In the foothills of the Andes in northern Peru， theres a remote valley. Its a place still haunted by its past. This lost world lies in the Lambayeque Valley in the shadow of the Andes in South America. But there is one place in the valley that stands out. Its a pyramid city called Túcume. Here， there are 26 pyramids， the biggest pyramids city ever built by the mysterious civilization that once lived here.

Every culture that built pyramids did it for a very specific purpose. A purpose that takes us to the heart of everything they believed in. Over a dozen civilisations built pyramids， but none of them looked quite like those of the Lambayeque.

At Túcume， the design of the pyramids was different from elsewhere in the world. There are 26 pyramids of wildly different sizes， all built around an imposing central mountain. The site is vast， almost a square mile in size. And there was no evidence that they were built to be tombs or temples.

Its clear that pyramids were of such central importance to this society that they were prepared to commit all their resources to building them. Slowly， methodically， thousands of people must have toiled all their lives on these buildings. Something clearly drove the Lambayeque to create a production line for pyramids.

Carbon dating shows that the first pyramid at Túcume was built around 1100 AD. An ancient architects model found at the site shows the pyramids were built according to a strict master plan. It would have taken 2，000 people a year just to make the bricks for this one pyramid. It would have taken another army of people to build the pyramid itself， hundreds more to grow and cook food for the workers. So it would have taken thousands several years to complete one pyramid. And there were 25 others at Túcume， and another 200 across the valley. So building pyramids must have become an allconsuming task for the people of the Lambayeque Valley. The pyramids must have satisfied some overwhelming need.

One clue seemed to be the mountain at the centre of Túcume.

Expert：（via translator）The mountains in ancient Peru and today constitute very special centres of religious and magical power.

Thunder was a voice of a god. So was lightning. But the truly powerful gods lived in the mountains. When they were angry， they could unleash terror on the population. They also controlled life and death by bringing water from the Andes. Without this water， the valley would be a desert.

And across the region， scientists have found evidence of the supernatural force the ancient people of the valley most feared. This region has been subject to some of the most extreme climate disasters on the planet. Archaeological layers from the city of Batán Grande show it had been hit by a great wall of water. And the nearby pyramid complex of *Moche had been hit by a wave of sand which covered the city.

These disasters of biblical proportions were caused by the violent climate upheavals known as “El Ni no”.

Scientists believe that when the Lambayeque built a pyramid they were building a replica mountain with the same supernatural power they hoped could control the forces of nature.

So this was the logic of the valley.

在秘魯北部的安第斯山腳下，有個遠離塵囂的山谷。遠古的氣息在此地揮之不去。這個早已逝去的世界位于南美安第斯山脈附近的蘭巴耶克山谷。山谷中有個地方特別引人注目，這是一個叫做土庫美的金字塔城。這里有26座金字塔，那是曾經(jīng)在此生活的神秘的文明社會建造的最大的金字塔城。

每個文化群落興建金字塔都有其特定的目的，也正是這個目的帶領我們深入了解這些人的信仰。世界上有十幾個文明社會興建了金字塔，但蘭巴耶克山谷的金字塔與它們?nèi)魏我惶幍慕鹱炙紱]有太多的相似之處。

在土庫美，金字塔的設計與世界其他地方的不一樣。26座金字塔的大小差異甚大，這些金字塔都建在一座氣勢宏偉的高山周圍。整個遺址廣闊，面積接近一平方英里（約2.6平方公里）。沒有證據(jù)顯示興建這些金字塔是為了建造陵墓或神殿。

顯然，這些金字塔對于這個社會非常重要，人們?yōu)榇俗龊昧藶榻鹱炙慕ㄔ焱度胨匈Y源的準備。好幾千人不慌不忙，有條不紊地把畢生心力都奉獻給了金字塔。肯定是有什么東西驅(qū)使這些蘭巴耶克人為打造金字塔建立了一條生產(chǎn)線。

用放射性碳測定年代法測定的結(jié)果顯示：土庫美的第一座金字塔建于公元1100年左右。在遺址發(fā)現(xiàn)的一個古建筑模型顯示，他們當時建造金字塔有一個嚴謹?shù)目傮w規(guī)劃。僅僅是為這座金字塔生產(chǎn)磚塊，一年就得動用兩千人；而實際建造金字塔則需要另外一支龐大的隊伍；另外還需要幾百人負責為工人種植并烹煮食物。所以完成一座金字塔必須動用數(shù)千人，費時數(shù)年。土庫美另有25座金字塔，而山谷各處還有兩百座之多。因此，打造金字塔對蘭巴耶克人來說肯定是需要全身心投入的一項使命，金字塔一定是滿足了某種強烈的需求。

土庫美城中心的山似乎是一條線索。

專家：（通過翻譯）秘魯?shù)纳矫}是宗教與法力獨特的中心，古今皆如此。

雷鳴是神的聲音，閃電也是。但真正法力無邊的神住在山里，他們發(fā)怒時，就會讓禍難降臨人間。他們還借安地斯山脈的水操控人類的生與死。沒有了水，這座山谷便會成為荒漠。

在這個地區(qū)各處，科學家找到了古人最畏懼的超自然力量所留下的痕跡。這個地區(qū)曾遭遇地球上一些最極端的氣候災害。巴坦格蘭得城的考古層顯示，這里曾有滔滔洪水來襲，附近的莫切金字塔區(qū)曾遭飛沙襲擊并且被其覆蓋。

造成這些規(guī)模浩大的災難的劇烈氣候現(xiàn)象就是厄爾尼諾現(xiàn)象。

科學家認為蘭巴耶克人打造金字塔的目的是復制山，他們希望金字塔能有相同的超自然力量，控制大自然。

這就是我們在蘭巴耶克山谷看到的一切背后的原因。