"Human" Into the Unknown

1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:12,074 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm 2 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:15,999 Over 300,000 years ago, 3 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:20,519 Africa was the cradle of humanity - 4 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:23,839 the place where humans evolved, 5 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:26,800 including the first of a new species... 6 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:29,400 ..Homo sapiens... 7 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:32,040 ..our species. 8 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:36,839 From humble beginnings, our growing culture 9 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:41,760 and connections helped us spread across that great continent. 10 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:45,879 And then we ventured outwards, 11 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:50,160 away from our home, and into the wider world. 12 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:20,679 Our ancestors did something which is actually remarkable. 13 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:24,479 From a beach not unlike this one, 14 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:27,199 possibly quite close by, 15 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:30,559 they ventured out into an open ocean, 16 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:34,160 with only an empty horizon in front of them. 17 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:38,759 And after many days and nights on the water, 18 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:42,719 they eventually came upon this new landmass that they would settle. 19 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:45,959 We call that landmass Australia. 20 00:01:45,960 --> 00:01:50,160 It was a pivotal moment in the history of our species. 21 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:56,359 But in so many ways, it's not actually the destination 22 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:57,799 that's important. 23 00:01:57,800 --> 00:01:59,919 It is everything it took - 24 00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:02,599 all the challenges they had to overcome 25 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:07,000 to make it so far away from where they began, in Africa. 26 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:13,520 We were not the first humans to leave Africa. 27 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:17,839 Long before we evolved, 28 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:19,679 the ancestors of our cousins, 29 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:21,680 the Neanderthals, set out. 30 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:27,159 And Homo erectus, one of the most ancient humans, 31 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:29,960 had made it deep into Asia. 32 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:39,520 But none had ever made the voyage to Australia. 33 00:02:41,920 --> 00:02:46,439 Every other species of human reached a point, and then they just stopped. 34 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:50,679 They faced a barrier that they either could not or would not pass. 35 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:53,319 But not us. 36 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:56,359 This is the story of how, time and again, 37 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:58,959 we took on perilous journeys - 38 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:02,159 how the last species of human to evolve 39 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:05,639 took on environments like no others had, 40 00:03:05,640 --> 00:03:10,519 to become the only global species of human. 41 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:14,560 That title is ours and ours alone. 42 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:32,880 This story begins over 120,000 years ago. 43 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:37,960 As our species spreads beyond the borders of Africa... 44 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:43,240 ..they're blocked by expanses of oceans on most sides. 45 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:48,879 One of the few places they can go is east - 46 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:52,039 to the vast landmass that today is made up of 47 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:53,920 Arabia and the Levant... 48 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:04,559 ..at this time one of the few gateways out of Africa 49 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:06,400 to the rest of the world. 50 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,839 Of all the species of human that have ever existed, 51 00:04:59,840 --> 00:05:02,799 I think we, Homo sapiens, 52 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:04,919 are the explorer species. 53 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:08,080 We can't help it - we have to wander. 54 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:15,440 It is in our wont to travel. 55 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:19,999 And this place was the landmass next door. 56 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:22,719 You could see it from Africa. 57 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:27,680 And look at it! It is absolutely breathtaking. 58 00:05:30,280 --> 00:05:32,159 But it's not exactly welcoming. 59 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:35,600 Nothing about this place says home. 60 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:39,839 And so, the question is, 61 00:05:39,840 --> 00:05:43,120 why did Homo sapiens come here? 62 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:49,919 We know they did, 63 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:54,079 thanks to finds from Israel and Saudi Arabia, 64 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:55,720 to the Gulf States. 65 00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:03,640 And even beyond - to the fringes of Europe and Asia. 66 00:06:08,280 --> 00:06:10,239 Which is hard to explain, 67 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:15,360 when today these lands look just as much of a barrier as any ocean. 68 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:24,759 I always say archaeology is a bit like a jigsaw puzzle, 69 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:28,319 and you're just constantly looking for pieces of that puzzle 70 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:30,359 to help you get the full picture. 71 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:33,399 And this is one of those pieces. 72 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:35,599 This particular piece is 73 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:37,759 a copy of a tooth. 74 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:39,999 Now, it's a single tooth, which gives you an idea 75 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:42,239 of how large this animal must have been, 76 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:44,399 because it's bigger than a brick. It's... 77 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:46,559 I mean, it's practically the size of my head. 78 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:49,239 It is the tooth of an extinct elephant, 79 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:51,759 and it was found in Jordan. 80 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:54,479 And we also have hippo fossils 81 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:56,639 from the Saudi desert. 82 00:06:56,640 --> 00:07:00,279 Now, hippos and elephants 83 00:07:00,280 --> 00:07:03,159 do not belong in this landscape. 84 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:04,559 Look around! 85 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:06,399 Where's the water? 86 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:10,199 Hippos actually need standing bodies of water, 87 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:12,599 and they need greenery. 88 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:16,199 And that's the thing about some fossils. 89 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:20,999 They tell us about what a landscape used to look like. 90 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:24,160 Because these do not belong here. 91 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:38,040 These finds point to a very different Arabia. 92 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:44,079 One that, if you know where to look, 93 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:46,440 you can see hints of to this day. 94 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:55,599 If you look over there, it almost looks like a mirage - 95 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:58,399 that white and silver on the landscape. 96 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:01,999 So that used to be a lake, 97 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:05,519 and the white and silver is actually salt and gypsum 98 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:08,240 that was left behind when the water evaporated. 99 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:13,919 And scientists are really interested in not just ageing them, 100 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:17,199 but also working out these ancient water systems - 101 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:19,239 these extinct water systems. 102 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:22,959 And so one of the ways they do this is by just getting on the ground 103 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:27,919 and walking these beautiful but incredibly intense landscapes, 104 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:31,439 looking at maps, looking at satellite images. 105 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:34,800 And this is the result of some of that work. 106 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:37,719 Now, if you look here, 107 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:41,039 this is a map of the region 108 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:42,279 just slightly north of here. 109 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:44,159 So this is Saudi, which is to our east, 110 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:46,599 and that there is the Sinai of Egypt. 111 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:51,040 You can see it's basically shades of beige and grey. 112 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:53,799 Now, look! 113 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:59,039 So this is about 125,000 years ago. 114 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:02,079 Water litters this landscape. 115 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:06,079 I mean, you can see the veins just running through. 116 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:08,559 There is no way that this land 117 00:09:08,560 --> 00:09:10,599 would not have been green. 118 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:15,080 There are paleo lakes and paleo rivers absolutely everywhere. 119 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:23,720 And this is this region as we have never known it. 120 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:30,199 Now, remember, this was a world without borders, 121 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:33,599 and this was a land of plenty, 122 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:35,759 within easy reach. 123 00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:38,800 And so why wouldn't Homo sapiens have come here? 124 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:51,039 But what they didn't know, 125 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:53,159 what they couldn't have known, 126 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:56,360 is that this region would be a trap. 127 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:07,240 The green days of Arabia were numbered. 128 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:10,840 The desert was on the march. 129 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:21,639 Subtle variations in the orbit of the Earth 130 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:23,720 caused the climate to change. 131 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:33,599 Within as little as a few hundred years, the rains vanished, 132 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:36,360 starving this entire region of water... 133 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:42,320 ..leaving humans at the mercy of the desert. 134 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:49,399 If you set out to create an environment that was completely 135 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:51,679 and utterly hostile to our biology, 136 00:10:51,680 --> 00:10:53,599 you'd come up with this. 137 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:55,679 The heat is such a presence 138 00:10:55,680 --> 00:10:57,799 that I can feel it on my back. 139 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:00,439 The sun, even at this time of the morning, 140 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:03,520 feels like it's borderline torture. 141 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:07,479 And there is no water. 142 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:11,759 As far as the eye can see, there's nothing. 143 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:14,479 And back then, it would've been so much worse. 144 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:15,879 It wasn't arid. 145 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:18,319 It's what we call hyper arid. 146 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:22,679 It's thought that there was no rainfall for years on end. 147 00:11:22,680 --> 00:11:26,079 And so we go from seeing multiple sites 148 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:30,120 where humans lived in this region, to nothing. 149 00:11:35,680 --> 00:11:39,040 We seem to vanish for thousands of years. 150 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:44,400 And this could so easily have been the end of our journey... 151 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:50,800 ..defeated by the harsh desert. 152 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:02,519 We think that some Homo sapiens 153 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:05,279 clung on in pockets that we call refugia. 154 00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:09,079 Those are refuges where the climate is milder. 155 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:10,959 But from all we can tell, 156 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:13,639 they would've been few and far between, 157 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:16,480 and they effectively faded away. 158 00:12:17,560 --> 00:12:19,479 And so, for all intents and purposes, 159 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:23,240 Homo sapiens outside of Africa had failed. 160 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:27,759 And what's interesting is 161 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:30,319 other species of human had cracked 162 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:34,479 the code of living outside of Africa, but not us. 163 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:37,199 And so how did this happen? 164 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:39,919 People like me, so many of you, 165 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:44,039 how did we become the only species of human 166 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:46,960 who exists across the globe? 167 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:56,079 These brutal conditions 168 00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:58,400 persisted for years on end. 169 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:12,160 Until finally, there was another subtle change in climate... 170 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:18,400 ..allowing conditions to become less extreme... 171 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:29,600 ..and giving Homo sapiens another chance. 172 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:37,840 Occasional seasonal rains returned... 173 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:47,880 ..just enough to bring precious water back to the desert. 174 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:03,239 Now, the conditions here did get better. 175 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:06,320 So, yes, you had desert and sand dunes... 176 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:10,960 ..but you also had lakes and rivers. 177 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:18,799 And that resulted in us being able to exist in this place, 178 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:20,879 but not just exist here. 179 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:25,359 From an oasis here to a river and spring system there, 180 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:29,679 we were able to actually leave the Arabian Peninsula 181 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:32,000 and face the rest of the world. 182 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:44,399 As they did, these new waves likely absorbed any small pockets 183 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:47,600 of Homo sapiens that had held on. 184 00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:53,599 And now scientists studying the genetic code 185 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:57,999 of people alive today believe this moment 186 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,480 was a pivotal point in our history. 187 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:11,639 Our DNA has the power to tell stories about us, 188 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:14,719 but some of them aren't just stories, they're sagas, 189 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:16,919 and they're extraordinary. 190 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:20,759 And one of them is that every single one of us 191 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:23,319 whose origins are from outside of Africa 192 00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:26,880 comes from a tiny population of Homo sapiens. 193 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:35,399 We started in Africa, from multiple populations across the continent, 194 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:39,599 but then only a small group of us left - 195 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:43,800 perhaps as few as 10,000 individuals. 196 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:50,639 And so all of us from outside of Africa 197 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:54,119 come from this minuscule population, 198 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:56,319 who went on to populate 199 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:59,880 not one, not two continents, but five. 200 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:11,720 But our journey through the desert... 201 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:18,079 ..was only one of a multitude of challenges 202 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:20,399 Homo sapiens would face 203 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:23,200 as we spread across the globe. 204 00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:28,879 And because we were so few in number, 205 00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:32,559 our very survival outside of Africa 206 00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:34,920 was far from certain. 207 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:52,320 As this tiny population grew and spread... 208 00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:59,560 ..they would crash into another extreme environment. 209 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:09,159 One that had defeated all other species of human - 210 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:11,600 a vast green wall. 211 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:19,999 Once beyond the desert, 212 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:24,440 our species found themselves in the giant landmass of Europe and Asia. 213 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:29,639 To their north, lay high, cold mountains. 214 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:33,199 So many spread eastwards and south, 215 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:36,959 down through what is now the Indian subcontinent, 216 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:39,399 reaching modern-day Sri Lanka, 217 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:41,879 at that time joined to the mainland 218 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:43,680 by lower sea levels... 219 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:55,360 ..and dominated by expansive dense rainforests. 220 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:09,919 And while this may look so much more welcoming than the desert, 221 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:13,160 nothing could be further from the truth. 222 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:23,839 These leeches are absolutely everywhere. 223 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:27,759 And when I say everywhere, I mean, one has just got me. 224 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:31,359 And there are creepy crawlies absolutely everywhere, 225 00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:33,359 including in our trousers. 226 00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:35,440 And they are actually quite irritating. 227 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:39,839 This place is also full of mosquitoes. 228 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:43,839 We saw a viper, and a cobra. 229 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:45,999 And that's the thing about this place. 230 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:48,239 It is difficult to exist in. 231 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:50,679 It's hot, it's humid, it's oppressive, 232 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:53,360 and you have to constantly have your wits about you. 233 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:05,800 This is one of the most extreme environments on the planet. 234 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:12,000 So much of what grows here is poisonous to eat... 235 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:17,960 ..and there are few large animals to provide meat. 236 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:22,759 Conditions so difficult 237 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:24,599 that, as far as we can tell, 238 00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:26,839 no other species of human 239 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:31,320 ever made it past the fringes of these rainforests. 240 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:05,039 Being here is a bit like stepping back in time, 241 00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:06,839 because about 50,000 years ago, 242 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:09,399 this place would have basically looked the same. 243 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:13,119 This huge cave mouth would've been here. 244 00:20:13,120 --> 00:20:17,639 Only back then, the rainforest would've been unbroken, 245 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:20,079 and it would've gone on for kilometres 246 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:22,479 in every single direction. 247 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,719 And yet, somehow, in this cave 248 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:28,559 and two other caves not far away, 249 00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:33,359 we have found evidence of our ancestors living here, 250 00:20:33,360 --> 00:20:35,159 all the way back then, 251 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:38,960 in the heart of what would've been a massive rainforest. 252 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:51,519 So how were Homo sapiens able to plunge into a place no others had? 253 00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:54,880 How did they find food - particularly meat? 254 00:20:56,920 --> 00:21:01,559 They did have the advantage of bow-and-arrow technology, 255 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:04,480 which had arisen thousands of years earlier. 256 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:08,759 But heavy, stone-tipped arrows 257 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:13,080 were less suited to firing into the high canopy of the rainforest. 258 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:22,879 Their solution was uncovered thanks to over 30 years of excavations 259 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:27,160 deep into the floor of this - and the two other two caves. 260 00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:32,199 Digs that reach all the way back 261 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:35,239 to 48,000 years ago, 262 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:38,039 when the pioneers of our species 263 00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:42,600 first attempted to overcome the challenges of this rainforest. 264 00:21:46,120 --> 00:21:49,519 Starting with one of the most difficult - 265 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:52,400 how to find enough meat to sustain them. 266 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:09,999 Yeah. So, this here, that's where somebody is cutting? 267 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:11,320 Yeah, yeah. 268 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:15,560 Yeah. 269 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:21,199 Yeah. It's funny, because I think butchery marks, 270 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:23,839 often need to look at it through a magnifying glass, but not always. 271 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:25,839 And actually, this one is quite clear. 272 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:29,159 And this is not the kind of thing that you would see 273 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:30,439 if an animal killed it. 274 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:32,680 This is an indication that this is killed by a human. 275 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:39,760 And so the question is how they killed them. 276 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:53,200 Right. 277 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:57,159 So, that chip mark there... 278 00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:00,559 - ..shows us that it was actually used. - Yes. 279 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:02,479 I mean, it's amazing, because this is obviously... 280 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:04,159 I've got in my hands right now 281 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:06,439 something that was used 48,000 years ago. 282 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:09,480 - Of course, of course. - And it was absolutely revolutionary. 283 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:16,480 These bone points are only the tips of the full arrowheads. 284 00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:21,600 Many are chipped from actually hitting prey... 285 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:27,280 ..and each one would have been attached to the end of a long wooden arrow. 286 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:35,840 These hunters didn't invent a brand-new technology... 287 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:42,160 ..they adapted an old one. 288 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:46,479 These are some of the earliest examples of bow 289 00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:48,960 and arrows found outside of Africa... 290 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:55,959 ..enabling Homo sapiens to hunt 291 00:24:55,960 --> 00:25:00,640 with exceptional skill and efficiency within the forest. 292 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:23,199 But we know that the humans living here 293 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:25,760 were doing more than just surviving. 294 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:43,800 Oshan and the team also found beads fashioned from shells. 295 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:52,040 Perhaps brought in through trade from groups living on the coast. 296 00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:55,760 A constant struggle to survive... 297 00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:00,240 ..doesn't leave much time for making works of art.. 298 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:10,800 ..suggesting a long-established and successful community existed here. 299 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:25,039 And for that, to turn this place into a true home 300 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:28,800 would take something fundamental to our species. 301 00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:38,999 This is... 302 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:40,040 ..a replica... 303 00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:45,199 ..of a tool that was found in the caves 304 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:47,680 in this area, dated from about 40,000 years ago. 305 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:54,559 It is a monkey tooth, specifically a canine, but that's been modified. 306 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:57,439 If you look here, it's been cut into, 307 00:26:57,440 --> 00:26:59,600 to create a much sharper point. 308 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:02,080 And the reason for that... 309 00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:07,360 ..is that it's a tool used for puncturing. 310 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:10,919 Oh. 311 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:12,320 It's not easy. 312 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:19,800 All right, look, I've finally managed to make a hole. 313 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:25,719 And once you make a hole, you can then use plant fibre, 314 00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:30,879 animal sinew, as a string, start stringing animal skins, 315 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:33,080 animal hide together, and create clothes. 316 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:36,999 But actually, in so many ways, 317 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:40,000 that's not the most interesting thing about this tool. 318 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:44,759 Because for me, the most interesting thing is what this tells us 319 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:47,719 about the minds of the people who have made it. 320 00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:50,399 Because you have to be taught how to use it. 321 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:53,000 You have to be taught how to make it. 322 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:56,840 So it actually tells us something much deeper. 323 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:07,519 Throughout the years humans made this cave their home, 324 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:09,039 countless elder generations 325 00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:11,800 would have taught children these techniques. 326 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:17,120 Something we still do to this day. 327 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:23,199 A communal passing on of knowledge that is key to our ability 328 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:26,240 to master so many different environments. 329 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:38,039 That engagement, constant engagement, 330 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:41,199 turns every generation of children 331 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:44,039 into a step in the evolution of knowledge. 332 00:28:44,040 --> 00:28:48,719 And for us Homo sapiens, that's probably what adaptation is, 333 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:51,119 the evolution of knowledge, 334 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:55,279 because it's what turns a simple projectile like a bow and arrow 335 00:28:55,280 --> 00:29:01,639 into a weapon fine-tuned, honed, and specialised for the rainforest. 336 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:07,599 And that constant innovation unlocks resources that were 337 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:11,440 completely out of reach to other species of human. 338 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:14,440 Resources like the rainforest. 339 00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:30,039 And it's this ongoing evolution of tools 340 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:36,839 and techniques that has allowed our species, time and again, 341 00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:42,080 to live and thrive even in extreme environments. 342 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:49,719 That is the strength of our species, 343 00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:52,599 that we were opening up so many new environments, 344 00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:57,919 places that previously other species saw as impenetrable, 345 00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:02,479 as too difficult, we saw as having long-term potential, 346 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:05,079 and we were able to expand in number, 347 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:07,799 we were able to then adapt to it. 348 00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:12,079 And as we grew, some people would decide to move on 349 00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:14,759 to yet another environment. 350 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:19,240 We were becoming a species with truly global potential. 351 00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:31,319 It was that ability to take on so many different, challenging 352 00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:35,600 environments that carried us through so much of the world... 353 00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:39,840 ..by now, to the fringes of Europe... 354 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:44,520 ..into the cold expanses of northern Asia... 355 00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:52,799 ..and, within only a few thousand years of leaving Africa, 356 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:54,280 deep into Southeast Asia. 357 00:30:56,720 --> 00:31:01,880 Lower sea levels had created a single region known as Sunda... 358 00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:08,280 ..where today there are sweeping stretches of tropical waters. 359 00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:12,760 Our wandering feet brought us to its outer edge. 360 00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:23,880 Beyond lay an ocean, dotted with isolated islands. 361 00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:38,639 There are these places that you turn up to and you think, 362 00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:41,079 "I'm on the edge of the world." 363 00:31:41,080 --> 00:31:44,279 They are incredibly remote and isolated, 364 00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:46,679 and this is one of those places. 365 00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:48,919 And it's been like this since the very beginning, 366 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:50,239 since its formation, 367 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:53,279 because it's been surrounded by this very deep sea, 368 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:57,599 which makes what was found here even more intriguing, 369 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:01,799 because a mind-boggling, completely unexpected human history 370 00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:05,120 plays out here over hundreds of thousands of years. 371 00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:12,839 Even all those years ago, 372 00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:15,680 the ocean could not stop the spread of our species. 373 00:32:20,560 --> 00:32:24,359 We reached these remote islands, thanks to a technology that, 374 00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:29,000 as far as we can tell, we are the only humans to master. 375 00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:34,679 This is a tuna fish bone. 376 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:36,839 This particular one happens to be quite fresh. 377 00:32:36,840 --> 00:32:38,599 It's a few days old. 378 00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:42,959 But we have actually found tuna fish bones on an archaeological site 379 00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:48,199 on these islands that dates back to over 40,000 years. 380 00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:55,599 But tuna swim in open waters, and that means that our ancestors, 381 00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:59,639 over 40,000 years ago, they were fashioning some kind of vessel, 382 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:02,439 and going out into the open waters, 383 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:05,920 and coming back again, and again, and again. 384 00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:10,679 We can't be sure what form these vessels took, 385 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:12,999 since no evidence survives, 386 00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:17,640 but they were probably simple rafts made from available wood. 387 00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:23,640 And they did more than just help us fish. 388 00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:29,799 There is a very interesting archaeological site 389 00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:33,039 on one of the neighbouring islands that has this one layer 390 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:36,879 that is just filled with artefacts belonging to Homo sapiens. 391 00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:39,719 But the layer just before it, 392 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:44,599 immediately preceding it, is empty and barren of those same artefacts. 393 00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:47,879 So it almost suggests that our ancestors just kind of turned up 394 00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:52,879 overnight and spread rapidly through these islands in large numbers, 395 00:33:52,880 --> 00:33:56,160 just because of the sheer volume of artefacts within that layer. 396 00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:00,159 And none of that would really be possible 397 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:03,439 unless you were skilled enough to build robust craft, 398 00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:07,080 you were skilled enough to navigate treacherous waters. 399 00:34:11,640 --> 00:34:17,560 But in a truly surprising twist, we were not the first to reach Flores. 400 00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:22,200 Somehow, someone made it here before us. 401 00:34:27,680 --> 00:34:31,279 Sometimes in this job, you get to fulfil a lifelong dream, 402 00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:33,759 and one of them is about to happen. 403 00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:36,879 See, there's this cave in palaeoanthropology that isn't 404 00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:40,279 just fascinating, it's basically explosive. 405 00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:41,879 It started in 1950, 406 00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:45,879 with this one priest called Father Theodor Verhoeven. 407 00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:48,079 Now, back in the day, it was actually quite common 408 00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:51,239 for priests and missionaries to also dabble in archaeology, 409 00:34:51,240 --> 00:34:54,719 so he was out here on Flores looking for archaeological sites. 410 00:34:54,720 --> 00:34:56,319 And in talking to locals, 411 00:34:56,320 --> 00:34:59,479 he got told about this one cave that had potential. 412 00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:03,479 He turned up, it was actually being used as an amateur school, 413 00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:09,159 but just below the surface, he did actually find archaeology. 414 00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:13,959 Actually, it was stone tools belonging to ancient humans. 415 00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:17,919 Now, that in of itself is huge, it's really significant, 416 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:21,839 but it would take another half a century before we understood 417 00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:24,840 just how important this cave was. 418 00:35:40,760 --> 00:35:43,679 For over 20 years, a joint Indonesian and international 419 00:35:43,680 --> 00:35:47,680 team of archaeologists has been excavating these caves. 420 00:35:49,080 --> 00:35:51,639 They had been searching for evidence of the spread 421 00:35:51,640 --> 00:35:53,760 of Homo sapiens through the islands. 422 00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:58,440 Instead, they found something completely unexpected... 423 00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:04,999 ..a strange skeleton from at least 70,000 years ago. 424 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:09,560 So long before our species reached this far from Africa. 425 00:36:12,120 --> 00:36:14,439 I think the first thing obviously that strikes you 426 00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:17,280 when you see her is that she's very short. 427 00:36:18,920 --> 00:36:20,800 Um, what are we talking, one metre? 428 00:36:25,880 --> 00:36:28,960 Right, so about three and a half feet? - Yeah. 429 00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:49,080 - It's got wisdom teeth. - Yes. 430 00:36:51,120 --> 00:36:53,720 Yeah. I mean, the molars are... The adult molars are there. 431 00:36:55,040 --> 00:36:56,239 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 432 00:36:56,240 --> 00:36:59,279 As soon as you look closely, this is 100% an adult. 433 00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:00,640 Yeah. Yeah. 434 00:37:03,760 --> 00:37:07,439 An adult, but the size of a child. 435 00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:09,480 And that was only the first surprise. 436 00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:14,960 - The legs, they're quite short. - Yeah. 437 00:37:21,160 --> 00:37:22,200 Whereas, with us... 438 00:37:23,840 --> 00:37:26,079 Our legs are really long... 439 00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:27,799 ..compared to arms. 440 00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:28,840 Yeah. 441 00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:31,800 Yup. 442 00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:38,199 - Which is huge... - Is huge, yes. 443 00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:40,720 ..because on me that would be about that length. 444 00:37:57,840 --> 00:38:00,599 I mean, this is one of those moments in the history of the field 445 00:38:00,600 --> 00:38:03,399 where I just wish I had been there. 446 00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:06,359 I know she's a replica, but she's a replica of the real thing, 447 00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:09,999 and, yeah, it's... 448 00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:11,360 It's giving me goose bumps. 449 00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:21,640 This new species of human was a revelation. 450 00:38:23,440 --> 00:38:26,359 Named Homo floresiensis, after the island, 451 00:38:26,360 --> 00:38:30,359 they quickly became known to many as "the hobbits," after the 452 00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:36,600 heroes from the Lord of the Rings, who were also small as adults. 453 00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:44,759 It's likely they arrived entirely by chance. Perhaps a few 454 00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:49,880 individuals swept here on driftwood from the islands to the north... 455 00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:54,480 ..more than 700,000 years ago. 456 00:38:59,520 --> 00:39:02,039 Eventually becoming a unique species, 457 00:39:02,040 --> 00:39:07,480 seemingly with a mix of modern and more ancient characteristics. 458 00:39:10,240 --> 00:39:13,239 Now, we can see obviously the brain is small, 459 00:39:13,240 --> 00:39:15,200 but how small are we talking? 460 00:39:23,120 --> 00:39:25,880 - That... - That's right. - How incredible. 461 00:39:29,200 --> 00:39:32,920 Such a small brain, and yet they had stone tools. 462 00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:42,159 Before this, scientists assumed that a human with such a small brain 463 00:39:42,160 --> 00:39:44,280 could never have developed such tools. 464 00:39:46,480 --> 00:39:49,399 One theory is that they were initially a much larger 465 00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:52,719 species, before the long isolation on Flores caused them 466 00:39:52,720 --> 00:39:57,959 to shrink, a process known as island dwarfism, 467 00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:02,679 where large animals get smaller due to fewer resources. 468 00:40:02,680 --> 00:40:08,559 At the same time, some small animals actually get bigger, 469 00:40:08,560 --> 00:40:10,520 due to a lack of predators. 470 00:40:28,720 --> 00:40:31,800 So Stegodons generally are not the size of water buffaloes. 471 00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:34,759 - Exactly, yeah. - But on this island... 472 00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:36,879 - It's big one. - ..they're the size of a water buffalo. - Yeah. 473 00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:39,439 And then on this island, you've got humans that are a metre tall. 474 00:40:39,440 --> 00:40:40,879 Yeah, that small. 475 00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:45,119 What you're describing there is a species that has been 476 00:40:45,120 --> 00:40:46,799 shaped by this island, has been 477 00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:51,560 shaped by the environment on this island, and the result is this. 478 00:40:55,600 --> 00:40:59,919 Long isolation allowed evolution to tailor the hobbit 479 00:40:59,920 --> 00:41:01,160 to this environment. 480 00:41:05,240 --> 00:41:07,839 Their long arms, compared to short legs, 481 00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:10,999 a response to perhaps the steep terrain, 482 00:41:11,000 --> 00:41:14,560 or the lack of predators on the island to run away from. 483 00:41:17,240 --> 00:41:21,479 Physical adaptations that, along with those simple stone tools, 484 00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:25,680 helped them survive here for hundreds of thousands of years. 485 00:41:35,760 --> 00:41:38,399 - You can see, it's like layers of cake. - Yes. 486 00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:40,400 So every period has left a layer. 487 00:41:41,680 --> 00:41:44,559 So this is like a snapshot in time, telling us 488 00:41:44,560 --> 00:41:47,000 a lot about different periods. 489 00:41:55,680 --> 00:41:58,119 That's basically flow from volcanic eruption? 490 00:41:58,120 --> 00:41:59,160 Yeah. 491 00:42:11,080 --> 00:42:12,200 Mm-hm. 492 00:42:17,440 --> 00:42:18,600 Right. 493 00:42:30,560 --> 00:42:32,040 Right. 494 00:42:37,960 --> 00:42:39,160 So Homo sapiens. 495 00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:50,759 That's really significant. 496 00:42:50,760 --> 00:42:53,039 So the pyroclastic flow is when you have the gas 497 00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:55,199 and material that comes from a volcanic eruption, 498 00:42:55,200 --> 00:42:57,519 and really, I mean, that would just be quite destructive. 499 00:42:57,520 --> 00:42:58,760 Yeah. 500 00:43:12,680 --> 00:43:16,159 We don't think that that final eruption alone caused 501 00:43:16,160 --> 00:43:18,239 the extinction of the hobbits. 502 00:43:18,240 --> 00:43:21,639 It would have been a catastrophic event here at the cave, 503 00:43:21,640 --> 00:43:25,000 but we don't know how it affected the rest of the island. 504 00:43:27,080 --> 00:43:30,479 What we do know is that this shows the time of the hobbits here 505 00:43:30,480 --> 00:43:32,800 was coming to an end. 506 00:43:35,960 --> 00:43:38,839 So you're looking at actually quite a different world down there, 507 00:43:38,840 --> 00:43:40,960 - to up there. Yeah. - Exactly, yes, exactly. 508 00:43:56,920 --> 00:44:00,440 This tiny island has been home to two species of human. 509 00:44:07,440 --> 00:44:09,040 One remains to this day. 510 00:44:10,400 --> 00:44:11,960 One vanished long ago. 511 00:44:25,920 --> 00:44:30,640 It is wonderful to imagine what this place was like before all of this. 512 00:44:32,800 --> 00:44:36,879 Thousands of years before our ancestors, you had these 513 00:44:36,880 --> 00:44:41,639 miniature elephant-like creatures who wandered open grasslands. 514 00:44:41,640 --> 00:44:47,159 You had actual dragons, the Komodo dragons, who still exist. 515 00:44:47,160 --> 00:44:52,679 And then giant marabou storks - storks that were carnivorous, 516 00:44:52,680 --> 00:44:55,919 that were my height or taller, and could fly. 517 00:44:55,920 --> 00:44:58,079 It was like a fantasy island. 518 00:44:58,080 --> 00:44:59,559 And amongst all of it, 519 00:44:59,560 --> 00:45:04,840 there were these humans who were tiny, who came up to about my hip. 520 00:45:07,640 --> 00:45:10,959 And those hobbits lived here on this island for a staggering 521 00:45:10,960 --> 00:45:16,759 length of time, potentially for more than 700,000 years, 522 00:45:16,760 --> 00:45:20,240 longer than we've existed as a species. 523 00:45:22,840 --> 00:45:26,159 And yet, there is this twist, because so far, 524 00:45:26,160 --> 00:45:30,199 we have found no evidence of them past these shores. 525 00:45:30,200 --> 00:45:35,000 Their whole story plays out only on this island of Flores. 526 00:45:39,480 --> 00:45:42,759 Our own species, in just a fraction of that time, 527 00:45:42,760 --> 00:45:47,480 was able to spread across a huge portion of the globe. 528 00:45:57,480 --> 00:46:02,159 Around 50,000 years ago, the climate here became warmer and drier, 529 00:46:02,160 --> 00:46:04,320 changing the environment. 530 00:46:06,960 --> 00:46:11,760 At the same time, those violent volcanic eruptions also struck. 531 00:46:21,360 --> 00:46:25,279 Whatever the reason, it meant that Homo floresiensis faced not 532 00:46:25,280 --> 00:46:28,599 just change, but rapid change. 533 00:46:28,600 --> 00:46:32,239 That meant that their physiology, their physical adaptations, 534 00:46:32,240 --> 00:46:36,959 that for so long had been a benefit, were now a trap. 535 00:46:36,960 --> 00:46:40,399 They were being left behind, because it's actually incredibly 536 00:46:40,400 --> 00:46:45,559 difficult to rapidly evolve your way out of a sudden crisis. 537 00:46:45,560 --> 00:46:49,839 And they couldn't behaviourally adapt to this change either. 538 00:46:49,840 --> 00:46:53,119 Nor could they, say, escape and move to another island. 539 00:46:53,120 --> 00:46:58,800 And so these wonderful, fantastic relatives of ours vanished forever. 540 00:46:59,800 --> 00:47:03,919 And in their place, Homo sapiens appeared, making this island, 541 00:47:03,920 --> 00:47:06,840 like so many places, their home. 542 00:47:15,880 --> 00:47:20,640 So far, we've found no evidence that our two species overlapped. 543 00:47:27,320 --> 00:47:32,239 But for many, the final factor in the hobbit's extinction 544 00:47:32,240 --> 00:47:34,200 is likely our sudden arrival. 545 00:47:39,480 --> 00:47:41,359 The hobbit simply couldn't compete 546 00:47:41,360 --> 00:47:43,600 with this highly adaptable newcomer... 547 00:47:46,440 --> 00:47:49,399 ..a species able to change its behaviour 548 00:47:49,400 --> 00:47:52,640 to suit almost any environment and condition. 549 00:47:56,520 --> 00:48:01,400 The very characteristics driving our continuing spread across the globe. 550 00:48:10,600 --> 00:48:13,399 As we spread further and further away from Africa, 551 00:48:13,400 --> 00:48:15,239 entering into brand-new environments 552 00:48:15,240 --> 00:48:18,599 that we had never experienced before, 553 00:48:18,600 --> 00:48:22,679 we're not just surviving in these places, 554 00:48:22,680 --> 00:48:25,999 we're actually setting down roots. 555 00:48:26,000 --> 00:48:29,040 And roots that would last us till this very day. 556 00:48:36,440 --> 00:48:39,000 There was one last part of this journey to go. 557 00:48:46,320 --> 00:48:51,360 We set out on a path no other human species had travelled... 558 00:48:54,360 --> 00:48:56,519 ..perhaps following tantalising hints 559 00:48:56,520 --> 00:48:58,480 that there was more land to explore. 560 00:49:02,080 --> 00:49:07,440 Clouds on the horizon, returning flights of birds... 561 00:49:09,080 --> 00:49:13,879 ..or maybe something much more instinctive that inspired, 562 00:49:13,880 --> 00:49:21,319 we think, dozens of families to strike out on a voyage that 563 00:49:21,320 --> 00:49:23,280 would carry them to a new continent... 564 00:49:26,040 --> 00:49:27,160 ..Australia. 565 00:49:33,960 --> 00:49:36,599 Now, these were people who were comfortable on the water, 566 00:49:36,600 --> 00:49:39,079 they were going from island to island, 567 00:49:39,080 --> 00:49:41,999 but Australia was something different. 568 00:49:42,000 --> 00:49:45,799 We're talking about a journey that was up to 100km, 569 00:49:45,800 --> 00:49:48,399 60 miles. 570 00:49:48,400 --> 00:49:51,799 That's days and nights on the open ocean, 571 00:49:51,800 --> 00:49:57,039 probably in something as basic as a raft that was perhaps being 572 00:49:57,040 --> 00:50:00,080 propelled and steered with just paddles. 573 00:50:02,800 --> 00:50:08,679 Launching out into that hostile and expansive ocean, 574 00:50:08,680 --> 00:50:13,760 that would be an expedition today, let alone back then. 575 00:50:16,240 --> 00:50:18,679 When I think about the risk involved, 576 00:50:18,680 --> 00:50:24,960 when I think about the emptiness, it is just absolutely astonishing. 577 00:50:41,760 --> 00:50:44,919 The islands of Indonesia were another waypoint 578 00:50:44,920 --> 00:50:46,320 in our ongoing journey. 579 00:50:51,880 --> 00:50:56,520 Our unique adaptability that helped us cross the harsh deserts... 580 00:50:58,160 --> 00:51:00,760 ..and break through the barrier of the rainforest... 581 00:51:05,560 --> 00:51:09,440 ..now carried us practically to the ends of the Earth. 582 00:51:11,360 --> 00:51:16,520 To Australia, around 9,000 miles from where we began. 583 00:51:19,400 --> 00:51:22,760 Which does beg the question, what kept driving us on... 584 00:51:24,720 --> 00:51:28,920 ..ultimately inspiring us to take on the dangers of the open ocean? 585 00:51:32,680 --> 00:51:35,800 It's true that there will often have been a push. 586 00:51:36,920 --> 00:51:39,679 The simple need to find new resources 587 00:51:39,680 --> 00:51:42,080 for our expanding population. 588 00:51:45,240 --> 00:51:49,159 But I would argue that that is not the full explanation, 589 00:51:49,160 --> 00:51:52,559 that this is the most intangible part of the story. 590 00:51:52,560 --> 00:51:56,039 See, these people, in my opinion, were just like us, 591 00:51:56,040 --> 00:51:59,080 so they had the same fears and hopes for their families. 592 00:52:01,760 --> 00:52:03,719 We are clearly the explorer species. 593 00:52:03,720 --> 00:52:05,760 I think that is beyond a doubt. 594 00:52:07,760 --> 00:52:09,399 And, as a result, 595 00:52:09,400 --> 00:52:13,720 we have been able to take on things that seem absolutely impossible. 596 00:52:16,040 --> 00:52:19,239 In that desire to understand what was out there, 597 00:52:19,240 --> 00:52:22,719 in the thrill and excitement of understanding the unknown, 598 00:52:22,720 --> 00:52:26,559 and the willingness to take risk to know it. 599 00:52:26,560 --> 00:52:29,639 See, wanderlust, creativity 600 00:52:29,640 --> 00:52:34,119 and the imagination required to put yourself in a different place, 601 00:52:34,120 --> 00:52:40,560 into a different future and world, I think that is fundamentally us. 602 00:53:14,640 --> 00:53:20,839 We chart the spread of Homo sapiens into the expanses of Europe 603 00:53:20,840 --> 00:53:26,879 as our species struggles to survive in the grip of a cruel Ice Age 604 00:53:26,880 --> 00:53:32,760 and comes face-to-face with another sophisticated species of human... 605 00:53:34,640 --> 00:53:39,360 ..the Neanderthals, who had long mastered life in these cold lands. 606 00:53:51,640 --> 00:53:55,639 In this episode, we filmed at a place I've long dreamt of visiting, 607 00:53:55,640 --> 00:53:59,839 one of the most important human archaeological sites of all, 608 00:53:59,840 --> 00:54:01,280 Liang Bua cave... 609 00:54:03,000 --> 00:54:05,959 ..where scientists are still trying to solve the many mysteries 610 00:54:05,960 --> 00:54:09,840 surrounding the hobbits, the ancient humans that lived here. 611 00:54:11,520 --> 00:54:14,439 In 2004, their discovery sent shock waves through 612 00:54:14,440 --> 00:54:16,080 the scientific community. 613 00:54:18,640 --> 00:54:22,560 So, the moment the paper's dropped, it was massive. 614 00:54:24,880 --> 00:54:26,119 It was all over the news. 615 00:54:26,120 --> 00:54:27,759 It was all over the internet. 616 00:54:27,760 --> 00:54:29,519 Everyone was talking about this tiny, 617 00:54:29,520 --> 00:54:31,360 unexpected hobbit from Indonesia. 618 00:54:33,680 --> 00:54:37,079 Paige has known Thomas and the team since 2017, 619 00:54:37,080 --> 00:54:38,840 documenting their research. 620 00:54:40,440 --> 00:54:42,679 Like many scientific breakthroughs, 621 00:54:42,680 --> 00:54:46,240 the initial discovery created intense controversy. 622 00:54:48,200 --> 00:54:50,319 The conferences got extremely heated. 623 00:54:50,320 --> 00:54:53,839 Sometimes there would be hobbit sessions where within the same 624 00:54:53,840 --> 00:54:57,479 session, you would have a few talks would be sort of pro hobbit - 625 00:54:57,480 --> 00:55:00,639 so, "This is a new species, this is really exciting, 626 00:55:00,640 --> 00:55:02,599 this is changing a lot of what we thought we knew 627 00:55:02,600 --> 00:55:03,759 about human evolution" - 628 00:55:03,760 --> 00:55:05,039 and then in the same session, 629 00:55:05,040 --> 00:55:06,599 you would have people that are saying, 630 00:55:06,600 --> 00:55:08,159 "This is the biggest mistake 631 00:55:08,160 --> 00:55:10,800 "that human evolution scientists have ever made." 632 00:55:13,360 --> 00:55:16,599 Many argued that this was not a new species, 633 00:55:16,600 --> 00:55:21,759 but a Homo sapiens suffering from an illness that caused its small 634 00:55:21,760 --> 00:55:23,800 physical features and brain size. 635 00:55:25,280 --> 00:55:30,679 Eventually that was discounted, and Homo floresiensis was recognised 636 00:55:30,680 --> 00:55:37,000 as a new species of human - raising, if anything, even more questions. 637 00:55:38,560 --> 00:55:40,639 We still don't know, for example, 638 00:55:40,640 --> 00:55:43,519 where they came from or who they're closely related to. 639 00:55:43,520 --> 00:55:47,079 So that question of the origins of Homo floresiensis is still, 640 00:55:47,080 --> 00:55:50,560 I would say, almost completely an open one. 641 00:55:54,000 --> 00:55:56,679 It's possible they evolved from another ancient 642 00:55:56,680 --> 00:56:00,679 species of human, such as Homo erectus, 643 00:56:00,680 --> 00:56:04,080 which we know was in the area just over a million years ago. 644 00:56:05,720 --> 00:56:07,959 Perhaps carried to the island by chance, 645 00:56:07,960 --> 00:56:11,480 and then shrunk down over many years of isolation. 646 00:56:14,360 --> 00:56:17,600 But there is an even more controversial idea. 647 00:56:19,640 --> 00:56:22,119 If you look really hard at a lot of the characteristics, 648 00:56:22,120 --> 00:56:23,920 particularly below the cranium... 649 00:56:26,080 --> 00:56:28,319 ..you see that this is a creature 650 00:56:28,320 --> 00:56:31,759 that looks a lot more like some of our really ancient ancestors, 651 00:56:31,760 --> 00:56:34,360 more than two million years old, in Africa. 652 00:56:36,480 --> 00:56:39,839 And so maybe there was an exodus out of Africa a million years 653 00:56:39,840 --> 00:56:41,720 before we thought there was. 654 00:56:44,160 --> 00:56:46,280 This current dig might reveal the answer. 655 00:56:47,640 --> 00:56:50,639 With help from the Max Planck Institute in Germany, 656 00:56:50,640 --> 00:56:54,600 researchers are trying to collect fragments of hobbit DNA. 657 00:56:56,240 --> 00:56:59,599 Ancient DNA is really helpful at really laying out 658 00:56:59,600 --> 00:57:04,039 relationships for us between different species across time. 659 00:57:04,040 --> 00:57:07,839 And so, because of the way that mutations accumulate over time, 660 00:57:07,840 --> 00:57:10,399 it allows us to kind of work backwards 661 00:57:10,400 --> 00:57:13,680 and trace back when some of those lineages would have split. 662 00:57:14,920 --> 00:57:18,039 Homo floresiensis, and whoever their closest ancestor is, 663 00:57:18,040 --> 00:57:20,839 which is not a question we can answer until we kind of 664 00:57:20,840 --> 00:57:22,440 have some of that information. 665 00:57:24,480 --> 00:57:29,800 The problem is successfully finding hobbit DNA will not be easy. 666 00:57:31,600 --> 00:57:36,239 Normally it would be impossible to recover DNA from a situation 667 00:57:36,240 --> 00:57:38,159 where it's this hot. 668 00:57:38,160 --> 00:57:39,440 It's just too difficult. 669 00:57:40,800 --> 00:57:43,519 DNA degrades really rapidly, and other things move in 670 00:57:43,520 --> 00:57:46,560 and muddy up the signal, like bacteria and other things. 671 00:57:47,840 --> 00:57:49,519 But in this cave in particular, 672 00:57:49,520 --> 00:57:53,879 it is at a slightly higher altitude than a lot of Indonesia is, 673 00:57:53,880 --> 00:57:55,479 it's right up in the mountains, 674 00:57:55,480 --> 00:57:59,239 and so it is a little bit cooler than most equatorial areas. 675 00:57:59,240 --> 00:58:02,599 And so there is a little bit of hope that we might be able to 676 00:58:02,600 --> 00:58:04,920 get a little bit of a signal from the species. 677 00:58:07,400 --> 00:58:11,800 If successful, we might finally solve the mystery of the hobbit. 678 00:58:13,360 --> 00:58:16,879 Whatever happens, Homo floresiensis will remain one of the most 679 00:58:16,880 --> 00:58:22,960 important and unexpected discoveries of recent history. 680 00:58:23,305 --> 00:59:23,699 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm