Mexico is one of the cradles of humanity and was home to some of the world's great civilisations. Everyone knows about the Aztec and the Maya, but these are just two of the many peoples who inhabited the region. In this episode we look at the earliest cities in Mesoamerica including the Olmec and the Zapotec. We will also discuss the ball game - the strange sport which was ubiquitous in the area, and which sometimes resulted in the sacrifice of its participants. ...
With Tenochtitlan under his control, Cortez was faced with a new challenge. He needed to build a stable government, while keeping the Aztec population, his own men, the king and rival conquistadors happy. ...
Today we continue our exploration of Colombia and the Caribbean. We look at several mysterious civilisations who left us impressive evidence of their existence, but no clues as to who they were. We then move on to the Caribbean and look at the Taino and Carib peoples. We get to the bottom of the El Dorado myth, and try to determine of the Caribs really the ferocious cannibals they were said to be. ...
