24:28 > 0:24:31that are a constant threat in this region.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00Hola, Maximo.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06This is the most insane spot.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09We've just come down from the top of the mountain
0:25:09 > 0:25:12and caught up with Maximo, who's one of Peru's best mountaineers.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15The reason I need Maximo's climbing wisdom
0:25:15 > 0:25:19is that I am here to see for myself the cliff tombs of the Cloud People.
0:25:21 > 0:25:26These vast cliffs in the remote site of La Petaca are a true necropolis,
0:25:26 > 0:25:28a Chachapoya city of the dead.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33I never thought I'd be sitting edge of a mountain,
0:25:33 > 0:25:36about to drop off and feeling bloody terrified!
0:25:38 > 0:25:40It's a seriously long way down!
0:25:50 > 0:25:53So...just come over the top and this is the view down.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12You can feel the sensation of the rope...
0:26:12 > 0:26:16grinding on the limestone as we go down.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21There's a 200 metre vertical drop
0:26:21 > 0:26:23from the top to the bottom of the cliffs
0:26:23 > 0:26:26and, even with expert climbers and the latest equipment,
0:26:26 > 0:26:28it's a daunting prospect.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31But astonishingly, centuries ago,
0:26:31 > 0:26:34the ancient Cloud People not only climbed up and down
0:26:34 > 0:26:36these crumbling limestone cliffs with their dead,
0:26:36 > 0:26:39they actually built on them.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43You can see signs of Chachapoya walls on this rock face.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46They've come up here
0:26:46 > 0:26:50and built these walls on the vertical rock face.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52These crumbling limestone cliffs are pitted with caves,
0:26:52 > 0:26:55and the Chachapoya transformed these, we think,
0:26:55 > 0:26:57into burial chambers.
0:26:57 > 0:26:58What's most remarkable of all
0:26:58 > 0:27:00is that some of those burials are still here.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06How the Chachapoya got up here is completely mind boggling.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21Coming down the ropes, you can see behind me, unbelievably,
0:27:21 > 0:27:24there are still Chachapoya burials intact.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32The bones of these ancient people poke out all over the cliff,
0:27:32 > 0:27:34alongside the occasional vulture's nest.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40But the true revelations come inside the tombs themselves.
0:27:53 > 0:27:54Wow, we're inside the cave.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01It's a little natural cave, but just here on the edges,
0:28:01 > 0:28:04you can see the Chachapoya have built the walls up,
0:28:04 > 0:28:07expanding the sides of the cave.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10We're still a good 100 metres up.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13And I can't imagine there have been too many people here
0:28:13 > 0:28:16since the Chachapoya were last here 500 years ago.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19Wow. That was really quite some ride down!
0:28:23 > 0:28:27These inaccessible little cave tombs are known as chulpas
0:28:27 > 0:28:30and it's a real privilege to be inside one.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39The cave is full of little nooks and crannies.
0:28:40 > 0:28:44I'm going to climb up this wall, and up here, I can see a little ledge.
0:28:54 > 0:28:59Inside this alcove is a human skeleton that is still articulated,
0:28:59 > 0:29:02it's still intact, all the bones are in the correct position.
0:29:02 > 0:29:06You can see that it's been wrapped in some sort of tunic or shroud.
0:29:06 > 0:29:08That is truly spectacular.
0:29:11 > 0:29:15This cave is just one of many within the honeycomb cliffs of La Petaca,
0:29:15 > 0:29:18and all the remains appear to be
0:29:18 > 0:29:21carefully, ritualistically positioned.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25Wow. We're going to be really careful here,
0:29:25 > 0:29:27cos there are bones on the floor.
0:29:27 > 0:29:32If you look over here, you can see some remains of some Chachapoya.
0:29:32 > 0:29:34I've never seen anything like it.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37The way the bones are assembled makes me think
0:29:37 > 0:29:40they might have been de-fleshed before they were brought here.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43The way that all the skulls and long bones have been laid out,
0:29:43 > 0:29:45they seem to be quite particular
0:29:45 > 0:29:48about how they've been placed against this rock.
0:29:48 > 0:29:50They must have laid here for at least 500 years.
0:29:50 > 0:29:56We can see a whole group of long bones, skulls, a knee joint.
0:29:58 > 0:30:00It's just incredible to see it all lying here.
0:30:03 > 0:30:05Some of the chulpas contain a single burial,
0:30:05 > 0:30:09others multiple burials, possibly families.
0:30:09 > 0:30:13And here you can see some of the teeth in the lower mandible.
0:30:13 > 0:30:17Judging by the tooth wear, this is an old individual.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19The teeth have been worn right down.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23It's remarkable you get this level of preservation in these caves.
0:30:24 > 0:30:26It's only when you see the thought and effort
0:30:26 > 0:30:28that has gone into placing these remains here,
0:30:28 > 0:30:30protected from the elements,
0:30:30 > 0:30:34that you understand just how important caring for the dead
0:30:34 > 0:30:35must have been for the Chachapoya.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40There's something really eerie about this tomb. This is somewhere
0:30:40 > 0:30:43the Chachapoya clearly wanted to keep alive in their memory,
0:30:43 > 0:30:45they'd come here again and again,
0:30:45 > 0:30:48there's dozens of burials in this cave alone.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51So the fact that it's been abandoned and desolate
0:30:51 > 0:30:54and we're the first people to visit it for so long,
0:30:54 > 0:30:56there's something so poignant about that, I think.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58You might think that placing their dead inaccessibly,
0:30:58 > 0:31:02high up in the cliffs, meant leaving them alone.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06But astonishingly, some of the rock inside is worn smooth,
0:31:06 > 0:31:09which suggests repeated visits to these caves.
0:31:09 > 0:31:13Finding archaeology like this in context is crucial
0:31:13 > 0:31:15because if we want to interpret and understand
0:31:15 > 0:31:18what the Chachapoya were doing,
0:31:18 > 0:31:21we need to see it exactly like this, just as they left it.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23I'm not going to touch any of the bones.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26I want it to be left here exactly like it is
0:31:26 > 0:31:29and then, hopefully, one day some archaeologists will come here
0:31:29 > 0:31:32and take a lot of time to excavate this cave properly.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37Perhaps a major investigation
0:31:37 > 0:31:42will discover how the Chachapoya got up here in the first place.
0:31:42 > 0:31:46I can see intriguing beams sticking out from the cliff
0:31:46 > 0:31:48and we've already seen that they were skilled at construction,
0:31:48 > 0:31:52but no-one has yet come up with a conclusive explanation
0:31:52 > 0:31:56as to how they scaled these dangerous heights, and so regularly.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00Even with ropes and helmets...
0:32:03 > 0:32:06..I found out they can be pretty hazardous.
0:32:08 > 0:32:10But interesting as that puzzle is,
0:32:10 > 0:32:14the real question is what role the dead played in their culture.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17Why devote so much effort to entombing them
0:32:17 > 0:32:19and then visit so often?
0:32:29 > 0:32:31Finding an answer isn't easy.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35But a different kind of tomb provides another clue,
0:32:35 > 0:32:38albeit one tainted by recent history.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41Chachapoya sites are hard to find.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44You often have to come right up into the hills to try and find them.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47But they're also becoming increasingly vulnerable.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51In 1996, some cattle ranchers were pushing though a valley like this
0:32:51 > 0:32:54when they saw a tree had fallen down off the side.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57Behind the tree was a small opening.
0:32:57 > 0:33:02Curious, they went right inside, and found 200 Chachapoya mummies.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05The site was called Laguna de los Condores.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15Unlike the cliffs at La Petaca,
0:33:15 > 0:33:18the bodies at Laguna de los Condores had been carefully mummified.
0:33:20 > 0:33:22These were mummies dating from a later period
0:33:22 > 0:33:27when the Chachapoya culture overlapped with the Inca culture.
0:33:27 > 0:33:32There were mummified adults, mummified babies, mummified animals.
0:33:34 > 0:33:36It was a hugely important discovery,
0:33:36 > 0:33:39but the ranchers began to search through the bodies,
0:33:39 > 0:33:41hunting for treasure.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44Word got out and, within days, tourists and tomb raiders
0:33:44 > 0:33:47were trampling all over one of the most astonishing
0:33:47 > 0:33:50archaeological discoveries in the Americas.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54After 10 days of chaos,
0:33:54 > 0:33:57the first archaeologist on the scene was Sonia Guillen.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00Sensing the importance of the discovery
0:34:00 > 0:34:02and seeking to preserve what remained,
0:34:02 > 0:34:05Sonia collected the artefacts and mummy bundles together
0:34:05 > 0:34:09and rescued them for the museum in Leymebamba.
0:34:09 > 0:34:13The astonishing preservation of these mummies can get us much closer
0:34:13 > 0:34:16to understanding why the dead meant so much to the living.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22And they can tell us much more about the final days of the Chachapoya.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26Oh, wow. Look at that.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30This person had tuberculosis.
0:34:30 > 0:34:33He was a young individual
0:34:33 > 0:34:37and he probably died because of a complication with tuberculosis.
0:34:40 > 0:34:41There are more than 200 mummies
0:34:41 > 0:34:44here in the museum's controlled storage room.
0:34:44 > 0:34:49By examining them, Sonia and her team have got as close as anyone can
0:34:49 > 0:34:52to understanding the belief systems of the Chachapoya.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56You get to connect to an individual,
0:34:56 > 0:34:59you get to connect to the last events
0:34:59 > 0:35:03before this individual was taken to their final repository
0:35:03 > 0:35:06and, individual by individual,
0:35:06 > 0:35:09you get to learn about a population.
0:35:12 > 0:35:16Most of the mummies have never been studied scientifically.
0:35:16 > 0:35:19Today, we are unwrapping this mummy for the very first time.
0:35:20 > 0:35:24From X-rays, Sonia can tell the bundle contains a young man
0:35:24 > 0:35:28who appears to have died from tuberculosis.
0:35:28 > 0:35:32He was mummified and left in the cave some 500 years ago,
0:35:32 > 0:35:36and no-one has set eyes on him since. Until now.
0:35:37 > 0:35:39And there we are.
0:35:39 > 0:35:43I'm amazed. Every time we look into any of these individuals,
0:35:43 > 0:35:46there's always something new.
0:35:46 > 0:35:51This is the first individual - the very, very, very first individual -
0:35:51 > 0:35:57where we find the ear spool in place, OK?
0:35:57 > 0:35:59And what material is that made out of?
0:35:59 > 0:36:02- Wood.- So the ear lobe would have gone around that
0:36:02 > 0:36:04and it would have been a decorative earring?
0:36:04 > 0:36:07It's becoming fashionable nowadays, isn't it?
0:36:08 > 0:36:12Forensic archaeology is methodical and incremental
0:36:12 > 0:36:17and every find, every detail, even a large earring,
0:36:17 > 0:36:20illuminates the Chachapoya a little more.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23Look at these hands up round the face.
0:36:23 > 0:36:25They've been deliberately tied there twice,
0:36:25 > 0:36:27round the fingers and round the wrists.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30Why do you think they had them up around the face?
0:36:30 > 0:36:33Sorry if I sound over simplistic,
0:36:33 > 0:36:36but I think this was the best place to put them.
0:36:36 > 0:36:38They were trying to make a package
0:36:38 > 0:36:43that they could move from one place to another easily by foot.
0:36:44 > 0:36:46So here, as in the cliffs,
0:36:46 > 0:36:49the Chachapoya dead were not left to rest in peace.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52Archaeologists believe the living tended to them, re-wrapped them
0:36:52 > 0:36:56and may even have taken them from the tombs and displayed them.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00What does this tell us about their attitude to the dead?
0:37:00 > 0:37:02When you see the effort they put into creating these mummies,
0:37:02 > 0:37:05do you think that's because they are trying to keep people alive,
0:37:05 > 0:37:06keep the memory of them alive
0:37:06 > 0:37:09and have that connection between the living and the dead?
0:37:09 > 0:37:13Mmm-hmm, definitely because, in those days,
0:37:13 > 0:37:18what else did you have to keep your memory alive?
0:37:18 > 0:37:21It was to keep the individuals close to you
0:37:21 > 0:37:25and remember, also, your rights to a territory
0:37:25 > 0:37:29are rights that are defined through your ancestors.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32So it's important to show others
0:37:32 > 0:37:36that your ancestors are here with you,
0:37:36 > 0:37:39helping you demand that this territory is yours.
0:37:41 > 0:37:43The effort of mummification,
0:37:43 > 0:37:47of scaling impossible cliffs with their dead,
0:37:47 > 0:37:50it wasn't simply about remembering those they loved.
0:37:51 > 0:37:55It was a ritual that helped root the Chachapoya in their land.
0:37:56 > 0:37:59So looking at these mummies over all these years,
0:37:59 > 0:38:02what are the key things that you think you've learnt?
0:38:02 > 0:38:05When you approach a mummy bundle,
0:38:05 > 0:38:09a mummy, with this whole context,
0:38:09 > 0:38:14you can't avoid connecting to emotions
0:38:14 > 0:38:17and they connect to you as humans,
0:38:17 > 0:38:20and that's also one of the things we want to present to the public,
0:38:20 > 0:38:23that they don't just look at the freaky show
0:38:23 > 0:38:26where they will get scared,
0:38:26 > 0:38:30but actually will connect to adults, young ones, children
0:38:30 > 0:38:36and how their society treated them with respect, with sorrow,
0:38:36 > 0:38:42with tenderness, with emotions that you can't reconstruct.
0:38:42 > 0:38:44And they can connect to you.
0:38:46 > 0:38:51The mummies from Laguna de Los Condores give us an amazing glimpse
0:38:51 > 0:38:53of the Chachapoya attitude to life and death.
0:38:55 > 0:38:57Displaying deceased ancestors
0:38:57 > 0:39:01seems to have been about identity and belonging.
0:39:01 > 0:39:03But the funerary culture of the Chachapoya
0:39:03 > 0:39:05reveals even more than that.
0:39:05 > 0:39:10As well as mummification, they built sarcophagi to display their dead.
0:39:10 > 0:39:12And what these structures don't have
0:39:12 > 0:39:15is just as significant as what they do.
0:39:18 > 0:39:20How a people bury their dead
0:39:20 > 0:39:23is one of the best ways of identifying hierarchies.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26What's interesting about the Chachapoya
0:39:26 > 0:39:28is they appear to be egalitarian.
0:39:28 > 0:39:30There are hundreds of sarcophagi like this
0:39:30 > 0:39:33with men, women and children buried inside.
0:39:33 > 0:39:38But significantly, there are no elite burial sites, no royal tombs.
0:39:40 > 0:39:42Unlike many other ancient cultures,
0:39:42 > 0:39:45nor are there depictions of servitude,
0:39:45 > 0:39:48or of regal figures being worshipped.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51Instead, the independent Chachapoya
0:39:51 > 0:39:55depicted distinct individuals in an egalitarian way.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59I've dug burials in a lot of different places around the world
0:39:59 > 0:40:02but I've really never seen a burial type like this.
0:40:02 > 0:40:04The Chachapoya build these sarcophagi
0:40:04 > 0:40:06in these anthropomorphic forms.
0:40:06 > 0:40:10They have stones cascading around in a circle
0:40:10 > 0:40:13and held together with a clay and straw matrix.
0:40:13 > 0:40:15What I like about them is that they are all quite standardised,
0:40:15 > 0:40:20they have these faces with this distinctive nose, this flat face,
0:40:20 > 0:40:22but each one, although it has a standard form,
0:40:22 > 0:40:24has been made individually.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28Here we can see some of the decoration.
0:40:28 > 0:40:32You've got a decorative pattern made out of an iron oxide paste
0:40:32 > 0:40:34which gives it that red colour.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37I like it because you have these bands of decoration
0:40:37 > 0:40:39which can be made individual,
0:40:39 > 0:40:42representing that individual family member.
0:40:49 > 0:40:54These strange sarcophagi appear like ghosts on the landscape.
0:40:54 > 0:40:56Not enough archaeological work has been done
0:40:56 > 0:40:58to be sure who they commemorate,
0:40:58 > 0:41:03which is not surprising given how difficult they are to access.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06In fact, some of these intriguing little mud and straw statues
0:41:06 > 0:41:08seem to be protected by nature itself.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16Just over here are nine Chachapoya sarcophagi.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19I really want to go and have a closer look,
0:41:19 > 0:41:22but the one on the right, inside, has a nest of killer bees.
0:41:22 > 0:41:26The bees have killed a few people in this valley over the last few years,
0:41:26 > 0:41:29so there's no way I'm going to get any closer.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33To see more evidence for this surprising lack of hierarchy,
0:41:33 > 0:41:36you have to fight your way through.
0:41:52 > 0:41:54Archaeological sites...
0:41:54 > 0:41:58are always covered with things that sting and spike.
0:42:00 > 0:42:02Which is why it's always good to have a machete.
0:42:04 > 0:42:05But it's quite fun.
0:42:14 > 0:42:15Spike in the hand!
0:42:18 > 0:42:20Two spines.
0:42:25 > 0:42:28It's really in quite deep, actually. Got to be careful here.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31It's gone through there and across to there.
0:42:32 > 0:42:35I'm going to need someone to get some pliers.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41That's quite painful. I'm running out of amount he can pull.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44Ah! Get him. That's painful.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47On three, just going to pull it out. Three, two, one.
0:42:47 > 0:42:49Beauty!
0:42:49 > 0:42:51And here's our little friend.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55Now it's time for some revenge.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03Like lost kingdoms should be, Chachapoya architecture is
0:43:03 > 0:43:06often hidden under centuries of vegetation
0:43:06 > 0:43:10and we can only get glimpses through sharp thorns.
0:43:11 > 0:43:14But it's worth hacking my way through the hills
0:43:14 > 0:43:16to meet Peter Lerche.
0:43:16 > 0:43:18Originally from Germany, Peter is an anthropologist
0:43:18 > 0:43:22who has lived in this region for 32 years.
0:43:22 > 0:43:26Past and present, nobody knows the Chachapoya people like Peter does.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29In fact, he considers himself Peruvian
0:43:29 > 0:43:32and was once mayor of the town of Chachapoyas.
0:43:32 > 0:43:33And he managed to get me close
0:43:33 > 0:43:36to one of the many lost Chachapoya settlements.
0:43:39 > 0:43:41So what's the name of this site?
0:43:41 > 0:43:45- This site is Yalape.- Yalape?
0:43:45 > 0:43:48Yalape. The Chachapoya, the population centre.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51And what are we looking at here? What's this?
0:43:51 > 0:43:54This is a ceremonial centre of Yalape.
0:43:54 > 0:43:58This is a six-metre-high wall, right on the top of the bluff,
0:43:58 > 0:44:02which you must be able to see for miles around, it's a real statement.
0:44:02 > 0:44:05That's an ideological aspect - here I am!
0:44:05 > 0:44:08They show that they are not hiding.
0:44:08 > 0:44:11And what are we looking at here? What are these particular friezes?
0:44:11 > 0:44:13This is the zig-zag frieze
0:44:13 > 0:44:17and it symbolises a snake.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20And the symbol at the top then, what do you think the symbol,
0:44:20 > 0:44:22the value is, behind that rhomboid shape?
0:44:22 > 0:44:28The rhomboid shape, it's the jaguar. It's not an Amazonian culture,
0:44:28 > 0:44:33it's not an Andean culture, it's a mixture of both worlds.
0:44:33 > 0:44:34At its peak,
0:44:34 > 0:44:37over half a million people lived in the Chachapoya territory,
0:44:37 > 0:44:40which is more than live here in modern times.
0:44:40 > 0:44:43All the evidence suggests that the Cloud People's society
0:44:43 > 0:44:47not only had its own symbolism and ideology, but that it evolved
0:44:47 > 0:44:51in a distinctly different way than any European models.
0:44:51 > 0:44:57We have no manifestation of power in an architectural way,
0:44:57 > 0:44:59you know, no architecture of power.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02Normally, we know about humans, when I have power,
0:45:02 > 0:45:04I want to show my power in palaces.
0:45:04 > 0:45:09And here, all the same circular structures.
0:45:09 > 0:45:11And this challenges
0:45:11 > 0:45:15some major constructs of archaeological interpretation.
0:45:15 > 0:45:20When people think of a united culture of half a million people,
0:45:20 > 0:45:23we associate that with a hierarchy, with an elite,
0:45:23 > 0:45:26but we just don't have that with the Chachapoya?
0:45:26 > 0:45:29Archaeologically, or architectonically,
0:45:29 > 0:45:30there is no evidence.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33Some of the technological developments
0:45:33 > 0:45:37you see at places like this and the organisation of labour,
0:45:37 > 0:45:41it's great to think that people must have been coming together
0:45:41 > 0:45:44as a collective rather than under an authoritative leader?
0:45:46 > 0:45:50For necessities, they knew they need retaining walls,
0:45:50 > 0:45:52they need agricultural terraces,
0:45:52 > 0:45:56so they had to stand together and work together.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03I must admit I'm beginning to fall for the Chachapoya.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06The evidence so far points to their architectural prowess,
0:46:06 > 0:46:10their egalitarian culture, and a real devotion to their dead.
0:46:12 > 0:46:14Lots of archaeology around the world
0:46:14 > 0:46:17emphasises the more brutish side of human behaviour -
0:46:17 > 0:46:19battles, weapons, sacrifices -
0:46:19 > 0:46:22but the Chachapoya challenge that assumption
0:46:22 > 0:46:25that all human societies evolve in the same way.
0:46:26 > 0:46:28Let's not delude ourselves.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31This is no South American Garden of Eden.
0:46:31 > 0:46:33It's a tough place to live
0:46:33 > 0:46:36and the Chachapoya often squabbled amongst themselves.
0:46:36 > 0:46:41But there was no rigid hierarchy. They shared ideas.
0:46:41 > 0:46:44On these mountain slopes arose a society
0:46:44 > 0:46:46that was both complex and cultured.
0:46:46 > 0:46:51With their own art and architecture, their own beliefs and values.
0:46:51 > 0:46:56For 600 years, the society thrived on this land
0:46:56 > 0:46:58and enriched their knowledge by facilitating trade.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03As the Chachapoya civilisation developed,
0:47:03 > 0:47:05it was constantly growing and innovating,
0:47:05 > 0:47:10coming to dominate the landscape for thousands of miles around.
0:47:10 > 0:47:11They built round houses
0:47:11 > 0:47:14that could be seen on the numerous mountain peaks.
0:47:14 > 0:47:16They built tombs on cliff faces.
0:47:16 > 0:47:19And, at the heart of the Chachapoya territory,
0:47:19 > 0:47:21they built their masterpiece.
0:47:25 > 0:47:29Any notion that the Chachapoya were mere passive traders is dismissed
0:47:29 > 0:47:33when you come to the most famous Chachapoya site in the Andes.
0:47:33 > 0:47:38Covering 15 acres, 10,000 feet above sea level, this is Kuelap.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54It's an epic statement of the power and skill of the Chachapoya.
0:47:55 > 0:47:59It's estimated that Kuelap took centuries to build
0:47:59 > 0:48:01and it's probable that the people who lived here
0:48:01 > 0:48:04were constantly reinforcing the structure.
0:48:04 > 0:48:09In places, the thick platform of stone is over 65 feet high
0:48:09 > 0:48:13and some of the finely cut limestone blocks weigh more than 3 tonnes.
0:48:14 > 0:48:18This is a building of such awe-inspiring scale,
0:48:18 > 0:48:20it's hard to believe it was built by hand.
0:48:23 > 0:48:26You don't have to be an expert to see the sheer scale of work
0:48:26 > 0:48:27that's gone into building Kuelap.
0:48:27 > 0:48:30These 60 foot-high walls enclose a site
0:48:30 > 0:48:33that has transformed this mountain top.
0:48:33 > 0:48:35The question is why?
0:48:35 > 0:48:36Why would the Chachapoya carry
0:48:36 > 0:48:39hundreds of thousands of stones like these
0:48:39 > 0:48:42up the mountain side to build this incredible site?
0:48:46 > 0:48:48In part, it was a safe haven.
0:48:48 > 0:48:53The three entrances to Kuelap are in themselves clever and defensive.
0:48:53 > 0:48:56The entrances initially appear open and welcoming,
0:48:56 > 0:48:59but any gung-ho enemy charging through
0:48:59 > 0:49:01will quickly find the walls narrowing,
0:49:01 > 0:49:04until there is only space for a single warrior to pass.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11So if the Chachapoya wanted to fend off an invading army,
0:49:11 > 0:49:14the architects who designed this entrance would have made it easy
0:49:14 > 0:49:16for them to pick them off one by one.
0:49:20 > 0:49:22Like so much Chachapoya archaeology,
0:49:22 > 0:49:26scandalously little research has been done on Kuelap.
0:49:26 > 0:49:30And to document this astonishing ancient citadel would take years.
0:49:30 > 0:49:32The sheer scale of the site is incredible,
0:49:32 > 0:49:36with over 400 stone buildings hidden beneath the undergrowth.
0:49:38 > 0:49:40I met with Alfredo Narvaez,
0:49:40 > 0:49:43the archaeologist who has studied the site for years.
0:50:08 > 0:50:12Alfredo believes the site was occupied for more than 1,000 years,
0:50:12 > 0:50:15though whether the first people here were Chachapoya
0:50:15 > 0:50:17or an earlier culture is unclear.
0:50:17 > 0:50:23Kuelap is 500 years older than the more celebrated Machu Picchu
0:50:23 > 0:50:27and is intriguing in both its construction and in its purpose.
0:50:28 > 0:50:32At first sight, the structure certainly looks defensive.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12There are secrets locked away within the walls
0:51:12 > 0:51:16that suggest the site was much more significant than just a fortress.
0:51:54 > 0:51:59Today, Kuelap feels a long way from anywhere, high on a mountain,
0:51:59 > 0:52:03surrounded by a beautiful but a very empty landscape.
0:52:03 > 0:52:04But over a thousand years ago,
0:52:04 > 0:52:08archaeologists estimate that as many as 3,000 people
0:52:08 > 0:52:12crammed into this amazing mountain-top citadel.
0:52:12 > 0:52:14Far from being at the fringes,
0:52:14 > 0:52:16Kuelap and the Chachapoya people who lived here
0:52:16 > 0:52:19were at the centre of ancient life.
0:52:49 > 0:52:53But the Chachapoya world was under threat.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57A new power was rising in the mountains far to the south.
0:52:57 > 0:52:59Today it's a magnet for tourists
0:52:59 > 0:53:04but, from the 1430s, Machu Picchu and the nearby capital Cusco
0:53:04 > 0:53:08was home to Inca royalty who set out to conquer northern Peru.
0:53:11 > 0:53:15What the Romans were to Europe, the Inca were to South America.
0:53:19 > 0:53:23At its greatest extent, their empire stretched from Ecuador to Argentina.
0:53:27 > 0:53:31Around 1470, the Inca reached the eastern slopes of the Andes,
0:53:31 > 0:53:33the land of the Cloud People.
0:53:37 > 0:53:40They built conquest roads like this one,
0:53:40 > 0:53:42they built forts throughout their lands.
0:53:42 > 0:53:46The mighty Inca empire dispatched an emissary to the Chachapoyas
0:53:46 > 0:53:49to ask them to submit peacefully, or face war.
0:53:49 > 0:53:54They replied that they would rather die in defence of their freedom.
0:54:00 > 0:54:04Above all else, the Inca coveted the valuable Chachapoya trading routes.
0:54:04 > 0:54:06Access to the Amazon was everything.
0:54:07 > 0:54:12But the Inca foot soldiers struggled to suppress the Chachapoya people.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15They rebelled and had to be reconquered twice.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21The Chachapoya paid a heavy price for their resistance.
0:54:21 > 0:54:25The Inca empire had a policy they called mitma.
0:54:25 > 0:54:28A conquered people would be dispersed far and wide,
0:54:28 > 0:54:31forcibly removed from their home territory
0:54:31 > 0:54:34to far-flung parts of the Inca empire.
0:54:34 > 0:54:37The Chachapoya people were scattered and broken,
0:54:37 > 0:54:42sent to what's now Ecuador and to the shores of Lake Titicaca
0:54:42 > 0:54:46where, to this day, there is a town called Chachapoyas.
0:54:49 > 0:54:53Some estimates suggest as much as half the population were exiled,
0:54:53 > 0:54:55with many others killed.
0:54:55 > 0:54:58Only a few Chachapoya remained in their homeland.
0:55:04 > 0:55:06One thing we know about the Chachapoya
0:55:06 > 0:55:09is that they ritualistically looked after their dead.
0:55:09 > 0:55:11But just a few years ago, here in Kuelap,
0:55:11 > 0:55:15200 skeletons were unearthed, found where they had fallen.
0:55:19 > 0:55:23There was no evidence of the kind of ceremonial burial we've seen elsewhere,
0:55:23 > 0:55:25which points to a violent ending.
0:55:27 > 0:55:31The skeletons were of all ages and both sexes
0:55:31 > 0:55:34and were found alongside everyday utensils and tools,
0:55:34 > 0:55:38suggesting it may have been more of a massacre than a battle.
0:55:41 > 0:55:43It seems likely that the 200 skeletons
0:55:43 > 0:55:45were the last Chachapoya in Kuelap.
0:55:51 > 0:55:53The Inca ruled over the remaining Chachapoya
0:55:53 > 0:55:56until the New World changed forever,
0:55:56 > 0:55:59with the arrival of the plundering Europeans.
0:56:00 > 0:56:05By the time the Spanish arrived in this part of Peru in 1535,
0:56:05 > 0:56:09they were able to exploit the resentment of the Chachapoya against their Inca oppressors
0:56:09 > 0:56:12and persuaded them to join them in the fight against them.
0:56:21 > 0:56:25Meeting with the Europeans was to prove fatal to Chachapoya culture.
0:56:27 > 0:56:29The invading Spaniards brought missionaries in tow
0:56:29 > 0:56:35who set out with evangelical zeal to convert the indigenous population.
0:56:35 > 0:56:38Worse was the smallpox, measles and diphtheria
0:56:38 > 0:56:41that swept through the Chachapoya in the years that followed.
0:56:43 > 0:56:46Within just two centuries of the Spanish arrival,
0:56:46 > 0:56:4990% of the remaining Chachapoya had perished.
0:56:51 > 0:56:55The kingdom of the Cloud People contained only clouds.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06The Chachapoya were gone.
0:57:06 > 0:57:09The cloud forest from which they came grew around their structures,
0:57:09 > 0:57:13swallowing them up, where they lay unseen for centuries.
0:57:13 > 0:57:17Even today, it is certain that somewhere out there,
0:57:17 > 0:57:21there are many more Chachapoya tombs, towns and monuments
0:57:21 > 0:57:25that lie hidden in this vast and beautiful region.
0:57:41 > 0:57:44Coming down from the Andes and returning to Lima,
0:57:44 > 0:57:47I realise the size of the challenge
0:57:47 > 0:57:49in truly understanding the Chachapoya.
0:57:50 > 0:57:53The fragments we've seen are just a start
0:57:53 > 0:57:57and it could be decades before we really unravel their true story.
0:57:57 > 0:58:00But even this partial picture that we have today
0:58:00 > 0:58:03resonates in this great continent.
0:58:03 > 0:58:08Rediscovering the lost kingdoms of South America is not just academic.
0:58:08 > 0:58:11History is the stories we tell ourselves
0:58:11 > 0:58:15and as the amazing mummies, the chulpas and the fortress at Kuelap
0:58:15 > 0:58:16begin to reveal their secrets,
0:58:16 > 0:58:18they're a great source of pride in Peru
0:58:18 > 0:58:23and they're also a reminder that the cultures of South America
0:58:23 > 0:58:27thrived long, long before Europeans appeared on the horizon.
0:58:45 > 0:58:48Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd