Earliest Humans: We Were Not Alone

For most of human history, we were not alone. Human evolution was shaped by multiple human species living side by side, from Neanderthals in Europe to Denisovans in Asia, before all but one disappeared. In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Ella Al-Shamahi to explore the story of the early humans who once shared our world. How did these different species evolve? Did they compete or coexist? And what do the latest discoveries reveal about the tangled story of human evolution and the survival of Homo sapiens? 0:00 Introduction 1:38 Why being the only human species is unusual 2:48 The golden age of paleoanthropology 3:41 Discovery of the Hobbit species on Flores 6:58 Specialists vs the new kid on the block 8:02 Debunking the linear march of progress 9:05 The difficulty of defining a species 11:54 Ghost lineages and ancient DNA in Africa 13:33 Meet the granddaddy: Homo erectus 20:21 The mystery of the Denisovans and Dragon Man 30:42 Homo naledi and the evidence for ritual burial 37:45 Why Homo sapiens survived and others didn't Presented by Tristan Hughes. Producers are Joseph Knight & McKenna Fernandez, senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Editor is Matthew Wilson. Channel manager is Vilde Øksnes. Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. All music from Epidemic Sounds. #HistoryHitPodcast #TheAncients #Evolution