Naked History – Unearthed

The Nazca Lines in Peru are mysterious giant symbols; hundreds of alien looking drawings etched into the arid Atacama Desert, more than a thousand years ago. Why did their creators make vast images that only make sense from the air, centuries before the invention of aircraft?   Today investigators use pioneering drone technology to hunt for new lines and to solve the enduring riddle of why they we...

Abu Simbel is the largest rock-cut temple in the world. Inside are giant halls and passages cut by hand 60 metres into a cliff face. Dominating its façade – four 20-metre-tall sandstone statues of pharaoh Ramses II, known as Ancient Egypt’s greatest ever ruler.  How did Ramses win this title? Decoding the clues he built into Abu Simbel reveal his strategy for eclipsing his predecessors’ achievemen...

On Mexico’s Gulf coast, archaeologists uncover strange stone heads beside a concealed 100-foot tall mud pyramid. They mark the site of La Venta – the lost capital city of the mysterious Olmec.  Who were these people?  Why did they vanish 1000 years after founding this mighty metropolis?  In the search for answers, brand new research reveals the Olmec built the very first giant structures in North...

Hidden deep inside the Guatemalan jungle lies the lost city of Tikal. 1200 years ago it was the most important settlement in the Maya world, home to more than 100,000 people. Now a team of experts unlock Tikal's mysteries to reveal how it rose from jungle backwater to Maya superpower. They uncover the ingenious engineering inside Temple IV - the tallest structure the Maya ever built; how Tikal's i...

Avebury, England is home to the world’s largest stone circle. 5,000 years old and three times larger than nearby Stonehenge, its true purpose and the people who created it have always remained a mystery. Archaeologists find out why it was made and unearth where these Stone Age builders lived. But there are more wonders in the landscape - experts reveal why one of Britain’s oldest tombs and Europe’...

The great city of Thebes – the heart of ancient Egypt during its most prosperous and powerful age – the New Kingdom. For the pharaohs this was the holiest and most important place in their empire. In the city’s great temple of Karnak, they constructed towering obelisks from single blocks of stone. But how did they do it? In a ground-breaking experiment, archaeologists reconstruct how workers moved...

The Inca Empire was the largest ever to emerge in South America – ruled from a spectacular capital, Cusco. This mysterious city in Peru was said to be so dazzling it had a temple decked in pure gold. Why did the mighty Inca civilization that lived here fall to a handful of Spanish Conquistadors? New evidence - from unearthed mummies to microscopic DNA - reveals the role of this city and sheds new...

China’s Forbidden City is the biggest palace complex the world has ever seen. This immense ‘city within a city’ stands in the heart of Beijing, built by one of the greatest emperors in Chinese history. Why is it so big and how did the emperors use this mega-palace to rule China with an iron fist? Now archaeologists are investigating its secrets and uncovering what lies beneath its massive walls an...

The sinking of the Titanic was a maritime tragedy that shocked the world but even after more than one hundred years, no one really knows exactly how she sank. Today investigators use ingenious technology to discover how an iceberg ripped open the ship’s colossal hull. Scientists smash ice into solid steel in powerful collision tests and nautical experts deploy advanced marine simulation technology...

The Bent Pyramid in Egypt is one of the world’s most mysterious ancient mega-structures. Built by a pharaoh called Snefru, its angle changes half way up. Why does this pyramid have such a bizarre and unique shape? Now archaeologists and engineers investigate the true story of its construction. They crawl inside age-old tunnels to discover its engineering secrets. New discoveries beneath the desert...

Destroyed by an eruption from Vesuvius in AD 79 and buried beneath rock and ash, the doomed Roman city of Pompeii is one of the greatest treasures of the classical world. One third of the city has remained untouched ever since its discovery. Now archaeologists are finally digging inside this mysterious sector. New discoveries reveal the horror of the cataclysm that wiped out this metropolis. Can a...

Attila the Hun was one of history’s most notorious warlords – but was he responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire? His terrifying army of horseback barbarians tore across Europe in the 5th century – the dying days of the Empire – but for all the tales of rampage and destruction, they left almost no material evidence. Now new investigations in the German city of Trier – once a capital of the Ro...

The gigantic Moai statues of Easter Island are the legacy of one of the world’s most isolated civilizations: the Rapa Nui. For hundreds of years, they were cut off from the rest of the world by the vast Pacific Ocean, carving more than 900 monoliths using only stone tools. Archaeologists are unearthing evidence of how these unique statues evolved and the Rapa Nui’s incredible bid for survival, tra...

Knossos in Greece – the ruined city of the Minoans, Europe’s first super-power. Immortalized in Greek mythology as the home of the fabled Labyrinth and the Minotaur, Knossos has inspired many legends. But what really went on here 4000 years ago? We strip back the ancient ruins to reveal that truth is stranger than fiction. Ritual sports and secret codes expose an advanced civilization older than t...

The Statue of Liberty is one of the most famous monuments in the world. But what do we really know about this enigmatic lady? Today investigators are on a quest to uncover the Statue’s secret identity; was she inspired by the Colossus of Rhodes in Greece? We’ll explore the amazing engineering hidden beneath her copper robes. Archaeological discoveries in the ground beneath her feet provide a uniqu...

For 5000 years, the incredible Pyramids of Caral lay buried beneath Peru’s desert sands. Today, their discovery has forced archaeologists to rethink the history of civilization in the Americas. They’ve unearthed a lost culture unlike any other - a society based on trade, that apparently grew in peace, not through conquest. A people guided by religious rituals, skilled in engineering and architectu...

The Vikings are as famous as marauding pirates, but why did they also build monumental fortresses? Archaeologists are investigating the great ring fort at Trelleborg in Denmark, built at the end of the Viking Age. This huge circular structure lay hidden for more than a thousand years beneath the frozen soil of Denmark. Now new discoveries across the Viking world are revealing more about the story...

Petra is an ancient and enigmatic city, carved from the rock of Jordan’s desert. Hidden at the end of a winding chasm, it is famous for its extraordinary beauty. But for decades it has baffled archaeologists. Who were the mysterious people that built it, how did they found a civilisation in the arid desert, and why did they suddenly disappear? Now, the latest laser-scanning techniques are resurrec...

The Colosseum is the greatest icon of the world’s most powerful Empire. It was an arena of death and glory, and the source of epic legends. Now archaeologists are using new techniques to solve ancient mysteries about this spectacular ruin. Why was it built here? And why did it collapse? With unique access to the only Gladiator bones ever discovered, we reveal astonishing new evidence of how they l...

The Terracotta Army in Xi’an, China is perhaps the greatest archaeological discovery in the last 50 years, but it remains shrouded in mystery. Historians reconstruct the shattered remains of the warriors and reveal the dark secrets of a super-tomb built at the birth of China. The discovery of real weapons and bizarre stone-plated armour amongst the statues reveals the supernatural enemy the army w...

Machu Picchu in Peru – the famous lost city of the Incas. Archaeologists discovered this mountaintop city one hundred years ago, but its purpose remains a hotly debated mystery. Was it a religious observatory or a holiday retreat for the emperor? Could religious carvings and gruesomely deformed skeletons found in the city hold a crucial clue as to why this city was built? A newly uncovered network...

The Taj Mahal is famous as the world’s most beautiful building – but could this Indian ode to love hide dark secrets? The grieving Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan famously built the Taj Mahal as a tribute to his dead wife – but new investigations are writing a surprising story of power and betrayal. Is the layout of the mausoleum and its gardens a carefully concealed proclamation of religious beliefs? A...

Stonehenge is the ancient world’s most famous and mysterious monument. Its origins and purpose have puzzled historians for centuries. Why was this extraordinary monument built on a seemingly ordinary plain? Who visited the stones? And what did they do there? Now, using laser scanning, carbon dating and forensic technologies, archaeologists are finally piecing together the full story of the stones....

Stirling Castle in Scotland - one of Europe’s most celebrated forts and the legendary home of King Arthur’s round table. Scotland’s great kings claimed to be descended from Arthur – but why? Historians follow the trail to France where they uncover how Arthur was used as a political weapon in Scotland’s bloody wars of independence. The gruesome discovery of a shattered skeleton inside the castle ch...

Angkor Wat in Cambodia is the world’s largest temple, but why did the Khmer civilization build this enormous Hindu shrine in the middle of the jungle? Laser technology reveals the astonishing truth: Angkor Wat was the centre of a long-lost megacity and the beating heart of a mighty empire. Archaeologists hack through the jungle to reveal this sprawling metropolis and unearth how it thrived on the...