In Search of Human Origins

About

Episode 1: The Story of Lucy. In 1974, Johanson unearthed Lucy, at almost 3 million years of age, our oldest human ancestor. Lucy's tiny three-and-a-half-foot skeleton set the world of paleoanthropology on its ear. Lucy walked upright and it was proven that a larger brain was the key difference between early man and the ape. Episode 2: Surviving in Africa. Johanson sets out to disprove the long-cherished view that early man's larger brain and reliance on technology are the by-products of the ability to hunt. He embarks on a journey across the Serengeti savanna of East Africa in search of food. He finds it- not by hunting but by scavenging off the leftovers of lions and leopards.

Episode 3: The Creative Revolution. Fifty thousand years ago, a dramatic change swept through the hunter-gatherers then living in Africa. They began to paint, carve, talk, bury their dead, travel and trade. What accounts for this sudden transformation? This question continues to be at the heart of heated debates.

3 videocassettes (180 min.) : 1/2 in

Presenter: Don Johanson

Series producer, Peter Jones ; executive producer, Paula S. Apsell

Originally produced as a segment for the television series Nova

VHS

Episode 1: The Story of Lucy / written & produced by Michael Gunton

Episode 2: Surviving in Africa / written & directed by Lenora Carey Johanson

Episode 3: The Creative Revolution / written & directed by Lauren Seeley Aguirre

Archive

Internet Archive, in The VHS Vault

Licence or status

The Internet Archive states none for this item.

Credit

Donald C Johanson, Peter Jones, Paula S Apsell, Michael Gunton, WGBH (Television station : Boston, Mass.), WGBH Educational Foundation.

Language

English

Subtitles

English

Who can watch

The archive gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Teens profiles and older, judged from its collection and subjects. How films are placed