- há 20 horas
NOVA-S52E14-Human - Neanderthal Encounters
NOVA-S52E14-Humano - Encontros Neandertais
Por 400.000 anos, os neandertais prosperaram em toda a frígida e Idade do Gelo da Europa.
O que aconteceu quando o Homo sapiens chegou, e como esses encontros mudaram nossa espécie – incluindo nosso DNA – de maneiras ainda conosco hoje?
NOVA PBS – 2025
NOVA-S52E14-Humano - Encontros Neandertais
Por 400.000 anos, os neandertais prosperaram em toda a frígida e Idade do Gelo da Europa.
O que aconteceu quando o Homo sapiens chegou, e como esses encontros mudaram nossa espécie – incluindo nosso DNA – de maneiras ainda conosco hoje?
NOVA PBS – 2025
Categoria
📚
AprendizadoTranscrição
00:00.
00:02.
00:04.
00:06.
00:08.
00:10.
00:12.
00:14.
00:16.
00:18.
00:20.
00:22.
00:24.
00:26.
00:28The Neanderthals were masters of their environment.
00:31They had evolved here for hundreds of thousands of years.
00:34And then, they met us.
00:38Neanderthal homo sapiens interbreeding.
00:41People were just not ready to accept that.
00:44What really happened to our powerful human cousins?
00:50Human.
00:55Neanderthal encounters.
00:59Right now.
01:01On NOVA.
01:03.
01:05.
01:08.
01:09.
01:10.
01:12.
01:13.
01:14.
01:15.
01:16.
01:17.
01:19A CIDADE NO BRASIL
01:49Some time around 20,000 to 30,000 years ago, a child was born into a new world.
02:19The first child born onto a planet in which we, Homo sapiens, were alone.
02:26A CIDADE NO BRASIL
02:31This was the first time in history that only one species of human walked this earth.
02:37All the others were now gone.
02:42And in a tale written by the sole survivors, it's actually quite easy to forget that we weren't destined to be the only ones.
02:50And yet here we are.
02:52How this happened is one of the most poignant chapters in the human story.
02:59And it's one that's etched into the DNA of every single one of us alive today.
03:05For hundreds of thousands of years, Homo sapiens evolved in Africa.
03:3160,000 years ago, some dispersed into the Middle East.
03:42And over generations continued onwards as far as Australia.
03:52But our species didn't stop there.
03:55Other groups began to make their way north into Europe.
04:03For thousands of years, Europe had been out of reach to Homo sapiens.
04:19Repelled by its icy climate.
04:21But now, a shift in conditions opened up a route into this new realm.
04:40And some members of our species left the familiar behind.
04:44And stepped into the unknown.
04:58We don't really know why they came.
05:01Was it a romantic notion, like pure curiosity?
05:06Or was it something much more practical?
05:08Say, the need for food?
05:09Or perhaps it was the same forces that drive migrants today.
05:14That need for shelter and safety.
05:20We don't know the exact routes they took.
05:25But by following rivers and coasts.
05:29Or wandering along mountain ranges like this.
05:32They slowly made their way into new lands.
05:51And not long after these migrants reached Europe,
05:54they would have encountered something unexpected.
05:57When they got here, they would have discovered
06:01that another species had beat them to it.
06:21Two other human species were widespread at the time.
06:24To the east, from Siberia to Southeast Asia,
06:29lived the mysterious Denisovans.
06:32Known only to us from DNA preserved in a few fossils.
06:41Across lands to the west.
06:43All the way from Russia to the Atlantic coast of Europe.
06:47Within Neanderthals.
06:54Homo sapiens were latecomers to Europe.
06:59It had been home to the Neanderthals
07:01for almost 400,000 years before we showed up.
07:08Now these homo sapiens venturing into Europe
07:11would have met another sort of human.
07:14People who looked a lot like us,
07:21but with obvious differences.
07:30We can only imagine what these early migrants
07:33would have made of this other species.
07:36when our two cultures, perhaps just two families,
07:46encountered each other for the first time.
07:49Neanderthals were close relatives of homo sapiens.
07:50Neanderthals were close relatives of homo sapiens.
07:51Neanderthals were close relatives of homo sapiens.
07:52Neanderthals were close relatives of homo sapiens.
07:53Neanderthals were close relatives of homo sapiens.
07:54Neanderthals were close relatives of homo sapiens.
07:55Neanderthals were close relatives of homo sapiens.
07:56Neanderthals were close relatives of homo sapiens.
07:57Neanderthals were close relatives of homo sapiens.
07:58Neanderthals were close relatives of homo sapiens.
07:59Neanderthals were close relatives of homo sapiens.
08:02Neanderthals were close relatives of homo sapiens.
08:04Neanderthals were close relatives of homo sapiens.
08:05Neanderthals were close relatives of homo sapiens.
08:10Néanderthals were close relatives of Homo sapiens.
08:19But we had evolved along separate branches of the human family tree.
08:27There's often this belief that we evolved from Néanderthals.
08:32So we came from Néanderthals. Actually, that's incorrect.
08:35We shared a common ancestor with them.
08:36And then, due to chance and the environment,
08:38we went on these two really different evolutionary journeys.
08:42So we evolved, Homo sapiens, for Africa.
08:46We ended up taller and leaner.
08:48Now the Néanderthals evolved for much cooler, more wooded environments.
08:56So they were shorter.
08:58On average, the males were about 5'5".
09:02They had shorter limbs, and they seemed to have had bigger torsos.
09:08And they used a lot of brute force, because they were close-range hunters.
09:18The Néanderthals were masters of their environment.
09:20They had evolved here for hundreds of thousands of years.
09:23If you were going to place a bet on who would be left standing,
09:26you'd probably bet on the obvious choice, and it wouldn't be us.
09:30The Néanderthals were clearly highly-skilled survivors.
09:48Yet, in the 19th century, when the first Néanderthal fossils were unearthed,
09:53scientists quickly jumped to conclusions
09:59that have persisted ever since.
10:06As a result, Néanderthals haven't had the best PR.
10:11If somebody calls you a Néanderthal, it's probably not a compliment.
10:18And that stereotype of Néanderthals has been with us since the very beginning.
10:22And it kind of suited us to see ourselves as the pinnacle of evolution,
10:26and them as these knuckle-dragging ape men.
10:29But partly, that stereotype is actually just a mistake of science.
10:34Paleoanthropology at the time was quite a new science.
10:36And when they came to reconstruct this one Néanderthal called La Chapelle-Aussée,
10:40they portrayed it as kind of really hunched over and knuckle-dragging,
10:44which was just wrong.
10:46This kind of brutish, hairy Néanderthal,
10:50looking like it's about to attack, it's incredibly aggressive.
10:54I personally love Néanderthals.
10:56And the more we learn about them, the more we study them,
11:00the more we discover about them,
11:02the more we realise that this is actually incredibly incorrect.
11:06This now outdated image of the simple, brutish caveman
11:19is finally being replaced
11:21with a picture of a once vibrant, thriving culture.
11:28We keep finding things at Néanderthal sites that really challenge us.
11:37Things like beaded shells with pigmentation on them,
11:40almost like they're being used as necklaces.
11:43Eagle talons, probably for a similar purpose.
11:46And then there's my actual favourite, which is evidence of feathers.
11:53But not just any feathers.
11:54No, the Néanderthals seem to be really interested in black and coloured feathers
11:59from things like red kites.
12:01And you've got to wonder,
12:02why were they so interested in those particular colours?
12:06And it's presumably because they're high value, they're beautiful.
12:12You kind of have an impression of them
12:14as having these incredible headdresses
12:16or maybe cloaks made of these brilliant, bright feathers.
12:20When you put this all together,
12:25you paint a picture of a Néanderthal
12:27not as this aggressive creature
12:30standing behind a rock with a massive club,
12:33but actually as these beings
12:35very interested in adorning themselves.
12:39Interested in looking beautiful
12:41with necklaces and gorgeous coloured headdresses.
12:44Suddenly, you're looking at beings
12:52who aren't just interested in food and shelter.
12:56They're interested in the way they are seen by the world.
12:59This, all this, makes them tangibly human.
13:10For thousands of years,
13:12Homo sapiens and Néanderthals
13:13lived in close proximity.
13:18But how close were we?
13:29For decades, most assumed
13:31interbreeding between our two species
13:34didn't happen.
13:40But in the early 2000s,
13:42this was called into question
13:44by new finds in Romania.
13:51Bone fragments dating back
13:52to around 40,000 years ago,
13:55which were painstakingly reassembled
13:59to reveal humans
14:01with a mysterious mix of features.
14:04It even smells like a fossil.
14:12This, I assume, is Owase-1.
14:15This one is Owase-1?
14:17And that's Owase-2.
14:19That's Owase-2.
14:21This is quite special
14:22because I've read about them.
14:24I've studied them.
14:26They're hugely significant fossils,
14:27but I've never seen the originals.
14:31I've never been this close to them.
14:33It looks and it is modern Homo sapiens.
14:37Yeah.
14:38But it has some features
14:39which are more like Neanderthal,
14:42like this one.
14:43It's quite clear.
14:44It's a mandible of a modern human
14:46with this chin.
14:47There's a chin.
14:48The chin, yeah.
14:49And Neanderthals don't have a chin.
14:50Neanderthals' chin kind of recedes.
14:51But then you see the size of the molars,
14:54which are really huge.
14:56More a Neanderthal feature.
14:58Modern sapiens with Neanderthal teeth.
15:02Yeah, what's it, too?
15:03It has the same hybrid features.
15:06Like if you look at the face.
15:08You look at that
15:09and you do think that's Homo sapiens.
15:12And then it has these features on it
15:14which are more Neanderthal,
15:16like this occipital bun here at the back,
15:18that bulge at the back of the skull here.
15:20Yeah.
15:21That's kind of strange.
15:23It's not a Neanderthal,
15:25but it has Neanderthal features
15:27which prompt us to think about
15:29some sort of interbreeding.
15:32Neanderthal, Homo sapiens interbreeding.
15:35It was pretty controversial.
15:37People were just not ready to accept that.
15:46Around a decade after the bones were discovered
15:49came a revolutionary breakthrough.
15:51Advances in genetic analysis
15:55allowed scientists to extract DNA
15:58from ancient fossils.
16:04Proving these two species could
16:07and did produce offspring.
16:10How did it feel to be proven right to be vindicated,
16:16especially over something so controversial?
16:20We felt relieved.
16:21Yeah.
16:23Like, okay.
16:25Now you know.
16:26Yeah, we were happy to be raised.
16:30Yeah.
16:31You know, people spend their whole lives,
16:34their whole lives trying to find a fossil
16:37as significant as this.
16:39and, wow, it's just amazing.
16:51Since the discovery of Awase 1,
16:54evidence has continued to grow.
16:57Proving hybrids like this
16:58were not just possible,
17:00but may have been relatively common.
17:02We'll never know the full story
17:07of Awase 1 and the other hybrids.
17:10And to be honest,
17:10we'll never know the full circumstances
17:12under which they were conceived.
17:14For all we know,
17:15it could have been non-consensual
17:17or it could have been the result
17:18of a romantic notion like love.
17:20Or it might have been the result
17:22of a practical decision,
17:23like as part of a trade agreement.
17:24But whatever it was,
17:30what must it have been like
17:32to have been a hybrid child?
17:37Did these children feel like they belonged
17:40or were they teased and ostracized?
17:44We'll never know,
17:46but what we do know,
17:48because I held Awase 1 in my hands,
17:50is that they existed.
17:53And so somebody loved them
17:54and somebody was raising them to adulthood.
17:57And so we tangibly know
17:59that the Neanderthals and the Homo sapiens,
18:01they didn't just meet,
18:03they joined.
18:11We now know that for a time at least,
18:14Homo sapiens and Neanderthals
18:15managed to live alongside one another.
18:17But survival in this region
18:25meant braving, challenging conditions
18:27that would push both species to their limits.
18:40Because it's likely Homo sapiens arrived here
18:43during a brief thaw in the weather.
18:47And by doing so,
18:48they had walked into a trap.
18:51Within just a few centuries,
19:08Europe's winters became colder,
19:11drier,
19:12and more hostile.
19:15Unrecognizable to us today.
19:17Rainfall in some areas fell
19:24to half its modern level.
19:27And much of the continent
19:29became tundra.
19:31A vast, inhospitable plain.
19:39Homo sapiens had to try to adjust
19:42to this colder world.
20:00There's no way for them to have known it,
20:02but before the first Homo sapiens arrived,
20:05most of Europe would have been
20:06in the depths of winter.
20:10Ice sheets like this one
20:11would have spread from here
20:12all the way down to Britain.
20:18It's currently minus eight degrees.
20:21I am wearing so many layers.
20:24It's actually ridiculous.
20:26And yet I am still completely miserable.
20:29It is so cold,
20:30I can't feel parts of my face.
20:33These families,
20:34they were here
20:36and they were trying to keep
20:37young children alive.
20:38these conditions
20:40would have been life-threatening.
20:49While Homo sapiens
20:51had originally adapted
20:52to the warmer weather in Africa,
20:58Neanderthals had evolved
21:00to survive in colder climates
21:03over almost 400,000 years.
21:13It's thought they stored
21:15more brown fat
21:16than Homo sapiens.
21:18This burns more calories
21:20and generates more heat,
21:22conserving energy
21:24in the cold.
21:25and their larger nasal passages
21:30provided increased surface area,
21:34warming and moistening
21:35the icy air
21:36before it reached the lungs.
21:39without the Neanderthals' adaptations
21:54or knowledge,
21:55these early European Homo sapiens
21:58would have been doing
21:59everything they could
22:00just to cling on.
22:02And yet the bitter cold
22:09was just the beginning.
22:20This glacier
22:21is a remnant
22:22of one of the great ice sheets
22:24that have grown
22:25and shrunk from the poles
22:26for millennia.
22:27Deep within
22:34are clues
22:35about the world
22:36these Homo sapiens
22:37would have found themselves in.
22:46We're working
22:47in mountain glaciers
22:49like Bulgawana
22:49because we can use
22:51the evidence
22:52of how the glaciers
22:52have changed
22:53in the past
22:54to understand
22:54how they behaved
22:56in response
22:56to climate change.
22:57Many of the places
22:59we live in now
22:59where I live in Bergen
23:00would have been
23:01underneath a kilometre of ice.
23:03I mean there were times
23:03when Britain was
23:04part of that.
23:06So this is where
23:07we're drilling the ice core.
23:08So it's manual drilling.
23:09Yes exactly
23:10and there's blades
23:11at the bottom
23:11that are cutting
23:12through the ice.
23:13How tough is that?
23:13It's quite hard work.
23:16And then we lift it out
23:17and we bring it over here.
23:22Look at that.
23:24If we hold it up
23:24to the light
23:25we can see the air bubbles.
23:26So basically
23:27this is effectively
23:28a time capsule.
23:29Yes.
23:30And this is young ice
23:31from Fulgawana Glacier.
23:36But if this was
23:36deep old ice core
23:38those air bubbles
23:39would tell us
23:40about what the atmosphere
23:41was like in the past.
23:45We can look at
23:45what we see
23:46from the ice cores
23:47in Greenland
23:47and this shows us
23:48how the climate changed
23:49through that period
23:50in the North Atlantic region.
23:51there was a relatively
23:53cold
23:54but stable climate
23:56from 70,000 to 60,000 years ago
23:57and then
23:58between 60,000 and 30,000 years ago
24:00the climate
24:01in this region
24:01jumped
24:02by 8 to 10 degrees
24:04warmer
24:04over maybe
24:05one or two decades.
24:06That's a lot.
24:07It's huge.
24:08It's huge.
24:08And that cycle
24:09is repeated
24:10all through that period
24:11and then it cooled again
24:12and then jumped
24:13and this carried on
24:14and we see then
24:15a cold
24:16but slightly more stable
24:17climate
24:18before we
24:18then warm
24:19into the present day.
24:20I mean
24:21how do you exist
24:23if the climate
24:23changes like that
24:24in such an extreme fashion?
24:26Well it's very challenging
24:27it's maybe not even possible
24:28because
24:29everything you know
24:31about how to live
24:31how to raise children
24:33becomes
24:34in 10, 20 years
24:35totally changes.
24:36Totally changes.
24:41Over just
24:42a few hundred years
24:44entire ecosystems
24:47transformed.
24:50Forests became
24:55barren plains
24:56lakes dried up
25:03and rivers
25:06froze over.
25:14The real enemy
25:16wasn't just cold
25:18it was change.
25:26As landscape shifted
25:28herds of animals
25:30disappeared
25:31and sources of food
25:37grew scarce.
25:38imagine what it would be like
25:48for our ancestors
25:49to live
25:50in this world
25:52where the land
25:53of their grandparents
25:53was not the land
25:55of their grandchildren
25:56and when that happens
25:58intergenerational knowledge
26:00knowledge that's passed on
26:01from one generation
26:02to the next
26:03that's so important
26:05for survival
26:05in these environments
26:06suddenly
26:08that knowledge
26:10isn't actually
26:10very useful
26:11because the plants
26:12the animals
26:13the landscape
26:14it's all different.
26:19To survive
26:20Homo sapiens
26:22had to be adaptable
26:23roaming farther
26:27in search
26:28of dwindling resources
26:30that might not
26:32be there.
26:38Homo sapiens
26:40and Neanderthals
26:40would have been
26:41forced to look
26:42for better conditions
26:44wherever they could
26:45and seek refuge
26:52in the few
26:53habitable places
26:54they could find.
26:5655,000 years ago
27:16the south of France
27:17was still in the thick
27:19of the ice age
27:20yet compared
27:25to the deep freeze
27:26of the north
27:26it was one
27:28of the more
27:28bearable places
27:29in an otherwise
27:31hostile landscape.
27:40And here
27:41at Grot Mandra
27:42archaeologists
27:44have spent
27:45over three decades
27:46unearthing
27:47its secrets.
27:50layer by layer
27:52revealing a place
27:55that was home
27:56to Neanderthals
27:57for more than
27:5880,000 years.
28:03Shoes off.
28:04Yes.
28:05There we go.
28:06And we are barefoot
28:07because if there was
28:09a flint or a bone
28:10below your feet
28:10you will immediately
28:12feel it.
28:14It's a pretty slow
28:16work as you can see
28:17we only excavated
28:19something like
28:2050 to 60 centimetres
28:21for 33 years.
28:25So here we have
28:26a very nice section
28:27where we can
28:28understand what
28:29happens.
28:30So you have
28:30yellow, black,
28:32orange.
28:34So it's like
28:34a barcode.
28:36And so
28:36very, very
28:37about there
28:37we are at
28:3842,000.
28:39By here
28:40we are at
28:4150,000.
28:42And there
28:42at the step
28:43here
28:44of yellow
28:44sand
28:45we are
28:45at 54,000.
28:46So what you're
28:47seeing here
28:48is phases
28:49of occupation
28:49over 80,000
28:51years.
28:52And because
28:52you've got
28:53incredible resolution
28:54you can really
28:55hone in on that.
28:56There we have
28:57all the records
28:58of all the
28:59societies
28:59how they were
29:00living.
29:01We can
29:02precisely
29:03reconstruct
29:03how these
29:04people were
29:05living in the
29:05landscape.
29:10For millennia
29:11this cave
29:12was home
29:12to
29:13Neanderthals.
29:18But one
29:19layer stood
29:20out.
29:22Containing
29:23finely crafted
29:24tools.
29:31Small
29:32and precise.
29:34Techniques
29:35that suggested
29:36they were made
29:37not by
29:37Neanderthals
29:38but by
29:39Homo sapiens.
29:42A suspicion
29:50confirmed
29:51when the
29:53earth revealed
29:53another
29:54treasure.
29:59So
29:59this is a
30:01molar
30:01from a
30:02child
30:03from a
30:04sapiens
30:04dated
30:04at
30:0554,000.
30:07That then
30:08is conclusive
30:10evidence
30:10that that
30:11layer
30:11with
30:12those
30:13strange
30:14unusual
30:15stone
30:16tools
30:16is
30:16definitely
30:17a
30:17homo sapien.
30:17Yes.
30:18These elements
30:18allow us to
30:19rewrite
30:20a large part
30:21of the
30:22history of
30:22Europe.
30:26These
30:27discoveries
30:27tell us
30:28the story
30:28of one
30:29group of
30:30homo sapiens
30:31among the
30:33first to
30:34come to
30:34Europe.
30:39They had
30:40ventured into
30:41Neanderthal
30:42territory
30:42seeking refuge
30:46in this cave
30:47in the depths
30:48of the Ice Age.
30:49when we
30:52imagine the
30:52past we
30:53often don't
30:53imagine
30:54children we
30:55imagine well
30:56a man a
30:56caveman
30:57right but
30:58actually these
30:59were cave
31:00children but
31:01imagine to
31:02have been
31:03born the
31:04first of
31:04your people
31:05to turn up
31:06there and
31:06we don't
31:07know they
31:07might have
31:07been born
31:07somewhere
31:08else.
31:08but it's
31:09fascinating.
31:11Fantastic yes
31:12suddenly it
31:13became something
31:13very concrete.
31:18Using
31:18advanced dating
31:19techniques
31:20the team were
31:22able to uncover
31:23even more
31:23precise details
31:24about the
31:25people who
31:26lived here.
31:30When you see
31:31this dark
31:32line here
31:32what is dark
31:34here is due
31:35to burning
31:36wood
31:36burning
31:37bronze.
31:38it's when
31:39people come
31:40in the cave
31:40they make
31:41fire and
31:42the roof
31:42became black.
31:43So people
31:44were building
31:44fires.
31:45The fire
31:46created soot
31:47that would
31:48end up on
31:48the roof
31:49and then bits
31:50of the roof
31:50would collapse
31:50and end up
31:51in your
31:51archaeological
31:52layers.
31:53It's literally
31:54telling you
31:55when they're
31:56using this
31:56place.
31:59By counting
32:00the microscopic
32:01layers of
32:02soot deposited
32:02on the cave
32:03ceiling the
32:05team could
32:05tell how
32:06often these
32:07people came
32:07here.
32:08to know
32:12that they
32:13came once
32:14a year
32:15during 40
32:16years.
32:1740 years
32:18it's a
32:19lifetime.
32:20But what
32:21happened to
32:21them?
32:22We know
32:22that after
32:2340 years
32:24suddenly
32:25the population
32:26are no
32:27longer here.
32:28Did they
32:29die?
32:29Did they
32:29move on
32:30over
32:30territory?
32:31We just
32:31don't know.
32:32this
32:33exceptional
32:34site
32:35tells the
32:36story of a
32:38pioneering group
32:39of Homo
32:40sapiens
32:40who lived here
32:41in a break
32:42between tens of
32:44thousands of years
32:45of Neanderthal
32:46occupation.
32:47between tens of
32:49thousands of years
32:50of Neanderthal
32:51occupation.
32:54But then
32:55all traces of
32:56them vanished.
32:58It's one small
32:59but very important
33:01chapter in our
33:02bigger story.
33:04We don't know what
33:05happened to that
33:06particular group of
33:07Homo sapiens from
33:08Grand Mandraal, but
33:09it's likely that their
33:10story reflects what was
33:11unfolding across the
33:12continent.
33:13This wave of
33:15Homo sapiens was
33:16lured into Europe
33:17during a warmer
33:18spell.
33:20They were pioneers
33:20for sure, but
33:22they were trying to
33:23survive in a brand
33:24new environment as
33:26best as they could,
33:27as best as they
33:28knew how really,
33:29finding temporary
33:30places to shelter
33:31before in the blink
33:33of an eye moving
33:34on, or worse,
33:36dying out
33:36completely.
33:37Because that
33:38band of Homo
33:39sapiens from
33:40Grand Mandraal would
33:41be the last of our
33:42species found on this
33:44continent for
33:45thousands of years.
33:52Perhaps unprepared
33:53for the harsh
33:54environment they
33:55faced, this early
33:57wave of Homo sapiens
33:59in Europe did not
34:00survive.
34:01Once again, and for
34:03thousands of years,
34:05it became exclusively
34:07Neanderthal territory.
34:12Neanderthals had survived
34:19while Homo sapiens
34:21died out in Europe.
34:25Yet today, we're the
34:27only ones left.
34:29How did our stories end
34:32so differently?
34:33part of the answer lies
34:50deep within the forests
34:51of northern Spain.
34:53where evidence hints that
35:02even without competition
35:04from Homo sapiens, the
35:06Neanderthals were failing
35:08to cope with the changing
35:09conditions.
35:15A struggle uncovered in a
35:18cave known as the Tunnel
35:20of bones.
35:32Oh, wow.
35:33So this is the famous
35:40El Cidron cave?
35:41Yes, yes.
35:46It's got more character
35:48than I was expecting,
35:49actually.
35:50Here is where we found
35:542,500 Neanderthal bones.
35:58We found 13 Neanderthal
36:01individuals of different
36:03ages and sexes.
36:08Such a diverse group
36:11in terms of individuals,
36:12all found in one spot.
36:15Genetic studies told us
36:16that they are related,
36:17so it's a family group.
36:21We know, for example,
36:23that one female,
36:25we are not completely sure,
36:27genetic information said,
36:29was red hair.
36:31And you know,
36:32when you say that one of
36:34those people had red hair,
36:37it suddenly brings what,
36:41well, just fossils,
36:42really, to life.
36:43It's a cave that's filled with
36:51ghosts.
36:53We think these people were
36:56killed by other group.
37:03This was not a natural death.
37:07Cracked skulls and precise cuts
37:09on the bones suggest that this
37:13was a brutal massacre.
37:1913 people killed by another
37:21Neanderthal group.
37:27But closer analysis of their
37:29remains revealed an even darker
37:33truth.
37:34So what do the bones actually
37:38tell us?
37:40The first thing the bones tell us
37:41is that this Neanderthal group
37:44cannibalized another group.
37:46They were really eating
37:48these 13 individuals?
37:50Yeah.
37:50Yeah.
37:51So how do we know
37:52that this was cannibalism
37:54as opposed to just
37:56straight up murder,
37:57or for that matter,
37:58an animal coming?
38:00Well, because we have seen
38:02in the bones
38:03what we call
38:05cut marks.
38:06And also
38:07we have found
38:09a lot of bones broken
38:11just to get
38:12the narrow.
38:13Yeah.
38:13Oh.
38:14So there are both things.
38:15We have cut marks
38:16and then
38:17they broke the bones
38:18to get the narrow.
38:19Yeah, if you're getting bone marrow,
38:21that is an indication
38:22of cannibalism.
38:23Sure.
38:23Sure.
38:23Yeah.
38:30This murder cannibalism
38:32of 13 members
38:34of a family group
38:36isn't the only
38:37dark thing
38:37that's happening here.
38:39No.
38:40We have other information
38:42in El Citroen Bones,
38:44for example,
38:45here.
38:46Bone defects.
38:48We have found
38:49that one adult
38:51and one adolescent
38:52retains the baby teeth,
38:55in this case,
38:55the cannon.
38:56That's unusual.
38:58That's a congenital anomaly.
38:59And in the
39:00atlas vertebra,
39:01there is a hole
39:03down there
39:03that also
39:04is not normal.
39:06And congenital anomaly
39:08is in defects
39:09that tells us
39:10maybe that
39:11there are
39:12inbreeding
39:13between
39:14related
39:15persons.
39:21So basically
39:22you've got
39:23an inbred population.
39:25Inbreeding
39:26and the
39:27consequences
39:28of that
39:29inbreeding
39:29but
39:30different
39:30generations.
39:32And this
39:33number of anomalies
39:34is high.
39:35It's painting a picture,
39:36isn't it,
39:37of those
39:37final thousands
39:38of years
39:40before they
39:42eventually
39:42became extinct.
39:43I think this
39:44is a silent
39:45problem,
39:47silent pathology.
39:48It's a silent
39:49killer.
39:50It goes down,
39:52but it's
39:53continuously,
39:54next generation,
39:55next generation,
39:56illnesses,
39:57you know,
39:58all those things
39:59at the end
40:00under 16.
40:01thing.
40:06The
40:07Elcidron bones
40:08hint at more
40:09than the suffering
40:10of one family.
40:14Because this
40:15pattern of
40:16starvation,
40:17cannibalism
40:18and violence
40:19was happening
40:20across Europe.
40:23This was a
40:24species
40:25in freefall.
40:26This is a
40:30haunting place.
40:32It's not
40:32exactly Neanderthals
40:33in their heyday,
40:34is it?
40:35If anything,
40:36it's kind of
40:36like the end
40:37of days for them.
40:38They've been
40:39driven into
40:40this evolutionary
40:41cul-de-sac,
40:42reduced to
40:43eating each
40:44other and
40:46having children
40:46with their
40:47relatives.
40:48And that
40:48inbreeding
40:49would have
40:50made them
40:50more susceptible
40:51to disease
40:52if, on the
40:53evolutionary
40:53timescale,
40:5512 o'clock
40:56midnight
40:56represents
40:57extinction
40:57for the
40:58Neanderthals.
40:59This site
41:00is past
41:0111.30.
41:07This once
41:08resilient
41:09species
41:10was now
41:12reduced
41:12to just
41:13a few
41:14isolated
41:14groups
41:15turning
41:17on one
41:18another.
41:26But any
41:28chance
41:29Neanderthals
41:30may have
41:30had
41:30of
41:31weathering
41:31this
41:31storm
41:32was
41:34shattered
41:35by the
41:35return
41:36of another
41:37species.
41:40Homo sapiens.
41:46Several thousand
41:47years after
41:48Homo sapiens
41:49had disappeared
41:50from Europe,
41:51our species
41:53would return.
41:59Waves
42:00of new
42:00settlers
42:01finding their
42:03way into
42:04Europe
42:04for the first
42:06time.
42:09But even
42:10though the
42:10climate
42:11was as
42:11volatile
42:12as ever,
42:14they were not
42:16deterred.
42:16innovations
42:20like weaving
42:21and the
42:22ability
42:22to make
42:23warmer
42:23clothing
42:24likely
42:24increased
42:25infant
42:26survival,
42:27even
42:27in the
42:28harshest
42:29months.
42:30Each
42:31advance,
42:32however
42:32small,
42:33added up,
42:35giving Homo
42:36sapiens
42:36the one
42:38thing
42:38Neanderthals
42:39lacked,
42:41strength
42:41in numbers.
42:46The
42:53Neanderthals
42:54had existed
42:55for around
42:56400,000 years,
43:01developing
43:01a rich
43:02culture
43:03and
43:06withstanding
43:07brutal
43:08conditions.
43:08But the
43:15relentless
43:15climate,
43:17dwindling
43:17resources
43:18and another
43:22species
43:22growing in
43:23strength
43:24all may
43:25have pushed
43:26this once
43:26resilient
43:27species
43:27to the
43:29brink.
43:31But what
43:33delivered
43:33the final
43:35blow?
43:36How does
43:37an entire
43:38species
43:39of human
43:39disappear
43:40from the
43:42face
43:42of the
43:43earth?
43:45Part of
43:46the answer
43:46may lie
43:47in the
43:48smallest
43:48of things,
43:50the genes
43:51we exchanged
43:52in the
43:53form of
43:54our hybrid
43:55children.
44:05I'm going
44:06to try
44:06and do
44:07a demo
44:07to explain
44:07genetics.
44:09So let's
44:09see how
44:10this goes.
44:10Let's
44:10say that
44:11these are
44:11the
44:11Neanderthals
44:12and these
44:12are the
44:12Homo sapiens
44:13and they
44:14interbreed.
44:16We don't
44:17know where
44:17the hybrid
44:18children ended
44:18up.
44:19Did they
44:19end up
44:19with the
44:19Neanderthals
44:20or did
44:20they end
44:20up with
44:20the
44:21Homo sapiens?
44:21So let's
44:21just say
44:22they went
44:23back 50-50
44:24and we
44:26see a
44:26little
44:26Homo sapiens
44:27DNA
44:27in the
44:28Neanderthal
44:28group
44:29and a
44:31little
44:31Neanderthal
44:32DNA
44:32in the
44:32Homo sapiens
44:33group.
44:33The
44:35Neanderthals
44:36lived in
44:37small
44:37isolated
44:37populations
44:38but the
44:39Homo sapiens
44:40were probably
44:40a little bit
44:41better at
44:42keeping their
44:42kids alive
44:43and also
44:43importantly
44:44they were
44:45constantly
44:45replenishing
44:46from soft
44:47populations
44:47in the
44:48Middle East,
44:49Africa
44:49and elsewhere.
44:54Numbers
44:55made all
44:56the
44:56difference.
45:00As
45:01more
45:01Homo sapiens
45:02migrated
45:03into
45:03Europe
45:04Neanderthals
45:05were already
45:06declining.
45:09So when
45:10the two
45:11interbred
45:11the impact
45:12on
45:12Neanderthals
45:13was far
45:14greater.
45:17If you're
45:18a huge
45:19population
45:20that
45:20interbreeding
45:21doesn't have
45:21the same
45:21impact
45:22as it
45:23does
45:23on the
45:24much
45:24smaller
45:24Neanderthal
45:25population
45:25was already
45:26a little
45:27bit
45:27interbred
45:27perhaps
45:28they were
45:29simply
45:29absorbed
45:30into
45:30the
45:31larger
45:31Homo sapiens
45:32population
45:32that just
45:33kept on
45:34replenishing.
45:35Over time
45:37Neanderthal DNA
45:38became increasingly
45:39diluted
45:40by the
45:41much
45:41larger
45:42Homo sapiens
45:43population.
45:44So it
45:45doesn't actually
45:45need to be
45:46this big
45:47act of
45:47aggression
45:48it might
45:48just be
45:48the fact
45:49that we
45:50were there
45:50that we
45:51were interbreeding
45:51with them
45:52and that we
45:52had large
45:53population
45:54sizes
45:54perhaps
45:55that
45:55was
45:56enough
45:57to push
45:58the
45:58Neanderthals
45:59to
45:59extinction.
46:05It was
46:06a perfect
46:07storm
46:07for
46:08Neanderthals.
46:10By
46:11around
46:1240,000
46:13years ago
46:13their
46:14gene pool
46:14was
46:15diminishing
46:15until
46:17only a
46:18handful
46:18of
46:19distinct
46:19Neanderthal
46:20populations
46:21remained.
46:21hanging
46:26on
46:26in
46:26just
46:27a
46:27few
46:27isolated
46:28enclaves.
46:32We
46:32don't know
46:33where
46:33the
46:33last
46:33Neanderthal
46:34outpost
46:34was.
46:35It
46:35was
46:35likely
46:36a
46:36very
46:36remote
46:37part
46:37of
46:37Europe
46:37or
46:38Asia
46:38but
46:39around
46:4040,000
46:41years
46:41ago
46:41that
46:42place
46:42probably
46:42acted
46:43as
46:43a
46:43refuge
46:44to
46:45the
46:45very
46:45last
46:46of
46:46their
46:46kind.
46:54Archaeologists
46:55have pieced
46:55together
46:56what may
46:56be
46:57among
46:57the
46:57final
46:57moments
46:58of
46:58Neanderthal
46:59extinction.
47:04Uncovering
47:05remains
47:05of what
47:06could
47:06be
47:06the
47:07last
47:07surviving
47:08Neanderthal
47:09groups.
47:12Some
47:13of
47:13that
47:13evidence
47:14has
47:15been
47:15discovered
47:15in
47:16coastal
47:16caves
47:16in
47:17southern
47:17Spain.
47:24We
47:25don't
47:25know
47:25what
47:26truly
47:26happened
47:27in
47:27those
47:27final
47:28moments
47:28or
47:29who
47:30was
47:30left
47:30at
47:31the
47:31end.
47:34But
47:35there
47:35was
47:35an
47:35ending.
47:41Because
47:42after
47:42that
47:43Neanderthals
47:45who
47:45had
47:45existed
47:46for
47:47around
47:47400,000
47:49years
47:49vanish
47:54from the
47:55archaeological
47:55record
47:56completely.
47:59Our
48:00remarkable
48:00abilities
48:01to connect,
48:03innovate,
48:03and explore
48:04have led
48:05to our
48:06success.
48:07But
48:08time
48:09and time
48:09again,
48:11that seems
48:11to come
48:12at the
48:12expense
48:13of those
48:14around
48:14us.
48:16Homo
48:16sapiens'
48:17arrival in
48:18Europe
48:18triggered a
48:20slow,
48:21unwitting
48:21war of
48:22attrition
48:22against our
48:25human
48:25cousins
48:26until they
48:28simply
48:28faded away.
48:32But
48:33this wasn't
48:34the only
48:34ending.
48:36After the
48:37last
48:37Neanderthals,
48:38the
48:39Denisovans,
48:40the species
48:40who once
48:41spanned much
48:42of Asia,
48:43may have
48:44survived for
48:45another 10,000
48:46to 20,000
48:47years,
48:48until they
48:49too were
48:50likely overwhelmed
48:51by Homo
48:52sapiens.
48:53This story
48:54starts with
48:55three species,
48:56but it ends
48:56with one.
48:58And it's part
48:58of a wider
48:59pattern that
49:00always goes
49:01the same way.
49:02The survival
49:03of our species
49:03leading to the
49:05demise of
49:06everyone else.
49:14Today,
49:15these events
49:15have faded
49:16from memory.
49:22But it's not
49:23quite the end
49:24of the story
49:25because we
49:27carry a piece
49:28of this history
49:29within us.
49:30One of the
49:35most striking
49:35revelations
49:36over the
49:36last few
49:37years is
49:38that everybody
49:38from outside
49:39of sub-Saharan
49:40Africa has
49:41about 2%
49:42Neanderthal DNA.
49:46And that DNA
49:47is associated
49:48with negative
49:49things like
49:49Crohn's disease,
49:50but it's also
49:51associated with
49:52all kinds of
49:53positives,
49:54like being
49:55better adapted
49:56to the cold.
49:59And now we
50:00know that
50:01Denisovan DNA
50:02has been found
50:03in Homo sapiens
50:03locations.
50:05It could be
50:06as high as
50:075% in the
50:08Philippines,
50:09and it's
50:09associated with
50:10things like
50:10being able to
50:11survive better
50:12at high
50:12altitude.
50:12And if you
50:17think about
50:18it, it
50:19actually makes
50:20perfect sense
50:21because when
50:22we were leaving
50:23Africa, the
50:24Neanderthals and
50:26the Denisovans
50:26had already spent
50:28hundreds of
50:29thousands of
50:30years adapting
50:31and evolving
50:32to their local
50:33environments and
50:35pathogens.
50:36And so what we
50:37were doing by
50:38interbreeding with
50:38them was effectively
50:40a quick fix.
50:41We were adopting
50:42adaptations that
50:44would ultimately
50:45aid our
50:46survival.
50:50No matter
50:52where you're
50:53from, it's
50:54likely you have
50:55traces of
50:56Neanderthal or
50:57Denisovan DNA
50:58within you.
51:01An echo of
51:02the human story
51:04connecting us to
51:05this long line
51:07of distant
51:08ghosts.
51:102% might not
51:11sound like a lot,
51:12but my 2% is
51:13different from
51:14your 2%.
51:15And collectively,
51:17all of that
51:17Neanderthal DNA
51:18that exists within
51:19humans living today
51:21would make up at
51:22least half of the
51:23Neanderthal genome.
51:26And so in a very
51:27real sense,
51:28Neanderthals and
51:29Denisovans have been
51:30assimilated into our
51:31bodies.
51:32And it's just the
51:34loveliest thought,
51:35isn't it?
51:35That they live on
51:37and exist within us.
51:46Our planet was once
51:48home to many
51:49human species.
51:53Bit by bit,
51:55they've all
51:55disappeared.
51:57Leaving only one
51:59to carry on
52:01their legacy.
52:02To carry on
52:04their legacy.
52:04to be continued...
52:06To be continued...
52:07to be continued...
52:07to be continued...
52:07A CIDADE NO BRASIL
52:37CIDADE NO BRASIL
53:07CIDADE NO BRASIL
Recomendado
48:03
|
A Seguir
41:35
28:06
3:25
48:57
53:25
53:32
53:27
28:45
26:02
28:23
25:57
29:13
28:40
31:03
28:06
29:17
29:29
29:43
31:51
27:19
28:54
30:37