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[woman chanting]

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[Narrator] In every corner
of the world today are humans.

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Seven billion of us.

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How did we come
to so dominate our planet?

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It's one of science's
greatest mysteries.

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Amazing new evidence suggests

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it began with a single
tiny group of people

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who left Africa on an
incredible journey.

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Using bones, stones and genes

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we'll uncover the trials
their descendants left

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across the world,

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and find out how their journeys
transformed our species

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into the people we are today.

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This time, we trace
the pathway into Europe.

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We meet our ancient rival,
the Neanderthal.

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And we come face to face with one of the first Europeans.

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How did these people
overcome the odds

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to claim a continent?

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On the eastern edge of Europe,

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in the wilderness of Romania,

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lies an underground labyrinth.

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Known as the "cave with bones."

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So important is this cave

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that we can't reveal
its precise location.

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[man]

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[Narrator] The cave with bones
earned its name in 2002.

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A group of intrepid divers
were exploring its depths

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when they stumbled upon
a human jaw bone

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or mandible.

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The time of the discovery
of the mandible was just...

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just sitting there
waiting for, uh...

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for somebody to discover it.

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[Narrator] But this was
no crime scene investigation.

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The jaw bone
didn't look like that

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of any European living today.

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It was in fact, one of the most important discoveries

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of the last hundred years.

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An excavation of the cave
was launched,

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but it was no easy task.

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[Narrator] Every day
the excavation team

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had to negotiate a network
of water filled tunnels,

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scuba diving part of the way.

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But eventually,
their struggle was rewarded.

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Amongst thousands
of animal bones,

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the team found more treasures.

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[Narrator]The face of the skull was almost intact,

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but with the rest
in tiny fragments,

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it was a huge challenge
to reassemble.

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[Narrator] But who was it,
and when did they die?

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The clue was in stalagmites
surrounding the bone.

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By dating a mineral
known as calcite

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above and below
where the skull was found,

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Dr. Constantin
was able to work out

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how long it had been there.

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The result was a big surprise.

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[Narrator] At around
40,000 years old,

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this is the skull
of the oldest known European.

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[Narrator] You can tell
it's a teenager

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by looking at the last molar.

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The wisdom teeth
have not yet pushed through.

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But what else do we know
about this person?

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And how did they get here?

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One theory is that
around 70,000 years ago,

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a small group of people
made an intrepid crossing

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out of Africa and into Arabia.

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This tiny band of pioneers

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became ancestors
to the rest of the world.

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Exactly how humans crossed
the deserts

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that separated them from Europe,

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no one knows.

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But it seems possible
for thousands of years

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after we first left Africa,

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the world briefly
became warmer and wetter.

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[thunder rumbling]

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[Narrator] Deserts retreated

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and swathes of green gradually
spread through the Middle East

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towards Europe.

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We know people reached
as far as Turkey

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because of the discovery
of beads made from shells.

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And a new type of evidence
helps us fill in the picture.

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DNA analysis allows scientists

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to find echoes of the past
in people living today.

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Amazingly,
as many as ten percent

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of today's Europeans

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carry DNA that can be traced
to a group of settlers

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who arrived in Europe
around 40,000 years ago.

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Today, Asia and Europe

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are separated
by the Bosporus Strait.

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But when our European ancestors first saw it,

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lower sea levels meant
they could have walked across

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and into a whole new world

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From here, it's not far
to the river Danube,

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a magnet for animals,

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which the hunter-gatherers
may have followed west.

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Perhaps it was this
that led our European ancestor

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to their hiding place
in Romania.

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But can this skull reveal more?

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In the right hands, it could bring the past to life.

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Richard Neave
is a forensic artist.

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He is an expert
in facial reconstruction,

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a skill he's used to help
the police solve murder cases.

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It's a precise art form.

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[Neave] There are reasons
for doing everything.

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I suppose,
primarily from my point of view,

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I need to be able to stand
in the witness box

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and say,
"I did this for that reason."

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[Narrator] He's been working
on a cast

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of our oldest known
European ancestor

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to reveal what they looked like

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for the first time
in 40,000 years.

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I followed all the rules,
right the way through,

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and that's what's come out
at the end.

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And whenever I do this

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I never know what's going
to come out at the end.

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I can never get
a preconceived idea

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of what the face
is going to look like.

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So it's as much
of a surprise to me.

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But you have to do
what the bones tell you.

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I feel
reasonably confident that...

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this person,

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if they had family
or people who knew them well,

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if they were to see
this they would say,

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"Oh yes,
that looks a bit like..."

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[clicks tongue]

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and you can imagine
this face laughing,

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smiling
or being cross and upset,

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and it's 40,000 years ago.

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[Narrator] We don't know
for sure

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whether this was a man
or a woman.

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And their facial features

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don't quite match any one group living today.

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[Neave] It's almost as though
it's a face in flux,

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in a state of...

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uh, change.

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It's got features which could go
in any direction.

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It could become Negroid,

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Southeast Asian,

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European.

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There's the potential

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for all those
different directions

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and that's what I find...

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uh, so exciting about it.

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[Narrator] But as these people
made their way to the colder

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alien territory of the north,

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they were in for a surprise.

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Something...

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or someone...

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had got there before them.

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Europe 40,000 years ago, was the land of the Neanderthal.

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A distant cousin related to us
via a common ancestor

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who lived
up to 700,000 years ago.

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Archaeological evidence suggests

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Neanderthals
were already in Europe

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when our species
was just emerging in Africa.

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And by the time Homo sapiens
arrived on the continent,

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the Neanderthals
had made themselves

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thoroughly at home
across the entire region.

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Their existence
was the greatest challenge

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our ancestors faced
as they entered Europe.

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Nicholas Conard
is running an excavation

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in Southwest Germany

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that's helping us find out more.

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[speaking German]

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Neanderthals and modern humans

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were definitely both here,
over there,

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both using this cave

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but also using
a number of other caves

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in the Lone valley where we are.

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The Neanderthals

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who were the indigenous people
of the area

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had a very
sophisticated technology,

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certainly, command of fire,

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and knew how to get along
in their environment.

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We're certainly at the top
of the food chain,

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had everything
100 percent under control

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and did very well.

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[Conard] And what is very clear

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is that Neanderthals
and modern humans

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were really occupying
the same niche.

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[Narrator] So what would have
happened if they met?

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I think the scenarios
played themselves out

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in different ways.

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[Conard] The first thing
you're going to do

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when you see
a strange human population

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and you don't know who they are,

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is you're going to be
very, very cautious.

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I think mutual avoidance

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was probably
the most common scenario.

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The problem is you can't always
avoid strangers

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because you're in your home,
you need the resources.

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[Conard] When the new people
came in, resources got tight.

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It's easy to imagine situations

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where there is potential
for conflict,

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where there could be
a degree of violence.

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[Narrator] So just how much
of a threat to us

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were our distant cousins?

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We can learn a lot
by looking at their bones.

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The Max Planck Institute
in Leipzig

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is one of the leading centers
for Neanderthal research.

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Based at the institute
is Katerina Harvati,

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a paleoanthropologist

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specializing
in Neanderthal evolution.

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[Katerina] Neanderthal skeletons
are much more robust

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with very strong
muscle attachments,

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uh, on the long bones,

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indicating very strong
musculature

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and very,
very active individuals.

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[Narrator] So, they
were physically strong,

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and their bodies
gave them other advantages.

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The Neanderthal
has a stockier body,

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shorter stature,
and limbs that are shorter.

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And related with that
is the shape of the rib cage,

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which is very wide
and sort of sloping out,

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as opposed to a very narrow
and straight rib cage

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in the modern human.

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And this probably also relates,

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together with
the body proportions,

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to climatic adaptations
to colder climates.

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It's been calculated

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that if you put
a naked Neanderthal

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and a naked modern human

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out in the landscape
of glacial Europe,

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what the Neanderthal would feel

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would be as if he or she
were wearing a business suit.

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[Narrator] A layer of clothing
may not sound like much,

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but it could make the difference between survival or death.

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Contrary to popular perception,

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there's no reason to think
Neanderthals were stupid.

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Examination
of Neanderthal skulls

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shows their brains were at least as large as ours.

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With so many factors
stacked against us,

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it's surprising
we lasted very long at all.

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So what's the explanation?

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Some have suggested

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we must have had
a technological head start,

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something in our weapons
and tools

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that gave us
the advantage over them.

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Wulf Hein has been experimenting with ancient tools for 25 years.

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He's able to recreate
Neanderthal tools.

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Neanderthals made their tools
from flint stone.

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This is a typically flint nodule
as you can find on the beach.

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And they cut off flakes
with a hammerstone.

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Just...

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preparing the rim

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and then giving it
a short blow...

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and you have a tool.

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[Narrator] So what
were these tools capable of?

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It's much more sharp than...

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steel.

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And you can use it for
butchering meat,

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you can use it for
cutting leather,

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you can use it for...

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cutting down trees,

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but this is very small
for cutting down trees.

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00:17:47,767 --> 00:17:50,008
For that purpose
they used hand axes.

256
00:17:52,801 --> 00:17:54,732
[Narrator] And new research
suggests

257
00:17:54,870 --> 00:17:57,077
Neanderthals could produce
some tools

258
00:17:57,215 --> 00:18:00,077
just as efficiently
as our ancestors.

259
00:18:00,215 --> 00:18:02,456
So it's difficult to claim
it's our tools

260
00:18:02,594 --> 00:18:04,422
that gave us
the critical advantage.

261
00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:06,629
[fire crackling]

262
00:18:13,077 --> 00:18:15,043
[birds squawking]

263
00:18:19,215 --> 00:18:21,387
[Narrator] Maybe instead,
it was something

264
00:18:21,525 --> 00:18:24,146
in the way
that we used our tools,

265
00:18:24,284 --> 00:18:26,629
in the food sources
that we sought out.

266
00:18:28,732 --> 00:18:30,077
Some scientists have claimed

267
00:18:30,215 --> 00:18:34,077
that only our species was capable of real flexibility

268
00:18:34,215 --> 00:18:36,732
in our diet
and hunting techniques.

269
00:18:39,284 --> 00:18:42,008
But in one of the southernmost
points of Europe,

270
00:18:42,146 --> 00:18:44,974
an exploration
of a Neanderthal stronghold

271
00:18:45,111 --> 00:18:47,905
is finding
some surprising results.

272
00:18:51,491 --> 00:18:53,008
We get the feeling
it's almost like a,

273
00:18:53,146 --> 00:18:54,801
you know, the nearest thing
to a Neanderthal city

274
00:18:54,939 --> 00:18:56,215
you're going to find anywhere.

275
00:18:57,663 --> 00:19:00,180
On a hunch if you like,
based on the number of caves

276
00:19:00,318 --> 00:19:02,422
and the size of the caves
how much it would fit,

277
00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:03,629
I would imagine the rock

278
00:19:03,767 --> 00:19:05,422
would have had maybe
a hundred Neanderthals,

279
00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:06,594
maybe a bit more.

280
00:19:08,111 --> 00:19:10,939
[Narrator] With sea levels much lower than they are today,

281
00:19:11,077 --> 00:19:15,560
Neanderthals lived in these
caves for 100,000 years.

282
00:19:15,698 --> 00:19:17,525
And the evidence
they left behind

283
00:19:17,663 --> 00:19:19,905
shows they were
fearless hunters.

284
00:19:21,767 --> 00:19:24,870
[Clive] This is an oryx
which is wild cattle,

285
00:19:25,008 --> 00:19:29,491
the big bulls that you see
illustrated sometimes.

286
00:19:29,629 --> 00:19:32,215
I think that to tackle
an animal that size

287
00:19:32,353 --> 00:19:33,456
with those horns,

288
00:19:33,594 --> 00:19:35,043
probably would have required
a lot of planning

289
00:19:35,180 --> 00:19:37,836
and clearly an intelligent
predator like Neanderthal.

290
00:19:37,974 --> 00:19:39,974
And to get close, you know,
with thrusting spears,

291
00:19:40,111 --> 00:19:43,008
I mean it must have been quite
an awesome thing to do,

292
00:19:43,146 --> 00:19:45,215
to face one
of these things coming at you.

293
00:19:46,525 --> 00:19:48,146
[Narrator] Even more
intriguingly,

294
00:19:48,284 --> 00:19:51,249
professor Finlayson
has found unusual evidence

295
00:19:51,387 --> 00:19:55,698
that Neanderthals were gathering food from the sea.

296
00:19:55,836 --> 00:19:57,801
[Clive] The most surprising
thing is that

297
00:19:57,939 --> 00:20:01,560
it wasn't limited
just to terrestrial foods.

298
00:20:01,698 --> 00:20:04,974
Um, we're finding increasingly
here lots of evidence

299
00:20:05,111 --> 00:20:07,905
of limpets, mussels, shellfish,

300
00:20:08,043 --> 00:20:10,698
um, which they're probably
collecting from the beach.

301
00:20:11,732 --> 00:20:13,422
We were finding things
like this,

302
00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:15,905
which is, this is a monk seal,

303
00:20:16,043 --> 00:20:18,560
and we're finding a number
of individuals of monk seal.

304
00:20:18,698 --> 00:20:21,353
Many of them
are young juveniles so,

305
00:20:21,491 --> 00:20:23,663
so does this indicate that

306
00:20:23,801 --> 00:20:26,284
the Neanderthals
knew about seasons,

307
00:20:26,422 --> 00:20:27,939
about how animals behaved

308
00:20:28,077 --> 00:20:30,353
and when they would
come close inshore

309
00:20:30,491 --> 00:20:32,560
to have their pups
and be most vulnerable.

310
00:20:32,698 --> 00:20:34,008
It's a possibility.

311
00:20:35,732 --> 00:20:37,146
[Narrator] It seems Neanderthals

312
00:20:37,284 --> 00:20:39,836
were more than capable
of competing with our ancestors

313
00:20:39,974 --> 00:20:41,180
for food sources.

314
00:20:42,663 --> 00:20:45,318
So if it wasn't our tools
or our food

315
00:20:45,456 --> 00:20:47,180
that ensured our survival,

316
00:20:47,318 --> 00:20:49,146
what was it
that really set us apart

317
00:20:49,284 --> 00:20:50,663
from Neanderthals?

318
00:20:59,698 --> 00:21:02,318
The answer
may be much less obvious.

319
00:21:06,077 --> 00:21:11,663
At Nicholas Conard's excavation,
a clue was found in tiny pieces.

320
00:21:15,284 --> 00:21:17,629
At the beginning,
when I found the first piece

321
00:21:17,767 --> 00:21:19,732
that had these, uh...

322
00:21:20,353 --> 00:21:22,146
beveled edge

323
00:21:22,284 --> 00:21:24,767
and these notches on the edges,

324
00:21:24,905 --> 00:21:27,043
and it was also interesting

325
00:21:27,180 --> 00:21:30,111
how other people react
when I was telling them

326
00:21:30,249 --> 00:21:32,215
it could be a part of the flute.

327
00:21:32,353 --> 00:21:34,387
[laughs]

328
00:21:34,525 --> 00:21:35,939
[Narrator]If Maria was right,

329
00:21:36,077 --> 00:21:39,180
this flute
would be a unique discovery.

330
00:21:39,318 --> 00:21:42,043
The first time she showed me
a fragment of the whole,

331
00:21:42,180 --> 00:21:43,422
she came in and said,

332
00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:45,456
"Nick you know, I think
we've got an ivory flute."

333
00:21:45,594 --> 00:21:47,525
I said, "Ah, you know,
but be a little careful."

334
00:21:47,663 --> 00:21:49,387
It was not easy
to convince them.

335
00:21:49,525 --> 00:21:52,353
I had to fit
these pieces together.

336
00:21:52,491 --> 00:21:56,870
She then proceeded to fit
31 fragments of ivory together

337
00:21:57,008 --> 00:21:58,974
and, you know, it became
completely unambiguous

338
00:21:59,111 --> 00:22:03,284
that the remains of holes
again in these beveled forms,

339
00:22:03,422 --> 00:22:07,353
uh, it's obvious
that it is a flute,

340
00:22:07,491 --> 00:22:10,008
and is probably
the oldest evidence

341
00:22:10,146 --> 00:22:13,353
of, well, musical instruments
that we know of worldwide.

342
00:22:13,491 --> 00:22:15,629
[flute playing]

343
00:22:17,215 --> 00:22:21,629
[Narrator] The flute
is about 35,000 years old,

344
00:22:21,767 --> 00:22:24,422
and this
is the sound of a replica.

345
00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:26,698
[music continues]

346
00:22:29,594 --> 00:22:31,422
Especially in the context
of human evolution

347
00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:32,560
it's a work of genius

348
00:22:32,698 --> 00:22:34,732
like the work of a Michelangelo
or Rembrandt

349
00:22:34,870 --> 00:22:36,836
or something along those lines.

350
00:22:36,974 --> 00:22:40,767
And to come up with that kind
of innovation and creativity

351
00:22:40,905 --> 00:22:43,491
is remarkable and I think
also very characteristic

352
00:22:43,629 --> 00:22:46,663
of our own species,
Homo sapiens.

353
00:22:49,491 --> 00:22:50,767
[Narrator]The flute is just one

354
00:22:50,905 --> 00:22:53,525
of a whole collection
of artistic creations

355
00:22:53,663 --> 00:22:55,111
found in the region.

356
00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:58,732
There's an ivory mammoth,

357
00:22:58,870 --> 00:23:02,560
and this figure of a man
with a lion's head.

358
00:23:04,043 --> 00:23:07,905
Music and art may seem like unlikely weapons

359
00:23:08,043 --> 00:23:10,905
in our competition with
the Neanderthals.

360
00:23:11,043 --> 00:23:14,594
But it's not just the objects
themselves that are revealing,

361
00:23:14,732 --> 00:23:16,215
it's where they were found.

362
00:23:18,732 --> 00:23:21,663
For example,
the lion man and mammoth

363
00:23:21,801 --> 00:23:24,284
are not the only such figures.

364
00:23:24,422 --> 00:23:26,215
Very similar ones
have been found

365
00:23:26,353 --> 00:23:28,387
scattered across the region.

366
00:23:28,525 --> 00:23:30,525
Evidence there was communication

367
00:23:30,663 --> 00:23:33,215
and a bond between different family groups.

368
00:23:36,491 --> 00:23:38,387
The modern humans
here and for instance,

369
00:23:38,525 --> 00:23:39,456
in the neighboring valley,

370
00:23:39,594 --> 00:23:41,077
make the exact same artifacts,

371
00:23:41,215 --> 00:23:43,077
and they're definitely
part of the same group.

372
00:23:43,215 --> 00:23:45,767
There's no way that it's
chance that you get

373
00:23:45,905 --> 00:23:47,422
identical artifacts at sites,

374
00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:49,767
you know,
20, 30, 40 kilometers away.

375
00:23:49,905 --> 00:23:51,767
And that tells us
that populations

376
00:23:51,905 --> 00:23:54,043
with a shared identity
were fairly large,

377
00:23:54,180 --> 00:23:55,870
covering fairly large areas,

378
00:23:56,008 --> 00:23:58,974
presumably interacting,
meeting one another,

379
00:23:59,111 --> 00:24:00,077
helping each other.

380
00:24:00,215 --> 00:24:01,870
And Neanderthals
don't seem to have had

381
00:24:02,008 --> 00:24:04,077
that kind
of symbolic communication

382
00:24:04,215 --> 00:24:07,594
and seemed to have maintained
smaller social networks

383
00:24:07,732 --> 00:24:09,043
than modern humans.

384
00:24:11,215 --> 00:24:13,077
[Narrator] Extended networks,

385
00:24:13,215 --> 00:24:16,732
the exchange of ideas
and symbols of identity

386
00:24:16,870 --> 00:24:18,767
meant we had a source
of strength

387
00:24:18,905 --> 00:24:21,663
the Neanderthals
don't ever seem to have had.

388
00:24:23,146 --> 00:24:25,180
And it's this, some now argue,

389
00:24:25,318 --> 00:24:27,525
that may have been
the defining factor

390
00:24:27,663 --> 00:24:29,043
in our survival.

391
00:24:37,215 --> 00:24:39,387
Over several thousand years,

392
00:24:39,525 --> 00:24:41,560
Neanderthal numbers diminished

393
00:24:41,698 --> 00:24:42,939
and those that survived

394
00:24:43,077 --> 00:24:45,215
were pushed
to the outer edges of Europe.

395
00:24:48,698 --> 00:24:51,146
But what finally
killed them off,

396
00:24:51,284 --> 00:24:53,560
allowing us to succeed?

397
00:25:03,008 --> 00:25:04,318
Gibraltar,

398
00:25:04,456 --> 00:25:07,215
today home to a different
species of primate,

399
00:25:07,353 --> 00:25:10,353
may have been the last place
on the planet that

400
00:25:10,491 --> 00:25:12,560
Neanderthals ever lived.

401
00:25:18,077 --> 00:25:20,698
A team of archaeologists
are looking for evidence

402
00:25:20,836 --> 00:25:22,422
of these Neanderthals

403
00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:24,836
and for why
they eventually disappeared.

404
00:25:27,008 --> 00:25:29,698
But as sea levels
are so much higher today,

405
00:25:29,836 --> 00:25:33,008
what was a wide coastal plain
for the Neanderthals

406
00:25:33,146 --> 00:25:35,491
is now the sea floor.

407
00:25:35,629 --> 00:25:38,836
So the search has to take place underwater.

408
00:25:42,801 --> 00:25:44,180
Well, as far as we know
this is the first time

409
00:25:44,318 --> 00:25:47,111
that anyone's trying to find
Neanderthal evidence,

410
00:25:47,249 --> 00:25:49,249
um, in a cave under water.

411
00:25:50,836 --> 00:25:52,767
Today we're going to be
hopefully be lifting a rock

412
00:25:52,905 --> 00:25:55,353
to expose a sediment section

413
00:25:55,491 --> 00:25:57,146
which hopefully will show us

414
00:25:57,284 --> 00:26:00,698
what's happening
under the sea bed.

415
00:26:00,836 --> 00:26:04,318
[Narrator] They'll be working
at a depth of 24 meters.

416
00:26:04,456 --> 00:26:08,249
At this depth, the body
can suffer from narcosis.

417
00:26:10,111 --> 00:26:11,663
Anything could happen.

418
00:26:18,594 --> 00:26:20,008
You really have to think
things through.

419
00:26:20,146 --> 00:26:22,456
You have to plan
your dive very carefully.

420
00:26:24,629 --> 00:26:26,905
And it does happen
that sometimes things go wrong

421
00:26:27,043 --> 00:26:28,387
and you have to call it off,
and that's it,

422
00:26:28,525 --> 00:26:30,043
and you have to come back
to the surface.

423
00:26:33,870 --> 00:26:35,732
Keep our fingers crossed,
you know. You never know.

424
00:26:35,870 --> 00:26:36,836
[laughs]

425
00:26:36,974 --> 00:26:38,974
[tense music]

426
00:26:47,180 --> 00:26:49,525
[Narrator] Today's task
of moving a rock

427
00:26:49,663 --> 00:26:51,525
to reach the soil of the sea bed

428
00:26:51,663 --> 00:26:53,698
is no small challenge.

429
00:26:55,008 --> 00:26:57,215
[dramatic music]

430
00:27:07,629 --> 00:27:10,249
But eventually, success.

431
00:27:24,594 --> 00:27:25,836
[Geraldine] It's got water
in it.

432
00:27:25,974 --> 00:27:26,974
Okay.

433
00:27:28,008 --> 00:27:29,698
[indistinct chatter]

434
00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:35,456
So we're gonna send the rock
to the lab now.

435
00:27:35,594 --> 00:27:36,801
-[Geraldine] Yeah.
-And have them test it.

436
00:27:40,456 --> 00:27:42,146
Yeah, quite well, quite well.

437
00:27:42,284 --> 00:27:45,180
Very, we're very pleased
with today.

438
00:27:45,318 --> 00:27:47,905
[Narrator] So what does the
evidence they've found so far

439
00:27:48,043 --> 00:27:51,629
tell us about what happened
to the last Neanderthals here?

440
00:27:52,801 --> 00:27:54,525
The leader of the excavation,

441
00:27:54,663 --> 00:27:56,111
Professor Clive Finlayson,

442
00:27:56,249 --> 00:27:58,422
believes one factor
in particular

443
00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:00,249
played an important part...

444
00:28:01,284 --> 00:28:02,318
climate.

445
00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:06,284
We know that the climate then,

446
00:28:06,422 --> 00:28:07,801
there's, there's
a really bad spell.

447
00:28:07,939 --> 00:28:10,387
It's the coldest
and harshest environment

448
00:28:10,525 --> 00:28:12,249
of the previous quarter
of a million years.

449
00:28:12,387 --> 00:28:14,698
So something may have happened
in a short time scale.

450
00:28:14,836 --> 00:28:16,491
Maybe there was a series
of droughts

451
00:28:16,629 --> 00:28:18,629
associated with cold conditions

452
00:28:18,767 --> 00:28:20,249
that may have knocked them
over the edge.

453
00:28:25,870 --> 00:28:27,560
[Narrator] In such
circumstances,

454
00:28:27,698 --> 00:28:30,698
a small group would have been very vulnerable.

455
00:28:35,146 --> 00:28:36,215
It may have been a numbers game.

456
00:28:36,353 --> 00:28:37,767
There were so few left

457
00:28:37,905 --> 00:28:40,215
as would happen to populations
of endangered species today,

458
00:28:40,353 --> 00:28:42,525
like the panda or the tiger.

459
00:28:42,663 --> 00:28:44,146
Just random fluctuation
in numbers

460
00:28:44,284 --> 00:28:45,249
can bring it down to zero

461
00:28:45,387 --> 00:28:46,939
and there's no recovery
from zero.

462
00:28:48,974 --> 00:28:51,456
[Narrator] So, if the meeting
between our ancestors

463
00:28:51,594 --> 00:28:54,008
and our distant cousins
was a conflict,

464
00:28:54,146 --> 00:28:57,215
it certainly wasn't one
we were destined to win.

465
00:28:58,870 --> 00:29:02,525
It looks like ultimately
it was subtle advantages,

466
00:29:02,663 --> 00:29:04,905
like our larger social networks,

467
00:29:05,043 --> 00:29:07,801
that meant we survived
and they didn't.

468
00:29:08,629 --> 00:29:10,456
By 20,000 years ago,

469
00:29:10,594 --> 00:29:13,180
it seems we were alone
in Europe.

470
00:29:22,525 --> 00:29:25,525
Between 20 and 30,000
years ago,

471
00:29:25,663 --> 00:29:28,525
further waves of people
began to enter Europe

472
00:29:28,663 --> 00:29:29,974
from the east.

473
00:29:32,111 --> 00:29:35,525
And based on the discoveries
made in Dolní Vestonice,

474
00:29:35,663 --> 00:29:37,008
in the Czech Republic,

475
00:29:37,146 --> 00:29:39,974
it seems something extraordinary was happening.

476
00:29:42,663 --> 00:29:44,215
The new waves of people

477
00:29:44,353 --> 00:29:47,284
coincided with one of the most
spectacular periods

478
00:29:47,422 --> 00:29:49,008
of prehistory,

479
00:29:49,146 --> 00:29:51,594
a flowering
of culture and innovation

480
00:29:51,732 --> 00:29:53,801
that shows just how
sophisticated

481
00:29:53,939 --> 00:29:56,663
our stone age ancestors
really were.

482
00:29:59,043 --> 00:30:00,801
Professor Jirí Svoboda

483
00:30:00,939 --> 00:30:03,629
looks after an impressive
array of artifacts,

484
00:30:03,767 --> 00:30:04,939
which allows us to glimpse

485
00:30:05,077 --> 00:30:08,732
the thinking
of prehistoric Europeans.

486
00:30:08,870 --> 00:30:09,974
[Jirí] They'll think
it's strange,

487
00:30:10,111 --> 00:30:12,801
it's on a mammoth tusk,

488
00:30:12,939 --> 00:30:16,905
and we think that the patron
has some meaning.

489
00:30:17,043 --> 00:30:19,043
The question is
what kind of a meaning.

490
00:30:21,215 --> 00:30:23,939
[Narrator] Jirí has a theory.

491
00:30:24,077 --> 00:30:27,043
[Jirí] That this
is a meandering river

492
00:30:28,525 --> 00:30:32,353
and this double circle
would be the site,

493
00:30:32,491 --> 00:30:36,318
and this probably some slopes
of a mountain or whatever.

494
00:30:36,456 --> 00:30:38,663
We think that hunter-gatherers

495
00:30:38,801 --> 00:30:41,318
had a very good sense of space,

496
00:30:41,456 --> 00:30:43,732
sometimes better
than many people have today.

497
00:30:43,870 --> 00:30:45,043
[chuckles]

498
00:30:45,180 --> 00:30:47,870
And they were able
to present it graphically.

499
00:30:48,008 --> 00:30:52,146
[Narrator]So this could be one
of the world's first maps.

500
00:30:52,284 --> 00:30:53,698
And the people living here

501
00:30:53,836 --> 00:30:56,939
had also mastered
the art of working clay.

502
00:30:58,284 --> 00:31:02,249
[Jirí] Oh, this is one
of the most finely carved,

503
00:31:03,387 --> 00:31:05,767
modeled and carved, uh...

504
00:31:07,077 --> 00:31:08,836
heads of a lion.

505
00:31:08,974 --> 00:31:11,905
We've got several lions
at these sites,

506
00:31:12,663 --> 00:31:14,043
lions' heads always.

507
00:31:14,180 --> 00:31:17,043
But this one
has the finest features.

508
00:31:18,077 --> 00:31:19,560
I think it was, uh...

509
00:31:19,698 --> 00:31:21,387
I don't know at first.
[chuckles]

510
00:31:21,525 --> 00:31:25,111
But what I think
is that lion was an animal

511
00:31:25,249 --> 00:31:27,249
that they had respect for.

512
00:31:32,629 --> 00:31:34,732
[Narrator] And even more
intriguing object

513
00:31:34,870 --> 00:31:37,077
has been found here.

514
00:31:37,215 --> 00:31:40,905
This is the Venus
of Dolní Vestonice.

515
00:31:42,422 --> 00:31:45,008
No one's quite sure what she is.

516
00:31:45,146 --> 00:31:48,560
A fertility figure,
a strange doll?

517
00:31:52,146 --> 00:31:55,732
Professor Svoboda
has one interpretation.

518
00:31:55,870 --> 00:31:58,767
If you look at the bottom

519
00:31:58,905 --> 00:32:03,215
you clearly see the shape
of a female sign,

520
00:32:03,353 --> 00:32:05,525
the pubic triangle.

521
00:32:05,663 --> 00:32:08,008
If you look at the upper part,

522
00:32:08,146 --> 00:32:10,594
you may imagine
that this shape turns

523
00:32:10,732 --> 00:32:12,594
to a male symbol.

524
00:32:14,422 --> 00:32:16,146
And in this case

525
00:32:16,284 --> 00:32:18,043
in fact, the figurine as a whole

526
00:32:18,180 --> 00:32:24,629
combines the female symbol below
with the male symbols above.

527
00:32:24,767 --> 00:32:26,836
I think there is kind of
fun in it

528
00:32:26,974 --> 00:32:30,456
but you may also say
that it is a deeper symbolics

529
00:32:30,594 --> 00:32:32,249
and there is no fun with it.

530
00:32:35,215 --> 00:32:37,077
[Narrator] But there's
a greater significance

531
00:32:37,215 --> 00:32:38,870
to this Venus figurine.

532
00:32:41,008 --> 00:32:42,180
It's not alone.

533
00:32:45,801 --> 00:32:46,939
Many similar figures

534
00:32:47,077 --> 00:32:49,215
have been found
right across Europe.

535
00:32:51,905 --> 00:32:54,111
From France in the west...

536
00:32:58,698 --> 00:33:00,836
to Russia in the east.

537
00:33:07,698 --> 00:33:09,905
It's evidence
of a shared culture

538
00:33:10,043 --> 00:33:12,698
across the length
and breadth of Europe.

539
00:33:18,043 --> 00:33:20,629
In the space
of a few thousand years,

540
00:33:20,767 --> 00:33:23,629
our species had gone
from being a tiny group

541
00:33:23,767 --> 00:33:27,111
facing tough competition
with the Neanderthals,

542
00:33:27,249 --> 00:33:29,077
to dominating the continent.

543
00:33:32,284 --> 00:33:35,146
But the challenges
weren't over yet.

544
00:33:35,284 --> 00:33:37,560
This land held further threats

545
00:33:37,698 --> 00:33:41,180
that would test our ancestors
to their limits.

546
00:33:46,008 --> 00:33:50,180
Europe was experiencing
devastating change in climate,

547
00:33:50,318 --> 00:33:53,456
what's known as
the Last Glacial Maximum,

548
00:33:53,594 --> 00:33:55,905
the peak of the last Ice Age.

549
00:33:58,525 --> 00:34:00,318
Massive sheets of ice

550
00:34:00,456 --> 00:34:02,387
were grinding their way south,

551
00:34:02,525 --> 00:34:06,284
turning the north into a sterile frozen no man's land.

552
00:34:06,422 --> 00:34:08,560
[ice crackling]

553
00:34:12,870 --> 00:34:15,318
[Narrator] The fact that
there are people alive today

554
00:34:15,456 --> 00:34:17,905
who are descended
from early Europeans,

555
00:34:18,043 --> 00:34:20,560
means that some of them
must have survived.

556
00:34:21,353 --> 00:34:22,284
But where?

557
00:34:22,422 --> 00:34:24,836
[man chanting]

558
00:34:32,180 --> 00:34:36,318
The best chance of survival
lay in the south of Europe,

559
00:34:36,456 --> 00:34:38,939
like in this valley
in southwest France,

560
00:34:39,077 --> 00:34:41,905
away from the extremes
of the icy north.

561
00:34:45,629 --> 00:34:47,146
Professor Randall White

562
00:34:47,284 --> 00:34:50,836
has been excavating
in this region for 30 years.

563
00:34:55,353 --> 00:34:58,525
Even during the coldest periods
of the last glaciation

564
00:34:58,663 --> 00:35:01,629
between 22,000
and 18,000 years ago,

565
00:35:01,767 --> 00:35:04,215
this valley
continued to be occupied.

566
00:35:04,353 --> 00:35:05,456
[White]
It's one of the reasons why

567
00:35:05,594 --> 00:35:06,767
we have a continuous record
in this area

568
00:35:06,905 --> 00:35:08,318
because there was never a time

569
00:35:08,456 --> 00:35:10,491
in which people abandoned
this area to move further south

570
00:35:10,629 --> 00:35:11,698
and away from the...

571
00:35:11,836 --> 00:35:13,836
the expanding ice sheets.

572
00:35:17,629 --> 00:35:19,284
[Narrator]Caves like this one

573
00:35:19,422 --> 00:35:21,491
gave protection
from the elements.

574
00:35:22,905 --> 00:35:25,353
[Randall] This valley had
very deep rock shelters in it,

575
00:35:25,491 --> 00:35:26,767
six, seven meters deep,

576
00:35:26,905 --> 00:35:30,043
which created very large
protected surfaces

577
00:35:30,180 --> 00:35:31,318
under which people could live.

578
00:35:31,456 --> 00:35:34,491
And in addition, the shelter
ceilings were very low.

579
00:35:34,629 --> 00:35:36,318
They're not 15 feet
above your head.

580
00:35:36,456 --> 00:35:37,698
They're very low,

581
00:35:37,836 --> 00:35:40,043
which means that there's
a much smaller space to heat.

582
00:35:42,353 --> 00:35:44,663
[Narrator] With the help
of warmer temperatures,

583
00:35:44,801 --> 00:35:46,698
and natural hideouts,

584
00:35:46,836 --> 00:35:48,663
this region of southern France

585
00:35:48,801 --> 00:35:51,836
seems to have become a refuge
for our species.

586
00:36:05,767 --> 00:36:07,663
But for people of the ice age,

587
00:36:07,801 --> 00:36:09,180
the caves
may have been much more

588
00:36:09,318 --> 00:36:11,905
than mere barriers
against the weather.

589
00:36:14,698 --> 00:36:17,491
Because this region
of southern France

590
00:36:17,629 --> 00:36:19,732
is home to some
of the most beautiful

591
00:36:19,870 --> 00:36:23,008
prehistoric rock art
in the world.

592
00:36:24,284 --> 00:36:26,698
[dramatic music]

593
00:36:31,870 --> 00:36:33,560
[clinking]

594
00:36:33,698 --> 00:36:35,836
[Narrator] Dr. Michel
Lorblanchet

595
00:36:35,974 --> 00:36:38,043
is one of France's
most distinguished

596
00:36:38,180 --> 00:36:39,663
cave art experts.

597
00:36:42,974 --> 00:36:46,905
And he believes these caves
were important focal points

598
00:36:47,043 --> 00:36:50,525
for the nomadic bands of hunters who roamed the area.

599
00:36:51,456 --> 00:36:52,870
[speaking French]

600
00:36:53,008 --> 00:36:54,801
[translator] The cave
was effectively a fixed point,

601
00:36:54,939 --> 00:36:58,043
because of course,
by its nature, it didn't move.

602
00:37:00,767 --> 00:37:03,732
Today, people in villages
from the whole area

603
00:37:03,870 --> 00:37:06,215
tend to gather around a church.

604
00:37:06,353 --> 00:37:08,663
The caves were a bit similar.

605
00:37:08,801 --> 00:37:11,318
They were the symbol
of a whole tribe

606
00:37:11,456 --> 00:37:12,974
that lived in the region.

607
00:37:14,146 --> 00:37:15,698
[speaking French]

608
00:37:17,008 --> 00:37:18,663
[Narrator] And the paintings
they made

609
00:37:18,801 --> 00:37:21,077
were more than mere doodles.

610
00:37:21,215 --> 00:37:22,387
[Michel speaking French]

611
00:37:22,525 --> 00:37:24,318
[translator] These caves
are natural temples,

612
00:37:24,456 --> 00:37:26,560
which are decorated by nature.

613
00:37:30,077 --> 00:37:31,353
In other words,

614
00:37:31,491 --> 00:37:35,629
the temples present
natural fantastical shapes.

615
00:37:35,767 --> 00:37:38,525
And I believe
that for prehistoric man,

616
00:37:38,663 --> 00:37:41,077
caves were the places
of spirits.

617
00:37:42,594 --> 00:37:46,594
And these shapes in the caves
already suggested forms,

618
00:37:46,732 --> 00:37:50,594
animal shapes
and sometimes human shapes.

619
00:37:50,732 --> 00:37:53,491
So it inspired
man himself to paint

620
00:37:53,629 --> 00:37:55,491
and to create these pictures.

621
00:37:57,146 --> 00:38:00,146
[Narrator] Dr. Lorblanchet
has carried out research

622
00:38:00,284 --> 00:38:02,077
to find out how our ancestors

623
00:38:02,215 --> 00:38:04,318
could have made
such beautiful art.

624
00:38:04,456 --> 00:38:06,525
[blowing rapidly]

625
00:38:08,008 --> 00:38:10,801
[Narrator] And he's found
a surprising technique.

626
00:38:13,387 --> 00:38:14,456
[Michel speaking French]

627
00:38:14,594 --> 00:38:15,801
[translator]
To do the great panel

628
00:38:15,939 --> 00:38:18,008
of the Punctuated
Horses at Peche Merle,

629
00:38:18,146 --> 00:38:20,939
all the painting
was done by spitting.

630
00:38:21,077 --> 00:38:22,284
In other words,

631
00:38:22,422 --> 00:38:24,284
it was done entirely
by blowing the paint

632
00:38:24,422 --> 00:38:25,663
out of the mouth.

633
00:38:27,284 --> 00:38:28,663
[Michel blowing rapidly]

634
00:38:30,525 --> 00:38:32,043
[Narrator] And to test
this out,

635
00:38:32,180 --> 00:38:36,077
Lorblanchet recreated one
of the panels in Peche Merle.

636
00:38:40,456 --> 00:38:42,629
It took him an entire week,

637
00:38:42,767 --> 00:38:44,525
but he's found
there are practical

638
00:38:44,663 --> 00:38:47,008
and spiritual advantages

639
00:38:47,146 --> 00:38:48,939
to painting by spitting.

640
00:38:52,491 --> 00:38:53,698
[speaking French]

641
00:38:53,836 --> 00:38:55,318
[translator] This technique
allows you to paint

642
00:38:55,456 --> 00:38:56,905
on any kind of surface,

643
00:38:57,043 --> 00:38:59,387
because you don't actually
touch it.

644
00:38:59,525 --> 00:39:01,180
So you can paint on crumbly,

645
00:39:01,318 --> 00:39:05,180
fragile or particularly,
on irregular surfaces.

646
00:39:07,663 --> 00:39:08,663
It's a tiring job

647
00:39:08,801 --> 00:39:11,111
because you have
to blow constantly and spit.

648
00:39:14,353 --> 00:39:15,284
[blowing rapidly]

649
00:39:15,422 --> 00:39:17,767
[speaking French]

650
00:39:17,905 --> 00:39:19,318
[translator] But it must
also be said

651
00:39:19,456 --> 00:39:22,353
that this technique
has a symbolic significance,

652
00:39:22,491 --> 00:39:23,698
because the painter,

653
00:39:23,836 --> 00:39:26,215
the person who creates
the image, blows.

654
00:39:26,353 --> 00:39:29,663
And in a sense, he projects
himself onto the wall.

655
00:39:31,215 --> 00:39:33,180
[blowing rapidly]

656
00:39:37,318 --> 00:39:40,249
[Narrator] These paintings
were created by generations

657
00:39:40,387 --> 00:39:43,215
of artists who were
inspired by the world

658
00:39:43,353 --> 00:39:44,801
in which they lived.

659
00:39:55,043 --> 00:39:58,629
But just as these artists
left their mark on Europe,

660
00:39:58,767 --> 00:40:01,560
it seems Europe
was making a mark on them.

661
00:40:03,146 --> 00:40:06,249
It's a legacy
that's still visible today,

662
00:40:06,387 --> 00:40:08,905
in the color of European skin.

663
00:40:11,043 --> 00:40:13,146
For over 100,000 years,

664
00:40:13,284 --> 00:40:16,008
since the birth
of our species in Africa,

665
00:40:16,146 --> 00:40:19,767
our ancestors' skin had almost certainly been dark,

666
00:40:19,905 --> 00:40:22,594
protection against the sun.

667
00:40:22,732 --> 00:40:25,525
So why, as they migrated
into Europe,

668
00:40:25,663 --> 00:40:28,111
did it turn from brown to white?

669
00:40:30,111 --> 00:40:31,905
It's a mystery.

670
00:40:32,043 --> 00:40:35,180
But a clue might lie
in a single vitamin,

671
00:40:35,939 --> 00:40:37,077
vitamin D.

672
00:40:38,836 --> 00:40:40,456
Vitamin D is produced

673
00:40:40,594 --> 00:40:43,215
when sunlight
penetrates the skin.

674
00:40:43,353 --> 00:40:46,111
It's crucial
for the formation of bones,

675
00:40:46,249 --> 00:40:49,594
and lack of it
can wreak havoc on the body.

676
00:40:57,801 --> 00:41:00,663
These remains
in a museum in Paris

677
00:41:00,801 --> 00:41:03,663
show what can happen
in serious cases,

678
00:41:03,801 --> 00:41:06,698
where bones grown bent
and misshapen.

679
00:41:08,353 --> 00:41:11,387
It's a particular problem
for pregnant women,

680
00:41:11,525 --> 00:41:12,767
where a distorted pelvis

681
00:41:12,905 --> 00:41:15,180
can make natural birth
impossible.

682
00:41:16,629 --> 00:41:17,905
So in Europe,

683
00:41:18,043 --> 00:41:19,629
where there
is less sunlight available

684
00:41:19,767 --> 00:41:21,525
than in tropical regions,

685
00:41:21,663 --> 00:41:25,008
having dark skin
may have been a disadvantage,

686
00:41:25,146 --> 00:41:26,698
as the darker the skin,

687
00:41:26,836 --> 00:41:30,180
the more sunlight it needs to produce vitamin D.

688
00:41:32,387 --> 00:41:34,284
And over thousands of years

689
00:41:34,422 --> 00:41:37,008
a series
of minute genetic changes

690
00:41:37,146 --> 00:41:40,008
may have caused
our European ancestors

691
00:41:40,146 --> 00:41:41,974
to evolve pale skin,

692
00:41:42,111 --> 00:41:45,077
driven perhaps by the need to absorb sunlight.

693
00:41:48,422 --> 00:41:50,698
[ice crackling]

694
00:41:50,836 --> 00:41:53,491
[Narrator] But as the world
warmed once more,

695
00:41:53,629 --> 00:41:57,146
and the ice sheets
began to retreat,

696
00:41:57,284 --> 00:42:01,077
even bigger changes
lay ahead for the survivors.

697
00:42:03,974 --> 00:42:07,318
Changes in the way
that people lived and worked

698
00:42:07,456 --> 00:42:10,905
that would alter the course
of the human story.

699
00:42:14,422 --> 00:42:17,146
At oöbekli Tepe
in southern Turkey

700
00:42:17,284 --> 00:42:18,525
is a site that shows

701
00:42:18,663 --> 00:42:21,215
just how far reaching
these changes were.

702
00:42:22,215 --> 00:42:24,836
[man chanting]

703
00:42:29,387 --> 00:42:31,525
[indistinct chatter]

704
00:42:35,732 --> 00:42:37,284
[Narrator]
Professor Klaus Schmidt

705
00:42:37,422 --> 00:42:38,974
has made what could prove

706
00:42:39,111 --> 00:42:42,422
to be the most significant
archaeological discovery

707
00:42:42,560 --> 00:42:43,836
of the period.

708
00:42:54,836 --> 00:42:56,560
It's a series of monuments

709
00:42:56,698 --> 00:42:59,939
over twice the age
of the Egyptian pyramids.

710
00:43:02,249 --> 00:43:04,939
With distinctive
T-shaped pillars,

711
00:43:05,077 --> 00:43:09,077
each one seems to represent
a human figure.

712
00:43:09,215 --> 00:43:10,939
The upper part is the head

713
00:43:11,077 --> 00:43:13,801
and the shaft
represents the body.

714
00:43:15,215 --> 00:43:21,215
[Klaus]

715
00:43:21,353 --> 00:43:24,974
So here we have an example
of the depiction of an arm,

716
00:43:25,111 --> 00:43:27,594
which is going down here,
and the fingers,

717
00:43:27,732 --> 00:43:29,905
the hand and the fingers
are not excavated yet,

718
00:43:30,043 --> 00:43:33,905
but it's clear they will appear
when we continue to work here.

719
00:43:37,939 --> 00:43:39,767
[Narrator]
And on these stone figures

720
00:43:39,905 --> 00:43:41,974
there are intricate carvings,

721
00:43:42,111 --> 00:43:44,043
not unlike hieroglyphs.

722
00:44:13,801 --> 00:44:15,974
[Narrator] Professor Schmidt
believes this could

723
00:44:16,111 --> 00:44:19,663
be the world's
first purpose built temple.

724
00:44:41,732 --> 00:44:43,629
[Narrator] So, what does
this mean?

725
00:45:05,560 --> 00:45:06,663
[Narrator] Some
of the sculptures

726
00:45:06,801 --> 00:45:08,939
are carved out
of a single rock,

727
00:45:09,077 --> 00:45:12,732
similar to those one might find in a medieval cathedral.

728
00:45:18,353 --> 00:45:22,456
For Schmidt, the discovery
has huge significance,

729
00:45:22,594 --> 00:45:23,974
because it suggests

730
00:45:24,111 --> 00:45:26,318
that this particular society
of hunter-gatherers

731
00:45:26,456 --> 00:45:28,905
was developing new behaviors.

732
00:46:10,801 --> 00:46:13,870
[Narrator]And Schmidt believes this increased organization

733
00:46:14,008 --> 00:46:16,594
led to a revolutionary
development.

734
00:46:20,491 --> 00:46:22,456
Genetics shows this region

735
00:46:22,594 --> 00:46:24,836
is home
to the closest wild relative

736
00:46:24,974 --> 00:46:28,077
of the first domesticated
forms of wheat,

737
00:46:28,215 --> 00:46:32,836
suggesting that this was where
farming in Europe was born.

738
00:46:52,146 --> 00:46:54,974
[Narrator] After over
100,000 years

739
00:46:55,111 --> 00:46:57,456
of being nomadic
hunter-gatherers,

740
00:46:57,594 --> 00:47:01,836
humans began to settle down
and farm.

741
00:47:01,974 --> 00:47:06,043
The journey to this point
had been no easy ride.

742
00:47:06,180 --> 00:47:09,698
There had been huge challenges
to overcome.

743
00:47:09,836 --> 00:47:13,318
Our ancestors faced
extreme climate change

744
00:47:13,456 --> 00:47:15,146
and many must have perished.

745
00:47:16,629 --> 00:47:18,353
Just like our cousins,

746
00:47:18,491 --> 00:47:20,594
the formidable Neanderthal.

747
00:47:22,663 --> 00:47:24,801
But with the arrival
of agriculture,

748
00:47:24,939 --> 00:47:27,767
food resources
became more reliable,

749
00:47:27,905 --> 00:47:30,732
allowing populations to expand.

750
00:47:32,801 --> 00:47:36,456
Gradually, these ideas spread into Europe,

751
00:47:36,594 --> 00:47:39,456
paving the way
for large scale settlement

752
00:47:39,594 --> 00:47:44,008
and ultimately, for the birth
of European civilization

753
00:47:44,146 --> 00:47:45,594
as we know it.

754
00:47:46,387 --> 00:47:48,491
[closing theme music]