008: Sacsayhuaman and Cusco

In 'Magicians of the Gods', Graham Hancock builds on the premise introduced in his earlier work 'Fingerprints of the Gods'. He argues that a highly advanced civilization existed in prehistory but was destroyed around 10,800 BC by the fragments of a large comet, an event known as the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis. This catastrophe caused widespread destruction, climate change, and sea-level rise, leading to the end of this civilization. However, survivors, referred to as the 'Magicians of the Gods', dispersed across the world to pass on their knowledge, contributing to the construction of ancient monuments such as Göbekli Tepe, Baalbek, the Great Sphinx, and the Pyramids of Giza. Hancock links these sites to the survivors of the prehistoric civilization, suggesting they were built much earlier than mainstream archaeologists have determined.

In 'Fingerprints of the Gods,' Graham Hancock argues that an advanced civilization existed in prehistory, which served as the common progenitor to all subsequent known ancient historical civilizations. He proposes that this civilization ended in a cataclysm around the end of the last ice age but passed on profound knowledge of astronomy, architecture, and mathematics to its inheritors. Hancock uses tools such as archaeo-astronomy, geology, and computer analysis of ancient myths to support his theory. He explores various ancient sites, including Egypt’s Great Sphinx, the Andean ruins of Tihuanaco, and Mexico’s Temples of the Sun and Moon, revealing evidence of a lost civilization’s vast sophistication and technological advancement.