Uncovering Ancient Incan History | Lost Cities With Albert Lin

ALBERT LIN (VOICEOVER): Quinsachata Volcano last erupted only a few thousand years ago.

AMELIA PEREZ TRUJILLO: This is pumice, volcanic rock.

ALBERT LIN (VOICEOVER): I head for the summit with Peruvian archaeologist Amelia Perez Trujillo. We follow the flow of lava. We're meeting my LiDAR team at the top. I'm looking for evidence that this was a sacred site for people who were here before the Inca.

MAN: You guys ready to fly?

ALBERT LIN: Just about, yep.

MAN: OK. Props up.

ALBERT LIN: These are all troopers. Right here, just over that edge there. Look at that.

WOMAN: [speaking spanish]

ALBERT LIN (VOICEOVER): These suggest that people were burying their ancestors close to a god-like event.

WOMAN: [speaking spanish]

ALBERT LIN: You can imagine that when it erupted, it must have sent wonder, awe, just disbelief into the minds of the people all around it.

WOMAN: [speaking spanish]

ALBERT LIN: All the material went that way, towards the city.

WOMAN: [speaking spanish]

ALBERT LIN: Incredible.

ALBERT LIN (VOICEOVER): The lava stretches for over a mile. At its base is a small town called Raqch'i. These must be the manmade structures that I could see on the satellite imagery.

WOMAN: [speaking spanish]

ALBERT LIN: This whole area, all of these were homes of people that existed hundreds of years before the Inca.

WOMAN: [speaking spanish]

ALBERT LIN: And they built their homes next to a volcano. Amazing.

(VOICEOVER) Pre-Inca pilgrims weren't the only ones to have left their mark here. Wow, it's incredible.

WOMAN: [speaking spanish]

ALBERT LIN: Amazing. What was it for?

WOMAN: [speaking spanish]

ALBERT LIN: The temple of Wiracocha. I have a document that I found from the Spanish Chronicles.

WOMAN: [speaking spanish]

ALBERT LIN: It says when the Inca ruler passed by this area, he saw the shrine of Wiracocha. The people told him the miracle of fire that fell from the sky. He decided that the remembrance should be greater and ordered the erection of a large building. This was done, and there was no larger building in the land of the Inca. Kind of sends shivers up your spine when you read something that was written, you know, in 1557, and you're standing here looking at it still standing today.

WOMAN: [speaking spanish]

ALBERT LIN (VOICEOVER): There seems to be a pattern emerging. The Inca incorporate aspects of earlier belief systems and make them theirs by building bigger and better. This is architecture of power, just like at Machu Picchu.