Ep 3. Great Wall of Texas

In America Unearthed season 2 episode 3, titled Great Wall of Texas, host Scott Wolter sets out to investigate a strange stone structure found in rural Texas. The structure resembles a wall, and its age and purpose are unknown. Wolter brings in a team of experts to help him unravel the mystery behind the Great Wall of Texas.

The episode begins with Wolter and his team inspecting the structure. They find that the wall is made of large, hand-carved stones that are similar to those found in ancient structures in the Middle East and Europe. Wolter theorizes that the wall could be 500-1,000 years old, but he needs more evidence to confirm this.

Next, Wolter meets with local ranchers who have lived in the area for generations. They tell him that the wall has always been there, but they don't know who built it or why. Wolter discovers that there are similar walls found throughout Texas, and other parts of the United States, leading him to believe that they may have been part of a network of defensive structures.

Wolter consults with archaeologist Dr. Kevin Jones to get a better understanding of the wall's purpose. Jones speculates that the wall could have been built by Native Americans as part of a defensive system, or by Europeans who were exploring and settling in the area. He suggests that the wall could be a remnant of the Spanish Colonial period, which lasted from the 16th to the 19th century.

Wolter and his team conduct a series of tests on the wall to determine its age. They use a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to look beneath the surface, and they take samples of the stones to analyze their composition. They also use a thermoluminescence (TL) dating technique, which measures the amount of radiation that has been absorbed by the stones over time.

As they analyze the data, Wolter and his team uncover surprising evidence that suggests the wall is much older than they originally thought. They find that the wall was built using a technique that was common in the Middle East and Europe between 500-1,000 B.C. This suggests that the wall may have been built by ancient visitors to the Americas, possibly the Phoenicians or the Celts.

Wolter and his team continue their investigation, traveling to Mexico to look for more evidence. They discover that there are similar walls found throughout Mexico, and that some of them may be as old as 2,000 years. This leads Wolter to speculate that the walls were part of a massive network of defensive structures built by an ancient civilization that spanned from Europe to the Americas.

The episode ends with Wolter and his team still searching for answers about the Great Wall of Texas. They have uncovered evidence that suggests the wall is much older than anyone thought, and that its purpose is still a mystery. Despite the lack of concrete answers, Wolter is convinced that the wall is an important piece of American history that needs further investigation.