unearthing our earliest ancestors
"Where did we come from? What makes us human? NOVA's...investigation explores how new discoveries are transforming views of our earliest ancestors. Featuring interviews with world-renowned scientists, footage shot "in the trenches" as fossils were unearthed, and...computer-generated animation, [these programs] bring early hominids to life, examining how we became the creative and adaptable modern humans of today...In the first episode...encounter..."Selam," the amazingly complete remains of a 3 million year-old child, packed with clues to why we split from the apes, came down from the trees, and started walking upright...[T]he second episode investigates the riddle of "Turkana Boy" -- a tantalizing fossil of Homo erectus, the first ancestor to leave Africa and colonize the globe...[T]he final episode...explores the origins of "us" -- where modern humans and our capacities for art, invention, and survival came from, and what happened when we encountered the mysterious Neanderthals..." -- Container.
