1 00:00:10,287 --> 00:00:13,279 ROBERTS: They say this is where it all began. 2 00:00:16,607 --> 00:00:19,565 That we are all children of Africa. 3 00:00:23,247 --> 00:00:26,523 But if so, why do we look so different? 4 00:00:28,807 --> 00:00:32,197 And how on earth could a handful of African families 5 00:00:32,287 --> 00:00:35,120 become a whole world full of people? 6 00:00:47,727 --> 00:00:52,198 I'm Alice Roberts, medical doctor and anthropologist. 7 00:00:52,607 --> 00:00:57,044 I'm fascinated by what bones, stones 8 00:00:57,847 --> 00:01:01,920 and even our bodies can reveal about the distant past. 9 00:01:04,047 --> 00:01:08,438 I'm going in search of the traces left by our African ancestors 10 00:01:08,527 --> 00:01:11,758 and their journeys to populate the world. 11 00:01:12,607 --> 00:01:15,838 This time, the most intriguing puzzle of all... 12 00:01:15,927 --> 00:01:17,155 That's beautiful. 13 00:01:17,247 --> 00:01:19,477 ...how on earth did people make the long 14 00:01:19,567 --> 00:01:22,127 and dangerous journey to Australia, 15 00:01:24,767 --> 00:01:27,122 before they even reached Europe? 16 00:01:27,767 --> 00:01:30,725 I'm really worried we're gonna get swept in by these breakers. 17 00:01:30,807 --> 00:01:33,640 Come with me in the footsteps of our ancestors 18 00:01:33,727 --> 00:01:37,117 on the most epic adventure ever undertaken. 19 00:01:55,727 --> 00:01:59,481 No one knows how humans first reached Australia. 20 00:02:02,327 --> 00:02:06,400 WOMAN ON RADIO: Forty-one degrees in Mildura today and 4 1 in Swan Hill. 21 00:02:06,487 --> 00:02:10,275 ROBERTS: So I'm starting where the journey could have ended, 22 00:02:11,287 --> 00:02:15,644 in a remote wilderness 800 kilometres from Sydney. 23 00:02:23,327 --> 00:02:26,876 This landscape is just so parched and barren-looking. 24 00:02:27,727 --> 00:02:31,879 And it's mid-morning, and it's already over 40 degrees out there. 25 00:02:32,687 --> 00:02:34,006 Baking. 26 00:02:34,887 --> 00:02:39,358 And as soon as you step outside the car, you get mobbed by hundreds of flies. 27 00:02:39,447 --> 00:02:41,199 Not very pleasant. 28 00:02:43,247 --> 00:02:44,566 It's hard to imagine 29 00:02:44,647 --> 00:02:48,481 why our ancestors would have wanted to make this their home. 30 00:02:49,327 --> 00:02:51,602 If that's really what happened. 31 00:02:55,807 --> 00:02:57,923 There's so little evidence. 32 00:02:58,487 --> 00:03:02,639 But just recently, something was found near here. 33 00:03:09,567 --> 00:03:13,685 one of the few people who knows its whereabouts is Warren Clark. 34 00:03:14,607 --> 00:03:16,802 -We'll just walk up the ridge a bit. -Up here? 35 00:03:16,887 --> 00:03:18,036 Yeah. 36 00:03:22,447 --> 00:03:26,440 ROBERTS: The discovery was made by a young Aboriginal Australian. 37 00:03:40,647 --> 00:03:43,400 ROBERTS: So major that as soon as it was revealed 38 00:03:43,487 --> 00:03:46,240 the site was buried again, to protect it. 39 00:03:47,167 --> 00:03:48,316 It's still secret today? 40 00:04:03,287 --> 00:04:05,676 ROBERTS: But I've come here on a special day. 41 00:04:05,767 --> 00:04:08,918 Because for the first time since the site was reburied, 42 00:04:09,007 --> 00:04:12,966 local Aboriginal people and archaeologists are gathering once more 43 00:04:13,047 --> 00:04:15,197 to check on their discovery. 44 00:04:21,807 --> 00:04:25,004 over 500 human footprints. 45 00:04:26,447 --> 00:04:28,881 ROBERTS: This is the heel here. 46 00:04:28,967 --> 00:04:31,322 And you can see the way that the foot sort of lifts up here, 47 00:04:31,407 --> 00:04:33,238 that's where the arch of the foot would be. 48 00:04:33,327 --> 00:04:36,603 And then the big toe is just there. So this is a right foot. 49 00:04:37,727 --> 00:04:41,083 It's amazing to see something which is so ephemeral, 50 00:04:41,167 --> 00:04:44,045 sort of normally here today, gone tomorrow. 51 00:04:44,327 --> 00:04:46,443 This is looking like a pretty big footprint. 52 00:04:46,527 --> 00:04:49,166 -Yeah, he's well fed. -(LAUGHING) Yeah. 53 00:04:50,287 --> 00:04:53,723 ROBERTS: It's incredibly hard, this layer, isn't it? Feels really stony. 54 00:04:53,807 --> 00:04:57,402 -Is it a type of clay? -MAN: It's just like our pottery. 55 00:04:57,847 --> 00:05:00,236 And it must feel pretty personal as well, 'cause, you know, this is... 56 00:05:00,327 --> 00:05:01,885 I mean, this is your own heritage, isn't it? 57 00:05:01,967 --> 00:05:03,958 One of the oldest cultures in the world. 58 00:05:04,047 --> 00:05:07,039 So it's very special and unique. 59 00:05:14,207 --> 00:05:17,244 ROBERTS: But who do the footprints belong to? 60 00:05:18,767 --> 00:05:21,759 Tanya Charles was here when they were found. 61 00:05:23,127 --> 00:05:25,721 TANYA: Other people that was with us, they were saying, 62 00:05:25,807 --> 00:05:27,479 ''They belong to the farmers that were here.'' 63 00:05:27,567 --> 00:05:30,035 And we're like, ''No, they're ours.'' 64 00:05:30,727 --> 00:05:34,640 (LAUGHS) You fellas wear shoes. We don't. We didn't back then. 65 00:05:35,407 --> 00:05:38,956 We just knew in our hearts, we knew that they were ours. 66 00:05:40,367 --> 00:05:42,597 ROBERTS: Scientists and Aboriginal trackers 67 00:05:42,687 --> 00:05:45,838 have interpreted the prints of men, women and children 68 00:05:45,927 --> 00:05:50,682 walking and running around the edges of what was once an ancient lake. 69 00:05:50,767 --> 00:05:54,965 The most bizarre track seems to have belonged to a one-legged man. 70 00:05:56,207 --> 00:05:58,846 Like, we sort of knew that he only had one foot, 71 00:05:58,927 --> 00:06:00,201 but we didn't want to believe it. 72 00:06:00,287 --> 00:06:01,276 ROBERTS: Yeah. 73 00:06:01,367 --> 00:06:05,997 'Cause, you know, one-footed men way back in them times is like, ''Oh, scary.'' 74 00:06:06,087 --> 00:06:09,682 And he was chasing a kangaroo, and on his first throw 75 00:06:09,767 --> 00:06:11,280 he actually missed the kangaroo. 76 00:06:11,367 --> 00:06:12,686 ROBERTS: (LAUGHING) Right. 77 00:06:12,767 --> 00:06:15,839 Yeah. On his second throw, he got him and dropped him down to one knee. 78 00:06:18,127 --> 00:06:21,085 ROBERTS: How long ago did these people live? 79 00:06:26,487 --> 00:06:29,877 With a new technique called luminescence dating, 80 00:06:29,967 --> 00:06:32,800 scientists could measure the tiniest glow 81 00:06:32,887 --> 00:06:35,924 when grains of sand from the footprints were analysed. 82 00:06:36,007 --> 00:06:40,842 And from this, they could calculate how long the footprints had lain buried. 83 00:06:42,327 --> 00:06:44,397 The results were stunning. 84 00:06:45,847 --> 00:06:49,635 The footprints were around 20,000 years old. 85 00:06:57,647 --> 00:06:59,080 There's something really intimate about this, 86 00:06:59,167 --> 00:07:02,204 because it's just a moment in somebody's life, 87 00:07:03,647 --> 00:07:06,115 when they walked across this landscape. 88 00:07:06,207 --> 00:07:09,677 And it just looks like it could be a footprint made yesterday. 89 00:07:09,767 --> 00:07:12,759 And yet it's about 20,000 years old. 90 00:07:17,687 --> 00:07:21,919 So is this when people first reached Australia, 91 00:07:22,007 --> 00:07:25,283 long after we colonised Europe and Asia? 92 00:07:26,567 --> 00:07:31,277 It would certainly make sense, given how far away Australia is. 93 00:07:36,087 --> 00:07:39,841 But I've been told that there is other evidence around here 94 00:07:39,927 --> 00:07:43,602 that could turn this idea upside down. 95 00:07:43,687 --> 00:07:48,203 What I'm looking for are the remains of an extinct beast, 96 00:07:48,287 --> 00:07:50,198 the giant kangaroo. 97 00:07:51,607 --> 00:07:56,044 It's just about midday here and it's very hot. 98 00:07:56,847 --> 00:07:58,758 All right, what's that? 99 00:08:02,447 --> 00:08:03,926 That is a stick. 100 00:08:04,007 --> 00:08:05,326 I spotted that in the distance and thought, 101 00:08:05,407 --> 00:08:08,205 ''Oh, right, could that be a giant kangaroo?'' 102 00:08:08,287 --> 00:08:10,243 It's not, it's a stick. 103 00:08:11,887 --> 00:08:13,764 Lots of little bits. 104 00:08:14,047 --> 00:08:15,162 So this thing I've picked up is 105 00:08:15,247 --> 00:08:18,922 one of the long foot bones of a modern kangaroo. 106 00:08:29,687 --> 00:08:30,961 Oh, look. 107 00:08:33,927 --> 00:08:36,316 Right, so we've got two bits to it. 108 00:08:36,887 --> 00:08:41,722 And if I put those together like that, that is the toe bone 109 00:08:42,407 --> 00:08:45,604 of an ancient giant kangaroo. 110 00:08:45,687 --> 00:08:48,645 Now, if we look at that end, you can see that 111 00:08:48,727 --> 00:08:51,241 basically it's the same bone as this one, 112 00:08:51,327 --> 00:08:54,046 but this one belongs to a much chunkier animal. 113 00:08:54,127 --> 00:08:55,196 They're actually similar length, 114 00:08:55,287 --> 00:08:57,755 if you imagine sort of the end on that as well. 115 00:08:57,847 --> 00:09:00,281 But you can just see how much chunkier that is. 116 00:09:00,367 --> 00:09:04,076 And you can imagine how much heavier that animal would have been. 117 00:09:09,247 --> 00:09:13,923 Giant kangaroos could grow up to 2.5 metres tall. 118 00:09:21,487 --> 00:09:24,320 But they seem to have become extinct 119 00:09:24,407 --> 00:09:27,524 shortly after 50,000 years ago. 120 00:09:30,367 --> 00:09:36,078 Could this possibly have been due to a new predator arriving on the scene? 121 00:09:41,607 --> 00:09:44,326 If so, it would mean that we humans 122 00:09:44,407 --> 00:09:47,922 arrived here much earlier than 20,000 years ago. 123 00:09:48,887 --> 00:09:52,163 And there is something - or rather someone - 124 00:09:52,247 --> 00:09:55,045 who could support such an early arrival. 125 00:09:56,887 --> 00:09:58,479 Mungo Man. 126 00:10:04,687 --> 00:10:07,918 This is the skull of Mungo Man. 127 00:10:09,607 --> 00:10:11,006 And these bones 128 00:10:11,087 --> 00:10:15,444 are the most ancient human remains that have ever been found in Australia. 129 00:10:15,527 --> 00:10:17,916 And they are incredibly old. 130 00:10:18,007 --> 00:10:21,966 The most conservative estimates put them at 40,000 years old, 131 00:10:22,047 --> 00:10:25,801 and some people say they might be up to 60,000 years old. 132 00:10:27,087 --> 00:10:29,203 Now, that's quite extraordinary, 133 00:10:29,287 --> 00:10:33,644 because it would mean that modern humans were in Australia 134 00:10:33,727 --> 00:10:35,797 before they reached Europe. 135 00:10:38,767 --> 00:10:40,917 Which seems highly unlikely. 136 00:10:41,007 --> 00:10:45,159 Not only is Australia so much further from Africa than Europe is, 137 00:10:45,247 --> 00:10:47,283 there's an ocean to cross. 138 00:10:51,407 --> 00:10:53,921 So unlikely does the journey seem 139 00:10:54,007 --> 00:10:57,079 that some scientists have poured doubt on it. 140 00:11:01,447 --> 00:11:06,123 Instead, they suggest that Australians somehow evolved locally. 141 00:11:12,487 --> 00:11:14,796 And it really is a mystery. 142 00:11:16,167 --> 00:11:20,046 The problem is that there is very little physical evidence 143 00:11:20,127 --> 00:11:23,836 to show that this route from Africa all the way to Australia 144 00:11:23,967 --> 00:11:25,639 was ever taken. 145 00:11:25,727 --> 00:11:29,242 It's one of the biggest puzzles of our human journey. 146 00:11:29,887 --> 00:11:32,526 There's only one way to solve this mystery, 147 00:11:32,607 --> 00:11:35,917 and that's to go back to the beginning of the trail. 148 00:11:38,767 --> 00:11:40,246 To Africa. 149 00:11:41,727 --> 00:11:45,766 Previously, I saw evidence suggesting that most of us descend 150 00:11:45,847 --> 00:11:51,638 from a tiny group of people who left the continent around 70,000 years ago. 151 00:11:52,487 --> 00:11:56,241 one theory is that those families crossed the Red Sea, 152 00:11:56,327 --> 00:11:59,558 and then pushed east, hugging the shoreline. 153 00:12:00,967 --> 00:12:04,801 Then they would have probably trekked along the Indian coast. 154 00:12:12,527 --> 00:12:15,803 So that's the first place to look for evidence 155 00:12:15,887 --> 00:12:18,355 of this journey towards Australia. 156 00:12:19,007 --> 00:12:21,646 (CHANTING IN LOCAL LANGUAGE) 157 00:12:23,527 --> 00:12:29,318 It would be absolutely fantastic to have a trail of stone tools and human fossils 158 00:12:29,407 --> 00:12:31,602 all the way along the coast of India. 159 00:12:31,687 --> 00:12:33,643 Sadly, there just isn't. 160 00:12:34,727 --> 00:12:38,925 Along thousands of miles of coastline, nothing. 161 00:12:40,927 --> 00:12:43,487 But maybe I'm looking in the wrong place. 162 00:12:46,007 --> 00:12:48,760 I've heard that some new evidence has been unearthed 163 00:12:48,847 --> 00:12:51,122 in a very remote part of India. 164 00:12:51,207 --> 00:12:52,606 (TYRE BLOWS) 165 00:12:53,967 --> 00:12:56,640 one which is proving tricky to get to. 166 00:13:00,127 --> 00:13:03,437 Might hitch a ride on one of these tuk-tuks instead. 167 00:13:10,927 --> 00:13:14,317 There is some real evidence turning up right now 168 00:13:14,407 --> 00:13:17,524 at an archaeological site a very long way from the coast. 169 00:13:17,607 --> 00:13:22,317 It's called Jwalapuram, and it's right in the heart of southern India. 170 00:13:36,847 --> 00:13:40,920 From here, it's a beautiful fertile valley, 171 00:13:42,767 --> 00:13:47,761 but just under the surface is a thick layer of white ash. 172 00:13:52,487 --> 00:13:57,117 Today, it is mined by poor families from the village of Jwalapuram, 173 00:13:57,207 --> 00:14:00,119 who sell the ash to chemical companies. 174 00:14:00,207 --> 00:14:04,359 But the ash itself has an incredible story to tell. 175 00:14:05,167 --> 00:14:07,442 (VOLCANO RUMBLING) 176 00:14:10,527 --> 00:14:16,363 It starts thousands of years ago, when Mount Toba on Sumatra erupted. 177 00:14:21,967 --> 00:14:23,798 A supervolcano. 178 00:14:26,087 --> 00:14:29,796 The most devastating eruption in human experience. 179 00:14:32,967 --> 00:14:37,643 The ash cloud was blown over 2,000 kilometres northwest, 180 00:14:37,727 --> 00:14:39,797 reaching as far as India. 181 00:14:46,087 --> 00:14:47,520 Just imagine what it would've been like, 182 00:14:47,607 --> 00:14:50,440 a lush landscape suddenly transformed. 183 00:14:50,527 --> 00:14:54,202 Clouds of ash in the air, choking plant and animal life. 184 00:14:54,287 --> 00:14:57,165 It would have been an environmental disaster. 185 00:14:57,247 --> 00:14:59,044 So what can Toba tell us? 186 00:14:59,127 --> 00:15:03,962 Well, we have a precise date. Toba erupted 74,000 years ago. 187 00:15:04,607 --> 00:15:09,397 The question for us is, had modern humans reached India 188 00:15:09,487 --> 00:15:11,443 by the time it happened? 189 00:15:14,127 --> 00:15:16,960 Until recently, the answer was no, 190 00:15:17,687 --> 00:15:20,326 but a new discovery could change that. 191 00:15:21,487 --> 00:15:25,321 Indian archaeologists have joined forces with Mike Petraglia 192 00:15:25,407 --> 00:15:27,443 from Cambridge University. 193 00:15:31,287 --> 00:15:33,323 -MIKE: It does look like a blade. -Yes, sir. 194 00:15:33,407 --> 00:15:35,875 But most importantly, there's retouch all along here. 195 00:15:35,967 --> 00:15:37,195 Yeah, retouch. Yes. 196 00:15:37,287 --> 00:15:39,437 And it looks like an end scraper. 197 00:15:39,527 --> 00:15:42,280 ROBERTS: And Mike is making some surprising claims 198 00:15:42,367 --> 00:15:45,040 from what they found deep in the ash. 199 00:15:45,607 --> 00:15:47,598 So this is the Toba super-eruption, 200 00:15:47,687 --> 00:15:51,919 the deposit that we have representing the ash fall. 201 00:15:52,007 --> 00:15:54,157 ROBERTS: That's a huge amount of ash. 202 00:15:54,247 --> 00:15:56,715 Yeah, it's about 2 metres' worth of ash. 203 00:15:56,807 --> 00:16:00,436 And the bottom part is what we call the primary ash. 204 00:16:00,527 --> 00:16:02,722 So this is still ash down here, this grey stuff. 205 00:16:02,807 --> 00:16:04,877 Yeah. You see there's very sharp contact. 206 00:16:04,967 --> 00:16:10,121 The beginning of the ash starts here and it goes up, 207 00:16:10,207 --> 00:16:12,038 all the way up to 2 metres. 208 00:16:12,127 --> 00:16:14,402 And what's so striking is that we have 209 00:16:14,487 --> 00:16:17,081 so many spectacular artefacts coming out. 210 00:16:17,167 --> 00:16:18,520 ROBERTS: That's like a little spearhead. 211 00:16:18,607 --> 00:16:20,245 MIKE: Yes, that's exactly what it is. 212 00:16:20,327 --> 00:16:23,842 We think it's actually the tip to a spear. 213 00:16:23,927 --> 00:16:24,996 -Yeah. -And what's so interesting 214 00:16:25,087 --> 00:16:27,999 about this particular piece is the tip is broken, 215 00:16:28,087 --> 00:16:31,966 and so we know the spear was launched and it broke in use. 216 00:16:32,047 --> 00:16:34,481 Now, what's important about this particular piece 217 00:16:34,567 --> 00:16:39,004 is it occurs in deposits below the ash at 78,000 years ago. 218 00:16:39,087 --> 00:16:40,156 So you know the date of it? 219 00:16:40,247 --> 00:16:42,203 We know very precisely the date of it. 220 00:16:42,287 --> 00:16:45,643 It's in between 78,000 and 74,000 years ago. 221 00:16:45,727 --> 00:16:47,399 That's a very, very early date, Mike. 222 00:16:47,487 --> 00:16:50,206 Yes, and the importance of that date 223 00:16:50,287 --> 00:16:55,202 is that these spear points are also found in North Africa, 224 00:16:55,287 --> 00:16:58,199 anywhere between 90 and 60,000 years ago. 225 00:16:58,287 --> 00:17:02,565 So our point fits exactly with that age range. 226 00:17:03,607 --> 00:17:07,680 ROBERTS: Mike believes this is good evidence that our ancestors were here. 227 00:17:07,767 --> 00:17:09,086 (RUMBLING) 228 00:17:10,807 --> 00:17:13,605 But could they have survived this, 229 00:17:13,687 --> 00:17:15,564 a supervolcano? 230 00:17:17,607 --> 00:17:20,644 Well, along with that one stone point 231 00:17:20,727 --> 00:17:24,163 the team have found many other types of tool. 232 00:17:25,367 --> 00:17:30,839 We have continuity of the tools, found both below the ash and above the ash. 233 00:17:30,927 --> 00:17:34,158 So we have literally hundreds of artefacts that look rather similar. 234 00:17:34,247 --> 00:17:40,277 Right. Does that mean that the human population that was here below the ash 235 00:17:40,367 --> 00:17:42,722 survived the Toba super-eruption? 236 00:17:42,807 --> 00:17:44,081 MIKE: Yes, that's our argument, 237 00:17:44,167 --> 00:17:47,443 that whoever was here survived the Toba super-eruption. 238 00:17:47,527 --> 00:17:50,166 Even though this was a major event, 239 00:17:50,247 --> 00:17:54,763 it had an effect on those populations, but those populations survived 240 00:17:54,847 --> 00:17:56,280 through the volcanic event. 241 00:17:59,727 --> 00:18:03,083 ROBERTS: But were these tools really left by our species? 242 00:18:03,167 --> 00:18:06,284 There are plenty of scientists who won't be persuaded 243 00:18:06,367 --> 00:18:10,440 until the team find more evidence, such as human bones. 244 00:18:13,727 --> 00:18:18,164 But I must say, I'm personally quite convinced by the evidence here. 245 00:18:18,247 --> 00:18:23,799 So Jwalapuram at 78,000 years is my first milestone 246 00:18:23,887 --> 00:18:26,685 on the route eastwards out of Africa. 247 00:18:26,767 --> 00:18:28,883 So where did they go next? 248 00:18:33,807 --> 00:18:38,119 At last, a hint that our early ancestors may have come this way. 249 00:18:38,887 --> 00:18:42,641 Perhaps some of those families who survived Toba 250 00:18:42,727 --> 00:18:45,924 began to slowly spread across the continent. 251 00:18:47,047 --> 00:18:51,438 So it's not really a journey in the conventional sense, 252 00:18:51,527 --> 00:18:55,202 because although I'm certainly covering a lot of ground here 253 00:18:55,287 --> 00:19:00,441 trying to recapture the movements that these early humans 254 00:19:00,527 --> 00:19:04,042 made across the landscape, really what we're talking about is 255 00:19:04,127 --> 00:19:05,958 population expansion. 256 00:19:06,447 --> 00:19:09,564 Pressure of numbers and competition for resources. 257 00:19:09,647 --> 00:19:11,558 And the natural thing to do is 258 00:19:11,647 --> 00:19:14,719 for people to spread out across the landscape. 259 00:19:15,167 --> 00:19:18,000 And you can just imagine family groups sort of splitting off 260 00:19:18,087 --> 00:19:20,920 and just moving away in all directions, 261 00:19:21,007 --> 00:19:26,161 and the genetic tree gradually growing and spreading out as well. 262 00:19:30,647 --> 00:19:34,686 But behind that wave of colonisation pushing eastwards, 263 00:19:34,767 --> 00:19:38,123 some families would have stayed where they were 264 00:19:38,207 --> 00:19:39,959 and put down roots. 265 00:19:41,647 --> 00:19:44,878 And maybe it's the people that stayed put 266 00:19:44,967 --> 00:19:47,276 who could provide the next clue. 267 00:19:49,207 --> 00:19:54,042 The countries around the Indian ocean are dotted with remote tribes 268 00:19:54,167 --> 00:19:57,000 who look very different to everyone else. 269 00:19:58,087 --> 00:20:01,682 Could they shed any light on the first colonisers? 270 00:20:03,487 --> 00:20:06,365 To investigate, I'm on my way to Malaysia. 271 00:20:14,527 --> 00:20:16,324 What an amazing city. 272 00:20:17,927 --> 00:20:21,636 The cosmopolitan capital, Kuala Lumpur. 273 00:20:36,647 --> 00:20:40,401 But a few hours away there's a completely different world... 274 00:20:44,687 --> 00:20:49,397 and a small group of people hanging on to a traditional life. 275 00:20:51,247 --> 00:20:56,002 Could they be a relic of that first migration east from Africa? 276 00:20:58,527 --> 00:21:03,521 The Semang tribes are believed to be the most ancient people in Malaysia. 277 00:21:06,127 --> 00:21:09,437 And they do look different from other Malaysians. 278 00:21:16,887 --> 00:21:20,800 Now, this is a selection of typical Malaysian faces. 279 00:21:20,887 --> 00:21:24,596 And you can see these people are quite light-skinned, 280 00:21:24,687 --> 00:21:27,963 quite East Asian-looking in their appearance. 281 00:21:28,847 --> 00:21:31,077 And this is a Semang man. 282 00:21:31,167 --> 00:21:33,761 And the Semang are completely different-looking. 283 00:21:33,847 --> 00:21:34,916 They live in Malaysia, 284 00:21:35,007 --> 00:21:37,123 but they don't look like the rest of the population at all. 285 00:21:37,207 --> 00:21:38,640 They're much darker-skinned. 286 00:21:38,727 --> 00:21:40,365 Some people have even gone as far 287 00:21:40,447 --> 00:21:43,086 as to say that they look African in appearance. 288 00:21:43,167 --> 00:21:46,955 And I just wonder whether their appearance is telling us something 289 00:21:47,047 --> 00:21:49,277 about their ancient ancestry. 290 00:21:53,207 --> 00:21:56,085 The rainforest is disappearing around them 291 00:21:56,167 --> 00:22:00,126 and many now work on rubber plantations and logging camps. 292 00:22:00,647 --> 00:22:04,845 But they are still proud of their hunter-gatherer traditions. 293 00:22:07,327 --> 00:22:09,318 (TWIG SNAPS) 294 00:22:13,927 --> 00:22:15,565 I'm really noisy. 295 00:22:17,487 --> 00:22:19,762 They're so stealthy. 296 00:22:21,247 --> 00:22:23,886 And I'm stepping on twigs and things. 297 00:22:34,927 --> 00:22:37,600 Excellent. I'm gonna have a go as well. 298 00:22:40,207 --> 00:22:41,481 (BLOWING) 299 00:22:42,687 --> 00:22:43,802 Okay! 300 00:22:44,407 --> 00:22:46,079 (LAUGHING) 301 00:22:52,487 --> 00:22:56,878 ROBERTS: And the girls also offer to pass their hunting skills on to me. 302 00:23:04,767 --> 00:23:07,645 Oh, it's just brilliant. They're all just wedged under this rock, 303 00:23:07,727 --> 00:23:10,685 desperately scrambling underneath it, trying to get those fish. 304 00:23:10,767 --> 00:23:12,803 (LAUGHING) He's tiny! 305 00:23:18,967 --> 00:23:20,525 They're actually underwater now, 306 00:23:20,607 --> 00:23:23,201 just feeling around under stones and grabbing these fish. 307 00:23:23,287 --> 00:23:24,925 And the whole thing is just great fun. 308 00:23:25,007 --> 00:23:27,237 You know, they're schoolgirls having a laugh, 309 00:23:27,327 --> 00:23:29,887 finding a bit of food along the way. 310 00:23:33,487 --> 00:23:37,036 And it's very sad that it's a way of life that isn't 311 00:23:38,207 --> 00:23:41,517 going to be possible for much longer, I don't think. 312 00:23:43,407 --> 00:23:47,798 But the most revealing clue isn't the Semang's way of life 313 00:23:47,927 --> 00:23:49,724 or their appearance. 314 00:23:51,327 --> 00:23:55,320 It's invisible to the naked eye, hidden inside them. 315 00:23:58,367 --> 00:24:02,838 Amazingly, through their DNA it might be possible 316 00:24:02,927 --> 00:24:06,886 to trace that first great journey through Malaysia. 317 00:24:09,007 --> 00:24:13,125 Genetics expert Stephen oppenheimer has flown in from oxford. 318 00:24:13,767 --> 00:24:18,636 His work is helping revolutionise the story of our human journey. 319 00:24:20,007 --> 00:24:21,838 STEPHEN: I guess it's something like a detective story, 320 00:24:21,927 --> 00:24:26,045 where you've got a very specific trail, which you can measure, 321 00:24:26,127 --> 00:24:29,085 just like traditional trackers, 322 00:24:29,167 --> 00:24:31,442 where they'll follow a trail which nobody else could see. 323 00:24:32,767 --> 00:24:34,917 ROBERTS: Combining genes and geography, 324 00:24:35,007 --> 00:24:38,682 Stephen has mapped out a route from Africa, across the Red Sea 325 00:24:38,767 --> 00:24:41,520 and around the edge of the Indian ocean. 326 00:24:42,127 --> 00:24:44,641 By looking at the DNA of the Semang, 327 00:24:44,727 --> 00:24:49,118 Stephen hopes to find evidence of that early migration towards Australia. 328 00:24:49,567 --> 00:24:51,876 STEPHEN: The new genetics is extraordinarily powerful 329 00:24:51,967 --> 00:24:54,276 for looking at ancient migrations, 330 00:24:54,367 --> 00:24:57,962 because not only can you trace very specific migrations, 331 00:24:58,047 --> 00:25:00,481 but you can actually attempt to date them as well. 332 00:25:01,407 --> 00:25:03,557 (DRUMS BEATING) 333 00:25:06,807 --> 00:25:09,765 (SINGING IN LOCAL LANGUAGE) 334 00:25:10,847 --> 00:25:14,317 ROBERTS: Stephen has been looking for unique genetic markers 335 00:25:14,407 --> 00:25:18,844 that will tell him when the ancestors of the Semang first arrived here. 336 00:25:21,767 --> 00:25:25,077 What about dates? Because they certainly think they've been here forever. 337 00:25:25,167 --> 00:25:26,839 -They think they're very ancient. -I agree with them. 338 00:25:26,927 --> 00:25:27,962 -You do? -Yes. 339 00:25:28,047 --> 00:25:31,198 So they've been here 60,000 years? The ancestors have been here... 340 00:25:31,287 --> 00:25:34,359 STEPHEN: At least 60,000. I suspect it was much, much more. 341 00:25:34,447 --> 00:25:39,726 I mean, that's amazing, 'cause if their uniqueness goes back that far, 342 00:25:40,167 --> 00:25:42,727 and, you know, if we can say that they have 343 00:25:42,807 --> 00:25:47,358 probably been here in this sort of area for 60,000 years, 344 00:25:47,447 --> 00:25:52,043 that means they were very close to the wave of colonisation, doesn't it? 345 00:25:52,127 --> 00:25:54,880 They were part of it. They were in the vanguard. 346 00:25:54,967 --> 00:25:56,719 -Yeah. -They were just a colony dropped 347 00:25:56,807 --> 00:26:01,483 along the way as the vanguard advanced down towards New Guinea and Australia. 348 00:26:03,607 --> 00:26:07,077 ROBERTS: It's incredibly frustrating that the first family groups 349 00:26:07,167 --> 00:26:11,240 pushing through these new lands left so little for us to find. 350 00:26:12,047 --> 00:26:14,686 But genetics has come to the rescue. 351 00:26:15,247 --> 00:26:19,399 Stephen's research tells us that the ancestors of the Semang were probably 352 00:26:19,487 --> 00:26:22,524 amongst the first modern humans to come through here. 353 00:26:22,607 --> 00:26:25,724 And not only that, the genetics suggests that 354 00:26:25,807 --> 00:26:28,765 that vanguard moved surprisingly rapidly, 355 00:26:28,847 --> 00:26:31,441 getting all the way from Africa to Malaysia 356 00:26:31,527 --> 00:26:34,325 in the space of just a few thousand years. 357 00:26:36,807 --> 00:26:40,436 There are other tribes thought to have ancient roots as well. 358 00:26:40,527 --> 00:26:45,282 Together they are like distant echoes of that first migration, 359 00:26:45,367 --> 00:26:49,963 a journey that began in Africa, continued through India 360 00:26:50,047 --> 00:26:52,607 and round the coast to Malaysia. 361 00:26:53,367 --> 00:26:55,244 But did they carry on? 362 00:26:55,767 --> 00:26:59,555 After the Malay Peninsula, the land runs out, 363 00:26:59,647 --> 00:27:02,241 breaking into a mass of islands. 364 00:27:12,247 --> 00:27:15,717 But using a computer program which models past climate, 365 00:27:15,807 --> 00:27:18,196 it's possible to go back in time 366 00:27:18,287 --> 00:27:21,962 and see what the map looked like thousands of years ago. 367 00:27:23,087 --> 00:27:26,557 And if we run the climate computer back through time - 368 00:27:26,647 --> 00:27:30,083 we're racing through tens of thousands of years here - 369 00:27:30,167 --> 00:27:33,045 we can see that those islands are starting to join up. 370 00:27:33,127 --> 00:27:34,560 And in fact a lot of the islands 371 00:27:34,647 --> 00:27:37,844 that make up modern-day Malaysia and Indonesia 372 00:27:37,927 --> 00:27:41,522 are all joining together to become part of the continent. 373 00:27:45,087 --> 00:27:48,602 They could have got all the way here to Borneo 374 00:27:48,687 --> 00:27:50,962 without getting their feet wet. 375 00:27:54,207 --> 00:27:57,085 So much may be lost under the sea. 376 00:27:59,567 --> 00:28:02,127 But there is something. 377 00:28:09,047 --> 00:28:13,279 During the Second World War, Englishman Major Tom Harrison 378 00:28:13,367 --> 00:28:16,803 parachuted into Borneo on a special-forces mission. 379 00:28:17,447 --> 00:28:22,157 He encouraged local tribes to use the ancient practice of headhunting 380 00:28:22,247 --> 00:28:24,203 against the Japanese. 381 00:28:31,007 --> 00:28:35,125 After the war, Harrison, a keen archaeologist, stayed on... 382 00:28:40,367 --> 00:28:44,155 and began investigating the legendary Niah cave. 383 00:28:51,127 --> 00:28:55,166 Oh, I've seen pictures of the great cave at Niah, 384 00:28:55,247 --> 00:29:00,082 but nothing really prepares you for the sheer scale of it. 385 00:29:41,567 --> 00:29:44,445 Harrison launched a major excavation. 386 00:29:44,527 --> 00:29:46,643 He had a hunch that these caves 387 00:29:46,727 --> 00:29:49,924 would have made the perfect home for early humans. 388 00:29:57,527 --> 00:30:01,122 This part of the excavation was known as ''Hell Trench''. 389 00:30:01,287 --> 00:30:03,562 And stepping down into it, it's easy to see why, 390 00:30:03,647 --> 00:30:06,923 because it's suddenly very hot and humid. 391 00:30:07,127 --> 00:30:10,005 But all the hard work and the discomfort paid off, 392 00:30:10,087 --> 00:30:12,726 because the archaeologists found something 393 00:30:12,807 --> 00:30:14,843 that was quite phenomenal. 394 00:30:15,847 --> 00:30:17,838 It's a human skull. 395 00:30:17,927 --> 00:30:21,158 It was in many pieces when it was first found, 396 00:30:21,247 --> 00:30:25,081 which have been carefully fitted back together like a jigsaw. 397 00:30:25,887 --> 00:30:27,764 And this is the top of the skull. 398 00:30:27,847 --> 00:30:32,523 It's unmistakably a modern human, it has a high, domed forehead. 399 00:30:33,807 --> 00:30:38,005 The skull has been dated to nearly 40,000 years old, 400 00:30:38,687 --> 00:30:43,681 the oldest confirmed remains of our species in Southeast Asia. 401 00:30:46,887 --> 00:30:51,836 But Niah cave also offers us a clue as to how these people survived 402 00:30:51,927 --> 00:30:55,124 in the challenging environment of the rainforest. 403 00:30:56,527 --> 00:30:58,245 (BIRDS SCREECHING) 404 00:31:01,127 --> 00:31:03,163 As you move just a little bit deeper into the cave, 405 00:31:03,247 --> 00:31:06,239 it becomes significantly cooler and more pleasant. 406 00:31:06,327 --> 00:31:09,160 And it just feels like an ideal place for those hunter-gatherers 407 00:31:09,247 --> 00:31:10,839 to have set up their camps. 408 00:31:10,927 --> 00:31:13,646 And then they could have gone off roaming into the forest. 409 00:31:13,727 --> 00:31:16,082 The archaeological evidence shows that they were bringing back 410 00:31:16,167 --> 00:31:18,840 a huge range of different foods to eat, 411 00:31:18,927 --> 00:31:24,285 from monkeys and pigs and lizards, to shellfish, yams and sago palm. 412 00:31:25,807 --> 00:31:29,959 Compared with other species, we're incredibly adaptable. 413 00:31:30,047 --> 00:31:34,165 To survive, we humans will eat just about anything. 414 00:31:35,207 --> 00:31:39,041 And as if to make exactly that point, in another corner of the cave 415 00:31:39,127 --> 00:31:41,925 something really unusual is going on. 416 00:31:43,927 --> 00:31:48,796 I've arrived at harvesting time for the ingredient used in the Chinese delicacy 417 00:31:48,887 --> 00:31:50,400 bird's nest soup. 418 00:31:50,487 --> 00:31:53,160 It's made from the nests of rare swiftlets, 419 00:31:53,247 --> 00:31:57,718 and today these men are attempting a death-defying feat to gather them. 420 00:31:59,447 --> 00:32:02,245 Well, this is human ingenuity, isn't it? 421 00:32:12,687 --> 00:32:14,757 A sweet little tiny swiftlet's nest. 422 00:32:14,847 --> 00:32:18,203 It has just been built out from the wall of the cave. 423 00:32:18,687 --> 00:32:20,200 Made of saliva. 424 00:32:21,687 --> 00:32:25,123 It feels a bit like resin or something. It's very odd. 425 00:32:26,007 --> 00:32:29,966 I can't believe that anybody would want to make soup out of it. 426 00:32:32,087 --> 00:32:35,875 The ability to survive in the rainforest would have helped people 427 00:32:35,967 --> 00:32:38,162 spread through these islands. 428 00:32:38,247 --> 00:32:43,116 But discoveries on Flores suggest there may have been another challenge 429 00:32:43,207 --> 00:32:46,882 for the first modern humans in this part of the world. 430 00:32:51,327 --> 00:32:54,637 The Indonesian jungle is full of life. 431 00:32:54,727 --> 00:32:57,958 There are animals in there of every shape and size, 432 00:32:58,047 --> 00:33:00,766 some of them more friendly than others. 433 00:33:01,287 --> 00:33:02,925 (GROWLING) 434 00:33:03,687 --> 00:33:06,599 Every year more species are discovered, 435 00:33:06,687 --> 00:33:09,520 and the jungle still has secrets to reveal. 436 00:33:10,407 --> 00:33:14,366 It seems that however much we think we know 437 00:33:14,447 --> 00:33:17,678 about the other creatures we share the planet with, 438 00:33:17,767 --> 00:33:20,406 there are always new surprises. 439 00:33:25,407 --> 00:33:31,960 Today on Flores, local people still tell stories of strange human-like creatures, 440 00:33:32,527 --> 00:33:34,836 the cave-dwelling Ebu Gogo. 441 00:33:36,607 --> 00:33:41,044 So I'd really, really like to know more about the story of Ebu Gogo. 442 00:33:41,967 --> 00:33:44,356 (SPEAKING LOCAL LANGUAGE) 443 00:33:44,447 --> 00:33:46,802 MAN: According to our ancestors, 444 00:33:46,927 --> 00:33:50,761 there were Ebu Gogo in our land, in our village, a long time ago. 445 00:33:50,847 --> 00:33:52,838 Around the 1 5th century. 446 00:33:53,327 --> 00:33:56,160 Are they humans? I mean, are they like us? 447 00:33:57,327 --> 00:34:00,239 MAN: They had two distinctive characteristics - 448 00:34:00,327 --> 00:34:03,239 they were like monkeys, but also like humans. 449 00:34:07,087 --> 00:34:11,205 Their physical features were short, hefty, 450 00:34:13,887 --> 00:34:16,640 with long hair on the head and chest, 451 00:34:16,727 --> 00:34:20,037 and the females' breasts were big and long. 452 00:34:23,167 --> 00:34:24,759 If they wanted to walk, 453 00:34:24,847 --> 00:34:28,999 they usually threw their long breasts over their shoulders. 454 00:34:34,367 --> 00:34:37,723 But nobody's seen one for a couple of hundred years? 455 00:34:38,967 --> 00:34:44,246 MAN: They really did exist, and they were destroyed by our ancestors 456 00:34:44,327 --> 00:34:46,477 about seven generations ago. 457 00:34:47,967 --> 00:34:50,356 (SPEAKING LOCAL LANGUAGE) 458 00:34:51,607 --> 00:34:55,156 MAN: There were two reasons for their elimination. 459 00:34:55,247 --> 00:34:57,363 Firstly, because they stole food, 460 00:34:57,447 --> 00:35:00,678 and secondly, because they kidnapped our children. 461 00:35:03,807 --> 00:35:08,358 ROBERTS: This sounds like the sort of spooky myths you might hear anywhere. 462 00:35:09,887 --> 00:35:14,677 But believe it or not, this story may actually have some truth to it. 463 00:35:21,647 --> 00:35:25,276 Archaeologists were excavating in this cave on the island, 464 00:35:25,367 --> 00:35:28,325 looking for signs of the earliest modern humans, 465 00:35:28,407 --> 00:35:31,046 when they made a startling discovery. 466 00:35:32,047 --> 00:35:35,562 At first they thought they'd found the skeleton of a child. 467 00:35:35,647 --> 00:35:37,399 But when they cleaned up the bones, 468 00:35:37,487 --> 00:35:41,526 they realised it was actually a tiny adult. 469 00:35:42,087 --> 00:35:45,602 A small-bodied, small-brained creature, 470 00:35:45,687 --> 00:35:49,680 a type of human that nobody had ever seen before. 471 00:35:50,327 --> 00:35:53,603 It quickly became known as ''The Hobbit''. 472 00:35:56,527 --> 00:36:00,440 So this is the skeleton of this minute woman 473 00:36:00,527 --> 00:36:01,676 that the archaeologists found 474 00:36:01,767 --> 00:36:04,679 in the cave of Liang Bua on the island of Flores. 475 00:36:04,767 --> 00:36:07,156 And she is just absolutely tiny. 476 00:36:07,487 --> 00:36:09,318 When she was standing at her full height, 477 00:36:09,407 --> 00:36:12,319 she would have reached to about a metre tall. 478 00:36:12,407 --> 00:36:14,682 She seems like an odd combination. 479 00:36:14,767 --> 00:36:17,235 Some bits look like us, but in miniature, 480 00:36:17,327 --> 00:36:20,524 other parts look like more ancient human species. 481 00:36:21,647 --> 00:36:25,560 People still are unsure about exactly who she is. 482 00:36:25,647 --> 00:36:28,480 Most people believe that she is, indeed, a different species. 483 00:36:28,567 --> 00:36:32,719 So it really does make us rethink what we think about ourselves 484 00:36:32,807 --> 00:36:36,322 and what we think about the whole human family as well. 485 00:36:37,207 --> 00:36:40,597 Could The Hobbit have affected our ancestors'journey? 486 00:36:40,687 --> 00:36:43,281 Dating of the bones shows they were here 487 00:36:43,367 --> 00:36:47,599 around the time of the migration of our ancestors through Indonesia. 488 00:36:49,727 --> 00:36:52,366 So would they have encountered this race, 489 00:36:52,447 --> 00:36:55,678 this population of very tiny people? 490 00:36:55,767 --> 00:36:58,122 And what would have happened if they did? 491 00:36:58,207 --> 00:37:02,041 I don't know what they would have thought about Homo sapiens. 492 00:37:05,687 --> 00:37:09,077 If they really were the vicious Ebu Gogo, 493 00:37:09,167 --> 00:37:13,445 our ancestors might have been best advised to avoid Flores. 494 00:37:19,767 --> 00:37:23,965 But to reach Australia, those early pioneers would have had to face 495 00:37:24,047 --> 00:37:26,197 the greatest challenge of all, 496 00:37:26,287 --> 00:37:29,518 one that was there even 60,000 years ago. 497 00:37:31,847 --> 00:37:34,122 The deep seas around Australia. 498 00:37:40,847 --> 00:37:42,519 I've arrived in Lombok, 499 00:37:42,607 --> 00:37:47,362 one of a string of Indonesian islands, stepping stones to Australia. 500 00:37:55,807 --> 00:38:00,119 Nobody's ever found evidence of a boat from this long ago, 501 00:38:00,207 --> 00:38:02,118 but Austrian Robert Bednarik 502 00:38:02,207 --> 00:38:07,201 has been trying to work out what sort of sea craft our ancestors might have had. 503 00:38:09,487 --> 00:38:13,765 He's been building prehistoric rafts for over a decade. 504 00:38:13,847 --> 00:38:15,758 His philosophy is simple.. 505 00:38:15,847 --> 00:38:18,680 his rafts can be built with the tools and materials 506 00:38:18,767 --> 00:38:21,327 that would have been available to early humans. 507 00:38:21,407 --> 00:38:24,160 But not all of them have been successful. 508 00:38:26,447 --> 00:38:29,519 That is the most primitive model we've built so far. 509 00:38:29,607 --> 00:38:32,167 This one is the most primitive? Great. 510 00:38:32,247 --> 00:38:38,117 But it's also the most... Hopefully, the most effective. 511 00:38:39,767 --> 00:38:42,804 ROBERTS: I hope so, because I'm going to go on it. 512 00:38:42,887 --> 00:38:45,003 Robert has used something that would have been available 513 00:38:45,087 --> 00:38:48,477 to the first Indonesians, just as it is today - 514 00:38:48,567 --> 00:38:49,636 bamboo. 515 00:38:51,047 --> 00:38:54,084 We know they were clever, so... As clever as us. 516 00:38:54,167 --> 00:38:56,886 So if we look around and go, ''Well, bamboo looks great'' - 517 00:38:56,967 --> 00:38:59,481 I mean, that's a fantastic material to use - 518 00:38:59,567 --> 00:39:02,684 then undoubtedly, you know, they'd have been onto that as well. 519 00:39:03,487 --> 00:39:08,038 We're going to attempt to cross a stretch of open sea to the next island. 520 00:39:09,367 --> 00:39:11,801 It's nothing like the distance to Australia, 521 00:39:11,887 --> 00:39:14,606 but an excellent test of the principle. 522 00:39:15,287 --> 00:39:19,803 The raft is very basic. No sail, no shade. 523 00:39:20,407 --> 00:39:23,444 And nothing to stop the water getting through. 524 00:39:23,567 --> 00:39:26,286 Are we really going to sea on this? 525 00:39:26,607 --> 00:39:28,757 Do they think we're mad, going out on this raft? 526 00:39:28,847 --> 00:39:30,678 Ask him, go on, now, ask him. 527 00:39:30,767 --> 00:39:33,679 (SPEAKING LOCAL LANGUAGE) 528 00:39:38,247 --> 00:39:39,475 Yeah, no problem. 529 00:39:39,567 --> 00:39:41,637 -No problem? -No problem. 530 00:39:42,207 --> 00:39:45,836 -So I'm in safe hands, then? -He say it depend on the weather. 531 00:39:46,207 --> 00:39:47,799 Might there be a storm tomorrow? 532 00:39:47,887 --> 00:39:50,401 (SPEAKING LOCAL LANGUAGE) 533 00:39:50,487 --> 00:39:53,718 MAN: We cannot say ''no'' and we cannot say ''yes''. 534 00:39:54,087 --> 00:39:57,363 For me, I worry about the sun. 535 00:39:57,447 --> 00:40:00,200 -If hot sun? -Yeah. 536 00:40:00,287 --> 00:40:02,847 (SPEAKING LOCAL LANGUAGE) 537 00:40:03,447 --> 00:40:05,085 He worry about the wind. 538 00:40:05,167 --> 00:40:09,843 And he worry of the current coming and we cannot get there. 539 00:40:09,927 --> 00:40:14,239 Okay. What do they think of the rafts compared to their normal boats? 540 00:40:15,047 --> 00:40:17,402 No, they happen like when the boat is... 541 00:40:17,487 --> 00:40:18,556 -Yeah. -Yeah. 542 00:40:18,647 --> 00:40:21,719 Losing everything, machine, everything. 543 00:40:21,807 --> 00:40:24,685 -I think... -You think we're gonna tip over? 544 00:40:26,807 --> 00:40:28,365 -What? -Could it capsize? 545 00:40:28,447 --> 00:40:29,482 Yeah. 546 00:40:34,207 --> 00:40:35,845 ROBERTS: The message is clear. 547 00:40:35,927 --> 00:40:40,682 No matter how well prepared we are, the elements will determine our fate. 548 00:40:43,087 --> 00:40:46,762 Which is why the fishermen won't even contemplate this voyage 549 00:40:46,847 --> 00:40:49,441 without the help of the local mystic. 550 00:40:49,807 --> 00:40:54,483 We all have to be blessed as protection against the spirit of the sea. 551 00:41:05,247 --> 00:41:07,442 (SHOUTING IN LOCAL LANGUAGE) 552 00:41:12,527 --> 00:41:16,805 Just launching the raft is hard enough. It is incredibly heavy. 553 00:41:37,487 --> 00:41:38,806 It's really heavy, 554 00:41:38,887 --> 00:41:41,003 and it was quite an effort to actually get it into the water, 555 00:41:41,087 --> 00:41:42,156 but we did it. 556 00:41:42,247 --> 00:41:44,920 And we're now making really good speed. 557 00:41:49,687 --> 00:41:50,722 ROBERTS: Are we headed in the right direction? 558 00:41:50,807 --> 00:41:51,842 MAN: I hope so. 559 00:41:51,927 --> 00:41:53,997 ROBERTS: Yeah. MAN: I hope. 560 00:41:54,087 --> 00:41:58,524 ROBERTS: on a paddle-powered raft, we are totally at the mercy of currents, 561 00:41:58,607 --> 00:42:01,246 just as our ancestors would have been. 562 00:42:03,007 --> 00:42:07,000 We think the current should start pulling us north, 563 00:42:07,087 --> 00:42:10,762 then as we get halfway across, turn south. 564 00:42:10,847 --> 00:42:13,600 So we won't be able to head straight across. 565 00:42:14,847 --> 00:42:18,635 And if we get it wrong, we'll end up in the Indian ocean. 566 00:42:24,287 --> 00:42:28,599 So what does Robert's decidedly non-Stone Age GPS tell us? 567 00:42:29,687 --> 00:42:32,520 -So we're heading north, Robert? -It's excellent. 568 00:42:32,607 --> 00:42:34,563 So we might make it in five hours if we... 569 00:42:34,647 --> 00:42:37,002 No, no, no, we're probably being pulled by the current now. 570 00:42:37,087 --> 00:42:38,281 Right. So you think that... 571 00:42:38,367 --> 00:42:40,323 We're offshore, we're getting this northern current. 572 00:42:40,407 --> 00:42:42,762 So you think the good speed that we're doing is actually the current? 573 00:42:42,847 --> 00:42:44,246 Some of the speed is the current, yes. 574 00:42:44,327 --> 00:42:46,318 Okay? I don't believe that we are actually doing this. 575 00:42:46,407 --> 00:42:47,840 (LAUGHS) 576 00:42:47,927 --> 00:42:50,487 Does anyone know any good paddling songs? 577 00:42:50,567 --> 00:42:53,479 (MAN SINGING IN LOCAL LANGUAGE) 578 00:43:18,047 --> 00:43:20,356 What's going on with the seat? 579 00:43:20,447 --> 00:43:24,201 It makes me wonder how those early sea crossings happened. 580 00:43:24,887 --> 00:43:30,007 Perhaps families were out fishing and got carried off by rogue currents, 581 00:43:30,087 --> 00:43:32,647 and arrived in Australia by chance. 582 00:43:33,207 --> 00:43:34,686 That's better. 583 00:43:37,247 --> 00:43:42,321 or maybe desperation pushed some to look for a new island to live on, 584 00:43:42,407 --> 00:43:44,523 but I doubt it was planned. 585 00:43:44,607 --> 00:43:47,804 Australia was far beyond the horizon. 586 00:43:54,287 --> 00:43:56,676 So are the currents going to change direction now? 587 00:43:56,767 --> 00:43:58,246 -We don't know. -We don't know. 588 00:43:58,327 --> 00:44:00,477 Adds an element of excitement. 589 00:44:00,567 --> 00:44:04,560 Makes it difficult to head for somewhere in particular, though. 590 00:44:06,047 --> 00:44:09,596 At the halfway stage, it all seems rather easy. 591 00:44:09,687 --> 00:44:12,281 The plan is working perfectly. 592 00:44:13,047 --> 00:44:16,756 But over towards Sumbawa, trouble is looming. 593 00:44:21,807 --> 00:44:25,243 ROBERTS: I suddenly feel very small in a very big sea. 594 00:44:43,527 --> 00:44:47,645 our destination is an inviting, sandy beach. 595 00:44:47,727 --> 00:44:50,195 But just a few hundred metres from safety, 596 00:44:50,287 --> 00:44:54,599 we're suddenly trapped in a rip current, pulling us back out to sea. 597 00:45:00,887 --> 00:45:03,117 (ALL SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY) 598 00:45:08,167 --> 00:45:10,237 The current just keeps on dragging us from side to side, 599 00:45:10,327 --> 00:45:11,316 and we're headed for this... 600 00:45:11,407 --> 00:45:14,558 There's a beach right up ahead with some big breakers. 601 00:45:14,647 --> 00:45:18,560 I don't speak Indonesian, but they're saying to me we're gonna do that. 602 00:45:20,007 --> 00:45:24,319 And the beach we've been aiming for is looking more and more distant. 603 00:45:25,087 --> 00:45:26,964 The current just swept us round this headland. 604 00:45:27,047 --> 00:45:30,323 We were level with that headland and heading for the beach. 605 00:45:30,407 --> 00:45:32,443 And now we're gonna have to go and try 606 00:45:32,527 --> 00:45:35,325 to go round the other side of the headland. I don't know. 607 00:45:35,407 --> 00:45:37,682 There's massive breakers there. 608 00:45:37,807 --> 00:45:40,002 It's starting to look a bit nasty. 609 00:45:41,807 --> 00:45:45,880 We've been paddling since daybreak, and now it's starting to get dark. 610 00:45:45,967 --> 00:45:47,798 But as far as the eye can see, 611 00:45:47,887 --> 00:45:50,321 there's a line of breakers over a coral reef, 612 00:45:50,407 --> 00:45:52,443 stopping us from landing. 613 00:45:53,687 --> 00:45:57,999 The crew is concerned that there is a continuous coral reef here, 614 00:45:59,007 --> 00:46:02,761 and to get through those breakers we are likely to hit that. 615 00:46:04,607 --> 00:46:08,316 I'm really worried that we're gonna get swept in by these breakers. 616 00:46:08,407 --> 00:46:09,886 We're getting very close. 617 00:46:09,967 --> 00:46:11,878 MAN ON RADIO: Are you getting too close to the rocks? 618 00:46:11,967 --> 00:46:13,719 Copy that. We're getting too close to the rocks. 619 00:46:13,807 --> 00:46:15,126 We're getting too close to the breakers. 620 00:46:15,207 --> 00:46:19,837 We're going to carry on due south, so straight in the direction we're going. 621 00:46:20,567 --> 00:46:23,035 At last, there's a gap in the reef. 622 00:47:01,967 --> 00:47:07,041 We proved it was possible to cross open sea on a bamboo raft, 623 00:47:07,127 --> 00:47:09,322 with no sail or engine. 624 00:47:09,407 --> 00:47:11,967 But it was a frightening experience. 625 00:47:12,047 --> 00:47:15,437 Could our ancestors really have made it to Australia? 626 00:47:15,647 --> 00:47:19,606 Today, that's a crossing of nearly 500 kilometres. 627 00:47:27,047 --> 00:47:30,323 Well, I've found a clue that makes me think they could have done it, 628 00:47:30,407 --> 00:47:32,477 and even hints at when. 629 00:47:35,367 --> 00:47:38,723 Running the climate-change sequence for this part of the world, 630 00:47:38,807 --> 00:47:40,877 I'm particularly interested in what's going on 631 00:47:40,967 --> 00:47:44,243 between 60 and 80,000 years ago, 632 00:47:44,327 --> 00:47:47,046 because that's the time period at which we think 633 00:47:47,127 --> 00:47:50,722 the first Australian colonisers would have been en route. 634 00:47:50,887 --> 00:47:54,800 And there seems to be a remarkable window of opportunity. 635 00:47:55,207 --> 00:47:58,438 At about 65,000 years ago, 636 00:47:58,527 --> 00:48:03,157 the sea level drops about 1 00 metres below its present-day levels. 637 00:48:03,247 --> 00:48:07,365 And the distance between Timor and the northern coast of Australia 638 00:48:07,447 --> 00:48:10,200 is reduced to 1 53 kilometres. 639 00:48:11,047 --> 00:48:13,561 65,000 years ago. 640 00:48:13,927 --> 00:48:18,159 Could this really have been the chance to cross the sea to Australia? 641 00:48:22,527 --> 00:48:23,642 It would make a nice end 642 00:48:23,727 --> 00:48:26,639 to that faint trail of evidence that I followed all the way 643 00:48:26,727 --> 00:48:30,766 through India and Malaysia, but it is only a suggestion. 644 00:48:39,567 --> 00:48:43,480 Can I find any real evidence that this is what happened? 645 00:48:46,407 --> 00:48:49,285 I'm heading through the swamps of the Northern Territories, 646 00:48:49,367 --> 00:48:52,404 because it's here in the north that I hope to find clues 647 00:48:52,487 --> 00:48:54,842 to the earliest Australians. 648 00:49:01,287 --> 00:49:02,481 I am slightly nervous, Gabby, 649 00:49:02,567 --> 00:49:05,240 'cause there are crocodiles around, aren't there? 650 00:49:11,047 --> 00:49:15,006 -Do you think we're safe in this boat? -Yeah, we're pretty safe. 651 00:49:15,727 --> 00:49:17,126 Pretty safe? 652 00:49:17,727 --> 00:49:19,126 (LAUGHING) 653 00:49:23,287 --> 00:49:26,245 This is the point at which Gabby and an entire BBC film crew 654 00:49:26,327 --> 00:49:28,557 put themselves into my hands. 655 00:49:28,767 --> 00:49:30,166 Very slowly. 656 00:49:30,767 --> 00:49:33,645 Getting around in the wet season isn't easy. 657 00:49:35,807 --> 00:49:37,604 There's a fish there. 658 00:49:38,087 --> 00:49:41,557 But at last, this is what I've been looking for. 659 00:49:50,647 --> 00:49:55,004 When you're looking for clues this ancient, they are few and far between. 660 00:49:55,087 --> 00:49:59,842 But this area of Australia is actually rich in a different kind of evidence 661 00:49:59,927 --> 00:50:01,519 of early humans. 662 00:50:01,767 --> 00:50:03,439 Evidence of art. 663 00:50:03,967 --> 00:50:06,117 And this is how the archaeologists know. 664 00:50:06,207 --> 00:50:10,883 Well, this is ochre. And this is ochre in its natural state. 665 00:50:10,967 --> 00:50:14,323 These pebbles form out of the rocks here. 666 00:50:14,407 --> 00:50:16,796 But what the archaeologists have found in a couple of rock shelters 667 00:50:16,887 --> 00:50:19,117 here in the Northern Territories, 668 00:50:19,207 --> 00:50:22,802 is ochre that has been ground down and used as a pigment. 669 00:50:24,567 --> 00:50:30,676 And they've dated the pigments, and some go back almost to 60,000 years ago. 670 00:50:33,007 --> 00:50:36,761 That's not long after sea levels were at their lowest. 671 00:50:37,287 --> 00:50:42,441 People really might have reached Australia by 60,000 years ago. 672 00:50:45,727 --> 00:50:49,242 Those same pigments are still being used today 673 00:50:49,327 --> 00:50:54,685 by Aboriginal Australian artists in recording the stories of their people. 674 00:50:56,967 --> 00:51:00,676 And I'm really keen to meet some of these artists, 675 00:51:00,767 --> 00:51:04,203 to find out more about what their art means to them. 676 00:51:11,447 --> 00:51:16,157 I've heard of remote sacred sites where I might find images 677 00:51:16,247 --> 00:51:18,238 of their creation story. 678 00:51:20,127 --> 00:51:23,403 Artists Garry Djorlom and Wilfred Nawirridj 679 00:51:23,487 --> 00:51:26,285 agree to take me on a trip into the bush. 680 00:51:37,367 --> 00:51:40,598 As we make our journey, they're constantly on the lookout 681 00:51:40,687 --> 00:51:42,723 for anything they can use. 682 00:51:44,007 --> 00:51:45,520 What are you looking for, Wilfred? 683 00:51:57,407 --> 00:52:00,922 ROBERTS: Oh, yeah! Yeah. Instant brush. 684 00:52:12,767 --> 00:52:14,485 It's very strange, because I'm sort of looking round 685 00:52:14,567 --> 00:52:18,162 and just seeing plants everywhere and you're seeing food. 686 00:52:18,407 --> 00:52:20,682 Bush passion fruit, apparently. 687 00:52:20,887 --> 00:52:23,640 That is like a tiny little passion fruit. 688 00:52:28,927 --> 00:52:30,246 Delicious. 689 00:52:31,607 --> 00:52:34,644 Garry and Wilfred's families have become settled, 690 00:52:34,727 --> 00:52:39,403 but they still go off to look for food in the bush just as their ancestors did. 691 00:52:44,167 --> 00:52:45,998 Oh, that's beautiful. 692 00:52:47,087 --> 00:52:48,884 Is it still a special place for you? 693 00:52:50,287 --> 00:52:51,276 ROBERTS: Yeah. 694 00:52:54,327 --> 00:52:55,442 Oh, they lived here? 695 00:52:58,287 --> 00:53:02,405 A long time ago? So grandfathers many generations back? Yeah. 696 00:53:07,047 --> 00:53:10,164 From here I can see a beautiful view. 697 00:53:11,687 --> 00:53:16,238 But for Garry's ancestors this was a place to survey the land, 698 00:53:16,327 --> 00:53:20,559 pick out distant game and plan their meals. 699 00:53:53,807 --> 00:53:56,719 ROBERTS: Eventually, at the entrance to a rock shelter, 700 00:53:56,807 --> 00:54:00,004 we come across our first piece of ancient art. 701 00:54:03,127 --> 00:54:05,004 Oh, that's beautiful. 702 00:54:07,487 --> 00:54:10,559 There's so many images, all sort of on top of each other 703 00:54:10,647 --> 00:54:12,638 and jostling for room. 704 00:54:18,127 --> 00:54:19,879 ROBERTS: Yeah, yeah. 705 00:54:24,247 --> 00:54:28,081 Right. So this all represents the sort of animals that you can eat. 706 00:54:32,327 --> 00:54:33,396 Yeah. 707 00:54:44,567 --> 00:54:48,765 But what they've really brought me here to see is further up the hill, 708 00:54:48,847 --> 00:54:50,917 deep within these rocks. 709 00:54:53,927 --> 00:54:55,565 It's like a maze. 710 00:55:02,047 --> 00:55:04,322 (CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY) 711 00:55:09,607 --> 00:55:11,598 (SPEAKING LOCAL LANGUAGE) 712 00:55:12,607 --> 00:55:13,756 Okay. 713 00:55:16,247 --> 00:55:17,885 ROBERTS: Oh, wow! 714 00:55:18,687 --> 00:55:20,837 What a strange picture. What is it? 715 00:55:26,847 --> 00:55:29,759 ROBERTS: Right. So all those little bags hanging from her, 716 00:55:29,847 --> 00:55:32,122 they've all got babies in them? 717 00:55:32,607 --> 00:55:33,801 And where did she come from? 718 00:55:51,207 --> 00:55:53,118 ROBERTS: This is remarkable. 719 00:55:53,207 --> 00:55:56,085 Traditionally, Aboriginal Australians believe 720 00:55:56,167 --> 00:56:00,365 they were formed by creative beings who also made their land. 721 00:56:01,967 --> 00:56:04,720 But here on the northern coast 722 00:56:04,807 --> 00:56:08,595 they believe their creation mother came from across the sea. 723 00:56:09,247 --> 00:56:15,686 A strange echo of a story told by fossils, stones and genes. 724 00:56:21,327 --> 00:56:25,843 However unlikely it seemed, discoveries have convinced me 725 00:56:25,927 --> 00:56:29,966 that these Aboriginal Australians, just like me, 726 00:56:30,047 --> 00:56:33,835 are descendants of that small group who left Africa. 727 00:56:36,567 --> 00:56:41,846 And that they really could have reached Australia by around 60,000 years ago. 728 00:56:45,367 --> 00:56:50,680 What seemed an unlikely journey may actually have been one of our first. 729 00:56:54,887 --> 00:56:58,163 So I've come to the end of this particular journey. 730 00:56:58,247 --> 00:57:02,206 And the people I've met along the way have helped me to understand more 731 00:57:02,287 --> 00:57:05,165 about the essential human characteristics 732 00:57:05,247 --> 00:57:06,646 that we all share - 733 00:57:06,727 --> 00:57:11,278 ingenuity, resourcefulness and adaptability. 734 00:57:11,367 --> 00:57:15,076 And for me, the Aboriginal Australians in particular 735 00:57:15,687 --> 00:57:19,362 seem to have held on to something I think so many of us feel we've lost 736 00:57:19,447 --> 00:57:21,403 in the 21 st century, 737 00:57:21,487 --> 00:57:26,197 a really intense physical and spiritual connection 738 00:57:26,287 --> 00:57:28,881 with their landscape and environment. 739 00:57:29,687 --> 00:57:33,726 So it's been a journey about retracing that migration 740 00:57:33,807 --> 00:57:36,446 from Africa to Australia, 741 00:57:36,527 --> 00:57:41,203 but it's also been about what it really means to be human.