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Episode 8.2 · 16 min

Where Did Homo sapiens Really Come From?

Where did Homo sapiens come from—and was there ever a single birthplace? From Jebel Irhoud in Morocco to Omo and Herto in Ethiopia, this episode follows the scattered fossils, braided ancestry, coastal foods, shell ornaments, ochre, and poisoned hunting arrows that reveal a species taking shape across Africa. The evidence points not to one sudden beginning, but to populations that separated, met, and changed over hundreds of thousands of years.

Watch this film on YouTube ↗

Visual credits

56 sources

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

  • Jebel-Irhoud

    José-Manuel Benito Álvarez (Locutus Borg)

    View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain

    Cropped for the film.

  • Jebel Irhoud 1 skull cast

    Jonathan Chen

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 4.0

    Cropped to the skull's brow and face.

  • Jebel Irhoud 1 — Homo Sapiens 160,000 Years Old

    Ryan Somma

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 2.0

    Cropped to the frontal skull cast. The historical source title is retained.

  • Herto skull, National Museum of Ethiopia

    Alessandrosmerilli

    View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain

    Cropped for the film and the four-skull comparison.

  • Omo Kibish skull reproduction

    GuillaumeG

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 4.0

    Cropped for the film and the four-skull comparison.

  • Florisbad skull cast

    Jonathan Chen

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 4.0

    Cropped for the film and the four-skull comparison.

  • Blombos silcrete point

    Vincent Mourre / Inrap

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 3.0

    Cropped for the film.

  • Diepkloof engraved ostrich eggshell

    Nkansah Rexford

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 3.0

  • Blombos Cave

    Vincent Mourre / Inrap

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 3.0

    Cropped for the film.

  • Blombos shell beads

    Chenshilwood

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 2.5

    Cropped for the film.

  • Boophone disticha leaf fan

    Paul Venter

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 3.0

    Cropped to the leaf fan.

  • Boophone disticha bulb

    SAplants

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 4.0

    Cropped to the bulb.

  • Cuvier's gazelles

    Mourad Harzallah

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 4.0

    Cropped for the film.

  • Cuvier's gazelle

    Mourad Harzallah

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 4.0

    Cropped for the film.

  • Diepkloof Rock Shelter

    Andrew Hall

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 3.0

    Cropped for the film.

  • Diepkloof excavation, 2009

    Vincent Mourre / Inrap

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 3.0

    Cropped for the film.

  • Kibish Formation — Lower Valley of the Omo

    Karalyn Monteil / UNESCO

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

    Cropped to a widescreen view of the formation.

    © UNESCO.

  • Irhoud 10 and Irhoud 13 in situ

    Steffen Schatz, MPI EVA Leipzig

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 2.0

    Cropped to the Irhoud 10 fossil in the sediment.

  • Jebel Irhoud excavation, looking south

    Shannon McPherron, MPI EVA Leipzig

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 2.0

    Cropped for the film.

  • Jebel Irhoud hill

    Shannon McPherron, MPI EVA Leipzig

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 2.0

    Cropped to a widescreen view of the hill.

  • Daniel Richter drilling for dosimeters at Jebel Irhoud

    Shannon McPherron, MPI EVA Leipzig

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 2.0

    Cropped for the film.

  • Excavators at Jebel Irhoud

    Shannon McPherron, MPI EVA Leipzig

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 2.0

    Cropped for the film.

  • Jean-Jacques Hublin examining Irhoud 10

    Shannon McPherron, MPI EVA Leipzig

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 2.0

    Cropped for the film.

  • Middle Stone Age tools from Jebel Irhoud

    Mohammed Kamal, MPI EVA Leipzig

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 2.0

    Cropped to the pointed tools.

  • Jebel Irhoud composite skull reconstruction

    Philipp Gunz, MPI EVA Leipzig

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 2.0

    Cropped for the film and composited into the four-skull comparison.

  • Jebel Irhoud skull and endocast, two views

    Philipp Gunz, MPI EVA Leipzig

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 2.0

    The profile panel was traced into a simplified animated skull outline; the blue endocast and internal details were omitted.

  • Eemian Green Sahara reconstruction — Figure 4b

    Juan C. Larrasoaña, Andrew P. Roberts and Eelco J. Rohling

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 4.0

    Figure 4b was cropped, georeferenced and redrawn as an animation of vegetation belts, palaeolakes and palaeorivers. Its original legend, graph, isohyets and labels were omitted.

    Larrasoaña JC, Roberts AP, Rohling EJ (2013). Dynamics of Green Sahara Periods and Their Role in Hominin Evolution. PLOS ONE 8(10): e76514, Figure 4b.

  • Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter — Figure 2

    Anders Högberg and Marlize Lombard

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 4.0

    Cropped to the Umhlatuzana photograph on the right.

    Högberg A, Lombard M (2016). Still Bay point-production strategies at Hollow Rock Shelter and Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter. PLOS ONE 11: e0168012, Figure 2.

  • Human Skull Lateral View Unlabeled

    Andrewmeyerson

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 3.0

    Mirrored to face left and traced into a simplified animated outline; internal details were omitted.

  • Bizmoune shell ornaments — Figure 5

    Abdeljalil Bouzouggar, INSAP, Morocco; El Mehdi Sehasseh and colleagues

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-NC 4.0

    Cropped to the upper three rows of shells; lower rows, scale bar and caption omitted.

    Photo: A. Bouzouggar, INSAP, Morocco. Sehasseh EM, Fernandez P, Kuhn S, et al. (2021). Early Middle Stone Age personal ornaments from Bizmoune Cave, Essaouira, Morocco. Science Advances 7: eabi8620, Figure 5.

  • Pinnacle Point PP5-6 sediment sequence — Figure 1

    Eugene I. Smith, Zenobia Jacobs, Racheal Johnsen, Minghua Ren, Erich C. Fisher, Simen Oestmo, Jayne Wilkins, Jacob A. Harris, Panagiotis Karkanas, Shelby Fitch, Amber Ciravolo, Deborah Keenan, Naomi Cleghorn, Christine S. Lane, Thalassa Matthews and Curtis W. Marean

    View original source ↗

    Cropped to the PP5-6 sediment sequence.

    Smith EI et al. (2018). Humans thrived in South Africa through the Toba eruption about 74,000 years ago. Nature 555: 511–515, Figure 1. © 2018 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved.

  • Blombos ochre-processing toolkits — Figure 1

    G. Moéll Pedersen; Christopher S. Henshilwood, Francesco d'Errico, Karen L. van Niekerk, Yvan Coquinot, Zenobia Jacobs, Stein-Erik Lauritzen, Michel Menu and Renata García-Moreno

    View original source ↗

    Cropped to the two toolkit photographs in panels A and B; caption, surrounding text and panel letter B omitted.

    Images: G. Moéll Pedersen. Henshilwood CS et al. (2011). A 100,000-Year-Old Ochre-Processing Workshop at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Science 334: 219–222, Figure 1. © 2011 American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  • Blombos engraved ochres — Figure 2

    Christopher S. Henshilwood, Francesco d'Errico, Royden Yates, Zenobia Jacobs, Chantal Tribolo, Geoff A. T. Duller, Norbert Mercier, Judith C. Sealy, Helene Valladas, Ian Watts and Ann G. Wintle

    View original source ↗

    Cropped to the engraved ochre photographs.

    Henshilwood CS et al. (2002). Emergence of Modern Human Behavior: Middle Stone Age Engravings from South Africa. Science 295: 1278–1280, Figure 2.

  • Five poison-positive quartz microliths — Supplementary Figure S1

    Sven Isaksson, Anders Högberg and Marlize Lombard

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 4.0

    Cropped to the five quartz microliths.

    Isaksson S, Högberg A, Lombard M (2026). Direct evidence for poison use on microlithic arrowheads in Southern Africa at 60,000 years ago. Science Advances 12: eadz3281, Supplementary Figure S1. Artefacts curated at the KwaZulu-Natal Museum, Pietermaritzburg.

  • Thunberg collection poison arrows — Supplementary Figure S2

    Johan Jeppson

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 4.0

    Cropped to the lower photographs of the Thunberg collection arrows.

    Photos: Johan Jeppson. In Isaksson S, Högberg A, Lombard M (2026), Science Advances 12: eadz3281, Supplementary Figure S2.

  • Quartz microlith 001 with poison residue — Figure 2C

    Sven Isaksson, Anders Högberg and Marlize Lombard

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 4.0

    Cropped to the dorsal and ventral views of microlith 001.

    Isaksson S, Högberg A, Lombard M (2026). Direct evidence for poison use on microlithic arrowheads in Southern Africa at 60,000 years ago. Science Advances 12: eadz3281, Figure 2C.

  • Umhlatuzana excavation profile and stratigraphy — Figure 1F–G

    Sven Isaksson, Anders Högberg and Marlize Lombard; adapted from I. Sifogeorgaki, V. Klinkenberg, I. Esteban, M. Murungi, A. S. Carr, V. B. van den Brink and G. L. Dusseldorp

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 4.0

    Cropped to panels F and G; panel letter G masked with white and the image padded to widescreen.

    Isaksson S, Högberg A, Lombard M (2026), Science Advances 12: eadz3281, Figure 1F–G. Images adapted from Sifogeorgaki et al. (2020), New Excavations at Umhlatuzana Rockshelter, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: A Stratigraphic and Taphonomic Evaluation, African Archaeological Review 37: 551–578, under CC BY 4.0, with permission from G. Dusseldorp and I. Sifogeorgaki.

  • Homo naledi LES1 cranium

    John Hawks, Marina Elliott, Peter Schmid et al.

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 4.0

    Frontal and lateral views selected, rearranged side by side and padded with black; other views and scale bar omitted.

  • Jebel Irhoud composite skull and endocast rotation

    Philipp Gunz, MPI EVA Leipzig

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 2.0

    Excerpted for the film.

  • Irhoud 11 mandible: virtual reconstruction

    Jean-Jacques Hublin, MPI EVA Leipzig

    View original source ↗

    Excerpted for the film.

  • Kabwe 1 — Skull

    Unità di Antropologia - Dip. di Biologia, Unipi; scanned and edited by Linda Piccini

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 4.0

    AgentHouse rendered the 3D model as a turntable video; excerpted for this film.

  • Natural Earth 1:50m land

    Natural Earth contributors

    View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain

    Projected, clipped and styled for the episode's maps.

  • Natural Earth 1:50m lakes

    Natural Earth contributors

    View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain

    Selected, projected and styled for the episode's maps.

  • Natural Earth 1:10m rivers — Omo River

    Natural Earth contributors

    View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain

    Omo River selected, projected, styled and animated.

  • Natural Earth 1:50m country boundary lines

    Natural Earth contributors

    View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain

    Projected, clipped and styled for the Africa map.

  • Natural Earth 1:10m rivers — Omo River

    Natural Earth contributors

    View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain

    Omo River selected, projected and styled.

  • Natural Earth 1:50m country boundary lines

    Natural Earth contributors

    View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain

    Projected, clipped and styled for the Africa map.

  • Natural Earth 1:10m rivers — Omo River

    Natural Earth contributors

    View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain

    Omo River selected, projected and styled.

  • Natural Earth 1:50m country boundary lines

    Natural Earth contributors

    View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain

    Projected, clipped and styled for the Africa map.

  • Natural Earth 1:10m rivers — Omo River

    Natural Earth contributors

    View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain

    Omo River selected, projected and styled; carried through the continuity map frame.

  • Natural Earth 1:50m country boundary lines

    Natural Earth contributors

    View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain

    Projected, clipped and styled; carried through the continuity map frame.

  • Natural Earth 1:50m country boundary lines

    Natural Earth contributors

    View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain

    Projected, clipped and styled for the Sahara map.

  • Natural Earth 1:50m country boundary lines

    Natural Earth contributors

    View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain

    Projected, clipped and styled for the Toba map.

  • Natural Earth 1:50m country boundary lines

    Natural Earth contributors

    View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain

    Projected, clipped and styled for the Toba map continuation.

  • Natural Earth 1:10m rivers — Omo River

    Natural Earth contributors

    View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain

    Omo River selected, projected and styled for the final Africa map.

  • Natural Earth 1:50m country boundary lines

    Natural Earth contributors

    View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain

    Projected, clipped and styled for the final Africa map.

Stock footage

28 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.

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  27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.02.044 ↗
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  29. Gunz composite and turntable ↗
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  53. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09811-4 ↗
  54. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02532-3 ↗
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  56. https://github.com/trevorcousins/cobraa ↗
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  70. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3503200/ ↗
  71. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GC006641 ↗
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  82. https://www.su.se/english/news/articles/2026-01-08-worlds-oldest-arrow-poison---60000-year-old-traces-reveal-early-advanced-hunting-techniques ↗
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  90. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aan8433 ↗
  91. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9371682/ ↗
  92. Irhoud 1 cast ↗
  93. Irhoud NMNH cast ↗
  94. Hublin pointing at Irhoud 10 ↗
  95. Irhoud tools ↗
  96. Neanderthal Museum Irhoud life reconstruction ↗
  97. Omo I reproduction ↗
  98. Herto museum skull ↗
  99. Florisbad cast ↗
  100. Blombos cave ↗
  101. Blombos point ↗
  102. Blombos beads ↗
  103. Diepkloof eggshell ↗
  104. Gifbol plant ↗
  105. Gifbol alternate ↗
  106. Lake Toba ↗
  107. Toba Landsat ↗
  108. Lake Toba aerial M3VSGK9 ↗
  109. Toba AESXR4F ↗
  110. TUB3ZWP ↗
  111. braided system NVWF6E7 ↗
  112. SKYA9EZ ↗
  113. VKM2FL8 ↗
  114. wildebeest and zebra 55FD772 ↗
  115. zebras DEG246D ↗
  116. 7CL6NXB ↗
  117. RLZU3B7 ↗
  118. dry river ERK3997 ↗
  119. https://www.eva.mpg.de/fileadmin/content_files/human_evolution/Homo_Sapiens_presskit/Homo_sapiens_Skull_Jebel_Irhoud_720p.mp4 ↗
  120. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Homo_sapiens_sapiens_(Fundort_Jebel_Irhoud_Marokko).jpg ↗
  121. https://www.mpg.de/25951868/0105-evan-early-hominins-from-thomas-quarry-i-morocco-150495-x ↗
  122. https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/38d2e2c5cb914f2292767edefe92c7c0 ↗

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.

  • Abdeljalil Bouzouggar, INSAP, Morocco; El Mehdi Sehasseh and colleagues — 9:29-9:33
  • Alessandrosmerilli — 4:29-4:36, 5:55-6:02, 8:22-8:26
  • AmazingAerial / Envato Elements — 9:14-9:18, 11:35-11:40, 12:41-12:50
  • Anders Högberg and Marlize Lombard — 13:02-13:08
  • Anders Högberg, Marlize Lombard — 13:02-13:08
  • Andrew Hall — 10:59-11:04
  • Andrewmeyerson — 3:27-3:39
  • ATWStock / Envato Elements — 6:06-6:20
  • BlackBoxGuild / Envato Elements — 0:15-0:19, 4:02-4:05, 7:50-8:13, 8:26-8:36, 8:36-8:46, 8:46-8:48, 9:04-9:14, 11:40-11:42, 14:13-14:18, 14:31-14:33
  • Chenshilwood — 10:11-10:21
  • Chenshilwood at English Wikipedia — 10:11-10:21
  • Christopher S. Henshilwood, Francesco d'Errico, Royden Yates, Zenobia Jacobs, Chantal Tribolo, Geoff A. T. Duller, Norbert Mercier, Judith C. Sealy, Helene Valladas, Ian Watts and Ann G. Wintle — 10:07-10:11
  • Coastal_garage / Envato Elements — 12:13-12:19
  • EcoSound / Envato Elements — 4:36-4:42
  • Eugene I. Smith, Zenobia Jacobs, Racheal Johnsen, Minghua Ren, Erich C. Fisher, Simen Oestmo, Jayne Wilkins, Jacob A. Harris, Panagiotis Karkanas, Shelby Fitch, Amber Ciravolo, Deborah Keenan, Naomi Cleghorn, Christine S. Lane, Thalassa Matthews and Curtis W. Marean — 12:33-12:37
  • fabio_lamanna / Envato Elements — 4:21-4:24, 12:06-12:13
  • G. Moéll Pedersen; Christopher S. Henshilwood, Francesco d'Errico, Karen L. van Niekerk, Yvan Coquinot, Zenobia Jacobs, Stein-Erik Lauritzen, Michel Menu and Renata García-Moreno — 9:51-9:56
  • GuillaumeG — 4:05-4:08, 5:55-6:02, 8:22-8:26
  • Henshilwood et al. 2002, Science 295:1278 — 10:07-10:11
  • Henshilwood et al. 2011, Science 334:219; images G. Moell Pedersen — 9:51-9:56
  • Isaksson et al. 2026 — 13:19-13:26
  • Isaksson et al. 2026; panels adapted from Sifogeorgaki et al. 2020 — 14:38-14:43
  • Jean-Jacques Hublin, MPI EVA Leipzig — 0:43-0:47
  • Johan Jeppson — 13:58-14:06
  • John Hawks, Marina Elliott, Peter Schmid et al. — 5:15-5:22
  • Jonathan Chen — 1:44-1:52, 4:42-4:50, 5:55-6:02, 8:22-8:26
  • José-Manuel Benito Álvarez (Locutus Borg) — 1:35-1:44
  • Juan C. Larrasoaña, Andrew P. Roberts and Eelco J. Rohling — 11:24-11:35
  • Karalyn Monteil — 4:08-4:14
  • Karalyn Monteil / UNESCO — 4:08-4:14
  • MAMA_AFRICA / Envato Elements — 11:16-11:24
  • MatthewWilliams-Ellis / Envato Elements — 11:42-11:44
  • mkstock / Envato Elements — 13:13-13:14
  • Mohammed Kamal, MPI EVA Leipzig — 3:11-3:15
  • Mourad Harzallah — 3:03-3:07, 3:07-3:11
  • Natural Earth contributors — 3:55-4:02, 4:01-4:02, 5:27-5:36, 5:36-5:47, 8:17-8:22, 11:24-11:35, 12:19-12:29, 12:37-12:41, 15:03-15:13
  • Nkansah Rexford — 10:40-10:43
  • okanakdeniz / Envato Elements — 9:01-9:04
  • Paul venter — 13:50-13:53
  • Paul Venter — 13:50-13:53
  • Philipp Gunz, MPI EVA Leipzig — 0:47-0:51, 2:37-2:46, 3:20-3:27, 3:27-3:39, 5:55-6:02, 8:22-8:26
  • ronib1979 / Envato Elements — 8:58-9:01
  • Ryan Somma — 1:31-1:35
  • Ryan Somma from Occoquan, USA — 1:31-1:35
  • SAplants — 13:53-13:58
  • Sehasseh et al. 2021; photo A. Bouzouggar, INSAP, Morocco — 9:29-9:33
  • Shannon McPherron, MPI EVA Leipzig — 1:20-1:23, 1:23-1:31, 1:52-1:58, 1:58-2:01, 2:20-2:25, 2:27-2:34
  • skrip169 / Envato Elements — 11:44-11:51
  • Smith et al. 2018, Nature 555:511 — 12:33-12:37
  • Steffen Schatz, MPI EVA Leipzig — 2:01-2:09
  • Stockagent_io / Envato Elements — 5:22-5:27
  • Sven Isaksson, Anders Högberg and Marlize Lombard — 13:19-13:26, 13:35-13:50
  • Sven Isaksson, Anders Högberg and Marlize Lombard; adapted from I. Sifogeorgaki, V. Klinkenberg, I. Esteban, M. Murungi, A. S. Carr, V. B. van den Brink and G. L. Dusseldorp — 14:38-14:43
  • Sven Isaksson, Anders Högberg, Marlize Lombard et al. — 13:35-13:50
  • TravelTelly / Envato Elements — 13:14-13:16
  • Unità di Antropologia — 5:13-5:15
  • video80x / Envato Elements — 6:02-6:06, 8:13-8:17
  • Vincent Mourre / Inrap — 9:40-9:47, 10:28-10:37, 10:54-10:59
  • Vovidzha / Envato Elements — 10:50-10:54

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 →