NOVA: Dawn of Humanity Deep in a South African cave, an astounding discovery .....
Streaming online now: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/dawn-of-humanity.html
Dawn of Humanity
Deep in a South African cave, an astounding discovery reveals clues to what made us human. Premiering online Thursday, September 10 and airing Wednesday, September 16.
Program Description
NOVA and National Geographic present exclusive access to a unique discovery of ancient remains. Located in an almost inaccessible chamber deep in a South African cave, the site required recruiting a special team of experts slender enough to wriggle down a vertical, pitch-dark, seven-inch-wide passage. Most fossil discoveries of human relatives consist of just a handful of bones. But down in this hidden chamber, the team uncovered an unprecedented troveso far, over 1,500 boneswith the potential to rewrite the story of our origins. They may help fill in a crucial gap in the fossil record and tell us how Homo, the first member of the human family, emerged from ape-like ancestors like the famous Lucy. But how did hundreds of bones end up in the remote chamber? The experts are considering every mind-boggling possibility. Join NOVA on the treacherous descent into this cave of spectacular and enigmatic finds, and discover their startling implications for the saga of what made us human.