The Great Human Odyssey

Discover how scientists are unlocking the mystery of our remarkable resilience: the “evolution of adaptability” in homo sapiens. Thompson confronts new climate research that shows our ancestors emerged in Africa just as global conditions went haywire, with volatility unprecedented since the extinction of the dinosaurs. Learn how our species faced near extinction, and then found a place to rebuild on Africa’s coasts. Explore the birth of language and art at archeological excavations scientists are now calling “the cradle of the human mind”. And marvel at the evidence our earliest modern ancestors were expert breath-hold divers, harvesting beneath the waves on South Africa’s Cape Coast. Thompson visits a series of globally recognized experts on human origins and the Africa world of our ancestors, including Director of the Smithsonian’s human origins program Rick Potts, renowned archeologist Curtis Marean, whose South African excavations are telling us how humans escaped the threat of extinction, and Chris Henshilwood, whose discovery of the earliest symbolic thought and art-making is revolutionizing our understanding of the beginnings of the “modern human”. This episode’s climax is an unforgettable journey into the unknown, and very dangerous, world of the last remaining free-diving nomads: the Badjoa of the southern Philippines. Living in a war zone, they show Thompson how humans can become hunter-gatherers of the ocean floor. The Great Human Odyssey is the first documentary in history to offer a glimpse of this remarkable culture in its homeland.

Deutsch English français
  • TheTVDB.com Series ID 299180
  • Status Ended
  • First Aired February 12, 2015
  • Recent August 21, 2016
  • Network CBC
  • Average Runtime 45 minutes
  • Genres Documentary
  • Original Country Canada
  • Original Language English
  • On Other Sites IMDB TheMovieDB.com
  • Episode Screenshot Format 16:9 Screencap
  • Favorited This series has been favorited by 4 people.
  • Created August 6, 2015 by
    Administrator admin
  • Modified October 17, 2022 by
    stark002
Season From To Episodes
All Seasons
Specials August 2016 1
Season 1 February 2015 February 2015 3
Unassigned Episodes 0
Season From To Episodes
Unassigned Episodes 4
Absolute ordering places all episodes in a single ordered season. This is generally used for anime.
Season From To Episodes
Season 1 February 2015 August 2016 4
Unassigned Episodes 0

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Name Number of Episodes Dates
Dr. Niobe Thompson 6 02/12/2015 - 02/26/2015
Niobe Thompson 2 08/21/2016

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