Human Origins: Did We Begin in Africa?
The Ancients

Human Origins: Did We Begin in Africa?

C1AdvancedSeptember 6, 202658 min
  • Interview

The story of human origins is often imagined as a simple journey from Africa, but is the truth actually much messier? Tristan Hughes and leading palaeoanthropologist Prof. Chris Stringer dismantle the traditional narrative, discussing how recent breakthroughs in fossils and ancient DNA reveal a complex, shifting history of multiple migrations and cross-breeding to uncover where we truly come from. MORE The First Britons with Prof. Chris Stringer Listen on Apple Listen on Spotify Rise of Humans Listen on Apple LIsten on Spotify <...

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Is the full truth of our beginnings actually much more complex?

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transformed the traditional picture, revealing a deeper, much messier tale of shifting African

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0:30

The story of modern human origins is often imagined as a simple journey out of Africa. Homo sapiens emerging somewhere on that continent before spreading across the world and replacing other forms of human life. But how is that story still evolving?

0:48

Is the full truth of our beginnings actually much more complex? Over recent decades, evidence in the form of fossils, improved dating and ancient DNA transformed the traditional picture, revealing a deeper, much messier tale of shifting African populations, multiple migrations, and sister species like Neanderthals.

1:12

I'm Tristan Hughes, this is The Ancients, and today I'm joined once again by leading paleoanthropologist Professor Chris Stringer to explore what the Out of Africa theory really means today, why it still matters, and what exciting new discoveries could still be revealed about where we come from.

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