National Geographic Episodes on PBS

Archaeologists search for mummies at an Inca cemetery in a Peruvian town and also at Vilcacamba, the Incas' final Andean outpost following the 16th-century Spanish conquest. Each mummy they find, says producer-narrator Allison Argo, “is a messenger from the past.” Argo also traces that past: the Inca empire's rapid expansion in the 15th century and its even more rapid fall a century later. The Incas were excellent engineers and farmers (if harsh rulers of their subjects), but, says Argo, “they underestimated the viciousness of their foe.”