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Recent breakthroughs in dating ancient samples of DNA and human remains have led to a radical reassessment of human origins. At least ten other early human groups–some with the cognitive capacity to make art, jewelry and herbal medicines–occupied the planet at the same time as our ancestors, Homo Sapiens, and some of their genomes live within us today.  Leading archeologists and paleoanthropologists join Brian Greene to discuss how these surprising new insights are transforming our understanding of early Humans.

This program is part of the Big Ideas series, supported by the John Templeton Foundation.

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Brave New Prehistoric World

Recent breakthroughs in dating ancient samples of DNA and human remains have led to a radical reassessment of human origins. At least ten other early human groups–some with the cognitive capacity to make art, jewelry and herbal medicines–occupied the planet at the same time as our ancestors, Homo Sapiens, and some of their genomes live within us today.  Leading archeologists and paleoanthropologists join Brian Greene to discuss how these surprising new insights are transforming our understanding of early Humans.

This program is part of the Big Ideas series, supported by the John Templeton Foundation.

View Additional Video Information

Moderator

Brian GreenePhysicist, Author

Brian Greene is a professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University, and is recognized for a number of groundbreaking discoveries in his field of superstring theory. His books, The Elegant Universe, The Fabric of the Cosmos, and The Hidden Reality, have collectively spent 65 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list.

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Participants

Sheela AthreyaPaleoanthropologist

Sheela Athreya publishes on critical issues of race, colonialism, and representation in biological anthropology, and does extensive fieldwork in India and China. She is a Professor of Anthropology at Texas …

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Rebecca AckermannBiological Anthropologist

Rebecca (Becky) Ackermann is one of the foremost biological anthropologists whose work is fundamentally reshaping our understanding of how we have evolved to be the diverse humans we are today. …

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Viviane SlonPaleogeneticist

Viviane Slon has done groundbreaking work in the relatively new field of Paleogenetics.  She is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, and the Department of Human Molecular …

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Thomas HighamArchaeologist

Thomas (Tom) Higham is the author of the book The World Before Us: The New Science Behind Our Human Origins. He is a leading expert in dating ancient human remains …

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