Megacity of the Maya Warrior King
Channel: National Geographic Channel (DStv 181 / StarSat 220)
TX Time: 19h00
Genre: Documentary, History
Albert Lin travels to the jungles of Central America to solve an ancient mystery: who defeated the most powerful Maya city to have ever existed?
With the help of new technology, he tracks down the mighty warrior conqueror and reveals his capital - that may be the largest Maya city ever discovered.
The ancient Maya city of Tikal in modern-day Guatemala was once one of the greatest cities on Earth.
Wealthy, powerful and spectacular, with a population of a hundred thousand people or more, it dominated the Maya world for almost a thousand years.
But around one and a half thousand years ago, at the very height of its powers, something apocalyptic happened.
The city's records, carved in stone throughout its history, suddenly stopped for more than a century.
Now, Albert Lin embarks on a quest to find out what happened.
Glyphs on a worn stone altar found at another Maya city suggest Tikal was defeated by the Kaanul dynasty, also known as the Snake Kings.
But, could they really have been powerful enough to take on the might of Tikal?
In the forests of Quintana Roo in southern Mexico lie the ruins of Dzibanché, just a few stone structures and temples protruding from the jungle canopy.
While the vestiges were long dismissed as part of a relatively minor Maya city, cutting-edge surveys reveal a Maya megacity, far bigger than anyone imagined.
At its heart, a temple thought to have stood over a hundred feet high.
It's a discovery that is rewriting what we know about the Maya, shedding new light on a mysterious and powerful dynasty called the Snake Kings and one of the most shocking and little-understood events in Maya history — the collapse of the city of Tikal, until now considered the greatest political and military power in the classic Maya era.
Archaeologists excavating tombs deep inside Dzibanché's pyramids have discovered hieroglyphic texts that seem to confirm it was the original capital of the Snake Kings.
The archaeologist in charge of the excavations, Sandra Balanzario Granados, describes the important discovery of the tomb of a ruler named Sky Witness, who, according to ancient texts, was responsible for that historic victory over Tikal.
But, at first glance, Dzibanché doesn't seem big enough to be the capital of a Tikal-beating dynasty.
A recent study using aerial LiDAR technology (a form of laser-based airborne survey) by archaeologists from Mexico's Institute of National Anthropology and History and the US, is yielding startling results at Dzibanché.
Archaeologist Francisco Estrada-Belli examines the results, revealing that hidden beneath the forest is a vast city connected by causeways with plazas and palaces, sprawling suburbs and secondary centres stretching up to 10 miles away.
Among them is a ceremonial centre with a vast pyramid that would have been topped with carvings of gods, kings and snakes, and that may have been the largest temple in the entire Maya world.
Secrets, Lies and Private Eyes
Channel: Investigation Discovery (DStv 171 / StarSat 223)
TX Time: 21h00
Genre: Docu-Reality, True Crime
Four teams of private investigators tackle the cases the police won't touch.
From criminal defence to infidelity; stalking to cold case homicides; fraud to fugitive recovery - they're on a mission for truth and justice.
Now more than ever, ordinary people are choosing unconventional paths to justice.
With police departments in turmoil and the role of law enforcement in question, citizens are hiring private investigators to find the answers they need.
Missing persons, infidelities, cold cases and fraud fill their notebooks.
Secrets, Lies and Private Eyes follows four teams of PIs as they tackle these cases.
Their role is exacting and yet deeply fulfilling.
Their clients are desperate, troubled, and sometimes wacky, but their purpose is clear - to find the truth whatever it takes.
Cops are no longer the only way to separate right from wrong. The PI is back.
In the series premiere, "The Accused and the Lover": A man hopes Heather can save him from his murder charges.
Meanwhile, Renee and her all-female team are on the tail of a suspected cheater in Nashville.
Called to the Wild
Channel: Nat Geo Wild (DStv 182 / StarSat 221)
TX Time: 18h00
Genre: Reality Competition, Adventure, Reality, Wildlife, Nature
Would you entrust your life to your best friend?
In this adventure series, the best human-dog friends depend on each other to survive and thrive as one in the wild.
Every week, three new teams made up of a dog and a human compete to prove that they have what it takes to not only push themselves, but also get stronger in the wild.
The last team to achieve it after ten days will be declared the winner and will show that they have the call of the wild.
Kindig Customs 8
Channel: Discovery Channel (DStv 121)
TX Time: 20h00
Genre: Reality Makeover, Reality, Motoring
Dave Kindig, owner and operator of Kindig-It Design turns out one-of-a-kind vehicles for his demanding (and sometimes famous) clientele.
The vehicles are rendered, designed, built and restored from the ground up before being revealed to the owner.
Kindig-It Design has been customising and restoring hot rods for over 15 years and are based at an impressive one-stop, complete custom shop, located in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Expect cutting-edge custom, whether you want a full build, from rendering to reality, a new custom paint job, or need to add air to your ride.
In the Season 8 premiere, "'Mueller? 'Mueller?": Of all the different years and generations of the VW Bug, there is one that stands out among the rest - the Hebmueller.
There are maybe 200 of them left, so in addition to being hard to find, they are truly the holy grail of VWs.