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For 270,000 years,
our species, Homo sapiens,
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00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:19,760
lived in a world inhabited
by other types of human.
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We hunted and foraged for food,
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00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:30,160
alongside many
of our human relatives.
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00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:37,240
But one by one,
we out-survived them...
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00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:44,320
..and spread across the planet
as small bands of nomads...
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..until we'd reached
almost every corner of the globe.
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But a great landmass
still evaded us.
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The Americas.
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As we entered this new world,
we would face ferocious predators...
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..and towering giants.
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MAMMOTHS BELLOW
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But how we took on
these challenges...
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..and the ways
we began to tame nature
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00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:36,760
in our journey
through the Americas...
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..would set us on a path
to how we live today.
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It's a chapter of our story
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that begins in one of the coldest
and most dangerous times
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humans have ever known.
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{\an8}At the height of the last Ice Age,
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a time when sea levels
were lower than today,
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people were spreading
from East Asia
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into a place
that no longer exists.
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A vast land bridge called Beringia.
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WIND HOWLS
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And in this frozen north,
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small groups of travellers
dispersed ever eastward...
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..and found themselves
stepping into a new land.
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If you were asked to
conjure up in your mind
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a world that was magical,
that was pristine, that was primal,
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you'd imagine something like this.
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The northwest coast of America
absolutely takes your breath away.
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We don't exactly know when humans
first arrived in North America...
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..but many archaeologists believe
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it was sometime
around 20,000 years ago.
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A time when this would have been
a challenging place to live.
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They were here at one of the coldest
moments Homo sapiens had ever known.
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And the landscape
would have looked so different.
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There would have been
very few trees.
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And, as far as the eye could see,
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there would have been
barren, icy rock.
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They knew how to survive
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in the barren lands of Beringia
that they'd come from.
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But their new environment
was different in a few crucial ways.
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The northern half of this continent
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was covered
in a vast, towering ice sheet.
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From here in the northwest,
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this wall of ice blocked routes
into the deep interior...
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..largely confining people to
the ice-free land nearer the coast.
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00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:30,080
WAVES CRASH
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All that's left from their time here
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are footprints, stone tools,
and animal bones.
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Now, we know that they sometimes
would have hunted seal,
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they would have eaten fish,
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they would have eaten seabirds
if they could catch them.
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00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:55,760
GULLS CRY
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Only tiny fragments
of evidence remain...
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{\an8}SLIDE PROJECTOR CLICKS
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{\an8}..that hint at how they survived.
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And whilst this northwest coast
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offered them steady
but limited sustenance,
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the strip of land
between the shore and the ice sheets
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promised new opportunities
to find food...
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..but also hid
unexpected new dangers.
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Oof.
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This is a now-extinct predator,
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and it would have roamed
these parts in the northwest
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when the first people
arrived in the Americas,
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and they actually call it
the short-faced bear.
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And there is nothing short
about this bear.
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When it stood on its hind legs,
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it would have been
about 11, 12 feet tall.
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That's about four metres.
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And so it would have
made the grizzly bear look...
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..actually somewhat manageable.
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And then look at these teeth,
look at these canines.
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The stuff that nightmares
are made of.
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And when it bumped into humans...
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..it must have been
absolutely terrifying.
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And just like those humans,
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these bears, too,
would have been hungry.
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But the early people
of the northwest
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did not run from the monsters
that roamed this land.
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Instead, it seems,
they went on the offensive.
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Signs of their bravery remain
in caves along the Canadian coast.
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Here, archaeologists sift through
the muddy layers of time...
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..to find out more about the risks
these early people took to survive.
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- You know when people
talk about archaeology? - Yes.
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At the back of a cave,
digging mud is...
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..is... This is the hard stuff.
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{\an8}One thing that has been found
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{\an8}in a number of caves
on the northwest coast
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{\an8}is, er...spear points
in association with bear bones.
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- Yeah. - And these date
as far back as 13,000 years. - Mm.
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00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:17,439
So is this
one of these spear points?
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This is a fragment of a spear point
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- that was found in a cave
not too far from here. - Yeah.
98
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We have uncovered a bone
in the wall of this unit.
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And it's, er,
20 centimetres below the surface.
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- And, er, so I'm going to pull it and
we'll see if it moves. - All right.
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And we don't know what species it is
or what bit of bone it is?
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- Er, there's not enough here
to know for sure. - Yeah.
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- But it is a pretty big mammal,
for certain. - Oh, look at that.
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Oh, it's not ending.
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THEY CHUCKLE
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Just make sure it slides out.
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- Ah, it's a rib, isn't it? Is it?
- It looks like a rib. - Yeah. - Yeah.
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So that could be a bear rib.
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It's probably most likely
what it is, cos it's quite robust.
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How amazing.
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What age do you think it is?
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- Well, we have some other samples
from above where this bone is. - Yeah.
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And they're coming back,
er, around 14,000 years old.
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- OK. So it's old. - So it could be
the same age or older. - Yeah.
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You know, one of the most wonderful
things about archaeology
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is that sometimes
you uncover something
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that hasn't seen the light of day
in thousands of years.
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And in this case,
well, maybe 14,000 years.
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Well, we're interested in where
bears were hunted in the past.
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And in the winter,
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when there's... There's not
as many resources around
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and people are feeling a bit hungry,
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knowing where there is a bear den
is quite a valuable thing,
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cos you can come up there
and dispatch the bear.
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You'll have a load of meat, fur,
as well as bones.
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{\an8}One theory of how they hunted bears
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{\an8}would have meant
getting perilously close.
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Essentially, a hunter would
go with a party to a cave,
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smoke the bear out of the cave,
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and entice that bear
to attack a single hunter.
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That hunter would be armed
with a bracing spear.
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A bear would come, er,
to take the hunter up in a bear hug,
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- which is a common thing
that they do. - Yeah.
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And the idea is a bear
would take that hunter
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and cru, er... essentially
give him a good crushing.
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The hunter, at the same time,
would brace the spear on the ground
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and aim it at the bear's heart.
138
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- And so essentially the bear
would take... - Oh...
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..the hunter
and the spear into the bear hug,
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thereby spearing itself
through the heart.
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A successful bear hunt could have
meant food through the winter.
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But not every hunter survived.
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This is the bone cast
of the oldest adult
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to have been found along this coast.
They were born 10,000 years ago.
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And this individual has been
given a name - Shuka Kaa.
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And there's so much
we don't know about this person.
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We don't know
about their family life.
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We don't know if they had children.
149
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But the amazing thing about bones
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is that they can tell a story
if you know how to read them.
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We know that this individual
was a male.
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We can tell that
from various features,
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like the squareness here
of the chin,
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like the back of the mandible,
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like the angle here on the pelvis.
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On a female, you would typically
expect that angle to be much wider.
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And it's kind of sad
158
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because you can also tell quite
a tragic story on the bones as well.
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If you notice here -
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that is a puncture wound,
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and it fits quite well
with the canine of a bear.
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And so we think that this individual
possibly met their demise
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because they were hunting for bears.
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The dangers early humans faced down
in order to survive
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are hard to imagine now.
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But their precarious relationship
with this unforgiving land
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had begun to shift...
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..thanks partly
to a surprising form of help.
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WOLVES CHATTER
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By hunting in packs,
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wolves can bring down prey
far larger than themselves.
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A person, especially on their own,
would be highly vulnerable.
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Good girl. Yeah.
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It's unusual to have them all
just around, hey?
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OK, come on. Let's go.
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Wolves are, and always have been,
wild animals.
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- Shelley,
am I able to come a bit closer? - Yep.
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I think the question is, how close?
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It's funny,
I can feel it in my shoulders.
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My shoulders are a little bit tense.
181
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But, given time, wolves are able
to habituate to humans.
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Hello.
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WHISPERING: Hello.
184
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From around 40,000 years ago,
probably in Siberia,
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before humans had even reached
North America,
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the threat they faced from wolves
187
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began to transform
into something different.
188
00:16:06,011 --> 00:16:10,119
Now, we're not exactly
sure of the details,
189
00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:12,119
but it might have gone
something like this.
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Wolves would gather
around human campsites.
191
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Now, at first,
maybe humans were terrified.
192
00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:20,999
Maybe they thought
that they wanted to eat them.
193
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But actually, some of those wolves
weren't interested in that at all -
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they were looking for scraps.
195
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And as they were doing that,
196
00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:32,639
maybe they started
fending off other predators
197
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and protecting
our combined territory.
198
00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:39,759
And because of this,
humans started tolerating
199
00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:42,239
some of the least aggressive,
some of the most docile of these.
200
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Maybe they even started
feeding them.
201
00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:50,920
We were reshaping wolves
into dogs...
202
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..and began to use them...
203
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..to guard our camps...
204
00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:03,560
..hunt prey...
205
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..and pull sleds.
206
00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:11,799
Generation after generation,
207
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we selected the most docile animals
and reared their pups...
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00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:23,479
..driving the evolution
of a cooperative behaviour
209
00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:25,200
that suited our needs.
210
00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:31,880
This marked a turning point
for the human species.
211
00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:37,759
Living with dogs helped us
hunt for food and survive.
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00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:41,719
It gave us
this much-needed edge over hunger,
213
00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:47,439
but it also marked this profound
and completely unprecedented shift
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00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:49,519
in our relationship with nature.
215
00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:51,879
Because never before
had any living thing,
216
00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:55,239
whether plant or animal,
been domesticated.
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00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:57,320
This was a complete first.
218
00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:11,479
Unbeknownst to us,
we were becoming curators of nature
219
00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:14,680
and gaining more control
over our own fate.
220
00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:21,399
But powerful forces
far beyond the control of any human
221
00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:26,120
were about to open new gateways
into the North American continent.
222
00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:33,839
And as people answered
the call of the interior,
223
00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:37,599
far beyond the mountains
and glaciers,
224
00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:42,800
they would be forced to find
entirely new ways to survive.
225
00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:59,839
A fresh wave of human innovation
would be triggered
226
00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:04,920
around 15,000 years ago,
when the climate began to warm.
227
00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:15,640
The ice sheets and glaciers
started to retreat.
228
00:19:29,360 --> 00:19:32,519
And as they did,
the last major barrier
229
00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:35,480
blocking routes
into the continent fell.
230
00:19:56,531 --> 00:20:01,239
{\an8}The first people
to enter into the Americas
231
00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:03,479
{\an8}were coastal people
in the northwest,
232
00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:06,399
{\an8}but it's likely
that they eventually travelled
233
00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:12,239
{\an8}incredibly rapidly down south,
all the way to Central America
234
00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:17,199
{\an8}and then carried on all the way
to the tip of South America.
235
00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:20,399
Because remember -
they were coastal people.
236
00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:23,600
It's likely that they were using
some kind of seafaring method.
237
00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:26,199
So, very early on,
238
00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:29,199
some humans would have started
to enter the continent
239
00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:30,720
from along this sea route.
240
00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:38,079
But when the ice sheets
eventually started to retreat,
241
00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:40,680
many new routes
would have opened up.
242
00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:49,239
More people started travelling
into the interior of the country
243
00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:53,320
and finding
these completely new landscapes.
244
00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:02,119
Some of the first humans
to reach the interior
245
00:21:02,120 --> 00:21:04,720
left traces here in New Mexico.
246
00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:07,840
{\an8}SLIDE PROJECTOR CLICKS
247
00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:10,600
{\an8}Fossilised footprints.
248
00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:16,760
{\an8}Left in the muddy shore
of an ancient lake.
249
00:21:24,681 --> 00:21:27,719
{\an8}The people who made them
250
00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:31,399
{\an8}may have been part of
one of the very earliest waves
251
00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:36,520
{\an8}of what was to become 10,000 years
of human migration inland.
252
00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:44,640
Where there is now desert,
they saw rich grasslands.
253
00:21:49,360 --> 00:21:53,079
The fossilised footprints
of these continental pioneers
254
00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:57,480
reveal what kind of a world
they'd stepped into.
255
00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:02,199
These are the footprints
of an actual human being
256
00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:05,679
who stood basically
where I'm standing.
257
00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:08,399
And we think she was a female.
258
00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:10,599
And if you look closely
at those footprints,
259
00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:13,359
what you see is that, at times,
the footprints,
260
00:22:13,360 --> 00:22:15,880
they get broader
and they slip a little in the mud.
261
00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:25,640
SLIDE PROJECTOR CLICKS
262
00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:29,679
{\an8}And that's because
263
00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:31,959
{\an8}she was carrying a child.
264
00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:35,000
Sometimes on this hip
and sometimes on this hip.
265
00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:52,199
Then at other times,
she stopped and put the child down,
266
00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:54,760
and you end up
with two sets of footprints.
267
00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:00,000
SLIDE PROJECTOR CLICKS
268
00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:07,639
And she walked
for at least a kilometre north,
269
00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:09,839
and then heads back south.
270
00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:14,279
I just can't think of anything
more...more human
271
00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:17,559
than a mother and a child
walking together,
272
00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:20,439
and a mother carrying her child.
273
00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:23,079
And it's interesting,
cos this whole journey
274
00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:28,439
has been us tracing the footsteps
of our ancient ancestors.
275
00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:31,840
And in a moment like this,
that's actually literal.
276
00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:49,079
Archaeologists are finding
more of these footprints,
277
00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:53,759
left by a female or possibly an
adolescent male carrying a child,
278
00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:56,560
hidden beneath
the hard, packed sand.
279
00:23:58,360 --> 00:24:02,999
It's allowing us to piece together
an ever more detailed snapshot
280
00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:06,440
of what happened
in the moments captured here.
281
00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:11,330
- Let's see if we can define
the footprint a little bit. - Yeah.
282
00:24:12,120 --> 00:24:15,239
It's always scary
when you start these things.
283
00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:16,290
You've got to...
284
00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:18,799
..take them out.
285
00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:21,479
There's a subtle difference
between the soil in the print...
286
00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:25,679
It's looser, it's a little damp,
so it's going to smear a bit today,
287
00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:27,160
but it will come out.
288
00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:33,120
You see it so...
289
00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:35,639
..so clearly.
290
00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:38,679
OK. So how have you...?
So you've just traced along the...?
291
00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:43,759
{\an8}I've just... I've literally
just broken the surface
292
00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:46,079
{\an8}- with the dental pick. - Yeah.
293
00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:48,239
And then this particular example
294
00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:51,239
- just brushes out with a little bit
of encouragement. - Yeah.
295
00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:56,239
- And you can see the contrast
between the white... - Yeah.
296
00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:59,479
- ..and the fill in there.
I'm removing the... - Wow.
297
00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:01,960
..the sediment
that's blown into the footprint.
298
00:25:01,961 --> 00:25:05,519
So we think she was walking
quite quickly, then?
299
00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:09,959
Yeah, she's walking at about 1.6,
something like, metres per second.
300
00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:15,039
- Wow. - And, and a comfortable, normal
sort of walk is about 1.3 to 1.5.
301
00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:19,239
So she, she's moving. And this
surface is wet, it's slippy.
302
00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:21,879
We do know that
this was a mission.
303
00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:23,039
They were on a mission.
304
00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:26,519
They were moving quickly at speed,
for whatever reason,
305
00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:29,520
and the footprint, um,
tells that story.
306
00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:39,600
Why that person was hurrying might
be explained by evidence nearby.
307
00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:52,080
Other footprints, each one
around two feet in diameter...
308
00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:57,960
..left by mammoths.
309
00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:06,879
And crisscrossing the footprints
of the mother and child
310
00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:09,840
are the tracks
of a giant ground sloth.
311
00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:18,239
Out in the open,
with dangerous animals close by,
312
00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:23,200
the mother was perhaps seeking
safety for herself and her child.
313
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:29,959
This landscape would have been
filled with mammoth and mastodon
314
00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:34,079
and sabre-toothed cats -
just huge animals.
315
00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:36,119
They would have dwarfed us.
316
00:26:36,120 --> 00:26:38,879
The mammoth alone would stand
at about four metres high,
317
00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:42,079
that's about 13 feet,
at the shoulders,
318
00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:44,720
and the mastodon
were only slightly smaller.
319
00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:50,120
For the humans here,
this was their new world.
320
00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:54,319
{\an8}The early people of the plains
321
00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:57,400
{\an8}would have given
these prehistoric mammals...
322
00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:00,160
{\an8}..a wide berth.
323
00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:04,960
{\an8}SLIDE PROJECTOR CLICKS
324
00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:13,879
{\an8}But they must have realised
325
00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:17,080
{\an8}that those animals
also represented opportunity.
326
00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:25,200
That these grazing giants
could provide them with food...
327
00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:32,000
..if they could find a way
to bring them down.
328
00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:38,719
We know they eventually found
a way to do this
329
00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:41,599
because they left a massive clue.
330
00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:43,600
{\an8}SLIDE PROJECTOR CLICKS
331
00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:48,920
{\an8}Skeletons of this megafauna.
332
00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:55,400
{\an8}Some clearly killed by humans.
333
00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:00,399
Humans would have exploited
some megafauna,
334
00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:03,119
some large land animals
on the coast,
335
00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:05,599
but it was
once they hit the interior
336
00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:09,279
that they saw them
on a scale like something else,
337
00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:12,800
in terms of their sheer numbers,
in terms of their diversity.
338
00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:21,280
{\an8}But how on earth
could people hunt these giants?
339
00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:28,399
BIRD CALLS
340
00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:30,440
CRICKETS CHIRP
341
00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:37,799
One animal still exists
which gives us a sense
342
00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:40,400
of just how difficult
that would have been.
343
00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:47,520
RUMBLING
344
00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:56,600
HOOFBEATS RUMBLE
345
00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:06,439
This beast can sprint
at up to 40mph.
346
00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:09,360
The male's horns
are over two feet long.
347
00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:13,039
And, 14,000 years ago,
348
00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:17,799
these bison had an even bigger
prehistoric relative
349
00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:20,120
roaming these parts.
350
00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:27,080
WHISPERING: Absolutely incredible,
but they're also so...
351
00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:32,639
..big.
They're about one tonne in size.
352
00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:36,719
And the giant bison,
the one that's now extinct,
353
00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:38,439
but would have been around
back then,
354
00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:42,559
was up to 50... 50% bigger.
355
00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:46,199
HOOFBEATS RUMBLE, BISON SNORT
356
00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:47,639
It's one of those things, I think -
357
00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:50,359
today, you can romanticise
the idea of these hunts
358
00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:53,599
and you think about them
as some kind of,
359
00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:57,079
you know,
adrenaline-filled adventure,
360
00:29:57,080 --> 00:30:00,639
but it's harder to grasp that,
actually, back then,
361
00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:04,800
it would have been filled
with fear and risk.
362
00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:13,240
Only a powerful spear thrust
could penetrate the giants' hides...
363
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:25,400
..so hunters needed to get close.
364
00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:44,760
ALARM CALL
365
00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:50,960
Many hunts ended in failure.
366
00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:58,920
They needed a technology upgrade.
367
00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:03,079
Up until this time,
368
00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:06,239
the way spear points
were attached to their shafts
369
00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:08,119
was a serious weakness.
370
00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:10,120
SLIDE PROJECTOR CLICKS
371
00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:15,880
{\an8}Spear points frequently
broke on impact...
372
00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:21,400
{\an8}..until the design was altered.
373
00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:27,039
{\an8}A subtle shift at first glance,
374
00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:30,160
{\an8}but one that would change
everything.
375
00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:33,239
This is special.
376
00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:37,199
So, it's about 18 centimetres long.
377
00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:39,439
It's pretty sharp.
378
00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:40,919
If we look at the shape,
379
00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:46,279
it's long and narrow with the
broadest point being quite low down.
380
00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:50,679
Notice also this thinning here
compared to the middle.
381
00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:53,879
It's thought that the shape might
help with the penetration of hide,
382
00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:56,959
and it's thought that this
might help
383
00:31:56,960 --> 00:31:59,640
with reducing shattering on impact.
384
00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:03,399
We call it a Clovis point,
385
00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:06,800
because it was found near Clovis
in New Mexico.
386
00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:11,519
The narrow base of the Clovis points
387
00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:16,279
allowed them to be slotted
firmly into the spear shaft,
388
00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:19,640
better absorbing the force
of impact.
389
00:32:24,721 --> 00:32:28,279
{\an8}From archaeological finds,
390
00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:33,200
{\an8}we know this new design rapidly
spread across the continent...
391
00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:43,150
{\an8}..and the technology continued
to develop.
392
00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:50,239
{\an8}Within 500 years,
these points had evolved
393
00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:52,960
{\an8}into more slender
and sharper forms...
394
00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:58,720
{\an8}..able to penetrate deeper
into prey...
395
00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:12,239
..and archaeologists think
these spear points
396
00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:15,639
were delivered
with such lethal force
397
00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:18,320
because of another
piece of technology...
398
00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:23,720
..whose use was exploding.
399
00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:41,199
So this is a replica spearhead,
400
00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:46,079
and it's been hafted
or attached on to a wooden shaft.
401
00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:50,239
So, this would have been
quite an effective weapon,
402
00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:53,079
but this is where technology
gets really interesting
403
00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:56,959
because it's thought that one of the
ways that they threw these spears
404
00:33:56,960 --> 00:33:59,239
is with a spear thrower.
405
00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:01,439
So you'd attach it to the top here,
406
00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:05,439
and then you would effectively
use it to...
407
00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:07,720
..propel the spear forward.
408
00:34:31,240 --> 00:34:36,640
At that velocity, you're more likely
to pierce the hide of an animal.
409
00:34:38,240 --> 00:34:40,159
And to me, it's...
410
00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:44,359
It's especially interesting
because what you get with this
411
00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:50,439
is the ability for female hunters
to be more effective,
412
00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:56,880
because suddenly it's not just about
strength, it's also about skill.
413
00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:08,119
The new hunting technologies
414
00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:13,080
allowed people to take down the
largest animals in their world.
415
00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:28,679
Humans had become the apex
predator of the plains,
416
00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:32,400
and now feasted on a glut of meat.
417
00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:43,280
Our hunting prowess
was shaping society here.
418
00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:53,999
This is absolutely stunning.
419
00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:57,319
It's one of the most striking
spearheads I've ever seen.
420
00:35:57,320 --> 00:36:00,959
It's... It's so well-crafted,
and it shines,
421
00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:03,719
and it looks like
it was made of glass -
422
00:36:03,720 --> 00:36:05,879
but actually, it's made of quartz,
423
00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:08,319
so it's incredibly strong
and it's sharp,
424
00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:12,919
and yet it doesn't have any signs
that it was actually ever used,
425
00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:15,759
and that, along with the fact
that it's so beautiful,
426
00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:17,999
suggests that it was ceremonial.
427
00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:20,759
Now, when you've got
an everyday object
428
00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:25,319
and it's made to look so...
so beautiful, and so striking,
429
00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:28,439
it implies that it had become
a symbol.
430
00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:31,479
We're not sure of what - perhaps
of how important hunting was,
431
00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:35,320
but perhaps of a cultural identity,
perhaps of who they were.
432
00:36:47,720 --> 00:36:51,640
Feasts began to bring different
communities together...
433
00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:56,160
..and cement social ties.
434
00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:02,800
Sharing meat fostered cooperation.
435
00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:09,440
Food was fuelling a culture.
436
00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:15,959
In the midst of this abundance,
437
00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:20,280
it must have felt
as if it would go on forever.
438
00:37:29,240 --> 00:37:31,920
But their world was changing.
439
00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:41,919
The end of the Ice Age
440
00:37:41,920 --> 00:37:45,759
that had gifted them
this warm world of plenty
441
00:37:45,760 --> 00:37:50,520
was now beginning to have an effect
they could not have foreseen.
442
00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:02,960
It's thought that melting ice at
the poles disrupted ocean currents.
443
00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:06,959
Temperatures in
the northern hemisphere
444
00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:09,960
rapidly cooled by several degrees.
445
00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:15,039
Across North America,
446
00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:19,880
the vegetation had begun to alter
in unpredictable ways.
447
00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:25,119
In some areas, trees and shrubs
448
00:38:25,120 --> 00:38:28,439
began to replace
grassland and tundra.
449
00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:29,960
SLIDE PROJECTOR CLICKS
450
00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:34,679
{\an8}Woolly mammoths could not
effectively chew or digest
451
00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:36,560
{\an8}these woodier plants...
452
00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:42,920
..and as their environment
transformed...
453
00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:48,200
..the giant herbivores dwindled.
454
00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:57,519
Over the space of just
a few hundred years,
455
00:38:57,520 --> 00:39:02,159
three-quarters of the large
animal species in North America
456
00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:06,680
became extinct, vanishing forever.
457
00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:14,439
I imagine it must have been a shock
for the early people here
458
00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:19,239
to witness the megafauna
disappearing,
459
00:39:19,240 --> 00:39:21,919
because that's what
they would have seen -
460
00:39:21,920 --> 00:39:25,119
and they're such a part of
your culture and your diet
461
00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:28,000
and your lifestyle,
and suddenly they're not.
462
00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:33,520
That... That must have been
quite difficult to comprehend.
463
00:39:34,531 --> 00:39:40,159
Now, the main cause of
the giant megafaunal extinction
464
00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:45,639
is climate change, but it's likely
that human hunting played a role,
465
00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:48,559
that it was this final nail
in the coffin -
466
00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:53,360
and so, perhaps unknowingly, we
humans tipped the balance of nature.
467
00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:03,639
The once bountiful land of giants
468
00:40:03,640 --> 00:40:06,880
had become a pile of bones.
469
00:40:09,080 --> 00:40:11,519
All the hunting technology
in the world
470
00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:15,360
could do nothing to
reverse this catastrophe.
471
00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:28,680
{\an8}The people here were plunged back
to a time before the feasts.
472
00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:39,720
With these animals gone,
how would they now find enough food?
473
00:40:43,360 --> 00:40:48,280
A clue lies in ancient holes
carved in the rock.
474
00:40:50,720 --> 00:40:52,599
People needed to branch out
475
00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:55,519
and exploit every part
of the food chain,
476
00:40:55,520 --> 00:40:59,439
all the way through to something you
probably don't think of as food -
477
00:40:59,440 --> 00:41:01,119
and that's acorns.
478
00:41:01,120 --> 00:41:05,719
Now, these are incredibly bitter
because they're full of tannic acid,
479
00:41:05,720 --> 00:41:07,159
and to get rid of some of that,
480
00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:11,599
what they would do is they would
firstly get rid of the shells,
481
00:41:11,600 --> 00:41:15,279
and then they would
grind the nuts up
482
00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:22,159
with water in the hopes of getting
rid of some of that bitterness.
483
00:41:22,160 --> 00:41:27,799
And...honestly,
acorns sound disgusting
484
00:41:27,800 --> 00:41:29,559
and they taste disgusting.
485
00:41:29,560 --> 00:41:31,479
They're still incredibly bitter -
486
00:41:31,480 --> 00:41:36,519
and yet it's likely that the flour
from these and the paste from these
487
00:41:36,520 --> 00:41:39,239
were some of the earliest
processed plant food.
488
00:41:39,240 --> 00:41:41,879
We actually have some
of the grinding stones
489
00:41:41,880 --> 00:41:44,279
preserved in
the archaeological record -
490
00:41:44,280 --> 00:41:46,639
and if you look at all this,
it seems so clever,
491
00:41:46,640 --> 00:41:49,159
it seems so inventive,
492
00:41:49,160 --> 00:41:51,839
and yet it's a lot of effort
to go to
493
00:41:51,840 --> 00:41:55,680
for what are essentially
some really unpleasant calories.
494
00:41:58,080 --> 00:42:01,280
If you were starving,
no question you'd do this...
495
00:42:02,960 --> 00:42:04,959
..and with the loss of
the megafauna,
496
00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:08,599
people's survival now hinged
on smaller game
497
00:42:08,600 --> 00:42:10,640
and foraging for plants.
498
00:42:12,640 --> 00:42:15,280
But there had to be another way.
499
00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:36,599
The solution people came up with
in the Americas
500
00:42:36,600 --> 00:42:40,320
would be found in tropical forests
to the south.
501
00:43:09,200 --> 00:43:12,599
This place, it has...
502
00:43:12,600 --> 00:43:14,999
It has real challenges.
503
00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:17,879
There are plants -
so many of them look edible,
504
00:43:17,880 --> 00:43:21,919
and yet some of them
are definitely poisonous.
505
00:43:21,920 --> 00:43:26,320
It requires a process of trial
and error to find the actual food.
506
00:43:31,720 --> 00:43:37,359
It was in a forest, archaeologists
think in present-day Mexico,
507
00:43:37,360 --> 00:43:40,839
that a momentous change took place -
508
00:43:40,840 --> 00:43:44,480
and it began with
the simplest of actions.
509
00:43:47,280 --> 00:43:50,959
Every so often, someone would have
come across a plant
510
00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:53,519
that was safe to eat,
511
00:43:53,520 --> 00:43:56,320
and would have sought out
more of it.
512
00:44:00,000 --> 00:44:04,679
An example of this
is this grass called teosinte.
513
00:44:04,680 --> 00:44:08,839
Now the seeds are
incredibly small and hard,
514
00:44:08,840 --> 00:44:11,919
but they can be ground up
into an edible flour.
515
00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:15,919
So, that same ingenuity
that humans brought to acorns,
516
00:44:15,920 --> 00:44:18,320
they were now bringing
to this grass.
517
00:44:23,640 --> 00:44:26,239
Where people found teosinte growing,
518
00:44:26,240 --> 00:44:29,520
they encouraged it
by weeding out other plants...
519
00:44:31,520 --> 00:44:33,840
..and collected the seeds for food.
520
00:44:35,160 --> 00:44:37,800
This may have continued
for centuries...
521
00:44:40,240 --> 00:44:45,399
..until one individual would have
become the first person
522
00:44:45,400 --> 00:44:49,399
in the Americas to do something
completely original
523
00:44:49,400 --> 00:44:51,760
with a teosinte seed.
524
00:45:11,880 --> 00:45:18,559
There is something so magical about
planting a seed, watering it,
525
00:45:18,560 --> 00:45:21,759
and hoping that it sprouts
526
00:45:21,760 --> 00:45:25,880
and becomes a tiny little
delicate green shoot.
527
00:45:32,400 --> 00:45:34,959
And there would have been somebody
528
00:45:34,960 --> 00:45:37,440
who planted the very,
very first seed...
529
00:45:37,441 --> 00:45:40,879
..and they would have -
they would have known
530
00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:44,799
that it would require
effort and care
531
00:45:44,800 --> 00:45:46,319
and protection from herbivores
532
00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:48,919
if it was to ever become
something big enough
533
00:45:48,920 --> 00:45:50,560
to feed their families with.
534
00:45:52,320 --> 00:45:57,119
And anybody who's ever had
an allotment, or a garden,
535
00:45:57,120 --> 00:46:02,000
or a balcony knows how much care
and commitment goes into it.
536
00:46:11,840 --> 00:46:15,200
This was an idea
whose time had come.
537
00:46:21,680 --> 00:46:26,199
Because humans all over the planet
started to plant seeds
538
00:46:26,200 --> 00:46:28,120
and grow them for food...
539
00:46:29,760 --> 00:46:33,320
..and it was an experiment
that began to pay off.
540
00:46:34,360 --> 00:46:38,039
Because across the world,
the people who did this
541
00:46:38,040 --> 00:46:44,159
were creating a more dependable way
of feeding their families,
542
00:46:44,160 --> 00:46:48,480
and so triggered a pivotal moment
for our species.
543
00:46:52,720 --> 00:46:55,799
In different places
all over the Earth,
544
00:46:55,800 --> 00:46:59,160
humans were inventing farming.
545
00:47:01,400 --> 00:47:04,519
Probably first
around 10,000 years ago,
546
00:47:04,520 --> 00:47:07,519
in the Fertile Crescent
of the Middle East,
547
00:47:07,520 --> 00:47:09,640
where we domesticated wheat...
548
00:47:12,320 --> 00:47:14,000
..then rice in China...
549
00:47:16,320 --> 00:47:18,760
..sugar cane in present-day
New Guinea.
550
00:47:21,920 --> 00:47:24,719
Farming emerged independently
551
00:47:24,720 --> 00:47:27,720
in separate locations
across the globe...
552
00:47:29,640 --> 00:47:33,840
..Central and South America
among the first.
553
00:47:38,520 --> 00:47:41,559
Here, people created
what would become
554
00:47:41,560 --> 00:47:45,199
one of the three most important
staple crops
555
00:47:45,200 --> 00:47:47,680
for feeding the world...
556
00:47:51,040 --> 00:47:55,160
..because as the early farmers
planted and harvested teosinte...
557
00:47:56,960 --> 00:48:01,000
..they began to shape it
into a new kind of plant.
558
00:48:04,280 --> 00:48:08,839
Every so often, a genetic mutation
would arise in teosinte
559
00:48:08,840 --> 00:48:12,199
that would actually be
quite beneficial for humans -
560
00:48:12,200 --> 00:48:14,919
that would give rise to, say,
larger seeds,
561
00:48:14,920 --> 00:48:17,599
or more seeds, or sweeter seeds -
562
00:48:17,600 --> 00:48:19,599
and, perhaps most important of all,
563
00:48:19,600 --> 00:48:22,279
would get rid of the hard
seed covering,
564
00:48:22,280 --> 00:48:26,119
and humans started selecting
for these better varieties,
565
00:48:26,120 --> 00:48:30,759
and over thousands of years,
they created something new,
566
00:48:30,760 --> 00:48:34,679
that looked very different
from teosinte -
567
00:48:34,680 --> 00:48:37,360
because they created maize.
568
00:48:38,880 --> 00:48:41,959
It was no longer a wild plant.
569
00:48:41,960 --> 00:48:45,040
It was now a domesticated crop.
570
00:48:53,160 --> 00:48:56,839
The invention of farming
was to set in motion a change
571
00:48:56,840 --> 00:49:00,560
that would go far beyond
how we fed ourselves.
572
00:49:05,320 --> 00:49:11,399
The clue is in that word, "plant" -
to be put down in one place -
573
00:49:11,400 --> 00:49:14,839
and just like the plants
that they grew,
574
00:49:14,840 --> 00:49:18,559
those early farmers
would have had to have adopted
575
00:49:18,560 --> 00:49:20,759
a very similar lifestyle.
576
00:49:20,760 --> 00:49:24,039
Because you couldn't
exactly keep moving
577
00:49:24,040 --> 00:49:26,759
if you had to tend to your crops,
578
00:49:26,760 --> 00:49:31,919
and so, for the very first time
since the birth of Homo sapiens,
579
00:49:31,920 --> 00:49:36,239
we were no longer
a completely nomadic species.
580
00:49:36,240 --> 00:49:41,880
More and more of us were
quite literally putting down roots.
581
00:49:47,080 --> 00:49:52,360
Farming supercharged our capacity
to fuel human activity...
582
00:49:54,040 --> 00:49:57,120
..and what emerged
was extraordinary.
583
00:50:05,120 --> 00:50:06,799
Here in South America,
584
00:50:06,800 --> 00:50:10,479
there's a place where they began
a new way of living
585
00:50:10,480 --> 00:50:12,680
on an unprecedented scale.
586
00:50:27,840 --> 00:50:32,960
The stepped pyramids of Caral were
once lost under the desert sand.
587
00:50:39,160 --> 00:50:44,760
Archaeologists are now uncovering
a vast complex of structures.
588
00:50:56,120 --> 00:51:01,000
And what made it possible to build
these extraordinary edifices...
589
00:51:03,400 --> 00:51:06,560
..were the fields of crops
that surrounded them.
590
00:51:12,480 --> 00:51:16,920
Caral became an immense hub
for trading food.
591
00:51:20,960 --> 00:51:25,359
It represented a new path
humans could take
592
00:51:25,360 --> 00:51:28,280
towards permanence and stability...
593
00:51:32,480 --> 00:51:35,719
..but for our species
to choose that path
594
00:51:35,720 --> 00:51:38,360
was not a foregone conclusion.
595
00:51:51,640 --> 00:51:53,679
I just can't help but think,
596
00:51:53,680 --> 00:51:55,559
what would it have been like
597
00:51:55,560 --> 00:51:59,759
for people visiting it
for the first time back then?
598
00:51:59,760 --> 00:52:03,759
Because they would have never
seen a city before.
599
00:52:03,760 --> 00:52:05,759
It must have been so alien to them.
600
00:52:05,760 --> 00:52:08,560
It must have looked like a place
from a different world.
601
00:52:13,160 --> 00:52:17,119
This was a commitment
to a static way of life -
602
00:52:17,120 --> 00:52:20,559
and yet we don't consider
how tumultuous
603
00:52:20,560 --> 00:52:23,039
the process might have been,
604
00:52:23,040 --> 00:52:26,479
how much social upheaval
might have been involved -
605
00:52:26,480 --> 00:52:30,759
because for those who chose
to lead this life,
606
00:52:30,760 --> 00:52:34,879
it must have come with
a huge cultural shift,
607
00:52:34,880 --> 00:52:38,639
because humans were becoming
an urban species
608
00:52:38,640 --> 00:52:40,640
for the very first time.
609
00:52:49,200 --> 00:52:54,040
Humans across the planet
stood at a fork in the road.
610
00:52:55,440 --> 00:52:57,839
For almost 300,000 years,
611
00:52:57,840 --> 00:53:01,640
we had survived as nomadic
hunter-gatherers...
612
00:53:04,080 --> 00:53:05,999
..but settled lives as farmers
613
00:53:06,000 --> 00:53:10,319
promised a more reliable way
to feed ourselves
614
00:53:10,320 --> 00:53:12,440
and plan for the future.
615
00:53:25,240 --> 00:53:27,959
The choice most of our species took
616
00:53:27,960 --> 00:53:33,200
would bring dilemmas and dangers
we could never have imagined.
617
00:53:39,800 --> 00:53:43,999
In the final chapter
of our Human story,
618
00:53:44,000 --> 00:53:48,639
we begin to live together
in ever larger numbers -
619
00:53:48,640 --> 00:53:51,640
but open a Pandora's box...
620
00:53:53,560 --> 00:53:55,720
..of death and chaos...
621
00:53:57,240 --> 00:54:01,239
..as we seek ways to harness
human knowledge
622
00:54:01,240 --> 00:54:04,400
on our path to the modern world.
623
00:54:16,800 --> 00:54:21,640
{\an8}In this episode, we filmed at
a place I'd long dreamt of visiting.
624
00:54:23,000 --> 00:54:25,400
White Sands in New Mexico.
625
00:54:30,240 --> 00:54:34,840
Underneath the surface of the desert
are sets of fossilised footprints.
626
00:54:38,800 --> 00:54:43,599
They've become the subject of
some of the most ground-breaking
627
00:54:43,600 --> 00:54:48,480
but also most hotly debated
research in archaeology.
628
00:54:54,480 --> 00:54:58,319
In 2018, the discovery
of the double footprints,
629
00:54:58,320 --> 00:55:00,959
possibly a mother and child,
630
00:55:00,960 --> 00:55:05,640
revealed vivid details about
who the early people here were...
631
00:55:06,960 --> 00:55:09,400
..and what animals roamed
alongside them.
632
00:55:11,051 --> 00:55:15,639
When we first started seeing
the human prints
633
00:55:15,640 --> 00:55:17,279
walking alongside a mammoth print,
634
00:55:17,280 --> 00:55:20,159
when I'd first seen it, I was like,
"Uh, that's not possible,"
635
00:55:20,160 --> 00:55:23,279
but it takes a while
to understand what you see,
636
00:55:23,280 --> 00:55:25,960
and then you go back
and you start to understand them.
637
00:55:27,400 --> 00:55:30,599
But the prints themselves
were just the start -
638
00:55:30,600 --> 00:55:34,959
because, in 2021,
new research on their age
639
00:55:34,960 --> 00:55:38,560
sent shock waves through
the scientific world.
640
00:55:40,240 --> 00:55:43,719
There's been a lot of ideas
when people got to the Americas.
641
00:55:43,720 --> 00:55:46,519
Some of the main theories
is there's a large ice sheet
642
00:55:46,520 --> 00:55:48,959
and people weren't really able
to enter this area
643
00:55:48,960 --> 00:55:52,400
until about 14,000 years ago,
until that ice sheet melted.
644
00:55:53,840 --> 00:55:56,639
When humans first arrived
in North America,
645
00:55:56,640 --> 00:56:00,400
an ice sheet covered
the northern half of the continent.
646
00:56:01,520 --> 00:56:05,559
If no humans had been able to
penetrate the interior
647
00:56:05,560 --> 00:56:07,719
until it had melted,
648
00:56:07,720 --> 00:56:13,679
then the oldest the footprints could
possibly be is around 14,000 years -
649
00:56:13,680 --> 00:56:16,479
but the dating of the footprints
650
00:56:16,480 --> 00:56:19,560
seemed to overturn
that conventional view.
651
00:56:21,640 --> 00:56:23,959
We put in a trench at the edge
of the lakeshore
652
00:56:23,960 --> 00:56:25,399
and we're finding prints
653
00:56:25,400 --> 00:56:27,759
that were dated above
and below the prints,
654
00:56:27,760 --> 00:56:29,680
so we can see the soil chronology.
655
00:56:31,520 --> 00:56:36,039
The footprints themselves
can't be carbon dated -
656
00:56:36,040 --> 00:56:38,079
but fossilised plant seeds
657
00:56:38,080 --> 00:56:42,479
trapped in the mud
near the footprints can be,
658
00:56:42,480 --> 00:56:44,239
and carbon dating of seeds
659
00:56:44,240 --> 00:56:49,360
in the layers above and below
these footprints were explosive.
660
00:56:49,431 --> 00:56:53,639
So, we don't know exactly
how old they are,
661
00:56:53,640 --> 00:56:56,319
but we're looking at
the lake sediments,
662
00:56:56,320 --> 00:56:59,999
and what we see is there's at least
11 different layers right now,
663
00:57:00,000 --> 00:57:03,359
and those range from the top
of the sediment to the bottom,
664
00:57:03,360 --> 00:57:05,440
from 21,000 to 23,000 years old.
665
00:57:08,160 --> 00:57:11,399
The dating research suggested
the footprints
666
00:57:11,400 --> 00:57:16,560
went as far back
as 23,000 years ago.
667
00:57:18,640 --> 00:57:24,359
If true, it would mean humans
had set foot in North America
668
00:57:24,360 --> 00:57:30,120
thousands of years earlier than
many scientists had long believed.
669
00:57:33,880 --> 00:57:35,919
So, at White Sands
we see people here
670
00:57:35,920 --> 00:57:37,839
before the last glacier maximum,
671
00:57:37,840 --> 00:57:39,679
before there was these
last ice sheets,
672
00:57:39,680 --> 00:57:41,040
people were already here.
673
00:57:42,280 --> 00:57:45,239
The very early dates
are controversial.
674
00:57:45,240 --> 00:57:46,919
Further research will be needed
675
00:57:46,920 --> 00:57:51,320
to confirm how old the White Sands
footprints truly are.
676
00:57:52,960 --> 00:57:56,479
If they date to before the melting
of the ice sheets,
677
00:57:56,480 --> 00:58:00,559
did those pioneers
travel around the ice?
678
00:58:00,560 --> 00:58:02,559
Despite the debate,
679
00:58:02,560 --> 00:58:07,879
the footprints remain one of the
most important archaeological finds
680
00:58:07,880 --> 00:58:10,239
of recent history,
681
00:58:10,240 --> 00:58:14,319
with huge significance
for the entire question
682
00:58:14,320 --> 00:58:19,160
of when humans first set foot
in the Americas.
683
00:58:19,210 --> 00:58:23,760
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