NARRATOR: TENS OF THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO, ONE OF OUR DISTANT ANCESTORS TRACED THE OUTLINE OF HIS HAND ON A CAVE WALL.

THE URGE TO MAKE THINGS BEYOND THE DEMANDS OF SHELTER OR SUSTENANCE PUSHED US TO BUILD SOMETHING GREATER AND MORE LASTING THAN OURSELVES.

ALL AROUND THE WORLD OBJECTS, IMAGES, AND BUILDINGS THAT STARTLE US OUT OF DAILY ROUTINE, TRANSFORMING WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE HUMAN AND TO LIVE RICHLY AND FULLY, ENGAGED WITH THE WORLD AROUND US... TO CREATE CULTURES AND COMMUNITIES, TO BUILD CIVILIZATIONS.

SIMON SCHAMA: IN THIS SERIES, WE'RE GOING TO BE LOOKING AT HOW THESE MIRACLES OPENED OUR EYES, PROVOKED US TO THINK, MOVED OUR EMOTIONS.

NARRATOR: ART IS HISTORY.

IT RECORDS THE RISE AND FALL OF EMPIRES, CHANGES TO THE WORLD AROUND US, TRADE ROUTES THAT BROUGHT TO US NEW COLORS AND NEW IDEAS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE.

THROUGH ART, WE HAVE CREATED IDEALS OF HARMONY, DOCUMENTED THE WORLD AS IT IS, AND EVEN ESCAPED EVERYDAY REALITY ALTOGETHER.

AND THOUGH OUR OWN LIVES ARE SHORT, ART CAN ALLOW US A GLIMPSE OF SOMETHING MORE ETERNAL.

MAYA JASANOFF: ART CAN BE SEEN AS SO FOUNDATIONAL TO CIVILIZATION, AN EXPRESSION OF HUMANITY.

NARRATOR: WHEN WE SEE THE REMAINS OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS IN MUSEUMS, WE IMAGINE THEIR LEGACY WILL ALWAYS BE WITH US.

BUT SOMETIMES THAT'S NOT THE CASE.

IN 2015, THE GREAT SYRIAN TRADING CITY OF PALMYRA WAS ATTACKED BY ISIS.

THE WORLD FEARED ITS TREASURES WOULD BE DESTROYED AS ISIS HAD ALREADY DONE IN THE ANCIENT IRAQI CITY OF MOSUL.

MUCH OF PALMYRA'S LEGACY OF CENTURIES OF GREEKS, ROMANS, PERSIANS, ARABS, AND JEWS WAS REDUCED TO RUBBLE IN A MATTER OF HOURS.

SOME PRECIOUS ARTIFACTS ESCAPED THE DESTRUCTION EVEN BEFORE THE SYRIAN CIVIL WAR AND THE APPEARANCE OF ISIS BECAUSE OF LOOTERS.

THIS BUST WAS IMPOUNDED BY SWISS CUSTOMS AND SENT TO A MUSEUM IN GENEVA FOR SAFEKEEPING.

BUT IN PALMYRA ITSELF, THOSE WHO DEVOTED THEIR LIVES TO PRESERVING THESE OBJECTS WERE NOT ALL SO FORTUNATE.

KHALED AL-ASAAD, THE RETIRED LOCAL DIRECTOR OF THE MUSEUM, WAS 81 WHEN ISIS SEIZED THE CITY.

HE REFUSED TO SAY WHERE HE HAD HIDDEN THE CITY'S TREASURES.

FOR THAT CRIME, ISIS BEHEADED HIM IN THE ROMAN THEATER.

HIS MUTILATED BODY WAS SUSPENDED FROM A TRAFFIC LIGHT.

HIS HEAD WAS PLACED BETWEEN HIS FEET, AND ABOVE HIS BODY HUNG A SIGN IDENTIFYING HIM AS "DIRECTOR OF IDOLATRY."

THE TITLE HE DESERVED WAS "PROTECTOR OF CIVILIZATION."

SCHAMA: A LOT OF US SPEND OUR DAYS TALKING ABOUT ART.

I DOUBT IF VERY MANY OF US ARE PREPARED TO LAY DOWN OUR LIFE FOR IT.

BUT FOR KHALED AL-ASAAD, THE STONES AND STATUES AND COLUMNS OF PALMYRA WERE MORE THAN SIMPLY AN ENSEMBLE OF ANTIQUITY.

THEY WERE THE EXPRESSION OF WHAT THE CREATIVE IMAGINATION COULD DO TO MAKE A CITY HOME.

WE CAN SPEND A LOT OF TIME DEBATING WHAT CIVILIZATION IS OR ISN'T, BUT WHEN ITS OPPOSITE SHOWS UP IN ALL ITS BRUTALITY AND CRUELTY AND INTOLERANCE AND LUST FOR DESTRUCTION, WE KNOW WHAT CIVILIZATION IS.

WE KNOW IT FROM THE SHOCK OF ITS IMMINENT LOSS AS A MUTILATION ON THE BODY OF OUR HUMANITY.

NARRATOR: BUT IF THE RECORD OF HUMAN HISTORY IS FILLED WITH THE RAGE TO DESTROY, IT'S ALSO MARKED BY THE OPPOSITE INSTINCT... OUR INNATE NEED TO EXPLORE, TO GROW, TO CREATE.

BUT WHERE DID HUMAN CREATIVITY BEGIN?

THE ANSWER IS ALMOST CERTAINLY IN AFRICA, WHERE HOMO SAPIENS FIRST EVOLVED MORE THAN 200,000 YEARS AGO.

ON SOUTH AFRICA'S CAPE COAST, ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE FOUND CAVES WHERE ONE OF OUR ANCESTORS FELT THE URGE TO DECORATE AND EMBELLISH, TO COMMENT ON THEIR WORLD.

DISCOVERED IN 2008, THIS ABALONE SHELL IS PERHAPS 100,000 YEARS OLD.

AND IT STILL CONTAINS TRACES OF MAN-MADE PIGMENT WITHIN IT.

IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN USED TO MAKE AN IMAGE, OR IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN USED TO DECORATE A BODY OR FACE.

IT MAY HAVE BEEN APPLIED AS A NATURAL SUNBLOCK, SOMETHING THESE PIGMENTS ARE STILL USED FOR TODAY.

A SLAB OF ONE OF THESE PIGMENTS, RED OCHRE, A MINERAL NATURALLY RICH IN IRON, WAS FOUND IN THE SAME CAVE.

ON IT IS ETCHED A DIAMOND PATTERN MADE AT LEAST 75,000 YEARS AGO.

IT SEEMS TO SERVE NO OTHER PURPOSE THAN DECORATION.

JASANOFF: OTHER KINDS OF ANIMALS MAKE TOOLS.

OTHER KINDS OF ANIMALS MAY HAVE SOME KIND OF LANGUAGE.

WE KNOW THAT OTHER ANIMALS HAVE EXTREMELY COMPLEX SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS.

BUT WHAT ABOUT ART?

I THINK WE CAN SEE ART AS BEING MAYBE ONE OF THE ONLY WAYS THAT WE CAN IMAGINE HUMANS TO BE DISTINCTIVELY DIFFERENT.

WAS THIS OUR FIRST ART?

NO ONE CAN SAY FOR SURE, BUT WHAT IS MORE CERTAIN IS THAT THESE ETCHED SYMBOLS COINCIDE WITH THE EARLIEST BEGINNINGS OF WHAT IS CALLED THE COGNITIVE REVOLUTION...

THE ASTONISHING LEAP FORWARD IN HOMO SAPIENS' EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT THAT MARKS THE VERY BEGINNINGS OF CULTURE, OUR FIRST TENTATIVE STEP ON THE ROAD TO CIVILIZATION.

WHAT WAS PROBABLY OUR NEXT CAN BE FOUND IN NORTHERN SPAIN.

HERE, AROUND 30,000 YEARS AGO, SCRATCHES OF RED OCHRE WERE TRANSFORMED INTO PAINT.

IN THIS SACRED PLACE, RUDIMENTARY MARKS HAVE BLOOMED AND MULTIPLIED.

THESE RED CIRCLES WERE NOT MADE BY BRUSHES OR STICKS, BUT BY COLORS SWIRLED IN THE MOUTH WITH SALIVA AND BLOWN DIRECTLY ONTO THE ROCK.

WHILE OTHER LATER SYMBOLS SHOW SIGNS OF ACTUALLY BEING PAINTED.

SCHAMA: AND THEN YOU COME ACROSS THIS... AND IN AN INSTANT, VAST MILLENNIA OF TIME JUST COLLAPSE, AND YOU'RE IN THE MIDST OF FELLOW HUMANS, THEIR HANDS DOING WHAT HANDS DO, HAILING US FROM 37,000 YEARS DISTANT.

BUT THIS LONG-DISTANCE GREETING SOMEHOW MAKES US BOND WITH THE MAKERS OF THIS BECAUSE THEY ESTABLISH A PRESENCE THAT IS PALPABLY ALIVE.

NARRATOR: STENCILED HANDS LIKE THESE HAVE BEEN FOUND IN CAVES AS FAR APART AS INDONESIA AND PATAGONIA.

JASANOFF: BEFORE ANY KIND OF RECORDED LANGUAGE, BEFORE ALL MANNER OF THINGS THAT WE'VE COME TO ASSOCIATE WITH CIVILIZATION AND SOCIETY TODAY, PEOPLE THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO DECIDED TO PICK A COLOR AND TO PICK A SPOT AND TO PICK A SHAPE AND TO PUT THEM TOGETHER INTO THE HANDPRINT TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT BEING THERE.

THERE IS THIS STATEMENT THAT IS RECORDED IN COLOR WITH AESTHETIC VALUE THAT WE CAN APPRECIATE NOW WHETHER OR NOT THAT WAS THE REASON IT WAS PUT THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE.

NARRATOR: WE CAN TELL FROM THE LAYERS OF HANDS AND PAINTS STENCILED OVER EACH OTHER THAT GENERATION AFTER GENERATION RETURNED TO THIS PLACE.

A SCARED SITE OF PILGRIMAGE AND RITUAL WHERE IT'S LIKELY ART AND RELIGION WENT TOGETHER.

IT'S AS IF WE, HOMO SAPIENS, ARE SLOWLY REALIZING THAT WE HAVE THE POWER TO REPRESENT AND CREATE.

AND IN ANOTHER CAVE IN NORTHERN SPAIN, A 20-MINUTE WALK AWAY FROM ANY DAYLIGHT, THE EVIDENCE IS PLAIN TO SEE AND NEARLY AS VIVID AS IT WAS WHEN IT WAS PAINTED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO.

THIS WAS A DOUBLING OF THE WORLD, A LIFE COPY, ANATOMICAL FEATURES FOLLOWING THE ROCK WALL SURFACE OF THE CAVE.

WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THIS TECHNIQUE, YOUR HEAD JUST SPINS BECAUSE THEY WOULD HAVE HAD TO TRANSPOSE THEM HERE, AND YET, WHEN ALL THAT WAS DONE, THEY MANAGED TO PRESERVE MIRACULOUSLY THIS ANIMAL VITALITY.

THIS IS TRULY ONE OF THE GREAT MARVELS OF THE SUDDENLY EXPANDED HUMAN MIND.

NARRATOR: HOWEVER IT WAS CAUSED, THE COGNITIVE REVOLUTION STIRRED EARLY HUMANITY FROM ITS CREATIVE SLUMBER.

AND THE IMAGES IT PRODUCED CONTINUE TO HUMBLE EVEN OUR GREATEST MODERN ARTISTS, INCLUDING PABLO PICASSO.

SCHAMA: HE LIKED TO CALL HIMSELF A MODERN PRIMITIVE, AND IN THOSE IMAGES, GLIMMERING IMAGES IN THE CAVES, HE FOUND, HE THOUGHT, THE FOUNTAINHEAD OF EVERYTHING THAT WAS TRULY CREATIVE ABOUT THE ARTISTIC INSTINCT.

SO HE PAID CAVE ART THE ULTIMATE COMPLIMENT BY DOING SOMETHING VERY SIMILAR.

HE LOOKED AT A BULL, AND THEN HE PRODUCED THIS BEAUTIFUL, DASHING, IMPULSIVE PICTURE OF A BULL.

IT COULD EVEN HAVE BEEN A STUDIOUS COPY.

NARRATOR: PICASSO PRODUCED ANOTHER 10 PRINTS, BULLS DRAWN FROM HIS OWN ENORMOUS RANGE OF STYLES, FROM NATURALISM THROUGH CLASSICAL CUBISM TO A MINIMALIST BULL THAT'S LITTLE MORE THAN A CONTINUOUS LINE.

THE SEQUENCE EXPRESSES PICASSO'S ADMIRATION FOR THE GENIUS OF THE CAVE PAINTERS AND HIS BELIEF THAT, ANCIENT OR MODERN, THE HAND OF THE ARTIST NEVER REALLY CHANGES EVEN IF SEPARATED BY TENS OF THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

AND PERHAPS NOT JUST THE HAND OF VISUAL ARTISTS.

AMONG THE MANY ARTIFACTS FOUND IN PALEOLITHIC CAVES FROM PLACES AS FAR AWAY AS AUSTRALIA ARE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

THEY INCLUDE TYPES OF FLUTES AND OTHER WIND INSTRUMENTS AS WELL AS BULLROARERS-- A PIECE OF WOOD TIED TO A ROPE AND SPUN AROUND THE HEAD THAT MAKES THIS UNEARTHLY NOISE.

[LOW HUMMING] IN RECENT YEARS, SCIENTISTS HAVE BEEN EXPERIMENTING WITH THESE INSTRUMENTS TO TRY AND UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY MIGHT TELL US ABOUT PALEOLITHIC CULTURE.

[HIGH-PITCHED TONE] RUPERT TILL: I'M USING SOFTWARE TO TEST THE ACOUSTICS IN THE SPACE, SO WE GENERATE THIS SWEPT SINE WAVE, AND WE USE THAT TO CAPTURE THE ACOUSTIC OF THE CAVE.

AND WE CAN LOOK FOR RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SOUND AND PAINTINGS.

[LOW-PITCHED TONE] [TONE ASCENDING] WHERE THERE ARE THESE RED DOTS, WHICH ARE THE EARLIEST PAINTINGS, THERE ARE LOW-FREQUENCY RESONANCES, SO THERE'S THESE VERY CLOSE INTIMATE SPACES WITH THIS BASSEY SOUND.

SO THE EARLIEST PAINTINGS SEEM TO BE IN THESE LITTLE SIDE AREAS WHERE MAYBE ONE PERSON MIGHT BE THERE ALONE.

AND THEN THE LATER PAINTINGS SEEM TO BE IN SORT OF MORE GRAND PLACES, SOMEWHERE THAT SOUNDS MORE DRAMATIC.

YOU CAN COMPARE THESE SPACES TO A CATHEDRAL OR A TEMPLE.

THEY'RE PLACES WHERE PEOPLE CAME FOR SACRED MOMENTS, WHICH WERE FULL OF IMAGERY AND RITUAL AND PROBABLY MUSIC.

NARRATOR: THESE EERIE AND HAUNTING SOUNDS WERE THE MUSIC OF OUR ANCESTORS, WHO PLAYED AND LISTENED TO IT HERE SOME 2,000 GENERATIONS AGO.

AND IT SPEAKS TO US OF A TIME WHEN PAINTING AND SOUND WERE PART OF THE SAME MYSTERIOUS EXPERIENCE.

BUT ONE THING IS LARGELY ABSENT FROM EUROPEAN CAVE ART-- THE HUMAN FIGURE.

THERE ARE ONLY A FEW EXAMPLES SCRATCHED ONTO CAVE WALLS, AND ONLY RELATIVELY FEW FIGURINES OF THE FEMALE FORM WITH EXAGGERATED BREASTS, HIPS, AND BUTTOCKS.

TO SEE PREHISTORIC IMAGES OF PEOPLE IN ANY NUMBER, WE HAVE TO GO TO SOUTH AFRICA.

THE CULTURE OF THE SAN BUSHMEN HAS ENDURED FOR TENS OF THOUSANDS OF YEARS, PROVIDING A LIVING CONNECTION TO A DISTANT HUNTER-GATHERER PAST.

AND THEIR ART OFFERS CLUES TO THE BIRTH OF THE CREATIVE IMPULSE AND MODERN HUMAN SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS.

BUT IT'S BACK IN EUROPE THAT WE FIND AN OBJECT THAT MAY EMBODY OUR EARLIEST UNDERSTANDING OF PERFECTION.

IT IS ONE OF THE VERY FIRST DELIBERATE REPRESENTATIONS OF BEAUTY-- "LA DAME DE BRASSEMPOUY" WAS FOUND IN A CAVE IN SOUTHWESTERN FRANCE.

SHE'S THOUGHT TO BE BETWEEN 22,000 AND 25,000 YEARS OLD.

SCHAMA: WITH THIS EXQUISITE, INTENSIVELY CARVED FEMALE HEAD, WE HAVE FOR THE FIRST TIME SOMETHING IMMENSELY AND MOVINGLY MOMENTOUS.

WE HAVE THE REVELATION OF THE HUMAN FACE.

IT'S A TINY THING.

IT CAN JUST GO IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND.

AND IT COULD ONLY HAVE BEEN MADE BY AN EXTRAORDINARY ARRAY OF DEXTEROUS SKILLS.

THIS HEAD IS MADE FROM A MAMMOTH TUSK, AND A STONE-FLINT INSTRUMENT IS USED TO MAKE IT.

SO THIS LITTLE PIECE WOULD HAVE BEEN TURNED INTO THE LIGHT, AND AS IT WAS TURNED INTO THE LIGHT, THE SHADOW WOULD HAVE FALLEN, AND SUDDENLY WE HAVE EYES AS WELL AS THAT BEAUTIFUL NOSE AND THIS EXTRAORDINARY HAIR FALLING DOWN THE NAPE OF THE NECK.

WITH THIS TINY PIECE FROM BRASSEMPOUY, IT SEEMS TO ME THAT WE HAVE SOMETHING WHICH, AS I LOOK AT IT, IS PROFOUNDLY MOVING.

WE HAVE RIGHT IN FRONT OF US THE DAWN OF THE IDEA OF BEAUTY.

NARRATOR: THE SLOW GROWTH OF CIVILIZATIONS DEPENDED AT FIRST ON PRACTICALITIES-- THE DOMESTICATION OF CEREAL CROPS AND IRRIGATION TECHNIQUES WHICH BEGAN AROUND 10,000 YEARS AGO IN PLACES LIKE AIN GHAZAL IN JORDAN AND JERICHO ON THE WEST BANK.

CIVILIZATION STARTED SMALL.

IT DEPENDED ON THE INVENTION OF PRACTICAL THINGS-- POTTERY VESSELS FOR COOKING, EATING, AND STORAGE.

WHAT WE TODAY CALL THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION, BETWEEN THE RIVERS TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES IN MODERN IRAQ, INHERITED THESE TECHNIQUES AND BECAME THE PLACE WHERE TRUE CITIES WERE FIRST FOUNDED ABOUT 7,000 YEARS AGO.

CITIES LIKE UR AND URUK.

BY ABOUT 5,000 YEARS AGO, THEY WERE PRODUCING ART THAT PURSUED BEAUTY AND PRACTICED POWER.

THERE WERE SOCIAL HIERARCHIES.

THERE WERE KINGS AND QUEENS, PRIESTS AND SCRIBES.

THE SCRIPTS OFTEN RECORDED LITTLE MORE THAN THE PAYMENT OF TAXES.

BUT SOMETIMES THEY TOLD THE STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES.

ANIMALS PROVIDED MODELS FOR DEITIES AND MONSTERS.

THERE WERE SOLDIERS, PROCESSIONS, WAR WAGONS, AND TRIUMPHS.

ACROSS THE DESERT OF SINAI, EVEN GREATER RICHES WERE TO BE FOUND.

MIGHTY EGYPT, WITH ITS VAST MONUMENTS THAT INTIMIDATE ONLOOKERS WITH THEIR SCALE AND MAJESTY.

AND ITS GOLDEN ARK, OFTEN CREATED TO HONOR THE DEAD, THAT STILL AWES ANY VIEWER.

AND AROUND 2,000 BCE, THE EGYPTIANS BEGAN TRADING WITH YET ANOTHER CULTURE IN FULL ARTISTIC BLOOM.

A SEAFARING CIVILIZATION CALLED THE MINOANS WOULD BECOME AN INSPIRATION FOR THE WESTERN WORLD.

SOME OF THEIR EARLIEST SETTLEMENTS ARE ON THE COAST OF THE GREEK ISLAND OF CRETE.

BUILT WITH DEFENSE IN MIND AND PROTECTED BY THE SEA ON TWO SIDES, MOST WERE CLOSELY PACKED, FORCING OUR ANCESTORS TO LEARN ANOTHER NEW SKILL VITAL TO ANY GROWING CIVILIZATION-- HOW TO BE NEIGHBORLY.

IN THEIR STREETS AND PLAZAS, A COMPLEX SOCIETY FLOURISHED WHERE BOTH PEOPLE AND ART HAD NEW ROLES TO PLAY AND TRADITIONS TO OBSERVE.

MINOAN CIVILIZATION'S POLITICAL CENTER OF KNOSSOS WAS EXCAVATED BETWEEN 1900 AND 1905 BY ARTHUR EVANS, A PIONEERING ENGLISH ARCHAEOLOGIST.

ONCE HIS EXCAVATIONS WERE COMPLETE, EVANS RESTORED PART OF KNOSSOS USING CAST CONCRETE AND WHAT MANY ARCHAEOLOGISTS FELT WAS FAR TOO MUCH ARTISTIC LICENSE.

BUT THE SYMBOLISM HE USED TO DECORATE THE SITE WAS FAITHFUL TO WHAT HE HAD FOUND.

FANTASTIC BEASTS, SUCH AS THE GRIFFIN, WITH THE HEAD OF AN EAGLE AND THE BODY OF A LION, AND EVERYWHERE IMAGES OF BULLS.

IT WAS HERE THAT LATER GENERATIONS OF MAINLAND GREEKS PLACED THE LABYRINTH, HOME OF THE LEGENDARY MINOTAUR.

IN THE HERAKLION MUSEUM IN CRETE, BEAUTIFUL BRONZES AND FRESCOES PORTRAY ACROBATIC FEATS OF BULL LEAPING THAT DATE BACK TO THE 15th CENTURY BCE.

NARRATOR: MINOAN CIVILIZATION SPREAD ACROSS THE AEGEAN SEA.

ON THE ISLAND OF SANTORINI, THEY DECORATED THEIR CITY OF AKROTIRI WITH WONDERFUL FRESCOES THAT DEPICT THEIR RICH SEAFARING CULTURE.

THESE IMAGES STILL SURVIVE TODAY FOR THE SAME REASON THE MINOANS ULTIMATELY FELL.

IN 1627 BCE, SANTORINI WAS DEVASTATED BY A MASSIVE VOLCANIC ERUPTION THAT ENTOMBED AKROTIRI IN ASH AND PUMICE... AND EVENT, WHICH ACCORDING TO SOME, INSPIRED THE MYTH OF ATLANTIS.

MINOAN CIVILIZATION APPEARS TO HAVE NEVER RECOVERED.

BUT THE MINOAN STORY ILLUSTRATES SOMETHING FUNDAMENTAL ABOUT CIVILIZATION-- IT CAN GO VIRAL, AND SOMETIMES ONE CIVILIZATION CAN SEED ANOTHER.

IN 2015 ON THE GREEK MAINLAND, A TEAM OF AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGISTS WERE DIGGING NEAR THE PALACE OF NESTOR, A LEGENDARY KING KNOWN TO US THROUGH HOMER'S CLASSIC STORY "THE ILIAD."

THE SITE WAS BUILT BY A PEOPLE WE NOW CALL THE MYCENAEANS, FROM WHOSE SCRIPT LINEAR B THE GREEK LANGUAGE EVOLVED, AND UPON WHOSE EXPLOITS THE MYTHIC FOUNDATIONS OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION WERE LAID.

IT WAS THESE BRONZE-CLAD WARRIORS THAT INSPIRED HOMER'S EPIC TALES "THE ILIAD" AND "THE ODYSSEY" AND GAVE THE WEST THE FIRST IMAGE OF ITSELF, IMPRINTING ON THE EUROPEAN MIND SUCH ENDURING HEROIC CHARACTERS AS ACHILLES, ODYSSEUS, AND AGAMEMNON.

TODAY, ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS HAVE HELPED US LOOK BEHIND THIS MYTH, AND WHAT WE FIND IS A BRONZE-AGE WARRIOR CULTURE EVERY BIT AS FASCINATING AS THE LEGENDS IT SPAWNED, WHOSE UNEXPECTED ORIGINS ARE NOW BECOMING CLEAR.

SHARON STOCKER: OK, HERE'S JACK.

SAY HELLO, JACK.

JACK DAVIS: HELLO, SHERRY.

NARRATOR: HUSBAND AND WIFE JACK DAVIS AND SHERRY STOCKER WERE EXCAVATING GRAVES BUT WEREN'T EXPECTING TO FIND MUCH.

THE SITE HAD BEEN EXCAVATED SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE.

STOCKER: HERE WE ARE IN THE GRAVE LOOKING AT OUR BODY TODAY.

WE WERE NOT OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE PROSPECT OF FINDING SOMETHING THAT WAS UNLOOTED BECAUSE MOST GRAVES IN GREECE HAVE BEEN ROBBED EITHER IN ANTIQUITY OR IN PRESENT TIMES.

BUT AT THE END OF THE TENTH DAY... DAVIS: WE HIT BRONZE.

STOCKER: THIS IS OUR THIRD GOLD RING.

PRETTY AMAZING.

THAT WAS THE BEGINNING.

NARRATOR: TO THEIR HUGE SURPRISE, JACK AND SHERRY FOUND MORE THAN 1,500 SEPARATE OBJECTS BURIED WITH THE WARRIOR.

AMONG THEM WERE WEAPONS AND NUMEROUS OBJECTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PREPARATIONS MADE FOR BATTLE BY ELITE MYCENAEAN WARRIORS...

EXQUISITE JEWELRY... A BRONZE MIRROR AND IVORY COMBS... AS WELL AS 4 GOLD RINGS, ALL IN THE SAME UNMISTAKABLY MINOAN STYLE.

STOCKER: THEY'RE JUST EXQUISITE.

ACTUALLY THE CRAFTSMANSHIP ON ALL OF THEM IS STUNNING, AND THEY ARE VERY MUCH LIKE THE ICONOGRAPHY THAT YOU FIND IN MINOAN CRETE.

DAVIS: STYLISTICALLY THE SHAPE OF THESE RINGS ARE REALLY SIMILAR.

MM-HMM.

AND ONE BEGINS TO WONDER WHETHER WE'RE DEALING WITH PRODUCTS MADE BY THE SAME CRAFTSPEOPLE.

THIS SHOWS A GODDESS DESCENDING INTO A GLEN PROBABLY.

SHE'S FLANKED BY TWO BIRDS, AND SHE'S HOLDING IN HER HAND A STAFF.

AND THE FACT THAT THE STAFF HAS BULL'S HORNS ON THE TOP IS REALLY INTERESTING BECAUSE WE HAVE ANOTHER RING THAT HAS THE ACTUAL BULL, AND YOU CAN SEE HIS FRONT LEGS OUT AND HIS BACK LEGS OUT.

THIS IS VERY, VERY MINOAN IN CHARACTER.

AND THEN THE FOURTH RING IS THE LARGEST RING.

IT'S THE MOST ELABORATE, AND WE SEEM TO BE DEALING HERE WITH A SCENE, PERHAPS THE SCENE SET ON AN ISLAND.

WE'VE GOT A LARGE WOMAN WHO MUST BE A GODDESS, AND SHE HAS TWO ACOLYTES AROUND HER.

IT'S SOME SORT OF A FEMALE INITIATION RITE PERHAPS.

CERTAINLY THEY'RE ASSUMING MINOAN TRADITIONS AND ICONOGRAPHY AND THOUGHTS AND PERHAPS RELIGION.

YEAH, I THINK THAT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT LESSON TO LEARN ABOUT HOW CIVILIZATIONS EVOLVE, CONSTANTLY BORROWING AND TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING INSPIRATIONS, IDEAS FROM THEIR PREDECESSORS AND FROM THOSE THAT SURROUND THEM AS THEY EVOLVE.

NARRATOR: THE FINDS SUGGEST THAT THE BIRTH OF MYCENAEAN CIVILIZATION WAS HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY CONTACT WITH THE MINOANS.

THE MYCENAEANS WOULD GROW IN POWER AND STRENGTH, FIND THEIR OWN CULTURAL IDENTITY AND THEIR IMMORTALITY IN THE WORDS OF HOMER.

HERE AT MYCENAE, THEY WOULD BUILD THE GREAT LION GATE AND THE SO-CALLED TREASURY OF ATREUS-- IN REALITY A TOMB.

BUT NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT THE TORCH OF MINOAN CIVILIZATION BEING HANDED ON TO THE MAINLAND GREEKS THROUGH CONTACT AND TRADE.

WE CAN SEE EXAMPLES OF HOW THE TORCH OF CULTURE WAS PASSED BETWEEN PEOPLES IN THE MOST REMOTE AND INHOSPITABLE PLACES.

EVEN A DESERT WHERE A ONCE NOMADIC CULTURE CREATED A CITY DEDICATED TO TRADE, PLEASURE, AND BEAUTY.

SCHAMA: THIS IS PETRA, WHERE GEOGRAPHY IS DESTINY.

IT'S THE IMPROBABILITY OF THIS SETTING WHICH ACTUALLY WAS THE SECRET FOR ITS SPECTACULAR FLOURISHING.

NARRATOR: PETRA WAS BUILT BY THE NABATAEANS, NOMADIC ARABS WHO HERDED CAMELS AND LIVED IN TENTS WHEN THEY FIRST MOVED HERE IN THE FOURTH CENTURY BCE.

THE CITY THEY CARVED FROM ROCK WAS AND REMAINS TRULY EXTRAORDINARY.

BUT IT WASN'T HERDING THAT PRODUCED THIS GREAT CITY.

WHAT DID WAS SOMETHING THE CLASSICAL WORLD COULDN'T GET ENOUGH OF-- INCENSE.

2,000 YEARS AGO, FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH WERE ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR THE CEREMONIES AND RITUALS WHICH PUNCTUATED DAILY LIFE.

THE NONDESCRIPT LITTLE CHUNKS AND GRANULES OF DRIED TREE RESIN PRODUCED THESE CLOUDS OF FRAGRANT INCENSE SMOKE, AND THEY BECAME THE HOTTEST TRADE BETWEEN AFRICA AND PERSIA.

BUT HERE'S THE THING-- THE TREES THAT PRODUCE THE RESIN ONLY GROW IN A PARTICULAR PART OF ARABIA, AND HERE'S WHERE THE NABATAEANS TURNED THEIR OWN NATIVE LOCAL KNOWLEDGE INTO STACKS OF MONEY.

BECAUSE TO GET THIS TO MARKET, THE CARAVANS CARRYING FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH HAD TO TRAVEL ACROSS VAST EXPANSES OF DESERT, AND WHO KNEW THAT DESERT MILE BY STONY MILE, OASIS BY OASIS BETTER THAN THE NABATAEANS?

NO ONE.

SO THE NABATAEANS STARTED AS NAVIGATORS AND PILOTS, IF YOU LIKE, FOR THIS PRECIOUS CARGO.

PRETTY SOON THEY WERE MONOPOLISTS OF THE INCENSE TRADE, THE EMPERORS OF AROMATICS.

NARRATOR: THE NABATAEAN DREAM OF CIVILIZATION COULD BE REALIZED IN THIS UNLIKELY SPOT BECAUSE PETRA ISN'T ARID ALL YEAR ROUND.

WITH WINTER COMES BRIEFLY NOT JUST RAIN, BUT TORRENTIAL FLASH FLOODING.

THE NABATAEANS DEVELOPED THE ENGINEERING TO TRAP THAT WATER IN CISTERNS AND RESERVOIRS AND TO CHANNEL IT WHEN AND WHERE IT WAS NEEDED.

IN ITS PRIME, PETRA WAS ACTUALLY A GARDEN CITY FULL OF PARKS AND GROVES AND ORCHARDS.

THERE WERE FOUNTAINS AND PONDS AND EVEN AN ENORMOUS ORNAMENTAL SWIMMING POOL WITH AN ISLAND PAVILION IN THE MIDDLE.

AND THE WATER WHICH MADE ALL THAT POSSIBLE ALSO MADE IT POSSIBLE TO FEED A CITY OF 30,000 PEOPLE, MANY OF WHOM WERE IMMIGRANTS FROM ALL OVER THE REGION.

THERE WERE EGYPTIANS AND SYRIANS AND JUDEANS AND GREEKS AND ROMANS, AND THEY WERE ALL COMING TO PETRA TO ENJOY WHAT THE PERSIANS CALLED A "PARIDAEZA," A PLEASURE RESORT, A LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN ON EARTH.

NARRATOR: PETRA HAD BECOME A TRULY COSMOPOLITAN CITY, A MELTING POT OF ICONOGRAPHY AND IMAGERY, ARCHITECTURE AND AMBITION.

THERE ARE CURIOUS, ALMOST ABSTRACT REPRESENTATIONS OF THE NABATAEAN MOTHER GODDESS AS WELL AS OF THE GREEK CULT OF DIONYSUS, THE GOD OF WINE.

RECENT EXCAVATIONS HAVE ALSO REVEALED THE REMAINS OF FLASHY VILLAS OUTSIDE THE HEART OF THE CITY, DECORATED WITH GORGEOUS MURALS TOO DELICATE TO MOVE.

THEY, TOO, CELEBRATE DIONYSUS' WINE-SOAKED CULT OF FRENZY AND ECSTASY, THEIR DETAIL TINY AND STRANGELY MODERN.

FROM THE PERIOD WHEN CHRISTIANITY SWEPT OVER THE MIDDLE EAST, THERE ARE BYZANTINE MOSAICS FOUND BENEATH THE SAND AND RUBBLE OF A RUINED CHURCH.

THERE WAS A GRAND PROCESSIONAL AVENUE LINED WITH COLUMNS IN THE FINEST GREEK STYLE BUT WITH ELEPHANTS' HEADS TO FORM THE CAPITALS.

TODAY WE HAVE TO IMAGINE THEIR TUSKS AND TRUNKS, BUT IT WAS A STYLE FOUND ONLY HERE IN PETRA.

AT ITS HEIGHT IN THE FIRST CENTURY, PETRA RIVALED SOME OF THE GREAT CITIES OF ANTIQUITY IN ITS SHEER BEAUTY, GRANDEUR, AND SPECTACLE.

LIKE ROME, IT HAD MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE AND LIFE-GIVING AQUEDUCTS.

LIKE BABYLON, IT BOASTED VERDANT GARDENS.

LIKE PERSEPOLIS, IT HAD A GRAND TREASURY, ACTUALLY A TOMB, THAT WAS THE ENVY OF LESSER POWERS.

BUT IT WOULDN'T LAST FOREVER.

IN THE YEAR 106, THE CITY WAS ABSORBED INTO THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

AND ROMAN TRADE ROUTES FAVORED A CITY IN NORTHERN SYRIA WE HAVE ALREADY ENCOUNTERED-- PALMYRA.

BY THE TIME OF THE MUSLIM CONQUESTS IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY, PETRA HAD BEEN REDUCED BY A SERIES OF EARTHQUAKES TO LITTLE MORE THAN A DRY AND EMPTY RUIN.

THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF EARLY CIVILIZATIONS LIKE PETRA, GREECE, AND EGYPT HAVE ECHOED DOWN THE AGES, BUT SOMETIMES A CIVILIZATION IS COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN, AND ALL THAT REMAINS TO DECODE WHAT IT VALUED AND BELIEVED IN IS ITS ART.

AND WHEN THIS HAPPENS, ART BECOMES A TIME MACHINE.

ABOUT 3,000 YEARS AGO IN THE PROVINCE OF SICHUAN IN SOUTHWEST CHINA, AN EXTRAORDINARY CULTURE AROSE AT SANXINGDUI.

JAY XU: LIKE MANY EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERIES ACROSS THE WORLD, IT WAS AN ACCIDENTAL DISCOVERY.

AND IN THIS CASE, IT WAS TRULY THE DISCOVERY OF A LOST CIVILIZATION.

XU: NO ONE KNEW THAT SUCH A HIGHLY ADVANCED CIVILIZATION MANIFESTED ITSELF IN SUCH WONDERFUL BRONZES AND OTHER OBJECTS THAT EXISTED SO LONG AGO IN THAT REGION OF CHINA.

NARRATOR: THE FIND WAS ALL THE MORE ASTONISHING BECAUSE CHINESE ARCHAEOLOGISTS LONG BELIEVED THEIR CIVILIZATION HAD A SINGLE ORIGIN ALONG THE BANKS OF THE YELLOW RIVER.

YET THESE STRIKING BRONZES, FIRST UNEARTHED IN 1985, WERE FROM A CIVILIZATION MORE THAN 500 MILES AWAY.

SCHAMA: NOTHING IN THE REST OF ANCIENT CHINA HAS EVER BEEN DISCOVERED REMOTELY LIKE THESE FACES, LIKE THESE MASKS.

THEY ALL HAVE HUGE EYES.

THIS ONE YOU CAN STILL SEE THE FEW TRACES OF BLACK PAINT.

THEY WERE PAINTED BLACK.

DASHING EYEBROWS, DIAMOND-SHAPED EYES, AND HUGELY EXAGGERATED EARS, PERFORATED IN THE LOBES FOR BLINGY EARRINGS ALMOST CERTAINLY.

WHAT DOES THAT TELL US?

IT'S A TIP-OFF, ISN'T IT?

BECAUSE WHAT OR WHO NEEDS HUGE EYES AND HUGE EARS?

ANSWER--THE GODS, THE IMMORTALS WHO SEE EVERYTHING AND HEAR EVERYTHING.

NARRATOR: ARE THESE SEVERE FACES THOSE OF THE GODS OF A RIVAL CIVILIZATION THAT WAS LATER ASSIMILATED OR CONQUERED BY THE CHINESE CIVILIZATION WE KNOW TODAY?

XU: THESE KIND OF SCULPTURES HAD NEVER BEEN KNOWN, AND IT HAD NEVER BEEN SHOWN IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD BEFORE UNTIL THE DISCOVERY IN 1985.

SO THIS TELLS US THERE WERE PARALLEL CIVILIZATIONS IN ANCIENT CHINA, AND ALSO, BESIDES THE FUNDAMENTAL VISUAL DIFFERENCES, THE CASTING TECHNOLOGY, HOWEVER, WAS SHARED BETWEEN YELLOW RIVER VALLEY AND THE SANXINGDUI CIVILIZATION, WHICH MEANS THERE HAD BEEN CULTURAL EXCHANGE.

ANCIENT CHINA NO LONGER LOOKS LIKE A MONOLITH.

IT IS A MULTI-CULTURE SITUATION.

NARRATOR: WHETHER THE SICHUAN CIVILIZATION DISAPPEARED BECAUSE IT WAS ASSIMILATED, CONQUERED, OR CRUSHED INTO DUST BY THEIR RIVALS, WE SIMPLY DON'T KNOW.

YET, THROUGH THEIR ART, WE, LIKE THEM, STILL REMAIN TRANSFIXED BY THE ALL-SEEING GAZE OF THESE REGAL AND MYSTERIOUS FIGURES.

WE CAN FIND SOMETHING HAUNTINGLY SIMILAR IN THE JUNGLES OF MEXICO.

HERE THE ART OF ANOTHER LOST CIVILIZATION STILL SPEAKS TO US ACROSS TIME.

BUT HERE, THE POWER OF AN ART TO EMBODY THE COLLECTIVE MEMORY AND IDENTITY OF A CIVILIZATION HAS ALSO ENABLED US TO CHART ITS RISE AND FALL.

THIS WAS ONCE THE LAND OF THE CLASSIC MAYA, A PLACE OF ADVANCED ART, ARCHITECTURE, ASTRONOMY, AND ALMOST CONSTANT WARFARE.

THE MAYAN CITIES HAVE BEEN UNINHABITED FOR MORE THAN 1,000 YEARS.

REDISCOVERED IN 1931, THE CITY OF CALAKMUL WAS ONCE ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL IN ALL OF MAYAN HISTORY.

IT WAS KNOWN AS THE KINGDOM OF THE SNAKE.

ULTIMATELY ALL CIVILIZATIONS WANT EXACTLY WHAT THEY CAN'T HAVE-- THE CONQUEST OF TIME.

SO THEY BUILD BIGGER AND HIGHER AND GRANDER AS IF THEY COULD BUILD THEIR WAY OUT OF MORTALITY.

IT NEVER WORKS.

THERE ALWAYS COMES A MOMENT WHEN THE MOST POPULOUS OF CITIES WITH THEIR MARKETS AND TEMPLES AND PALACES AND FUNERAL TOMBS ARE SIMPLY ABANDONED.

AND THAT MOST INDEFATIGABLE LEVELER OF ALL, MOTHER NATURE, CLOSES IN, COVERING THE PLACE WITH DESERT SAND OR STRANGLING IT WITH VEGETATION.

AND THEN CIVILIZATION DIES THE DEATH OF DEATHS-- INVISIBILITY.

NARRATOR: TODAY, THE REMAINS OF MORE THAN 6,000 BUILDINGS LIE SCATTERED ALL AROUND, THE GREAT STONE BONES OF AN EXTRAORDINARY CITY THAT ONCE HOUSED 50,000 PEOPLE.

SCHAMA: IF YOU TAKE AWAY ALL THIS MAGNIFICENT VEGETATION THAT'S SPRUNG UP NATURALLY FROM THIS SPACE, YOU REALIZE THIS IS AN EXTRAORDINARY PLAZA, OR IT'S THE CENTER OF A CITY.

WHEREVER YOU LOOK, THERE ARE THESE HUGE STONE STAIRCASES, SOME TEMPLES, SOME TOMBS, ALL THE MORE AMAZING BECAUSE THERE ARE NO DRAFT ANIMALS, THERE ARE NO WHEELS, SO HUMAN LABOR ONLY IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THESE GREAT THINGS.

NARRATOR: THE GRAND PLAZAS AND LOFTY MONUMENTS OF CALAKMUL ILLUSTRATE SOMETHING FOUND IN CITIES ALL OVER THE WORLD-- THE NEED TO CREATE PUBLIC SPACES AND ARTWORKS THAT REINFORCE OUR SENSE OF SHARED IDENTITY AND KINSHIP.

THEY ALSO MAKE IT PHYSICALLY CLEAR WHO RULES WHO BY MAKING ARCHITECTURE THAT REINFORCES HIERARCHY.

AND WHILE CITIZENS GAZE UP TO THEIR RULERS FROM THE PLAZA BELOW, THEIR RULERS LOOK UP TO THE GODS.

SCHAMA: THIS IS A SPECTACULAR SPACE, THE KIND OF SPACE YOU WOULD REALLY EXPECT TO SEE IN ROME OR GREECE-- THESE GREAT PYRAMIDS WITH PLATFORMS FOR PERFORMANCES BECAUSE THIS AS MUCH AS ANYWHERE IN THE WESTERN WORLD OF ANTIQUITY IS ESSENTIALLY AN URBAN THEATER.

[THUNDER] NARRATOR: SOME OF THE SITE'S MOST EXTRAORDINARY RELIEFS, CARVINGS, AND CERAMICS ARE NOW HOUSED IN MEXICO'S ANTHROPOLOGY MUSEUM.

IT'S ART THROUGH WHICH WE CAN SEE HOW MAYAN SOCIETY WORKED.

AND THE SHEER VOLUME OF IT DEDICATED TO KINGS IS AN OBVIOUS CLUE.

THIS IS KING YUKNOOM TOOK' K'AWILL.

HE RULED CALAKMUL BETWEEN THE YEARS 702 AND 731.

AT LEAST ONE OF HIS NAMES IS THE NAME OF A MAYAN GOD-- K'AWILL, THE GOD OF LIGHTNING.

BUT MAYAN ART WASN'T ALL FORMAL.

IT WAS HUGELY VARIED, ONE OF THE MOST INTENSE OUTBURSTS OF ARTISTIC CREATIVITY IN HUMAN HISTORY.

COLORFUL, CURIOUS, SOMETIMES EVEN COMICAL CERAMIC FIGURES, POTTERY VESSELS, AND MURALS WERE TO GIVE RISE TO CODICES AND DOCUMENTS, BECAUSE OUT OF THE MAYAN OBSESSION WITH IMAGES DEVELOPED A FULLY FLEDGED GLYPHIC SCRIPT.

SCHAMA: THE MAYA MAY NOT HAVE HAD THE WHEEL, BUT THEY HAD SOMETHING MUCH MORE INDISPENSABLE TO A TRUE CIVILIZATION, AND THAT OF COURSE IS WRITING, WRITING MADE UP OF GLYPHS OR WORD PICTURES.

AND THEY WERE EVERYWHERE IN THE MAYA CITY STATES.

THE MAYA WERE THE WORDIEST OF ALL ANCIENT CULTURES SO THAT THIS, WHICH LOOKS LIKE A BESTIARY WITH ALL THESE ANIMALS.

THERE'S A MONKEY.

THERE'S A MAGNIFICENTLY COMPLACENT FROG.

THERE IN THE MIDDLE IS AN EXTREMELY SCARY KILLER RABBIT.

IN FACT, ALL THESE ARE WORDS WHICH MAKE A TEXT.

NARRATOR: THE MAYA SHARED A COMMON LANGUAGE BUT HAD NO POLITICAL UNITY.

SOME 40 CITY-STATES COMPETED FOR SUPREMACY IN A WORLD OF SHIFTING ALLIANCES AND CONSTANT WAR.

SCHAMA: THESE INSCRIPTION TELL THE STORY OF THEIR CITY-STATES JUST AS EARLY WRITING TOLD THE STORY OF GREEK CITY-STATES.

AND LIKE THOSE CITY-STATES, A LOT OF THIS LITERATURE, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT IT REALLY WAS, CAME OUT OF INTENSELY AGGRESSIVE COMPETITION.

WHICH WAS THE MOST POWERFUL?

WHICH WAS THE MOST MAGNIFICENT?

WHICH WAS THE MOST INVINCIBLE?

THIS WAS ESSENTIALLY WAR BY WRITING, WAR ON THE PAGE.

NARRATOR: SUCCESS IN WAR DEMANDED TRIBUTE IN BLOOD.

CONSTANT SACRIFICE SUSTAINED NOT ONLY THE GODS AND THE MAYA'S RULERS, BUT THE WORLD ITSELF.

THE MAYAN CALENDAR'S FAMOUS LONG COUNT LED SOME PEOPLE TO BELIEVE THAT THE MAYA HAD PREDICTED THE END OF THE WORLD ON THE 21st OF DECEMBER, 2012.

BUT IN FACT, THE END OF THEIR WORLD CAME MUCH SOONER.

IN THE JUNGLES OF HONDURAS SLEEPS THE CITY OF COPAN.

THE CITY WAS HOME TO A MAYAN DYNASTY WHOSE OBSESSION WITH THEIR OWN IMMORTALITY LASTED FOR 400 YEARS.

ARCHAEOLOGIST BARBARA FASH HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE EXCAVATION AND ANALYSIS OF WHAT THEY LEFT BEHIND FOR OVER 30 YEARS.

SHE KNOWS OF 16 SUCCESSIVE RULERS WHO LEFT THEIR MARK IN ART AND ARCHITECTURE, THOUGH WE DON'T AS OF YET KNOW ALL OF THEIR NAMES.

BARBARA FASH: THIS IS THE HIEROGLYPHIC STAIRWAY OF COPAN.

IT HAS 64 STEPS IN TOTAL, AND THEY TOLD THE HISTORY OF THE DYNASTY AND THE SUCCESSION OF THE DIFFERENT RULERS.

YOU CAN SEE THE LEVEL OF DETAIL THAT ALL OF IT WOULD HAVE HAD, VERY FULL GLYPHS BROKEN UP INTO MANY DIFFERENT COMPONENTS.

FASH: THE STAIRWAY ITSELF IS A MONUMENTAL STATEMENT, AND WHEN PEOPLE SEE IT FOR THE FIRST TIME, THEY'RE JUST TAKEN AWAY BY THE SCALE OF IT.

CERTAINLY RULER 15 WAS TRYING TO IMPRESS THE POPULATION.

HE WAS REALLY TRYING TO CEMENT IN STONE WHAT THE HISTORY OF COPAN WAS AND WHAT THE DYNASTY WAS, AND TO MAKE SURE THAT IT STAYED FOR THE FUTURE.

NARRATOR: BECAUSE MAYAN PYRAMIDS WERE CONSTRUCTED LIKE A LAYER CAKE, WITH EACH NEW CONSTRUCTION BUILT ON TOP OF THE ONE PRECEDING IT, IT'S POSSIBLE TO TUNNEL INSIDE THEM TO UNEARTH OLDER STRUCTURES.

AND BY TUNNELING INTO ONE OF THE LARGEST PYRAMIDS OF COPAN, BARBARA'S HUSBAND BILL HAS MADE AN EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERY.

IT'S A COMMEMORATION PLAQUE TO ANOTHER KING.

K'INICH YAX K'UK MO', COPAN'S ROYAL FOUNDER, WHOSE NAME TRANSLATES AS "RESPLENDENT BLUE-GREEN QUETZAL-MACAW."

BILL FASH: SO HERE WE ARE BEFORE ONE OF THE MOST SPECTACULAR MAYA WORKS OF ART EVER CREATED.

WE'RE SEEING A PLASTER FACADE THAT COVERS THE FRONT OF THE FUNERARY TEMPLE OF THE FOUNDER.

THIS IS A LITTLE OVER 1,600 YEARS OLD AT THIS POINT, AND IT'S ABSOLUTELY ASTOUNDING HOW WELL THE COLORS ARE PRESERVED.

IT'S BECAUSE IT WAS IN A NICE HUMID BUT AIR-FREE ENVIRONMENT FOR OVER A MILLENNIUM.

AND THIS WAS CONSTRUCTED IN 445, JUST 8 YEARS AFTER THE DEATH OF THE FOUNDER.

IN FACT, IT CARRIES HIS NAME AND A FULL-FIGURE, ABSOLUTELY STUNNING VERSION.

ANYONE COULD HAVE COME HERE AND IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZED, OH, LOOK, THERE'S THE SUN'S FACE.

THAT'S OBVIOUSLY A QUETZAL.

IT'S BLUE-GREEN.

THERE'S THE MACAW.

THIS IS THE NAME OF THE FOUNDER.

THIS IS THE FOUNDER'S FUNERARY TEMPLE.

SO ALL OF THIS PUTS THE FOUNDER HIMSELF AT THE CENTER OF COPAN HISTORY.

NARRATOR: THE FASHS' EXCAVATIONS HAVE MADE IT POSSIBLE TO BUILD FAITHFUL REPLICAS OF MAYAN ARCHITECTURE, PRODUCING SURPRISING RESULTS LIKE THIS LURIDLY COLORFUL FACADE.

BARBARA: WHEN THE COLORS STARTED TO EMERGE FROM BENEATH THE WHITEWASH, WE WERE ALL JUST AMAZED.

IT WAS REALLY EXCITING, BUT THAT'S HOW THEY ANIMATED A BUILDING, THAT'S HOW THEY BROUGHT IT TO LIFE, IS TO PAINT THE COLORS ON IT.

BILL: THIS WAS VERY MUCH A REVERED BUILDING, THE TALK OF THE TOWN BECAUSE OF THE POLYCHROME RELIEFS, BECAUSE OF THE SPECTACULAR DEPICTIONS OF THE NAME OF THE FOUNDER.

AND PROBABLY AN AWFUL LOT OF PEOPLE BOTH WITHIN THIS CITY AND ELSEWHERE CAME AND WERE JUST DAZZLED BY THIS BEAUTIFUL BUILDING FOR 150 YEARS.

BILL: WE'RE IN THE COPAN SCULPTURE MUSEUMS, AN OPEN-AIR MUSEUM THAT ENABLES YOU TO SEE THE ELEMENTS AND HOW A BEAUTIFUL TEMPLE LIKE ROSALILA RESPONDED TO RAIN AND THE CHANGING LIGHT, THE CHANGING SEASONS, SO YOU GET A LITTLE BIT OF THE MAGIC OF ANCIENT COPAN.

NARRATOR: THE PRESERVATION AND RECONSTRUCTION OF SUCH EVOCATIVE MAYAN MONUMENTS IS ALSO OF MORE THAN ACADEMIC INTEREST.

[SPEAKING SPANISH] NARRATOR: BUT ALL THIS GREAT ART CAME AT A COST.

THE COLLAPSE OF MAYAN CIVILIZATION BETWEEN THE EIGHTH AND NINTH CENTURIES A.D. WAS ONE OF HISTORY'S GREATEST MYSTERIES.

TODAY IT IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY CLEAR THAT IT DIED NOT WITH A SUDDEN BANG, BUT A SERIES OF WHIMPERS-- A COMBINATION OF DROUGHT, DEFORESTATION, AND SOCIAL INSTABILITY.

AND THESE FACTORS WERE COMPOUNDED BY OUT-OF-TOUCH RULERS MORE OBSESSED WITH MONUMENTS TO THEIR GREATNESS AND THE GODS THAN WITH THE WELL-BEING OF THEIR SUBJECTS.

[BIRD CALLS] IN THE END, THE MAYA GAVE UP MAKING MONUMENTS FOR THEIR VAINGLORIOUS KINGS.

THEY ABANDONED THEIR CITIES AND RETURNED TO THE JUNGLE OF THEIR ANCESTORS.

SCHAMA: THE MARKET FOLK, THE WEAVERS, THE VENDORS JUST GOT UP AND WALKED BACK INTO THE FOREST, WHICH DESCENDED ON CALAKMUL LIKE A PROTECTIVE SHROUD.

EMPIRES CAME AND WENT WHILE CALAKMUL SLEPT.

THE MAYA AND THEIR LANGUAGE LIVED ON BUT FAR AWAY FROM THE STONE MONUMENTS OF THEIR ANCESTORS-- ALL THAT REMAINED TO SAY THAT BENEATH THE FOREST CANOPY THERE WAS A CIVILIZATION WITH THE SUMMITS OF THE PLATFORMED PYRAMIDS.

BUT ONLY THE WHEELING BIRDS AND THE HOWLER MONKEYS SCRAMBLING TO THE TOPS OF TREES WOULD HAVE SEEN THAT.

NARRATOR: BUT THE LEGACY OF THESE RUINS LIVES ON IN THE FOLK MEMORY OF THE MAYA, WHO STILL LIVE HERE TODAY.

[SPEAKING SPANISH] Civilizations is available on DVD.

To order visit shop.pbs.org or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS Also available for download on iTunes.