First Peoples (documentary) facts for kids

First Peoples is a documentary series from 2015. It explores how the first humans spread across all the continents of our Earth. This five-part PBS series looks at each continent or group of continents one by one. The show focuses on new discoveries in paleogenomics. This is the study of ancient DNA from people who lived a very long time ago. The series was made by Wall to Wall Television. It suggests that modern humans might not have come from just one place in East Africa. Instead, it explores ideas that humans also came from other parts of Africa. A two-disk DVD of the documentary was also released in 2015.

Episodes

First Peoples: Americas

This episode talks about how the first people arrived in the Americas. It suggests they traveled along the western coast thousands of years before the Clovis people. The episode starts by discussing Kennewick Man. It explains what his DNA tells us about him.

First Peoples: Africa

This episode suggests that Homo sapiens appeared in different parts of Africa. This happened about 200,000 years ago. It discusses the Jebel Irhoud skull found in Morocco. The episode also looks at evidence of other early humans in West and Central Africa.

First Peoples: Asia

This part shows evidence that early humans mixed with other groups. These groups included Neanderthals, Denisovans, and Homo erectus. This happened as humans moved east across Asia. The episode highlights how humans needed to explore. This led them to meet and interbreed with other human species. Modern human DNA shows this mixing happened.

First Peoples: Australia

This episode discusses how the first Australians may have crossed the ocean. This happened around 43,000 BP (Before Radiocarbon dating began in 1950). The program explores the strong links between these first people and modern-day Australian Aborigines.

First Peoples: Europe

This episode talks about when humans first arrived in Europe. It explains why they became the main Homo species there. It also highlights the amazing burst of art that appeared in Europe with Homo sapiens.