Horizon The Day We Learned to Think
A small piece of stone, unearthed in an African cave, may rewrite human history. If the message it contains is true, then one of the great sagas of human evolution - how our ancestors stopped being mere animals and became modern thinking human beings has all been based on a mistake.The history books say that some 37,000 years ago, our ancestors arrived in Europe for the first time. Suddenly, cave paintings appeared - clear evidence of sophisticated thought. It seemed there had been "Human Revolution".That revolution was so profound that it allowed us to triumph over even our nearest relatives, the Neanderthals. They were wiped out within years of our arrival in Europe. It seemed the sudden dawning of thought has led to us dominating the planet like no other creature. But now a small piece of ochre in a South African cave has changed everything. It appears to be a work of abstract art, an example of advanced thought - and yet it is twice as old as the human revolution. Evidence has also emerged suggesting that the Neanderthals were developing complex thinking too. Together these facts are forcing a huge rethink about our origins and what makes us human.
Horizon is an ongoing and long-running British documentary television series on BBC that covers science and philosophy.
Primary Title
- Horizon
Episode Title
- The Day We Learned to Think
Date Broadcast
- Tuesday 31 March 2009
Original Broadcast Date
- Thursday 20 February 2003
Duration
- 50:00
Series
- 2003
Channel
- UKTV
Broadcaster
- Sky Network Television
Programme Description
- Horizon is an ongoing and long-running British documentary television series on BBC that covers science and philosophy.
Episode Description
- A small piece of stone, unearthed in an African cave, may rewrite human history. If the message it contains is true, then one of the great sagas of human evolution - how our ancestors stopped being mere animals and became modern thinking human beings has all been based on a mistake.The history books say that some 37,000 years ago, our ancestors arrived in Europe for the first time. Suddenly, cave paintings appeared - clear evidence of sophisticated thought. It seemed there had been "Human Revolution".That revolution was so profound that it allowed us to triumph over even our nearest relatives, the Neanderthals. They were wiped out within years of our arrival in Europe. It seemed the sudden dawning of thought has led to us dominating the planet like no other creature. But now a small piece of ochre in a South African cave has changed everything. It appears to be a work of abstract art, an example of advanced thought - and yet it is twice as old as the human revolution. Evidence has also emerged suggesting that the Neanderthals were developing complex thinking too. Together these facts are forcing a huge rethink about our origins and what makes us human.
Classification
- Unknown
Owning Collection
- TV & Radio
Broadcast Platform
- Television
Languages
- English
Captions
Live Broadcast
- No
Rights Statement
- Made for the University of Auckland's educational use as permitted by agreement with rights owner.
Subjects
- Human evolution
- Documentary television programs--Great Britain
Genres
- Documentary
- History
- Science
Contributors
- John Shrapnel (Narrator)
- Dan Clifton (Writer)
- Dan Clifton (Producer)
- BBC (Production Unit)
Subjects
- Human evolution
- Documentary television programs--Great Britain