"1, 700,000 years ago, the world was filled with extreme danger." "Just to stay alive was the ultimate survival challenge." "Hunt or be hunted." "Kill or be killed." "This is the story of how we became who we are today." "Humankind first appeared in East Africa over 2.5 million years ago." "It was the beginning of the epic journey of human evolution." "It was a world of predators and scavengers." "Early humans, or hominids, lived among large, terrifying beasts but these hominids were just scavengers." "Unlike this saber-tooth cat, Megantereon cultridens." "This is Homo ergaster the most successful of hominids, with the largest brain yet." "They're the springboard for the evolution of our species." "Like other African hominids, these people walk on two legs." "But two legs are no match for more ferocious and much faster four-legged predators." "This saber tooth has enormous canines for slashing flesh but even these teeth can't efficiently scrape a carcass clean." "It's left plenty of meat behind for those that wait." "It's 200 pounds of formidable predator." "If humans are to outsmart the beasts, they must find an edge." "Homo ergastermay be the cleverest hominid yet to walk the Earth and among the first human carnivores." "But to get meat, these Homo ergaster must take on the saber tooth venture into the open, and put their lives on the line." "Scavenged meat was one key to our advance up the food chain." "For a million years basic stone flakes have been used as tools but to be successful scavengers, these hominids need a cutting tool as razor-sharp as the saber tooth's canines." "Game meat contains fatty acids and is very nutritious." "Eating meat helps the human brain grow." "This meat's worth the risk." "The scavenger must be ever watchful." "Only the luckiest survive." "Life's short and brutal." "There's no evidence of Homo ergasterburying their dead." "These hominids were only able to scavenge one bone and a few shreds of meat." "Though there are many things we don't yet understand the concentrated energy derived from meat is one factor that helped supercharge our evolution." "The marrow in this bone will give them a massive dose of calories and calories mean energy." "It may've taken many, many generations to discover how to manipulate stone to create a sharp two-sided tool." "But what this early human is slowly figuring out will be a revolution for humankind." "We'll never know what chance events led to every invention or what this moment of realization felt like." "This hominid has created a sharper, more versatile cutting tool the hand ax, one that'll rival the saber-tooth's canines." "We know from experiments with dead elephants that the hand ax can slice the toughest hide break open the biggest bone." "This is the edge these hominids are looking for." "And this will help them become a clever killer, a super predator." "Humans must learn to beat their competitors at their own game." "They must learn to become hunters." "They'll need a tool more powerful yet than their new hand ax." "A tool so powerful, with so many uses that not only humans, but all animals cower before it." "And a tool they must master before rising any higher up the food chain." "Fire." "Armed with stone tools and a slowly evolving brain the descendants of Homo ergaster moved out of Africa to begin peopling the world." "Between 1.7 million and about 600,000 years ago they leftjust a few small clues chronicling their momentous trek northward." "They already knew fire's terrifying, awesome power as weapon." "By 300,000 years ago some of Homo ergaster's more evolved successors often called Homo erectus were living in what's today Western Europe." "They've out-competed every other species of hominid." "They use fire to keep warm, and cook meat, making it more digestible." "They've discovered fire's most powerful use yet." "In the hunt." "Homo erectus are no longer just scavengers now they're predators too." "The most experienced hunters, Kul and Tsir, organize the hunt." "The imposing Megaloceros is their prey." "With antlers 11 feet wide the now extinct Irish Elk stands nine feet tall." "The hunters split into two groups to outflank their prey." "From long experience they know group hunting's more effective than going it alone." "Even one large animal yields so much meat, the risk's worth it." "Like animals, these hunters rely on all their instincts and senses much more so than we do today." "They use flanking tactics and expert stalking to drive animals through a narrow gorge and over a cliff." "Organization's vital." "Language as we know it is still a quarter of a million years away but these early humans have the basic skills to communicate." "Tsir sends Ybo to be the lookout." "Others below wait with spears hardened by fire." "Kul, the most experienced hunter, leads the drive." "They've only a few minutes to get the elk over the cliff." "For there's one thing about fire they haven't yet mastered how to keep their torches alight in damp air." "All the experience handed down from generation to generation can't help them here." "They're losing control." "The hunters have become the hunted." "Human evolution is chronicled in part by ever increasing brain size." "Our knowledge of Homo ergaster..." "He was 11." "A 10 year old Homo erectus of 785,000 years ago from Spain had a even larger brain capacity." "Face to face with a herd of aggressive Megaloceros an early hunter without an effective weapon is defenseless." "The gorge destined to trap the giant elk has now trapped the hunters." "Tsir is badly gored." "To lose any man is a disaster in a world where people live in tiny self-sustaining bands." "Death and serious injury were the high price Homo erectus paid for living with such great beasts." "Losing Tsir could be the difference between hunger and survival." "Today, they've returned with two injured men, and no meat." "Close-up and personal hunting was hazardous in the extreme." "Finds in Spain tell us few Homo erectus males lived beyond their teens." "There's no evidence Homo erectus dug graves or held ceremonies for the dead." "We'll never know if they felt the sense of loss left by a death." "For they were still closer to the great beasts than to us today." "Fire's failed them in the hunt." "There are things about it that are still a mystery to them." "But they must master all its secrets if they're to survive." "Over thousands of years Homo erectus wrestled with the same problem." "How to keep flames alight in damp air." "Thousands of years of trial and error will provide the answer." "It'll come from survival skills." "They may have lacked concern about the dead but we can be sure people living so close to nature had a vast knowledge of plants." "Of what was edible and what wasn't the seasons of wild fruit and berries." "And most importantly, the healing power of plants." "This gooey substance is pine resin." "Not only can it prevent infection it's also the source of turpentine, a natural fuel." "We'll never know what unlocked the secret they were looking for." "An accident of nature, a lightning strike careful observation, orjust trial and error." "But these Homo erectus have finally stumbled upon it." "They've now mastered all the mysteries of fire." "It keeps them warm, cooks their food, scares away predators." "And with this momentous discovery nothing will ever be the same again." "The rain is the ultimate test." "Only lpper knows the source of the resin." "She shares her knowledge of this decaying pine stump." "Pine resin, like turpentine, has a distinctive smell." "Problem-solving, cooperation, and the sharing of knowledge will be essential to human survival." "The pine resin will keep the torches alight much longer than before." "This is the edge they need." "Ybo and the band are now well on the path to being skillful hunters." "They're strong." "They're fearless." "They know exactly where to find their prey, and when." "They know how it reacts when chased." "And they have the best weapon yet invented." "The herd of Megaloceros has come face to face with a formidable, lethal weapon." "Notjust fire, but fire plus the human brain." "Hunting will become a way of life that will define humankind for the next 300,000 years." "Europe's in the grip of the late Ice Age." "Great ice sheets mantle Scandinavia and the Alps." "Subzero winters last up to nine months." "Homo erectus has long since died out." "It was during a short summer that their descendants these Neanderthals, migrated to this river valley." "Remaining skeletons tell us they were short and stocky." "They rely on their powerful limbs for close-in stalking and hunting." "And close still means danger." "They hunt beasts like the giant steppe bison." "Their weapons are the most lethal yet stone-tipped spears that tear into hide and flesh." "Six feet tall at the hump Bison priscus weighs more than one ton." "It's close-quarter combat." "Their spears are too heavy to throw very far." "They must lunge and jab." "The stone tip breaks off in the wound, causing profuse bleeding." "For the Neanderthals, killing animals is about survival." "Do'og, the strongest hunter, administers the final blow." "These were good times for the Neanderthals." "They never let down their guard for fear of lurking scavengers their eyes constantly mapping the forest searching for danger." "These Neanderthal hunters are no longerjust scavengers waiting for a turn at the carcass." "They're super-predators, with no competition from other hominids." "Yet." "Early humans, including Neanderthals lived in temporary camps, out in the open." "But Neanderthals, inhabiting a region with so many caves could live in them, especially in winter." "The cave would become the center of their world." "There were only a few thousand Neanderthals in southern France." "They lived in small family groups." "High nitrogen content discovered in Neanderthal bones proves 85% of their diet was meat which they supplemented with plants and berries." "Neanderthals have a simple but effective tool kit the most specialized yet." "Better-crafted implements replaced the hand ax of earlier times." "Bi-face flakes to cut meat curve edged scrapers to clean and soften hide sharp points to punch holes in skins." "Like their predecessors, they waste nothing." "Isolated nomadic bands of Neanderthals lived like this for 60,000 years." "They lived from day to day." "Their lives changed little." "Their brains were larger in size than ours but it doesn't mean they possessed our level of intelligence." "As they discuss the day's hunt, they're confronted with a mystery." "To Gnoc, it looks like a piece of antler." "But it's straight and sharpened." "Some human being's done this, but not one of them." "Even the strongest hunter, Do'og, can't figure it out." "Gnoc knows that reindeer don't fight with bison." "How did this strange-looking piece of antler get into the meat?" "Lohr wants this strange object as a trophy." "But Do'og gets the honor." "He was brave enough to strike the first blow." "This one small object would have a profound effect on the fate of the Neanderthals." "They had no way of knowing they weren't the only human inhabitants of their world." "Times are no longer so good for the Neanderthals." "There's been snow on the ground for months." "Even for a people superbly adapted to the Ice Age cold this is more than they can bear." "The hunters have to travel farther and farther a field for the beasts they hunt are on the move in their constant quest for food." "All Do'og has found are two puny squirrels." "They'll starve to death if they stay here." "They know there's nothing back in the place where they came from." "But to the east, toward the rising sun, there's a better place to hunt." "They've been there before, but in summer." "For the entire band to attempt a winter migration is sure death." "Only the strongest hunters will go." "By the time of the Neanderthals humans were capable of at least a basic speech." "They had larger brains than their predecessors." "A 60,000 year old Neanderthal hyoid bone which anchors the muscles of the vocal cords was the first tangible evidence of early human speech." "It was found in Israel." "For five days these hunters have searched for any sign of game." "They're the only hope for the starving band they've left behind." "And they've seen nothing." "Lohr, Gnoc and Do'og have now trekked much further than their normal hunting range." "They travel through the mountains from valley to valley." "It's in the valleys they hope to find a beast to hunt." "Time's running out for them." "The skins they wear won't keep out all the cold and damp nor will the furs on their feet." "The bone needle, which ensures well-fitting waterproof clothing hasn't yet been invented." "They struggle on for several days more." "Northern Europe is now mantled with expanding glaciers and ice caps." "The Ice Age has brought enormous changes in the weather." "All their superb skills in tracking animals are useless." "They haven't seen one footprint, or smelled one beast." "Even their well-adapted physique is tested to its limits." "Neanderthals evolved large noses to warm their breath." "And their squat bodies retained heat better in the cold climate." "But this is even more than they can bear." "Another night's drawing in." "The temperature is dropping fast." "They must find shelter or die of cold and exposure." "Do'og's nearly ready to give up." "Gnoc's been suffering from cold and hypothermia for the last three days." "Just as hope's almost gone, they find what they're looking for." "A rocky outcrop." "This is the shelter Neanderthals looked for when on the move." "Only sheer desperation has led them here in deepest winter, with its short, chilling daylight hours and subzero nights." "Do'og collects the wood they need to make a fire and keep wolves and scavengers at bay though they've precious little to scavenge." "From compressed layers of ash and charcoal found on cave floors we know Neanderthals made fires." "They couldn't have survived near the northern ice sheets without them." "A 5,000 year old Ice Man, found in the Tyrolean Alps was carrying tinder fungus." "It grows on dead birch trees and can stay lit for days." "They share the last of the dried meat." "It was easy to carry, and one of the first ways of preserving food." "Gnoc's fading fast." "Do'og sees something." "It looks familiar." "It's looks like the piece of antler they found back in their cave." "They can see it's special but still can't figure out what it means." "Then Gnoc sees something else." "Some being's done this, but no one like them." "It looks just like a bison, but it clearly isn't a bison." "The strange deer antler." "The bison that isn't a bison." "They wake up knowing this is the day they must find a beast and kill it." "The night has taken Gnoc." "This is the fate that awaits Do'og and Lohr and the others they left behind if they don't find a beast to kill." "They dig a burial pit with shovels made from tree bark." "We know more about Neanderthals than about any previous humans precisely because they buried their dead." "Their remains have been found intact which means they buried their dead intentionally and carefully unlike earlier humans who left their dead for scavengers the bones scattered far and wide." "Though they aren't yet us, these are now caring people." "They've buried the piece of reindeer antler with their friend." "From the burial of "The Old Man of La Chapelle" in France who was found with red pigment scattered around his head we know Neanderthals, unlike their predecessors sometimes buried their dead." "We can't know whether Neanderthals believed in an afterlife but they were the first to leave such evidence of caring." "With only two of them left the odds of a successful hunt are stacked against these Neanderthals." "Like all early peoples, their senses are fine-tuned to the presence of animals." "They sense the bison can't be far away." "This is what they're looking for." "Bison have been this way, and recently." "It takes not only skill, but courage to track a one-ton beast and this isn't like the summer hunt." "The deep snow makes it even more dangerous and the bison has an acute sense of hearing as well as smell." "With only stone-tipped spears, they face the moment of truth." "They know the only way to make a kill is to separate one bison from the herd." "A one-on-one encounter is their only chance." "There's 15 feet of snow beneath their feet." "It's difficult to maneuver with their heavy spears." "To get close enough, they must take great care." "Bison are easily alarmed." "But they're not alone out here." "Lohr sees his chance." "The bison's been felled." "The Neanderthals have been beaten to the kill, but by whom?" "They're face-to-face with two strangers." "They're slender, they've round heads like modern humans." "These are not people like them." "They have swift, much lighter spears they can throw from afar." "For hundreds of thousands of years the Neanderthals have been the only inhabitants of Europe." "Lohr, Do'og and their waiting band, will have no future." "Their place in history will be usurped by a new race of humans, bearing a yet more advanced weapon the antler-tipped spear." "And they'll have all the brainpower and abilities we have today." "This encounter signals the beginning of the end for the Neanderthals." "They won't survive." "They've met the Cro-Magnons." "These new people, Homo sapiens sapiens will become the greatest hunters of them all the undisputed masters of our planet." "They will be us."