logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2021
1h 6m

Inside the prehistoric mind

IMMEDIATE MEDIA
About this episode

How did prehistoric people in Britain view and understand the world around them? What did they smell, hear and see? Francis Pryor, one of Britain’s leading archaeologists and the author of Scenes from Prehistoric Life, delves into the sensory world of our prehistoric ancestors.

 

(Ad) Francis Pryor is the author of Scenes from Prehistoric Life: from the Ice Age to the Coming of the Romans (Head of Zeus, 2021). Buy it now from Waterstones:

https://go.skimresources.com?id=71026X1535947&xcust=historyextra-social-hexpod&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Fscenes-from-prehistoric-life%2Ffrancis-pryor%2F9781789544145


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Up next
Yesterday
Britain and the Caribbean: from slavery to Black Lives Matter
Histories of British involvement in the Caribbean tend to focus mainly on the period of plantation slavery but, in her new book Empire Without End, Imaobong Umoren argues that we need to take a broader view. It's only by taking the story back to the 16th century and forward until ... Show More
30 m
Aug 23
Nationalism: everything you wanted to know
Human beings tend to identify with being in a group, and, historically, few groupings have been more potent than the idea of the nation. But when did people first embrace the idea of the nation state? Is nationalism predominantly a right-wing creed? And does it thrive during peri ... Show More
45m 17s
Aug 22
Preview: The forgers who faked a fortune
In 1775, a respectable lady, a mild-mannered apothecary and his fast-living identical twin stood accused of pulling off a scam that had earnt them a fortune. But as their trial unfolded, the defendants turned on one another, and the plot thickened – who was the real orchestrator ... Show More
8m 52s
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2023
The First Humans
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
40m 39s
Feb 2024
Ice Age Britain: Finding the First Homo sapiens
Over 45,000 years ago, Ice Age Britain was undergoing a transformation.  The first modern humans, Homo sapiens, were arriving and beginning to settle in the British Isles. Their evolutionary predecessors, the Neanderthals, were on their way to extinction. Until now we have known ... Show More
32m 58s
Dec 2021
The Origins of Life on Earth
Today we’re going back to the beginning – no Romans, Celts, Egyptians or Macedonians in sight. We’re going much further back, covering billions of years of prehistory as we look at the emergence of life on Earth. From the rise of the earliest microscopic membranes to the arrival ... Show More
1h 24m
Dec 2022
The First Britons
67 million people currently inhabit the United Kingdom - but what do we know about the original, first Britons? It's no secret when looking back into pre-history that it was a time of mass migration for animals and people alike, but who were our early inhabitants, and what can we ... Show More
49m 20s
May 2022
The Origins of Homo Sapiens
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
42m 58s
May 2023
330: Herodotus: The Birth of History
Born on the Western edge of an empire that stretched all the way to India, Herodotus was a Greek historian of the 5th century BC. His major work The Histories, a long and detailed account of the Greco-Persian Wars and the cultures of the ancient world, is considered the founding ... Show More
56m 45s
Feb 2022
The Origins of London
London is today one of the greatest cities in the world, and the story of its origins is fittingly spectacular. Founded by the Romans as Londinium in around 47-50 AD, the metropolis served as a major commercial hub and indeed military target until its abandonment in the 5th centu ... Show More
1 h
Apr 2022
Before Rome: The Truth About Late Iron Age Britain
Roman connections with Britain stretch back to (at least) the mid 1st century BC. But what has archaeology revealed about the Late Iron Age British societies they interacted with? Do we have any concrete evidence for the druids? Was human sacrifice a thing? Sit back and enjoy in ... Show More
43m 28s
Jul 2023
Stonehenge
Stonehenge. The most iconic prehistoric monument in the world. And yet its story is still so enigmatic. In this episode, host Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr Sue Greaney to shine a light on Stonehenge’s prehistoric story. Together they explore this monument's creation and early ev ... Show More
47m 54s
Jul 2023
Homo Naledi: The First Burials?
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
51m 46s