The Incredible Human Journey | Forum — The Modern Antiquarian

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Moth May 25, 2009 13:37:03

Replying to Rhiannon

Rhiannon wrote:

Regrettably they insist on subtitling "foreigners" who are speaking perfectly intelligible English, which is really patronising... and there's the Speculation insinuated as Fact... but apart from that...

I've enjoyed it too - I don't mind the subtitles, but I know what you mean. I'd rather they included 'em to be on the safe side tho.

love

Moth

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Littlestone May 25, 2009 13:57:33

Replying to Rhiannon

Yup, it's an interesting series so far.

Was 'specially interested in the use of bamboo in China as a possible alternative to stone tools. Bamboo's amazing stuff - very sharp, straight and easy to shape, so the perfect material for making spears and arrowheads. Tastes good too (the shoots that is not the arrowheads).

A

anthonyqkiernan May 25, 2009 14:09:54

Replying to Rhiannon

Rhiannon wrote:

but at least it isn't done in that infuriating dumbed-down way

Oh, I dunno about that.

Despite it's unnecessary cheap populist flourishes, yes, it is rather good. Surely by 'specualtion' you mean 'theories'?

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handofdave May 26, 2009 21:24:00

Replying to Rhiannon

OY!

Speculation, speculation....

So many anthropologists are stuck on building theories on fossil fragments when we still have stone age cultures, real stone age cultures, living, breathing ones, here on earth, right now.

I'm in agreement about brain size... it is clear to me that brain size is no more relevant than the size of a computer. In a mere fifty years the size of an electronic brain has been scaled down by thousands of percent while the power of that brain has increased millionfold.

Evolution has given the planet all sorts of central nervous system designs... but I doubt neanderthal brains were hugely different from ours.

T

tjj Jun 1, 2009 07:59:50

Replying to Rhiannon

Rhiannon wrote:

I just want to say I've been enjoying this series by Alice Roberts very much:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00ks641/The_Incredible_Human_Journey_Europe/
It's full of Speculation but at least it isn't done in that infuriating dumbed-down way of repeating everything every two minutes.

She gets all over the world, the lucky cow. Yesterday she was looking at those amazing cave paintings at Pech Merle (with spotty horses and the head of the horse the shape of the rock, if you know what I mean).

She was also talking about how Homo sapiens ousted the Neanderthals (I wasn't convinced as to why). She said no-one's related to Neanderthals, but I reckon she's not taken any genetic samples down the Lamb and Lion on a Saturday night.

Also last weeks was extremely interesting, because it was about how the Chinese education system teaches everyone to believe that they are decended from a different line of the human race - that they're not related to the rest of us. Very Eminent scholars believe this too (though with the genetic evidence they're on the thinnest of ice today). It was interesting to see how everyone in the world thinks they're special and superior to everyone else - god knows the Europeans went round justifying their exceptionally poor colonial behaviour for long enough by trying to find Scientific reasons why everyone else was semi-human.

Anyway I think it's very interesting, and she's an engaging presenter. Regrettably they insist on subtitling "foreigners" who are speaking perfectly intelligible English, which is really patronising... and there's the Speculation insinuated as Fact... but apart from that...

I regret that I had missed this (watching tv seems to be a habit I've broken) but on the basis of reading Rhiannon's post I watched last night; enjoyed it very much though 'speculation' was the key word.

She (and BBC crew) traced the journey of African migrants some 60,000 years ago to India and along the coast to the Malayan islands which then may have been a land-mass .... then a bamboo raft trip to see if would be possible to get to northern Australia (I was conscious all the time of the bigger motorised boat out of shot).

It was fascinating to see the hunter-gatherer Semang tribes of Malaysia though the 'genes/geography' research seemed inconclusive in tracing the African gene -though perhaps I missed that bit.

I was really blown away by the northern Australian Aborigines who do still retain an African appearance along their ancient red ocre cave paintings of the 'Creation Mother from the Sea'.

Excellent tv, thanks for posting about it.