Dan Snow & the Lost City

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Summary

The presenter climbs into the mountains on the trail of the lost city of the Inca, Machu Picchu, a magical metropolis perched high among the clouds. It was rediscovered, overgrown by jungle, more than 100 years ago. Now Dan explores its story and comes face to face with an Inca 'ice mummy' - a teenage girl frozen in time when she was sacrificed to the mountain gods 600 years ago

Review

Jane Rackham

Just over 100 years ago in a remote mountain-top corner of the Andes, an American professor rediscovered a ruined Inca city. Intrepid explorer Hiram Bingham was reportedly disappointed by his find in 1911, but when Dan Snow follows in Bingham’s footsteps, he describes it as “the most marvellous thing I’ve ever seen”. If he wasn’t already struggling from lack of oxygen thanks to the altitude, the fabled lost city of Machu Picchu would take his breath away.

As does the moment he sees the perfectly preserved body of a 13-year-old girl, sacrificed to their gods by the Incas 500 years ago, and frozen in the snow ever since.

While little was known about the Incas for centuries because they did not keep written records, among the many revelations about this extraordinary civilisation is that they generally didn’t have any furniture like tables and chairs — only the emperor Pachacuti was allowed to own a small stool to sit on.

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rolenamePresenterDan SnowExecutive producerBill LockeDirectorJessica ReidDirectorTamsin Graham

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