Before the Incas - In the Shadow of the Incas

This program shows the pinnacle of Inca civilization, Machu Picchu, explaining who built it, why, and how and why it was abandoned. It then moves to northern Bolivia on the trail of Indian cultures which antedated and were absorbed into the Incan Empire...cultures that go back to 1500 B.C. or before, and which left a rich heritage of architectural ruins and ceramic and metal vessels and ornaments, all offering clues to the nature of the lives of a series of different peoples who conquered, occupied, absorbed, and replaced their predecessors. It explains the strange geography of Lake Tuticaca, and show some of the extraordinary Mochica, Chimu, and other artifacts.