27. Pleistocene Rock Art of Sahul

The Levant witnessed a gradual transition from simple nomadic societies to more complex sedentism. The earliest signs of this fundamental change in human life appeared during the Last Glacial Maximum.Support the show 

Migration out of Africa, interbreeding with Neanderthals, and colonization of Eurasia. What can stone tools, bone tools, and ornaments discovered in the Middle East tell us about those fateful events?Support the show 

19,000 to 12,000 years ago ... As shifts to social dynamics took place in Africa, both human creativity and brutality flourished.Support the show 

Red ochre, shark teeth, ostrich eggs, lion men, hand stencils, cannibalism, friendly wolves, ritual burials, animal masks and big buttocks. 

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss ideas about the Stone Age people who created the extraordinary images found in caves around the world, from hand outlines to abstract symbols to the multicoloured paintings of prey animals at Chauvet and, as shown above, at Lascaux. In the 19th Cen ... Show More

<p>Lascaux Cave is an Ice Age wonder. Its walls and ceilings are adorned with stunning depictions of bison, aurochs and deer painted by hunter-gatherers 20,000 years ago using all kinds of pigments from red ochre to violet. They are, quite simply some of the most beautiful exampl ... Show More

Scientists have discovered some fossilized impressions of hand and footprints they estimate to be well over 100,000 years old. They also believe that these hand and footprints were pressed into the ground deliberately to form a design making it possibly the oldest known work of a ... Show More

<p>Indigenous Australians have lived on the vast continent of Australia for thousands of years - but how have they survived isolation, extreme conditions, and caring for the land which serves them? This week Tristan is joined by Dave Johnston, Director of Aboriginal Archaeologist ... Show More

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. 

Let us put some flesh on the bones of our prehistoric hominin story, and discover what our ancestors created to get carved flesh from the bones of animals. We investigate the technological advances from over three million years ago up to the last million years. 

Greg Jenner is joined in the Palaeolithic era by Dr Isobel Wisher and comedian Seán Burke to learn about cave art.Tens of thousands of years ago, human ancestors all over the world began drawing and painting on cave walls, carving figurines, and even decorating their own bodies. ... Show More

Travel through 50,000 years of human history following clues hidden inside beads made from ostrich eggshells. In this episode, researchers Jennifer Miller and Yiming Wang share how these tiny artifacts reveal a sweeping story of ancient social networks, cultural connections, and ... Show More