About this episode

The episode discusses how new archaeological technologies are reshaping our understanding of ancient human societies.

Humanity’s story from 10,000 BC to 3,000 BC (from the end of the ice age to the beginning of civilizations) follows this pattern: primitive hunter-gatherers slowly progressed to farmers, then to village-builders, then to city-dwellers and kings. With enough food surplus to free up everyone from having to farm, religion, medicine, and art developed. But a revolution in archaeological science has completely rewritten the human past. Tools like ancient DNA sequencing, isotope analysis, LiDAR scanning, ground-penetrating radar, and high-precision radiocarbon dating are completely rewriting what we know about the ancient past. For example, the Natufians of the Levant, living between roughly 14,500 and 11,500 years ago, built permanent stone villages, stored food, buried their dead with elaborate grave goods, and developed complex social hierarchies — all before farming a single crop. We’re going to look at other recent discoveries that have changed what we know about the Ice Age and Neolithic periods, and we’re joined by is Patrick Wyman, author of Lost Worlds: How Humans Tried, Failed, Succeeded, and Built Our World.  We cover the Copper Age megacity…

People in this episode

Host: History Unplugged

Guest: Patrick Wyman

Topics covered

• archaeology
• ancient history
• Neolithic period
• Ice Age
• social hierarchies
• ancient civilizations

Keywords

• ancient DNA sequencing
• isotope analysis
• LiDAR scanning
• ground-penetrating radar
• Neolithic mass graves
• Trypillia culture
• Copper Age megacity

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Lost Worlds: How Humans Tried, Failed, Succeeded, and Built Our World

Places: Levant, Spain, Ukraine, central Europe

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