TELEVISION

Human Prehistory and the First Civilizations

Series: Human Prehistory and the First Civilizations

3.8

(4)

Episodes

Rating

Year

2003

Language

English

Publisher

The Great Courses

About

Uncover the mystery of our species' beginnings and how ensuing populations formed settlements and cultures, developed agriculture and herding, hunted, interacted, and populated the globe.

Related Subjects

History

Episodes

1. Introducing Human Prehistory

31m

Get an introduction to the themes of the course, including emerging human biological and cultural diversity as well as our similarities, the importance of climatic and environmental change, and the importance of seeing prehistory as a tale of people and their beliefs, not just archaeological sites.

2. In the Beginning

29m

Evidence of human origins dates from between 6 million and 3 million years ago. What anatomical and behavioral changes occurred among hominids across this vast expanse of time? What fossil forms define the earliest stages of human evolution?

3. Our Earliest Ancestors

30m

The earliest tool-making hominids appeared between 3 million and 2 million years ago. Evidence from Louis and Mary Leakey's excavations at the famous Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania suggests that "Homo habilis," the first toolmaker, used these stone implements as aids in scavenging and foraging.

4. The First Human Diaspora

28m

Until about 730,000 years ago, world climate seems to have been fairly stable. Since then, climate shifts including Ice Ages have played a major role in human biological and cultural evolution, as we can see by considering theories of how humans first moved from Africa to Asia.

5. The First Europeans

30m

Europe seems to have been colonized only about 800,000 years ago-the dating is controversial. Archaeological research indicates people who lived a flexible and highly mobile life, but with cognitive and linguistic abilities that seem no match for those of modern humans.

6. The Neanderthals

30m

This lecture clears away many of the misleading stereotypes about these nimble, efficient hunters who used simple but versatile tools in order to adapt impressively to the harsh climate of late Ice Age Europe and Eurasia.