400,000 years ago, Earth was home to multiple human species – each with their own technologies, cultures, and evolutionary adaptations. Yet within a geological eyeblink, only one remained. This documentary examines the controversial evidence suggesting our ancestors didn't simply outlast their evolutionary cousins, but actively displaced them through competition and conflict.
Recent archaeological discoveries and genetic analysis have revealed a pattern more disturbing than our textbooks prepared us for – wherever Homo sapiens expanded, other human species soon disappeared. The timing was too consistent to be coincidence, challenging conventional narratives about our rise to global dominance.
In this exploration of humanity's forgotten war, you'll discover:
• How at least six different human species once coexisted across Earth
• Why Neanderthals, despite their larger brains and physical strength, vanished shortly after contact with our ancestors
• The genetic evidence showing we interbred with species we may have helped eliminate
• Archaeological sites where Neanderthals appear to have retreated to increasingly marginal territories
• The surprising sophistication of other human species, including their art and symbolic thinking
• How patterns established during this prehistoric competition continue to shape human conflict today
• What modern neuroscience reveals about our tendency toward ingroup favoritism and outgroup competition
The extinction of our evolutionary cousins represents an irreversible loss of human diversity. By understanding this ancient tragedy, we gain insight not just into our past, but into the psychological patterns that continue to drive competition between human groups in the present – and how we might transcend them in the future.
[SOURCES]
1. "The Complete World of Human Evolution," Chris Stringer and Peter Andrews, Thames & Hudson, 2020.
2. "The Dawn of Human Culture," Richard Klein and Blake Edgar, Wiley, 2002.
3. "The Neanderthals Rediscovered," Dimitra Papagianni and Michael Morse, Thames & Hudson, 2015.
4. "A Draft Sequence of the Neandertal Genome," Green et al., Science, 2010.
5. "The Neandertal Genome and Ancient DNA Authenticity," Prüfer et al., EMBO Journal, 2014.
6. "Neanderthal Behaviour, Diet, and Disease Inferred from Ancient DNA in Dental Calculus," Nature, 2017.
7. "Ancient Admixture in Human History," Patterson et al., Genetics, 2012.
8. "Reconstructing the DNA Methylation Maps of the Neandertal and the Denisovan," Science, 2014.
9. "A High-Coverage Genome Sequence from an Archaic Denisovan Individual," Meyer et al., Science, 2012.
10. "The Fate of Neanderthals: A Reassessment Fifty Years after Their Discovery," Harvati, Evolutionary Anthropology, 2007.
Информация по комментариям в разработке