Stonehenge, England
Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
Becoming Human: Unearthing Our Earliest Ancestors by
Where did we come from? What makes us human? NOVA's...investigation explores how new discoveries are transforming views of our earliest ancestors. Featuring interviews with world-renowned scientists, footage shot "in the trenches" as fossils were unearthed, and...computer-generated animation, [these programs] bring early hominids to life, examining how we became the creative and adaptable modern humans of today...In the first episode...encounter..."Selam," the amazingly complete remains of a 3 million year-old child, packed with clues to why we split from the apes, came down from the trees, and started walking upright...[T]he second episode investigates the riddle of "Turkana Boy" -- a tantalizing fossil of Homo erectus, the first ancestor to leave Africa and colonize the globe...[T]he final episode...explores the origins of "us" -- where modern humans and our capacities for art, invention, and survival came from, and what happened when we encountered the mysterious Neanderthals
Decoding Neanderthals by
Over 60,000 years ago, the first modern humans left their African homeland and entered Europe, then a bleak and inhospitable continent in the grip of the Ice Age. But when they arrived, they were not alone: the stocky, powerfully built Neanderthals had already been living there for hundreds of thousands of years. So what happened when the first modern humans encountered the Neanderthals? Did they make love or war?
The Family that Walks on All Fours by
Scientists present varying theories regarding five siblings in rural Turkey who rely on all fours for their mode of perambulation. Examines this phenomenon both in terms of evolutionary anomaly and environmental factors.
First Peoples by
200,000 years ago we took our first steps in Africa. Today there are seven billion of us living across the planet. How did our ancestors spread from continent to continent? This is a global detective story, featuring the latest archaeological discoveries and genetic research. On each continent, we track down the earliest members of our species, Homo sapiens. Who were these First Peoples? What drove them to the ends of the earth?
The Human Spark by
Alan Alda takes a look at how humans first appeared on Earth millions of years ago, and how our species not only survived, but thrived, through some unimaginable conditions. Alda visits with dozens of scientists on three continents, and participates directly in many experiments - including the detailed examination of his own brain.
Journey of Man by
How did the human race populate the world? A group of geneticists have worked on the question for a decade, arriving at a startling conclusion: the "global family tree" can be traced to one African man who lived 60,000 years ago. Dr. Spencer Wells hosts this innovative series, featuring commentary by expert scientists, historians, archaeologists, and anthropologists.
Kawelka: Ongka's Big Moka by
In Papua New Guinea, status is earned by giving things away rather than acquiring them. Explores the Moka, a ceremony in which people give gifts to members of other tribes. The larger the gift, the greater the victory over the recipient. Follows one individual, Ongka, as he prepares for the giving of his Moka.
Mysteries of Mankind by
Gives a history of anthropological research, beginning with discoveries in Africa of australopithecine bones, the Leakeys' discoveries in the African Rift Valley and Olduvai Gorge, and Donald Johanson's work in Hadar, Ethiopia. The various methods of determining evolutionary paths of man are shown through the investigation of fossilized bones and discovered tools; observing the behavior of living primates (including orangutan locomotion and chimpanzees defending themselves against a mechanical leopard); comparing the blood proteins of man and the apes; and tracing the genetic evolution of a DNA chain passed on by females. Ancestors discussed includes Australopithecus afarensis, Homo erectus, and Neanderthal man.
Quest for the lost Maya by
follows American archaeologists George Bey and Bill Ringle and their Mexico colleague Tomás Gallareta Negrón as they find startling evidence of a forgotten Mayan society in the Yucatan: buried beneath an ancient pyramid deep in the Yucatan jungle, the team discovers a still more ancient royal palace complex.
Race: The Power of an Illusion by
challenges one of our most fundamental beliefs: that humans come divided into a few distinct biological groups. This...series is an eye-opening tale of how what we assume to be normal, commonsense, even scientific, is actually shaped by our history, social institutions and cultural beliefs. Episode one explores how recent scientific discoveries have toppled the concept of biological race. Episode two questions the belief that race has always been with us. It traces the race concept to the European conquest of the Americas. Episode three focuses on how our institutions shape and create race.
Skeletons of the Sahara by
Explorer and scientist Paul Sereno made an extraordinary discovery in the middle of the Sahara desert: While prospecting for dinosaur bones, he stumbled across an ancient human cemetery more than 5,000 years older than the Egyptian pyramids. Who were these people and what were they doing in the middle of the desert? How did they live and die? What can this mystery tell us about our planet?
The Wild Child by
Follows the capture of a young boy found living like an animal in the forest. Dr. Jean-Marc-Gaspard Itard of the National Institute for the Deaf and Dumb, Paris, believes the child can be transformed into a civilized being. The doctor removes the boy from the institute into his own home. The boy, named Victor, is divided between his longing for the wilderness and his new life with the doctor. Itard, whose teaching strategies survive today in the Montessori Method, is unsure whether he is helping a savage become human or turning a forest child into a semi-civilized idiot.
Your Inner Fish by
Reveals a startling truth: Hidden within the human body is a story of life on Earth. This scientific adventure story takes viewers from Ethiopia to the Arctic Circle on a hunt for the many ways that our animal ancestors shaped our anatomical destiny.