Tikal: How Maya Kings Used Astronomy To Rule | Full Documentary

For over 400 years, the ruins of Mayan cities remained hidden under the lush vegetation of this tropical jungle. One can easily imagine the impression that the first 19th century explorers had when they unearthed the Mayan ruins. And among them is a fantastic city, a UNESCO heritage site, the Great Tikal. The Maya civilization spread over a territory as large as Germany, but this civilization was never unified. At its peak there were 50 kingdoms, with nation-states. At their head, divine kings, who were constantly at war. And one of the most powerful states is here, Tikal. In the 8th century, at the height of its power, it had 9,000 inhabitants. It was the seat of power, so the kings built pyramids like Temple I in architectural marvel. From this majestic past, there remains the monumental architecture of the political and religious center of the city. These temples, pyramids, stelae, and altars are precious witnesses to Tikal's grandeur. Isolated in the lush vegetation, a complex of buildings has been the subject of a long archaeological investigation. Called the Lost World, this is the oldest Mayan astronomical observatory. Thanks to excavation data, archaeologists have been able to reconstruct the complex in a 3D model. To the west of a square is a large pyramid, perhaps the observation point of the stars. Facing it, in the east, a platform and three temples, behind which the sun rises. The archaeologist Vilma Fialco has studied it for over 30 years to try to understand the meaning. What made you think that this could be an astronomical observatory? When I started my investigation in Tikal and became interested in these architectural complexes, we already knew a lot about a well-preserved example located in the city of Ouachactún. And as Ouachactún is not far from Tikal, I thought it would be interesting to compare the architecture of these two monumental complexes. Twelve miles from Tikal, we find the remains of Ouachactún, another Mayan city. In 1925, archaeologists uncovered these buildings oriented in an east-west and north-south manner. Standing atop the observation point, they discover that the three temples are perfectly aligned with the sun at the start of each season. On the summer solstice, when the days are longest, the sun rises at the corner of the north temple, while on the winter solstice, when the days are shortest, the sun rises at the corner of the south temple. On the equinox, when the length of the day is perfectly equal to the night, sunrise occurs behind the central temple. This leads the archaeologists to conclude that this is an astronomical observatory. In addition, they have proof that the Mayas were brilliant astronomers, thanks to these codices, pictographic manuscripts recovered by the conquistadors, on which the Maya recorded, for example, the lunar calendar or eclipses of the sun. Archaeologists also discover that the Maya were brilliant mathematicians. In 2010, northeast of Tikal, in Xultun, they uncover the home of an astronomer. On the walls, very complex astronomical calculation tables. The Maya knew the concepts of zero and infinity. Their deep understanding of mathematics, combined with their observation of the stars, enabled the Maya to become accomplished astronomers long before the Europeans. The Tikal complex, which closely resembles that of Huasactun, was also identified as an astronomical observatory. But Vilma's discoveries tell a very different story. Is this an astronomical observatory like we know of today? Not really. The result of my investigations enabled me to determine that there were structural abnormalities in these complexes. Besides, if you agree, I invite you to join me here tomorrow at 5 a.m., and I'll explain in greater detail what I mean by structural abnormalities. As many Maya did before us over 1,500 years ago, before dawn, Vilma and I climbed to the top of the Great Pyramid. Even with the little bit of light we have. There, we finally arrived. The monkeys are screaming everywhere in the night. They're welcoming us and the sunrise. Today is the first day of the summer solstice. The sun should rise just behind the North Temple. But with this particularly thick fog at the beginning of the rainy season, it's quite hard to So this is where the Mayas came to watch the sunrise? Yes, we are at their exact observation point. It's almost 5.30 a.m., and the daylight is breaking. We're lucky. The fog is lifting and, as expected, the sun rises behind the North Temple. But from her topographic measurements, Vilma detected irregularities in the building's alignments. Very precise measurements have allowed us to determine that this architectural complex was not really aligned with astronomical north. In reality, it's shifted by 6 degrees and 45 minutes to the east. Could it not be because the position of the celestial bodies has changed from the time when the Maya built this pyramid? We consider this hypothesis, but remember that the position of the sun during the solstices and equinoxes remained the same for thousands of years. Could we imagine they simply made an error and erected their buildings, orienting them badly? It's known that the Maya were able to build perfectly aligned structures relative to the astronomical data. So I think for the Mayan architects and engineers, it didn't matter to them that this complex was shifted to the side. Therefore, the building's orientations to the astronomical observations did not bother them much. From all the research I've done, I think that this lack of precision was not important to the Mayan architects. This means that this complex had another function. It was not used to precisely observe the solstices and equinoxes. If they were not used for scientific observation of the stars, what was their true function? Why use so much energy, labor and raw materials for building them? To answer these questions, Vilma searched every corner of the buildings in search of a clue. And it's in front of the Temple of the Equinox, in a pit, that she made a discovery. Remains that she carefully preserves in this archaeological warehouse. Peter, I think it's a casket for a multiple burial. Can you help me move it, please? Of course. Thank you. I want to show you a very important discovery, which was made during excavations at the foot of the stairs of the Temple of the Equinox. We discovered traces of a multiple sacrifice, with 17 people, including men, women and children, who were all apparently stoned to death. And how do we know that they were sacrificed? Anthropologists have thoroughly studied these bones, and they found signs of violence on the bones. Most important are the marks made from being struck, you can see here. They indicate that these individuals received the impacts of stones, or that they were struck with objects during a sacrifice. In pre-Columbian societies, ritual human sacrifices allow humans to communicate with the gods, thanks to blood, which is considered to be a sacred fluid. In Mayan culture, members of the ruling elite even indulged in auto-sacrifices. They pierced their tongue or genitals, and collected the blood which they offered to the gods or to worshipped ancestors. By discovering that rituals took place in the astronomical complex, Vilma has decisively moved her investigation forward. This observatory is actually a site for sacrifices? Yes, and it does not stop there. I think these major architectural complexes, like the Lost World, were in fact used as huge décors, where they organized religious and public ceremonies. So in Mayan culture, astronomy, religion and ritual were closely related? Absolutely. There is a very important connection between astronomy, their vision of the cosmos, and religion, of course. This large complex was therefore a theatrical décor, with a backdrop of celestial events, the solstices and equinoxes. But who authorized these spectacular religious ceremonies? And what was their goal? Inside the Temple of the Equinox, the discovery of an engraved steel allowed Vilma to answer these questions. The upper part has disappeared, but we can still see the bottom of a body and a hand wearing a royal symbol. This stele depicts King Chak Tokichak II. He holds in his hand a flint axe, decorated with a jaguar paw. And we see that it tramples the body of a prisoner. This means that a ceremony in which the prisoner will be sacrificed will certainly take place soon. This representation confirms Vilma's intuition that it was the kings who organized such ceremonies and erected stele to commemorate the events. What is also interesting about this stele is the text engraved on the other side. It contains the name of the king, but also the date of the sacrifice represented on the other side. This date would fall in about the year 378 A.D. These ceremonies were organized according to a very specific calendar, based on the solar year, the Venus cycle, and a mythical date of creation for the world, from which the days elapsed. Thus, ceremonies and historical events, such as wars, alliances or inductions, could be registered. These calendars were closely intertwined in a complex mechanism that only the elites, the king and his priests, were able to understand. Their interpretation allowed them to set ceremony dates, and also, they thought, to predict the future. Kings appropriated astronomical knowledge to strengthen their power and their ability to predict the future. Many public ceremonies were meant to coincide with astronomical events, such as eclipses, solstices or equinoxes. This ability to use the moment these astronomical events were to take place had to be very impressive for the people who had gathered to witness the greatness of the king. The codex and iconography made it possible to imagine these great public ceremonies, and everything makes sense. The king and his priests at the top of the Great Pyramid, practicing human sacrifice and ritual prediction. The sun of the solstices or equinoxes were called to illuminate the scene, and the people massed in the middle of the square were captivated by such a show. By erecting these monuments, the kings therefore built décors where they could stage their power. And Vilma discovered that the rulers went even further. They transformed the public ceremony complex into mausoleums to keep the memory of their dynasty alive. I want to show you a very special discovery we made here, in the Temple of the Equinox, which is aligned with the Great Pyramid. Only very special people like you, the experts, can enter here. What a privilege! Investigating under the steel of King Chak-Takichak II, archaeologists have unearthed three-bedroom tombs that they've attributed to the dynasty of this king. The largest, called the Pentagonal Tomb for its shape, was symbolically protected by these jaguar sculptures. Our study of the tomb's context, its layout and form, has allowed us to understand that these tombs were in fact designed to be reopened regularly. The bones and the offerings were used for rituals such as ancestor worship. It was actually a way for the kings of this dynasty to rise to the rank of deified ancestors through the symbol of astronomy, synonymous with the sacred, power and religion, of course. By being buried here, the kings rise to the rank of gods. In this tomb, archaeologists have unearthed several objects which accompanied the dead into the afterlife. On this ceramic dish, there are the three temples in the complex. Behind the Temple of the Equinox, the sun rises. And astronomical knowledge, a symbol of power that the deceased king carries even in death. Neither purely scientific nor exclusively religious, these buildings were therefore a political tool instrumentalized by the king to legitimize his power. Vilma discovered that these complexes multiplied. From the 7th century AD, in addition to the lost world, used to glorify their ancestors, the kings built simplified replicas to their own glory. At Tikal, King Yashnunayim II built a pyramid now restored, which marks the direction of the sunrise. Facing it, its twin, covered by vegetation, marks the sunset. The kings built these twin pyramids for a single ceremony, Khatun, a calendar period lasting 20 years. It represents a huge investment in terms of architecture and work. Why were they not content to continue the ceremonies in the Mundo Perdido, for example? The lost world was used to worship the ancestors of the king who was buried there. While in the case of the twin pyramids, worship is dedicated to the king himself, in his lifetime, and to his greatness. So we see the need for kings to appear even more powerful, more legitimate as the sovereign. From that time, a new practice appears, in which each king tries to outdo his predecessor by spending even greater energy to build a complex to his glory. Under this vegetation are the remains of no less than seven complexes, built in just 200 years by Tikal's successive kings to show their power. An architectural boom that would not be enough to save this doomed city-state. Shortly after in the 9th century, it's the collapse of the city-state system. All this disappears. Yes, we believe that there are numerous reasons why the kingdom of Tikal eventually collapsed. The population increase, climate change, frequent wars, and tyrannical kings, for example. But the most important of all, and all the archaeologists agree, is that the political system, in which the kings tried to impose their power through excessive pomp and ceremonies, ended up no longer convincing the population, and it disappeared. And the pyramids returned to the jungle. Yes, the cities are abandoned. Eventually the great monuments are covered by jungle vegetation. All this for centuries, before being rediscovered and restored as witnesses to their greatness. Thanks to archaeologists like you. It's a pleasure.