Vol 1 Ep 4 - Homo erectus

3500 BCE - 1600 CE - Uncover the ancient earthworks of North America’s Pre-Columbian Mound Builders—exploring ritual, trade, astronomy, and society from the Adena to the Mississippians, in this immersive historical journey. 

700 BCE - 1497 CE - Long before European contact, North America was home to vibrant civilisations. From the Ancestral Puebloans, Hohokam, and Mogollon in the Southwest to the Adena, Hopewell, and Mississippian cultures of the Eastern Woodlands, these societies thrived. In the Arc ... Show More

1325 - 1521 - The powerful Mesoamerican civilisation known for advanced city-building, military strength, religious rituals, and human sacrifices before their downfall to Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés. 

Where do humans come from? Or, perhaps more interestingly, who did humans evolve from? A question once posed by the likes of Charles Darwin and other early naturalists, the answer has changed throughout history. But now, thanks to advancements in archaeology and developments in g ... Show More

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the evolution of the human species. Where did we come from - we being Homo Sapiens? Let’s not go back to the Big Bang or in search of Genesis, but sift through the evidence from biology, palaeontology, climatology and anthropology.The story of huma ... Show More

For millions of years, Australopithecus thrived in Africa's vast landscapes, laying the groundwork for the emergence of the Homo genus. Later, alongside early members of the Homo genus, Australopithecus played a crucial role in shaping human evolution and our present-day existenc ... Show More

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of our ancestors, Homo erectus, who thrived on Earth for around two million years whereas we, Homo sapiens, emerged only in the last three hundred thousand years. Homo erectus, or Upright Man, spread from Africa to Asia and it was on the Island ... Show More

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of our ancestors, Homo erectus, who thrived on Earth for around two million years whereas we, Homo sapiens, emerged only in the last three hundred thousand years. Homo erectus, or Upright Man, spread from Africa to Asia and it was on the Island ... Show More

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of our ancestors, Homo erectus, who thrived on Earth for around two million years whereas we, Homo sapiens, emerged only in the last three hundred thousand years. Homo erectus, or Upright Man, spread from Africa to Asia and it was on the Island ... Show More

What do we know about the earliest hominins to exist? With a story spanning one million years and counting, we're discovering more about how we came to be every day. In this episode of The Ancients, we're on location in the Natural History Museum in London as Tristan covers a hug ... Show More

Uncovered a decade ago in the Rising Star Cave system in South Africa, Homo Naledi's discovery has impacted paleoanthropology in ways nobody could expect. Upon first discovery, it was assumed this small brained hominid lived millions of years ago - yet when dating of the fossil's ... Show More

Homo longi, also known as Dragon Man, is an extinct archaic human species - with a nearly complete skull found near Harbin, China, dating back to at least 146,000 years ago. Discovered in 1933 during the construction of the Dongjiang Bridge, it remained hidden until 2018 due to w ... Show More