First Peoples 5 Episode Bundle - PBS - Documentary - Movie Guides - Early Humans

First Peoples

PBS – TV-14 – Documentary

"First Peoples" traces the arrival of the first Homo sapiens on five continents, how they moved around the globe, and how they survived to become the dominant human species on Earth. Each of the five episodes is centered on a different continent and explores remote places around the world -- from underwater caves of Yucatan to the Australian outback to the Himalayas. Throughout the series experts reveal genetics, archaeology, and anthropology research, including how DNA is being used to understand the origins of the human species.

S01E01 – Americas - 55 minutes – June 23rd, 2015

As early humans spread out across the world, their toughest challenge was colonizing the Americas because a huge ice sheet blocked the route. It has long been thought that the first Americans were Clovis people, who arrived 13,000 years ago. But an underwater discovery in Mexico suggests people arrived earlier – coming by boat, not on foot.

22 questions with time stamps (2 pages) Answer Key (2 pages)

S01E02 – Africa - 55 minutes – June 23rd, 2015

200,000 years ago, Homo sapiens appeared on the African landscape. While scientists have long imagined eastern Africa as a real-life Garden of Eden, the latest research suggests humans evolved in many places across the continent at the same time. Now, DNA reveals that our ancestors continued meeting, mating, and hybridizing with other human type – creating diversity within us.

23 questions with time stamps (2 pages) Answer Key (2 pages)

S01E03 – Asia - 55 minutes – June 30th, 2015

Discover the ancient humans living across Asia when Homo sapiens arrived. Our ancestors mated with them and their genes found a home within our DNA. More than that, they’ve helped us face down extinction.

26 questions with time stamps (2 pages) Answer Key (2 pages)

S01E04 – Australia - 55 minutes – June 30th, 2015

When humans arrived in Australia, they were, for the first time truly alone, surrounded by wildly different flora and fauna. How did they survive and populate a continent? There is a close cultural and genetic link between early Australians and modern-day Aborigines; here the ancient and modern story intersect as nowhere else.

25 questions with time stamps (2 pages) Answer Key (2 pages)

S01E05 – Europe - 55 minutes – July 7th, 2015

When Homo sapiens turned up in prehistoric Europe, they ran into Neanderthals. The two types of humans were similar enough – intellectually and culturally – to interbreed. But as more Homo Sapiens moved into Europe and the population increased, there was an explosion of art and symbolic thought which overwhelmed the Neanderthals.

24 questions with time stamps (2 pages) Answer Key (2 pages)

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