Ancient civilizations revealed and re-created in PBS’ ‘Native America’
History books tell us that the first peoples arrived in the Americas more than 10,000 years ago during the last Ice Age. A new documentary series premiering this week on PBS explores just who they were.
“Native America,” a four-part series airing Tuesdays beginning Oct. 23 (check local listings), delves into the civilizations that existed in North and South America long before the Europeans arrived, ones that had massive cities connected by social networks and sophisticated systems of science, art, architecture and writing.
Narrated by Robbie Robertson, former guitarist of The Band, the four hourlong episodes look at Great Nations and the cities, sacred stories and history that until recently had been undiscovered, going to locations including New Mexico, Peru, upstate New York, Brazil, the Grand Canyon, Mexico and the banks of the Mississippi to reveal cultures that existed long before ours.
“I think the most surprising thing viewers will find,” says series producer Julianna Brannum, “is the scale in sophistication of the cities that were created. The alignments, all the thought
and the planning and the labor that went into these is just mindblowing, and some of these cities make the pyramids of Egypt look like child’s play. It’s just massive, beautiful, sophisticated architecture.”
That’s apparent in the opening minutes of Tuesday’s premiere, which visits Chaco Canyon in northwest New Mexico, a major center of culture for Ancient Pueblo Peoples about 1,000 years ago and one of North America’s largest cities. Built in alignment with the sun and stars, its semicircular main building was a place where thousands came to learn about Earth’s natural forces and was a thriving center of science and spirituality.