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Private Notes
Scotty travels high in the Bolivian Andes to the site of the ancient city of Tiwanaku, where archaeologists have uncovered the body of a young girl buried in a trash pile in front of an ancient temple. In a culture that revered the dead and buried their children in elaborate ways, this child's body appears to have been abandoned. Was she the child of elite rulers — the victim of a terrible crime? A blood sacrifice as part an ancient ritual offering? Or was she the child of traders who traveled vast distances across the Andes to the highlands, only die in a strange land?
Scotty travels 7,000 miles to the world-famous necropolis of Saqqara, the ancient Egyptian "City of the Dead." Here, Dr. Zahi Hawass has uncovered a bizarre mystery: an unmarked coffin hidden inside the crypt of a powerful ancient physician. Scotty attempts to find out why was this mummy is hidden in another man’s tomb.
Scotty travels to Belize where a cave has been discovered deep in the jungle containing thousands of human bones. As Scotty ventures down more than ten stories into the cave, he discovers a skeleton in a hidden chamber — but the head is missing! Scotty embarks on a search for the missing skull. If he can find the skull, he might be able to identify this victim, and solve the mystery of the cave known as "Midnight Terror." Was this man buried in the cave to honor his life? Or was he the victim of a violent ritual sacrifice deep inside the ancient Mayan underworld?
Scotty travels to the remote reaches of northern Scotland, where archaeologists have discovered an ancient skeleton with a shocking face. Scotty investigates the teenager's strange deformity in an attempt to solve the mystery of his death. The quest takes him from the world of ancient metalworking to the realm of modern dentistry, as he struggles to determine if this is the body of someone crippled by disease, or the victim of foul play.
Scotty travels to the northern coast of Peru, where archeologists have discovered a teenage girl buried in a strange place — just outside an empty tomb. Scotty's investigation takes him deep into the world of the Moche, an ancient society where corn beer and blood offerings were essential elements in their annual burial rituals. Was this teenager sacrificed to the gods by a Moche overlord? Or was she worked to death, and then honored in death during a blood-soaked festival?
Scotty travels deep inside the jungles of Belize in Central America to the ancient Mayan city of Caracol. Archeologists have discovered a body buried in an unusual manner, in a place it shouldn't be, along with the sacred symbol of a war god. Scotty will excavate the body and examine the bones to figure out who this man was and how he died. He will participate in rarely-seen Mayan rituals and trek across the country in search of answers, all to determine if this ancient warrior was an honored citizen of Caracol, or the victim of brutal sacrifice.
Our host will retrace the steps of a Coptic priest, a member of an early Christian sect established in Egypt in 50 A.D. based on the teachings of St. Mark, from remote desert monasteries to the seaport of Alexandria, on a quest to learn exactly how and why he died. World-renowned mummy expert Dr. Salima Ikram (a superstar on the Egyptology scene) will join Scotty to examine Coptic mummies and attempt to reconstruct their lives and deaths from the evidence at hand.
Scotty journeys to the outer edge of the Arctic Circle, where archeologists have uncovered an extremely rare Viking skeleton. The bones were buried on land believed to have been settled by Hring, a violent man who fled from Norway to Iceland to escape a blood feud. Could these be the remains of this legendary Viking who killed men by breaking their backs? Or is this one of Hring's victims? Scotty will attempt to find the truth behind this 1000-year-old Viking saga.
Scotty travels to the North Sea coast of England to ancient Bamburgh Castle, where the body of a young man with a crushed skull has been unearthed. The body dates to the 7th century A.D., a violent time when the Christian king, Oswald, fought pagans for control of the country. Was this young man a monk, killed in the countryside while spreading Christianity? Or was he an aristocrat and warrior who died defending the castle? And if he was a warrior, was he pagan or Christian?
Scotty delves deep into an ancient mystery in the remote island nation of Palau in Micronesia, where archaeologists have discovered the last remaining evidence of a murder: a 3000-year-old skull, severed from its body. Scotty will navigate through the labyrinthine Rock Islands and the complex secret oral histories of Palau in an electrifying search for the murderer of this fallen hero. Evidence will take Scotty through the lush tropical jungle and across brilliant coral seas, to long-forgotten sites of ancient battles and clandestine religious ceremonies, where clues to the practices of warfare and human sacrifice have lain hidden for thousands of years.
Scotty travels to the eastern coast of Iceland, where archaeologists have unearthed a startling discovery: within the ruins of a 16th century monastery the bones of a young man lie in perfect condition — save for two smashed shoulder blades. Was this unusual injury the result of a freak accident? Or is this body linked to one of the darkest periods in Iceland's history, the Reformation? Scotty meets with Iceland's top experts in the fields of science, history and religion in an effort to solve this baffling mystery.
Archaeologist Scotty Moore takes viewers literally around the world, as he provides an inside look at the process of investigating archaeological mysteries. Featuring segments from all episodes in season one, Scotty shows how he and his crew get to the location of their unique dig sites (often the hardest part of the task); analyze the specimens, find critical evidence in high-tech labs, relate that evidence to the history of world cultures, and ultimately reach solutions to their centuries-old mysteries.
Scotty travels to the middle of the Pacific to investigate an extraordinary burial in the long-deserted village of Ngerieleb on the island of Koror, in the Republic of Palau. Buried beneath a raised stone slab weighing more than 1,000 pounds, the skeleton of a 50-year-old woman was discovered lying in an elaborate crypt lined with slabs of coral. Who was this important woman? Was she a queen or priestess? Why was she buried in this ornate crypt … and then forgotten? And why was this entire village abandoned soon after her death?
