"This woman is the mother of mankind." "The genetic Eve from whom we all descend." "She lived 150,000 years ago in East Africa... and every one on Earth is related to her." "Her daughters and granddaughters would take humans out of Africa... to populate the rest of the world... the most important journey mankind would ever make." "Genetic tracking, for the first time, gives us a route map of our journey." "With it, we can follow our families as they travel through the world... overcome hardships, separate and go different ways to discover new lands." "It tells, for the first time, who we are and where we come from." "The most profound questions that have troubled mankind... since we first raised our heads and looked at the stars." "This new science is a breakthrough." "Every one of us can now trace our part in this incredible story." "We took samples from these people in Chicago." "Genetic testing will show how their ancestors traveled the world... to reach this destination." "150,000 years ago, the world was in the grip of an ice age." "The ice caps have advanced." "Sea levels dropped 400 feet." "North Africa is a vast desert with small islands of green." "On these islands, are tiny groups of people." "These are the first modern humans... recognizably like us today in physique, intellect and abilities." "We are the same people they were." "The brain that first started chipping stone tools also took us into space." "They are hunter-gatherers, living in widely scattered groups." "Roaming each year over great distances... sheltering where they can, gathering seeds and fruit." "150,000 years ago, hunting was the key to survival." "It explains much about the way the human race developed." "Hunting needs careful thought and planning." "It needed cooperation... that demanded enhanced intelligence and communication skills." "Genetic tracking is unlocking more secrets than we believed possible." "In just 7,000 generations, modern humans have left Africa... and penetrated every corner of the globe." "And through the unbroken genetic thread binding us to our past... we can begin to understand why it happened." "Archaeologists can tell us in detail how modern humans lived." "But, to understand who we are and where we come from... we must look at our genetic heritage." "Genetic Eve, the woman from whom we all descend... was not the only woman living at the time or even the most fertile." "But her mitochondrial genes were the most successful... and the only ones to survive." "Everyone alive today can trace a common ancestrial line... back to this one woman through a unique part of our DNA... mitochondrial DNA." "DNA, the blueprint of life, is our own molecular pin code... and uniquely identifies each of us." "Mitochondria are tiny structures found inside nearly all human cells." "It is separated from the normal chromosomal DNA... that dictates our height or the color of our eyes." "Men inherit it from their mother, but they can't pass it on." "In women, it carries on from mother to daughter... down the endless generation, almost unchanged." "This is how we can trace our way back... to our genetic Eve and her daughters." "So, written within it, is the history of the world's women... and, therefore, the human race." "Professor Rebecca Cann was the pioneering scientist... who uncovered the first all-important clue." "I started working on human mitochondrial DNA... so that I would have a view that was objective... that would help me and other people understand... how humans around the world are related." "With this new science, she could." "Harmless mutation happens all the time in the mitochondrial DNA... leaving minute markers at every change." "These markers are like bar codes and can be read in the same way." "Cann discovered the changes happen at a fairly constant rate." "The groups with the earliest markers were the Africans living in Africa... and wondered if they might be the oldest people in the world." "I was very excited when I first started to get evidence... and it was so counter-intuitive." "I put 20 Europeans and 20 African-Americans... on a sheet of X-ray film... and every African-American showed differences... and all the Europeans looked the same." "as we got more samples from different areas..." "I realized that it was a difference in the pattern." "And that this new type of evidence, based on mitochondria... was going to change the way we thought about modern humans." "In 1 987, Cann and her colleagues published a paper... showing for the first time that the markers stretched back to Africa." "Showing quite clearly that this was the birthplace of the human race." "New Guinean tribesman, Parisian bartender..." "American teacher, Polynesian farmer, all were improbable relatives... linked through one black woman 150,000 years ago." "Their findings caused a sensation." "The responses of people were sort of amazing." "The public was genuinely interested in certain aspects, but there was... a tendency to misinterpret the data because of the terminology." "It was to describe this woman, African Eve." "People thought it meant the biblical Eve, the single woman... in the Judeo-Christian bible, the wife of Adam." "Her work is rewriting human history." "Through it, we now know the first mutations took place in Africa... maybe 150,000 years ago, and belong to our genetic Eve." "Professor Christopher Stringer, Britain's leading paleoanthropologist... was involved in the dating of the earliest modern human skulls." "This skull is as close as we can get... to what the face of mitochondrial Eve would have looked like." "It's a very complete skull found in sediments in a cave... dating from about 120,000 years ago." "And we can see here that it's a modern human." "We've got a high-rounded vault to the skull... a face that's tucked in under the cranial vault." "And this is what she looked like." "Using forensic reconstruction techniques, muscle and flesh... have been added to the skull and provide us with the first glimpse... of how our genetic mother might have looked 150,000 years ago." "Modern humans made many attempts to make the long trek out of Africa... settling in different parts of the old world, but they didn't survive." "Climatic records indicate a brief, but devastating global freeze up... at the time, that turned the whole Middle East into extreme desert." "Trapped in the northern quarter by the Sahara, there was no return... and few places to take refuge." "Neither they nor any of their line survived." "They would die in severe drought about 110,000 years ago." "Their bones were discovered in Qafzeh caves... near Nazareth, in Galilee, in 1 933." "13 fragile skeletons." "One a woman, a tiny baby at her feet." "When these bones were first uncovered... they were the oldest complete modern human skeletons ever found." "The numerous skeletons that have been found in caves in Israel... at Qafzeh and Skhul shows that there were modern humans... outside of Africa over 100,000 years ago." "They may have gone out to the Nile corridor... through Sinai and into the Middle East." "But they didn't go any further." "In a sense, they were a dead end." "It would be 40,000 years before they would try again." "80,000 years ago the world was cooling down again." "Once again, the ice caps were advancing, drying out the lands." "Life became much harder." "As Africa dried up, so did the drinking water." "Ocean records show sea levels dropping dramatically... as the world's water became locked in ice." "As the game spread north, our hunter-gatherers... were forced to become fishermen and beachcombers." "This is our new Eve, our new family." "Direct descendants of the daughters of the original genetic Eve... now living on the coast, surviving on the harvest of the sea." "Our entire survival has always been at mercy of the climate." "When times were good we could spread out." "A bigger range meant more food." "But the ice age froze the world and the deserts closed in... forcing our groups into smaller territories on the coast." "Their beachcombing diet consisted of fish, scallops, oysters and clams." "But the Red Sea became much saltier... making fishing and beachcombing more difficult." "Until recently, there was little evidence our ancestors occupied... the coastal areas of east Africa or exploited marine resources." "This is Sifi Bearhay, a geologist." "In 1 999, he was part of an international expedition..." "looking for evidence of modern human occupation in Eritrea." "In the Gulf of Zula, they stumbled on a remarkable discovery... of stone tools imbedded in an ancient fossilized coral reef." "The reef was dated 125,000 years old." "This is the world's first recorded oyster bar." "6,5 kilometers long and 15 meters above the current sea levels." "It's the oldest evidence of beachcombing in the world." "Buried in it are human tools, along with fossilized oyster... clam and scallop shells." "It's a clear evidence that our ancestors were exploiting the sea." "This is the unit where we have an inter-stratified layer... of big oyster and mollusk shells at the base." "They're pretty quite horizontal." "And this was a platform where modern man used to be walking... and dumping their stone tools and some of the shells they were eating." "This is a hand ax, with a sharp end... and some of the shells that have been shed from this layer." "They've been using this for breaking the shells and eating them." "And when they were finished with it, they would dump the hand ax... and also the shells and walk to the next site." "But the most important thing is not this, because you cannot date it." "It's what you find "in situ" which makes it very, very important." "If you see this one, is an obsidian tool." "They have been used to smash some of these oyster bedded that you see." "You don't see both completely enclosed, they have been smashed... and the goodies have been eaten." "And these are some of those very important stone tools... that have been discovered." "This is the first place where beachcombing for marine resources... have been documented worldwide." "And very well." "These shell remains are also a vital clue... to the reasons why our ancestors made the long walk out of Africa." "On a constant diet of seafood, maybe more children would have survived." "But the increasing numbers made the demand for food more desperate." "Camps like this one would have numbered just a few hundred." "At one time, there were only about 10,000 humans alive in the world." "We were as endangered a species as the great apes are today." "When the beachcomber's spearfishing failed to support them... they no longer had a choice." "If they would survive, they had to move across the Red Sea." "Freak monsoons were watering the green inviting hills of the Yemen." "Scientists have always thought our ancestors migrated from Africa... many times, group after group." "And it was believed they always went north via Egypt and modern Israel." "But the DNA trail tells a different story." "Professor Steven Oppenheimer is one of the world's foremost authorities... on current genetic research into DNA tracking." "By putting together the genetic tree with prehistoric weather patterns... he's one of the first to come up with the extraordinary idea... that our ancestors came out of Africa by a single southern route." "This beach is on the west coast of the Red Sea, the African side." "0ver on the other side, we can see the mountains of Yemen." "I believe this is where our ancestors crossed on the first stage... of their journey to the rest of the world." "These straits are known locally to fishermen as the Gates of Grief... because of the terrible fierce currents crossing." "But 80,000 years ago, the sea level was 150 foot further down." "As a result, a number of islands and reefs appeared... which allowed our ancestors to cross... as it were on stepping-stones over to the Yemen." "Driven by hunger, shrinking habitat, and maybe the first stirrings... of the restless human curiosity about the land ahead... our precious group of modern humans prepared to leave." "There were two routes out of Africa:" "the north of the Red Sea... across the Suez, and into the Middle East." "And here in the south, across the Gates of Grief, into Yemen... and on through the south Arabian coast to India." "Both routes are possible." "But, to get through to the north... our ancestors would have to cross the Sahara desert." "And at the time, it was even drier than it is today." "Here in the south, all they had to do was to cross... this short stretch of water, only 10 miles across to the Yemen." "So, this was a region they could go to with confidence." "I believe the most important journey the human race ever took... started here on this beach 80,000 years ago." "One small group of people, one exodus." "The single most important event in the population of the world." "This is no single trudge across the sandbanks." "This was an epic struggle to stay alive... not just for themselves, but the rest of mankind." "Those who survived the crossing, who didn't succumb... to the dangers of the Gates of Grief, came to a virgin land." "This is the new frontier in the beginning of the rest of the world." "Yemen beaches were on the edge of an almost empty world." "0ur group were the first modern humans... the first of their kind outside Africa... surviving in this place at that time." "This group was on their own at the edge of the new world." "Life would have been a bit better for our migrants across into the Yemen." "For starts, the beach combing in the Gulf of Aden... would have been a lot better than on the Red Sea." "Unlike the parched, salty beaches they had left... the Yemen was green and fertile, full of fresh water... game and shady oasis, safe haven for a family to settle." "They were probably a small group." "Maybe, maximum about 250 persons." "They would have been scattered around in family units... of five to 20, but networking with the other groups in the population." "Anything less than about 200 would not have been viable." "They wouldn't have been able to cope with epidemics of disease or famine." "We know Eve and her daughters were among the survivors... because from them are descended everyone in the world outside Africa." "The new science of tracking is a breakthrough." "Using the single unbroken mitochondrial genetic line... cientists constructed a vast family tree." "Pinpointing the markers, fixing them by time and place." "It shows that once outside of Africa, our ancestors split up." "Some going north and west, some going east and south." "Once they had left Africa and the Yemen... they went their separate ways, never to meet again." "When they first arrived here, they'd have a selection of African lines." "A group of 250 people may have had at least 5 or 6 different lines." "But over a thousand years... if this population stayed isolated... gradually, those lines would have reduced and reduced." "The total number of the population would have stayed the same." "It's rather like a Welsh hill village, or a village in Italy." "After some generations, everybody gets to have the same surname." "This process of reduction of lines is called drift... and it happens in all small, isolated communities." "The smaller and more isolated a group is... the faster the mitochondrial DNA line comes down to one." "Not to one person, or even to one group... but one mitochondrial DNA line." "Some women have no daughters." "Some daughters don't survive." "So, in the end, only one line is left." "Totally isolated, they can breed only amongst themselves." "The genetic map shows it would take about a thousand years... for the mitochondrial line to be reduced to one." "One genetic lineage shared by all non-African people... everywhere throughout history." "The single line convinces Oppenheimer he is right about our ancestry." "The implications of the single exodus from Africa are enormous." "For starts, there's a simple observation that Australians..." "New Guineans, Southeast Asians, Chinese, Native Americans..." "Europeans and Indians all come from the same small group." "That means that this small group in the last 80,000 years... has diversified into complete physically different populations... in different parts of the world that adapted physically and culturally... to the new environments that they've found and explored." "Through the Gulf of Aden out of Africa families stayed put... waiting until the climate changes allowed them to move." "Their descendents would be the people of the Middle East... spreading north into Europe 40,000 years later... and founding the vibrant, cosmopolitan cities we know today." "Others will continue past the gulf, moving east... beachcombing their way along the coast of the Indian Ocean..." "looking for warm and gentle places to stop." "Within 6,000 years of reaching the Yemen beaches... our ancestors would eat their way to Malaysia." "6,000 miles from Africa, our family are in the tropical rain forests... of Southeast Asia." "These are the descendants of Eve... hunting in the jungles of Malaya, roaming in small bands... staying in one place long enough to reap the harvest of wildlife... and then moving on." "Their bodies are beginning to adapt to the rainforest conditions." "Away from the harsh African sun their skins become lighter... their stature reduced by lack of meat." "Like hunter-gatherers in the jungle today... they live on fish, rats, squirrels and lizards." "On canopy game, fruits and roots." "They camouflage themselves to conform to the foliage... and imitate animal calls to deceive their quarry." "Life in the forest is shared with venomous snakes, cobras... pythons and predatory animals." "Between leaving Africa and arriving in Australia... there's no clear archeological evidence of the presence of modern humans... or their amazing migration." "No skulls, no skeletons or graves." "Sea levels were 160 feet lower." "So, whatever our family left behind... on their coastal journeys have been reclaimed by the sea." "The genetic trail is all we have." "It's not until we reach Malaysia that new evidence begins to fill the gaps." "The great Toba eruption in Sumatra, 74,000 years ago... was the single biggest explosion in the last two million years." "The plume was 25 miles high and plunged much of the world... into six dark years of volcanic winter." "Northern Malaysia, India and the Middle East... were covered in a deadly shroud of thick volcanic ash." "The great Toba explosion is... the most destructive event in the last 2 million years... provides positive clues about our family's journey." "These are the Semang people, shy hunter-gatherers... of the interior jungles in the lake peninsula." "Much darker than the other Malaysians around them... they are part of the Orang Asli group." "Steven Oppenheimer thinks they could be surviving remnant... of our out of Africa family that came through here 74,000 years ago." "If our ancestors had passed this way... on their route from Africa to Australia and New Guinea... it's likely they would have left a genetic trace." "And we know, from previous surveys, that the 0rang Asli... as a group of tribes in the Malay peninsula of Malaysia... are among the oldest people in this region." "And the Semang are probably the oldest of all." "Steven Oppenheimer has come to this remote Semang village... to collect swab samples of DNA." "These, he hopes, will confirm his idea." "If my theory is correct, that they left Africa 80,000 years ago... they'd have had to have traveled 6,000 miles in 6,000 years... in order to be here at the time of the Great Toba explosion." "That means about a mile a year, which is entirely feasible... for that sort of nomadic lifestyle of moving down the coast." "But to determine whether or not they belonged to that group... we need to look at their genetic lines." "The mitochondrial DNA... will tell us whether or not they come straight out of... the two daughters of Eve that originated just outside Africa." "If they have their own unique lines that suggests... they've been isolated since that time, 70 or 80,000 years ago." "And that they have developed completely on their own." "If on the other hand, we might even find that their lines are ancestral... to people further down the line, like the Australians or the New Guineans." "Again, our genetic tracing will help us to see if that's the case." "The genetic survey may prove the Semang are an ancient race... but it can't tell us exactly when they were here." "We have to look for other evidence to validate the theory." "These crude tools were found in a wooded valley called Kota Tampan... near Penang." "There are other sites nearby with the same sort of tools." "What makes these so interesting is that they are embedded... in a fall of Toba ash dated 74,000 years ago." "Professor Zorinana Najeek was looking for an ancient river terrace... when she stumbled upon the Kota Tampan site." "What Professor Najeek had actually found was a stone tool workshop... which could be pinpointed to 74,000 years ago." "The ash covered the working floor." "That ash has been dated to 74,000 years ago." "This is a hammer stone that they used... and you can see that it's very comfortable to hold it in the hand." "And this is the edge that was used." "This is a chopper." "A type that is seen in a lot of Asia... and Southeast Asia." "What they were after was the edge angle." "The edge angle had to be right... and the edge had to be sharp." "This was used for heavy-duty work." "It's heavy, it's got a sharp edge... probably for felling trees." "Najeek is convinced that they were left by modern man." "Kota Tampan also revealed man who had a complex mind." "His total technology reveals a rational... systematic and organized mind." "The mind of Homo-sapiens." "These Kota Tampan tools are crucial... for the dating of modern man's presence in Southeast Asia." "They're the first tangible evidence we have of the whole journey... from Africa to Australia." "Combined with Steven Oppenheimer's... genetic tests, they could be real proof of our ancient migration." "Has he found the evidence he needs?" "For the first time, archeology and genetics gives us the same answer... at this crucial point in our journey." "Now we can be sure our ancestors came this way 74,000 years ago." "The results are very exciting." "The 0rang Asli... the Semang group here, have their own... unique genetic lines which suggest... that they may have been in that first trip 75,000 years ago." "They have their own unique lines... coming out of the first two daughters of Eve outside Africa." "And they trace right back there, and are not shared with anyone else... in Southeast Asia or in East Asia." "At that time, the sea levels were 160 feet lower." "Most of the islands of Southeast Asia were joined together... into the single landmass of the Sunda continent." "The survivors of the volcanic winter would take our genetic journey... onto its next great move, the unknown continent of Australia." "100 miles of shark-infested sea separated them from the new land." "This is the second great exodus in the migration of mankind." "But this time there are no green hills in the Yemen... to give them the comfort of a safe arrival." "Why did they risk all on such a dangerous venture... not even knowing if they would make landfall at the end?" "Some scientists believe they were blown off course... and arrived in the unknown shore accidentally." "But new clues from the genetic evidence says no." "It shows that Australian aborigines have a number of genetic lines... unique only to them, leading straight back to the first daughters... of our new Out of Africa Eve." "So many lines, carried by so many women... arriving in such a short time suggest deliberate intention... not accidental raft raid." "The first group arrived 70,000 years ago." "More followed over the next 5,000 years." "All descendants of our Out of Africa Eve." "These were the first people to walk on this vast and empty continent." "They would stay undisturbed for thousands of years." "The Australia they entered was home to giant creatures... megafauna, 3 meter high kangaroos and tortoises as big as cars." "The cave of this vanished world has been dated to 61,000 years ago." "But suddenly, 10,000 years later... this fantastical creature and all the other megafauna were extinct." "The climate didn't alter." "There are no sites indicating over-hunting." "But humans change the world wherever they are." "This sudden extinction is evidence of their presence." "It seems likely our ancestors destroyed the leafy habitat... with fire and the larger plant-eating animals simply died away." "This dry lakebed is one of the places where the theory might fall apart... in spite of the matching of archeology and genes... back up on the trail in Malaysia." "Mungo Man 3." "When he was found, the earth around him was dated 62,000 years old." "When the bones were tested for DNA, sensationally... the DNA did not match anyone, anywhere in the world." "To those who don't believe in the Out of Africa theory... this seems to be proof that modern humans... had evolved at different times and at different places in the world... into the people we are today." "But other scientists, like Professor Chris Stringer, are doubtful." "There are many problems in extracting DNA from a skeleton 60,000 years old." "So, firstly it might be that the DNA that's been picked up... is contamination, we're not sure." "But even if it's genuine DNA... other analyses have shown that it can reasonably be derived... from an 0ut of Africa ancestor just as the rest of us can." "So, in my view, the Mungo evidence both from the bones... and from the DNA, if it's genuine... still supports a recent African origin for our species." "Australian aborigines are an ancient people." "But they no longer look like their ancestors... who arrived all those thousands of years ago." "Their bodies adapted, retaining the characteristics needed to survive... as hunter-gatherers in the harsh desert environment." "Under the skin, we are all very much alike." "Our DNA shows that we come from one very small gene pool." "If we look at the DNA of all of us, Australians, Africans..." "Europeans, we find that comparing the mitochondrial DNA of all of us... we show less variation, even though we're spread over the whole world... we show less variation in the mitochondrial DNA than we'd find... in a small group of chimpanzees or orangutans or gorillas." "Those apes show more variation, even in their small groups... than the entire human race." "But if all the people from around the world... descend from such a small gene pool... why do we all look so completely different?" "Natural selection and adaptation to the environment... are the most important factors." "Sexual selection is crucial." "Climate dictates body shape." "The colder the environment, the shorter and more stocky... you become to retain heat." "Height relates to diet." "The most obvious and striking difference is color." "And that's also part of our genetic inheritance." "Mila Jabloski, a scientist looking at the evolution of skin color... was working on the importance of folic acid in fetal development... when she stumbled, by chance, on the answer." "I started doing research on the evolution of skin color... after preparing a lecture for a class over 10 years ago." "Preparing for the class, I realized that there was very little known... about the evolution of skin color, and what was known wasn't cogent." "I discovered an interesting paper when I was preparing that lecture... that showed that there's an interesting and important relationship between... ultraviolet radiation and a very important biomolecule called folate." "Folic acid is crucial for embryonic development... and too much ultraviolet radiation from the sun destroys it." "So, our ancestors in Africa needed to be dark to protect their survival." "But too little ultraviolet prevents the formation of Vitamin D... causing rickets, which can kill." "So, as they migrated to the North, they had to grow paler to survive." "She has uncovered a very simple evolutionary equation." "When we look at the pattern of skin pigmentation... among indigenous people today, we see very dark people... in equatorial regions with high UV... and significantly lighter people as we get toward the poles." "And it turns out that melanin, the natural sun screen... is phenomenally good at screening out ultraviolet radiation." "To some extent, it's too good." "In order for us to be able to make enough Vitamin D in our skin... we have to reduce the amount of melanin that exists in the skin." "And so, what we see in the course of our species' history... as we've moved from an area of high UV to areas of lower UV... our skin has become more and more depigmented." "She calculates that it takes 20,000 years to turn from black to white." "All that distinguishes color in people are tiny genetic differences... laid down long ago." "During the epic beachcombing migration from Africa to Australia... our family left behind colonies." "One group made their way up through Asia into China and beyond." "Another went from north India, past the Himalayas... onto the vast Asian steppes." "And another stayed in the Arabian Gulf." "Large fresh water lakes allowed our Out of Africa families... to colonize these pockets of lush vegetation surrounded by desert." "Continuous occupation occurred here for more than 30,000 years." "Their bones and artifacts becoming submerged as sea levels rose." "About 50,000 years ago, genetic lines began for the first time... to spread north into Europe." "But the timing has always been a puzzle." "If modern humans were able to reach Australia... as early as 70,000 years ago, why did they not arrive in Europe... until 50,000 years ago?" "It is a much shorter journey." "Steven Oppenheimer thinks he has the answer." "I think the answer to this question is that they were stuck." "They were not able to get up to the near East, Israel and the Lebanon... because there was a great desert in their way." "That desert was the Saudi Arabian desert and the Libyan desert." "And between 80,000 and 50,000 years ago... this was completely impenetrable." "The climate was so dry that the fertile crescent... the route from the gulf into..." "Lebanon, and Israel, and Europe was closed." "Then, 50,000 years ago there was a sudden improvement of the climate." "After centuries of domination by the desert, the rains came." "Monsoon rainfall increased in Arabia and India... and the fertile crescent opened up." "Rivers swirled and game spread north." "Our families and genetic lines followed them." "They walked north from the Persian Gulf, into the fertile crescent... following the rivers between the Zagros mountains... and the Syrian desert." "The idea that Europeans came in through North Africa... is very firmly fixed." "But Steven Oppenheimer's evidence does not support this." "Genetic evidence completely does not support it." "There's no evidence of the early branches and, in fact... only one of the main branches that people the world is found in Europe." "0f course, that does upset a lot of... fixed views about the origins of the Europeans... and forces us to consider the fact that..." "Europeans were part of the same single family... that came out of Africa through the southern route." "This new genetic evidence will rewrite European prehistory." "These families founded the first successful modern human colonies... in the Middle East, Syria and Lebanon." "A land that lay between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates..." "Two great rivers flowing from the high lands of Turkey... in the north, down to the gulf." "We have taken the first steps to the civilizations... that would develop writing, warfare and found the great empires." "All from one direct genetic group... back to our Out of Africa migration." "During this time there was also an explosion of new technology." "The stone tools and spears modern humans manufactured... became even lighter and more effective." "The Zagros were full of game, and good hunting makes stability." "They began to establish the fixed geography of burial grounds... in sacred places." "In Ksar Akil, in the Lebanon... the burial of a 12-year old modern child has been found... dated 44,000 years ago." "His skull is broken." "His body tucked gently in the shelter in the overhanging rock." "From these points new families spread quickly to the Mediterranean... south along the coast of Syria into North Africa... up through Turkey, across the Balkans and into Europe." "This is our new family... direct descendants of our marshland Arabs in the gulf... entering the unknown territories of Germany." "But the land is not empty." "Others were there before them." "Neanderthals had been the masters of Europe for over 250,000 years." "In 1 856, in the Neander Valley in Germany... quarrymen were digging out mud from a newly blasted site... when they discovered some ribs, part of a pelvis... some arm and shoulder bones of a large, humanlike animal." "They thought it was a bear's skeleton." "Scientists later believed it was some ancient northern savage... who terrified the Roman armies." "Professor Chris Stringer is an expert on Neanderthals and their world." "They became known as Neanderthals, and the center of the debate... about human evolution, whether these people were our ancestors... or represented a strange sidebranch of human evolution." "I've got a more complete skull than the one found in the Neander Valley." "This was found at the beginning of the last century in France... and it shows us very well what the head of the Neanderthal looked like." "There's a strong browage over the eye sockets." "The whole face is pulled forward and there's an enormous nose." "There's no chin on the lower jaw." "We now think that the Neanderthals were, perhaps, cold adapted." "They evolved for hundreds of thousands of years in Europe... under conditions colder than the present day." "And their physique; they were short and stocky, very powerfully built." "This nose may have been part of the mechanism... for breathing in cold and dry air." "The Neanderthals were often thought to be dimwitted brutes." "But they were fully human." "Their brains were as large as ours." "I think they're a different species." "But a closely related species... a sibling species. 0ne that had common ancestors with us... maybe only half a million years ago." "0n that basis, they're fully human." "They're ten times closer to us than chimpanzees are." "If they interbred with modern humans, their genes have died out." "There's no trace of their presence in our world." "Within 10,000 years, the Neanderthals were extinct." "Modern humans would wipe out all trace of their rivals... and fill the space left behind." "The reason for their disappearance is not clear." "They lived alongside modern man for thousands of years." "But in the end..." "Neanderthals probably couldn't adapt fast enough to the new world... and their new resourceful rivals." "Neanderthals used their bodies to mediate with nature... modern humans used their brains." "Into the void grew waves of modern humans... from the Middle East and Russia, spreading throughout Europe." "Scientists think that with these waves came 4 mitochondrial DNA lineages... 4 granddaughters of our Out of Africa Eve." "They arrived between 45,000 and 10,000 years ago... and most modern Europeans can trace their lineage back to them." "Neanderthal technology had hardly changed for over 200,000 years." "As soon as modern humans arrived, a whole range of different tools... suddenly appeared, as well as ornamentations." "Archaeologists regard these ornaments as a defining mark of modern humans." "And the first interest in ornament in the 5,000,000 years of evolution." "Here, our most famous of these statuettes from the Czech Republic... made in baked clay and about 27,000 years old... from a site called Dolni Vestonice." "A beautiful little piece of work." "Some of them are covered with ocher and others, polished for handling... perhaps over many generations." "These were treasured valuable objects." "and obviously have ritual and symbolic significance for its people." "Perhaps religious significance." "And here, one of the most delicate pieces of art." "This is carved from mammoth ivory, a really difficult material to work." "This is from the French site of Brassempouy." "This is a beautiful representation of the head of a woman... with, again, an elaborate hairstyle or perhaps a woven hat." "This is a really delicate beautiful piece of work." "It's difficult to tell whether they are representations of real people." "0r whether they're in some way idealized... to represent some sort of ideal beauty." "In some cases, our data suggests that they're based on real people." "And we find with these people the arrival of evidence of sown clothing." "Here's one of the most direct bits of evidence, it's a bone needle." "So, these people were sewing cloths, sewing skins." "With evidence they were even weaving fabrics." "This level of complexity would give them quite a range of adaptation... to climate, and more opportunities for personal expression... for things like fashion to develop." "We see this in some of the burials." "They have been buried with garments, in some cases... covered with thousands of beads made from mammoth ivory." "And each of those beads represented hours and hours of work." "So, we have evidence here of a real richness and complexity of life... that we don't find with the Neanderthals." "This is an engraving of a mammoth on a piece of mammoth tusk... from a French site that's about 15,000 years old." "But the Cro-Magnum didn't just carve on pieces of bone and tusk." "They also sculpted, engraved, and made models in clay." "And, of course, they painted on the walls of their caves." "And this art goes back, at least, to 35,000 years ago." "They depicted a variety of things, often the animals they were hunting." "In some cases, dangerous animals such as lions or woolly rhinoceroses." "In some cases, we can't recognize what creatures are represented." "The creatures seem to be magical symbols, imaginary creatures." "It's possible that some of this art was being used in ceremonies... and initiation rites." "Possibly even some of it was created in a trance-like state... linked with shamanism, with magic." "Modern humans have come as far as we could come on Europe." "Behind us, we have left clear genetic footprints... leading back to the one Out of Africa movement 80,000 years ago." "10,000 miles away on the other side of the globe... and 6,000 years later, the invasion of the new world would begin." "The world was cooling down again." "As the new ice age began... modern humans have found one place to settle." "Our genetic line's now spread in all directions." "From the one southern out of Africa route." "and the last remaining frontier of America... now has us trekking north from India, Southeast Asia and China... and east from the steppes in Siberia, converging at the Bering Straits... that fragile strip of land joining Asia with America." "For a long time, archeologists insisted no one had reached America... before 15,000 years ago." "But new information from the DNA trail... has our American ancestors crossing the Beringia land bridge... from Asia, 25 to 20 thousand years ago." "This is the last great journey to populate the world." "And the genetic lines all lead to one goal." "These are the first Americans." "25,000 years ago... the world was moving into one of the worst ice ages we'd have to endure." "In places the ice was three miles thick." "But as the ice closes in... this is the last possible moment before it shuts off the land route... from the Bering Straits into Alaska and the rest of North America." "It would be another 8,000 years before it'd open up again." "We know the first native Americans got in about 20,000 years ago... because we know which founding types they brought with them." "Which mitochondrial founding types they brought with them from Asia." "We have types in Asia similar to the American, therefore we know... the ones that actually came into America... as opposed to those which derived since the arrival in America." "Now, on average, the founders in America... have accumulated one mutation... and since we know the mutation rate for our genetic system... is one mutation every 20,000 years, we know that these founder types... have been evolving for 20,000 years, that's when they must have arrived." "In North America, the Laurentian ice sheet smothered the central plains... destroyed everything and forcing our migrants down the west coast... into South America." "As the ice retreated, we could spread back into the liberated land." "There's evidence of a settlement of a rock shelter on the Ohio River... in Pennsylvania called Meadowcroft." "Meadowcroft is very important to the American story... because it's dated at about 16,000 uncalibrated radiocarbon years... and is one of the earliest native American sites to be credited... by archeologists." "And this ties in wonderfully with genetic estimates." "They must have come several thousand years before that to get to here." "Dr. James Adavagio led the team of scientists who excavated the shelter." "When we originally encountered it, we assumed... it would not contain any cultural material whatsoever." "But, as it turned out, there were an assortment of artifacts... and other indications of the human presence several thousands of years... previous to what the estimate for the arrival of people in America was." "Scattered across this surface and deeper occupation surfaces... in and around these fireplaces, are a series of artifacts... among the more notable of which are blade core fragments... like this, and the blades that have been struck... from these cores." "What's unique about these items is not only they're not manufactured... for the most part, by later Paleo Indian groups in the Americas... but they bear a striking resemblance to blade cores from Northern China... that are 28 or 29 thousand years old." "In fact, casts of these materials could be lost... in collections from North China and you wouldn't be able to tell them apart." "What the evidence from Meadowcroft suggests to us is... along with data from a series of sites elsewhere in North America... is that there was no single migration of human beings to the new world... as was recently postulated in the last two decades." "But instead a series of pulses or emanations." "Multiple entries are now established as the pattern for American migration." "These early settlers carried many different genetic lines." "They came from Siberia, China, Central Asia... as far south as Malaysia and Japan." "In 1 996, a skeleton known as Kennewick man... was discovered along the Columbia River, in Washington State." "When it was brought to Jim Chatters, the forensic anthropologist... he first believed the remains were those of a 1 9th Century pioneer." "He was astonished when radio carbon dating revealed it to be... 9,500 years old." "It was the oldest skeleton ever found in North America." "But what really intrigued Chatters was that despite his age..." "Kennewick man did not resemble modern Native Americans." "His skull was Caucasoid, not Mongoloid... and reconstruction of his face showed distinct similarities... with the Ainu who lived in Northern Japan." "Kennewick man was an extremely beaten up individual." "He had multiple broken ribs." "He had an injured left arm." "He had some injury to his skull." "Arthritis in his neck, knees, elbows." "Just, he'd certainly been around the block a few times." "But, what was most distinctive about him; the most interesting injury... from a forensic standpoint, was a spear point imbedded in his pelvis." "In fact, that's what caused us to radio carbon date the bones." "All that can be seen is a little ovoid window in each side of the bone." "But, when we cat scan it we can see there's a 2 inch long, 1 inch wide... quarter inch thick serrated edge blade in there." "Now, what's interesting about this spear point is that it's of a style... that we only see after this man's death, in eastern Washington." "We can see that style moving down the coast of British Columbia... around 10,000 years ago and on to 9,000 years ago." "That's radiocarbon years." "The people who bring this spear point... were the ones that we find with this spear point a little later in time... are very similar to modern American Indians." "You can lose them in a crowd easily, American Indian skulls." "So, a new population arrived with northeast Siberian characteristics." "And it is beginning to replace the earlier arriving immigrants." "This suggests in a broader way, that some sort of conflict was going on." "In effect, it occurs that the time of the new arriving populations... the fact that Kennewick man looks different... both suggest that it's a competition over territory that's at issue." "From the angle of entry, from the velocity of entry... it's fairly clear that this spear was coming directly at him... and that he could see it coming." "Chatters believes that Kennewick man died by hypothermia and drowning." "Since his death, human populations swelled from thousands to millions." "We've advanced from primitive hunter-gatherers... to farmers and traders, town's people and city folk." "And from tribal domains to empires." "In 5,000 generations we have arrived in the modern world we know today." "Since the 80's, DNA samples have been taken from thousands of people... all over the world." "From Alaska to New Zealand." "From the Inuit to Icelanders." "By analyzing it, scientists can trace similarities between... personal pin codes and see which people are most closely related." "All individuals can check their mitochondrial DNA... and trace the routes their ancestors took in the journey around the world... from Africa to every corner of the globe." "In Chicago, we sampled 5 people who are tracing their mitochondrial tree." "After analyzing their DNA swabs, scientists discovered... a remarkable connection between a Greek and a native American." "Angela Trakis is a Greek who came to the United States from Europe." "Leonard Maliterri is a Native American, full-blooded Cree." "They are both from the same small and rare branch... of our family tree and share a common ancestor 30,000 years ago." "Maybe in southern Siberia." "As modern humans populated the empty world... after leaving Africa, some went north to central Russia." "There, a daughter was born, carrying a new marker, X." "Her children separated, some going west into Europe... and some east from Siberia and on into America." "They arrived in America from opposite ends of the earth... and now meet for the first time in Chicago." "Their first family reunion in 30,000 years of our evolutionary history." "It kind of blows..." "it just blows me away." "I think it's really exciting that we all come from the same line." "Maybe people will stop putting so much emphasis on differences... and talking about the common person, maybe that will help people... be more tolerant and loving, and maybe that will... progress and maybe in a more relevant manner than just science... maybe just humanity in general." "I think that's very relevant today." "80,000 years ago a tiny group of modern humans... braved the terrors of the Red Sea and left Africa forever." "They carried with them the future of the world." "By 10,000 years ago, they have penetrated every corner of the globe." "The most incredible and important journey we have ever made." "For the first time, we now know who we are." "Where we come from." "That we are the same people as our restless and inquisitive ancestors." "But we have reached the end of our migration." "There are no more empty lands to move to." "Science tells us an unbroken chain links us to our past... and to each other." "All share the same genetic inheritance from our ancestral Eve." "Perhaps that is the most important message... we should carry into the future."