Mapping a Mayan Crypt | Lost Cities with Albert Lin

ALBERT LIN: I'm deep inside an ancient pyramid

on the trail of a mysterious Umayyad

dynasty called the Snake Kings.

I'm so far into the heart of the pyramid, my radio doesn't work.

Within these twisting tunnels, it's impossible to know

just how deep I am.

But if my team can skin it, we'll

find out for the first time, whether it still

holds undiscovered depths for Sandra and Francisco

to explore.

[coughing]

It's so humid in here and muggy.

I can barely breathe.

Wow.

Eventually, the tunnel ends.

It feels like I'm inside the center of a mountain.

And yet, here are these crypts.

Somebody's life was lived, and then

this place was built to honor their life after they died.

Wow, this wasn't meant for the living.

This is the chamber for the dead.

It feels like we shouldn't be here.

Well, come on, guys, let's get out of here, get some air.

Hey, you made it.

[sighs] It was just like nothing I've ever seen before,

you know, like a spiral staircase descending

all the way to the bottom.

Oh, what an experience.

Inside, my team are already at work

scanning the tunnel system.

A series of revolving lasers fire millions of beams of light

every second, reaching every last square inch of the tunnel.

Later, with the scan complete, I show Francisco and Sandra

the results.

Are you ready for this?

This is the front.

SANDRA: Mm-hmm.

Ah!

FRANCISCO: Wow, yes!

SANDRA: Oh, yes.

Basically, it's an X-ray of the whole thing.

Yeah, this is really exciting for us.

ALBERT LIN: The new scans reveal a massive surprise.

FRANCISCO: It looks like we're 2 or 3 meters above bedrock.

Typically, the first king gets buried in the bedrock.

And then whoever comes after gets buried

in the building above it.

And so if this is not in bedrock,

it means there is another building below it.

ALBERT LIN: The new data that we just collected shows

that Sandra and Francisco still have

further to go to investigate the origins

of this mysterious city.