Lost Worlds of South America

Buried by the centuries on soaring mountain slopes and beneath arid deserts and lush jungles of South America, the remains of extraordinary, majestic civilizations - many unknown until recent decades - are now coming to light and raising tantalizing questions about what else may be awaiting discovery. Take an adventurous trek to these wilds of South America and the great civilizations of the ancients. In 24 eye-opening lectures, you'll take an in-depth look at the emerging finds and archaeological knowledge of more than 12 seminal civilizations, giving you rich insight into the creative vision and monumental achievements of these wellsprings of human life. The ancient South Americans show us striking models of how societies can function and organize themselves. The technologies and social structures seen here were wholly invented, using no preexisting models, as these dynamic peoples struggled to tame their environment and carve out societies and empires. Recently unearthed marvels include elaborately prepared and adorned mummies that predate Egypt's by 2000 years; imposing palaces, solar observatories, and dramatically decorated pyramids; stunning art objects in gold, turquoise, lapis lazuli, and ceramic; and evidence of huge urban civilizations in the Amazon. In their amazing sophistication and scale, the sites reveal some of the most remarkable ancient artifacts found anywhere in the world. The breathtaking valleys, mountains, and deserts you will study in this course reveal wonders that rival anything we know of the ancient world. Travel with us to a lost and splendorous past - a fountainhead of civilization that speaks unforgettably of human striving, vision, and the indomitable will to endure.

All Lectures:
1. South America's Lost Cradle of Civilization
2. Discovering Peru's Earliest Cities
3. South America's First People
4. Ceramics, Textiles, and Organized States
5. Chavín and the Rise of Religious Authority
6. Cupisnique to Salinar-Elite Rulers and War
7. Paracas-Mummies, Shamans, and Severed Heads
8. The Nazca Lines and Underground Channels
9. The Moche-Pyramids, Gold, and Warriors
10. The Moche-Richest Tombs in the New World
11. The Moche-Drugs, Sex, Music, and Puppies
12. Enigmatic Tiwanaku by Lake Titicaca
13. The Amazon-Civilization Lost in the Jungle
14. The Wari-Foundations of the Inca Empire?
15. The Chimú-Empire of the Northern Coast
16. The Sican-Goldsmiths of the Northern Coast
17. The Inca Origins-Mythology v. Archaeology
18. Cuzco and the Tawantinsuyu Empire
19. The Inca-From Raiders to Empire
20. The Inca-Gifts of the Empire
21. The Khipu-Language Hidden in Knots
22. Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley
23. Spanish Contact-Pizarro Conquers the Inca
24. Remnants of the Past-Andean Culture Today