Lake Titicaca's Sunken Civilization: The First Archeological Mission [52:33]

Transcript
It is undoubtedly the most mysterious lake on Earth, a lake whose name alone conjures up legends and fascinating beliefs: Lake Titicaca, located at 3,809 meters above sea level. It straddles the territories of Peru and Bolivia. Surrounded by the snow-capped peaks of the Andes, the land of the condors and pumas, this inland sea stretches across 8,400 square kilometers. A lake as big as the island of Puerto Rico. But most importantly, a lake that still hasn't revealed all of its secrets. One can only wonder what hides beneath the sacred waters of this legendary lake.

Christophe Delard, a young Belgian archaeologist, has put together a scientific team comprised of 15 experts and international divers and has set off to explore Titicaca. This mystical lake could well be the shrine of one of the most remarkable submerged archaeological heritages on Earth. Not only would the objects theoretically be well preserved, they are also protected as a sanctuary due to the sacredness of the lake.

Lake Titicaca is mythical to many people. We've all heard about this lake; it's the highest navigable lake on Earth. We hope that the pieces will be well preserved and also original to bring new developments to the study of the Tiwanaku civilization. As to the lake, there are many legends of lost cities and treasures which have been passed on through the generations.

Within the framework of this project, the goal is not to desacralize the lake. The lake is sacred, but in a way to demystify some of the myths. The team will spend a minimum of three years on this campaign of archaeological excavations, hoping to find tangible answers on the historical importance of this lake, well before the time of the Incas. This underwater exploration is therefore a first; never before has a proper archaeological excavation of the lake's sediments been undertaken.

Through these excavations, the archaeological team, who are veterans of this type of study, are hoping to unearth new evidence of pre-Inca occupation and activity, and to shed some light on the history of ancient civilizations who lived within the surroundings of Lake Titicaca, such as the Tiwanaku. This civilization's reign lasted around 600 years, from the 5th to the 11th century AD, and had a strong influence across the Andes, from Chile all the way to Peru.

From the writings left by the Spanish following the conquista, we know that the Incas worshipped Lake Titicaca and made numerous offerings to it. But what about earlier civilizations, those that came before the Incas? In this inhospitable part of South America, like the Tiwanaku civilization, which left us a testimony of its magnificence, the eponymous ceremonial site of Tiwanaku is located 15 kilometers from the shore of Lake Titicaca and about 120 kilometers from La Paz.

It is on this UNESCO World Heritage Site that the famous Gate of the Sun can be found, often mistakenly associated with the Inca culture. But what did Lake Titicaca really represent and symbolize for the Tiwanaku culture and also for the civilizations that predated them? Did they also hold the lake sacred? Did they believe, like the Incas, that this was the place where the Great Sun was born?

Local communities, along with Americanist archaeologists and historians, have always wondered what might be hidden in the depths of Lake Titicaca. This interest obviously comes from the sacred aspect of the lake, but also from the abundance of myths and legends surrounding this immense wilderness. Moreover, it appears that Lake Titicaca takes its name from a rock on the Island of the Sun, known as Titicarca or Titijaya, which means "stone puma" in the native language. Perhaps in reference to pumas that were said to have drowned and then been turned into stone statues according to ancient local legend.

The Aymara people living on and around the lake, along with many explorers, have often contemplated the existence of a treasure or a gigantic golden city, mysteriously swallowed by the lake. The mystical Titicaca has almost always sparked off the wildest guesses and speculations. For Andean populations, their lake is associated with the origin of the world and the creation of the sun.

After extensive analysis of archived scientific data and multiple cross-checking of information from the locals' collective memory, the team can finally enjoy its first dive near the Strait of Tikina in Bolivia, north of the minor lake. There is the islet more or less like that with huts. We are located about here with the boat.

Whilst Lake Titicaca has a maximum depth of approximately 280 meters, a depth never reached by man, the aim here is to focus only on excavations between 0 and 20 meters deep, staying close to the shore. It's here, within these 10 degrees Celsius waters, that the young scientist thinks he has the best chance to uncover traces of Tiwanaku or even pre-Tiwanaku occupation.

Four teams of two divers each will take turns every 45 minutes to search for clues, such as stone structures, ceramics, or evidence of metalwork. And they're also hoping to unearth organic elements, which could provide important information in terms of dating. This would be carried out through carbon-14 dating analysis.

The expedition is trying out a new tool for the first time. In their search for the tiniest clue, a custom-made sieve will recover all sediments expelled by the excavating pumps. It is essential to keep a maximum of information and avoid losing any fragment or anything that could be analyzed. Above all, to not destroy the possible heritage, only its context. That is to say, the environment in which this heritage has been preserved for centuries or even millennia. This obviously requires great responsibility from the scientists.

Because from the moment they start on the archaeological excavation, whether underwater or on land, the removal of sediment will irrevocably disrupt the landscape, which means that a detailed working methodology is required: maps, photos, conservation of the different layers of sediment found during the excavation. Each dive is meticulously prepared and will, in turn, bring its share of information and learning.

We keep everything from small shards, thousands of fish bones, through to coca leaves, whatever we find. The clear water of the lake quickly becomes cloudy. Visibility is almost down to zero. But the team of archaeologists divers are accustomed to and trained for these difficult and challenging conditions.

There are continuous rock slides. I'm not sure it's worth coming back. There's no ceramics and a lot of sediment. It's not worth exploring here. We won't give up hope because we know we'll find a nice piece in the end. Maybe even an intact urn, a funerary urn that's filled with objects, small figurines. Some might be made of gold or of silver. That's what we're dreaming of. That's what we want to find. I'm exhausted.

Are we on? Yes, thank you. I stayed in the water ten minutes too long.

Christophe and his team are diving at 3,809 metres above sea level, which restricts the dives greatly and even renders them dangerous for the untrained diver with little experience. At this altitude, the diving depth reference is increased by over 50% compared to sea level reference for decompression stops. Thus, diving to a depth of 10 meters in the Titicaca is equivalent to diving over 15 meters in the marine environment. When the divers come back to the surface, they have difficulty recovering their breath due to low atmospheric pressure and oxygen deprivation.

After more than two weeks of excavations in this area of Tikina, unfortunately, they have still not made any discovery or had significant results. There are huge expectations from the community of scientists, but right now everyone is hoping for the first findings. The scientific team has been searching the lake for more than a month now.

A small string of islands emerges north of the Island of the Sun. From the remains of the objects that have been found there, we know that these places have always been sacred territory during the Inca era. This is where a major Huaca area may lie, the Coahuil Reef. The Huacas were sacred areas for ancestral populations, and they still remain so for the Aymara Indians of the region. A Huaca could be a locality, a hollow, even a single rock, but it is a sacred place in Andean cosmology, a place that is worshipped by the elders.

In 1977, an unauthorized Japanese expedition dived at the site and discovered Incan artifacts resting towards the bottom of the lake. Between 1988 and 1991, American archaeologist Johann Reinhardt was officially the first, but also the last, to undertake research on the lake. But if the site of Koha could be a place for ink offering, what about for the Tiwanaku or even older civilizations?

Christophe has just been granted permission from the local communities to organize an exploration there. For him and his team, but also for the lake's inhabitants, this reef holds great expectations. Before starting the exploration and excavation at Kowa, we asked for permission from the various communities. We explained what we're going to do, to show them that we are not pirates. And we also made our own offerings. We gave up our llamas and our coca leaves. We did everything that was required.

There are 50 centimeters of sand and silty clay sediments, and then you come to a scree area. We're going to clean it, then drill through it. If there is a pile of offerings, it will have to be underneath. We'll see. All good behind? All good.

The Koa Reef, which means the place of the puma in Aymara, was not always a reef. Over time, and depending on the lake level fluctuations, it was occasionally an islet that emerged up to two to three metres from the surface. The Aymara people still make their offerings here, on this islet that is at present submerged under two metres of Lake Titicaca's water. For the elders, witnessing the mystery of this rock appearing and disappearing over time certainly contributed to its sacredness.

The goal now for Christophe and his team is to search, and for the first time, be able to dig deep into the sediment and scree, something that was not possible previously. Before being able to start digging and probing the site, it is once again essential to undertake the delicate installation of sediment vacuum cleaners and recovery sieves. This operation always requires the utmost precision because it determines the excavation work that will follow. Let's go.

The excavation can now begin in probably the most sacred area of the lake known to date. As the team digs further down, they must analyze all the sediment in every layer of rock from the site. The scientists' goal is not to search the entire Kua reef, but to work on an area of 16 square metres. Three excavation areas are marked out, and within each parcel, all of the sediment layers and debris are thoroughly analyzed. It's a delicate and patient work, looking for the slightest clue.

What's unusual about this site is the fact that it is an offering site. There has been no habitat or life here. It is not about daily life where there has been human activity over a long period of time. We only have offerings here. We are dealing with the world of the dead and of worship. The goal for us is to restore the Kowa reef in its context. We want to try and find out how long the site has been used as an offering site, if there were periods when it was abandoned. But the problem is that with the years, the sediment and the debris, everything will be a little stuck down there. Our role now is to try to disentangle all that a bit.

After several days of excavation and digging through nearly a meter of sediments and rocks, the archaeologists discover what seem to be bones. Immediately after that, a llama's jaw and the first ceramic fragments are found. The site of Koa looks promising.

Wow! After just a few days of excavation on Koha, an unexpected piece is brought to the surface. Another type of work can now begin with a detailed observation of the objects that have been recovered. Look, the face is missing. That's the eye, the mouth, and a tooth. Here you can imagine the head. This is ceramic that comes from a Tiwanaku ceremonial censer. There are no traces of pigment. We see that it was cast, and we can make out fingerprints inside. The Tiwanaku often used a mould. They had a mould into which they introduced the clay. Here we see some marks left by fingers. It's almost as if you have the fingerprints of people from 1,500 years ago. It's incredible.

You brought what? Fragments. Great. Is it in the sieve? No, there is nothing in the sieve. Martial, what's your decompression level? Each group of archaeologist divers now brings back something, which is a relief for the scientists. Although the archaeological area of the reef of Koa extends over more than 2,400 square meters, according to Christophe Delard, the fact that recent discoveries have been made over just a dozen square meters could mean that Koa is a site for major offerings of which we have barely scratched the surface.

It looks like stone. I don't really know. Did you find other fragments? No, just this one so far. The shape looks rare and very special. Looks like a part of stone. We will carry on digging carefully to spot every little stone. Yes, and also the behavior and conservation of stones underwater is different than on the surface. This appears to be something that is not so common in the world.

Ceramic. So it's possible that it could come from an underwater Tiwanaku offering? Yes. In the search area, did you see other fragments with these square or circular shapes? Yes, both types.

The discovery of these Tiwanaku ceramic fragments is of paramount importance. The first ceramic with the profile of a puma's head is therefore not an isolated Tiwanaku finding. And this could demonstrate that Koa was already a place of offerings at the time of the Tiwanaku civilization. While earlier research found essentially Inca objects, here the first fragments discovered in the sediments are all older, dating from the Tiwanaku period. Which, in any case, raises a new question.

How can it be that we find Tiwanaku and Inca objects when they have never come into contact on these underwater offering sites? This is a question we ask ourselves. How come the Incas knew that there was a sacred place under the water? Firstly, it is connected to changes in the water level, because the water level then was much lower than it is now. The Koa reef was visible above the surface, and it was a small island. Tiwanaku were making their offerings from the shore. The Incas did that too, and there is a colonial source which talks of a rise in the waters during the Inca period. So the Koha Reef disappeared at that point, and little by little we will find out why. Whatever happens, it is definitely a sacred place.

We have to stop. The captain said we have to leave. I think he'll pass by behind us. We're about to be hit by the wind and the rain. I picked up two or three objects on the surface there. Did you separate them? Yes. So there is a 32 here and a 32 there. So there's a yellow area there. There was a gravelly area there. And below that, there was some more compact sediment, a sandy yellow. Okay, sandy yellow.

Still work to do. It goes down again steeply. We'll have to be able to properly profile the bedrock. And even the depth. We'll have everything, and we'll even be able to quantify the cubic meters of sediment that we've removed. Great. The significant amount of ceramic and bone fragments that have been discovered obviously generate new questions. The ceramics, which were placed into the water intact by the elders, undoubtedly broke when they hit the rock at the bottom, and they could also have been damaged following landslides into the reef.

Due to the topography of the site, and the obligation of the team to dig deep into the sediment, the hope of finding intact objects seems rather thin, but on the other hand, these tons of sediment might have been able to protect some objects. Whatever the case, with the fragments collected to date, the first analysis at the base of Challa will determine what type they are and how many different intact objects they might belong to.

The work of the team of restorer archaeologists will now involve the analysis of fragments and their restoration. The goal is to gather together all discovered fragments and, hopefully, be able to fully reconstruct some objects, just like a puzzle. That way it will be possible to quantify the exact number of objects of offerings discovered on the reef so far. This data will therefore enable an initial evaluation of Koya's archaeological potential. But there is one fact that now seems undeniable. The first inventories and the first gatherings are evidence of massive Tiwanaku offerings practices. On an excavation surface that covers just 16 square meters, the core sites of 2,400 square meters could thus be hiding an exceptional and dense pre-Inca historical heritage.

Giorgio? Giorgio, do you copy? Yes, loud and clear. How are things in Area 1? I'm trying to position the illumination square. I have a problem with a post. There are too many loose stones.

OK, I'll let you work. Let me know if anything comes up.

In Koa, several days of excavations are carried out. The team has now decided to work exclusively on two areas of the site, still hoping to find more evidence of Tiwanaku or pre-Tiwanaku offerings, and maybe even turn up an intact offering. But it is on the other excavation perimeter that a new major discovery is made. It's an ancient Tiwanaku anchor which has a specific peanut shape. There is a groove in the middle where the rope was positioned. Either it's an anchor that got stuck when they came here and they had to cut the rope loose and leave it down there, or it could have been used as a ballast. It's not clear yet. We're going to check if there are any rope fragments.

We've never found a Tiwanaku rope before, and so we don't know what it is made of, what kind of fibre they used. We don't know. Laurent and Martial are going to check. There are no traces of Tiwanaku rope, but the discovery of the Tiwanaku anchor is nevertheless exceptional. With this increasing amount of Tiwanaku material discovered, the site of underwater offerings could be a major shrine of the Tiwanaku area. The isolation of the site away from inhabited coasts and the density of offerings prove that there were experienced sailors among the Tiwanaku people who were able to brave high winds and bad weather. The team is searching in the right place. Koa would therefore be the only site of Tiwanaku underwater offerings known to date.

But then another question arises. Can the unique phenomenon of the reef disappearing then reappearing according to the fluctuations of the water in itself justify the sacredness of the site of Koa? Why create an important place of worship in a place that's so inaccessible? For archaeologist Marcial Medina, who has been studying the real function of pre-Columbian offering sites for years, there could be a second explanation for the sanctification of Koa by the Tiwanaku. Why make a sanctuary in the middle of the lake at a distance of about 60 kilometers from the main Tiwanaku point? With my experience of sanctuaries at altitude that I study, I've noted that the characteristic of a sanctuary, whether it be of Catholic origin or, in this case, Tiwanaku and Inca, is based on its significance and peregrination. Getting to these places requires a strenuous trek that induces severe fatigue. This is likely to be one reason for the sanctification of these sanctuaries. It has to be earned. People make this long trek by boat and by foot to this inhospitable and windswept place was a necessary act.

We do not know yet at what time, which months or years these offerings took place, but we can certainly consider that the nature of these offerings demonstrates that Koa is an essential site. This anchor is a magnificent discovery and pushes the team to intensify the number of dives.

Christophe, can you copy? Can you copy? Loud and clear. I think I found an intact piece. I can't hear very well. Can you repeat, please, Giorgio? I found a puma head that's intact. It's beautiful, well preserved. Ceramic puma head.

As usual Giorgio, in context, pictures and samples. I can't wait to see it. It's really beautiful. The puma is an animal that's associated with the other world. The animal that makes the transition between the world of the living and the dead, between humans and the Creator, if you want. It's exciting that we have found this puma here in the locality of the feline, but also where the sun was born. It's as if there was a connection, you could say.

We're going to hate us girls. We've brought you things. In quality and in quantity. We remove these blocks and loose stones, and then we remove more loose stones. It turned out there were two hidden pockets, which were clogged by sediment. And inside these pockets, there were these puma heads and an intact sensor. It was unexpected. So Arnaud and Beranger did well to preserve the area. Almost there. Another cup.

Mary Julie, look at this head. It's magnificent. It's amazing, right? There is just this bit missing from the two pieces we found on the site, and with that bit it will be intact. I hadn't seen it up close. It's really pretty with the sun.

OK, samples. This is a Tiwanaku sensor. These are the typical kind of offerings we find at Koa. But this is the first complete one. We always take pictures of objects just after the excavation, to keep track of the state in which they have been found, and also to be able to control their evolution.

What type of locus is this? Do you know? 50. Area 1. All items found in the sensor will be stored and analysed in order to try to understand the composition of the Tiwanaku offering. But having survived in cold water for a long time, each object and each element is now in a very fragile state. A meticulous and delicate conservation protocol must be followed for each object or element that has been retrieved. This difficult task is given to the two archaeologist curators of the team.

Now we will measure the salinity of the lake water that the object has been lying in for centuries. What's great is that in the lower area we have fish bones and eggshells, so we try to identify the context. Here, seeing as we had a pocket that had been sealed in and closed over by slabs, we find all of this inside. And below we find lots of ceramic fragments that were crushed by a landslide. We now know that the fish bones are from the sensor itself.

If we compare it to the other one, do they have the same head or not? This one has been empty. We have the whole frame. Magnificent. Here is his friend. He's big. I think it's his head because it's the same texture. Here is the beast. And the rest is in area 53. You're going to have lots of work this year. This appears to be a rope, maybe. This is pretty much my most precious specimen. This is our first fibre, and I saw some more stuck there.

Hello, you. It's a little piece. Hello. This isn't carbon. Oh yes, it is carbon. The C14 is able to give us a date range, such as between 820 and 940. So even if it doesn't give us a specific year, it still allows us to have an idea of when the ceramic dates from, thanks to this fragment, which is perfectly in context.

They were a meter and a half apart. They were separated 1,500 years ago, maybe 2,000 years ago, and now they're together again. Isn't it great? This one suffered more due to the erosion and the scree. Items are found in their dozens. Koa begins to offer up its first secrets.

But after digging nearly two meters down into the fault, the team makes a surprising new and wonderful discovery. Gold. We are not interested in finding gold. What we are interested in is finding a lost craftsmanship. Because we have virtually no evidence of metalwork from the Tiwanaku period, we have a cut and hammered gold leaf. They cut it in a circle shape. We see through the microscope, it is cut, and there is a pattern on one side. When we take a closer look, we see that this pattern is cut. The pattern is incised and almost punched. This motif is very complex. You have to remember that the precise little design on this piece isn't more than 4 cm in diameter. So the artisans of the Tiwanaku era mastered these types of motifs on these materials. And when you think... I have a magnifying glass, a microscope and a computer while they only had their eyes. It's pretty incredible and moving to be the first to take a look at this pattern.

Gold represents the tears of the sun. This is definitely linked to the sun. So the worship of gold and of the sun isn't just from the Inca period. It predates that, going back to the Tiwanaku era. And the biggest thing for me today is that little leaf. Not because it is gold, but because it is a small pectoral with very fine incisions. And what's interesting is that the iconography isn't Tiwanaku, it's pre-Tiwanaku, it's formative. This is a Yayamama motif. This one is very hard to decode, but it means that there's a real cultural continuity there. There's a gap of nearly 2,000 years between the formative period and the Inca period. In terms of cultural continuity, that's pretty amazing.

The water preserves and above all it protects. Gold doesn't have much to fear on Earth apart from the looters. The advantage of water is that it limits access. It is a kind of sanctuary. For Titicaca, it is the perfect term. But above all, it's a barrier because humans aren't born with a natural ability to dive into water.

After a month of excavations on the Koa reef, dozens of cubic metres of sediment have been cleared to unearth more than 2,000 objects and fragments. Without a doubt, Christophe Delar and his team have just unearthed an exceptional archaeological heritage. All the communities have always been very attentive and interested in our work. I think it really is a wealth for the local communities. They have actively participated. The lake holds a cultural wealth that is crucial for them and for future generations. Nothing found here will go to Europe. Everything stays here. We hope that it will be well managed and well preserved. And one day, I hope it will all be exhibited here. But none of this will be taken back to Europe.

This project was implemented and we managed to win the community's trust through this long-term work. Not just on a scientific level, but on a relationship level. We're working on a Bolivian heritage with the Bolivian people.

What remains to be discovered in the mysterious waters of Lake Titicaca? It's likely that this big question will never receive a definitive answer. Before the excavation started, Christophe and his team determined that there were 600 square kilometers of potential areas, which corresponds to a surface area of 600 million square meters. And they've only worked a few dozen meters. There remains much to be done. The hope is that the excavations, which will continue for three more years, might allow the scientists to step even further back in time, and in doing so, try to better understand the history of these great Andean civilizations, which remains largely unknown. But whatever these sacred waters of Lake Titicaca still have left to reveal, its cold waters will forever hide priceless treasures and carry on telling us wonderful stories and legends.

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