Claim OwnershipNaked History – Unearthed
Subscribed: 13Played: 54
Subscribe
© Windfall Films
Description
Uncover the secrets buried beneath history’s most astonishing monuments in Naked History – Unearthed. This electrifying podcast series delves into the mysteries behind legendary megastructures, from the hidden chambers of the Pyramids to the eerie mass graves sealed within Mexico’s ancient pyramids. Scientists, archaeologists, and historians reveal groundbreaking discoveries – how sticky rice reinforced the Great Wall of China, why Tutankhamun’s tomb defied tradition, and how a vast moat keeps Angkor Wat standing strong. With cutting-edge research and gripping storytelling, each episode unravels the untold truths behind architectural marvels, offering fresh insight into their forgotten builders, lost civilisations, and the secrets they left behind.
36 Episodes
Reverse
Thermopylae in Greece is the site of an iconic battle. Legend says that in 480 BC, 300 Spartan warriors - at the head of a small Greek army - died holding off a million invading Persian troops. Their courageous last stand is famous - but how much of this epic tale is true?
Today investigators hunt for the real story of the 300 and try to reconstruct the lost battlefield at Thermopylae. Weapons testing reveals the terrifying reality of ancient warfare.
Who were the Spartans and did they really face such impossible odds?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The sunken town of Baiae in Italy is one of the most extraordinary Roman sites in the world. Many of its grand villas remain frozen in time, lying on the seabed of the Bay of Naples. Geologists think this town was drowned by a super volcano. Today marine archaeologists are diving beneath the waves to uncover its secrets. They’re using laser scanning to map Baiae’s beautiful mosaics, cobbled streets and fabulous statues.
Ancient writers say that Baiae was an emperor’s playground and exclusive resort for Rome’s rich and famous. Is there more to this underwater metropolis than meets the eye?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Dead Sea Scrolls in Israel are the oldest biblical texts in the world. These fragile Hebrew manuscripts were discovered in 1946, inside desert caves at Qumran in the West Bank. Who wrote the scrolls and why did they disappear?
The investigation leads to a spectacular mountain fortress of Masada. Here archaeologists are discovering intriguing clues that suggest the authors of the scrolls fled here during the great Jewish revolt against Rome.
Did they come to Masada to escape an ancient apocalypse that destroyed their world? Did they bring with them their precious scrolls?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Ancient Greek writers say that this tower was so tall that the beacon at the summit could be seen for hundreds of miles.
Today archaeologists and engineers investigate the truth behind this lost wonder – how tall was it, what did it really look like and how did a stone skyscraper survive earthquakes for more than a thousand years?
Did this remarkable structure also contain a mysterious ancient weapon – a so-called death-ray that could supposedly set enemy ships on fire?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In 64 AD the Emperor Nero built a breathtaking palace in the heart of ancient Rome - the ‘Domus Aurea’ (the ‘Golden House’). Today little remains of this magnificent residence but it supposedly covered a quarter of the city.
Archaeologists are discovering that the palace was covered with beautiful frescoes and even had a water-powered rotating dining room. This vast complex was only possible thanks to a terrible catastrophe that destroyed much of the capital – the Great Fire of Rome. Ancient writers blame Nero for starting the inferno.
Did he burn down Rome to build a magnificent new metropolis?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Otzi the Iceman is one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all
time. He is a perfectly preserved ice ‘mummy’, frozen high in the Alps for 5000 years. Investigators have discovered that he lived and died before the Pyramids and Stonehenge.
Who was the iceman, was he murdered and what can his remains tell us
about the world he comes from?
Now fresh investigations of his possessions – including an astonishing
copper axe – are revealing a world far more sophisticated that we imagined.
Otzi lived at a time of great change – did this contribute to his untimely
death in the mountains?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Alcatraz is one of the most famous prisons in the world. Known as the Rock, for decades it was home to the most wanted criminals in America. Men like Al Capone, ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly and Robert Stroud, the so-called ‘Birdman of Alcatraz’, all do time on the island.
Why did this prison become an icon and crime and punishment? What really lies behind its unbreakable reputation?
Today experts are investigating Alcatraz’s remarkable engineering secrets. They’re uncovering the Rock’s forgotten past, protecting its concrete cells and exploring why so many convicts tried and failed to escape the toughest jail in America.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Nazca Lines in Peru are mysterious giant symbols; hundreds of alien
looking drawings etched into the arid Atacama Desert, more than a thousand
years ago.
Why did their creators make vast images that only make sense from the
air, centuries before the invention of aircraft?
Today investigators use pioneering drone technology to hunt for new
lines and to solve the enduring riddle of why they were created. Some of the
images such as the Hummingbird and the Condor are stunningly beautiful, many are made with incredible precision.
Who were the mysterious Nazca people and why did
their civilization disappear?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Abu Simbel is the largest rock-cut temple in the world. Inside are giant halls and passages cut by hand 60 metres into a cliff face. Dominating its façade – four 20-metre-tall sandstone statues of pharaoh Ramses II, known as Ancient Egypt’s greatest ever ruler.
How did Ramses win this title? Decoding the clues he built into Abu Simbel
reveal his strategy for eclipsing his predecessors’ achievements. Why did
he align the temple with the sunrise on two specific dates? What was the
reason he dedicated a second temple to his wife? Does Abu Simbel reveal
Ramses’ plans for a project unprecedented in Egyptian history?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
On Mexico’s Gulf coast, archaeologists uncover strange stone heads
beside a concealed 100-foot tall mud pyramid. They mark the site of La
Venta – the lost capital city of the mysterious Olmec.
Who were these people? Why did they vanish 1000 years after
founding this mighty metropolis?
In the search for answers, brand new research reveals the Olmec
built the very first giant structures in North America; and a
recently-unearthed artefact proves they communicated using the continent’s first written language.
Piecing together the evidence reveals an incredible possibility:
before they disappeared, the Olmec laid the foundations for the whole of
Mesoamerican civilisation.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Hidden deep inside the Guatemalan jungle lies the lost city of Tikal. 1200 years ago it was the most important settlement in the Maya world, home to more than 100,000 people.
Now a team of experts unlock Tikal's mysteries to reveal how it rose from jungle backwater to Maya superpower.
They uncover the ingenious engineering inside Temple IV - the tallest structure the Maya ever built; how Tikal's inhabitants thrived in times of drought; and the reason behind its sudden transformation into a ghost town.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Avebury, England is home to the world’s largest stone circle. 5,000 years old and three times larger than nearby Stonehenge, its true purpose and the people who created it have always remained a mystery. Archaeologists find out why it was made and unearth where these Stone Age builders lived. But there are more wonders in the landscape - experts reveal why one of Britain’s oldest tombs and Europe’s largest prehistoric pyramids were all constructed nearby. Now shocking new discoveries using cutting edge DNA analysis of ancient human remains uncover a new mystery - 4,400 years ago this enigmatic civilization suddenly disappeared.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The great city of Thebes – the heart of ancient Egypt during its most prosperous and powerful age – the New Kingdom. For the pharaohs this was the holiest and most important place in their empire. In the city’s great temple of Karnak, they constructed towering obelisks from single blocks of stone. But how did they do it? In a ground-breaking experiment, archaeologists reconstruct how workers moved and raised these giant 300-ton needles. For centuries, this was the powerbase of the pharaohs, but then Egypt fell into decline. In building up Thebes, were the pharaohs sowing the seeds of their own downfall?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Inca Empire was the largest ever to emerge in South America – ruled from a spectacular capital, Cusco. This mysterious city in Peru was said to be so dazzling it had a temple decked in pure gold. Why did the mighty Inca civilization that lived here fall to a handful of Spanish Conquistadors? New evidence - from unearthed mummies to microscopic DNA - reveals the role of this city and sheds new light on the biggest mystery of all: why did the Inca empire come crashing down?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
China’s Forbidden City is the biggest palace complex the world has ever seen. This immense ‘city within a city’ stands in the heart of Beijing, built by one of the greatest emperors in Chinese history. Why is it so big and how did the emperors use this mega-palace to rule China with an iron fist? Now archaeologists are investigating its secrets and uncovering what lies beneath its massive walls and courtyards. New technology is shedding light on the Forbidden City’s mysteries and the ingenious feats of engineering that have kept this awe-inspiring structure standing for more than half a millennium.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The sinking of the Titanic was a maritime tragedy that shocked the world but even after more than one hundred years, no one really knows exactly how she sank. Today investigators use ingenious technology to discover how an iceberg ripped open the ship’s colossal hull. Scientists smash ice into solid steel in powerful collision tests and nautical experts deploy advanced marine simulation technology to relive this fateful ships final moments. Why did more than 1500 people lose their lives and can the investigations reveal if there was a way to save almost everyone on board?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Bent Pyramid in Egypt is one of the world’s most mysterious ancient mega-structures. Built by a pharaoh called Snefru, its angle changes half way up. Why does this pyramid have such a bizarre and unique shape? Now archaeologists and engineers investigate the true story of its construction. They crawl inside age-old tunnels to discover its engineering secrets. New discoveries beneath the desert sand reveal the ruins of a magnificent lost temple and an opulent palace fit for a king. Was this strange pyramid always intended to look like this? Or did something go catastrophically wrong?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Destroyed by an eruption from Vesuvius in AD 79 and buried beneath rock and ash, the doomed Roman city of Pompeii is one of the greatest treasures of the classical world. One third of the city has remained untouched ever since its discovery. Now archaeologists are finally digging inside this mysterious sector. New discoveries reveal the horror of the cataclysm that wiped out this metropolis. Can archaeologists answer some of Pompeii’s most enduring mysteries: who founded this city and why did they build it in the blast zone of mainland Europe’s most active volcano?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Attila the Hun was one of history’s most notorious warlords – but was he responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire? His terrifying army of horseback barbarians tore across Europe in the 5th century – the dying days of the Empire – but for all the tales of rampage and destruction, they left almost no material evidence. Now new investigations in the German city of Trier – once a capital of the Roman Empire – are revealing more about how a superpower of the ancient world came to its knees and Attila’s legendary reign of terror.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The gigantic Moai statues of Easter Island are the legacy of one of the world’s most isolated civilizations: the Rapa Nui. For hundreds of years, they were cut off from the rest of the world by the vast Pacific Ocean, carving more than 900 monoliths using only stone tools. Archaeologists are unearthing evidence of how these unique statues evolved and the Rapa Nui’s incredible bid for survival, trapped on their remote island home. Why did the people of Easter Island carve so many of these magnificent monuments only to pull them down?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Comments
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States