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A
modern-looking skeleton
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discovered by German scientist,
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Hans Reck, in Olduvai
Gorge, Tanzania,
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in 1913, was controversially
claimed to date to
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1.15 to 1.7
million years ago.
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This made it the oldest
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anatomically-modern human
skeleton ever discovered.
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Later, carbon dating
by Reiner Protsch,
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a professor at
Frankfurt University,
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found the fossil
to be much younger.
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However, Protsch was
subsequently dismissed
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from the University,
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and some researchers
dispute his findings
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upholding the original dating.
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Over 30 miles long and
about 300 feet deep,
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Olduvai Gorge is an ancient
site in the Great Rift Valley,
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in the Eastern Serengeti
plain, Northern Tanzania.
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Deposits exposed in
the sides of the gorge
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cover a vast period,
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beginning around
2.1 million years ago
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and ending about
15,000 years ago.
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The deposits have
produced the fossil remains
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of more than 60 human ancestors,
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thus providing the most
continuous known record
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of human evolution,
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over the past 2 million years.
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The site has yielded
abundant animal fossils
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and stone artifacts
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preserved in the well-dated
stratigraphic sequence.
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Olduvai Gorge was made
famous by paleoanthropologists,
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Louis and Mary Leakey,
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who conducted
numerous digs at the site
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in the mid-20th century.
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The couple's fossil
discoveries at the site
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prove that human
beings were far older
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than had been
previously believed,
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and that human evolution
was centered in Africa
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rather than in Asia
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as earlier research
had suggested.
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00:03:35,698 --> 00:03:37,182
Long before the Leakeys,
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Olduvai first became
known to the scientific world
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in 1911, when a German
entomologist professor,
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Kattwinkle, who was
collecting butterflies in the area,
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discovered the
gorge accidentally.
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He came upon various
fossils in the gorge,
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including teeth of hipparion,
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and took them back to Berlin,
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where they stimulated
a great deal of interest.
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He gave the site
the name, Oldoway,
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later to be changed by
the English to Olduvai.
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The finds were
believed so significant
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that a German expedition
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00:04:08,524 --> 00:04:11,354
on behalf of the universities
of Berlin and Munich,
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and under the leadership of
geologist and paleontologist,
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Professor Hans Reck,
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was sent to Tanzania in 1913
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and spent three
months at Olduvai.
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The most spectacular find
from these 1913 excavations
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was a modern-looking
skeleton found embedded in rock
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on an east-facing
slope of Olduvai Gorge.
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00:04:31,788 --> 00:04:33,756
Reck claimed this
skeleton was about
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half a million years old,
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the age of the deposits in
which it had been discovered.
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00:04:39,106 --> 00:04:42,212
This was the first discovery
of prehistoric human remains
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in the gorge,
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which was to become the
scene of major discoveries
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in later years.
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With Reck's training
as a paleontologist,
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he was used to
working with fossils.
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00:04:51,981 --> 00:04:53,672
The fact that the
bones he discovered
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were in a highly
compacted deposit,
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persuaded him that they
were of great antiquity.
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In fact, the deposit was so hard
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00:05:01,370 --> 00:05:04,752
that the bones had to be
removed with hammers and chisels.
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00:05:04,787 --> 00:05:07,617
This belief in the apparent
antiquity of the find
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was supported by his analysis
of the geological sequence
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in the gorge.
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00:05:12,381 --> 00:05:14,866
The skeleton, which
lay in the crouch position,
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00:05:14,900 --> 00:05:16,764
typical of late
stone age burials
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00:05:16,799 --> 00:05:18,939
he had seen in east
Africa and elsewhere,
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was removed from what
he had labeled Bed II,
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which he dated to
over 150,000 years ago.
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The skeletal remains
discovered by Reck
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included a complete
but damaged skull,
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containing 36 teeth
rather than the usual 32.
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Reck understood
this as a primitive,
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and therefore, early
feature of the skeleton.
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Fossils of an extinct
elephant were also discovered
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in the sediments below
the level of the skeleton,
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00:05:45,690 --> 00:05:47,347
which led Reck to conclude
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that the deposit was dated to
the Middle Pleistocene period,
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now known as Chibanian,
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between 770,000
and 126,000 years ago.
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00:05:59,393 --> 00:06:00,784
Reck knew that the
discovery of Homo sapiens
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00:06:00,808 --> 00:06:02,879
remains in a
deposit of this date
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00:06:02,914 --> 00:06:05,019
would be extremely
controversial.
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00:06:05,054 --> 00:06:07,643
So, he attempted to
establish whether the skeleton
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00:06:07,677 --> 00:06:09,955
could have belonged
to a later burial.
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00:06:09,990 --> 00:06:12,199
In the end, he was
unable to discover evidence
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00:06:12,233 --> 00:06:13,925
for a dug hole into the layer,
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00:06:13,959 --> 00:06:15,167
at a later period,
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that might have
been a grave cut.
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Reck's skeleton, now
called Oldoway Man
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or the Oldoway Human Skeleton,
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soon became notorious
throughout the scientific world
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as its age could not
be satisfactorily verified.
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Reck was unable
to return to the site
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00:06:31,460 --> 00:06:34,117
due to the 1914-18 war
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00:06:34,152 --> 00:06:37,224
which put a stop to any
further work at Olduvai,
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as the gorge was in
German East Africa,
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where fierce fighting took place
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between the British
and German forces.
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00:06:43,989 --> 00:06:45,819
It was partly due
to the controversy
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surrounding Reck's discovery,
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that the young Louis Leakey
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became fascinated
with the Olduvai Gorge.
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Although initially skeptical
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00:06:53,516 --> 00:06:55,553
of Reck's controversial
assertions,
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00:06:55,587 --> 00:06:58,003
when Leakey visited
the site with Reck,
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00:06:58,038 --> 00:07:00,385
he was soon persuaded
to agree with him.
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00:07:00,420 --> 00:07:02,214
The pair, then
co-authored a letter
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00:07:02,249 --> 00:07:04,527
to the British journal "Nature"
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00:07:04,562 --> 00:07:06,046
reporting the new evidence,
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00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:09,152
which apparently supported
Reck's original theory.
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00:07:09,187 --> 00:07:10,947
As late as 1931,
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00:07:10,982 --> 00:07:12,466
reports were circulating
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that it was almost
beyond question
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that the skeleton of a human
being found by Reck in 1913
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00:07:18,334 --> 00:07:20,992
was the oldest known
authentic skeleton
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of Homo sapiens.
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00:07:22,925 --> 00:07:24,616
However, from
the very beginning,
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there were many
academics who disagreed
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00:07:26,515 --> 00:07:28,896
with Reck's dating
of the skeleton.
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00:07:28,931 --> 00:07:31,036
Their main objection
was that his work
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00:07:31,071 --> 00:07:32,900
was undertaken at Olduvai,
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00:07:32,935 --> 00:07:36,801
without any understanding
of archeological stratigraphy.
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00:07:36,835 --> 00:07:40,805
In 1932, English
geologist, P.G.H. Boswell,
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carried out heavy
mineral analysis of Bed II
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00:07:43,221 --> 00:07:46,017
and of the deposit
near the skeleton,
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and came to the conclusion
that the skeleton was a burial
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and intrusive to Bed II.
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00:07:52,748 --> 00:07:54,715
Although the deposit in
which the skeletal remains
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were discovered, was indeed
of Middle Pleistocene date.
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00:07:58,581 --> 00:08:00,652
Geological analysis
of the material
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surrounding the skeleton,
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00:08:02,171 --> 00:08:05,830
showed it to contain red
pebbles and limestone chips.
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00:08:05,864 --> 00:08:08,488
Such material is
not found in Bed II,
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00:08:08,522 --> 00:08:10,766
but occurs higher
up in the sequence,
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00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:13,631
which indicates that
it is later than that.
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00:08:13,665 --> 00:08:16,668
This would make it certain
that the skeleton was intrusive
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in that layer.
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00:08:18,083 --> 00:08:19,533
In other words,
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the skeleton lay in a grave
cut down from a higher layer.
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Eventually, Reck himself
came to accept the explanation.
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00:08:27,955 --> 00:08:29,854
The case for a much
more modern date
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for the Oldoway Man
Skeleton appeared to be closed,
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when in the 1970s,
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00:08:34,824 --> 00:08:36,895
radiocarbon dating
of the remains
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00:08:36,930 --> 00:08:40,692
showed them to be no
older than 19,000 BC.
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00:08:40,727 --> 00:08:42,176
This apparently proved
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that the remains belonged
to a post-ice age man
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of the capstone culture,
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and that they had
become embedded in layers
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dating from the
early Pleistocene.
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00:08:51,738 --> 00:08:53,878
The radiocarbon dates
were apparently obtained
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00:08:53,912 --> 00:08:55,604
by German anthropologist,
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Professor Reiner
Protsch Von Zieten,
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of the University of Frankfurt.
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00:09:00,125 --> 00:09:02,645
Unfortunately, in February 2005,
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it was revealed that
the 30-year long career
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00:09:05,268 --> 00:09:07,132
of this distinguished academic
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had come to an abrupt end,
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due to the fact that he had
been systematically falsifying
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00:09:12,517 --> 00:09:15,382
the dates on numerous
Stone Age relics.
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00:09:15,416 --> 00:09:18,558
Thomas Terberger, the
archeologist who discovered the fraud
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00:09:18,592 --> 00:09:22,596
said, "Anthropology is going
to have to completely revise
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00:09:22,631 --> 00:09:24,253
its picture of modern man,
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between 40,000 and
10,000 years ago."
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00:09:27,428 --> 00:09:30,086
Professor Protsch's work
appeared to prove that,
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00:09:30,121 --> 00:09:34,194
anatomically, modern humans
and Neanderthals had coexisted,
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00:09:34,228 --> 00:09:36,645
and perhaps even
had children together.
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00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:39,233
This now appears to be rubbish.
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00:09:39,268 --> 00:09:41,546
The academic scandal
was only discovered
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00:09:41,581 --> 00:09:43,479
when the professor
was caught trying to sell
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00:09:43,513 --> 00:09:46,620
his department's entire
chimpanzee skull collection
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in the United States.
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Further inquiries
later established
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that he had also authorized
fake fossils as real
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and had plagiarized
other scientist's work.
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00:09:56,803 --> 00:09:59,288
An important
Hamburg skull fragment,
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00:09:59,322 --> 00:10:00,807
which once believed
to have come from
192
00:10:00,841 --> 00:10:02,567
the world's oldest German,
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00:10:02,602 --> 00:10:06,847
a Neanderthal, was actually
only 7,500 thousand years old,
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00:10:06,882 --> 00:10:10,575
according to Oxford University's
Radiocarbon Dating Unit.
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00:10:10,610 --> 00:10:12,025
The unit also established
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00:10:12,059 --> 00:10:13,509
that other skulls dated by
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00:10:13,543 --> 00:10:15,649
Professor Reiner
Protsch von Zieten
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had been wrongly dated.
199
00:10:17,858 --> 00:10:21,034
Some of the professor's other
hoaxes were more extreme.
200
00:10:21,068 --> 00:10:25,038
One of his more sensational
finds, Binshof-Speyer Woman,
201
00:10:25,072 --> 00:10:28,869
was dated by him
to 21,300 years ago.
202
00:10:28,904 --> 00:10:32,355
But, in fact, lived in 1,300 BC.
203
00:10:32,390 --> 00:10:34,564
While Paderborn-Sande Man,
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date by the professor to
an incredible 27,600 BC,
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00:10:39,362 --> 00:10:43,643
only died a couple of
hundred years ago in 1750.
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00:10:43,677 --> 00:10:45,127
Professor Ulrich Brand,
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00:10:45,161 --> 00:10:48,130
who led the investigation
into the nefarious activity
208
00:10:48,164 --> 00:10:50,615
said "It's deeply embarrassing."
209
00:10:50,650 --> 00:10:53,653
"Of course, the university
feels very bad about this."
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00:10:53,687 --> 00:10:56,069
"The professor
refused to meet us,
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00:10:56,103 --> 00:10:58,727
but we had 10 sittings
with 12 witnesses."
212
00:10:58,761 --> 00:11:02,006
"Their stories about him
were increasingly bizarre,
213
00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:04,974
after a while, it was
hard to take it seriously."
214
00:11:05,009 --> 00:11:07,390
"You had to laugh, it
was just unbelievable."
215
00:11:07,425 --> 00:11:10,704
"At the end of the day,
what he did was incredible."
216
00:11:10,739 --> 00:11:12,810
Investigators also
discovered that some of the
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00:11:12,844 --> 00:11:14,812
12,000 skeletons stored
218
00:11:14,846 --> 00:11:16,917
in the university
department's bone cellar
219
00:11:16,952 --> 00:11:18,505
were missing their heads,
220
00:11:18,539 --> 00:11:21,715
apparently sold by the
professor to friends in the US,
221
00:11:21,750 --> 00:11:23,579
and various dentists.
222
00:11:23,613 --> 00:11:26,755
The professor, who lived
Mainz with his wife, Angelina,
223
00:11:26,789 --> 00:11:29,481
refused to answer
questions by reporters.
224
00:11:29,516 --> 00:11:32,381
Merely saying that he
was the victim of an intrigue
225
00:11:32,415 --> 00:11:34,348
and that, "All the
disputed fossils
226
00:11:34,383 --> 00:11:36,074
are my personal property."
227
00:11:36,109 --> 00:11:39,043
So, where does this
leave Oldoway Man?
228
00:11:39,077 --> 00:11:41,286
The radiocarbon
dating by the remains
229
00:11:41,321 --> 00:11:44,151
by Professor Protsch
cannot be taken seriously,
230
00:11:44,186 --> 00:11:47,361
until full proof of radiocarbon
dating is performed
231
00:11:47,396 --> 00:11:48,293
on the skeleton,
232
00:11:48,328 --> 00:11:50,364
Reck's original hypotheses
233
00:11:50,399 --> 00:11:52,021
that he had
discovered the remains
234
00:11:52,056 --> 00:11:53,678
of the oldest known skeleton
235
00:11:53,713 --> 00:11:55,059
of Homo sapiens
236
00:11:55,093 --> 00:11:57,095
cannot be dismissed out of hand.
237
00:12:04,654 --> 00:12:06,380
A skeleton dubbed Little Foot,
238
00:12:06,415 --> 00:12:09,314
discovered in South
Africa in the 1990s,
239
00:12:09,349 --> 00:12:12,145
is claimed to be the most
complete ancient hominin
240
00:12:12,179 --> 00:12:14,112
in the fossil record.
241
00:12:14,147 --> 00:12:16,736
The results of recent
analysis into the skeleton
242
00:12:16,770 --> 00:12:18,392
have caused controversy,
243
00:12:18,427 --> 00:12:20,394
as researchers
claim that Little Foot
244
00:12:20,429 --> 00:12:24,260
actually lived some
3.67 million years ago,
245
00:12:24,295 --> 00:12:27,367
about a million years
earlier than previous claims.
246
00:12:27,401 --> 00:12:29,576
And that the fossil
probably represents
247
00:12:29,610 --> 00:12:31,612
a previously unknown species
248
00:12:31,647 --> 00:12:33,166
related to humans.
249
00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:35,444
In 1994, Ronald Clark,
250
00:12:35,478 --> 00:12:39,241
a paleoanthropologist at the
University of Witwatersrand
251
00:12:39,275 --> 00:12:41,243
in Johannesburg, South Africa,
252
00:12:41,277 --> 00:12:44,729
was examining boxes of
fossils at a field laboratory
253
00:12:44,764 --> 00:12:46,973
at the Sterkfontein Caves,
254
00:12:47,007 --> 00:12:50,321
about 25 miles northwest
of Johannesburg.
255
00:12:50,355 --> 00:12:52,047
The collection had
previously been thought
256
00:12:52,081 --> 00:12:54,843
to contain nothing but
ancient monkey bones.
257
00:12:54,877 --> 00:12:57,707
When he came upon a group
of small bones in the collection,
258
00:12:57,742 --> 00:12:59,917
he immediately realized
that they belonged
259
00:12:59,951 --> 00:13:01,711
to an early hominin.
260
00:13:01,746 --> 00:13:04,024
Clark later established
that the bones
261
00:13:04,059 --> 00:13:06,613
seemed to have belonged
to an ancient species
262
00:13:06,647 --> 00:13:08,063
of ape-like hominins
263
00:13:08,097 --> 00:13:09,374
that were present in Africa
264
00:13:09,409 --> 00:13:12,343
between about 4 million
and 2 million years ago,
265
00:13:12,377 --> 00:13:15,553
before the human genus,
Homo, became dominant.
266
00:13:15,587 --> 00:13:18,487
In 1997, Clark came
up on more bones
267
00:13:18,521 --> 00:13:21,248
from the skeleton at a
nearby medical school,
268
00:13:21,283 --> 00:13:23,285
and decided he
would search for more
269
00:13:23,319 --> 00:13:24,838
of the Little Foot skeleton,
270
00:13:24,873 --> 00:13:26,909
in the cave itself.
271
00:13:26,944 --> 00:13:28,911
But it was to take until 2012
272
00:13:28,946 --> 00:13:31,672
to locate and remove
all traces of Little Foot
273
00:13:31,707 --> 00:13:32,915
from the cave.
274
00:13:32,950 --> 00:13:35,193
Study researcher,
Robin Crompton,
275
00:13:35,228 --> 00:13:38,403
a musculoskeletal biologist
at the University of Liverpool,
276
00:13:38,438 --> 00:13:39,922
in the United Kingdom,
277
00:13:39,957 --> 00:13:42,511
said that the excavations
proved much more difficult
278
00:13:42,545 --> 00:13:44,064
than at first thought.
279
00:13:44,099 --> 00:13:46,204
This was mainly because
the bones themselves
280
00:13:46,239 --> 00:13:49,000
were softer than the
rock surrounding them.
281
00:13:49,035 --> 00:13:51,416
Once in possession
of the remains though,
282
00:13:51,451 --> 00:13:53,867
even more difficult
work lay ahead,
283
00:13:53,902 --> 00:13:56,214
Clark said of the
recovery of the skeleton,
284
00:13:56,249 --> 00:14:00,253
"We used very small tools,
like needles, to excavate it,
285
00:14:00,287 --> 00:14:01,875
that's why it took so long."
286
00:14:01,910 --> 00:14:05,879
"It was like excavating a
fluffy pastry out of concrete."
287
00:14:05,914 --> 00:14:07,398
In December 2018,
288
00:14:07,432 --> 00:14:10,780
it was finally revealed that
after 20 years of excavating
289
00:14:10,815 --> 00:14:12,023
in South Africa,
290
00:14:12,058 --> 00:14:14,232
researchers had
completely recovered
291
00:14:14,267 --> 00:14:16,579
and cleaned the most
complete skeleton
292
00:14:16,614 --> 00:14:20,480
of an approximately 3.67
million year old hominin
293
00:14:20,514 --> 00:14:22,102
nicknamed, Little Foot.
294
00:14:22,137 --> 00:14:25,140
Initial theories were
that the Little Foot fossil
295
00:14:25,174 --> 00:14:28,177
is a female who exhibited
some of the earlier signs
296
00:14:28,212 --> 00:14:30,697
of human-like bipedal walking.
297
00:14:30,731 --> 00:14:34,701
Fascinatingly, she may also
belong to a distinct species
298
00:14:34,735 --> 00:14:38,532
that most researchers
haven't previously recognized.
299
00:14:38,567 --> 00:14:39,775
The nickname, Little Foot,
300
00:14:39,809 --> 00:14:42,088
came from the small
size of the foot bones
301
00:14:42,122 --> 00:14:44,331
that were among the
first parts of the skeleton
302
00:14:44,366 --> 00:14:46,126
to be discovered.
303
00:14:46,161 --> 00:14:48,335
The newly discovered
Little Foot specimen
304
00:14:48,370 --> 00:14:50,648
is more than 90% complete,
305
00:14:50,682 --> 00:14:52,926
which far exceeds
the amount of remains
306
00:14:52,961 --> 00:14:54,859
of its more famous cousin, Lucy,
307
00:14:54,894 --> 00:14:58,069
whose skeleton is
about 40% complete.
308
00:14:58,104 --> 00:15:00,278
The skeleton's
relatively small build
309
00:15:00,313 --> 00:15:02,280
and certain skull features
310
00:15:02,315 --> 00:15:04,248
suggested to the researchers
311
00:15:04,282 --> 00:15:06,940
that it was probably a
female of advanced age,
312
00:15:06,975 --> 00:15:10,668
with a brain size of about
408 cubic centimeters,
313
00:15:10,702 --> 00:15:14,223
about 1/3 the size of
modern human brains.
314
00:15:14,258 --> 00:15:16,846
The woman seemed to
have suffered a forearm injury
315
00:15:16,881 --> 00:15:18,296
early in life
316
00:15:18,331 --> 00:15:21,541
and her comparatively long
legs in proportion to her arms
317
00:15:21,575 --> 00:15:23,819
means that she had
similar proportions
318
00:15:23,853 --> 00:15:26,097
to those of modern humans.
319
00:15:26,132 --> 00:15:28,237
Little Foot is the
oldest known hominin
320
00:15:28,272 --> 00:15:29,618
to have this feature,
321
00:15:29,652 --> 00:15:32,276
which suggests that she
probably walked upright
322
00:15:32,310 --> 00:15:34,726
more than she
swung through trees.
323
00:15:34,761 --> 00:15:38,903
Researchers stated that
Little Foot was probably 4"3' tall
324
00:15:38,938 --> 00:15:40,801
and also vegetarian.
325
00:15:40,836 --> 00:15:42,458
According to Robin Compton,
326
00:15:42,493 --> 00:15:44,598
"My analysis of her skeleton
327
00:15:44,633 --> 00:15:46,117
shows that she,
328
00:15:46,152 --> 00:15:48,533
and the rest of the local
population of her species
329
00:15:48,568 --> 00:15:49,810
at that time,
330
00:15:49,845 --> 00:15:52,020
were under active
natural selection
331
00:15:52,054 --> 00:15:54,401
for an ability to
walk efficiently,
332
00:15:54,436 --> 00:15:58,543
fully upright, on the ground
over medium to long distances."
333
00:15:58,578 --> 00:16:01,684
Examination of the skeleton
remains showed that Little Foot
334
00:16:01,719 --> 00:16:04,515
had sustained an
arm injury early in life.
335
00:16:04,549 --> 00:16:07,276
However, this injury
had healed long before
336
00:16:07,311 --> 00:16:08,691
she fell into the cave
337
00:16:08,726 --> 00:16:10,935
where she was found and died.
338
00:16:10,970 --> 00:16:13,489
"The fatal fall may have
been during a struggle
339
00:16:13,524 --> 00:16:14,801
with a large monkey,
340
00:16:14,835 --> 00:16:16,020
as the skeleton of one was found
341
00:16:16,044 --> 00:16:19,047
very close to her."
said Crompton.
342
00:16:19,081 --> 00:16:22,774
Based in part on the
examination of her teeth and hips,
343
00:16:22,809 --> 00:16:26,916
researchers believe Little
Foot represents a new species.
344
00:16:26,951 --> 00:16:28,539
The name had
previously been given to
345
00:16:28,573 --> 00:16:32,508
a hominin skull fragment
found in South Africa in 1948,
346
00:16:32,543 --> 00:16:35,028
but it was withdrawn
after researchers decided
347
00:16:35,063 --> 00:16:36,961
that the skull probably belonged
348
00:16:36,996 --> 00:16:39,860
to an unusual africanus.
349
00:16:39,895 --> 00:16:41,241
However Lee Berger,
350
00:16:41,276 --> 00:16:43,864
an archeologist at the
University of Witswatersrand,
351
00:16:43,899 --> 00:16:45,935
who was not involved
with the latest research
352
00:16:45,970 --> 00:16:47,247
into the skeleton,
353
00:16:47,282 --> 00:16:49,974
but is working on
publications about Little Foot,
354
00:16:50,009 --> 00:16:52,080
stated that if Little
Foot is actually
355
00:16:52,114 --> 00:16:54,289
a newly identified species,
356
00:16:54,323 --> 00:16:57,050
which he is far from
convinced is the case,
357
00:16:57,085 --> 00:16:59,708
then she should have
a new species name
358
00:16:59,742 --> 00:17:04,264
and not reuse an old undefined
one, but Compton disagreed.
359
00:17:04,299 --> 00:17:07,612
After the Australopithecus
africanus specimen
360
00:17:07,647 --> 00:17:09,062
was properly named,
361
00:17:09,097 --> 00:17:11,409
Clark began using that
name for the bone fragments
362
00:17:11,444 --> 00:17:12,686
found in the cave.
363
00:17:12,721 --> 00:17:14,861
He said on the naming issue,
364
00:17:14,895 --> 00:17:16,173
"It's a bad practice
365
00:17:16,207 --> 00:17:17,933
and against the
International Code
366
00:17:17,967 --> 00:17:20,177
of Zoological Nomenclature
367
00:17:20,211 --> 00:17:23,525
to create new names where
a valid name already exists."
368
00:17:23,559 --> 00:17:25,285
"A no-good argument
for separation
369
00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:27,563
into a different
species exists."
370
00:17:27,598 --> 00:17:30,221
So, as Professor Clark
did not have evidence
371
00:17:30,256 --> 00:17:31,153
that Little Foot
372
00:17:31,188 --> 00:17:33,121
was part of a different species,
373
00:17:33,155 --> 00:17:36,055
and he continued to use
that name for the fossils
374
00:17:36,089 --> 00:17:38,091
in the published
scientific literature,
375
00:17:38,126 --> 00:17:39,679
it was entirely appropriate
376
00:17:39,713 --> 00:17:42,095
that he used the
existing and valid name.
377
00:17:43,579 --> 00:17:46,444
Berger is also concerned
about the lack of solid information
378
00:17:46,479 --> 00:17:48,101
in the recently published papers
379
00:17:48,136 --> 00:17:50,103
on the Little Foot skeleton.
380
00:17:50,138 --> 00:17:52,519
He believes there should be
more detailed measurements
381
00:17:52,554 --> 00:17:53,900
of the fossil bones.
382
00:17:53,934 --> 00:17:55,660
For instance, there's no data.
383
00:17:55,695 --> 00:17:58,732
"There are almost no
measurements of the fossils." he says.
384
00:17:58,767 --> 00:18:01,632
Berger hopes, one day,
to provide the missing data
385
00:18:01,666 --> 00:18:03,461
in his own publications.
386
00:18:03,496 --> 00:18:06,775
Although, he is still at an
early stage of the analysis.
387
00:18:06,809 --> 00:18:09,950
The researchers suggest
that these specimens
388
00:18:09,985 --> 00:18:12,988
are potentially an ancestor
of a group of hominins
389
00:18:13,022 --> 00:18:15,232
called the Paranthropus four,
390
00:18:15,266 --> 00:18:18,097
which coexisted with
early Homo species
391
00:18:18,131 --> 00:18:20,444
for about a million years.
392
00:18:20,478 --> 00:18:22,273
Much more controversy has arisen
393
00:18:22,308 --> 00:18:24,517
over the dating of
the Little Foot fossil,
394
00:18:24,551 --> 00:18:27,278
based on the age of the
sediments around the fossil,
395
00:18:27,313 --> 00:18:29,246
the researchers
have dated Little Foot
396
00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:32,387
to around 3.67
million years ago,
397
00:18:32,421 --> 00:18:34,078
about a million years earlier
398
00:18:34,113 --> 00:18:36,598
than previous dates
for the skeleton.
399
00:18:36,632 --> 00:18:38,565
This would mean
Little Foot was alive
400
00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:42,811
about 500,000 years
before Lucy in Ethiopia.
401
00:18:42,845 --> 00:18:45,296
The date would mean
that our ancient ancestors
402
00:18:45,331 --> 00:18:47,954
were almost certainly
scattered across Africa.
403
00:18:49,266 --> 00:18:52,303
Some researchers are
unconvinced that the skeleton itself
404
00:18:52,338 --> 00:18:55,410
is as old as the sediments
in which it was found.
405
00:18:55,444 --> 00:18:59,345
Fred Grine, a paleoanthropologist
at Stony Brook, New York,
406
00:18:59,379 --> 00:19:02,348
quote, "We buried a dead
squirrel in our backyard
407
00:19:02,382 --> 00:19:04,177
in November, 2014,
408
00:19:04,212 --> 00:19:05,972
but I think the
sand surrounds it
409
00:19:06,006 --> 00:19:09,389
dates back to the last
glacial retreat on Long Island."
410
00:19:09,424 --> 00:19:12,323
He argues that millions of
years after the sand crystals
411
00:19:12,358 --> 00:19:13,738
washed into the cave,
412
00:19:13,773 --> 00:19:15,568
a larger opening
could have formed
413
00:19:15,602 --> 00:19:18,881
allowing an ancient
human ancestor to fall in.
414
00:19:18,916 --> 00:19:22,333
Darryl Granger, however, is
aware of the dating problems,
415
00:19:22,368 --> 00:19:26,026
"Dating cave sediments
and their fossils is difficult."
416
00:19:26,061 --> 00:19:28,960
"We know so much about
the timing of hominid evolution
417
00:19:28,995 --> 00:19:30,203
in East Africa,
418
00:19:30,238 --> 00:19:32,861
because there are many
dateable volcanic ashes
419
00:19:32,895 --> 00:19:35,208
associated with
the fossil sites."
420
00:19:35,243 --> 00:19:37,141
"In places like South Africa,
421
00:19:37,176 --> 00:19:39,557
there are no volcanic
ashes to date."
422
00:19:39,592 --> 00:19:42,940
"The cave sediments themselves
can be very complicated,
423
00:19:42,974 --> 00:19:45,701
with sediment falling
into multiple entrances,
424
00:19:45,736 --> 00:19:49,118
collapsing into lower sections,
and overlapping each other."
425
00:19:50,292 --> 00:19:53,226
In March, 2020, it was
reported in the media
426
00:19:53,261 --> 00:19:55,918
that a high resolution
micro-CT scanning
427
00:19:55,953 --> 00:19:57,437
of the skull of Little Foot
428
00:19:57,472 --> 00:20:01,027
has revealed some aspects
of how this species used to live
429
00:20:01,061 --> 00:20:02,925
more than 3 million years ago.
430
00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:04,755
The work was undertaken by
431
00:20:04,789 --> 00:20:07,206
University of
Witswatersrand team,
432
00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:10,899
which included lead
researcher, Dr. Amelie Beaudet.
433
00:20:10,933 --> 00:20:13,246
By comparing the Little
Foot with other fossils
434
00:20:13,281 --> 00:20:14,868
from South and East Africa,
435
00:20:14,903 --> 00:20:17,319
as well as living humans
and chimpanzees,
436
00:20:17,354 --> 00:20:18,562
the team showed
437
00:20:18,596 --> 00:20:20,529
that it was capable
of head movements
438
00:20:20,564 --> 00:20:23,049
that differ from modern humans.
439
00:20:23,083 --> 00:20:24,499
In the summary of the paper,
440
00:20:24,533 --> 00:20:26,086
the doctor states,
441
00:20:26,121 --> 00:20:29,538
"In particular, the nearly
complete atlas of Little Foot
442
00:20:29,573 --> 00:20:32,161
has the potential to
provide new insights
443
00:20:32,196 --> 00:20:34,543
into the evolution
of head mobility
444
00:20:34,578 --> 00:20:37,995
and the arterial supply to the
brain in the human lineage."
445
00:20:38,029 --> 00:20:40,998
"Our study shows that it was
capable of head movements
446
00:20:41,032 --> 00:20:42,517
that differ from us."
447
00:20:42,551 --> 00:20:45,105
"This could be explained
by the greater ability of them
448
00:20:45,140 --> 00:20:46,935
to climb and move in trees."
449
00:20:46,969 --> 00:20:49,455
"However, a Southern
African specimen
450
00:20:49,489 --> 00:20:50,835
younger than Little Foot,
451
00:20:50,870 --> 00:20:53,252
probably younger by
about a million years,
452
00:20:53,286 --> 00:20:55,702
may have partially
lost this capacity
453
00:20:55,737 --> 00:20:59,603
and spent more time on
the ground, like us today."
454
00:20:59,637 --> 00:21:01,846
One aspect of the new
research appears to
455
00:21:01,881 --> 00:21:03,814
contradict to some extent
456
00:21:03,848 --> 00:21:06,920
earlier conclusions about
Little Foot's movement.
457
00:21:06,955 --> 00:21:09,302
The new study found
that the overall dimensions
458
00:21:09,337 --> 00:21:10,959
and shape of the atlas,
459
00:21:10,993 --> 00:21:13,755
the topmost bone,
sitting just below the skull
460
00:21:13,789 --> 00:21:14,963
of Little Foot
461
00:21:14,997 --> 00:21:17,103
are similar to
living chimpanzees.
462
00:21:17,137 --> 00:21:19,830
More specifically,
the ligament insertions
463
00:21:19,864 --> 00:21:22,833
and the morphology of the
facet joints linking the head
464
00:21:22,867 --> 00:21:24,352
and the neck,
465
00:21:24,386 --> 00:21:27,320
all suggests that Little Foot
was moving regularly in trees
466
00:21:27,355 --> 00:21:29,391
rather than mainly on the ground
467
00:21:29,426 --> 00:21:31,220
as was previously believed.
468
00:21:39,643 --> 00:21:41,955
A spectacular recent
find from Kenya,
469
00:21:41,990 --> 00:21:43,578
by Meave Leakey,
470
00:21:43,612 --> 00:21:46,719
of the National Museum of
Kenya and her colleagues,
471
00:21:46,753 --> 00:21:50,170
has caused controversy
in the scientific world.
472
00:21:50,205 --> 00:21:54,071
The find, a damaged but
almost complete skull and face,
473
00:21:54,105 --> 00:21:57,212
is claimed to be
3.5 million years old
474
00:21:57,246 --> 00:22:00,802
and belonged to an entirely
new breed of early human.
475
00:22:00,836 --> 00:22:03,149
However, many
scientists have objected
476
00:22:03,183 --> 00:22:04,737
to this identification
477
00:22:04,771 --> 00:22:07,395
due to apparent
damage to the fossil.
478
00:22:07,429 --> 00:22:10,674
And the debate over whether
it is indeed a new species
479
00:22:10,708 --> 00:22:12,054
is still continuing.
480
00:22:13,262 --> 00:22:16,404
Born on the 28th of
July, 1942, in London,
481
00:22:16,438 --> 00:22:19,993
English paleoanthropologist,
Dr. Meave Leakey,
482
00:22:20,028 --> 00:22:21,719
is part of a family
that has gained
483
00:22:21,754 --> 00:22:23,721
worldwide renown for decades,
484
00:22:23,756 --> 00:22:27,173
of pioneering hominin
research in Eastern Africa.
485
00:22:27,207 --> 00:22:30,210
She is the daughter in-law
of Louis and Mary Leakey,
486
00:22:30,245 --> 00:22:31,936
and wife of Richard Leakey,
487
00:22:31,971 --> 00:22:33,835
the famous paleontologists
488
00:22:33,869 --> 00:22:36,700
who have made several
significant hominid finds
489
00:22:36,734 --> 00:22:38,805
in the last 50 years.
490
00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:42,015
In 2002, Meave Leakey,
along with her daughter,
491
00:22:42,050 --> 00:22:44,811
Louise, was named an
Explorer-in-Residence,
492
00:22:44,846 --> 00:22:47,607
by the National
Geographic Society.
493
00:22:47,642 --> 00:22:51,542
In 2007, Leakey was
a lead author of a study
494
00:22:51,577 --> 00:22:52,957
in the journal "Nature"
495
00:22:52,992 --> 00:22:54,856
that went against
the predominant view
496
00:22:54,890 --> 00:22:58,031
of the ancestral lineage
of Homo sapiens.
497
00:22:58,066 --> 00:23:01,069
Namely, that the
species Homo habilis
498
00:23:01,103 --> 00:23:03,174
evolved into Homo erectus,
499
00:23:03,209 --> 00:23:05,280
in linear succession.
500
00:23:05,314 --> 00:23:07,972
Currently, Dr. Leakey
is a research professor
501
00:23:08,007 --> 00:23:11,528
in the Department of Anthropology,
Stony Brook University,
502
00:23:11,562 --> 00:23:15,324
New York, Director of
Plio-Pleistocene research
503
00:23:15,359 --> 00:23:18,189
at the Turkana
Basin Institute, Kenya.
504
00:23:18,224 --> 00:23:21,676
Explorer-in-Residence at the
National Geographic Society,
505
00:23:21,710 --> 00:23:23,436
and co-leader with her daughter,
506
00:23:23,471 --> 00:23:28,303
Louise, of the Koobi Fora
Research Project, the KFRP.
507
00:23:29,615 --> 00:23:32,963
In 2001, Meave and her
daughter, Louise, and colleagues,
508
00:23:32,997 --> 00:23:37,208
reported on the discovery
of a 3.5 million year old skull
509
00:23:37,243 --> 00:23:40,177
that they believed belonged to
a previously unknown hominin
510
00:23:40,211 --> 00:23:44,250
genus and species,
the Kenyan Flat-face.
511
00:23:44,284 --> 00:23:46,977
Research assistant, Justus Erus,
512
00:23:47,011 --> 00:23:48,737
had made the find
two years earlier
513
00:23:48,772 --> 00:23:51,291
while working with
members of the Leakey family,
514
00:23:51,326 --> 00:23:54,571
near the Lomekwi
River in northern Kenya,
515
00:23:54,605 --> 00:23:57,436
the almost complete skull
was battered and weathered,
516
00:23:57,470 --> 00:23:58,885
but for the Leakeys,
517
00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:02,061
cleverly represented a
new breed of early human.
518
00:24:02,095 --> 00:24:05,444
It is the oldest near complete
human skull ever found.
519
00:24:06,479 --> 00:24:07,929
For the previous two decades,
520
00:24:07,963 --> 00:24:09,655
scientists had believed that
521
00:24:09,689 --> 00:24:11,898
a species better known as Lucy,
522
00:24:11,933 --> 00:24:14,763
named after the partial
Ethiopian skeleton
523
00:24:14,798 --> 00:24:16,627
discovered in 1974,
524
00:24:16,662 --> 00:24:18,491
was our single common ancestor.
525
00:24:18,526 --> 00:24:20,942
Meave and Louise's discovery
526
00:24:20,976 --> 00:24:22,909
apparently
demonstrated that humans
527
00:24:22,944 --> 00:24:24,911
did not descend from Lucy
528
00:24:24,946 --> 00:24:27,604
and that, rather than
a neat ancestral line
529
00:24:27,638 --> 00:24:29,226
linking us to chimps,
530
00:24:29,260 --> 00:24:31,642
there were likely numerous
species of hominids
531
00:24:31,677 --> 00:24:33,851
living at the same time.
532
00:24:33,886 --> 00:24:35,301
According to Meave,
533
00:24:35,335 --> 00:24:36,716
"The find was significant
534
00:24:36,751 --> 00:24:38,615
because it showed
us that the situation
535
00:24:38,649 --> 00:24:41,376
was a lot more complex
than we thought."
536
00:24:41,410 --> 00:24:43,792
Whilst Lucy was
able to walk upright,
537
00:24:43,827 --> 00:24:47,727
she had an ape-like projecting
mouth and heavy brow.
538
00:24:47,762 --> 00:24:49,488
The newly discovered skull,
539
00:24:49,522 --> 00:24:51,938
the only one of its
kind so far identified,
540
00:24:51,973 --> 00:24:54,285
however, has a much flatter face
541
00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:56,322
and raised cheek bones.
542
00:24:56,356 --> 00:24:57,703
The brow is smaller
543
00:24:57,737 --> 00:24:59,359
and teeth are intermediate,
544
00:24:59,394 --> 00:25:02,742
between typical human
and typical ape forms,
545
00:25:02,777 --> 00:25:04,364
with fairly small molars
546
00:25:04,399 --> 00:25:07,851
compared to Lucy
and her later relatives.
547
00:25:07,885 --> 00:25:11,095
Dr. Leakey said, of the
huge importance of the find,
548
00:25:11,130 --> 00:25:13,028
"This shows persuasively
549
00:25:13,063 --> 00:25:15,617
that at least two
lineages existed
550
00:25:15,652 --> 00:25:18,965
as far back as
3.5 million years."
551
00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:21,347
"The early stages
of human evolution
552
00:25:21,381 --> 00:25:24,350
are more complex than
we previously thought."
553
00:25:24,384 --> 00:25:27,491
Kenyan Flat-face Man
still had a long way to go
554
00:25:27,526 --> 00:25:28,699
in terms of brain power.
555
00:25:28,734 --> 00:25:30,632
However, possessing
a brain cage,
556
00:25:30,667 --> 00:25:32,841
no bigger than a modern chimp.
557
00:25:34,291 --> 00:25:37,674
The new find is said to come
from a completely new genius.
558
00:25:37,708 --> 00:25:39,261
Though this new group may,
559
00:25:39,296 --> 00:25:42,920
according to some researchers,
already have two members.
560
00:25:42,955 --> 00:25:45,405
They have noted that
the features exhibited
561
00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:49,720
look very similar to those
of a skull discovered in 1972,
562
00:25:49,755 --> 00:25:52,205
on the Eastern shore
of Lake Turkana,
563
00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:53,793
in the Kenyan Rift Valley
564
00:25:53,828 --> 00:25:56,313
by Meave Leakey's
husband, Richard.
565
00:25:56,347 --> 00:25:58,936
The skull, named 1470 Man,
566
00:25:58,971 --> 00:26:01,145
had a very human-like face,
567
00:26:01,180 --> 00:26:03,700
flat rather than
protruding like an ape,
568
00:26:03,734 --> 00:26:05,909
and with small teeth.
569
00:26:05,943 --> 00:26:09,740
The age of 1470 Man was
controversial for many years,
570
00:26:09,775 --> 00:26:12,156
it's believed by most
researchers to be around
571
00:26:12,191 --> 00:26:14,573
1.8 million years old,
572
00:26:14,607 --> 00:26:18,473
and is assigned to the
species Homo rudolfensis,
573
00:26:18,507 --> 00:26:20,682
usually regarded as a
very primitive member
574
00:26:20,717 --> 00:26:22,511
of our own lineage.
575
00:26:22,546 --> 00:26:24,893
However, a few
people believe the skull
576
00:26:24,928 --> 00:26:28,034
should not be attributed
to Homo rudolfensis
577
00:26:28,069 --> 00:26:29,933
and needs to be reexamined.
578
00:26:31,382 --> 00:26:34,109
In Leakey's studies of
the finds published in 2012,
579
00:26:34,144 --> 00:26:37,216
she stated that the
specimen from Lake Turkana
580
00:26:37,250 --> 00:26:40,633
is a different species from
the early Homo varieties
581
00:26:40,668 --> 00:26:43,532
previously known to
have inhabited the area.
582
00:26:43,567 --> 00:26:46,363
These were Homo
habilis, handy man,
583
00:26:46,397 --> 00:26:48,020
the assumed tool user,
584
00:26:48,054 --> 00:26:51,437
conventionally seen as the
earliest known Homo species,
585
00:26:51,471 --> 00:26:52,818
and Homo erectus,
586
00:26:52,852 --> 00:26:54,267
the upright man,
587
00:26:54,302 --> 00:26:57,857
thought to be a direct
ancestor of our own species.
588
00:26:57,892 --> 00:26:59,031
According to Leakey,
589
00:26:59,065 --> 00:27:00,549
"With these new fossils,
590
00:27:00,584 --> 00:27:03,967
we can definitely say there
are two groups of non-erectus
591
00:27:04,001 --> 00:27:05,416
living side by side
592
00:27:05,451 --> 00:27:06,866
at Lake Turkana."
593
00:27:06,901 --> 00:27:09,317
"As opposed to other
species of Homo,
594
00:27:09,351 --> 00:27:11,630
which had rather
protruding faces,
595
00:27:11,664 --> 00:27:12,941
what would've struck you
596
00:27:12,976 --> 00:27:15,116
was how flat and
broad the face was."
597
00:27:15,150 --> 00:27:17,463
"Their brain case
is beginning to get
598
00:27:17,497 --> 00:27:19,051
a little bit of a forehead
599
00:27:19,085 --> 00:27:21,363
because it's quite
a big brain in there,
600
00:27:21,398 --> 00:27:23,780
but nothing like the
brain of Homo erectus,
601
00:27:23,814 --> 00:27:26,472
which likely arose later."
602
00:27:26,506 --> 00:27:29,613
The study team wanted to avoid
the previously proposed names
603
00:27:29,648 --> 00:27:33,203
for the flat-face species,
Homo rudolfensis,
604
00:27:33,237 --> 00:27:36,102
as the relationships
between the fossil specimens
605
00:27:36,137 --> 00:27:39,002
and the species
names is still uncertain.
606
00:27:39,036 --> 00:27:42,246
The study team wanted to avoid
the previously proposed name
607
00:27:42,281 --> 00:27:46,216
for the flat-face species,
Homo rudolfensis,
608
00:27:46,250 --> 00:27:48,805
as the relationships
between the fossil specimens
609
00:27:48,839 --> 00:27:50,151
and the species names
610
00:27:50,185 --> 00:27:51,704
is still uncertain.
611
00:27:51,739 --> 00:27:53,257
One fascinating question
612
00:27:53,292 --> 00:27:56,226
is how the three early
humans would've coexisted
613
00:27:56,260 --> 00:27:59,470
without friction over food
supplies, for example,
614
00:27:59,505 --> 00:28:01,058
existing between them.
615
00:28:01,093 --> 00:28:04,510
According to physical
anthropologist, William Kimbel,
616
00:28:04,544 --> 00:28:07,306
given the facts that they
were all terrestrial bipeds,
617
00:28:07,340 --> 00:28:08,721
of one sort or another,
618
00:28:08,756 --> 00:28:11,793
differences in how the
three species made a living,
619
00:28:11,828 --> 00:28:13,381
and where they chose to live,
620
00:28:13,415 --> 00:28:14,969
would've come down to diet
621
00:28:15,003 --> 00:28:18,075
as opposed to
say climbing ability.
622
00:28:18,110 --> 00:28:19,732
Perhaps it may just be
623
00:28:19,767 --> 00:28:21,251
that these early human species
624
00:28:21,285 --> 00:28:24,150
simply had no problems
getting along with each other.
625
00:28:24,185 --> 00:28:26,256
"Modern primates
are generally very good
626
00:28:26,290 --> 00:28:28,396
at living together."
Leaky commented.
627
00:28:28,430 --> 00:28:29,915
"You can see troops of monkeys
628
00:28:29,949 --> 00:28:33,194
composed to at least
two species, if not more."
629
00:28:33,228 --> 00:28:34,782
The study of the origins of man
630
00:28:34,816 --> 00:28:38,302
is understandably a
controversial and complex area.
631
00:28:38,337 --> 00:28:40,753
Since Meave Leakey's
initial discovery,
632
00:28:40,788 --> 00:28:42,617
the picture has been complicated
633
00:28:42,651 --> 00:28:45,654
even more by the
identification in 2000,
634
00:28:45,689 --> 00:28:49,797
of a hominin now called
Orrorin tugenensis.
635
00:28:49,831 --> 00:28:51,212
This creature could represent
636
00:28:51,246 --> 00:28:53,421
an entirely new
group of hominids,
637
00:28:53,455 --> 00:28:55,803
and is claimed to be the
oldest human-like creature
638
00:28:55,837 --> 00:28:57,045
known to science,
639
00:28:57,080 --> 00:28:58,771
taking our lineage back
640
00:28:58,806 --> 00:29:02,223
to an astonishing
6 million years ago.
641
00:29:02,257 --> 00:29:05,398
In 2000, the research
team of Brigitte Senut
642
00:29:05,433 --> 00:29:06,468
and Martin Pickford
643
00:29:06,503 --> 00:29:08,125
discovered fossil material
644
00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:11,680
consisting of a partial
humorous, femur, and mandible,
645
00:29:11,715 --> 00:29:13,890
a distant thumb
bone, and some teeth
646
00:29:13,924 --> 00:29:16,099
in the Tugen Hills of Kenya.
647
00:29:16,133 --> 00:29:18,170
The molars were
covered with thick enamel,
648
00:29:18,204 --> 00:29:20,310
like those of later hominins,
649
00:29:20,344 --> 00:29:22,761
and were small, like our own.
650
00:29:22,795 --> 00:29:25,936
The discovery was nicknamed
at the time, Millennium Man,
651
00:29:25,971 --> 00:29:27,731
due to its discovery date,
652
00:29:27,766 --> 00:29:30,389
and was dated to
6 million years ago,
653
00:29:30,423 --> 00:29:34,738
and given the taxonomic
classification Orrorin tugenensis,
654
00:29:34,773 --> 00:29:37,741
Original Man from
the Tugen Hills.
655
00:29:37,776 --> 00:29:41,331
Initially, paleoanthropologists
were skeptical of the find
656
00:29:41,365 --> 00:29:43,885
with many remaining
so to this day,
657
00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:46,474
especially as the fossils
were not made available
658
00:29:46,508 --> 00:29:48,717
to the scientific community.
659
00:29:48,752 --> 00:29:51,548
Although there is still a
heated debate over the fossil,
660
00:29:51,582 --> 00:29:54,931
it is increasingly presented
in published texts as hominin.
661
00:29:56,139 --> 00:29:58,486
Millennium Man lived
around the time when
662
00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:00,419
genetic analysis suggest,
663
00:30:00,453 --> 00:30:02,317
our oldest hominin ancestor
664
00:30:02,352 --> 00:30:05,734
split from the oldest
ancestor of the great apes.
665
00:30:05,769 --> 00:30:09,255
This means there's a
chance that Orrorin tugenensis
666
00:30:09,290 --> 00:30:11,223
could be the
fabled missing link,
667
00:30:11,257 --> 00:30:12,914
or at least one of them.
668
00:30:12,949 --> 00:30:14,674
In March 2003,
669
00:30:14,709 --> 00:30:16,262
paleontologist, Tim White,
670
00:30:16,297 --> 00:30:18,540
of the University of
California, Berkeley
671
00:30:18,575 --> 00:30:21,854
questioned the heritage
of Meave Leakey's find.
672
00:30:21,889 --> 00:30:24,029
He argued, that
it was more likely
673
00:30:24,063 --> 00:30:26,686
to be a Kenyan variant of Lucy.
674
00:30:26,721 --> 00:30:28,999
White based his
assertion on the fact
675
00:30:29,034 --> 00:30:30,380
that the cranium
676
00:30:30,414 --> 00:30:32,347
was cracked and
distorted when discovered,
677
00:30:32,382 --> 00:30:33,693
making it possible
678
00:30:33,728 --> 00:30:35,972
that some of its
apparently unique features,
679
00:30:36,006 --> 00:30:37,421
including its flat face
680
00:30:37,456 --> 00:30:39,941
and tall vertically-oriented
cheek bones,
681
00:30:39,976 --> 00:30:43,393
could have been caused
by geological processes.
682
00:30:43,427 --> 00:30:45,878
Fred Spoor of the
University College, London,
683
00:30:45,913 --> 00:30:47,397
who was part of
the team that found
684
00:30:47,431 --> 00:30:49,571
the Kenyan Flat
-face Man fossil,
685
00:30:49,606 --> 00:30:51,642
disputed such objections
686
00:30:51,677 --> 00:30:54,576
and made a new
detail study of the skull.
687
00:30:54,611 --> 00:30:57,407
From examining computed
tomography scans,
688
00:30:57,441 --> 00:30:59,443
Spoor concluded
that the upper jaw
689
00:30:59,478 --> 00:31:01,514
had suffered
much less distortion
690
00:31:01,549 --> 00:31:03,413
than the rest of the cranium.
691
00:31:03,447 --> 00:31:06,036
So, he focused his
studies on that bone
692
00:31:06,071 --> 00:31:08,349
correcting for the
distortion present,
693
00:31:08,383 --> 00:31:10,592
and concluded that
Leakey and her colleagues
694
00:31:10,627 --> 00:31:11,593
had been correct
695
00:31:11,628 --> 00:31:13,112
in designating the fossil
696
00:31:13,147 --> 00:31:14,769
a new species.
697
00:31:20,292 --> 00:31:23,122
Ancient hominin in bones
discovered in Northern Spain's
698
00:31:23,157 --> 00:31:26,160
Atapuerca Mountains
have pushed back the arrival
699
00:31:26,194 --> 00:31:27,437
of humans in Europe
700
00:31:27,471 --> 00:31:30,233
to roughly 1.2
million years ago,
701
00:31:30,267 --> 00:31:34,202
around 500,000 years
earlier than once believed.
702
00:31:34,237 --> 00:31:38,206
Fascinatingly, only about
1/10 of the site's total area
703
00:31:38,241 --> 00:31:39,863
has been excavated,
704
00:31:39,898 --> 00:31:41,796
which means there
may be many more
705
00:31:41,830 --> 00:31:44,040
important discoveries in store.
706
00:31:44,074 --> 00:31:45,593
One mystery of the site,
707
00:31:45,627 --> 00:31:48,354
the archeologists have
so far been unable to solve,
708
00:31:48,389 --> 00:31:51,771
is how the remains of 32
individuals accumulated
709
00:31:51,806 --> 00:31:53,808
at the bottom of a
narrow cave shaft
710
00:31:53,842 --> 00:31:54,913
at the site.
711
00:31:55,879 --> 00:31:58,261
The discovery of Atapuerca,
712
00:31:58,295 --> 00:31:59,710
Atapuerca is the site
713
00:31:59,745 --> 00:32:01,609
of a number of limestone caves
714
00:32:01,643 --> 00:32:03,922
near Burgos in Northern Spain,
715
00:32:03,956 --> 00:32:05,716
known for the
abundant fossil record
716
00:32:05,751 --> 00:32:07,822
of the earliest human
beings in Europe,
717
00:32:07,856 --> 00:32:10,929
dating back almost
1 million years.
718
00:32:10,963 --> 00:32:12,585
The sites at Atapuerca
719
00:32:12,620 --> 00:32:15,519
have been known since
the end of the 19th century,
720
00:32:15,554 --> 00:32:17,694
but it was not until the 1950s
721
00:32:17,728 --> 00:32:20,179
that any details of
the site became known
722
00:32:20,214 --> 00:32:22,457
when the Edelweiss Caving Club,
723
00:32:22,492 --> 00:32:24,873
ECC of Burgos, Northern Spain,
724
00:32:24,908 --> 00:32:28,774
began to catalog and map
Cueva Mayor at Atapuerca.
725
00:32:28,808 --> 00:32:33,813
In 1962, ECC members reported
fossils in the railway cutting
726
00:32:34,676 --> 00:32:35,574
to the local authorities.
727
00:32:35,608 --> 00:32:36,782
A decade later,
728
00:32:36,816 --> 00:32:39,405
the ECC discovered
the Gallery of Flint.
729
00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:43,064
And in 1976, they
located hominid skulls
730
00:32:43,099 --> 00:32:45,204
in the Pit of Bones.
731
00:32:45,239 --> 00:32:47,862
Paleontologist,
Emiliano Aguirre,
732
00:32:47,896 --> 00:32:51,866
began investigating sites at
Atapuerca soon afterwards.
733
00:32:51,900 --> 00:32:53,626
And in 1978,
734
00:32:53,661 --> 00:32:55,421
put together a research project
735
00:32:55,456 --> 00:32:57,630
for the first excavations there,
736
00:32:57,665 --> 00:33:00,047
which he led until 1991,
737
00:33:00,081 --> 00:33:02,463
when he retired and
handed over the leadership
738
00:33:02,497 --> 00:33:05,535
of the Atapuerca
Research Project.
739
00:33:05,569 --> 00:33:07,330
In March, 2008,
740
00:33:07,364 --> 00:33:09,815
it was announced that
Spanish paleontologists
741
00:33:09,849 --> 00:33:12,783
had unearthed the remains
of a 1.2 million year old
742
00:33:12,818 --> 00:33:14,302
human-like inhabitant
743
00:33:14,337 --> 00:33:15,510
of Western Europe,
744
00:33:15,545 --> 00:33:17,547
in the caves at Atapuerca.
745
00:33:17,581 --> 00:33:19,169
According to the researcher,
746
00:33:19,204 --> 00:33:21,033
the fossil find demonstrates
747
00:33:21,068 --> 00:33:23,277
that members of our genus, Homo,
748
00:33:23,311 --> 00:33:24,830
colonized this region
749
00:33:24,864 --> 00:33:27,453
far earlier than
previously believed.
750
00:33:27,488 --> 00:33:28,730
The primitive hominin
751
00:33:28,765 --> 00:33:31,285
is represented by a
fragment of jawbone
752
00:33:31,319 --> 00:33:33,045
bearing a few teeth.
753
00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:36,807
Although stone tools of a
similar age to the fossil jawbone
754
00:33:36,842 --> 00:33:40,259
from about 1.2 to
1.5 million years old,
755
00:33:40,294 --> 00:33:43,987
had previously been discovered
in France, Italy, and Spain.
756
00:33:44,022 --> 00:33:48,371
This is the first verifiable
human material of this date.
757
00:33:48,405 --> 00:33:50,200
This lends support to the theory
758
00:33:50,235 --> 00:33:52,547
that the tools
found in the vicinity
759
00:33:52,582 --> 00:33:54,825
were made by primitive humans.
760
00:33:54,860 --> 00:33:56,206
According to Chris Stringer,
761
00:33:56,241 --> 00:33:58,829
of the Natural History
Museum in London,
762
00:33:58,864 --> 00:34:02,074
when combined with the
emerging archeological evidence,
763
00:34:02,109 --> 00:34:05,146
it suggests that Southern
Europe began to be colonized
764
00:34:05,181 --> 00:34:06,561
from Western Asia,
765
00:34:06,596 --> 00:34:09,599
not long after humans
had emerged from Africa.
766
00:34:09,633 --> 00:34:11,877
Something which many
of us would've doubted
767
00:34:11,911 --> 00:34:13,499
even five years ago.
768
00:34:14,707 --> 00:34:17,089
One of the sites that
Atapuerca, Gran Dolina,
769
00:34:17,124 --> 00:34:18,746
contains human remains
770
00:34:18,780 --> 00:34:22,405
which have been dated to
about 800,000 years ago,
771
00:34:22,439 --> 00:34:24,165
as well as some
of the earliest tools
772
00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:26,374
ever found in Western Europe.
773
00:34:26,409 --> 00:34:29,722
But perhaps the most
fascinating discovery at Atapuerca
774
00:34:29,757 --> 00:34:31,897
was a cave called
the Pit of Bones,
775
00:34:31,931 --> 00:34:33,761
where 43 feet down
776
00:34:33,795 --> 00:34:36,350
more than 1,600 human fossils,
777
00:34:36,384 --> 00:34:40,388
including several nearly
complete skulls were found.
778
00:34:40,423 --> 00:34:41,976
The materials in the pit
779
00:34:42,010 --> 00:34:46,291
dates back to between
600,000 and 300,000 years,
780
00:34:46,325 --> 00:34:49,432
and represents
about 28 individuals
781
00:34:49,466 --> 00:34:51,641
whose brain sizes
are within the range
782
00:34:51,675 --> 00:34:54,885
of both Neanderthals
and modern humans.
783
00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:57,164
This represents the
world's largest collection
784
00:34:57,198 --> 00:35:00,443
in any one place of
ancient human fossils.
785
00:35:00,477 --> 00:35:02,100
Compared to modern humans,
786
00:35:02,134 --> 00:35:06,138
these people were short,
stocky, and had smaller brains.
787
00:35:06,173 --> 00:35:07,519
It has been estimated
788
00:35:07,553 --> 00:35:09,969
males were about 5"7' tall
789
00:35:10,004 --> 00:35:12,455
and weighed around 170 pounds.
790
00:35:12,489 --> 00:35:15,147
Whereas females
stood around 5"2'
791
00:35:15,182 --> 00:35:18,150
and weighed 125 pounds.
792
00:35:18,185 --> 00:35:20,704
The skeleton's exhibit a
number of characteristics
793
00:35:20,739 --> 00:35:22,465
unique to Neanderthals,
794
00:35:22,499 --> 00:35:24,708
including a projecting mid-face,
795
00:35:24,743 --> 00:35:26,745
long and narrow pubic bones,
796
00:35:26,779 --> 00:35:28,574
and thick finger bones.
797
00:35:28,609 --> 00:35:30,990
However, unlike
later Neanderthals,
798
00:35:31,025 --> 00:35:32,371
they do not fully express
799
00:35:32,406 --> 00:35:34,960
the characteristic
Neanderthal form.
800
00:35:34,994 --> 00:35:39,585
The site also contained a
430,000 year old fractured skull,
801
00:35:39,620 --> 00:35:41,069
which has been interpreted
802
00:35:41,104 --> 00:35:44,866
as the earliest evidence of
interpersonal violence in Homo.
803
00:35:45,798 --> 00:35:47,248
Also discovered in the pit
804
00:35:47,283 --> 00:35:49,319
were the bones of cave bears,
805
00:35:49,354 --> 00:35:50,493
it's believed that the bears
806
00:35:50,527 --> 00:35:52,667
fell down the shaft by accident,
807
00:35:52,702 --> 00:35:55,739
probably while seeking
places to hibernate.
808
00:35:55,774 --> 00:35:57,810
But what the human
bones were doing there
809
00:35:57,845 --> 00:35:59,640
can only be imagined,
810
00:35:59,674 --> 00:36:01,676
no signs of tool butchery
811
00:36:01,711 --> 00:36:04,058
or other food remains
were discovered.
812
00:36:04,092 --> 00:36:05,680
And a single stone hand ax
813
00:36:05,715 --> 00:36:08,027
was the only tool
discovered in the pit,
814
00:36:08,062 --> 00:36:09,857
fashioned from a type of stone
815
00:36:09,891 --> 00:36:11,721
not known in the area.
816
00:36:11,755 --> 00:36:14,655
Researchers have
proposed various hypotheses
817
00:36:14,689 --> 00:36:17,071
to explain how the
fossils got there.
818
00:36:17,105 --> 00:36:18,417
According to one theory,
819
00:36:18,452 --> 00:36:20,592
the bodies may have
been purposely dropped
820
00:36:20,626 --> 00:36:21,696
by their relatives
821
00:36:21,731 --> 00:36:23,767
in some kind of ritual burial.
822
00:36:23,802 --> 00:36:26,908
This would push back the
origin of mortuary practices
823
00:36:26,943 --> 00:36:28,910
in humans substantially.
824
00:36:28,945 --> 00:36:31,223
Thus far, the earliest
accepted burials
825
00:36:31,258 --> 00:36:34,537
only occur after
130,000 years ago,
826
00:36:34,571 --> 00:36:37,505
among Neanderthals
and Homo sapiens.
827
00:36:37,540 --> 00:36:39,818
However, other
researchers believe
828
00:36:39,852 --> 00:36:41,509
it is more than
likely that the bodies
829
00:36:41,544 --> 00:36:45,030
were deliberately dropped
there after meeting violent ends.
830
00:36:45,064 --> 00:36:48,240
The hominins may also have
been dragged there by carnivores,
831
00:36:48,275 --> 00:36:51,209
carried by flood waters,
or even being trapped
832
00:36:51,243 --> 00:36:53,694
after venturing too far.
833
00:36:53,728 --> 00:36:55,523
In August, 2016,
834
00:36:55,558 --> 00:36:58,250
a study of the human
remains from the Pit of Bones
835
00:36:58,285 --> 00:37:01,495
was published in the "Journal
of Archaeological Science."
836
00:37:01,529 --> 00:37:05,153
It identified trauma on
eight skulls from the pits.
837
00:37:05,188 --> 00:37:07,742
Part of the abstract
to the study reads,
838
00:37:07,777 --> 00:37:11,643
"The fractures found
in 17 crania from SH
839
00:37:11,677 --> 00:37:14,611
display a postmortem
fracturation pattern,
840
00:37:14,646 --> 00:37:16,751
which occurred in
the dry bone stage
841
00:37:16,786 --> 00:37:20,099
and is compatible with
collective burial assemblages."
842
00:37:20,134 --> 00:37:23,931
"Nevertheless, in addition
to the postmortem fractures,
843
00:37:23,965 --> 00:37:28,763
eight crania also display some
typical perimortem traumas."
844
00:37:28,798 --> 00:37:30,765
"Interpersonal
violence as a cause
845
00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:32,836
for the perimortem fractures
846
00:37:32,871 --> 00:37:35,011
can be confirmed
for one of the skulls,
847
00:37:35,045 --> 00:37:38,670
cranium 17, and also
probable for cranium five,
848
00:37:38,704 --> 00:37:40,258
and cranium 11."
849
00:37:40,292 --> 00:37:41,707
"For the rest of crania,
850
00:37:41,742 --> 00:37:44,986
although other causes
cannot be absolutely ruled out,
851
00:37:45,021 --> 00:37:46,747
the violence-related traumas
852
00:37:46,781 --> 00:37:48,507
are the most plausible scenario
853
00:37:48,542 --> 00:37:50,820
for the perimortem fractures."
854
00:37:50,854 --> 00:37:53,063
"If this hypothesis
is confirmed,
855
00:37:53,098 --> 00:37:55,687
we could interpret that
interpersonal violence
856
00:37:55,721 --> 00:37:57,447
was a recurrent behavior
857
00:37:57,482 --> 00:38:01,002
in this population from
the Middle Pleistocene."
858
00:38:01,037 --> 00:38:03,419
It would appear from
the results of this study
859
00:38:03,453 --> 00:38:05,213
that at least some
of those in the pit
860
00:38:05,248 --> 00:38:06,870
suffered a violent end
861
00:38:06,905 --> 00:38:10,736
at the hands of other members
of the population in the area.
862
00:38:10,771 --> 00:38:13,291
However, this still
doesn't explain how
863
00:38:13,325 --> 00:38:16,604
and why the dead bodies were
taken into the cave chamber.
864
00:38:16,639 --> 00:38:19,711
Perhaps the perpetrators
wanted to hide their victims
865
00:38:19,745 --> 00:38:23,093
or maybe relatives interred
the corpses in the pit,
866
00:38:23,128 --> 00:38:25,026
we shall probably
never know for sure.
867
00:38:25,958 --> 00:38:27,408
In December, 2013,
868
00:38:27,443 --> 00:38:30,549
it was revealed that a thigh
bone from the Pit of Bones
869
00:38:30,584 --> 00:38:33,621
had yielded 400,000
year old DNA,
870
00:38:33,656 --> 00:38:36,969
by far the oldest human
DNA ever sequenced.
871
00:38:37,004 --> 00:38:39,834
Previously, the oldest
human DNA sequenced
872
00:38:39,869 --> 00:38:44,494
came from bones that were
less than 120,000 years old.
873
00:38:44,529 --> 00:38:47,601
Astonishingly, the results
suggested that the thigh bone
874
00:38:47,635 --> 00:38:50,604
belonged to a previously
unknown human species,
875
00:38:50,638 --> 00:38:52,364
which some researchers believe
876
00:38:52,399 --> 00:38:55,505
may even be a missing
link between Neanderthals
877
00:38:55,540 --> 00:38:58,508
and their mysterious
cousins, the Denisovans.
878
00:38:58,543 --> 00:39:00,545
Paleontologists
believe this result
879
00:39:00,579 --> 00:39:02,616
brings us nearer
than ever before
880
00:39:02,650 --> 00:39:05,170
to understanding who
our own common ancestor
881
00:39:05,204 --> 00:39:07,345
within Neanderthals was.
882
00:39:07,379 --> 00:39:09,139
According to Chris Stringer,
883
00:39:09,174 --> 00:39:11,141
the genomes we have up until now
884
00:39:11,176 --> 00:39:13,040
are really very recent.
885
00:39:13,074 --> 00:39:16,146
This takes us at least a few
hundred thousand years back
886
00:39:16,181 --> 00:39:19,115
towards our common
ancestor with other hominins.
887
00:39:19,149 --> 00:39:21,324
The researchers
had expected the DNA
888
00:39:21,359 --> 00:39:22,946
to resemble Neanderthal,
889
00:39:22,981 --> 00:39:24,983
but it proved to
be quite distinct,
890
00:39:25,017 --> 00:39:28,020
most closely resembling that
of the mysterious Denisovans,
891
00:39:29,194 --> 00:39:31,852
a species known
only from a finger bone
892
00:39:31,886 --> 00:39:35,200
and two teeth discovered
in a Siberian cave.
893
00:39:35,234 --> 00:39:37,547
Stringer admitted that
they were somewhat baffled
894
00:39:37,582 --> 00:39:39,066
by this result.
895
00:39:39,100 --> 00:39:41,344
And there is no evidence
that the Denisovans ranged
896
00:39:41,379 --> 00:39:43,829
anywhere near Atapuerca.
897
00:39:43,864 --> 00:39:46,487
One possibility considered
by the researchers
898
00:39:46,522 --> 00:39:49,110
is that the fossils belong
to the common ancestor
899
00:39:49,145 --> 00:39:51,389
of Neanderthals and Denisovans,
900
00:39:51,423 --> 00:39:54,081
and some of their
descendants later traveled east
901
00:39:54,115 --> 00:39:55,393
and became the Denisovans.
902
00:39:56,566 --> 00:39:58,568
The genome recovered
from the Pit of Bones
903
00:39:58,603 --> 00:40:00,294
is particularly relevant
904
00:40:00,328 --> 00:40:01,744
as it is from a period
905
00:40:01,778 --> 00:40:05,264
that is extremely close to
the origin of our human line.
906
00:40:05,299 --> 00:40:07,059
The archeological
evidence indicates
907
00:40:07,094 --> 00:40:09,337
that these early humans
were developing important
908
00:40:09,372 --> 00:40:11,270
new ways of behaving.
909
00:40:11,305 --> 00:40:14,550
Though, they were still using
fairly primitive stone tools
910
00:40:14,584 --> 00:40:16,344
like the crafted hand ax,
911
00:40:16,379 --> 00:40:19,071
which researchers have
nicknamed, Excalibur,
912
00:40:19,106 --> 00:40:20,832
that was found in the pit.
913
00:40:20,866 --> 00:40:24,525
But the bones also suggest
more sophisticated traits.
914
00:40:24,560 --> 00:40:26,665
One of these traits
is the use of the pit
915
00:40:26,700 --> 00:40:28,495
as an early burial site,
916
00:40:28,529 --> 00:40:31,187
part of a very
simple funeral rite.
917
00:40:31,221 --> 00:40:34,155
Chris Stringer has even
suggested that Excalibur
918
00:40:34,190 --> 00:40:37,365
may have been some
kind of tribute to the dead.
919
00:40:37,400 --> 00:40:40,576
The discovery in the pits of
the deformed skull of a girl,
920
00:40:40,610 --> 00:40:42,578
who lived to be
about 12 years old,
921
00:40:42,612 --> 00:40:45,650
also reiterates this
more modern behavior,
922
00:40:45,684 --> 00:40:48,169
suggesting that the
tribe cared for her.
923
00:40:48,204 --> 00:40:50,102
"There's a hint of
something human,
924
00:40:50,137 --> 00:40:52,760
caring for the
disabled." says Stringer.
925
00:40:52,795 --> 00:40:54,244
In March, 2016,
926
00:40:54,279 --> 00:40:56,868
a paper was published
in the journal "Nature",
927
00:40:56,902 --> 00:40:58,766
describing a DNA study
928
00:40:58,801 --> 00:41:00,492
which, to the surprise of many,
929
00:41:00,527 --> 00:41:04,358
identified the remains of
the pit bones as Neanderthal.
930
00:41:04,392 --> 00:41:05,946
Using this information,
931
00:41:05,980 --> 00:41:08,396
the researchers were
able to push back the date
932
00:41:08,431 --> 00:41:11,227
when the separation
between our family branch
933
00:41:11,261 --> 00:41:12,780
and that of Neanderthals
934
00:41:12,815 --> 00:41:15,645
to some time between 550,000
935
00:41:15,680 --> 00:41:18,372
and almost 800,000 years ago.
936
00:41:18,406 --> 00:41:21,548
In 2019, a comparative
study was published
937
00:41:21,582 --> 00:41:24,654
of the dental evolution of a
number of human species,
938
00:41:24,689 --> 00:41:27,657
including the Neanderthals
of the Pit of Bones,
939
00:41:27,692 --> 00:41:30,315
these results revealed
that the divergence
940
00:41:30,349 --> 00:41:32,731
between modern
humans and Neanderthals
941
00:41:32,766 --> 00:41:36,355
must have occurred at
least 800,000 years ago.
942
00:41:42,776 --> 00:41:44,225
A woman's skull,
943
00:41:44,260 --> 00:41:47,021
the oldest known human
remains ever found in Antarctica,
944
00:41:47,056 --> 00:41:48,816
discovered lying
on Yamana Beach,
945
00:41:48,851 --> 00:41:52,026
at Cape Sheriff, in Antarctica's
South Shetland Islands
946
00:41:52,061 --> 00:41:55,582
has become one of the
continent's biggest mysteries.
947
00:41:55,616 --> 00:41:57,860
No surviving documents
have ever been discovered
948
00:41:57,894 --> 00:41:59,447
to explain how or why
949
00:41:59,482 --> 00:42:02,899
a young woman came to be
an Antarctica during this era.
950
00:42:02,934 --> 00:42:05,799
But now, new evidence
may have finally been found
951
00:42:05,833 --> 00:42:07,801
to solve the case.
952
00:42:07,835 --> 00:42:11,874
Antarctica is about 5.5
million square miles in size
953
00:42:11,908 --> 00:42:15,291
and thick ice covers
about 98% of the land.
954
00:42:15,325 --> 00:42:16,499
The continental ice sheet
955
00:42:16,534 --> 00:42:19,640
contains about 7
million cubic miles of ice,
956
00:42:19,675 --> 00:42:22,229
making up about
90% of the world's ice
957
00:42:22,263 --> 00:42:24,576
and 80% of its fresh water.
958
00:42:24,611 --> 00:42:27,096
Although Antarctica
has a fascinating history
959
00:42:27,130 --> 00:42:28,753
of human activity in the region,
960
00:42:28,787 --> 00:42:31,825
it extends back
only about 200 years.
961
00:42:31,859 --> 00:42:34,552
Indeed, the majority of what
is known about Antarctica
962
00:42:34,586 --> 00:42:37,865
has been discovered
in the last few decades.
963
00:42:37,900 --> 00:42:40,316
Remote, inaccessible,
and hostile,
964
00:42:40,350 --> 00:42:43,043
Antarctica was the last
continent to be discovered
965
00:42:43,077 --> 00:42:44,976
and acknowledges
the south polar region
966
00:42:45,010 --> 00:42:46,356
was collected slowly.
967
00:42:47,219 --> 00:42:48,876
The real nature of Antarctica
968
00:42:48,911 --> 00:42:50,326
was shown for the first time,
969
00:42:50,360 --> 00:42:52,293
as long as the 18th century,
970
00:42:52,328 --> 00:42:54,986
by the second voyage
of the English navigator,
971
00:42:55,020 --> 00:42:56,746
Captain James Cook.
972
00:42:56,781 --> 00:42:59,611
Mariners who followed Cook
into high southern latitudes
973
00:42:59,646 --> 00:43:01,095
of the icy continent,
974
00:43:01,130 --> 00:43:03,581
did so because of his
reports of huge numbers
975
00:43:03,615 --> 00:43:05,790
of whales and seals.
976
00:43:05,824 --> 00:43:09,241
On the 16th and 17th
of November, 1820,
977
00:43:09,276 --> 00:43:10,415
American seal hunter,
978
00:43:10,449 --> 00:43:11,968
Nathaniel Brown Palmer,
979
00:43:12,003 --> 00:43:13,625
then 21 years old,
980
00:43:13,660 --> 00:43:16,421
commanded the 47
foot long sloop, Hero,
981
00:43:16,455 --> 00:43:18,043
which entered the Orleans Strait
982
00:43:18,078 --> 00:43:20,943
and came very close to
the Antarctic Peninsula.
983
00:43:20,977 --> 00:43:23,324
Palmer and his men
became the first Americans
984
00:43:23,359 --> 00:43:24,532
and the third group of people
985
00:43:24,567 --> 00:43:27,052
to discover the
Antarctic Peninsula.
986
00:43:27,087 --> 00:43:29,296
While there, Palmer
met Russian captain,
987
00:43:29,330 --> 00:43:32,506
Thaddeus Bellingshausen,
on a major national expedition
988
00:43:32,540 --> 00:43:35,647
that circumnavigated
Antarctica eastward.
989
00:43:35,682 --> 00:43:37,476
The highly
controversial question of
990
00:43:37,511 --> 00:43:39,686
who was first to
site land in Antarctica
991
00:43:39,720 --> 00:43:41,032
has never been resolved.
992
00:43:41,066 --> 00:43:43,655
British, Russian, and
US ships were all present
993
00:43:43,690 --> 00:43:47,590
in the Antarctic Peninsula
area in the early 1820s,
994
00:43:47,625 --> 00:43:49,557
when the first
sightings occurred.
995
00:43:49,592 --> 00:43:52,733
However, the first documented
landing of the continent
996
00:43:52,768 --> 00:43:54,735
was not until decades later,
997
00:43:54,770 --> 00:43:57,013
on January 24th, 1895,
998
00:43:57,048 --> 00:43:59,395
when the Norwegian
whaling ship, Antarctic,
999
00:43:59,429 --> 00:44:02,709
landed a party at Cape Adare
on the northern Ross Sea.
1000
00:44:03,986 --> 00:44:05,125
From the late 18th
1001
00:44:05,159 --> 00:44:06,678
to the mid-20th century,
1002
00:44:06,713 --> 00:44:09,163
whalers and sealers
operated in the rich seas
1003
00:44:09,198 --> 00:44:11,165
surrounding the continent.
1004
00:44:11,200 --> 00:44:13,374
From the mid-20th
century onwards,
1005
00:44:13,409 --> 00:44:16,032
scientific investigation
replaced whaling and sealing
1006
00:44:16,067 --> 00:44:19,864
as the primary year-round
human activity in Antarctica.
1007
00:44:19,898 --> 00:44:21,624
These days, around 1,200 people
1008
00:44:21,659 --> 00:44:23,557
spend the winter in Antarctica.
1009
00:44:23,591 --> 00:44:26,802
All of these are scientists
and their support staff.
1010
00:44:26,836 --> 00:44:28,769
Yamana Beach is
an ice-free beach
1011
00:44:28,804 --> 00:44:30,909
located on the west
coast of Cape Sheriff,
1012
00:44:30,944 --> 00:44:34,775
in the north extremity of the
Ioannes Paulus II Peninsula,
1013
00:44:34,810 --> 00:44:38,572
Livingston Island in the
South Shetlands of Antarctica.
1014
00:44:38,606 --> 00:44:40,470
Sometime in 1985,
1015
00:44:40,505 --> 00:44:42,576
human remains were
discovered by chance
1016
00:44:42,610 --> 00:44:43,957
the remote Antarctic beach,
1017
00:44:43,991 --> 00:44:47,132
by Chilean biologist,
Dr. Daniel Torres.
1018
00:44:47,167 --> 00:44:48,686
According to Torres,
1019
00:44:48,720 --> 00:44:52,379
"On the afternoon
of January 7, 1985,
1020
00:44:52,413 --> 00:44:54,036
I was doing a census of mammals
1021
00:44:54,070 --> 00:44:55,969
and also collecting
marine refuse
1022
00:44:56,003 --> 00:44:58,730
on Cape Sheriff,
Livingston island."
1023
00:44:58,765 --> 00:45:01,284
"On the beach, I saw
a big plastic container
1024
00:45:01,319 --> 00:45:04,149
and an enormous
plastic orange buoy."
1025
00:45:04,184 --> 00:45:06,220
"I went to the buoy
first to collect it,
1026
00:45:06,255 --> 00:45:08,015
and as I headed along the beach,
1027
00:45:08,050 --> 00:45:11,053
I noticed that among the
very dark volcanic stones,
1028
00:45:11,087 --> 00:45:12,986
there was one very white stone."
1029
00:45:13,020 --> 00:45:14,573
"But when I got closer,
1030
00:45:14,608 --> 00:45:16,368
I saw that on the
surface of the stone,
1031
00:45:16,403 --> 00:45:20,165
there was a series of lines
that looked like a human skull."
1032
00:45:20,200 --> 00:45:22,616
"Obviously, I stopped
and went up closer
1033
00:45:22,650 --> 00:45:25,792
and I was able to establish
that it was a human cranium,
1034
00:45:25,826 --> 00:45:28,726
half buried in this very
thick, volcanic sand,
1035
00:45:28,760 --> 00:45:31,107
40 meters away from the shore."
1036
00:45:31,142 --> 00:45:33,696
"I started very slowly
separating the pebbles
1037
00:45:33,731 --> 00:45:36,354
until I could pull out the
top part of the cranium,
1038
00:45:36,388 --> 00:45:38,528
and as the upper jaw
bones were missing,
1039
00:45:38,563 --> 00:45:41,359
I was looking for the other
remains until I found them."
1040
00:45:42,394 --> 00:45:44,258
Subsequent analysis of the skull
1041
00:45:44,293 --> 00:45:46,088
at the Chilean
Antarctic Institute,
1042
00:45:46,122 --> 00:45:48,884
revealed that it belongs
to a young woman of 21
1043
00:45:48,918 --> 00:45:50,092
at the most.
1044
00:45:50,126 --> 00:45:51,334
But who was she?
1045
00:45:51,369 --> 00:45:53,233
And what was she
doing in this remote spot?
1046
00:45:54,475 --> 00:45:56,408
In January, 1987,
1047
00:45:56,443 --> 00:45:59,549
part of a human femur was
found inland from Yamana beach.
1048
00:45:59,584 --> 00:46:01,620
And in January, 1991,
1049
00:46:01,655 --> 00:46:04,106
another part of a femur
was found close proximity
1050
00:46:04,140 --> 00:46:07,695
to the site of the
earlier 1987 find.
1051
00:46:07,730 --> 00:46:08,904
It was later revealed
1052
00:46:08,938 --> 00:46:10,640
that the remains were
of an indigenous female
1053
00:46:10,664 --> 00:46:12,045
from Southern Chile,
1054
00:46:12,079 --> 00:46:16,635
who's believed to have
died between 1819 and 1825.
1055
00:46:16,670 --> 00:46:18,085
This makes the woman's bones,
1056
00:46:18,120 --> 00:46:21,399
the oldest known human
remains ever found in Antarctica,
1057
00:46:21,433 --> 00:46:23,228
but how did she get there?
1058
00:46:23,263 --> 00:46:25,748
The traditional canoes
of the indigenous Chileans
1059
00:46:25,783 --> 00:46:28,199
could not possibly have
managed such a long voyage
1060
00:46:28,233 --> 00:46:30,857
through extremely rough seas.
1061
00:46:30,891 --> 00:46:32,755
Fascinatingly, the girls' dates
1062
00:46:32,790 --> 00:46:35,723
match up with the first
known landings on Antarctica.
1063
00:46:35,758 --> 00:46:38,588
Though, the location of
the discovery was unusual,
1064
00:46:38,623 --> 00:46:40,832
at a beach camp made by sealers,
1065
00:46:40,867 --> 00:46:44,629
female sealers were
absolutely unheard of at the time.
1066
00:46:44,663 --> 00:46:47,563
One theory is that the girl
was an indigenous guide,
1067
00:46:47,597 --> 00:46:50,186
translator, or navigator
to the sealers traveling
1068
00:46:50,221 --> 00:46:51,774
from the Northern Hemisphere
1069
00:46:51,809 --> 00:46:53,569
to the Antarctic islands.
1070
00:46:53,603 --> 00:46:55,778
But women taking
part in such expeditions
1071
00:46:55,813 --> 00:46:59,126
to the far south in the early
19th century was unlikely,
1072
00:46:59,161 --> 00:47:00,921
though, not impossible.
1073
00:47:00,956 --> 00:47:02,543
Another much darker theory
1074
00:47:02,578 --> 00:47:05,063
is that the girl was taken
by force from her home,
1075
00:47:05,098 --> 00:47:07,652
in what is now Southern
Chile, by sealers
1076
00:47:07,686 --> 00:47:09,033
and abandoned in the area
1077
00:47:09,067 --> 00:47:12,415
where her remains were
found 175 years later.
1078
00:47:12,450 --> 00:47:13,969
Perhaps we will never know,
1079
00:47:14,003 --> 00:47:16,695
there are no surviving
documents explaining how or why
1080
00:47:16,730 --> 00:47:17,973
this young Chilean woman
1081
00:47:18,007 --> 00:47:20,699
came to be an
Antarctica at this time.
1082
00:47:20,734 --> 00:47:24,082
Her bones marked the start
of human activity on Antarctica,
1083
00:47:24,117 --> 00:47:27,706
and were a hugely significant
discovery for archeology,
1084
00:47:27,741 --> 00:47:29,639
but they are also
of vital importance
1085
00:47:29,674 --> 00:47:31,814
to the history of
Antarctica as a whole,
1086
00:47:31,849 --> 00:47:33,712
as they could be
proof that Chile,
1087
00:47:33,747 --> 00:47:37,199
which lies about 620
miles away from Antarctica,
1088
00:47:37,233 --> 00:47:40,133
made the first known
landings on Antarctica.
1089
00:47:40,167 --> 00:47:43,412
It must be added that this
is disputed in some quarters.
1090
00:47:43,446 --> 00:47:46,346
Some researchers
believe that in 1819,
1091
00:47:46,380 --> 00:47:48,210
officers, soldiers, and seamen
1092
00:47:48,244 --> 00:47:51,420
of the storm-damaged
Spanish ship, San Telmo,
1093
00:47:51,454 --> 00:47:54,906
the flagship of a Spanish
Naval squadron bound for Peru,
1094
00:47:54,941 --> 00:47:58,703
may have been the first
people to land on Antarctica.
1095
00:47:58,737 --> 00:48:00,222
If any crew members survived
1096
00:48:00,256 --> 00:48:02,327
the initial sinking
of the San Telmo,
1097
00:48:02,362 --> 00:48:03,742
north of Livingston Island,
1098
00:48:03,777 --> 00:48:05,883
and managed to
get to Antarctica,
1099
00:48:05,917 --> 00:48:07,746
they would've been the
first humans in history
1100
00:48:07,781 --> 00:48:09,610
to reach the continent.
1101
00:48:09,645 --> 00:48:12,165
Indeed, some remnants
and signs of wreckage
1102
00:48:12,199 --> 00:48:14,650
were later said to have been
found on Livingston Island
1103
00:48:14,684 --> 00:48:16,203
in the South Shetland Islands,
1104
00:48:16,238 --> 00:48:18,654
by the English
Captain William Smith
1105
00:48:18,688 --> 00:48:20,380
on board of brig, Williams,
1106
00:48:20,414 --> 00:48:22,485
who arrived at the
island of Livingston
1107
00:48:22,520 --> 00:48:24,867
in October of the same year.
1108
00:48:24,902 --> 00:48:29,113
The Antarctic Treaty System
was first signed in 1959,
1109
00:48:29,147 --> 00:48:30,908
but in 1998,
1110
00:48:30,942 --> 00:48:33,772
a protocol on environmental
protection was added,
1111
00:48:33,807 --> 00:48:36,914
stating that Antarctica
is to be a natural reserve,
1112
00:48:36,948 --> 00:48:38,881
devoted to peace in science,
1113
00:48:38,916 --> 00:48:40,262
and forbids all activity
1114
00:48:40,296 --> 00:48:43,127
relating to the Antarctic
mineral resources,
1115
00:48:43,161 --> 00:48:46,716
except as is necessary
for scientific research.
1116
00:48:46,751 --> 00:48:47,890
But significantly,
1117
00:48:47,925 --> 00:48:49,271
this is the part of the treaty
1118
00:48:49,305 --> 00:48:52,860
that could come under
some review in 2048,
1119
00:48:52,895 --> 00:48:54,862
50 years after it was signed.
1120
00:48:54,897 --> 00:48:56,278
On that date,
1121
00:48:56,312 --> 00:48:58,014
the prohibition on
mining resource extraction
1122
00:48:58,038 --> 00:49:01,041
could be changed or
scrapped completely.
1123
00:49:01,076 --> 00:49:02,836
According to Klaus Dodds,
1124
00:49:02,870 --> 00:49:04,286
Professor of Geopolitics
1125
00:49:04,320 --> 00:49:06,667
at Royal Holloway,
University of London,
1126
00:49:06,702 --> 00:49:08,946
"There is a huge
political storm coming
1127
00:49:08,980 --> 00:49:10,948
connected with Antarctica."
1128
00:49:10,982 --> 00:49:12,777
"Lots of people
just don't understand
1129
00:49:12,811 --> 00:49:15,124
that there's a darker
side to Antarctica."
1130
00:49:15,159 --> 00:49:17,161
"What we're seeing
is great power politics
1131
00:49:17,195 --> 00:49:19,646
play out in a space that
a lot of people think of
1132
00:49:19,680 --> 00:49:21,717
as just frozen wastes."
1133
00:49:21,751 --> 00:49:23,891
The reason 2048 looms large
1134
00:49:23,926 --> 00:49:25,686
is because if
certain countries feel
1135
00:49:25,721 --> 00:49:28,172
that the prohibition
on mineral exploitation
1136
00:49:28,206 --> 00:49:30,174
is no longer to be respected,
1137
00:49:30,208 --> 00:49:32,935
people worry that the
whole thing could unravel.
1138
00:49:32,970 --> 00:49:36,318
Seven nations laid overlapping
claims on Antarctic land
1139
00:49:36,352 --> 00:49:38,078
when the treaty was adopted,
1140
00:49:38,113 --> 00:49:41,530
Argentina, Australia,
Chile, France, New Zealand,
1141
00:49:41,564 --> 00:49:43,049
Norway, and the UK.
1142
00:49:44,222 --> 00:49:45,983
The treaty holds all
these claims in place
1143
00:49:46,017 --> 00:49:48,986
and prohibited any new
ones from being established.
1144
00:49:49,020 --> 00:49:52,092
The treaty also puts any
expansions to territorial claims
1145
00:49:52,127 --> 00:49:53,818
to Antarctica on hold.
1146
00:49:53,852 --> 00:49:54,750
But the big players,
1147
00:49:54,784 --> 00:49:56,303
usually China and Russia,
1148
00:49:56,338 --> 00:49:58,478
are thinking about
this particular episode
1149
00:49:58,512 --> 00:50:01,653
around 2048 and planning ahead.
1150
00:50:01,688 --> 00:50:04,656
Of course, when human
remains like the Chilean girl
1151
00:50:04,691 --> 00:50:06,348
or objects are found in the ice,
1152
00:50:06,382 --> 00:50:09,765
it ignites feelings of
territorial naturalism.
1153
00:50:09,799 --> 00:50:11,974
If Chile could use these
remains to demonstrate
1154
00:50:12,009 --> 00:50:13,941
that it had people
living in Antarctica
1155
00:50:13,976 --> 00:50:16,806
earlier than other nations
making land claims,
1156
00:50:16,841 --> 00:50:18,187
well, then they would be
1157
00:50:18,222 --> 00:50:20,948
in a much stronger
position in negotiations.
1158
00:50:20,983 --> 00:50:23,192
A number of countries
are now subtly trying
1159
00:50:23,227 --> 00:50:26,402
to help their claims in
Antarctica in differing ways,
1160
00:50:26,437 --> 00:50:28,922
such as financing
scientific research,
1161
00:50:28,956 --> 00:50:32,443
historical investigation, and
constructing research bases
1162
00:50:32,477 --> 00:50:34,134
around the continent.
1163
00:50:34,169 --> 00:50:36,757
It looks like the future of
this remote, icy continent
1164
00:50:36,792 --> 00:50:39,001
may be more complicated
and controversial
1165
00:50:39,036 --> 00:50:41,383
than anyone could
have ever imagined.
1166
00:50:46,836 --> 00:50:48,321
Randy Haas,
1167
00:50:48,355 --> 00:50:50,737
an anthropologist from
the University of California,
1168
00:50:50,771 --> 00:50:53,602
was working with his
colleagues at a high altitude site
1169
00:50:53,636 --> 00:50:54,568
in the area
1170
00:50:54,603 --> 00:50:57,019
known as Wilamaya Patjxa,
1171
00:50:57,054 --> 00:50:58,469
in Southern Peru,
1172
00:50:58,503 --> 00:51:00,264
when they found six burials
1173
00:51:00,298 --> 00:51:03,094
dating back almost 9,000 years,
1174
00:51:03,129 --> 00:51:06,166
which contains the
remains of six individuals.
1175
00:51:06,201 --> 00:51:07,719
During their work,
1176
00:51:07,754 --> 00:51:11,206
the team collaborated with
the local Aymara community.
1177
00:51:11,240 --> 00:51:14,554
Teenage female huntress
buried with her tools.
1178
00:51:15,727 --> 00:51:17,729
One burial pit was
not like the others,
1179
00:51:17,764 --> 00:51:21,008
based on the hunting toolkit
found with the deceased,
1180
00:51:21,043 --> 00:51:22,976
the team initially
thought that the burial
1181
00:51:23,010 --> 00:51:24,667
was of a male hunter.
1182
00:51:24,702 --> 00:51:26,669
However, the bones
of a very slender, light,
1183
00:51:26,704 --> 00:51:29,983
and appeared to
be those of a female.
1184
00:51:30,017 --> 00:51:32,123
Science quotes one
of the team members,
1185
00:51:32,158 --> 00:51:34,677
bioarcheologist, Jim
Watson as saying,
1186
00:51:34,712 --> 00:51:37,232
"I think your hunter
might be female."
1187
00:51:37,266 --> 00:51:40,338
Indeed, the grave contains
the remains of a young woman
1188
00:51:40,373 --> 00:51:43,548
who died between
the ages of 17 and 19.
1189
00:51:43,583 --> 00:51:45,481
Her gender and
age were determined
1190
00:51:45,516 --> 00:51:49,416
based on an analysis
of proteins in her teeth.
1191
00:51:49,451 --> 00:51:51,211
Anthropologist, Randy Haas,
1192
00:51:51,246 --> 00:51:54,283
has told Sky News that the
female hunter had been buried
1193
00:51:54,318 --> 00:51:58,149
with "Stone projectile points
for felling large animals,
1194
00:51:58,184 --> 00:52:01,704
a knife, and flakes of rock
for removing internal organs,
1195
00:52:01,739 --> 00:52:04,707
and tools for scraping
and tanning hides."
1196
00:52:04,742 --> 00:52:07,400
The stone points would've
been attached to shafts
1197
00:52:07,434 --> 00:52:09,160
and used to spear throwers,
1198
00:52:09,195 --> 00:52:11,887
and hurled at animals
with great force.
1199
00:52:11,921 --> 00:52:14,234
A pigment chunk was
also found with her,
1200
00:52:14,269 --> 00:52:17,272
which was used in
the treatment of hides.
1201
00:52:17,306 --> 00:52:20,067
Was the discovery an outlier?
1202
00:52:20,102 --> 00:52:22,967
The female hunter was
found near the grave of a male
1203
00:52:23,001 --> 00:52:25,763
who was also buried
with a hunting toolkit.
1204
00:52:25,797 --> 00:52:28,075
The team of researchers
also found evidence
1205
00:52:28,110 --> 00:52:31,320
of animal bones in the
sediment of the burial ground,
1206
00:52:31,355 --> 00:52:34,185
including Andean
deer and vicuna.
1207
00:52:34,220 --> 00:52:36,877
Haas told "Science
News", these two animals
1208
00:52:36,912 --> 00:52:39,742
"Were the main targets
of ancient hunters
1209
00:52:39,777 --> 00:52:41,675
in that part of the Andes."
1210
00:52:41,710 --> 00:52:45,092
However, many believed
that the find was a one-off
1211
00:52:45,127 --> 00:52:48,751
and that the female
big-game hunter was an outlier.
1212
00:52:48,786 --> 00:52:50,408
"Science" quotes Meg Conkey,
1213
00:52:50,443 --> 00:52:53,584
an archeologist who
didn't take part in the study,
1214
00:52:53,618 --> 00:52:57,139
as stating that, "Skeptics
may say it's a one-off."
1215
00:52:57,174 --> 00:53:00,349
Moreover, the presence
of hunting gear in a grave
1216
00:53:00,384 --> 00:53:04,008
does not necessarily mean
that the deceased was a hunter.
1217
00:53:04,042 --> 00:53:06,286
Haas and his team
set out to prove
1218
00:53:06,321 --> 00:53:08,530
that there had once
been other female hunters
1219
00:53:08,564 --> 00:53:10,497
in the Americas.
1220
00:53:10,532 --> 00:53:13,224
Haas and his colleagues
were prepared for this
1221
00:53:13,259 --> 00:53:16,538
and conducted an exhaustive
study of the research literature
1222
00:53:16,572 --> 00:53:20,162
on 107 burial sites
in the Americas,
1223
00:53:20,197 --> 00:53:24,442
all of these sites are between
6 and 12,500 years old.
1224
00:53:24,477 --> 00:53:27,342
In total, the researchers
found 10 women
1225
00:53:27,376 --> 00:53:30,034
who had been buried
with hunting toolkits.
1226
00:53:30,068 --> 00:53:32,278
Their research has
led them to conclude
1227
00:53:32,312 --> 00:53:36,351
that women routinely
participated in big-game hunts.
1228
00:53:36,385 --> 00:53:39,112
The researchers wrote in
"Science Advances" that,
1229
00:53:39,146 --> 00:53:40,838
"The findings are consistent
1230
00:53:40,872 --> 00:53:43,254
with non-gendered
label practices,
1231
00:53:43,289 --> 00:53:45,325
in which early
hunter-gatherer females
1232
00:53:45,360 --> 00:53:47,293
were big-game hunters."
1233
00:53:47,327 --> 00:53:49,502
Based on their
study of other sites,
1234
00:53:49,536 --> 00:53:51,158
the research team believes that
1235
00:53:51,193 --> 00:53:54,714
"Females accounted
for between 30 and 50%
1236
00:53:54,748 --> 00:53:57,268
of ancient American
big-game hunters."
1237
00:53:57,303 --> 00:53:59,201
reports "Science News."
1238
00:53:59,236 --> 00:54:01,272
They're convinced that
the evidence is strong
1239
00:54:01,307 --> 00:54:02,791
for their theory.
1240
00:54:02,825 --> 00:54:05,518
The researchers also
consider that archeologists
1241
00:54:05,552 --> 00:54:08,935
did not recognize that
females were big-game hunters
1242
00:54:08,969 --> 00:54:09,832
in the past,
1243
00:54:09,867 --> 00:54:11,109
because of sexism.
1244
00:54:12,456 --> 00:54:14,665
"Gizmodo" quotes the
researchers are saying that,
1245
00:54:14,699 --> 00:54:16,391
"Modern gender constructs
1246
00:54:16,425 --> 00:54:19,152
often do not reflect past ones."
1247
00:54:19,186 --> 00:54:22,086
In other words, just because
women in the recent past
1248
00:54:22,120 --> 00:54:23,708
were not big-game hunters,
1249
00:54:23,743 --> 00:54:26,193
this does not mean that
there weren't any female
1250
00:54:26,228 --> 00:54:29,990
big-game hunters in the
Americas 9,000 years ago.
1251
00:54:30,025 --> 00:54:31,337
Up until recently,
1252
00:54:31,371 --> 00:54:34,409
the, man the hunter,
hypothesis was widely accepted.
1253
00:54:34,443 --> 00:54:35,962
According to "Science."
1254
00:54:35,996 --> 00:54:38,240
This held that women
did women's work,
1255
00:54:38,275 --> 00:54:40,311
and that males
engaged in activities
1256
00:54:40,346 --> 00:54:41,554
such as hunting,
1257
00:54:41,588 --> 00:54:44,246
and as a result were
the dominant gender.
1258
00:54:44,281 --> 00:54:45,903
This was based, in part,
1259
00:54:45,937 --> 00:54:48,215
on modern studies of
hunter-gatherer groups,
1260
00:54:48,250 --> 00:54:50,425
such as the Hadza of Tasmania.
1261
00:54:51,667 --> 00:54:54,808
Inspired by their
groundbreaking discovery in Peru,
1262
00:54:54,843 --> 00:54:56,154
the researchers argue
1263
00:54:56,189 --> 00:54:58,122
that this was not the case.
1264
00:54:58,156 --> 00:55:00,745
Big game hunting
would've required teamwork,
1265
00:55:00,780 --> 00:55:02,437
a group of people
working together,
1266
00:55:02,471 --> 00:55:04,301
and a great deal of labor.
1267
00:55:04,335 --> 00:55:07,856
Therefore, women would've
had to have cooperated with men
1268
00:55:07,890 --> 00:55:10,962
to ensure success
in hunting expeditions.
1269
00:55:10,997 --> 00:55:12,378
Quoted in "Gizmodo",
1270
00:55:12,412 --> 00:55:13,655
the researchers argue that,
1271
00:55:13,689 --> 00:55:15,588
"There was a broad participation
1272
00:55:15,622 --> 00:55:17,555
from both females and males
1273
00:55:17,590 --> 00:55:19,799
in the hunting of big-game."
1274
00:55:19,833 --> 00:55:22,284
Ashley Smallwood of
the University of Louisville,
1275
00:55:22,319 --> 00:55:24,321
in Kentucky, tells
"Science News,"
1276
00:55:24,355 --> 00:55:27,289
"That it's time to stop
thinking of ancient female
1277
00:55:27,324 --> 00:55:29,981
large-game hunters as outliers."
1278
00:55:30,016 --> 00:55:33,053
The discovery of the ancient
female huntress in Peru
1279
00:55:33,088 --> 00:55:36,540
could transform our knowledge
of gender roles in the past.
1280
00:55:36,574 --> 00:55:37,782
If women hunted,
1281
00:55:37,817 --> 00:55:39,853
this would imply that
there was more equality
1282
00:55:39,888 --> 00:55:41,096
between the genders
1283
00:55:41,130 --> 00:55:43,581
in prehistoric societies.
1284
00:55:43,616 --> 00:55:46,481
However, some have
argued against these findings
1285
00:55:46,515 --> 00:55:49,484
and state that the researchers
cannot prove their arguments
1286
00:55:49,518 --> 00:55:51,002
about female hunters
1287
00:55:51,037 --> 00:55:53,280
because the sample
that they investigated
1288
00:55:53,315 --> 00:55:55,386
is simply too small.
1289
00:55:55,421 --> 00:55:59,010
However, the research is
aligned with recent discoveries
1290
00:55:59,045 --> 00:56:01,116
that challenge the
traditional assumptions
1291
00:56:01,150 --> 00:56:03,532
about gender
roles in prehistory.
1292
00:56:03,567 --> 00:56:05,362
Archeologists
have found evidence
1293
00:56:05,396 --> 00:56:09,193
of a 5,000 year old
female warrior in California,
1294
00:56:09,227 --> 00:56:10,539
while other finds suggests
1295
00:56:10,574 --> 00:56:12,230
that there were female fighters
1296
00:56:12,265 --> 00:56:16,821
in both Mongolian and Viking
societies in the distant past.
1297
00:56:16,856 --> 00:56:19,376
A team of Spanish
researchers theorizes,
1298
00:56:19,410 --> 00:56:22,758
based on grooves and nicks
on the teeth of Neanderthals,
1299
00:56:22,793 --> 00:56:25,071
the gender roles
among that species
1300
00:56:25,105 --> 00:56:28,626
was similar to gender roles
of modern Homo sapiens.
1301
00:56:28,661 --> 00:56:31,698
Neanderthal men prepared
the cutting tools and weapons,
1302
00:56:31,733 --> 00:56:35,322
while women saw to the
leather garments and clothing.
1303
00:56:35,357 --> 00:56:37,014
But there was at least one duty
1304
00:56:37,048 --> 00:56:39,430
that men and women
may have shared,
1305
00:56:39,465 --> 00:56:40,397
Neanderthal women,
1306
00:56:40,431 --> 00:56:41,984
these researchers think,
1307
00:56:42,019 --> 00:56:44,435
hunted big-game with the men.
1308
00:56:44,470 --> 00:56:46,644
Almudena Estalrrich,
a researcher
1309
00:56:46,679 --> 00:56:49,544
at the Spanish National
Museum of Natural Sciences,
1310
00:56:49,578 --> 00:56:52,961
said, "We believe that
the specialization of labor
1311
00:56:52,995 --> 00:56:54,756
by sex of the individuals
1312
00:56:54,790 --> 00:56:57,379
was probably
limited to a few tasks,
1313
00:56:57,414 --> 00:56:59,554
as it is possible that
both men and women
1314
00:56:59,588 --> 00:57:03,558
participated equally in
the hunting of big animals."
1315
00:57:03,592 --> 00:57:07,424
Another researcher on
the project, Antonio Rosas,
1316
00:57:07,458 --> 00:57:10,703
along with the
museum, told phys.org,
1317
00:57:10,737 --> 00:57:12,152
"The study of Neanderthals
1318
00:57:12,187 --> 00:57:15,397
has provided numerous
discoveries in recent years."
1319
00:57:15,432 --> 00:57:17,710
"We have moved
from thinking of them as
1320
00:57:17,744 --> 00:57:19,194
little evolved beings
1321
00:57:19,228 --> 00:57:21,645
to know that they took
care of the sick people,
1322
00:57:21,679 --> 00:57:24,268
buried their
deceased, ate seafood,
1323
00:57:24,302 --> 00:57:27,478
and even had different
physical features than expected:
1324
00:57:27,513 --> 00:57:29,480
there were
redheaded individuals,
1325
00:57:29,515 --> 00:57:31,689
and with light skin and eyes."
1326
00:57:31,724 --> 00:57:34,968
"So far, we thought that
the sexual division of labor
1327
00:57:35,003 --> 00:57:37,454
was typical of sapien societies,
1328
00:57:37,488 --> 00:57:39,904
but apparently that's not true."
1329
00:57:39,939 --> 00:57:42,700
A study of ancient DNA
by other researchers
1330
00:57:42,735 --> 00:57:45,634
showed a mutation that
may have resulted in red hair
1331
00:57:45,669 --> 00:57:48,292
and light skin
among Neanderthals,
1332
00:57:48,326 --> 00:57:52,054
according to the Smithsonian
Museum of Natural History.
1333
00:57:52,089 --> 00:57:54,471
An article on the
Smithsonian's website
1334
00:57:54,505 --> 00:57:56,024
says two Neanderthals,
1335
00:57:56,058 --> 00:57:58,475
one from Spain
and one from Italy,
1336
00:57:58,509 --> 00:58:02,513
had a mutation in a gene
controlling skin and hair color.
1337
00:58:02,548 --> 00:58:04,998
The mutation
changes an amino acid,
1338
00:58:05,033 --> 00:58:08,070
making the resulting
protein less efficient.
1339
00:58:08,105 --> 00:58:10,521
Modern humans have
other MCR1 variants
1340
00:58:10,556 --> 00:58:13,593
that are also less
active resulting,
1341
00:58:13,628 --> 00:58:15,975
in red hair and pale skin.
1342
00:58:16,009 --> 00:58:18,184
The less active
Neanderthal mutation
1343
00:58:18,218 --> 00:58:21,567
probably also resulted
in red hair and pale skin,
1344
00:58:21,601 --> 00:58:23,430
as in modern humans.
1345
00:58:23,465 --> 00:58:24,984
Phys.org says that,
1346
00:58:25,018 --> 00:58:27,020
one of the main
conclusions of a study of
1347
00:58:27,055 --> 00:58:29,540
99 incisors and canines of
1348
00:58:29,575 --> 00:58:31,438
19 Neanderthal people
1349
00:58:31,473 --> 00:58:35,408
showed that their communities
divided work according to sex.
1350
00:58:35,442 --> 00:58:38,756
The study, by the Spanish
National Research Council,
1351
00:58:38,791 --> 00:58:41,828
was published in the
"Journal of Human Evolution."
1352
00:58:41,863 --> 00:58:45,211
The Neanderthal's teeth
came from sites at El Sidran:
1353
00:58:45,245 --> 00:58:48,041
Asturias, Spain: Spy, Belgium,
1354
00:58:48,076 --> 00:58:50,009
and L'Hortus, France.
1355
00:58:50,043 --> 00:58:52,494
The study said grooves
in the teeth of women
1356
00:58:52,529 --> 00:58:54,634
appeared to follow
the same pattern,
1357
00:58:54,669 --> 00:58:56,809
the pattern of the
grooves in women's teeth
1358
00:58:56,843 --> 00:58:59,121
differed from that in men's.
1359
00:58:59,156 --> 00:59:01,227
Analysis shows
that all Neanderthals,
1360
00:59:01,261 --> 00:59:04,161
regardless of age, had
grooves in their teeth.
1361
00:59:04,195 --> 00:59:06,922
"This is due to the
custom of these societies
1362
00:59:06,957 --> 00:59:09,235
to use the mouth
as a third hand,
1363
00:59:09,269 --> 00:59:11,617
as in some current populations,
1364
00:59:11,651 --> 00:59:14,067
for tasks, such as
preparing the furs,
1365
00:59:14,102 --> 00:59:16,622
for chopping
meat, for instance."
1366
00:59:16,656 --> 00:59:19,072
The researchers found that
the grooves in men's teeth
1367
00:59:19,107 --> 00:59:20,487
were longer than women's,
1368
00:59:20,522 --> 00:59:22,489
and made the
assumption from this,
1369
00:59:22,524 --> 00:59:25,941
that the tasks the two
sectors performed differed.
1370
00:59:25,976 --> 00:59:28,772
Also, they found tiny nicks
in the enamel and dentin
1371
00:59:28,806 --> 00:59:30,187
of the upper teeth of men,
1372
00:59:30,221 --> 00:59:32,672
and in the lower teeth of women.
1373
00:59:32,707 --> 00:59:36,296
Researchers are unable to
make rock solid conclusions
1374
00:59:36,331 --> 00:59:38,609
about which tasks men performed,
1375
00:59:38,644 --> 00:59:40,749
and which tasks women performed.
1376
00:59:40,784 --> 00:59:43,683
But they said in modern
hunter-gatherer society,
1377
00:59:43,718 --> 00:59:46,790
women typically prepare
furs and other garments,
1378
00:59:46,824 --> 00:59:49,931
and men retouched
the edges of stone tools.
1379
00:59:49,965 --> 00:59:50,932
They say this
1380
00:59:50,966 --> 00:59:53,072
may have been how it was
1381
00:59:53,106 --> 00:59:55,833
among the Neanderthals
they studied.108453
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