Becoming Human

Mar 23, 2009

2h 20m

★ 0.0

Nova examines the early ancestors of mankind and examines why Homo sapiens won out over Neanderthals in the evolutionary race.

Overview

NOVA's groundbreaking investigation explores how new discoveries are transforming views of our earliest ancestors. Becoming Human explores the origins of us -where modern humans and our capacities for art, invention, and survival came from, and how our social history led to 3-5% of our genetic heritage being Neanderthal. Featuring interviews with world-renowned scientists, footage shot in the trenches as fossils were unearthed, and stunning computer-generated animation, Becoming Human brings early hominids to life, examining how they lived and how we became the creative and adaptable modern humans of today. In gripping forensic detail, we meet: Selam, the amazingly complete remains of a 3 million year-old child, packed with clues to why we split from the apes, came down from the trees, and started walking upright; Turkana Boy -a tantalizing fossil of Homo erectus, the first ancestor to leave Africa and colonize the globe. What led to this first great African exodus?

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

NOVA

Becoming Human Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Himself

Juan Luis Arsuaga

Himself

Dominique Bonjean

Move over, King Tut: There's a new pharaoh on the scene. A team of top archaeologists and forensics experts revisits the story of Hatshepsut, the woman who snatched the throne dressed as a man and declared herself ruler. Despite her long and prosperous reign, her record was all but eradicated from Egyptian history in a mystery that has long puzzled scholars. But with the latest research effort captured in this program, history is about to change.

No Image Available

0.0

Vývoj člověka II.

Jan 1, 1954

No overview available.

8.5

Peru - Sacrifices in the Kingdom of Chimor

Sep 1, 2022

In northern Peru, the unprecedented archaeological discovery of the largest known mass child sacrifice in the world opens the doors to the kingdom of Chimor. This international archaeological investigation carried out like a criminal investigation reveals the mysteries of the last civilization of the Andes before the arrival of the Incas.

8.0

Out Of Europe

Feb 8, 2020

Looking at whether the history of early human evolution should be rewritten. For decades, most experts have been convinced that Africa is the cradle of mankind and many fossil finds from Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa and Chad seemed to prove it.

No Image Available

0.0

The Guanche Mummies of Tenerife

Nov 18, 2020

Documentary that discovers all the secrets of mummification in the Canary Islands thanks to pioneering research. Regis Francisco López approaches the mummification techniques that took place in Tenerife for more than 10 centuries.

6.0

Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable

Apr 16, 2017

This cinematic journey into the waters off East Africa chronicles the story behind artist Damien Hirst's massive exhibition of oceanic treasures.

7.6

Caligula with Mary Beard

Jul 29, 2013

What is true and what is false in the hideous stories spread about the controversial figure of the Roman emperor Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (12-41), nicknamed Caligula? Professor Mary Beard explains what is accurate and what is mythical in the historical accounts that portray him as an unbalanced despot. Was he a sadistic tyrant, as Roman historians have told, or perhaps the truth about him was manipulated because of political interests?

4.8

The Egtved Girl

Feb 24, 2018

In 1921, in the Danish town of Egtved, on the Jutland peninsula, was discovered one of the most important Bronze Age burial sites: the tomb of a girl who lived around 1370 BCE. Who was that girl and what was her daily life like?

6.7

Mysteries of the Terracotta Warriors

Jun 11, 2024

Thousands of terracotta warriors guarded the first Chinese emperor's tomb. This is their story, told through archeological evidence and reenactments.

7.3

Mont Saint-Michel: The Enigmatic Labyrinth

Dec 24, 2017

Over the centuries, Mont Saint-Michel, an extraordinary island located in the delta of the Couesnon River, in Normandy, France, a place floating between the sea and the sky, has been a sanctuary, an abbey, a fortress and a prison. But how was this architectural wonder built?

9.0

Pompeii: The New Revelations

Feb 15, 2020

Archaeologist Raksha Dave and historian Dan Snow return to Pompeii to gain special access to a variety of new excavations, including two never-before-seen discoveries.

0.0

Science Breakthroughs: Homo Naledi

Dec 25, 2017

Science Breakthroughs: Homo Naledi Discovered in 2013, new and puzzling finding of small-skulled fossils of Homo Naledi has scientists trying to understand whether Homo Sapiens lived at the same time as Homo Naledi, and how Homo Naledi communities may have lived.

7.0

Treasures of the Anglo-Saxons

Aug 10, 2010

In this hour-long documentary, Oxford academic Janina Ramirez tours the country in search of Anglo-Saxon art treasures. Her basic thesis - and it is a plausible one - is that we should not look upon their era as a "dark age" as compared, for example, to Roman times, but rather celebrate it as an age in which creativity flowered, especially in terms of artistic design as well as symbolism. She shows plenty of good examples, ranging from the Franks Casket to the Staffordshire Hoard, and the Lindisfarne Gospels.

2.0

La teoría fantástica (o cómo se creó el mito de la evolución)

Jul 20, 2017

No overview available.

0.0

The Neanderthals’ Dark Secret

Jan 1, 2012

49,000 year old Neanderthal bones have been discovered by chance in a remote, mountainous region of Northern Spain. The bones may help solve the biggest Neanderthal puzzle of all – why we are here today and Neanderthals are not. ‘The Neanderthals’ dark Secret’ revolves around ongoing investigations deep inside the forbidding subterranean cave system called El Sidrón. Here, Palaeontologist Antonio Rosas and Archaeologist Marco de la Rasilla are in their 11th year of excavation. Bones from at least 12 people and 400 stone tool fragments have been recovered. We’ll bring these people back from the past. Our haunting, hologram-like Neanderthal characters, will communicate to the scientists of today, as they unlock the secrets of El Sidrón. Many mysteries surround the site, foremost, how the bones and tools came to be here in the first place. The remains aren’t weathered nor do they show signs of scavenging from large animals.

No Image Available

0.0

Tajemství věstonických Venuší

Apr 13, 2015

No overview available.

8.0

Last Hours of Pompeii

Feb 21, 2020

No overview available.

0.0

The Moche Route

Jul 20, 2014

Starting from the colonial city of Trujillo, this documentary reveals natural and archeological features along the north coast of Peru, where the Moche culture thrived from the 1st Century BC to the 6th Century AD.

0.0

Where Did We Come From?

Mar 29, 2011

Host Neil deGrasse Tyson tackles one of science's major challenges in each segment of Where Did We Come From? He will guide us as he explores dramatic discoveries and the frontiers of research that connect each central, provocative mystery. Program includes: Revealing the Origins of Life; Origins of the Solar System; Lice and Human Evolution; and Profile: Andre Fenton

Becoming Human

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

Becoming Human Trailers