NOVA: Secrets of Lost Empires - Inca

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Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Type: DVD
Directed By: Michael Barnes
Studio: Wgbh Boston
Release Date: 2006-02-28
Uncover the secrets of ancient civilizations as NOVA journeys to an archaeological site where teams of experts use traditional techniques to test their hypotheses. Explore the magnificent mountainside citadels-- and marvel as villagers create a 150-foot suspension bridge using nothing but grass.

Great Summary of Incan Architecture Through Experimental Archaeology
This is an excellent example of experimental archaeology, especially in the attempts of the researchers to figure out both how the Incas moved several ton blocks, but also how they shaped them into interlocking walls for their architecture. The archaeologist on hand attempts to use hammer and pressure flaking techniques. The sweeping views of the mountains are beautiful. Later, people native to the area work to create a traditional rope bridge made of dried grass. Fascinating! This was required viewing for an archaeology class, but I brought it home and my 8 year old daughter watched it with me. We both couldn't get enough! It's a shame they didn't have time to talk more about the counting and record-keeping systems used by the Incas, but it did at least answer the question of how they did so without having a writing system.

The Ingenuity of the Inca
If the Incas didn't have wheels, then how did they erect huge walls? If they didn't have writing, how did they keep tabs on things? This documentary tries to answer that. Basically, those filmed try to set stones in a similar fashion and build an Incan bridge. The first project is speculative but the second project is actually done by the Incas' descendants.

Personally, I prefer documentaries about ancient peoples more than about their structures. Whereas ancient Egyptian paintings really grab my attention, I can look at Maccu Pichu (sp?) and be bored visually. This work shows a bit of modern, indigenous Peruvians. In fact, they seemed to be proud to try to discover the ways of the ancients. They showed women carrying babies trying to pull stones with the menfolk; you'd never see a woman with a non-weaned child in a Western construction site. I think the presence of the white academics and the indigenous Peruvians is meant to show something multiracial and coalitional. They show both groups eating cooked guinea pig and I'm almost sure it's shown just to amuse and possibly gross out viewers in industrialized countries.

The work isn't sappy, but it will impress the viewer about how amazing human ingenuity is. People of the past had high infant mortality and low life expectancies, but that didn't stop them from erecting things that can last for centuries.

If your children like the film and Saturday cartoon "Emperor's New Groove," then you may want to let them view this documentary.