0:00:04 > 0:00:07This is our world.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11We have shaped it in our image.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14Made it our own.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18We are now the only humans in existence,
0:00:18 > 0:00:20absolute rulers of the earth.
0:00:20 > 0:00:25But there was a time when we shared this planet with other,
0:00:25 > 0:00:28very different types of human.
0:00:30 > 0:00:35By the time our ancestors left Africa around 100,000 years ago,
0:00:35 > 0:00:40most of these "others" had gone extinct.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42But not all.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53Other species had made the journey out of Africa before us.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57Smart, strong and well adapted to their environment,
0:00:57 > 0:01:01they were the dominant species on the planet.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10So what happened when our worlds collided?
0:01:12 > 0:01:15Why, despite all their advantages,
0:01:15 > 0:01:19were those others driven to extinction?
0:01:19 > 0:01:25Why, against the odds, did we win the battle for Planet Earth?
0:02:06 > 0:02:0832,000 years ago,
0:02:08 > 0:02:13a new species of human was spreading out across Europe.
0:02:18 > 0:02:24The colour of their skin betrayed their African origins.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27Homo sapiens hadn't been here very long,
0:02:27 > 0:02:29and there weren't very many of them.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34These people were modern humans.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38They were our ancestors.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41As they spread out through the continent, they entered
0:02:41 > 0:02:45the territory of another human species - the Neanderthals.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55The way Neanderthals are treated in the popular media is very unfair.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58I mean, they were highly evolved humans,
0:02:58 > 0:03:00in their own way as evolved as we are.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06There's no other event in human evolution
0:03:06 > 0:03:10that captures the public imagination like the encounters
0:03:10 > 0:03:12between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26Using the latest archaeological and scientific research,
0:03:26 > 0:03:29what follows is a dramatisation
0:03:29 > 0:03:34of one of the most crucial periods in human history.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42HISSING CLICKS
0:03:50 > 0:03:52HORSE WHINNIES
0:04:04 > 0:04:05HE SHOUTS
0:04:14 > 0:04:17- You missed.- Jala threw first.
0:04:19 > 0:04:20Jala is young.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25You missed.
0:04:44 > 0:04:4832,000 years ago, in what's now modern-day Europe,
0:04:48 > 0:04:54the Homo sapiens population hovered at just about 10,000 people.
0:04:54 > 0:04:59They were struggling to survive because of climate change.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02Temperatures were fluctuating wildly,
0:05:02 > 0:05:06four to five degrees Celsius every 150 years,
0:05:06 > 0:05:10going from warm to cold and back to warm again.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14The consequences were catastrophic.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18Environments may have fluctuated between more open
0:05:18 > 0:05:21grassland environments and more forested environments.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24So this would have changed as the climate
0:05:24 > 0:05:26got warmer and colder.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30These dramatic shifts between grassland and forests
0:05:30 > 0:05:33would have made life extremely difficult for animals...
0:05:33 > 0:05:36and the humans that preyed on them.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39For big mammals like Homo sapiens and Neanderthals,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42the way they deal with rapid climate change is to move.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45So rapid shifts in climate would probably have bring...
0:05:45 > 0:05:49have brought Homo sapiens and Neanderthals in closer contact.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17- Let Jala throw.- Jala?
0:06:17 > 0:06:19We need to eat!
0:06:19 > 0:06:20Jala...
0:06:24 > 0:06:26Do not miss.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05SHE SHOUTS
0:07:08 > 0:07:10Byana!
0:07:12 > 0:07:15Byana!
0:07:15 > 0:07:16Why?
0:07:16 > 0:07:19We need food.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22- I want to help. - You cannot throw a spear!
0:07:22 > 0:07:26- Teach me, Father!- Go home!
0:07:26 > 0:07:30Jala, take your sister home.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43Wait.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48You have the mother.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52- Give it to me.- Why?
0:07:52 > 0:07:53Give.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10My mother gave this to your mother.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14It brought your brother, Jala.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18It brought you.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27My mother,
0:08:27 > 0:08:30your mother, Byana.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40Mother.
0:08:46 > 0:08:51Archaeologists believe that these objects were fertility symbols.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Although some playfully suggest
0:08:54 > 0:08:57that they may have pornographic overtones.
0:08:57 > 0:09:02They have been found at sites all across Europe.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05By the time we get to 40 or 50 thousand years ago,
0:09:05 > 0:09:09modern humans are certainly using symbols to communicate with each other
0:09:09 > 0:09:13and transmitting information between people, even between generations,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16so it's becoming very important for modern humans.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21When we find these things carved out of ivory,
0:09:21 > 0:09:25the hardest substance in a mammalian skeleton, that tells you
0:09:25 > 0:09:28that the symbols are really, really important. Something like this
0:09:28 > 0:09:32carved out of ivory would take hundreds and hundreds of hours.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36That's hundreds and hundreds of hours taken away from some other important activity,
0:09:36 > 0:09:39like raising the kids or hunting or these sorts of things.
0:09:39 > 0:09:44A shared belief in the importance in objects like this
0:09:44 > 0:09:46can help to bind people together.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50And in hard times that's just as important a survival tool
0:09:50 > 0:09:52as a sharp spear.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01See, now you.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19Teach me.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21You throw straight,
0:10:22 > 0:10:25but I cannot teach strength.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27Come on, home.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41Byana.
0:10:44 > 0:10:45Look at this.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53A man's foot.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00A big man's foot.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08A big man's foot.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15Come, we must go, back to Father.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19What, a man has big feet and you want to turn back?
0:11:19 > 0:11:21Don't you want to go hunting?
0:11:25 > 0:11:29The ancestors of Neanderthals, like every other human species,
0:11:29 > 0:11:33evolved in Africa, but they quickly moved out and into Europe
0:11:33 > 0:11:36and they'd been living there for nearly half a million years.
0:11:36 > 0:11:42There was one very obvious physical difference between us and them -
0:11:42 > 0:11:43size.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49This is a cast of a Neanderthal femur, thigh bone, and you can see
0:11:49 > 0:11:52just by comparing it to a recent human thigh bone
0:11:52 > 0:11:55some pretty clear and obvious differences.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58The Neanderthal thigh bone is massive. It's huge...
0:11:58 > 0:12:02that tells you that these were big, strong people.
0:12:02 > 0:12:07Bone grows in response to strain - the more you strain bone, the more it grows.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10These were people who solved problems with brute force.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14Doesn't mean they're stupid, but it means that they're using brute force intelligently.
0:12:17 > 0:12:23That physical power was complemented by another vital asset.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27The brain volume of Neanderthals and humans is very similar,
0:12:27 > 0:12:32in fact Neanderthal average brain sizes are somewhat larger than modern humans today.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36So as well as having considerably larger bodies, Neanderthals also had
0:12:36 > 0:12:43significantly larger brains, and that made them a formidable enemy.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46The popular image of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens
0:12:46 > 0:12:50bumping into one another is that the Neanderthals were a pushover,
0:12:50 > 0:12:54that Homo sapiens waltzed in and kicked the Neanderthals out without a contest.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56That's extremely unlikely.
0:12:56 > 0:13:01Neanderthals are big people, strong people, smart people,
0:13:01 > 0:13:05and in much of Europe and western Asia they had home court advantage.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02The day this mother brought me to the world,
0:14:02 > 0:14:04it brought death to our mother.
0:14:04 > 0:14:05Shh!
0:14:05 > 0:14:10Hold her tight - she'll protect you. TWIG SNAPS
0:14:39 > 0:14:41HORSE NEIGHS
0:14:50 > 0:14:53Who are they?
0:15:00 > 0:15:03Neanderthals were originally dark-skinned,
0:15:03 > 0:15:07but over hundreds of thousands of years their skin colour
0:15:07 > 0:15:11had become lighter in the colder, darker climate of Europe.
0:15:13 > 0:15:18But white skin was an obvious disadvantage on the hunt.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22Neanderthals may have painted themselves, you know, with black stripes for camouflage
0:15:22 > 0:15:26like many hunters do nowadays, or soldiers do when they're in combat,
0:15:26 > 0:15:29they paint themselves with camouflage to break up
0:15:29 > 0:15:32the appearance of their bodies, so they don't...
0:15:32 > 0:15:35They're not as easily perceived by an enemy or a predator.
0:15:35 > 0:15:41Camouflaged bodies allowed them to get much closer to their unsuspecting prey.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45Rather than throwing projectiles they used their bodies as weapons,
0:15:45 > 0:15:48so a Neanderthal attack on its prey would involve
0:15:48 > 0:15:53a quick charge and then trying to knock the animal to the ground.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56Kind of like, this is the way, you know, lions and other predators hunt.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59They spring from ambush, they grab their prey,
0:15:59 > 0:16:02they knock it to the ground and then they kill it.
0:16:02 > 0:16:07But that hunting strategy was risky and extremely dangerous.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10Neanderthals have a lot of injuries on their skeletons.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12They do have a lot of healed fractures
0:16:12 > 0:16:15and marks of trauma, head injuries and so on.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18So life was certainly dangerous for these people,
0:16:18 > 0:16:22and it's been argued that this injury pattern in modern humans,
0:16:22 > 0:16:26in modern athletes at least, is most closely matched by rodeo riders.
0:16:26 > 0:16:31So these are people who are having to get close in to dangerous wild animals.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56Araha. Doh, doh labah!
0:16:56 > 0:16:58Doh, doh.
0:16:59 > 0:17:04Experts believe that Neanderthals had unusually good eyesight.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07This is because the area at the back of the skull
0:17:07 > 0:17:10where the brain's visual senses are located
0:17:10 > 0:17:14is bigger in Neanderthals than Homo sapiens.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16In the murky gloom of the forest,
0:17:16 > 0:17:20that may have given them a significant advantage.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01- What's wrong? - I've dropped the mother.
0:18:01 > 0:18:06- Byana. I'll go...run!- No, Jala!
0:18:06 > 0:18:08Jala, quick!
0:18:14 > 0:18:16No!
0:18:16 > 0:18:17Byana, run!
0:18:31 > 0:18:34It wasn't just their bodies that the Neanderthals used as weapons.
0:18:34 > 0:18:39They'd also developed an equally lethal technology - the spear.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48This stone-tipped spear is the kind of spear that Neanderthals made.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51It's big, it's heavy, it's attached to a massive shaft
0:18:51 > 0:18:57in order to resist bending. It's a thrusting spear. Throwing this is like throwing a brick -
0:18:57 > 0:19:00it's not going to go very far, it's going to drop very, very quickly.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05I'm sorry.
0:19:05 > 0:19:10This spear was designed for maximum killing power at close quarters.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18Now, you can see the kind of wound this creates.
0:19:18 > 0:19:24A huge gash, enormous gash in the animal's skin.
0:19:24 > 0:19:25This point is enormous.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29Once it's inside there, it's causing all kinds of damage,
0:19:29 > 0:19:33but the advantage of a spear like this with a thick shaft and a broad blade
0:19:33 > 0:19:37is that when it's inside the animal and the animal's trying to fight and get away,
0:19:37 > 0:19:41if you're really strong and you hold onto this thing, it's not going any place.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44The trick is you just can't let go of the spear.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47A weapon like this works only if you're very, very strong.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50It's not a throwing weapon.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53These spears, the ones made by Homo sapiens,
0:19:53 > 0:19:56are made to be thrown. They're projectile weapons.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00The stone points are narrow and thin so they maximize impact.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02Unlike the Neanderthal spear,
0:20:02 > 0:20:06in the right hands this weapon could kill at a distance.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13You see, it's left a very cylindrical hole.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16And it's hit right in the heart and lung area,
0:20:16 > 0:20:19so this is the kind of wound that would kill almost instantly.
0:20:19 > 0:20:24If not instantly, then again it would bleed out and you'd be able to track it fairly straightforwardly.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26The key advantage of a weapon like this
0:20:26 > 0:20:30is that it is cylindrical, it has a very narrow cross-section,
0:20:30 > 0:20:32so all the energy of this spear,
0:20:32 > 0:20:37all the force that's behind it is concentrated onto a small area,
0:20:37 > 0:20:40which means when it hits, it hits with a lot of power.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43It doesn't slash and cut like the Neanderthal spear,
0:20:43 > 0:20:45it hits like a bullet does, it kills by shock.
0:20:54 > 0:21:00Survival is dependent on more than just brute strength and powerful weapons.
0:21:00 > 0:21:07Communication skills are also a vital element in the struggle to stay alive.
0:21:07 > 0:21:14And our ancestors were better equipped with these than any other human species.
0:21:14 > 0:21:15They should be back.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19Where could they be?
0:21:22 > 0:21:24Byana!
0:21:28 > 0:21:31Byana! Where have you been?
0:21:35 > 0:21:36Where is Jala?
0:21:38 > 0:21:41Where is he?
0:21:41 > 0:21:44Where's Jala?!
0:21:44 > 0:21:48Jala...is dead.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56Monsters...
0:21:58 > 0:22:01- Monsters!- What monsters?
0:22:04 > 0:22:06A bear?
0:22:06 > 0:22:09- A wild cat?- Monsters!
0:22:09 > 0:22:13- Wolves?- Monsters.
0:22:13 > 0:22:18Like us...but bigger!
0:22:18 > 0:22:21What is wrong with you?
0:22:21 > 0:22:24If it is wolves, say wolves,
0:22:24 > 0:22:26if it is a cat, say cat.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28Oh, Father.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39Get the men ready.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42We must find Jala.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46- Are you sure he's alive? - To bury him!
0:22:51 > 0:22:55Whatever killed him will eat him.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01- You're afraid?- No, but we have...
0:23:01 > 0:23:03He's my son!
0:23:08 > 0:23:10My son.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17We need food.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20There are no monsters out there,
0:23:20 > 0:23:24but there are wild cats,
0:23:24 > 0:23:28wolves, bears.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36We have lost one young hunter.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40We cannot lose any more.
0:23:59 > 0:24:0432,000 years ago, our ancestors came up with another crucial invention
0:24:04 > 0:24:07which helped to ensure our survival.
0:24:07 > 0:24:12It was something that archaeologists think Neanderthals never developed -
0:24:12 > 0:24:15the needle.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18It meant that we could make close-fitting and warm clothing,
0:24:18 > 0:24:22essential for hunting in the ever-changing climate.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24Why can't we hunt?
0:24:24 > 0:24:27- Men do the hunting.- But why?
0:24:28 > 0:24:30What are you doing?
0:24:30 > 0:24:32Not this way...
0:24:32 > 0:24:34Do it this way.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43If we all hunt, we'll get more food.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47Man, woman...
0:24:47 > 0:24:49this way, that way.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52A man hunts...a woman stays.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55But why?
0:24:55 > 0:24:58You can't hunt with a baby inside you or in your arms,
0:24:58 > 0:25:00or holding onto your leg.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04- But I don't have a baby.- Not yet.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10Dividing up tasks between men and women
0:25:10 > 0:25:13was vital to our species' survival.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17If the men didn't kill anything on the hunt, the nuts, berries
0:25:17 > 0:25:23and roots that the women gathered provided a reliable source of food.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27It might not seem revolutionary, but this simple exchange
0:25:27 > 0:25:31between men and women would end up transforming our world.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37The invention of the sexual division of labour
0:25:37 > 0:25:40got us into the habit of specialisation and exchange -
0:25:40 > 0:25:43"you do this, I'll do that and we'll swap."
0:25:43 > 0:25:46Once we'd invented it between the sexes,
0:25:46 > 0:25:49we could then think about doing it between individuals
0:25:49 > 0:25:52and we could then think about doing it between bands.
0:25:52 > 0:25:57So you could say, "You guys are good at fishing we're good at gathering fruit, we'll swap."
0:25:57 > 0:26:00Or, "You're good at making spears, I'm good at making axes,
0:26:00 > 0:26:04"I'll make all the axes, you make all the spears and we'll swap."
0:26:04 > 0:26:07And of course the beauty of that system is the more you specialise,
0:26:07 > 0:26:09the better you get at your specialised task.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12so the more value there is, the more time-saving there is
0:26:12 > 0:26:17in delegating tasks to others and swapping and specialising in this way.
0:26:17 > 0:26:22That's actually the whole story of human history ever since, that's what prosperity is.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47Byana!
0:26:57 > 0:26:59SHE WHISPERS
0:27:07 > 0:27:08Where are the others?
0:27:08 > 0:27:10We had a bad winter.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15And many died.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21We are hungry.
0:27:28 > 0:27:33No buffalo,
0:27:33 > 0:27:35- no horse?- Not on the plains.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39But they will return.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41They always do.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44The animals are moving.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47If the animals move, we must move.
0:27:50 > 0:27:51Follow the food.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56It will mean moving camp.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00- We should wait.- We waited too long.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04What's this?
0:28:05 > 0:28:07Why is it like this?
0:28:07 > 0:28:11Always you ask why, Byana.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13For the spear...
0:28:13 > 0:28:16they go together?
0:28:16 > 0:28:18They do...
0:28:18 > 0:28:22like man and woman.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25- Come here.- No.
0:28:27 > 0:28:28Byana!
0:28:30 > 0:28:32She has just lost a brother.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36Do you want to lose a husband?
0:28:38 > 0:28:41She will bring you many children, many.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44Byana...show him,
0:28:44 > 0:28:46- show him.- What?
0:28:46 > 0:28:49The mother.
0:28:55 > 0:28:56Show him!
0:28:59 > 0:29:00No.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04No. I won't.
0:29:04 > 0:29:06Byana.
0:29:06 > 0:29:07Byana!
0:29:08 > 0:29:10Byana!
0:29:13 > 0:29:15Together...
0:29:16 > 0:29:19..your men, my men,
0:29:19 > 0:29:21we are stronger.
0:29:25 > 0:29:29Tomorrow we move to a new camp.
0:29:31 > 0:29:36Two tribes, together stronger.
0:29:50 > 0:29:53In the struggle for survival, numbers mattered.
0:29:53 > 0:29:58Forging alliances allowed Homo sapiens' villages to grow,
0:29:58 > 0:30:01accommodating up to 150 people.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06Neanderthal villages were much smaller,
0:30:06 > 0:30:11rarely getting bigger than family groups of 10 to 15 individuals.
0:30:12 > 0:30:16We've got to imagine that Neanderthals were maybe living
0:30:16 > 0:30:20on average in smaller groups than we were,
0:30:20 > 0:30:22and of course what we've got with modern humans
0:30:22 > 0:30:25is that we map relationships in different ways.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29Neanderthals probably operated mainly on person-to-person contact,
0:30:29 > 0:30:30face-to-face contact.
0:30:30 > 0:30:34So their interactions were direct with each other.
0:30:34 > 0:30:38With modern humans, we have much more complex social systems,
0:30:38 > 0:30:43and there's no doubt that modern humans, when we communicate with each other,
0:30:43 > 0:30:48a lot of it is done symbolically. We exchange information, we trade objects.
0:30:48 > 0:30:52We know that modern humans in Europe were moving objects
0:30:52 > 0:30:55across the continent over much bigger areas than Neanderthals did.
0:30:55 > 0:31:00So with modern humans, our networks reach much further in time and space.
0:31:44 > 0:31:46The spear-thrower was a simple device
0:31:46 > 0:31:51that allowed spears to be thrown further and with more power.
0:31:51 > 0:31:55Developed 50,000 to 60,000 years ago, it was such an effective weapon
0:31:55 > 0:32:02that Native Americans were still using a version of it right up until the 16th century.
0:32:02 > 0:32:07In the right hands, this piece of technology isn't just powerful,
0:32:07 > 0:32:09but deadly accurate.
0:32:11 > 0:32:16As you can see, another bullet-shaped wound right in the heart and lung area.
0:32:16 > 0:32:19If this was a person, they'd be in a lot of trouble.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23This would knock them off their feet, pin them to the ground, pin them to a tree.
0:32:23 > 0:32:28This would be a very dangerous wound, a wound that would probably kill somebody outright.
0:32:30 > 0:32:34This is a tremendous change from earlier weapon systems.
0:32:34 > 0:32:38This is a weapons system that swaps speed for power.
0:32:38 > 0:32:40By moving the projectile point very, very fast,
0:32:40 > 0:32:43it tremendously increases the amount of kinetic energy, of force
0:32:43 > 0:32:47that one can bring to bear. A hand-thrown spear doesn't even approach this.
0:32:47 > 0:32:52This weapon was so effective that it spread like wildfire.
0:32:52 > 0:32:56A development that might not seem particularly special,
0:32:56 > 0:32:58but it was unique to our species.
0:33:00 > 0:33:04What's wonderful about a spear thrower is that it's a brilliant idea and a simple idea,
0:33:04 > 0:33:08but it's not an idea that would necessarily occur to someone.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12But on a rare occasion, somewhere by accident, through serendipity,
0:33:12 > 0:33:16somebody works out that actually you can speed up the power of a spear.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18If that happens in a Neanderthal troop
0:33:18 > 0:33:21it stays in the troop, the idea.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24The idea never leaves the troop. You don't get a transfer of ideas
0:33:24 > 0:33:29between bands, between tribes, in the way you do with modern humans.
0:33:29 > 0:33:35Whereas what happened with this idea is that it started spreading like a virus, through contact,
0:33:35 > 0:33:39through trade between people, and suddenly it's everywhere.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42If there was a case where people armed with weapons like this
0:33:42 > 0:33:45went up against people who lacked them or equivalent technology,
0:33:45 > 0:33:49the people who lacked this kind of technology wouldn't stand a chance.
0:34:07 > 0:34:09Where has she gone?
0:34:09 > 0:34:13She makes you look foolish, she makes me look foolish.
0:34:13 > 0:34:14She will come back.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17- And my men will be gone.- No!
0:34:19 > 0:34:22One more day...please.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26- We must follow the food. - Together we are stronger!
0:34:26 > 0:34:27Then find her.
0:34:27 > 0:34:29Now.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32Morda!
0:34:34 > 0:34:35Find Byana.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40You two...
0:34:40 > 0:34:41let's go hunting.
0:36:08 > 0:36:11There were cave lions in Europe at this time.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15A separate species from their African cousins,
0:36:15 > 0:36:17they were 10% bigger.
0:36:19 > 0:36:23Europe at this time was populated by large numbers
0:36:23 > 0:36:27of now extinct animals which have modern African counterparts.
0:36:27 > 0:36:32The mammoth was a cousin of the elephant.
0:36:32 > 0:36:37And the woolly rhino was a much hairier version of the African species.
0:36:38 > 0:36:40As the climate fluctuated,
0:36:40 > 0:36:44these large animals were forced to move, leaving behind
0:36:44 > 0:36:47some much more dangerous carnivores...
0:36:47 > 0:36:51like wolves, which are still around Europe today,
0:36:51 > 0:36:55and the sabre-toothed cat which is now extinct.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16She's a fool,
0:37:16 > 0:37:17like her father.
0:37:23 > 0:37:24This way.
0:37:31 > 0:37:32Come on!
0:38:14 > 0:38:15Ramah!
0:38:15 > 0:38:17Tador.
0:38:26 > 0:38:27Natak!
0:39:02 > 0:39:04For Jala!
0:39:04 > 0:39:06Jala?
0:39:08 > 0:39:09Ndah-derh?
0:39:12 > 0:39:15Ndah-der Jala?
0:39:17 > 0:39:19Jala?
0:39:22 > 0:39:24Jala.
0:39:27 > 0:39:28Erha.
0:39:30 > 0:39:31Erha!
0:39:38 > 0:39:43Scientists believe that Neanderthals, like us, had language.
0:39:43 > 0:39:47They've discovered that we share a specific gene with Neanderthals
0:39:47 > 0:39:50that's vital for developing an ability to speak.
0:39:50 > 0:39:57There's also some compelling anatomical evidence that indicates that they could talk.
0:39:57 > 0:39:58Jala?
0:39:58 > 0:40:00Ndah-derh?
0:40:02 > 0:40:07This early Homo sapiens skull is shaped very much like yours or mine.
0:40:07 > 0:40:11This means this individual could speak more or less like I'm doing.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14It had a very flexed upper respiratory tract.
0:40:14 > 0:40:19That allows one's tongue to move back and forth very rapidly and breaks sound up,
0:40:19 > 0:40:22like I'm doing now. But there's a risk involved in that.
0:40:22 > 0:40:27The risk is that it's easy to choke as food particles make their way around that turn.
0:40:27 > 0:40:31They caught behind the tongue and the back of the windpipe and people choke every day.
0:40:31 > 0:40:34That's an unusual thing in primate evolution.
0:40:34 > 0:40:39Most primates, most mammals, have a relatively less flexed upper respiratory tract,
0:40:39 > 0:40:41and that's what we see with these Neanderthals.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44Their face is out in front of their brain,
0:40:44 > 0:40:48the bottom of their skull is less flexed, and in all likelihood,
0:40:48 > 0:40:51their upper respiratory tract made a more gentle curve.
0:40:51 > 0:40:56Now, that's advantageous if you want to get food in there fast and eat efficiently,
0:40:56 > 0:40:59but it's disadvantageous in terms of speech.
0:40:59 > 0:41:05It means they probably didn't speak as rapidly as our ancestors did.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23- Jala.- Jala.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42TWIG SNAPS What was that?
0:41:44 > 0:41:46There is nothing to fear...
0:41:46 > 0:41:50only monsters.
0:42:42 > 0:42:44Why didn't you kill him?
0:42:44 > 0:42:47- I couldn't.- You want to hunt...
0:42:47 > 0:42:48but you cannot kill.
0:42:48 > 0:42:52- He saved me from the wildcat. - Where is it now?
0:42:52 > 0:42:54The wildcat?
0:42:55 > 0:42:57Where it died.
0:42:57 > 0:42:59Let's go.
0:43:02 > 0:43:04Meat!
0:43:12 > 0:43:20In the fight for survival, Homo sapiens had another significant advantage over Neanderthals.
0:43:20 > 0:43:24To fuel their bigger bodies, Neanderthals had to eat
0:43:24 > 0:43:27twice as much as Homo sapiens on a daily basis.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31It's true that if you've got a big body and a big brain,
0:43:31 > 0:43:34you've got to have the energy to keep that going.
0:43:34 > 0:43:37And there's no doubt that this very heavy body of Neanderthals,
0:43:37 > 0:43:40and that muscle mass and that large brain,
0:43:40 > 0:43:44all of that is going to require a regular input of food to get them through,
0:43:44 > 0:43:47and in a sense, this might have made them more vulnerable
0:43:47 > 0:43:51if resources were fluctuating, if there were competing human groups -
0:43:51 > 0:43:53maybe modern humans competing with them -
0:43:53 > 0:43:57who were a bit more efficient at extracting material from the environment
0:43:57 > 0:43:59and less demanding of the environment,
0:43:59 > 0:44:03possibly modern humans might have had the edge in a competition in that way.
0:44:23 > 0:44:24Herarah!
0:44:35 > 0:44:36Tetah.
0:44:45 > 0:44:47SCREAMS
0:45:00 > 0:45:05Neanderthals cared for their sick and injured.
0:45:05 > 0:45:08Archaeologists have uncovered skeletal remains which show
0:45:08 > 0:45:11that a Neanderthal man with a withered arm
0:45:11 > 0:45:14was cared for for as long as 20 years.
0:45:14 > 0:45:19It shows us that Neanderthals cared about each other. And this extended
0:45:19 > 0:45:23not just on a day-to-day basis, but over months and years.
0:45:23 > 0:45:27That this individual had presumably family that cared about him
0:45:27 > 0:45:30and they were regularly provisioning and supporting him
0:45:30 > 0:45:33through what must have been very difficult times.
0:45:33 > 0:45:37The fact that he survived these injuries in the first place
0:45:37 > 0:45:42and then survived for some time afterwards, when people must have been bringing him food
0:45:42 > 0:45:46right through the year for him to survive and carry on living
0:45:46 > 0:45:48and for these injuries to heal to the extent they did.
0:46:17 > 0:46:20What is it?
0:46:20 > 0:46:21This is the place.
0:46:21 > 0:46:23Are you sure?
0:46:26 > 0:46:27So where's the cat?
0:46:37 > 0:46:39Footprints.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49Let's go.
0:46:49 > 0:46:51No, we turn back.
0:46:51 > 0:46:54Tomorrow we leave and follow the food.
0:46:54 > 0:46:59- The monsters will follow and take our food. - They aren't monsters.- Byana!
0:46:59 > 0:47:00RUSTLING
0:47:12 > 0:47:14Where are the others?
0:47:14 > 0:47:16Dead.
0:47:16 > 0:47:18They're all dead.
0:47:21 > 0:47:23Monsters.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30They'll kill us all.
0:47:32 > 0:47:34We must hunt them down...
0:47:34 > 0:47:37or they will hunt for us.
0:47:37 > 0:47:39They're not monsters,
0:47:39 > 0:47:42they're like us.
0:47:43 > 0:47:45Tell us again what they did to your brother.
0:47:47 > 0:47:52The outcome of any physical conflict between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens
0:47:52 > 0:47:54wouldn't have been a foregone conclusion.
0:47:54 > 0:47:59There were advantages and disadvantages on both sides.
0:48:00 > 0:48:03For Neanderthals, the principal advantages would have been
0:48:03 > 0:48:06in close quarters combat, getting in close and fighting hand to hand.
0:48:08 > 0:48:12In terms of the strength difference, Neanderthals would probably win.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16For Homo sapiens, taking on a Neanderthal opponent,
0:48:16 > 0:48:19the trick is, don't let them get close.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22Stand off, attack with projectile weapons.
0:48:24 > 0:48:28Find a way to flank them, attack from this and this direction simultaneously,
0:48:28 > 0:48:31so they're hitting at least two directions at the same time.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48Take your men that way.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50You, the other side.
0:48:50 > 0:48:52The rest will follow me.
0:48:52 > 0:48:54Wait for my signal.
0:48:54 > 0:48:57These are monsters, not horses.
0:49:30 > 0:49:32Come on.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35Run! Turn back!
0:49:37 > 0:49:40We can't win close up, we need room to throw the spears.
0:49:44 > 0:49:46Come on, let's get to higher ground.
0:51:13 > 0:51:15Let's eat.
0:51:16 > 0:51:18What is it?
0:51:21 > 0:51:23It's another one.
0:51:23 > 0:51:25Byana!
0:51:25 > 0:51:28- Keep away!- Byana!
0:51:49 > 0:51:51Dead?
0:51:53 > 0:51:57Always Byana, I say one thing, you do another.
0:51:57 > 0:51:59Ah!
0:51:59 > 0:52:03It is not too bad. Don't worry.
0:52:04 > 0:52:07Tomorrow, Byana, we'll give you to him.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14Together...stronger.
0:52:18 > 0:52:19No.
0:52:22 > 0:52:25She does not want to be a wife.
0:52:25 > 0:52:26Do you?
0:52:47 > 0:52:48Together...
0:52:50 > 0:52:52..stronger.
0:53:04 > 0:53:05Come, Byana, eat.
0:53:38 > 0:53:44Neanderthals had dominated Europe for nearly half a million years.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47But from the moment our ancestors entered the continent,
0:53:47 > 0:53:50their days were numbered.
0:53:50 > 0:53:55The differences between us and them weren't huge, but they mattered.
0:53:57 > 0:54:04Within a few thousand years, Neanderthal numbers slumped into a terminal decline.
0:54:08 > 0:54:13They ended up being squeezed into one small corner of Europe.
0:54:13 > 0:54:19The last known refuge of the Neanderthals was here in Gibraltar.
0:54:22 > 0:54:26They lived their final years in these caves.
0:54:28 > 0:54:32Archaeologists believe the last Neanderthal died out
0:54:32 > 0:54:34around 24,000 years ago.
0:54:35 > 0:54:40As a scientist, one can't help but wish that Neanderthals were still around.
0:54:40 > 0:54:41It would be wonderful.
0:54:41 > 0:54:48We'd learn so much from them, because they are, as it were, the other human species.
0:54:48 > 0:54:49They're our close...
0:54:49 > 0:54:52they would be our closest relative in the animal kingdom.
0:54:52 > 0:54:54We'd learn about things like language,
0:54:54 > 0:54:58because they probably had language but a different kind of language.
0:54:58 > 0:54:59We'd learn what's special about us,
0:54:59 > 0:55:04some things we think are special about us would turn out not to be, they'd have them too.
0:55:04 > 0:55:07Other things that we don't realise are special about us would come home.
0:55:12 > 0:55:17They show us a different way to be human, and I think that's...
0:55:17 > 0:55:20You know, it's a separate evolutionary path
0:55:20 > 0:55:24that went its own way, shared much of our own evolutionary history,
0:55:24 > 0:55:28shared many features with us, but also developed their own distinctive features
0:55:28 > 0:55:33and went their own way, with their own ways of adapting, their own ways of coping with the environment.
0:55:33 > 0:55:38So they're a fascinating experiment in how to be a human being.
0:55:49 > 0:55:52Evolution involves extinction. Extinction is a part of evolution.
0:55:52 > 0:55:54Neanderthals became extinct.
0:55:54 > 0:55:58They're gone. They're fascinating, but they're gone.
0:55:58 > 0:56:02At some point in the remote future, some other documentary will examine
0:56:02 > 0:56:07the question of poor old Homo sapiens, and what did them in.
0:56:26 > 0:56:29Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:56:29 > 0:56:31E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk