1 00:00:10,207 --> 00:00:13,483 ALICE ROBERTS: They say this is where it all began. 2 00:00:14,647 --> 00:00:16,444 (PEOPLE CHATTERING) 3 00:00:16,527 --> 00:00:19,405 That we are all children of Africa. 4 00:00:23,127 --> 00:00:26,597 But if so, why do we look so different? 5 00:00:28,847 --> 00:00:32,157 And how on earth could a handful of African families 6 00:00:32,687 --> 00:00:35,201 become a whole world full of people? 7 00:00:47,687 --> 00:00:52,158 I'm Alice Roberts, medical doctor and anthropologist. 8 00:00:52,567 --> 00:00:54,876 I'm fascinated by what bones, 9 00:00:55,887 --> 00:00:57,161 stones, 10 00:00:57,727 --> 00:01:01,925 and even our bodies can reveal about the distant past. 11 00:01:05,687 --> 00:01:09,236 I'm going in search of where the first people were born 12 00:01:09,927 --> 00:01:13,397 and how they began their journey to populate the world. 13 00:01:16,367 --> 00:01:19,598 Leaving Africa was virtually impossible, 14 00:01:20,607 --> 00:01:26,045 but new evidence suggests just one tiny group might have done it. 15 00:01:26,127 --> 00:01:28,197 I just think it's absolutely remarkable. 16 00:01:28,287 --> 00:01:30,562 Isn't that amazing? It's stunning. 17 00:01:32,007 --> 00:01:36,444 Can I find their trail out of Africa and across the world? 18 00:01:36,967 --> 00:01:40,437 And discover how those journeys changed them 19 00:01:40,607 --> 00:01:43,405 to become who we are today? 20 00:01:45,807 --> 00:01:48,844 Come With me in the footsteps of our ancestors 21 00:01:48,927 --> 00:01:52,203 on the most epic adventure ever undertaken. 22 00:02:03,887 --> 00:02:06,401 (INDISTINCT RADIO EXCHANGE) 23 00:02:14,807 --> 00:02:18,083 ROBERTS: Ask yourself where do you come from? 24 00:02:18,807 --> 00:02:21,844 How did the first humans become you? 25 00:02:23,007 --> 00:02:26,079 It's a surprisingly tricky question. 26 00:02:27,727 --> 00:02:32,198 And in search of an answer, I'm starting in East Africa. 27 00:02:32,927 --> 00:02:35,395 I've dreamt about coming to this place since I Was a teenager. 28 00:02:49,607 --> 00:02:51,916 As unlikely as it sounds, palaeontologists 29 00:02:52,007 --> 00:02:54,316 noW think We have a pretty good idea 30 00:02:54,767 --> 00:02:57,565 of Where We modern humans first appeared. 31 00:02:58,367 --> 00:03:00,403 And I'm trying to get there. 32 00:03:00,487 --> 00:03:05,515 But it is in one of the most remote parts of the continent. 33 00:03:18,607 --> 00:03:21,519 I'm heading to Africa's great Rift Valley 34 00:03:21,887 --> 00:03:24,276 and the Omo River in Ethiopia. 35 00:03:35,007 --> 00:03:37,521 Very feW foreigners ever come here. 36 00:03:39,567 --> 00:03:41,285 (PEOPLE CHATTERING) 37 00:03:44,607 --> 00:03:50,045 The place I'm trying to reach lies on the far western side of the Omo. 38 00:03:52,567 --> 00:03:55,400 There are no bridges for hundreds of miles, 39 00:03:55,487 --> 00:04:00,038 so my best option is the slightly leaky passenger ferry. 40 00:04:01,727 --> 00:04:03,479 Past the crocodiles. 41 00:04:32,407 --> 00:04:35,046 There's quite a Welcoming committee. 42 00:04:36,287 --> 00:04:38,164 -Hello. -Hello. 43 00:04:43,527 --> 00:04:44,846 (LAUGHING) 44 00:04:47,087 --> 00:04:48,998 (INDISTINCT CHATTERING) 45 00:05:02,687 --> 00:05:06,600 I'm looking for the route taken by a scientific expedition 46 00:05:07,007 --> 00:05:08,963 about 40 years ago. 47 00:05:13,247 --> 00:05:16,762 They stumbled across perhaps the most important clue 48 00:05:16,967 --> 00:05:19,527 about the beginning of our species. 49 00:05:22,687 --> 00:05:27,886 I've got map coordinates, but there are no obvious tracks to follow. 50 00:05:31,127 --> 00:05:35,040 I think What I'm going to do is head to Kibish, the nearest village, 51 00:05:35,127 --> 00:05:37,083 and get some local help. 52 00:05:42,047 --> 00:05:43,958 (INDISTINCT CHATTERING) 53 00:06:03,567 --> 00:06:06,127 Kibish is home to the Nyangatom tribe. 54 00:06:06,207 --> 00:06:07,845 Soya, salaam. 55 00:06:07,927 --> 00:06:09,326 HoW are you? Mata. 56 00:06:09,407 --> 00:06:11,159 -I'm Well. HoW are you? -Mata. Mata. 57 00:06:11,247 --> 00:06:12,521 I'm fine. 58 00:06:15,847 --> 00:06:19,237 -I need to find a very particular place. -Mmm-hmm. 59 00:06:20,047 --> 00:06:23,835 ROBERTS: My only chance of help is if the chief agrees. 60 00:06:24,367 --> 00:06:25,766 -Mata. -Mata. 61 00:06:26,967 --> 00:06:29,435 (SPEAKING EASTERN NILOTIC LANGUAGE) 62 00:06:31,927 --> 00:06:33,758 Soya, can you tell him Why I'm here? 63 00:06:33,847 --> 00:06:35,644 Can you say that I'm here to find the place 64 00:06:35,727 --> 00:06:37,524 Where people Were digging? 65 00:06:37,607 --> 00:06:40,075 (SPEAKING EASTERN NILOTIC LANGUAGE) 66 00:06:53,647 --> 00:06:55,922 This all sounds very promising. 67 00:06:59,447 --> 00:07:02,007 -He said someone Was digging. -Someone Was digging. 68 00:07:02,087 --> 00:07:04,965 -And he found something like bone. -Yes. 69 00:07:05,047 --> 00:07:09,757 And, I don't knoW, he say the bone that stayed there for long time. 70 00:07:10,167 --> 00:07:11,919 When can We go? Can you ask them? 71 00:07:12,007 --> 00:07:14,475 (SPEAKING EASTERN NILOTIC LANGUAGE) 72 00:07:15,247 --> 00:07:17,442 -Let's go noW. -We can go noW? 73 00:07:29,647 --> 00:07:33,879 ROBERTS: I'm not sure that these guys know where they're going, 74 00:07:36,207 --> 00:07:39,085 but they seem to have come prepared for something. 75 00:07:39,167 --> 00:07:41,442 And, uh, Why's he carrying a gun? 76 00:07:41,527 --> 00:07:43,995 (SPEAKING EASTERN NILOTIC LANGUAGE) 77 00:07:46,687 --> 00:07:48,245 For protection. 78 00:07:48,647 --> 00:07:51,878 -For protection from Whom? -For protection from enemies. 79 00:07:51,967 --> 00:07:57,360 -Right. -Like Surma, Turkana and Mursi. 80 00:07:57,447 --> 00:08:00,280 -So these are other tribes? -Yeah, the other tribes. 81 00:08:00,367 --> 00:08:01,959 Are they likely to attack us? 82 00:08:02,047 --> 00:08:04,515 (SPEAKING EASTERN NILOTIC LANGUAGE) 83 00:08:05,567 --> 00:08:07,683 Yeah, they just come to attack them. 84 00:08:07,767 --> 00:08:10,076 -So there's alWays fighting going on? -Yeah, they alWays fighting. 85 00:08:10,167 --> 00:08:11,316 Right. 86 00:08:19,847 --> 00:08:23,806 ROBERTS: It's noon and the temperature has soared into the 40s. 87 00:08:34,687 --> 00:08:37,645 Although I've wanted to come here for years, 88 00:08:38,047 --> 00:08:40,800 after four hours in this searing heat 89 00:08:41,047 --> 00:08:43,481 I'm not sure I'm going to make it. 90 00:08:47,287 --> 00:08:49,755 (SPEAKING EASTERN NILOTIC LANGUAGE) 91 00:08:50,327 --> 00:08:51,885 -So What are they saying? -They say it's there. 92 00:08:51,967 --> 00:08:53,002 -Really? -Yeah. 93 00:08:53,087 --> 00:08:54,566 -That's Where it Was found? -Yeah, it is there. 94 00:08:54,647 --> 00:08:55,636 -Just here? -Yeah. 95 00:08:55,727 --> 00:08:57,683 -Just there? -Just there. 96 00:09:15,687 --> 00:09:18,520 Well, this is it. This is the place. 97 00:09:19,047 --> 00:09:23,199 Because this is Where the earliest human remains 98 00:09:23,727 --> 00:09:26,685 in the entire World Were discovered. 99 00:09:27,367 --> 00:09:30,643 It's been really difficult to find it. It's taken us four hours to Walk here 100 00:09:30,727 --> 00:09:33,924 and We've been a circuitous route through the bush. 101 00:09:34,007 --> 00:09:38,637 And it seems really strange that there's nothing to mark it. 102 00:09:39,207 --> 00:09:43,917 Because this is such an important place in our story. 103 00:09:44,607 --> 00:09:46,837 And it's as close as I can get 104 00:09:47,647 --> 00:09:50,161 to Where We all began. 105 00:09:51,607 --> 00:09:52,881 Amazing. 106 00:10:06,327 --> 00:10:09,956 And this is what the archaeologists discovered. 107 00:10:12,407 --> 00:10:15,524 This is a cast of the skull that Was found here 108 00:10:15,807 --> 00:10:19,356 and Which Was dated to 195,000 years ago. 109 00:10:20,647 --> 00:10:23,081 I think, considering it's so old, 110 00:10:23,167 --> 00:10:25,203 it's remarkably complete. 111 00:10:25,407 --> 00:10:27,637 Okay, the fragile face bones are missing, 112 00:10:27,727 --> 00:10:29,479 but most of the brain case is here. 113 00:10:29,567 --> 00:10:32,081 We can see the size of the brain 114 00:10:32,207 --> 00:10:36,405 and We can see this very characteristic forehead. 115 00:10:36,887 --> 00:10:41,438 No other remains of our species even approaching this age 116 00:10:41,527 --> 00:10:44,803 have been found anywhere else on the planet. 117 00:10:51,647 --> 00:10:53,842 This is as near as we can get 118 00:10:54,127 --> 00:10:56,721 to the origin of our species. 119 00:11:04,447 --> 00:11:08,884 There's something very special about sitting here looking out at the Omo. 120 00:11:09,527 --> 00:11:12,280 I could be on the banks of any African river, 121 00:11:12,367 --> 00:11:16,326 apart from the fact We knoW that this landscape 122 00:11:16,407 --> 00:11:20,002 has been home to humans, people like you and me, 123 00:11:20,167 --> 00:11:23,364 for nearly 200,000 years. 124 00:11:27,447 --> 00:11:30,598 So if this is where we first appeared, 125 00:11:30,927 --> 00:11:32,838 what did we come from? 126 00:11:36,487 --> 00:11:40,321 The evidence suggests that the very first human-like creatures 127 00:11:40,567 --> 00:11:44,037 evolved in Africa over four million years ago. 128 00:11:44,847 --> 00:11:47,441 They were much more ape-like than us. 129 00:11:48,327 --> 00:11:52,445 A series of human species with gradually bigger brains 130 00:11:52,527 --> 00:11:54,199 came and went. 131 00:11:55,047 --> 00:11:58,164 The most recent, and only surviving, 132 00:11:58,247 --> 00:12:01,922 is our own species, Homo sapiens. 133 00:12:02,247 --> 00:12:04,158 Modern humans. 134 00:12:10,967 --> 00:12:14,846 Here is a skull of one of our nearest ancient human relatives, 135 00:12:14,927 --> 00:12:16,918 Homo heidelbergensis. 136 00:12:17,007 --> 00:12:19,760 If We compare it With this modern skull, 137 00:12:20,047 --> 00:12:22,481 some things just leap out at you. 138 00:12:22,767 --> 00:12:26,123 This heidelbergensis skull has an enormous broW ridge 139 00:12:26,207 --> 00:12:29,358 and a sWept-back, sloping forehead. 140 00:12:29,807 --> 00:12:32,037 Much steeper in the modern skull. 141 00:12:32,127 --> 00:12:35,597 In fact, the Whole brain case here is much rounder. 142 00:12:38,047 --> 00:12:40,481 Using the skull of the ancient human, 143 00:12:40,727 --> 00:12:43,764 experts have reconstructed his face, 144 00:12:45,647 --> 00:12:48,161 to reveal our flatter-headed, 145 00:12:48,247 --> 00:12:50,602 beetle-browed predecessor. 146 00:12:56,567 --> 00:13:02,756 In contrast With this reconstruction of a very old but modern human, 147 00:13:03,567 --> 00:13:07,560 and I think you'll agree that she looks a lot more like me. 148 00:13:11,407 --> 00:13:15,082 But if East Africa is where the first humans were born, 149 00:13:15,207 --> 00:13:17,880 there are some big questions to answer. 150 00:13:21,847 --> 00:13:25,317 Are we all descended from black Africans? 151 00:13:25,927 --> 00:13:29,920 If so, why do most of us look so different? 152 00:13:38,327 --> 00:13:42,559 And how could a handful of people from such an isolated place 153 00:13:42,847 --> 00:13:45,486 go on to colonise first Africa 154 00:13:47,527 --> 00:13:49,802 and then the rest of the world? 155 00:13:56,847 --> 00:14:01,523 So what do we know about these shadowy first families? 156 00:14:02,967 --> 00:14:05,037 200,000 years ago, 157 00:14:05,247 --> 00:14:10,275 it's likely there were so few of them, living such a precarious existence, 158 00:14:10,727 --> 00:14:14,879 that today they'd be classified as an endangered species. 159 00:14:17,087 --> 00:14:19,396 Life was fragile. 160 00:14:19,807 --> 00:14:23,720 And the African savannah was a dangerous place. 161 00:14:43,967 --> 00:14:47,277 Well, I'm going to be spending the night out here in the bush - 162 00:14:47,367 --> 00:14:50,200 presumably something our ancestors did all the time, 163 00:14:50,287 --> 00:14:53,677 but years of living in civilisation have softened me. 164 00:14:55,407 --> 00:14:58,797 I've got a big torch here, so that if anything comes by 165 00:14:58,887 --> 00:15:00,878 I can get a better look at it in the dark. 166 00:15:00,967 --> 00:15:04,084 And I've got this little camera 167 00:15:04,167 --> 00:15:07,318 so I can make a video diary throughout the night 168 00:15:07,407 --> 00:15:10,160 and talk about What comes along. 169 00:15:10,967 --> 00:15:13,481 I'm doing this for real, I'm going to be out here all night. 170 00:15:13,567 --> 00:15:15,762 And I really am quite scared. 171 00:15:27,327 --> 00:15:32,560 The film crew head for the safety of our camp, over ten kilometres away, 172 00:15:33,487 --> 00:15:37,082 leaving me with just a few thorn bushes for protection. 173 00:15:44,967 --> 00:15:48,277 (WHISPERING) It's just amazing the amount of noises you suddenly hear. 174 00:15:48,367 --> 00:15:50,722 About half an hour ago, there Was the sound, 175 00:15:50,807 --> 00:15:54,117 a really distinct sound, of something lapping Water. 176 00:15:55,567 --> 00:15:59,276 Maybe a hyena, maybe a leopard - it sounded like a big cat. 177 00:15:59,567 --> 00:16:02,206 Literally like a cat lapping at milk. 178 00:16:04,287 --> 00:16:06,960 Hopefully nothing can get through that. 179 00:16:07,927 --> 00:16:09,246 (SIGHING) 180 00:16:14,007 --> 00:16:16,601 Suddenly feel really vulnerable, as an animal 181 00:16:16,687 --> 00:16:19,326 Which is designed to be out in the daylight. 182 00:16:20,607 --> 00:16:23,246 I mean, can't see very Well at night. 183 00:16:24,447 --> 00:16:28,679 Hearing's all right. Just about enough to get you feeling scared. 184 00:16:30,407 --> 00:16:32,477 And sense of smell as Well - 185 00:16:33,527 --> 00:16:36,439 compared to all these other animals, might as Well not have it. 186 00:16:42,767 --> 00:16:44,120 (ANIMAL CALLING) 187 00:16:44,207 --> 00:16:45,879 Did you hear that? 188 00:16:48,487 --> 00:16:50,125 I'm scared noW. 189 00:16:50,207 --> 00:16:51,845 (ANIMAL CALLING) 190 00:16:55,447 --> 00:16:57,085 (ANIMAL CALLING) 191 00:16:58,527 --> 00:17:01,405 Is that a... Is that a lion? 192 00:17:01,567 --> 00:17:03,046 Is that a leopard? 193 00:17:03,127 --> 00:17:04,765 (ANIMAL CALLING) 194 00:17:09,047 --> 00:17:10,082 Is that... 195 00:17:10,167 --> 00:17:11,805 (ANIMAL CALLING) 196 00:17:12,367 --> 00:17:13,959 Is that a hyena? 197 00:17:16,407 --> 00:17:18,045 (ANIMAL CALLING) 198 00:17:19,927 --> 00:17:22,077 Oh, I don't like that noise. 199 00:17:23,007 --> 00:17:24,679 That's really spooky. 200 00:17:24,767 --> 00:17:26,405 (ANIMAL CALLING) 201 00:17:36,047 --> 00:17:41,075 That's got to be one of the most frightening nights of my life. 202 00:17:42,047 --> 00:17:43,685 I did get some sleep, 203 00:17:43,767 --> 00:17:47,043 but then I got Woken up by these horrendous noises. 204 00:17:48,087 --> 00:17:50,043 Sometimes it Was hyenas. 205 00:17:50,567 --> 00:17:52,797 And then there Was something that sounded 206 00:17:52,887 --> 00:17:55,117 like a standoff betWeen a hyena and a leopard 207 00:17:55,207 --> 00:17:58,677 or some... I don't knoW What it Was. AWful noises. 208 00:17:59,407 --> 00:18:01,284 Really, really scary. 209 00:18:09,207 --> 00:18:12,597 With the return of the crew, I pluck up my courage 210 00:18:12,687 --> 00:18:16,441 and look for signs of the animals that I heard in the night. 211 00:18:20,607 --> 00:18:25,806 God, just look at this. This is a big, male leopard paW print. 212 00:18:26,447 --> 00:18:30,326 And there are large hyena prints as Well. 213 00:18:31,207 --> 00:18:33,801 So these predators, these carnivores, 214 00:18:33,967 --> 00:18:36,276 Were literally here, about 25 metres aWay 215 00:18:36,367 --> 00:18:38,722 from Where I Was sleeping, 216 00:18:38,887 --> 00:18:40,684 underneath that tree. 217 00:18:41,447 --> 00:18:44,280 They sounded really close during the night. 218 00:18:44,367 --> 00:18:46,756 And I can see noW that they Were. 219 00:18:53,727 --> 00:18:55,319 At night-time especially, 220 00:18:55,407 --> 00:18:58,399 our ancestors must have been very vulnerable. 221 00:19:00,247 --> 00:19:03,319 So how did those first families survive, 222 00:19:03,687 --> 00:19:06,645 let alone go on to spread across the world? 223 00:19:17,727 --> 00:19:22,357 In the hope of finding out more, I'm heading south to Namibia. 224 00:19:35,567 --> 00:19:40,004 I'm meeting one of the last groups of hunter-gatherers on this continent, 225 00:19:40,287 --> 00:19:42,437 the Bushmen of the Kalahari. 226 00:19:44,207 --> 00:19:46,482 -What's your name? -My name is Sedray. 227 00:19:46,567 --> 00:19:50,037 -Sedray? -Sedray. 228 00:19:51,927 --> 00:19:53,280 (COUGHING) 229 00:19:53,607 --> 00:19:58,283 Their Way of life is the closest I can find to that of our ancestors. 230 00:20:01,007 --> 00:20:03,077 (SPEAKING KHOISAN LANGUAGE) 231 00:20:04,407 --> 00:20:06,716 The Bushmen are expert hunters. 232 00:20:10,127 --> 00:20:12,595 But before I see hoW they do it, 233 00:20:12,687 --> 00:20:17,966 I Want to persuade Un and Lau to take part in a little experiment. 234 00:20:18,447 --> 00:20:22,838 Un, I need to check your body temperature using this. 235 00:20:22,927 --> 00:20:25,760 Is that all right? I'm going to put it in your ear, like that. 236 00:20:25,847 --> 00:20:27,280 -Yeah. -Stick it in your ear. 237 00:20:27,367 --> 00:20:30,484 -Mmm-hmm. -Right. Just going to pop it in there. 238 00:20:33,607 --> 00:20:35,199 (THERMOMETER BEEPING) 239 00:20:35,287 --> 00:20:36,481 Lovely. 240 00:20:36,607 --> 00:20:39,565 -36.2 -HoW is it? 241 00:20:39,647 --> 00:20:41,717 -That's hoW hot you are. -There's my ears. 242 00:20:41,807 --> 00:20:43,206 -Yes. -Okay. 243 00:20:43,287 --> 00:20:45,357 And Lau, I need to do it to you as Well. 244 00:20:45,447 --> 00:20:49,486 There We go, it's ready to take your temperature. 245 00:20:49,567 --> 00:20:50,886 (THERMOMETER BEEPING) 246 00:20:50,967 --> 00:20:53,242 Right. 35.8. 247 00:20:53,607 --> 00:20:56,326 So you're even cooler. You're very cool. 248 00:21:00,087 --> 00:21:01,406 (LAUGHING) 249 00:21:01,607 --> 00:21:03,882 It's turned into a competition. 250 00:21:16,007 --> 00:21:18,237 Humans usually hunt in the day. 251 00:21:18,327 --> 00:21:22,115 So I want to see how our bodies cope with this blazing heat. 252 00:21:22,207 --> 00:21:24,437 It's a pretty relentless pace. 253 00:21:25,767 --> 00:21:28,645 We're looking for the trail of an antelope. 254 00:21:38,247 --> 00:21:39,999 What have you found? 255 00:21:40,647 --> 00:21:42,922 (SPEAKING KHOISAN LANGUAGE) 256 00:21:44,607 --> 00:21:47,201 (WHISPERING) Oh, yeah. Right, this is really exciting. 257 00:21:47,287 --> 00:21:50,996 We've got an oryx track. And We're going to folloW it. 258 00:21:51,087 --> 00:21:53,885 I'm going to have to be really quiet noW. 259 00:22:01,007 --> 00:22:03,885 We've got to move fast to gain on the oryx. 260 00:22:12,687 --> 00:22:17,397 We've been walking and running for over an hour, when we find more prints. 261 00:22:18,847 --> 00:22:21,407 But not the ones we were hoping for. 262 00:22:23,767 --> 00:22:25,883 (SPEAKING KHOISAN LANGUAGE) 263 00:22:26,207 --> 00:22:28,118 I think We give up the chase at this point. 264 00:22:28,207 --> 00:22:30,118 The animal's being chased by a hyena. 265 00:22:30,207 --> 00:22:33,438 Don't knoW if it'll live to tell the tale, either. 266 00:22:33,527 --> 00:22:35,324 But no dinner for us. 267 00:22:38,047 --> 00:22:42,120 It's now just past midday and the temperature is in the high 30s. 268 00:22:42,967 --> 00:22:45,242 So what effect has all this running in the heat 269 00:22:45,327 --> 00:22:47,636 had on our body temperatures? 270 00:22:49,007 --> 00:22:53,000 Uh, 37.4, so a bit hotter than you Were before. 271 00:22:53,247 --> 00:22:55,363 If I could try you as Well. 272 00:22:56,247 --> 00:22:57,475 (THERMOMETER BEEPING) 273 00:22:57,567 --> 00:23:00,684 Ooh, 36.7. Cooler than him. 274 00:23:00,767 --> 00:23:02,200 (LAUGHING) 275 00:23:02,287 --> 00:23:04,278 All right, What about me? 276 00:23:08,167 --> 00:23:09,441 (THERMOMETER BEEPING) 277 00:23:09,527 --> 00:23:11,438 Thanks. 36.9! 278 00:23:11,527 --> 00:23:13,006 -Ohh! -We beat him. 279 00:23:13,087 --> 00:23:16,124 Incredibly, our temperatures have barely risen. 280 00:23:16,327 --> 00:23:18,966 Well, the key to this is that We're all regulating our body temperatures 281 00:23:19,047 --> 00:23:20,719 even in this heat. 282 00:23:25,727 --> 00:23:27,638 And this is the secret. 283 00:23:27,927 --> 00:23:29,997 We keep cool by sweating. 284 00:23:30,087 --> 00:23:33,921 Something humans do more effectively than most mammals. 285 00:23:35,207 --> 00:23:40,201 Not having fur, we can sweat from glands all over our bodies, 286 00:23:41,047 --> 00:23:45,404 which allows us to keep moving in pursuit of prey for hours 287 00:23:45,487 --> 00:23:47,239 without overheating. 288 00:23:48,967 --> 00:23:51,356 Even in the middle of the day, 289 00:23:51,447 --> 00:23:53,881 when most big predators are just trying to keep cool. 290 00:23:58,367 --> 00:24:00,801 And there are other things about your body 291 00:24:00,887 --> 00:24:03,355 designed specifically for running. 292 00:24:06,007 --> 00:24:09,204 And this is one of them. Yes, it's a foot. 293 00:24:09,287 --> 00:24:12,757 And it is brilliantly designed to provide spring. 294 00:24:12,847 --> 00:24:16,396 The ligaments and tendons support the sprung arches of the foot 295 00:24:16,487 --> 00:24:19,957 so that every time our foot hits the ground, the spring stores 296 00:24:20,087 --> 00:24:23,841 and then releases energy, making running more efficient. 297 00:24:26,407 --> 00:24:29,604 And there's a really important muscle in our bums. 298 00:24:30,367 --> 00:24:33,165 Our gluteus maximus muscle is huge 299 00:24:33,247 --> 00:24:35,807 and We hardly use it at all When We're Walking. 300 00:24:35,887 --> 00:24:38,196 But it comes into its oWn When We run. 301 00:24:43,487 --> 00:24:47,002 So all of these adaptations suggest that running, 302 00:24:47,287 --> 00:24:49,323 especially over long distances, 303 00:24:49,407 --> 00:24:52,604 Was really important to our early ancestors. 304 00:24:58,567 --> 00:24:59,920 But there was something else 305 00:25:00,007 --> 00:25:03,636 that may have really given our ancient ancestors the edge. 306 00:25:05,087 --> 00:25:07,157 (SPEAKING KHOISAN LANGUAGE) 307 00:25:12,807 --> 00:25:14,001 Language. 308 00:25:14,087 --> 00:25:16,999 The ability to communicate and plan. 309 00:25:21,687 --> 00:25:24,042 Red, yelloW, green. 310 00:25:24,447 --> 00:25:25,926 HoW do you say it? 311 00:25:26,007 --> 00:25:28,077 (SPEAKING KHOISAN LANGUAGE) 312 00:25:32,207 --> 00:25:35,085 We don't know when people started to speak, 313 00:25:35,167 --> 00:25:39,206 but there's evidence that languages like this, click languages, 314 00:25:39,567 --> 00:25:41,842 may be the oldest in the world. 315 00:25:43,567 --> 00:25:45,637 (SPEAKING KHOISAN LANGUAGE) 316 00:25:48,447 --> 00:25:52,679 So it's possible that the first families sounded a bit like this. 317 00:25:53,367 --> 00:25:55,164 It is an amazing language. 318 00:25:55,247 --> 00:25:59,399 Every sentence is peppered With these clicks and tutting noises 319 00:25:59,487 --> 00:26:00,966 that are consonants. 320 00:26:01,047 --> 00:26:04,357 They're just very unlike any consonants that I'm used to pronouncing. 321 00:26:04,447 --> 00:26:05,846 So I'm struggling With it. 322 00:26:05,927 --> 00:26:07,201 So this is... 323 00:26:07,287 --> 00:26:10,757 (SPEAKING KHOISAN LANGUAGE) 324 00:26:14,407 --> 00:26:15,442 (LAUGHING) 325 00:26:15,527 --> 00:26:18,360 See, I think it's easier to say yelloW. 326 00:26:21,767 --> 00:26:24,406 And it's a type of language 327 00:26:24,487 --> 00:26:27,126 that could have been crucial to our ancestors' survival. 328 00:26:29,207 --> 00:26:33,086 It may be that these click languages have been around for so long 329 00:26:33,167 --> 00:26:36,523 because they're particularly useful during hunting. 330 00:26:36,887 --> 00:26:39,196 Apparently, When the Bushmen are stalking an animal, 331 00:26:39,287 --> 00:26:41,881 they drop their voices to a Whisper 332 00:26:41,967 --> 00:26:44,606 so they're talking almost entirely in clicks, 333 00:26:44,687 --> 00:26:46,200 Which makes a lot of sense to me. 334 00:26:46,287 --> 00:26:49,757 The clicks are high-pitched noises that don't travel far through the bush, 335 00:26:49,927 --> 00:26:53,363 so the hunters aren't going to scare off their quarry. 336 00:26:53,687 --> 00:26:55,803 (SPEAKING KHOISAN LANGUAGE) 337 00:27:03,767 --> 00:27:08,363 Equipped with language and hunting skills, we flourished. 338 00:27:09,727 --> 00:27:13,402 And began to do something else.. spread out. 339 00:27:15,007 --> 00:27:17,726 We don't know for sure which routes they took, 340 00:27:17,807 --> 00:27:20,640 but new evidence shows that very early on, 341 00:27:20,847 --> 00:27:25,398 modern humans were living at the extreme southern edge of the continent. 342 00:27:30,287 --> 00:27:33,165 I'm heading along the South African coast 343 00:27:33,847 --> 00:27:36,236 to a place called Pinnacle Point. 344 00:27:41,247 --> 00:27:43,966 Today it's a playground for the rich. 345 00:27:45,127 --> 00:27:47,880 But during the construction of this golf course, 346 00:27:47,967 --> 00:27:50,879 archaeologists discovered something amazing 347 00:27:51,247 --> 00:27:53,283 deep beneath the fairway. 348 00:28:04,327 --> 00:28:07,763 This could be the oldest knoWn dWelling of our species 349 00:28:08,087 --> 00:28:09,918 anyWhere in the World. 350 00:28:15,367 --> 00:28:19,838 -So this is Where you've been digging? -This is the oldest part of the cave. 351 00:28:19,927 --> 00:28:22,760 And What are the dates here, then, as We go doWn through these layers? 352 00:28:22,847 --> 00:28:26,681 Uh, these layers date from 130,000 to 167,000 years ago. 353 00:28:27,167 --> 00:28:30,284 -It's just so incredibly ancient. -It's amazing. 354 00:28:30,527 --> 00:28:34,679 Did you knoW hoW important What you Were excavating really Was? 355 00:28:35,087 --> 00:28:37,282 Not until We got those dates. 356 00:28:37,447 --> 00:28:39,722 But, yeah. Amazing, stunning. 357 00:28:45,887 --> 00:28:49,960 ROBERTS: The evidence in this cave reveals that those ancient families 358 00:28:50,047 --> 00:28:54,837 were behaving in ways quite unlike previous species of human. 359 00:28:56,607 --> 00:28:59,121 Well, Kyle, that's not from this cave, is it? 'Cause I recognise this. 360 00:28:59,207 --> 00:29:00,720 This is a hand axe, isn't it? 361 00:29:00,807 --> 00:29:03,037 That's correct. NoW, that's more typical of What you Would find 362 00:29:03,127 --> 00:29:06,597 from about a million and a half years ago to about 300,000 years ago. 363 00:29:06,687 --> 00:29:09,963 So, What sort of thing Were you finding in the cave, then? 364 00:29:10,047 --> 00:29:11,924 Okay, Well, tools like these. 365 00:29:12,007 --> 00:29:15,602 Blades and points are much more typical of What We find in this cave. 366 00:29:15,687 --> 00:29:19,475 Made on quartzite, locally available on the beach doWn here. 367 00:29:19,607 --> 00:29:22,997 And in our oldest levels here, alongside these types of tools, 368 00:29:23,087 --> 00:29:25,806 We also have these very small bladelet tools. 369 00:29:25,927 --> 00:29:27,440 These are tiny. 370 00:29:27,727 --> 00:29:31,197 What could such minute blades have been used for? 371 00:29:32,127 --> 00:29:35,358 Obviously, these Weren't used just in your hand like this, 372 00:29:35,447 --> 00:29:37,244 so hoW Would they have been used? 373 00:29:37,327 --> 00:29:39,602 It's more likely that those Were set in some kind of a handle 374 00:29:39,687 --> 00:29:41,962 to make a compound tool. 375 00:29:42,047 --> 00:29:43,685 Maybe something more like this. 376 00:29:43,767 --> 00:29:49,046 This is a series of small blades set into a handle for use as a knife. 377 00:29:49,567 --> 00:29:51,762 Yes, I think that Would Work. 378 00:29:51,847 --> 00:29:55,317 So you think that's hoW these stone tools Were used, then, as a knife? 379 00:29:55,527 --> 00:29:57,643 Um, that's one possibility. 380 00:29:57,727 --> 00:30:00,764 And it's also possible they Would have been used for hunting Weapons. 381 00:30:03,847 --> 00:30:05,758 ROBERTS: Kyle and his team have discovered 382 00:30:05,847 --> 00:30:09,317 you can make some lethal weapons with these bladelets. 383 00:30:10,087 --> 00:30:12,396 This one looks particularly vicious, I think. 384 00:30:12,487 --> 00:30:14,125 This is one interpretation of hoW 385 00:30:14,207 --> 00:30:17,324 those small back blades might have been mounted. 386 00:30:20,167 --> 00:30:22,920 The advantage to this Would be that there's these barbs 387 00:30:23,007 --> 00:30:26,397 that Would prevent the tip from pulling out immediately, 388 00:30:26,487 --> 00:30:29,206 um, and Would inflict a greater injury. 389 00:30:31,287 --> 00:30:34,518 ROBERTS: So by 160,000 years ago, 390 00:30:34,607 --> 00:30:39,920 those early resourceful families seem to have colonised much of Africa. 391 00:30:50,687 --> 00:30:53,326 But what about the rest of the world? 392 00:30:55,527 --> 00:30:59,805 How did some of those ancient wanderers get out of Africa 393 00:30:59,887 --> 00:31:02,401 to become me, and perhaps you? 394 00:31:04,367 --> 00:31:08,155 It's one of the most baffling mysteries of our origins. 395 00:31:18,047 --> 00:31:22,882 Africa south of the Sahara is cut off from the rest of the planet. 396 00:31:25,767 --> 00:31:31,000 To the west, south and east, ocean. 397 00:31:34,727 --> 00:31:39,437 To the north, the vast deserts of the Sahara and Arabia. 398 00:31:44,127 --> 00:31:46,277 So could there be another way 399 00:31:46,367 --> 00:31:49,359 that people first appeared all over the world? 400 00:31:52,287 --> 00:31:54,676 Did they, as some have suggested, 401 00:31:54,767 --> 00:31:57,679 evolve separately on different continents? 402 00:31:58,047 --> 00:31:59,844 It's a huge question. 403 00:32:04,927 --> 00:32:06,360 A different branch of science 404 00:32:06,447 --> 00:32:09,837 is beginning to provide very surprising answers. 405 00:32:10,447 --> 00:32:13,644 To find out more, I've come to Cape Town. 406 00:32:16,247 --> 00:32:20,365 Cape ToWn today is a World city With representatives of just about 407 00:32:20,447 --> 00:32:23,484 every group and creed you can possibly imagine. 408 00:32:24,007 --> 00:32:28,444 And every single one of these people unknoWingly carries inside them 409 00:32:28,527 --> 00:32:31,564 a story of their ancient ancestors. 410 00:32:32,007 --> 00:32:36,159 That's because, buried in the genes of each of us, 411 00:32:36,247 --> 00:32:39,557 is an indelible record of our past. 412 00:32:42,487 --> 00:32:46,162 By studying DNA from people all over the world, 413 00:32:46,247 --> 00:32:49,717 geneticists are piecing together that ancient story. 414 00:32:51,847 --> 00:32:54,919 Cape Town, a product of its colonial past, 415 00:32:55,007 --> 00:32:58,044 has citizens who bring their own genetic stories 416 00:32:58,127 --> 00:33:00,482 from every corner of the planet. 417 00:33:02,647 --> 00:33:07,084 And the minute differences in their DNA provide clues 418 00:33:07,167 --> 00:33:12,161 about the ancient migrations that led our species to colonise the world. 419 00:33:13,887 --> 00:33:18,836 Thanks again, folks, for coming. This is the tree of humanity, okay? 420 00:33:18,927 --> 00:33:22,602 ROBERTS: geneticist Raj Ramesar has used these differences 421 00:33:22,687 --> 00:33:25,281 to help build a global family tree 422 00:33:25,847 --> 00:33:29,044 by tracing genes down the female line. 423 00:33:30,807 --> 00:33:33,879 Our modern genes are the branches of the tree, 424 00:33:33,967 --> 00:33:38,836 and geneticists have followed them back in time to find our ancient roots. 425 00:33:41,287 --> 00:33:45,963 The DNA of everyone alive today fits somewhere on this tree. 426 00:33:48,247 --> 00:33:51,762 Although it's not always obvious exactly where you fit. 427 00:33:51,847 --> 00:33:53,200 Steven, What about you? 428 00:33:53,287 --> 00:33:56,563 Where do you think your maternal heritage stems from? 429 00:33:56,647 --> 00:33:57,762 Probably southern Europe. 430 00:33:57,847 --> 00:34:01,283 Um, just the Italian community, that's Where my family comes from. 431 00:34:01,367 --> 00:34:04,564 Well, actually, you are on a European branch, 432 00:34:04,647 --> 00:34:08,356 but you're on a European branch up here, and that's much more northern Europe. 433 00:34:08,447 --> 00:34:10,438 So I'm very sorry, Steven, you're not Italian. 434 00:34:10,527 --> 00:34:12,245 You're a Laplander. 435 00:34:13,447 --> 00:34:16,086 But follow the branches back to the beginning 436 00:34:16,167 --> 00:34:21,685 and the tree reveals that ultimately we all have our roots in the same place. 437 00:34:23,727 --> 00:34:25,638 There's no question from the genetic data 438 00:34:25,727 --> 00:34:27,638 that is generated on the people here, 439 00:34:27,727 --> 00:34:29,797 as Well as other studies that have been done, 440 00:34:29,887 --> 00:34:32,003 that humanity arose in Africa. 441 00:34:32,087 --> 00:34:35,921 And that's Where the depth of this thick trunk illustrates 442 00:34:36,007 --> 00:34:39,238 Where the majority of humanity can look for its roots. 443 00:34:39,327 --> 00:34:40,646 So because We originated in Africa, 444 00:34:40,727 --> 00:34:43,958 there's been more time for branches to develop here 445 00:34:44,047 --> 00:34:47,596 -than there has been anyWhere else. -Yeah, that's a crucial point. 446 00:34:47,687 --> 00:34:51,157 Humanity has spent most of its life in Africa. 447 00:34:51,647 --> 00:34:52,966 I'm African? 448 00:34:53,047 --> 00:34:54,366 (LAUGHING) 449 00:34:54,567 --> 00:34:57,400 -Yes, my cousin. -We all are. 450 00:34:57,647 --> 00:34:58,966 Absolutely. 451 00:34:59,047 --> 00:35:04,041 It's only more recently that We see this aspect of the tree. 452 00:35:05,287 --> 00:35:07,118 ROBERTS: But the really amazing thing 453 00:35:07,207 --> 00:35:10,677 is what the tree tells us about those who left Africa. 454 00:35:13,807 --> 00:35:18,164 You might expect lots of branches, lots of genetic lineages, 455 00:35:18,247 --> 00:35:20,807 leaving Africa at different times. 456 00:35:22,727 --> 00:35:27,755 But instead, the rest of the world connects back to Africa 457 00:35:27,847 --> 00:35:30,520 through one thin branch. 458 00:35:32,287 --> 00:35:34,084 What does that mean? 459 00:35:35,327 --> 00:35:38,285 There Was a single branching out of Africa. 460 00:35:38,367 --> 00:35:42,485 It amounts to, historically, a single band of individuals 461 00:35:42,567 --> 00:35:44,205 leaving the African continent. 462 00:35:44,287 --> 00:35:49,156 So that Was the original migration out of Africa that We can track With DNA. 463 00:35:49,607 --> 00:35:53,316 From there, there Were branchings out in many different directions 464 00:35:53,407 --> 00:35:58,083 into Europe, into the rest of Asia, Eurasia and to the north, 465 00:35:58,367 --> 00:36:00,961 and then doWn to Australia and Japan 466 00:36:01,047 --> 00:36:04,244 and ultimately to the Americas on the other side. 467 00:36:04,327 --> 00:36:08,479 ROBERTS: geneticists across the world have come to the same conclusions.. 468 00:36:08,567 --> 00:36:12,276 everyone outside Africa descends from not many, 469 00:36:12,367 --> 00:36:15,677 but just one tiny group of pioneers. 470 00:36:16,527 --> 00:36:18,677 I just think it's absolutely remarkable. 471 00:36:18,767 --> 00:36:21,884 Isn't that amazing? It's stunning. Yeah. 472 00:36:22,127 --> 00:36:23,606 Oh, WoW, man. 473 00:36:31,727 --> 00:36:34,878 ROBERTS: It may be that others tried, too. 474 00:36:34,967 --> 00:36:37,765 But their descendants have not survived. 475 00:36:40,287 --> 00:36:43,404 So the genetics tells us our species 476 00:36:43,487 --> 00:36:46,638 made just one successful attempt to leave. 477 00:36:47,087 --> 00:36:49,043 And this Wasn't a mass exodus. 478 00:36:49,127 --> 00:36:53,803 It Was a small group of people taking one route out of Africa. 479 00:36:54,407 --> 00:36:57,365 And everybody in the World today Who isn't African 480 00:36:57,447 --> 00:37:00,723 is descended from that handful of people. 481 00:37:01,247 --> 00:37:05,763 It's just mind-boggling to think hoW different the World Would be today 482 00:37:05,847 --> 00:37:09,760 if it Weren't for that small group of pioneers. 483 00:37:10,367 --> 00:37:12,198 And it begs the next question: 484 00:37:12,287 --> 00:37:14,755 Which route did they take? 485 00:37:16,767 --> 00:37:21,636 The genetics may be convincing, but the geography is a huge problem. 486 00:37:27,727 --> 00:37:31,276 For these early families, deserts and oceans 487 00:37:31,367 --> 00:37:33,801 would have been massive obstacles. 488 00:37:39,407 --> 00:37:42,160 But we know they did it somehow. 489 00:37:45,727 --> 00:37:50,676 From this map, I think there are perhaps four possible routes out of Africa. 490 00:37:51,407 --> 00:37:55,559 Across the Straits of Gibraltar here, so a bit of a sea crossing, 491 00:37:55,647 --> 00:37:57,842 from Tunisia up through Sicily and Italy - 492 00:37:57,927 --> 00:38:00,157 even more sea to cross there - 493 00:38:00,247 --> 00:38:02,966 doWn here across the mouth of the Red Sea, 494 00:38:03,047 --> 00:38:05,800 but you'd need a boat for that, as Well. 495 00:38:06,687 --> 00:38:10,157 Or here, through the Sahara and Sinai deserts. 496 00:38:11,087 --> 00:38:13,476 Well, all of those routes have their challenges, 497 00:38:13,567 --> 00:38:17,116 but We knoW that it Was just one of them that Was taken. 498 00:38:17,207 --> 00:38:18,959 So Which one Was it? 499 00:38:24,927 --> 00:38:26,804 It's a real puzzle. 500 00:38:26,887 --> 00:38:30,357 But could it be that the world was different back then? 501 00:38:32,967 --> 00:38:35,401 Well, there is a way to find out. 502 00:38:39,687 --> 00:38:43,362 We've asked a team of Britain's leading climate scientists 503 00:38:43,447 --> 00:38:47,122 to work out how the global environment has changed, 504 00:38:47,207 --> 00:38:50,324 going back over thousands of years. 505 00:38:55,367 --> 00:38:57,198 And the ansWer is in here. 506 00:38:57,287 --> 00:39:01,963 With this climate computer, I can look at the changing environment over time. 507 00:39:02,407 --> 00:39:07,959 Starting at 140,000 years ago, we're moving towards the present. 508 00:39:08,687 --> 00:39:13,124 Forests and grasslands are green, and deserts light brown. 509 00:39:16,127 --> 00:39:18,038 NoW, this is interesting. 510 00:39:18,127 --> 00:39:21,483 1 25,000 years ago, 511 00:39:21,567 --> 00:39:23,205 there's a change in the climate. 512 00:39:23,287 --> 00:39:28,281 It's been very dry in this area and then suddenly it gets greener. 513 00:39:31,727 --> 00:39:34,764 And the World's biggest, driest, 514 00:39:34,847 --> 00:39:38,920 most impassable desert briefly blossoms. 515 00:39:49,407 --> 00:39:52,046 For just a few thousand years, 516 00:39:52,127 --> 00:39:56,917 the Sahara, Sinai and Arabian deserts 517 00:39:57,007 --> 00:39:59,316 were lush and green. 518 00:40:02,567 --> 00:40:06,606 So it looks like, 125,000 years ago, 519 00:40:06,687 --> 00:40:09,838 it Would have been possible for our ancestors to have Walked 520 00:40:09,927 --> 00:40:13,397 through the Sahara and leave Africa to the northeast. 521 00:40:17,287 --> 00:40:21,485 I'm after some evidence that at least one band of pioneers 522 00:40:21,567 --> 00:40:24,365 made it to the other side of the Sahara, 523 00:40:25,047 --> 00:40:28,801 and through that northern exit to the rest of the world. 524 00:40:34,207 --> 00:40:38,439 I'm on my way to Israel and the site of an intriguing discovery. 525 00:40:43,327 --> 00:40:47,559 But one which may present as many questions as answers. 526 00:40:51,407 --> 00:40:55,923 Back in the 1930s, an international team of archaeologists 527 00:40:56,007 --> 00:40:59,477 was excavating here at Skhul Cave. 528 00:41:04,247 --> 00:41:08,286 But it's What Was found outside the cave that Was really interesting. 529 00:41:08,367 --> 00:41:13,077 The archaeologists dug doWn through one and half metres of soil just here, 530 00:41:13,167 --> 00:41:16,842 finding masses and masses of stone tools. 531 00:41:17,527 --> 00:41:19,916 But as they got doWn close to the bedrock, 532 00:41:20,007 --> 00:41:22,760 they found something even more exciting - 533 00:41:23,207 --> 00:41:26,324 human burials, 10 of them. 534 00:41:34,367 --> 00:41:39,760 When the bones were dated, they were found to be about 100,000 years old, 535 00:41:40,807 --> 00:41:44,880 the oldest modern human remains outside Africa. 536 00:41:51,047 --> 00:41:54,517 The dates fit well with that greening of the Sahara. 537 00:41:57,087 --> 00:42:01,000 So could these people be the pioneers I'm looking for, 538 00:42:01,567 --> 00:42:05,355 whose descendants went on to populate the rest of the world? 539 00:42:11,407 --> 00:42:16,162 Some of their remains are now kept in the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem. 540 00:42:22,287 --> 00:42:25,245 This skeleton is incredibly Well-preserved. 541 00:42:25,887 --> 00:42:29,277 And the main reason for that is that the bodies at Skhul 542 00:42:29,367 --> 00:42:32,040 Weren't just left on the surface of the ground. 543 00:42:32,127 --> 00:42:34,402 They Were deliberately buried. 544 00:42:35,047 --> 00:42:38,198 And not only that, they Were buried With objects, 545 00:42:38,287 --> 00:42:41,279 With shell beads, and one of them 546 00:42:41,367 --> 00:42:44,359 even had a boar's jaW enclosed in its arms. 547 00:42:45,927 --> 00:42:51,479 Surely this is further evidence for modern Ways of thinking and behaving, 548 00:42:52,367 --> 00:42:54,403 for spirituality, 549 00:42:54,487 --> 00:42:58,446 and perhaps even a belief in the afterlife. 550 00:43:08,487 --> 00:43:11,638 But not everything here is what it seems. 551 00:43:12,887 --> 00:43:16,482 These people may well have been the first to leave Africa, 552 00:43:16,567 --> 00:43:19,877 but it looks like they can't be our ancestors. 553 00:43:21,287 --> 00:43:23,642 Because the trail then dries up. 554 00:43:24,087 --> 00:43:27,159 All evidence of modern humans disappears. 555 00:43:29,647 --> 00:43:33,117 It looks like these families died out completely... 556 00:43:37,527 --> 00:43:40,121 around 90,000 years ago, 557 00:43:40,207 --> 00:43:43,961 when the Middle East and Sahara returned to desert 558 00:43:44,047 --> 00:43:46,607 and life here became impossible. 559 00:43:59,447 --> 00:44:03,565 For our species, it seems that this Was a dead end. 560 00:44:04,087 --> 00:44:07,682 And it shoWs just hoW fragile our existence Was, 561 00:44:08,247 --> 00:44:12,957 and What a massive impact climate change could have on a human population. 562 00:44:13,967 --> 00:44:16,845 But it Wasn't the end of the human journey. 563 00:44:17,127 --> 00:44:21,325 So Where Was that elusive route out of Africa? 564 00:44:24,807 --> 00:44:29,562 The Sahara Desert once again closed the door on any migration north, 565 00:44:30,247 --> 00:44:35,082 leaving just one of my four routes out of Africa, the Red Sea. 566 00:44:36,407 --> 00:44:41,356 If they did try to cross it, the most likely point is at its mouth, 567 00:44:41,447 --> 00:44:43,119 the gate of grief. 568 00:44:53,847 --> 00:44:57,760 Could at least a few families have broken out of Africa here? 569 00:45:01,527 --> 00:45:03,199 BeloW me is the Red Sea, 570 00:45:03,287 --> 00:45:06,643 and to the West, the small African state of Djibouti. 571 00:45:07,487 --> 00:45:10,877 And over to my east, I can just about make out the coast of Yemen 572 00:45:10,967 --> 00:45:13,481 on the tip of the Arabian peninsula. 573 00:45:13,687 --> 00:45:18,841 At this point, it is just 30 kilometres betWeen Africa and Arabia. 574 00:45:23,807 --> 00:45:27,356 30 kilometres of sea is still a big problem 575 00:45:27,447 --> 00:45:29,961 if you don't have a seagoing vessel. 576 00:45:31,567 --> 00:45:36,641 But from about 90,000 years ago, something interesting began to happen. 577 00:45:39,447 --> 00:45:44,123 The very same climate change that had turned the Sahara back to desert 578 00:45:44,207 --> 00:45:45,925 had another impact. 579 00:45:46,527 --> 00:45:48,483 It made sea levels drop. 580 00:45:51,847 --> 00:45:57,524 And at the gate of grief, the gap between Africa and Arabia 581 00:45:57,607 --> 00:45:59,359 became much smaller. 582 00:46:02,887 --> 00:46:07,563 As sea levels fell, the distance across the Red Sea at this point 583 00:46:07,647 --> 00:46:10,002 dropped to just 1 1 kilometres. 584 00:46:10,527 --> 00:46:15,555 So perhaps, here at last, Was a chance to risk everything, 585 00:46:15,647 --> 00:46:20,926 to cross the Gate of Grief and take a step into the unknoWn. 586 00:46:25,327 --> 00:46:29,764 And geneticists working for this series have been able to estimate 587 00:46:29,847 --> 00:46:33,317 how many people made that leap out of Africa, 588 00:46:34,007 --> 00:46:35,963 whichever way they took. 589 00:46:41,167 --> 00:46:44,045 They estimate the size of this group that made the crossing 590 00:46:44,127 --> 00:46:48,598 from Africa to Arabia Was just a feW hundred people. 591 00:46:49,247 --> 00:46:51,078 And geneticists have noW tested the DNA 592 00:46:51,167 --> 00:46:55,319 of thousands and thousands of non-Africans, 593 00:46:55,407 --> 00:47:01,596 and not one single person has been found Who can't trace their ancestry back 594 00:47:01,687 --> 00:47:04,565 to this tiny group of Wanderers. 595 00:47:08,487 --> 00:47:11,957 It may have been just a single tribe. 596 00:47:15,087 --> 00:47:19,160 And whatever you look like, if you're not African, 597 00:47:19,247 --> 00:47:21,078 you descend from them. 598 00:47:30,167 --> 00:47:34,285 But getting beyond the Red Sea may have been the easy bit. 599 00:47:40,247 --> 00:47:44,240 I'm leaving Africa to travel deep into Arabia. 600 00:47:47,967 --> 00:47:52,006 And here I'm confronted by another great mystery. 601 00:47:59,567 --> 00:48:03,321 How could those pioneers have survived here? 602 00:48:08,047 --> 00:48:12,199 Back then, most of Arabia was brutal desert, 603 00:48:12,287 --> 00:48:14,357 pretty much as it is today. 604 00:48:18,967 --> 00:48:22,596 Is it really possible that a handful of Stone Age people 605 00:48:22,687 --> 00:48:26,282 could have trekked through hundreds of miles of this 606 00:48:26,367 --> 00:48:29,120 and gone on to populate the whole world? 607 00:48:36,287 --> 00:48:38,721 Well, here's one man who looks like he knows 608 00:48:38,807 --> 00:48:41,116 how to get around in the desert. 609 00:48:45,527 --> 00:48:50,601 Archaeologist Jeff Rose has spent years scouring Arabia for evidence 610 00:48:50,687 --> 00:48:52,723 of our earliest ancestors. 611 00:49:02,007 --> 00:49:04,919 And he's come to meet me in Oman. 612 00:49:08,207 --> 00:49:09,640 -Jeff. -Hello. 613 00:49:09,727 --> 00:49:11,445 Hello, hoW are you? 614 00:49:11,807 --> 00:49:14,275 So, Jeff, Why are We in this desolate place? 615 00:49:14,367 --> 00:49:16,244 It's actually quite a special location. 616 00:49:16,327 --> 00:49:18,045 If you look round, you see all these black rocks 617 00:49:18,127 --> 00:49:19,845 that are lying across the surface. 618 00:49:19,927 --> 00:49:23,442 Yeah, there's a particular concentration of them just round here. 619 00:49:23,527 --> 00:49:24,676 Well, they're not really rocks. 620 00:49:24,767 --> 00:49:27,725 They're all ancient stone tools made by early humans. 621 00:49:27,807 --> 00:49:30,640 So, for instance, We just pick this piece up here, 622 00:49:30,727 --> 00:49:31,921 it's got this flat surface 623 00:49:32,007 --> 00:49:34,521 and this surface With flake scars, they're called, on it. 624 00:49:34,607 --> 00:49:37,041 And then they've done some retouch on it. 625 00:49:37,127 --> 00:49:38,879 They've hit it here, and they've hit it here, 626 00:49:38,967 --> 00:49:41,003 to create this chisel-like edge. 627 00:49:41,087 --> 00:49:42,679 So that can't have occurred naturally? 628 00:49:42,767 --> 00:49:44,120 No. This couldn't have occurred naturally 629 00:49:44,207 --> 00:49:46,243 because of the pattern of scars that We see on here. 630 00:49:46,327 --> 00:49:47,760 It's called a burin. 631 00:49:47,847 --> 00:49:50,600 And it Would have been used for Working soft materials, 632 00:49:50,687 --> 00:49:54,157 hides, leather, bone, Wood, anything like that, 633 00:49:54,247 --> 00:49:56,477 for carving tools out of that. 634 00:49:56,567 --> 00:49:58,285 -So it's a little bit like a chisel. -Yeah. 635 00:49:58,367 --> 00:50:00,597 That's just amazing, to pick up a stone tool like that 636 00:50:00,687 --> 00:50:01,722 just lying on the surface. 637 00:50:01,807 --> 00:50:03,843 You get used to it Working in Arabia, 'cause they're everyWhere. 638 00:50:03,927 --> 00:50:04,916 Really? 639 00:50:05,007 --> 00:50:07,077 It's just covering the surface everyWhere you look. 640 00:50:07,167 --> 00:50:08,646 So you reckon most of these, 641 00:50:08,727 --> 00:50:10,206 if they've got sort of flat surfaces on... 642 00:50:10,287 --> 00:50:12,596 Yeah, just about anything you see that's flat lying... 643 00:50:12,687 --> 00:50:13,676 Even things like that? 644 00:50:13,767 --> 00:50:15,519 That's a blade. And that's from the edge of the blade, 645 00:50:15,607 --> 00:50:18,041 -so that's called a cortex. -Yeah. 646 00:50:18,967 --> 00:50:21,606 And a lot of times, they leave that cortex on 647 00:50:21,687 --> 00:50:23,837 because if you're using it, you're not going to cut yourself. 648 00:50:23,927 --> 00:50:26,566 So you can even see almost hoW they Would've held it, something like that. 649 00:50:26,647 --> 00:50:28,922 -That makes a neat little knife. -Exactly. 650 00:50:29,007 --> 00:50:33,205 Okay, so What is the date of this site? Putting you on the spot here, I knoW. 651 00:50:33,287 --> 00:50:35,755 Well, it's hard to say. It's a surface site, 652 00:50:35,847 --> 00:50:38,486 so it's impossible to date anything specifically, 653 00:50:38,567 --> 00:50:41,081 but from that technology, from that core I shoWed you, 654 00:50:41,167 --> 00:50:44,716 We can say it's anyWhere betWeen 70,000 and 12,000 years ago, 655 00:50:44,807 --> 00:50:48,004 -and maybe even earlier. -As long ago as 70,000 years? 656 00:50:48,087 --> 00:50:50,920 There Was a site that Was recently found on the Red Sea coast in Yemen 657 00:50:51,007 --> 00:50:52,918 that Was dated to about 70,000 years ago, 658 00:50:53,007 --> 00:50:54,918 and it's the same technology. 659 00:51:03,127 --> 00:51:07,200 So there Were people here 70,000 years ago. 660 00:51:08,407 --> 00:51:10,762 And I find that really difficult to believe, 661 00:51:10,847 --> 00:51:14,476 because at that time the landscape Would have been 662 00:51:14,567 --> 00:51:17,798 just as dry and harsh as it is today. 663 00:51:18,367 --> 00:51:21,518 I mean, okay, there's stone to make tools out of. 664 00:51:22,647 --> 00:51:24,763 But Where Were they living? 665 00:51:39,927 --> 00:51:43,363 The biggest problem for those pioneering families 666 00:51:43,447 --> 00:51:45,881 would have been the lack of water. 667 00:51:48,287 --> 00:51:52,280 But a few short miles from these arid mountains 668 00:51:52,367 --> 00:51:54,244 I'm in for a surprise. 669 00:52:15,727 --> 00:52:17,445 Well, just look at this. 670 00:52:17,527 --> 00:52:19,757 I'm only tWo miles aWay from the desert here, 671 00:52:19,847 --> 00:52:22,486 but I could be in rural Somerset - 672 00:52:23,207 --> 00:52:26,085 if it Weren't for the camels. 673 00:52:26,847 --> 00:52:28,678 Definitely in Arabia. 674 00:52:40,527 --> 00:52:43,166 This place near the coast of Oman 675 00:52:43,247 --> 00:52:47,445 sits right on the edge of the monsoon region of the Indian Ocean. 676 00:52:52,007 --> 00:52:57,445 Every year, the monsoons turn this valley into a green oasis, 677 00:52:59,607 --> 00:53:02,997 somewhere you can imagine our ancestors flourishing. 678 00:53:08,247 --> 00:53:12,604 But this is a green island in the middle of the desert. 679 00:53:13,127 --> 00:53:17,803 The desert stretches on for hundreds of miles around here. 680 00:53:18,447 --> 00:53:23,077 So hoW did our ancestors move through Arabia 681 00:53:24,327 --> 00:53:26,477 to reach the World beyond? 682 00:53:32,607 --> 00:53:34,563 There's no way they could have done it 683 00:53:34,647 --> 00:53:37,878 without more widespread sources of fresh water. 684 00:53:43,567 --> 00:53:45,285 But where are they? 685 00:54:08,167 --> 00:54:10,635 I'm at sea, just off the coast of Oman, 686 00:54:10,727 --> 00:54:14,083 a coastline that our ancestors may have passed along - 687 00:54:14,167 --> 00:54:17,955 except that 70,000 years ago the coast Wouldn't have been there 688 00:54:18,047 --> 00:54:20,766 because the sea level Was much loWer. 689 00:54:20,847 --> 00:54:24,476 It Was up to 50 kilometres in that direction. 690 00:54:31,447 --> 00:54:35,406 And Jeff Rose thinks that the key to our ancestors'journey 691 00:54:35,487 --> 00:54:38,957 along this coast lies at the bottom of the sea. 692 00:54:40,847 --> 00:54:44,237 One of the strangest things about Arabia is We have this dry surface, 693 00:54:44,327 --> 00:54:47,000 this completely arid landscape, and yet beneath the surface 694 00:54:47,087 --> 00:54:50,124 there are heaps of fresh Water that's bubbling toWard the coast, 695 00:54:50,207 --> 00:54:53,119 running toWard the coast, and coming up directly beneath us. 696 00:54:53,207 --> 00:54:55,516 So right doWn beloW, if you Were to dive doWn With a canteen, 697 00:54:55,607 --> 00:54:57,563 you could fill it up With fresh Water and have a drink. 698 00:54:57,647 --> 00:54:59,683 So the springs doWn there are still Working today? 699 00:54:59,767 --> 00:55:02,918 Still Working today. There are heaps of fresh Water coming toWard the coast. 700 00:55:03,007 --> 00:55:05,726 Only When the sea level Was loWer Would it have been available, 701 00:55:05,807 --> 00:55:08,640 so it really shoWs Why that coastline Was so important 702 00:55:08,727 --> 00:55:11,525 for the early humans moving out of Africa. 703 00:55:18,527 --> 00:55:21,405 ROBERTS: So, around 70,000 years ago, 704 00:55:21,487 --> 00:55:24,957 the Arabian coastline was very different to today. 705 00:55:30,567 --> 00:55:34,037 Freshwater springs bubbled up all the way along it. 706 00:55:35,207 --> 00:55:40,122 If our ancestors attempted this route, they would have found a lifeline 707 00:55:42,287 --> 00:55:46,758 stretching all the way from the Red Sea to the Persian gulf... 708 00:55:49,447 --> 00:55:54,282 a place which back then was a great fertile plain. 709 00:55:59,967 --> 00:56:01,923 So the Gulf as We knoW it today didn't exist. 710 00:56:02,007 --> 00:56:05,124 It Was a vast, green, lush plain. 711 00:56:05,207 --> 00:56:08,677 Green and lush, you had estuaries and rivers and lakes. 712 00:56:08,767 --> 00:56:11,235 It Was probably the most important place 713 00:56:11,327 --> 00:56:13,795 in southWest Asia for all of early humans 714 00:56:13,887 --> 00:56:16,640 because of so much fresh Water that Was available at that time. 715 00:56:16,767 --> 00:56:18,883 So they had everything they needed for survival. 716 00:56:18,967 --> 00:56:21,276 -Well, it sounds idyllic. -It Was. 717 00:56:25,847 --> 00:56:29,362 ROBERTS: Finding the route that our ancestors took out of Africa 718 00:56:29,447 --> 00:56:31,244 has been challenging. 719 00:56:31,607 --> 00:56:34,724 But I really think that this could have been it. 720 00:56:38,887 --> 00:56:43,324 And it's perhaps no wonder, with the obstacles they faced, 721 00:56:43,407 --> 00:56:47,685 that there seems to have been just one successful attempt, 722 00:56:49,327 --> 00:56:53,036 a massive leap in our ancestors'journey. 723 00:56:58,527 --> 00:57:02,076 Africa Was the original home of our species, 724 00:57:02,167 --> 00:57:06,365 and it Was our only home for tens of thousands of years 725 00:57:06,647 --> 00:57:11,482 until a small handful of people made their Way out of Africa. 726 00:57:12,087 --> 00:57:17,366 And it Was their descendants that Went on to colonise the rest of the World. 727 00:57:18,287 --> 00:57:20,881 I'm going to try to trace their footsteps 728 00:57:20,967 --> 00:57:23,925 as We continue on the great human journey. 729 00:57:30,887 --> 00:57:34,243 Come with me as I travel right across the world... 730 00:57:34,527 --> 00:57:36,882 This is looking like a pretty big footprint. 731 00:57:36,967 --> 00:57:40,437 ...in search of the traces left by our ancestors. 732 00:57:41,927 --> 00:57:43,838 -That's the original? -Yeah, original. 733 00:57:43,927 --> 00:57:45,599 I didn't knoW any of it had survived. 734 00:57:48,087 --> 00:57:53,480 I want to know how so few people could have populated the rest of the planet... 735 00:57:54,527 --> 00:57:58,520 That makes us rethink all of our theories about early Americans. 736 00:58:01,327 --> 00:58:03,636 ...facing the unimaginable, 737 00:58:05,807 --> 00:58:10,801 rival species and even near extinction... 738 00:58:11,207 --> 00:58:15,200 I don't knoW I've ever been so cold in my entire life. 739 00:58:15,887 --> 00:58:19,482 ...to reach the most distant corners of the world. 740 00:58:20,127 --> 00:58:23,039 I'm really Worried We're going to get sWept in by these breakers. 741 00:58:23,127 --> 00:58:24,480 (WHOOPING) 742 00:58:26,607 --> 00:58:32,204 And how did those journeys change us into who we are today?