The Incredible Human Journey

There are seven billion humans on Earth, spread across the whole planet. Scientific evidence suggests that most of us can trace our origins to one tiny group of people who left Africa around 70,000 years ago. In this five-part series, Dr Alice Roberts follows the archaeological and genetic footprints of our ancient ancestors to find out how their journeys transformed our species into the humans we are today, and how Homo Sapiens came to dominate the planet.

Trailer

Storyline

First Aired

2009-05-10
Last Aired

2009-06-14
Creator
Genre

Documentary
Seasons

1
Episodes

5
Status

Ended
Language

English
Network

BBC Two

Keywords:

migration anthropology ancient world mankind continents nature documentary

Stream and watch The Incredible Human Journey

Season 1

1. Out of Africa

Dr Alice Roberts travels the globe to discover the incredible story of how humans left Africa to colon...More

Dr Alice Roberts travels the globe to discover the incredible story of how humans left Africa to colonise the world - overcoming hostile terrain, extreme weather and other species of human. She pieces together precious fragments of bone, stone and new DNA evidence and discovers how this journey changed these African ancestors into the people of today.Less

60mins 2009-05-10

2. Asia

In this programme, the journey continues into Asia, the world's greatest land mass, in a quest to disc...More

In this programme, the journey continues into Asia, the world's greatest land mass, in a quest to discover how early hunter-gatherers managed to survive in one of the most inhospitable places on earth - the Arctic region of Northern Siberia.Less

60mins 2009-05-17

3. Europe

When our species first arrived in Europe, the peak of the Ice Age was approaching and the continent wa...More

When our species first arrived in Europe, the peak of the Ice Age was approaching and the continent was already crawling with a rival: stronger, at home in the cold and even (contrary to the popular image) brainier than us. So how did the European pioneers survive first the Neanderthals and then the deep freeze as they pushed across the continent?Less

60mins 2009-05-24

4. Australia

Alice looks at our ancestors' seemingly impossible journey to Australia. Miraculously preserved footpr...More

Alice looks at our ancestors' seemingly impossible journey to Australia. Miraculously preserved footprints and very old human fossils buried in the outback suggest a mystery: that humans reached Australia almost before anywhere else. How could they have travelled so far from Africa, crossing the open sea on the way, and do it thousands of years before they made it to Europe?Less

60mins 2009-05-31

5. The Americas

How did Stone Age people reach North and South America? Dr Alice Roberts discovers evidence for an anc...More

How did Stone Age people reach North and South America? Dr Alice Roberts discovers evidence for an ancient corridor through the Canadian ice sheet that may have allowed those first people through. But some very ancient finds in southern Chile seem to suggest a very different way into the Americas; an ancient human skull discovered in Brazil even points to an Australasian origin of the Americans. Could a route from Australia across the Pacific have been possible?Less