When We Took Over the World

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From our deepest origins in Africa all the way to the Americas, by looking at the fossils and archaeological materials we have been able to trace the path our ancestors took during the short window of time when we took over the world.

Produced for PBS Digital Studios:

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[Muirghiel]

Shoutout to Patreon patrons because I live at home with my parents and earn well below the poverty line, but spend my downtime watching educational videos like this because I still want to expand my mind. Thank you for keeping this resource available for myself and anyone who wants to learn.

[mookiecookie]

It’s amazing that after hundreds of thousands of years of wandering, with humans spreading apart and being completely and totally separated across the globe, we’re now all brought back together through modern communication. It’s like a family reunion.

[beretperson]

Me: Oh nice, an Eons video to distract me from this horrible toothache!


Hank: T E E T H !

[nomethodonlymadness]

I majored in Anthropology in college. The biggest thing I took away from it was that we are, and have always been, tenacious. The genus Homo would go where they wanted, and then further. And it didn't seem to be to follow animal migration, but just because they could. We are adventurous by nature.the desire to explore is as human as anything else.

[gwyn.]

6:46 *"Draw me like one of your modern humans."*

[Sporora]

Tbh, when showing maps and populations, the maps should represent what the sea level at the time were as much as can be.

[allenlin]

Time to bury my teeth in dubious places.

[kieranmorris]

So proud to see that one of the references is from a paper written by one of my professors!

[thaileinh]

Some human when they arrived in South East Asia: "Grug no like stripe lion, grug want cross big pond."
When they arrived in Australia: "Why grug hear boss music?"

[olly_evans]

No one on earth:


Humans: It's free real estate

[vladimirlagos]

Looking forward to the episode about those stray encounters with other hominids. My guess, Neanderthals, Denisovans, and Floresiensis. Although there are rumblings of another possible island hominid in the island of Luzon.

[SweetPtates]

I've been following Eons since the beginning, and I've so grateful that you put out this content for free and for the patron backers who help make this all possible.

[rmwolfe_]

id like to seen episode about the history of spiders, particularly the evolution of silk production and web building

[mahesamara]

"TEETH! THEY LAST!"

And here my teeth, only a few decades old, already having cavities...

[steelleey]

This would really make for a genuinely interesting t.v series, the story of many families/tribes/explorers migrating the world, i'm thinking like a Black Mirror style series where no 2 episodes are the same story, but all episodes share the same world... maybe?

[couldntthinkofacoolname]

Last time I was this early, my grandma had a prehensile tail

[a.feigenheimer]

I would enjoy seeing a video about how the domestication of wolves help both species and the continued relationship that continues between man and dog.

[juliblacker]

THANK YOU for calling it the Clovis Complex. So many people call it a culture, and it wasn't. Great overview of what we know at this point of migration

[Holterya]

what if we are actually just tracking the movements of the tooth fairy here 🤔🤔

[friendlyone]

Humans back then, like humans today, were most likely as motivated by curiosity as they were looking for food and living space. "What is on the other side of the hill?" is as much a motivation as "What is on the other side of the moon?"
When I was a child, my family sang "The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see!" on almost every road trip. To see what you could see was motivation enough to travel.