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Episode 7.4b · 15 min

the first spread of early humans beyond Africa, from the oldest traces in China and the

How did small-brained people reach Asia without a single great departure? This episode follows the gradual widening of early human populations from Africa, from the oldest stone tools in China and disputed cut marks in Romania to the small people of Dmanisi, Georgia, who made simple tools and lived among giant animals without handaxes or secure fire. It also shows how one Dmanisi youngster's teeth reveal that growing up was already changing before brains became large.

Watch this film on YouTube ↗

Visual credits

69 sources

Sources and credits for imagery used in this film, including material incorporated into explanatory animations.

Stock footage

37 items

Licensed stock footage used in this film, with each item’s creator and source page.

Research references

Selected sources from the episode’s research and scientific figures.

  1. primary paper ↗
  2. Nature Communications ↗
  3. “Context matters: Grăunceanu (Romania) is not an archaeological site” ↗
  4. Ferring et al. 2011 ↗
  5. Lordkipanidze et al. 2007 ↗
  6. Lordkipanidze et al. 2013 ↗
  7. Zollikofer et al. 2024, Nature 635, 906–911 ↗
  8. Nery et al. 2025 ↗
  9. Martínez-Navarro et al. 2025, hyena revision ↗
  10. Ros-Montoya et al. 2025, elephants ↗
  11. Tappen et al. 2022, taphonomy ↗
  12. Lordkipanidze et al. 2005 ↗
  13. Margvelashvili et al. 2013 ↗
  14. Brain Nutrition: A Life Span Approach ↗
  15. Kuzawa et al. 2014 ↗
  16. Baab et al. 2025 ↗
  17. Zink & Lieberman 2016 ↗
  18. Barr et al. 2022 ↗
  19. Pontzer et al. 2016 ↗
  20. Navarrete et al. 2011 ↗
  21. Pietschnig et al. 2015 ↗
  22. Tu et al. 2026, Science Advances ↗
  23. Matsu'ura et al. 2020, Science ↗
  24. Husson et al. 2022, Scientific Reports ↗
  25. Sun, de la Torre & Bibi 2026 ↗
  26. Lepre et al. 2011 ↗
  27. Beyene et al. 2013 ↗
  28. de la Torre et al. 2025 ↗
  29. Gowlett 2016 ↗
  30. Zenodo ↗
  31. D4500/D2600 at National Museum of Georgia ↗
  32. D2700 + D2735 ↗
  33. Yunxian Cranium I exhibit ↗
  34. ESRF source-owner video post ↗
  35. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yunxian_Man_Cranium_I_(10161573286).jpg ↗
  36. isochron burial dating ↗
  37. cut-mark study ↗
  38. Dennell 2017 critique ↗
  39. Scardia et al. 2019 ↗
  40. 2018 source-owner release ↗
  41. Ferring et al. 2022, stratigraphy ↗
  42. A 2026 vertebral analysis ↗
  43. Current knowledge about the Dmanisi site ↗
  44. Smithsonian D3444 images/3D links ↗
  45. 2020 hominin proteome work ↗
  46. Messager et al., palaeobotany ↗
  47. 2019 bear synthesis ↗
  48. elephant supplementary faunal list ↗
  49. Zelenkov et al. 2019 ↗
  50. Larramendi 2016 ↗
  51. journal issue page ↗
  52. exact PDF ↗
  53. Aiello & Wheeler 1995 ↗
  54. Smithsonian specimen page ↗
  55. Ponce de León et al. 2021 primary supplement ↗
  56. 2023 synthesis ↗
  57. Smith et al. 2013 ↗
  58. Machanda et al. 2015 ↗
  59. 2026 discussion, Childhood first ↗
  60. Robson & Wood 2008 ↗
  61. Sakai et al. 2013 ↗
  62. dataset 1900295870 ↗
  63. 1900301360 ↗
  64. Ao et al. 2012 ↗
  65. Dennell et al. 2005 ↗
  66. Hilgen et al. 2022 ↗
  67. Been et al. 2022 ↗
  68. Mussi et al. 2023, Science ↗
  69. Muttoni et al. 2023 chronology ↗
  70. Gossa et al. 2024 ↗
  71. Mussi's 2024 reply ↗
  72. Hlubik 2019 ↗
  73. Roebroeks & Villa 2011 ↗
  74. Berna et al. 2012 ↗
  75. D4500 + D2600 ↗
  76. D2700/D2735 replica ↗
  77. D3444/D3900 replica ↗
  78. D2280 replica ↗
  79. D2282/D211 replica ↗
  80. alternate ↗
  81. Olduvai Gorge ↗
  82. Handaxe FindID 709909 ↗
  83. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dmanisi_fossils_D_2700_%2B_D_2735_(Replika).jpg ↗
  84. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dmanisi_fossils_D_3444_%2B_D_3900_(Replika).jpg ↗
  85. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dmanisi_fossil_D_2280_(Replika).jpg ↗
  86. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dmanisi_fossils_D_2282_%2B_D_211_(Replika).JPG ↗
  87. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dmanisi_excavation_site_(2007).jpg ↗
  88. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dmanisi_excavation_site_(2007)a.jpg ↗
  89. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palaeolithic_acheulean_handaxe_(FindID_709909).jpg ↗

Music

  • Original score
    AgentHouse · Project-made score (From Cosmos to Civilization score catalog v4 with bespoke opening and closing)
    Impulse responses: Detmold University of Music SRIR database, CC BY 4.0.
Footage and image usage

Credits and usage times retained from the published edition or its production credit record. Where present, times identify visual appearances, not documentary chapters. Source and licence corrections are listed in the visual credits above.

  • Bioanthropologist1 - source: Original source ↗
  • Christoph P. E. Zollikofer et al. - source: Original source ↗
  • DDohler
  • Eduard Solà (Esv)
  • Emőke Dénes
  • Gary Todd
  • Georgian National Museum
  • Gerbil - sources: Original source ↗ Original source ↗
  • Ghedoghedo - source: Original source ↗
  • Guy Bar-Oz
  • Hua Tu et al. - source: Original source ↗
  • Interfase - source: Original source ↗
  • Jonathan Cardy - sources: Original source ↗ Original source ↗
  • Jonathan Chen
  • José-Manuel Benito - source: Original source ↗
  • Julie Shoemark, The Portable Antiquities Scheme
  • Karen L. Baab et al. - source: Original source ↗
  • Kober - source: Original source ↗
  • Larry V. Dumlao
  • Natural Earth - sources: Original source ↗ Original source ↗
  • Paul Tafforeau and Vincent Beyrand, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) - source: Original source ↗
  • Presnyakova Olga
  • Ryan Somma - source: Original source ↗
  • Sabrina C. Curran et al. - source: Original source ↗
  • Solar System Scope - source: Original source ↗
  • Xmd5a
  • Zhaoyu Zhu et al. - source: Original source ↗
  • Александр Сигачёв - source: Original source ↗
  • Константин Кудинов - source: Original source ↗
  • 黄河山曲
  • Original animations and figures created by this channel.
  • 17635106560 — 1:19-1:24, 2:08-2:12
  • AmazingAerial — 0:00-0:06, 5:38-5:48
  • AnatoliySadovskiy — 7:40-7:46
  • BinzariFilms — 11:21-11:24
  • Bioanthropologist1 — 6:34-6:38
  • BlackBoxGuild — 4:06-4:09, 7:27-7:32, 7:54-7:56, 7:57-7:59, 8:16-8:18, 8:25-8:31, 8:46-8:49, 10:59-11:02, 12:38-12:44, 13:15-13:18, 15:10-15:16, 15:16-15:20
  • bumblebamboo — 3:14-3:17
  • Bussker — 7:32-7:40
  • chipleader — 0:06-0:10
  • Christoph P. E. Zollikofer, Vincent Beyrand, David Lordkipanidze, Paul Tafforeau and Marcia S. Ponce de León — 11:49-11:51, 11:42-11:49, 11:51-12:19, 12:52-12:56
  • DDohler — 14:56-15:10
  • Doppel_MJ — 3:34-3:47, 4:09-4:18
  • Eduard Solà (Esv) — 10:47-10:57
  • Emőke Dénes — 5:24-5:32
  • EvalMiko — 0:10-0:15, 3:53-3:57
  • FrameStock — 3:06-3:14, 8:38-8:46
  • Gary Todd — 13:10-13:15
  • Georgian National Museum — 4:34-4:42, 4:48-4:54
  • Gerbil — 4:54-5:02, 5:48-5:50, 6:12-6:19, 6:25-6:34, 6:43-6:50, 6:50-6:54, 11:09-11:15, 12:49-12:52
  • Ghedoghedo — 6:54-7:03
  • Grey_Coast_Media — 12:44-12:49
  • Guy Bar-Oz — 0:47-0:51, 5:02-5:04
  • Hua Tu, Xiaobo Feng, Lan Luo, Zhongping Lai, Darryl Granger, Christopher Bae and Guanjun Shen — 13:18-13:21
  • Interfase — 8:03-8:10
  • Jonathan Cardy — 0:51-1:00, 1:32-1:40, 4:42-4:48, 9:12-9:19, 9:19-9:29
  • Jonathan Chen — 8:10-8:16, 13:38-13:42
  • José-Manuel Benito — 6:06-6:12
  • Julie Shoemark, The Portable Antiquities Scheme — 5:59-6:02
  • Karen L. Baab, Yousuke Kaifu, Sarah E. Freidline, Michael J. Rogers and Sileshi Semaw — 10:10-10:47
  • kjekol — 8:31-8:34
  • Kober — 5:04-5:11, 6:38-6:43
  • Larry V. Dumlao — 4:28-4:34
  • ManuMata — 12:19-12:27
  • Natural Earth — 1:00-1:19, 1:51-2:00, 2:39-2:43, 2:52-3:00, 3:17-3:34, 4:18-4:28, 13:21-13:38, 13:42-13:49, 13:52-14:37
  • NORDICREC — 3:57-4:06
  • Paul Tafforeau and Vincent Beyrand, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) — 1:40-1:45, 11:15-11:21, 11:24-11:36, 11:36-11:42
  • Presnyakova Olga — 7:49-7:51
  • reezky11 — 13:49-13:52
  • RoStVision — 3:47-3:53
  • Ryan Somma — 6:19-6:25
  • Sabrina C. Curran, Virgil Drăgușin, Briana Pobiner, Michael Pante, John Hellstrom, Jon Woodhead, Roman Croitor, Adrian Doboș, Samantha E. Gogol, Vasile Ersek, Trevor L. Keevil, Alexandru Petculescu, Aurelian Popescu, Chris Robinson, Lars Werdelin and Claire E. Terhune — 3:00-3:06
  • SceneLabPro — 8:22-8:25
  • slowmotiongli — 7:56-7:57
  • Solar System Scope — 1:00-1:19, 1:51-2:00, 2:39-2:43, 2:52-3:00, 3:17-3:34, 4:18-4:28, 13:21-13:38, 13:42-13:49, 13:52-14:37
  • TDFly — 2:00-2:08
  • VadymVideos — 12:34-12:38
  • vahan964 — 9:29-9:39
  • Wildlife-Stock — 1:24-1:32
  • Xmd5a — 14:44-14:48
  • Zenistock — 2:43-2:52
  • Zhaoyu Zhu, Robin Dennell, Weiwen Huang, Yi Wu, Shifan Qiu, Shixia Yang, Zhiguo Rao, Yamei Hou, Jiubing Xie, Jiangwei Han and Tingping Ouyang — 2:14-2:19, 2:35-2:39
  • Александр Сигачёв — 10:57-10:59
  • Константин Кудинов — 9:02-9:05
  • 黄河山曲 — 2:12-2:14

How this film was made

Created and editorially directed by Anders Lunde using a custom production system developed over six months. AI assists research, drafting, programming, and visual production; I review and edit the material and make the final editorial decisions. Narration uses text-to-speech. Visuals combine custom-built scientific animations, AI-generated reconstructions, and credited scientific imagery.

Generated reconstructions illustrate scientific interpretations. They are distinct from photographs, specimens, and measured data.

More about the creator and production →