0:00:07 > 0:00:12They say this is where it all began.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16That we are all children of Africa.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24But if so, why do we look so different?
0:00:26 > 0:00:30And how on earth could a handful of African families
0:00:30 > 0:00:32become a whole world full of people?
0:00:44 > 0:00:50I'm Alice Roberts, medical doctor and anthropologist.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52I'm fascinated by what bones,
0:00:52 > 0:00:59stones and even our bodies can reveal about the distant past.
0:01:00 > 0:01:05I'm going in search of the traces left by our African ancestors
0:01:05 > 0:01:09and their journeys to populate the world.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13This time, the most challenging journey yet -
0:01:13 > 0:01:15Asia.
0:01:15 > 0:01:20Could people out of Africa really have conquered its frozen wastes?
0:01:20 > 0:01:22I don't know if I've ever been so cold.
0:01:22 > 0:01:28And did the journey cause a change in the way people look?
0:01:29 > 0:01:32Or have I got it completely wrong?
0:01:32 > 0:01:36I'm going to investigate an astonishing idea that the Chinese
0:01:36 > 0:01:39could be descended from a different branch
0:01:39 > 0:01:41of the human family to the rest of us.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48Come with me in the footsteps of our ancestors
0:01:48 > 0:01:52on the most epic adventure ever undertaken.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13Siberia, north of the Arctic Circle.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16I'm going to meet one of the most remote peoples on earth
0:02:16 > 0:02:18to help solve a mystery.
0:02:18 > 0:02:23Why would our ancestors have ever ventured into such a wilderness?
0:02:26 > 0:02:30We're flying over vast expanses of ice and snow.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33But I'm getting very close to my destination now.
0:02:36 > 0:02:42I'm heading deep into Asia, 5,000 kilometres east of Moscow,
0:02:42 > 0:02:45to the small town of Olenek.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51TRADITIONAL MUSIC PLAYS
0:02:55 > 0:02:57I've come to meet the Evenki.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03These people are the closest I can get
0:03:03 > 0:03:07to the humans I think first conquered these lands.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20I've arrived on a special day. It's the annual Reindeer Festival.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22THEY WHOOP AND SHOUT
0:03:27 > 0:03:31These animals have been vital to the people of Siberia
0:03:31 > 0:03:33for as long as anyone can remember.
0:03:41 > 0:03:42That's one lost his seat!
0:03:55 > 0:03:57People have come to this festival
0:03:57 > 0:04:00from an area the size of Britain and France put together
0:04:00 > 0:04:02to race their reindeer on the frozen river.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05But it's also an opportunity for the people
0:04:05 > 0:04:08that live so scattered across this landscape to come together.
0:04:11 > 0:04:16How our ancestors first came to these cold lands
0:04:16 > 0:04:19and then survived here is a mystery,
0:04:19 > 0:04:21so I hope the Evenki can help.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30But to find out more, I must leave the festival
0:04:30 > 0:04:34and head for one of their remote camps.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37It's going to be tough.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40It's already minus 26 degrees Celsius
0:04:40 > 0:04:43and they say it could get a lot colder.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47I've got layers and layers on here.
0:04:47 > 0:04:52There's two, three, four, five with the coat.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56And it's absolutely essential that every bit of my skin is covered,
0:04:56 > 0:05:01including my face, because if anything is exposed
0:05:01 > 0:05:03it will literally freeze.
0:05:05 > 0:05:10But it seems that even my finest 21st-century hi-tech clothing
0:05:10 > 0:05:13is no match for the Siberian winter.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15- Put it on.- Yeah, thank you.
0:05:17 > 0:05:22Well, my driver's not convinced that this jacket is adequate,
0:05:22 > 0:05:25and he's given me a reindeer-fur jacket instead.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29I think he might be right, cos reindeer fur is amazing.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32Each of these outer hairs is actually hollow
0:05:32 > 0:05:37and it's got air inside, so it's fantastic insulation.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39I'm going to be testing it out.
0:05:41 > 0:05:42That way round?
0:05:45 > 0:05:48Gosh, these are wonderful.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50Amazing stuff.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03To start with, the reindeer fur keeps me really warm.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17I even have a go at driving myself.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23But as the journey goes on, I begin to feel the cold.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27With the wind chill, the temperature drops well below minus 40.
0:06:34 > 0:06:38As the hours go by, it gets colder.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45I'm starting to lose feeling in my fingers and toes.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52Is it really possible that our ancestors survived this cold?
0:06:52 > 0:06:56After all, their bodies were not made for this climate.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01Because the latest research claims that Siberians,
0:07:01 > 0:07:03along with most humans,
0:07:03 > 0:07:07can trace their origins to a tiny group which left Africa
0:07:07 > 0:07:10around 70,000 years ago.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14A few family groups could have followed the great rivers north,
0:07:14 > 0:07:17around and through the Himalayas.
0:07:17 > 0:07:18But we just don't know.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22All we have is a few stone tools,
0:07:22 > 0:07:27suggesting someone had reached Siberia by 40,000 years ago.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35What could have driven such a tropical species
0:07:35 > 0:07:38on deeper into the frozen north?
0:07:42 > 0:07:48The last half hour of the journey is the longest I have ever experienced.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57After what seems like forever,
0:07:57 > 0:08:01the Evenki camp finally appears through the trees.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11Oh, God!
0:08:11 > 0:08:16I don't think I've ever been so cold in my entire life.
0:08:16 > 0:08:17That's a six-hour journey.
0:08:17 > 0:08:22I saw some of it, but a lot of it I didn't see,
0:08:22 > 0:08:25cos just look at that... Nothing at all.
0:08:25 > 0:08:30Oh! But I'm here. I'm going to go and get warm.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51I wake up to find the camp in a fever of activity.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55Even in bright sunshine, it's still minus 20,
0:08:55 > 0:08:57but I feel privileged to be here.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06These Evenki are one of the most isolated peoples in the world.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14Well, the question that leaps out is why on earth did the ancestors
0:09:14 > 0:09:16of the Evenki come this far north?
0:09:16 > 0:09:19But the answer is obvious - hunting.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23In fact, although the Evenki today have herds of domesticated reindeer,
0:09:23 > 0:09:27they still depend on the wild animals for their meat,
0:09:27 > 0:09:31just as their ancestors did thousands of years ago,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34and I'm just about to go off on a reindeer hunt.
0:09:34 > 0:09:38So, Vassily, have you got a good feeling about the hunt today?
0:09:38 > 0:09:43TRANSLATION: Well, I feel it's going to be a good day,
0:09:43 > 0:09:45but you never can tell.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51Vassily Stepanov, the brigadier,
0:09:51 > 0:09:55leads what's known as a brigade of Evenki herders and hunters.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01We know that people have been hunting in Siberia
0:10:01 > 0:10:02for a very long time.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08Because scattered across this vast wilderness
0:10:08 > 0:10:12archaeologists have discovered ancient butchered reindeer bones
0:10:12 > 0:10:15and tools carved from their antlers.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36TRANSLATION: You can see all these reindeer tracks.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40They passed through and went off in that direction over there.
0:10:46 > 0:10:51The brigadier reckons they were here recently, but are moving fast.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57After some time tracking,
0:10:57 > 0:11:00it becomes clear that he won't catch them today.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09But his people still need to eat.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11So, reluctantly,
0:11:11 > 0:11:15they choose one of their domesticated animals for slaughter.
0:11:29 > 0:11:35But now, as far as the Evenki people are concerned, it's dinner.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38And the anatomist in me is quite intrigued
0:11:38 > 0:11:42to see how they're going to skin it and how they're going to cut it up.
0:11:48 > 0:11:49It's quite interesting,
0:11:49 > 0:11:53cos they're using the knife with the blade facing outwards,
0:11:53 > 0:11:55so there's no chance of cutting through deeper tissues,
0:11:55 > 0:11:57and it's almost bloodless.
0:11:57 > 0:11:58I mean, look at that.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00That skin is just peeling away.
0:12:01 > 0:12:07For 40,000 years, a key to survival in this incredibly harsh environment
0:12:07 > 0:12:10has been to use every single bit of the reindeer.
0:12:10 > 0:12:15The eyes, liver and brain are delicacies.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19The antlers are used to boost male potency and that's not all.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24TRANSLATION: Alice, it's like French wine.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36Oh!
0:12:36 > 0:12:40But food is only one part of survival.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43To withstand this terrible cold,
0:12:43 > 0:12:48our ancestors had to come up with something really ingenious.
0:12:50 > 0:12:51Well, compared with the hunt,
0:12:51 > 0:12:55what these ladies are doing here seems a bit frivolous.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58But, in fact, it's one of the greatest technological advances
0:12:58 > 0:13:00that humankind has ever seen.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03Ah. Right.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06Our species wasn't designed for this climate.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11Yet somehow, uniquely amongst apes, we made it this far north.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14And the secret is right here.
0:13:15 > 0:13:20Tanya is measuring me up for my very own pair of reindeer skin boots.
0:13:22 > 0:13:28TRANSLATION: OK, that's it. I've got your size. Let's get to work.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32It's a very specific part of the reindeer hide
0:13:32 > 0:13:34that's being used here.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36You can see from the shape of it
0:13:36 > 0:13:38that it's the fur from the reindeer's legs
0:13:38 > 0:13:42that they use to make boots out of.
0:13:42 > 0:13:47But what happens now is the really important bit.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49And this is it!
0:13:49 > 0:13:51This amazing technology
0:13:51 > 0:13:56that makes survival in this harsh environment possible - sewing.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58And it all depends on having a needle.
0:13:59 > 0:14:05Some of the most ancient needles in the world are found in Siberia.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10We'll never know who it was that first thought of carving
0:14:10 > 0:14:12a needle out of bone,
0:14:12 > 0:14:17but the oldest one found dates to around 40,000 years ago.
0:14:26 > 0:14:31It's no good having a needle if you don't have tough thread to sew with,
0:14:31 > 0:14:33and that comes from the reindeer too.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38TRANSLATION: I'm using sinew from the body of the reindeer
0:14:38 > 0:14:41to make threads for sewing clothes together.
0:14:41 > 0:14:42If you use these,
0:14:42 > 0:14:47it's a very sturdy and long-lasting way of sewing things.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02It's humbling that this apparently simple approach
0:15:02 > 0:15:06still beats synthetic clothing today.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13They're beautiful. Spasibo.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18The needle and thread
0:15:18 > 0:15:21made the difference between death and survival.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25Tailored clothes meant people who originated in the tropics
0:15:25 > 0:15:31could now venture further north than any humans before.
0:15:45 > 0:15:50That evening, I get an invitation to join the brigadier's family
0:15:50 > 0:15:53as they tuck into the reindeer killed earlier.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56And there isn't much else on the menu.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00The Evenki's meaty diet may sound unhealthy,
0:16:00 > 0:16:04but it boosts the metabolic rate and raises body temperature.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07Basically, it makes them feel warmer.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13As the evening moves on,
0:16:13 > 0:16:16our conversation turns to an eternal question.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22Anatoli, do the Evenki have any stories about creation,
0:16:22 > 0:16:24about how they came to be here?
0:16:25 > 0:16:30TRANSLATION: A bird called a loon dived three times into the sea,
0:16:30 > 0:16:34and only at the third time it brought a bit of mud.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36And from that mud the Earth arose.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39And then the mammoth came along,
0:16:39 > 0:16:43and with its tusks it raised the Earth still further
0:16:43 > 0:16:45and formed the rivers and mountains.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49So this is our beautiful story about the creation of the Earth.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12BELL RINGS
0:17:12 > 0:17:15I feel I understand how our ancestors
0:17:15 > 0:17:17would have been able to survive here.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21But the consequence of having to follow their food
0:17:21 > 0:17:24would have been an endlessly nomadic lifestyle.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30There's all this commotion around.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33People are literally packing down their homes and moving off.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36This is what a nomadic lifestyle is all about.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38These people have to move.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41They have to take their reindeer to new pastures.
0:17:50 > 0:17:56The only thing the reindeer eat in winter is lichen under the snow
0:17:56 > 0:17:58and they get through it very fast.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02So they're constantly on the move to find more,
0:18:02 > 0:18:04and the humans follow them.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08This is just amazing. We've got this caravan of reindeer sleighs
0:18:08 > 0:18:10carrying everything from the camp.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14And the entire herd, hundreds and hundreds of reindeer,
0:18:14 > 0:18:16are following us.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37Finally, the reindeer stop and so do we.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39Everybody joins in to put up the chum.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45There are so few people around the world who still live like this,
0:18:45 > 0:18:48but once we were all nomads.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51And that's meant to go around by itself, you see.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01So what we've seen today is a nomadic lifestyle in action.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05We've seen a whole village being dismantled and moved on.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08And it took about ten minutes to put this chum up
0:19:08 > 0:19:10and it's made of larch poles and reindeer skin,
0:19:10 > 0:19:13the sort of materials that would have been available
0:19:13 > 0:19:15thousands and thousands of years ago.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17This is a very ancient way of life.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23And it seems that for over 10,000 years,
0:19:23 > 0:19:29this life on the move took family groups right across Siberia.
0:19:29 > 0:19:34Recent discoveries tell us that they reached the edge of the Arctic Ocean
0:19:34 > 0:19:37nearly 30,000 years ago.
0:19:39 > 0:19:44Humans survived here for thousands of years.
0:19:46 > 0:19:47But then,
0:19:47 > 0:19:52a dramatic turn of events changed their journey through Asia -
0:19:52 > 0:19:54the peak of the ice age.
0:19:57 > 0:20:04The latest climate research reveals what happened 25,000 years ago,
0:20:04 > 0:20:07as the ice age really took hold.
0:20:07 > 0:20:12In places, the temperature reached as low as minus 80
0:20:12 > 0:20:16and it became unimaginably dry.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19Such extremes are impossible to survive.
0:20:24 > 0:20:30So what happened to these men, women and children?
0:20:39 > 0:20:45St Petersburg, the former imperial capital of Russia.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56The Hermitage is one of the world's greatest museums,
0:20:56 > 0:21:00home to some of the most celebrated works of art.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10But there's something else here too.
0:21:10 > 0:21:16It's not on display, but it's every bit as precious.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22Here in the storerooms are a few objects
0:21:22 > 0:21:27that could unlock the secrets of those Siberian families
0:21:27 > 0:21:30struggling in the depths of the ice age.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36What is really striking about these objects
0:21:36 > 0:21:38from the height of the last ice age
0:21:38 > 0:21:42is that they're found in just a few places in the south of Siberia,
0:21:42 > 0:21:43which is interesting,
0:21:43 > 0:21:46because it suggests that as the climate worsened,
0:21:46 > 0:21:49these prehistoric people retreated into refuges,
0:21:49 > 0:21:52where it still would have been very cold,
0:21:52 > 0:21:55but they would have been just able to survive.
0:21:55 > 0:22:00People vanished from the frozen wastes of northern Siberia.
0:22:00 > 0:22:01To the south,
0:22:01 > 0:22:06one of the refuges they gathered in is now called Mal'ta.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11So can the few remains found here
0:22:11 > 0:22:14tell us anything about what happened?
0:22:15 > 0:22:19Just look at these tiny blades from the ice age.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22They are unusually small.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25And the archaeologists think this is because the appalling cold
0:22:25 > 0:22:27made it difficult to reach the quarries.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30So the stone itself was such a precious resource
0:22:30 > 0:22:33that they were using it to its utmost,
0:22:33 > 0:22:36getting as many blades as they could out of it.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40So the blades themselves got smaller and smaller.
0:22:41 > 0:22:46And something extraordinary was happening during this period.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50In spite of that struggle for survival,
0:22:50 > 0:22:52there was a blossoming of art.
0:22:52 > 0:22:59Now, we may never know the meaning of this beautiful pair of swans
0:22:59 > 0:23:00to the people that made them,
0:23:00 > 0:23:06but archaeologists have suggested that they might be hunting charms,
0:23:06 > 0:23:09that when the first swans flew, the first deer would appear,
0:23:09 > 0:23:13and it was the beginning of the spring hunting season.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16And how they must have longed for spring.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22Many of the objects in this collection are mysterious.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26This unique plate is made from mammoth ivory.
0:23:28 > 0:23:30Some have suggested it's a map,
0:23:30 > 0:23:33showing the physical and spiritual worlds,
0:23:33 > 0:23:38with a connection between them symbolised by a hole in the middle.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47These precious bone figurines
0:23:47 > 0:23:52are amongst the earliest depictions of people wearing fur.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55Further proof that plenty of these Asian pioneers
0:23:55 > 0:23:58could sew clothes by this time.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07CAMERA CLICKS
0:24:11 > 0:24:14And finally, there are these delicate and beautiful
0:24:14 > 0:24:16little statues of women.
0:24:16 > 0:24:17And some of them are pierced,
0:24:17 > 0:24:21so they may have been worn as pendants, perhaps amulets.
0:24:23 > 0:24:24CAMERA CLICKS
0:24:24 > 0:24:26It's possible that they're fertility symbols,
0:24:26 > 0:24:30really underlining the importance and difficulty
0:24:30 > 0:24:34of producing children during such harsh conditions.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38And, in fact, some archaeologists see this entire,
0:24:38 > 0:24:40very beautiful collection,
0:24:40 > 0:24:46as a cry to the spirits in a time of stress and struggle.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53It is amazing to think of those ancient people,
0:24:53 > 0:24:57who after all originated in a much warmer place,
0:24:57 > 0:25:00surviving in ice-age Siberia.
0:25:04 > 0:25:09But it seems that around this time, something else happened to them -
0:25:09 > 0:25:13something which is much more difficult to explain.
0:25:16 > 0:25:21This is our best guess as to what our African ancestors looked like.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25This reconstruction is based on the skull of a woman
0:25:25 > 0:25:27who lived over 100,000 years ago.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33But sometime around the peak of the last ice age,
0:25:33 > 0:25:38the faces of the people of east Asia changed.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40Why?
0:25:50 > 0:25:53Today, from Siberia to Hong Kong,
0:25:53 > 0:25:56you come face-to-face with these changes.
0:25:58 > 0:26:03Almond-shaped eyes, a flatter face, a smaller nose.
0:26:04 > 0:26:09Most of all, we associate these features with China.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11And here they have become the subject of great interest,
0:26:11 > 0:26:16not to scientists, but to the beauty industry.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21For cosmetics companies,
0:26:21 > 0:26:25understanding variation in people's faces can be big business.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27During the Cultural Revolution,
0:26:27 > 0:26:30Chinese women were forbidden from wearing make-up.
0:26:30 > 0:26:35But now, China is one of the biggest markets in the world.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41Secret filming!
0:26:41 > 0:26:43Here's one multinational that's in there
0:26:43 > 0:26:46trying to convince the Chinese to use their products.
0:26:46 > 0:26:51- Crystal, she has the very traditional Chinese eye.- Yes.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53So what I need to do is make your eye looks bigger
0:26:53 > 0:26:55and the more attractive.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59- So, Cici, you're actually trying to make her look less Chinese?- No!
0:26:59 > 0:27:01THEY LAUGH
0:27:06 > 0:27:08They claim to have some insight
0:27:08 > 0:27:12into what is special about the Chinese face.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15I'm curious, if a little suspicious.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18Now, in here is the wrinkle laboratory
0:27:18 > 0:27:21where they grade your wrinkles from nought to six.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27The company is trying to compare the way skin ages
0:27:27 > 0:27:30in European and Chinese women.
0:27:30 > 0:27:31OK, sit down, please.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36This is all rather clinical-looking and scary, isn't it?
0:27:36 > 0:27:37Carol wants to assess my wrinkles
0:27:37 > 0:27:41and contrast them with a Chinese woman of the same age.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44- Grade one.- Grade one?- Yes.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46- That's good.- Yeah.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48Nasolabial fold.
0:27:48 > 0:27:54Grade two. Crow's feet wrinkle. Grade one.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57You have very little wrinkle for your age.
0:27:57 > 0:27:59Excellent! Excellent.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02I've paid Carol to say that. Thank you very much!
0:28:02 > 0:28:05So how does the Chinese woman do?
0:28:05 > 0:28:08Grade one. Grade two. Grade one.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12- Thank you very much, Carol. Thank you.- You're very welcome.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16At our age, Carol sees very little difference.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19But what happens ten years later?
0:28:19 > 0:28:22This is a 47-year-old European.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25It's a grade four.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28Grade three.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32Grade four.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36Compare her with a 47-year-old Chinese woman.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38Grade two.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40Yeah, it's grade one.
0:28:42 > 0:28:43Grade one.
0:28:45 > 0:28:50There's a suggestion that Chinese skin ages more slowly.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53I'd need a lot more evidence to be convinced.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56But that's not nearly as controversial as the whole question
0:28:56 > 0:29:02of where Chinese features came from in the first place.
0:29:02 > 0:29:06It's one of the most fascinating and perplexing questions
0:29:06 > 0:29:08of our human origins.
0:29:12 > 0:29:16Some have suggested that these facial characteristics,
0:29:16 > 0:29:20like narrower eyes, smaller noses and flatter faces,
0:29:20 > 0:29:23could have been adaptations to cold,
0:29:23 > 0:29:27protecting the eyes and reducing heat loss from the face.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34It's an alluring idea.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37The problem is, there's no evidence for it.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43But there are many people in China who believe
0:29:43 > 0:29:46there's another explanation for the way they look.
0:29:46 > 0:29:52And their theory, if proved true, could be absolutely explosive.
0:29:52 > 0:29:54CAR HORN BEEPS
0:29:56 > 0:30:00It would mean we'd have to totally rethink our ideas about how Asia,
0:30:00 > 0:30:04and indeed the whole world, became populated.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09Many Chinese people believe that they look different
0:30:09 > 0:30:13because they are fundamentally different from the rest of us.
0:30:13 > 0:30:17The claim is that they come from a completely separate branch
0:30:17 > 0:30:19of the human family tree,
0:30:19 > 0:30:23and that they descend from an ancient type of human
0:30:23 > 0:30:27who arrived here in China nearly two million years ago.
0:30:31 > 0:30:34Before we modern humans existed,
0:30:34 > 0:30:39there were earlier species of human, such as Homo erectus -
0:30:39 > 0:30:42a bit more ape-like than us perhaps,
0:30:42 > 0:30:45with a heavy brow and a smaller brain.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49About 1.8 million years ago,
0:30:49 > 0:30:54the Homo erectus population started spilling out of Africa.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57I always believed that Homo erectus
0:30:57 > 0:31:00in Asia eventually died out,
0:31:00 > 0:31:03while Homo erectus in Africa
0:31:03 > 0:31:05ultimately evolved into us,
0:31:05 > 0:31:08Homo sapiens.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11Then, around 70,000 years ago,
0:31:11 > 0:31:18a tiny group left, ancestors of everyone outside Africa today.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20But in China,
0:31:20 > 0:31:23they think this is completely wrong.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49I've come to Zhoukoudian, near Beijing,
0:31:49 > 0:31:54where the Chinese say they have evidence that Homo erectus in Asia
0:31:54 > 0:31:58did not die out, but is in fact their ancestor.
0:32:04 > 0:32:07They believe passionately in their separate origin,
0:32:07 > 0:32:12and it's something everyone in China is taught from childhood.
0:32:17 > 0:32:21It's such an amazing idea that the Chinese originate
0:32:21 > 0:32:25from a different branch of the human family tree from the rest of us,
0:32:25 > 0:32:28and it goes against everything I've discovered so far.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37It was here, early last century,
0:32:37 > 0:32:40that the most important evidence behind this idea was discovered.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48So, this is the cave itself?
0:32:48 > 0:32:53One of China's most revered scientists is Professor Wu Xinzhi.
0:32:53 > 0:32:58He's dedicated his life to studying what was found here.
0:32:58 > 0:33:01- This cave is named Pigeon Cave. - Pigeon Cave?
0:33:01 > 0:33:06Because usually there are many pigeons living here.
0:33:06 > 0:33:11And the main fossils were found over there.
0:33:12 > 0:33:17Half a million years ago, this huge pit was a cave,
0:33:17 > 0:33:20and it's here that archaeologists found a treasure trove -
0:33:20 > 0:33:25incredibly rare evidence of a long-lost world,
0:33:25 > 0:33:29the largest collection of Homo erectus fossils ever unearthed.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32The oldest skull is about half a million years old.
0:33:32 > 0:33:39- Really?- Yes. And the youngest one is between
0:33:39 > 0:33:43200 and 300,000 years old.
0:33:43 > 0:33:45So they were living here for...
0:33:45 > 0:33:50For around 300,000 years.
0:33:50 > 0:33:51- Right.- A long time.
0:33:51 > 0:33:57- So I believe this is the home base of Homo erectus.- Right.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01Professor Wu is sure that Asian Homo erectus evolved here
0:34:01 > 0:34:03into the modern Chinese.
0:34:03 > 0:34:05And a few metres away,
0:34:05 > 0:34:09he shows me where some really crucial evidence was found.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13Here, in what is called the Upper Cave, they found more skulls,
0:34:13 > 0:34:17but these ones were quite different.
0:34:17 > 0:34:19This is Upper Cave.
0:34:19 > 0:34:22Many human skeletons
0:34:22 > 0:34:26was found there, 30,000 years old.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29The skulls clearly belonged to our species,
0:34:29 > 0:34:32but the researchers saw something surprising too.
0:34:32 > 0:34:37They appeared to share some features with the Homo erectus skulls.
0:34:37 > 0:34:43There are many common features among them,
0:34:43 > 0:34:50and I think it is most probable that the Upper Cave men
0:34:50 > 0:34:54are the descendant of Homo erectus.
0:34:56 > 0:34:58Wu believes that Asian Homo erectus
0:34:58 > 0:35:01evolved into the humans found in the Upper Cave
0:35:01 > 0:35:05and that they evolved into the modern Chinese.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09So for him, Upper Cave man is a sort of missing link,
0:35:09 > 0:35:13proof the Chinese do descend from Homo erectus.
0:35:15 > 0:35:19I'd love to see those ancient skulls, but tragically,
0:35:19 > 0:35:22in the mayhem of the Second World War,
0:35:22 > 0:35:24the whole collection went missing.
0:35:29 > 0:35:34Luckily, before they were lost, plaster casts were made
0:35:34 > 0:35:38and now even these copies are considered priceless.
0:35:38 > 0:35:42- So, this is the exhibition room. - Right.
0:35:42 > 0:35:47Chinese scientists come here to study the history of their people,
0:35:47 > 0:35:50but the casts I want to see are securely locked away.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53- I will ask him to take out. - Oh, please do.- Yeah.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56I think I'm going to have to remove myself actually,
0:35:56 > 0:36:00because I'm not allowed to see the drawers that the skulls come out of.
0:36:00 > 0:36:05So I'm just going to come and stand back here discreetly.
0:36:05 > 0:36:07Wait for the skulls to appear.
0:36:10 > 0:36:11Sort of layers of security.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14We're not allowed to see which key goes into which locker.
0:36:14 > 0:36:21He keeps the keys so that nobody to know the number.
0:36:21 > 0:36:23- Do you know the numbers?- No.
0:36:23 > 0:36:25No? Even Professor Wu doesn't know?
0:36:25 > 0:36:29No. I do not want to know, because if I know that,
0:36:29 > 0:36:35- if it is lost, I have the responsibility.- Yes.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38- But now I don't know anything. - Right.
0:36:38 > 0:36:41So, no responsible for me.
0:36:41 > 0:36:43Finally, I'm allowed in to see
0:36:43 > 0:36:47the plaster casts of the Homo erectus skulls from the lower cave
0:36:47 > 0:36:50and Professor Wu has a surprise waiting.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54- Aw!- Right, you see this is the original specimen.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57- That's the original?- Yes, original.
0:36:57 > 0:37:01As you know, most of the original specimens lost during the war.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04I didn't know any of it had survived.
0:37:04 > 0:37:09Yeah, after the war we have done some new excavations
0:37:09 > 0:37:12and got some new specimens.
0:37:12 > 0:37:14- This is one of them.- Can I hold it?
0:37:14 > 0:37:15Yes. Yes.
0:37:17 > 0:37:19I honestly thought all the specimens had been lost,
0:37:19 > 0:37:23but this is an actual fossil of Homo erectus in China.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26Yes. It was found in 1966.
0:37:26 > 0:37:31- So this is hundreds of thousands of years old, isn't it?- Mmm-hmm.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33So this is another piece.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40It's just amazing for me to...
0:37:40 > 0:37:41I mean, to be holding in my hand
0:37:41 > 0:37:45this actual fossil, which is hundreds of thousands of years old.
0:37:45 > 0:37:49I honestly thought all I would see is casts, is reconstructions.
0:37:49 > 0:37:50- Yeah.- This is the actual fossil.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53- And now you hold original one, yeah. - That's amazing!
0:37:58 > 0:38:00But even more important
0:38:00 > 0:38:04is what Professor Wu has spotted in these fossils.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08First he shows me some features of the ancient erectus skulls
0:38:08 > 0:38:13that he believes are typically Chinese.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15The face is flat.
0:38:15 > 0:38:20The nose is flat, not very protrude, as in Europe.
0:38:20 > 0:38:21Yeah. Yeah.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24And this part is also flat.
0:38:24 > 0:38:28So this part of the cheekbones is sort of rotated, like that?
0:38:28 > 0:38:30Yes. For example the Neanderthal...
0:38:30 > 0:38:33Then he shows me the much more recent Upper Cave skulls,
0:38:33 > 0:38:37and picks out the same distinctively Chinese features.
0:38:37 > 0:38:44But it also has the more flat face and the not very protruding nose.
0:38:44 > 0:38:46So the features that you're looking at in these skulls
0:38:46 > 0:38:49are really the features which characterise
0:38:49 > 0:38:51- modern Chinese people today.- Yes.
0:38:51 > 0:38:55And the sort of differences between your skull and my skull?
0:38:55 > 0:38:58- Yes.- Yeah.- Yes, so your face here is like this...
0:38:58 > 0:38:59- Yeah.- And mine like...
0:38:59 > 0:39:03And yours is flatter, yeah. And your nose is flatter here than mine.
0:39:03 > 0:39:10So we inherited some features from our ancestor.
0:39:10 > 0:39:12Professor Wu sees a clear line.
0:39:12 > 0:39:19Homo erectus evolving into Upper Cave man, becoming today's Chinese.
0:39:19 > 0:39:20For him, these fossils prove
0:39:20 > 0:39:24that the Chinese come from a completely different branch
0:39:24 > 0:39:25of the human family.
0:39:27 > 0:39:32But I can see significant differences between the skulls.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36The whole skull shape of Homo erectus
0:39:36 > 0:39:39is quite different from modern humans.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42And even those features that Wu pointed out,
0:39:42 > 0:39:47the nose and the cheekbones, don't seem that similar to me.
0:39:53 > 0:39:58Professor Wu, I mean, you've spent a lifetime studying these skulls
0:39:58 > 0:40:00and I'm a complete novice in comparison,
0:40:00 > 0:40:03but I look at this modern skull here,
0:40:03 > 0:40:07this 30,000-year-old skull from Zhoukoudian,
0:40:07 > 0:40:10and this looks quite similar to me
0:40:10 > 0:40:14to other skulls from Europe at the same time.
0:40:14 > 0:40:18So, I don't think it... It doesn't look Chinese to me!
0:40:18 > 0:40:21No. But the profile in Europe is different.
0:40:21 > 0:40:24It's quite subtle though, isn't it?
0:40:30 > 0:40:34I'm still not convinced that the Chinese
0:40:34 > 0:40:38are so fundamentally different from the rest of us.
0:40:38 > 0:40:42Professor Wu's so knowledgeable and his arguments are so persuasive,
0:40:42 > 0:40:44so maybe I'm missing something.
0:40:46 > 0:40:48And there is other evidence
0:40:48 > 0:40:50to suggest that Professor Wu could be right,
0:40:50 > 0:40:52that the Chinese do, in fact,
0:40:52 > 0:40:56descend from a different branch of the human family to the rest of us.
0:41:09 > 0:41:13I'm travelling 2,000 kilometres into central China
0:41:13 > 0:41:16to investigate something that's a real problem
0:41:16 > 0:41:19for my out-of-Africa theory,
0:41:19 > 0:41:23and it's all to do with stone tools.
0:41:27 > 0:41:31Elsewhere in the world, our species, Homo sapiens,
0:41:31 > 0:41:34is associated with sophisticated styles of tools,
0:41:34 > 0:41:36like these from Europe.
0:41:36 > 0:41:40But in China, you find something completely different.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45A lot of very basic tools.
0:41:45 > 0:41:49A type, in fact, typical of Homo erectus.
0:41:50 > 0:41:55Archaeological evidence, then, that seems to undermine the idea
0:41:55 > 0:41:59that the Chinese evolved in the same way as the rest of us.
0:41:59 > 0:42:03If modern humans suddenly arrived in China,
0:42:03 > 0:42:06we might expect to see modern-looking stone tools
0:42:06 > 0:42:09appearing with their arrival, just like in Europe.
0:42:09 > 0:42:15But the tools in this part of the world stay looking fairly crude.
0:42:15 > 0:42:17And Chinese scientists say
0:42:17 > 0:42:20this is because there wasn't an influx of modern humans.
0:42:20 > 0:42:25But there could be another rather intriguing explanation.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31ROOSTER CROWS
0:42:33 > 0:42:35Archaeologist Dr Jo Kamminga
0:42:35 > 0:42:38has spent decades working in south-east Asia
0:42:38 > 0:42:41and I'm hoping that his work might shed some light
0:42:41 > 0:42:45on this mystery of Chinese origins.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48This really is about as crude and basic
0:42:48 > 0:42:51- a stone tool as you can get, isn't it?- Yes, it is.
0:42:51 > 0:42:53Which is a bit bizarre, isn't it?
0:42:53 > 0:42:55Because in Europe at this time,
0:42:55 > 0:42:57they're making quite sophisticated stone tools.
0:42:57 > 0:42:59What's going on here?
0:42:59 > 0:43:02We're in a completely different part of the world.
0:43:02 > 0:43:04In Europe there are different resources,
0:43:04 > 0:43:07different animals and different kinds of stone.
0:43:07 > 0:43:09You have large cobbles of flint in Europe,
0:43:09 > 0:43:12but you don't have large cobbles of flint here
0:43:12 > 0:43:15in south-east Asia and south China.
0:43:15 > 0:43:19But there is something else here and Jo thinks they could have used it
0:43:19 > 0:43:23to make tools just as sophisticated as European ones.
0:43:25 > 0:43:27Bamboo.
0:43:29 > 0:43:31Why would you go to so much trouble
0:43:31 > 0:43:34to make a sophisticated stone tool, beautifully shaped,
0:43:34 > 0:43:36when you can take bamboo and use that
0:43:36 > 0:43:39and throw it away when you've finished?
0:43:39 > 0:43:40It's everywhere.
0:43:40 > 0:43:42You can always get it again, next valley along.
0:43:47 > 0:43:50Jo believes that the crude stone tools
0:43:50 > 0:43:54were just used to chop down and work bamboo.
0:43:54 > 0:43:56Ooh, it's going to split.
0:43:56 > 0:43:57- Right.- Hooray!
0:43:59 > 0:44:00Excellent.
0:44:00 > 0:44:03So, you carry it down the slope and I'll follow.
0:44:03 > 0:44:05SHE LAUGHS
0:44:08 > 0:44:10Watch your step there.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13- Is it slippery?- It is.- Whoa!
0:44:13 > 0:44:15Perfect.
0:44:15 > 0:44:19It's a tantalising idea, but it's not easy to believe
0:44:19 > 0:44:20that a flimsy bit of bamboo
0:44:20 > 0:44:24could ever do the job of a sharp stone tool.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26We need to put it to the test.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29You just want to make a small knife. You've got a flake.
0:44:29 > 0:44:30- Right.- Just saw it.
0:44:30 > 0:44:35You can open up the cut by bending the bamboo.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40- The next step is to thin the edge. - I'll trim that, actually.
0:44:40 > 0:44:44Just cut it on the inside of the bamboo,
0:44:44 > 0:44:46and it should work very well.
0:44:46 > 0:44:48It has a completely different texture to wood.
0:44:48 > 0:44:53The fibres are very long, very even, everything's very predictable.
0:44:53 > 0:44:55There's no knots in it.
0:44:55 > 0:44:57- No.- And it's as simple as that.
0:44:57 > 0:44:59Cos I think I'm about done.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02- Really?- Yeah. You're behind.
0:45:02 > 0:45:04SHE BREATHES IN
0:45:04 > 0:45:06It's pretty sharp stuff.
0:45:06 > 0:45:09Bamboo's sharpness comes from silica,
0:45:09 > 0:45:12a hard mineral also found in sand.
0:45:12 > 0:45:15I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to
0:45:15 > 0:45:17butcher a chicken with it, though.
0:45:17 > 0:45:20CHICKENS CLUCK
0:45:20 > 0:45:24- What are you making now? - Right, I'm making an arrowhead.
0:45:24 > 0:45:28And so I'll just start to shape the point.
0:45:28 > 0:45:33We don't know if ancient people used bamboo arrowheads,
0:45:33 > 0:45:34but it seemed like a good way
0:45:34 > 0:45:37to test the limits of bamboo technology.
0:45:39 > 0:45:44- Ah, a very snug fit. Here you are. - Now we need to shoot something!
0:45:44 > 0:45:45Yeah.
0:45:48 > 0:45:51First, I want to see what Jo's bamboo knife is capable of.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54This is going to be somebody's dinner, hopefully.
0:45:54 > 0:45:56Well, maybe ours.
0:45:56 > 0:45:58Right.
0:45:58 > 0:46:00OK, how about the leg?
0:46:03 > 0:46:04Oh...
0:46:07 > 0:46:10You have to saw a bit, but it's getting through it.
0:46:12 > 0:46:14Ah, this is pretty good, Jo.
0:46:14 > 0:46:16- Look at this.- Good.
0:46:18 > 0:46:21Right, we've just disjointed a leg. So that's...
0:46:21 > 0:46:24The bamboo has got through skin, it's got through ligament as well,
0:46:24 > 0:46:26so it's doing pretty well, I'd say.
0:46:26 > 0:46:27How about that?
0:46:27 > 0:46:30And just how effective is a bamboo arrow?
0:46:30 > 0:46:32I'm not going to be too adventurous.
0:46:32 > 0:46:34Shall I try the arrowhead you just made?
0:46:34 > 0:46:36Right. Go for it.
0:46:36 > 0:46:38You don't mind if I step 20 metres aside?
0:46:38 > 0:46:40Yeah, you keep well to one side, Jo.
0:46:40 > 0:46:44- I'm well away.- I wouldn't trust me with this at all. Ha-ha.
0:46:44 > 0:46:47Let's have a look at this, then.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49Whoa!
0:46:49 > 0:46:51Can you see that, stuck in the ground?
0:46:55 > 0:46:57How about we try the cabbage?
0:46:57 > 0:46:59Look at that, though!
0:46:59 > 0:47:02That's a bamboo arrow embedded in a bit of wood.
0:47:05 > 0:47:07- Excellent! - APPLAUSE
0:47:07 > 0:47:09Arrow in a cabbage. Look!
0:47:12 > 0:47:15Well, that's pretty impressive for bamboo technology, I think.
0:47:15 > 0:47:16Now you've killed a cabbage,
0:47:16 > 0:47:19we can have that for dinner with the chicken.
0:47:19 > 0:47:21Excellent.
0:47:22 > 0:47:26Bamboo turns out to be surprisingly versatile.
0:47:26 > 0:47:30So it's at least possible that modern humans from Africa were here
0:47:30 > 0:47:35using sophisticated tools made not of stone, but of bamboo.
0:47:37 > 0:47:39But that still doesn't prove
0:47:39 > 0:47:43that the Chinese came out of Africa with everybody else.
0:47:45 > 0:47:49However, there is something that could settle this debate
0:47:49 > 0:47:52of where the Chinese come from once and for all.
0:47:53 > 0:47:58I'm meeting Professor Jin Li, one of China's leading geneticists.
0:47:58 > 0:48:02Recently, he led a project that set out to prove
0:48:02 > 0:48:06that the Chinese evolved independently from everyone else,
0:48:06 > 0:48:09from Homo erectus here in China.
0:48:10 > 0:48:13Before the project started,
0:48:13 > 0:48:15I was hoping that I could identify
0:48:15 > 0:48:18or could be able to find the evidence
0:48:18 > 0:48:21that supports independent origin of Chinese in China,
0:48:21 > 0:48:25because I'm Chinese and came from China,
0:48:25 > 0:48:27and through the education process
0:48:27 > 0:48:31I always believed that there's something special about Chinese.
0:48:34 > 0:48:36He singled out a male genetic marker,
0:48:36 > 0:48:41which only appeared about 80,000 years ago in Africa.
0:48:41 > 0:48:46So any man who carries that marker must have recent African ancestors
0:48:46 > 0:48:51and can't be descended from the more ancient Asian Homo erectus.
0:48:52 > 0:48:58Jin took DNA from over 160 ethnic groups around east Asia -
0:48:58 > 0:49:00over 12,000 samples.
0:49:07 > 0:49:10And so, what did you find?
0:49:10 > 0:49:15We did not see any even one single individual
0:49:15 > 0:49:17that could be considered
0:49:17 > 0:49:21as the descendant of the Homo erectus in China.
0:49:21 > 0:49:28Rather, everybody was a descendant of our ancestors from Africa.
0:49:28 > 0:49:31The result couldn't have been any clearer.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34How did that make you feel as a Chinese person?
0:49:34 > 0:49:40After I saw the evidences that we generated in my laboratory,
0:49:40 > 0:49:42I think we should all be happy with that
0:49:42 > 0:49:47because, after all, modern humans from different parts of the world
0:49:47 > 0:49:49are not so different from each other
0:49:49 > 0:49:51and we are very close relatives.
0:49:51 > 0:49:53That's great. Thank you.
0:49:55 > 0:49:59So, Africa is the home of the Chinese.
0:49:59 > 0:50:03Jin Li's research confirms that their ancestors, too,
0:50:03 > 0:50:05were part of that tiny group
0:50:05 > 0:50:10that left the continent around 70,000 years ago.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13And genetics is also helping us understand
0:50:13 > 0:50:16how people spread through Asia.
0:50:16 > 0:50:19Our ancestors reached Siberia very early on,
0:50:19 > 0:50:22but there was another even earlier migration route
0:50:22 > 0:50:26spreading along the coast of southern Asia
0:50:26 > 0:50:28and eventually reaching China.
0:50:33 > 0:50:38One day, as we push forward the frontiers of genetic research,
0:50:38 > 0:50:42we may even discover the origin of those Chinese features.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45So if they weren't a result of adaptation to cold,
0:50:45 > 0:50:48where might they have come from?
0:50:48 > 0:50:53It could simply be chance or it could be down to sex.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56If particular features are considered attractive
0:50:56 > 0:50:59in a population, then people with those features
0:50:59 > 0:51:03are much more likely to pass their genes on to the next generation.
0:51:03 > 0:51:05And if that group then goes on to flourish,
0:51:05 > 0:51:09those features could become very widespread.
0:51:12 > 0:51:17And the handful of people with these features certainly did flourish.
0:51:17 > 0:51:21Their descendants filled the vast spaces of Asia.
0:51:23 > 0:51:27And eventually, they would move on from hunting and gathering
0:51:27 > 0:51:30to build one of the greatest civilisations of the world.
0:51:36 > 0:51:41In this city, the hub of the world's second-largest economy,
0:51:41 > 0:51:43it feels like I'm on a different planet
0:51:43 > 0:51:46to the one inhabited by those hunter-gatherers.
0:51:46 > 0:51:49But is it possible to look back into pre-history
0:51:49 > 0:51:55and find those early steps, the seeds of civilisation, in China?
0:52:04 > 0:52:07What was it that turned hunter-gatherers
0:52:07 > 0:52:09into empire builders?
0:52:11 > 0:52:16I'm travelling through the awe-inspiring landscape of Guilin
0:52:16 > 0:52:21in south China in search of the key to their success.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42This is the Zengpiyan Cave.
0:52:42 > 0:52:47Excavations here tell us it was once lived in by hunter-gatherers.
0:52:48 > 0:52:52And in 2001, a wonderful discovery was made.
0:53:01 > 0:53:03These fragments are so precious
0:53:03 > 0:53:06that I'm not even allowed to touch them.
0:53:06 > 0:53:11They are what remains of one of the oldest pots in China.
0:53:11 > 0:53:15In fact, one of the oldest pots in the world.
0:53:24 > 0:53:27So, who made this pot?
0:53:27 > 0:53:31Well, the people living in this cave so many thousands of years ago
0:53:31 > 0:53:34would have been nomadic hunter-gatherers,
0:53:34 > 0:53:37still living an ancient lifestyle in many ways.
0:53:37 > 0:53:41But those insignificant-looking crude pieces of pot
0:53:41 > 0:53:46mark a great technological leap forward.
0:53:46 > 0:53:49So prehistoric pottery has also been found in this cave?
0:53:49 > 0:53:52Pots are something we take for granted.
0:53:52 > 0:53:55But for those ancient hunter-gatherers,
0:53:55 > 0:53:59pottery was part of a completely new way of life.
0:54:01 > 0:54:03So how did they do it?
0:54:07 > 0:54:10I'm meeting a team of experimental archaeologists
0:54:10 > 0:54:13who think they might have the answer.
0:54:13 > 0:54:15The first breakthrough must have been
0:54:15 > 0:54:19finding out how to stop the pots cracking when they were fired,
0:54:19 > 0:54:22tempering them by mixing calcite rock with the clay.
0:54:22 > 0:54:26And they even have an idea how the pots might have been shaped
0:54:26 > 0:54:29thousands of years before the invention of the potter's wheel.
0:54:29 > 0:54:31Typical.
0:54:31 > 0:54:32This is very clever.
0:54:32 > 0:54:35They've dug a pit here to basically give us the form of the pot,
0:54:35 > 0:54:37almost like a mould,
0:54:37 > 0:54:40and then we're pressing this clay in little slabs
0:54:40 > 0:54:42down into the preformed pit.
0:54:44 > 0:54:46Transforming clay into hard pottery
0:54:46 > 0:54:49requires firing at a high temperature.
0:54:49 > 0:54:52Today, this is done at 1,000 degrees Celsius in a kiln,
0:54:52 > 0:54:57way beyond the capabilities of those hunter-gatherers.
0:55:02 > 0:55:04They would have had open fires,
0:55:04 > 0:55:07which only produce temperatures of about 250 degrees.
0:55:07 > 0:55:11I'm quite doubtful this is going to be enough.
0:55:16 > 0:55:19So, how's our pot?
0:55:19 > 0:55:22Ooh! I think that's it.
0:55:22 > 0:55:25I think that's our pot there and it looks OK!
0:55:31 > 0:55:33Fantastic!
0:55:35 > 0:55:38There are many different theories about why
0:55:38 > 0:55:41the Chinese hunter-gatherers might have started making pots.
0:55:41 > 0:55:44Some people say it was a symbol of prestige.
0:55:44 > 0:55:46But the Chinese archaeologists think
0:55:46 > 0:55:49that the explanation is much more simple - cooking.
0:55:52 > 0:55:56Pots meant that a wider range of food could be cooked and stored -
0:55:56 > 0:55:59vital in hard times.
0:55:59 > 0:56:05And by 9,000 years ago, there was another innovation - farming.
0:56:05 > 0:56:09One of the things that those early Chinese potters
0:56:09 > 0:56:11would have been eating was wild rice.
0:56:11 > 0:56:14It certainly wouldn't have been the main source of food,
0:56:14 > 0:56:15because it was hard to collect
0:56:15 > 0:56:18and didn't give much energy in return.
0:56:18 > 0:56:21But, despite the availability of other vegetables,
0:56:21 > 0:56:24it was rice that became more and more important,
0:56:24 > 0:56:29and even crucial, to the early success of the Chinese.
0:56:29 > 0:56:31This looks good, doesn't it?
0:56:31 > 0:56:34But wild rice doesn't produce much grain.
0:56:34 > 0:56:36How was such an unpromising plant
0:56:36 > 0:56:39changed into the food that would feed a continent?
0:56:44 > 0:56:47Well, one of those early farmers
0:56:47 > 0:56:52must have stumbled on a way of tricking nature.
0:56:57 > 0:56:59Rice needs plenty of water,
0:56:59 > 0:57:02so I'm helping the farmers irrigate their paddy field,
0:57:02 > 0:57:03creating the type of watery,
0:57:03 > 0:57:07marshy environment that rice naturally grows in.
0:57:07 > 0:57:11But when rice is deprived of water, it does something interesting.
0:57:11 > 0:57:13It starts to produce masses of seeds.
0:57:13 > 0:57:16So what the early farmers hit on was a cunning plan.
0:57:16 > 0:57:21To get rice to do just that by creating an artificial drought.
0:57:27 > 0:57:31Someone came up with the idea of filling paddy fields up with water
0:57:31 > 0:57:34and then allowing it to evaporate.
0:57:34 > 0:57:38It's as though the rice plants expect a drought and panic,
0:57:38 > 0:57:42producing many more seeds - grains of rice.
0:57:44 > 0:57:46Probably one of the things which made rice
0:57:46 > 0:57:49so appealing to hunter-gatherers and made them want to grow it,
0:57:49 > 0:57:53was that you could store the seeds for food during the winter.
0:57:53 > 0:57:57Once there was more food and it could be relied on,
0:57:57 > 0:57:58populations boomed.
0:57:58 > 0:58:01Families settled down, they started to build villages,
0:58:01 > 0:58:04towns, and eventually cities.
0:58:06 > 0:58:10These humble plants represent the end of a journey
0:58:10 > 0:58:15for Chinese hunter-gatherers and the beginnings of something new -
0:58:15 > 0:58:18farming and civilisation.
0:58:18 > 0:58:22It's no exaggeration to say that this development was the foundation
0:58:22 > 0:58:26of the most successful group of humans living today.
0:58:26 > 0:58:29And the rest is history.