[dramatic music]
[dramatic music continues]
[dramatic music]
[dramatic music continues]
[tranquil music]
- [Narrator] Researchers in Turkey are about to embark
on an excavation at the ancient site of Karahan Tepe,
and they believe it's much older than Gobekli Tepe,
the famous zero point of world history.
If you were to ask any professor of history
or even a self-respecting armchair archeologist
to name the oldest monument ever discovered,
they would've all said Gobekli Tepe,
but now that answer might be Karahan Tepe,
and this is creating a lot of excitement
in archeological circles.
Karahan Tepe is said to be much older than Gobekli Tepe.
Archeologists have been working at the Karahan Tepe site,
which is often called the sister site
of Gobekli Tepe since 1997.
The site is located near Yagmurlu,
and roughly 35 kilometers east
of the 12,000-year-old Gobekli Tepe site.
[dramatic music]
Over the years, archeologists have made a series
of amazing discoveries at the Karahan Tepe site.
In particular, tons of buried T-shaped obelisks
similar to the ones car with wild animals at Gobekli Tepe
have led researchers to conclude
that Karahan Tepe is much older
than its younger sister Gobekli Tepe.
Head of excavations that Karahan Tepe, Dr. Necmi Karul,
said that 12 spots estimated to be in the same period
as Gobekli Tepe are now known in the region,
one of which is the Karahan Tepe.
Speaking at the 10th International Resort Tourism Congress,
culture and tourism minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy
said that an intensive
and rapid excavation program continues in Karahan Tepe,
which to date has yielded 250 obelisks
featuring animal figures.
Ersoy claims that planned excavations
will prove the settlement at Karahan Tepe
will be much older than the 12,000 year old Gobekli Tepe.
A 2016 "National Geographic" article
recounted the fascinating story
of the discovery and preservation of Gobekli Tepe.
Professor Klaus Schmidt,
a German archeologist who led excavations at the site,
argued before he died in 2014
that a vast labor force needed to build the enclosures,
and that this construction project pushed people
to develop agriculture
as a way of providing predictable food,
and perhaps drink for workers.
At the 2015 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland,
Turkey's DOGUS GROUP announced
that they plan to spend 15 million dollars
over the next 20 years in partnership
with the National Geographic Society
on the Gobekli Tepe site,
and DOGUS GROUP chairman, Ferit Sahenk,
said in a press release
that the reason so much cash was being spent on Gobekli Tepe
was because this prehistoric temple
was the zero point in time.
Karahan Tepe may well be Gobekli Tepe's older sister.
While Gobekli Tepe holds the world record
in media headlines and elsewhere
as the earliest temple of its type ever discovered,
there are several other contenders for this crown in Turkey.
According to Jens Notroff,
an archeologist at the German Archeological Institute
who is working on Gobekli Tepe site,
smaller versions of the pillars, symbols,
and architecture carved into stone Gobekli Tepe
have been found in settlements up to 125 miles away,
including Karahan Tepe.
Professor Notroff told "National Geographic"
that Gobekli Tepe probably served the region as a cathedral,
and therefore the surrounding sacred sites
were like parish churches.
The scientist also thinks
hunter gatherers traveled long distances to meet,
worship and help build new monumental structures
through vast community projects
that included grand feasts to display wealth.
Returning to Karahan Tepe,
according to a report in "Daily Sabah,"
many more years of excavations and research
must be conducted to determine what exactly it was used for.
However, while it does happen,
scientists seldom make big claims without equally big proof,
and in this instance, the researchers think
that when they ultimately get
to Karahan Tepe's excavation center,
it will be much older than 12,000 years.
The archeologists at Karahan Tepe are also convinced
that they have a new zero point in world history.
The mayor says the site will become a priority
in place of Gobekli Tepe,
and it will become a new focus of national archeological
and tourist attention.
Karahan Tepe is the sister to the enigmatic Gobekli Tepe
that sits around 23 miles Southeast of Gobekli,
upon an elevated limestone ridge.
It has many striking similarities to Gobekli.
Firstly, it consists of T-shaped pillars,
266 of them, that mostly form parallel rows.
The pillars have relief carvings,
and the sight of appears, like Gobekli,
to be deliberately buried under a great artificial mound.
Although this could be natural,
as after 10,500 years of accumulation of dirt
combined with high winds could have covered it back up.
The comparisons do not end there.
It also has serpent relief carvings,
strange rock indentations, large cut marks,
porthole stones, and an unfinished T-shaped pillar
still in the quarry, the focus of this article.
[tranquil music]
[upbeat music]
Karahan Tepe was first discovered in 1997,
and was surveyed in 2000, and again in 2011.
Like Gobekli Tepe,
it's located within the boundaries of Sanliurfa,
ancient Edessa, the birthplace of Abraham
around 30 miles from the city.
It's not an officially recognized tourist site,
so they had to plan their trip carefully,
as it was on private land upon the Tektek Mountains.
Fortunately, a well-placed, probably modern standing stone,
marked the entrance to the track
that led to the farm that is located behind.
When Andrew Collins visited there in 2004,
the person who showed him around
was warned he would get a beating
if they found anyone had visited there.
10 years later,
and the owners welcome the occasional visitor
with tea and information, no beatings entailed,
just sweet, hot beverages and conversation
after the morning visit.
The dating of the site is impressive,
as it's dated to 8500 BC,
contemporary with the now submerged Neval1 Cori
and the latest stages of Gobekli Tepe.
There are obvious similarities to these
and other sites in the vicinity,
but we've heard that there was a quarry on site
where an unfinished T-shaped pillar
still sits within the bedrock.
Kevin Fish diligently searched for it with only one clue,
that it was directly to the west of the main enclosure,
as mentioned in the 2011 report.
Kevin eventually converged at the impressive monolith.
It lies on a rock face sloping 30 degrees
towards the setting sun.
At 18 feet long,
it would have probably been the largest monolith
at the site.
The site is not excavated yet,
so this can't be confirmed,
and weighs in at around 30 to 40 tons.
It's downward angle on the slope
on natural, exposed rock face
may have been why this was a preferred spot to quarry from.
As archeologist Bahattin Celik explains,
this is quite a practical technique
with roughly chiseling on the side of the rock
to produce a T shape
whilst carving the other side 40-centimeters wide
and one-meter deep.
The solid pillar separated from the bedrock
with this technique, and can be removed from the quarry
with the help of a slope.
Andrew Collins decided to measure it,
and discovered it was, indeed,
18 feet, 5.5 meters in length,
with a maximum width of 6.6 feet,
two meters across its T-shaped head.
This is similar in size to the twin monoliths
at the center of Gobekli's enclosure C and D.
The weathering was very bad,
much like the exposed parts of the pillars on the main hill.
However, what lies underneath
could be as well preserved as Gobekli Tepe.
Altogether, Karahan Tepe is a fascinating site
that begs excavation,
as the significance of the nearby Gobekli Tepe
has now hit the headlines.
After leaving the site,
the visitor wondered if the location
of the choice of rock was significant.
Was the direction of the quarry from the main temple
an indication of a tradition that existed
as far back as 10,500 years ago?
Andrew Collins discussed the possibility
that, indeed, it could be case,
as bringing quarry stone from the west to the east
may represent bringing it into the light, sunrise,
from darkness, the sunset.
However, the remaining 14-foot pillar
still on the Eastern slope had further avenues
slightly further east of it,
so again, it showed a possible west-to-east movement.
Alternatively, it could also represent
an east-to-west direction from the smaller quarry
to the main enclosure.
After searching through some masonic texts,
a reference was found to a ceremony
where the initiate had to move in that direction,
east to west.
Why this is perhaps could represent facing one's own death,
as initiation rites such as these
are often about facing deep rooted fears.
Whether this was on the minds
of the builders of Karahan Tepe, we'll never know,
unless, of course, the site gets excavated
and evidence emerges.
For now, we can only speculate.
Another aspect that grabbed Andrew's attention
was the fact that the parallel rows
appear to be serpent like,
weaving up or down the main hill,
or from the main enclosure.
In his initial report, Andrew stated it's even possible
that these zigzagging pairs of stones
making up the stone avenues,
located on the Northern Eastern sides of the Tepe,
signify the path of snakes,
which are seen to descend light-living energy
into the valley below.
This idea is given credence through the fact
that carving on the stones seems directed up the hill,
as if the direction of movement is downwards
through the various sets of gateways.
After coming to this conclusion, Andrew dreamt of snakes,
their tails tied together,
each one trying to break free of its bondage,
all of them writhing about in the process.
With this dream came the impression
that the snakes represented the containment, flow,
and energy of the stones' avenues at Karahan Tepe.
An interesting concept, if nothing else.
Earth energy springs to mind,
as it has been found in Avery, Brittany, and Cornwall
that stone avenues mark the path
of telluric earth energy currents,
with a crossing point often at the center of the complex,
which would naturally congregate on a hilltop.
More research needs to be carried out
to confirm this hypothesis,
but with the serpent symbolism at such a remote site,
it could even reveal the origins of geomancy
and earth energy science.
When they go back in September,
they will have some equipment to take readings,
and dousing rods, to find out if this is the case.
[dramatic music]
[suspenseful music]
Archeologists are preparing to launch
the third major excavation of an important site
on the Jiroft plane in the Halil River
of Southeastern Iran.
The Konar Sandal remains were exposed after flooding in 2001
near Jiroft in Iran.
Sheltering by towering rugged mountains on three sides,
this hidden jewel was revealed to be a sprawling,
Bronze Age urban settlement built by a magnificent kingdom
whose existence had been previously excluded
from the annals of history.
The discovery led some experts to hypothesize
that the long-lost year of culture
was actually the cradle of civilization
before the emergence of Sumer or Mesopotamia.
The excavated area in Iran's Kerman province
has been named Konar Sandal.
Its central feature is a pair
of massive burial mounds separated by a distance
of approximately one mile, 1.6 kilometers,
which have been designated as Konar Sandal A, North,
and Konar Sandal B, South.
The site is located near Jiroft in Southeastern Iran.
Beneath mound A, archeologists found a stone structure
they believed was used for religious purposes.
Under mound B, they found the remains
of a two-story fortified citadel anchored to a base
that covered more than 33 acres, 13.5 hectares.
At the foot of the mounds,
deeper digs have revealed the presence
of many smaller buildings,
and its believe that similar structures
will eventually be unearthed in the space
between the two mounds and elsewhere
in the subterranean surrounding environment.
In addition to the excavated structures,
Konar Sandal has also yielded a plentitude
of stunningly attractive and finely crafted artifacts
revealing the existence of a culturally sophisticated people
who created and resided in an indisputably advanced society.
Unlike the first two explorations,
which were carried out by international teams,
this new excavation will be strictly an Iranian affair
sponsored by the country's Research Institute
of Cultural Heritage and Tourism.
The demarcation project is aimed
to determine the legal boundaries of the prehistorical site,
explained the Kerman provincial tourism chief
who referred to the Konar Sandal site
as one of the most important Bronze Age cities
in Southwest Asia.
This is a strong contention,
but in fact, this assessment may be unduly modest.
The first section of the Jiroft plane site and acropolis
was discovered in 2001.
Heavy flooding of the Halil River
washed away tons of topsoil that had previously covered it,
exposing a complex of ancient tombs
no one had ever expected to find.
Impressive hauls of bronze and age jewelry, ceramics,
tools, drinking cups, board games,
and a variety of decorative items inlaid
with semi-precious stones
were recovered from the unearthed cemetery.
Unfortunately, the initial discoverers were looters
and antiquities black marketers
who stole and sold many valuable artifacts
before law enforcement and the military finally arrived
to secure the site.
After this initial discovery,
the first official excavation at Jiroft began in 2003,
under the leadership of the Iranian archeologist,
Dr. Yousef Majidzadeh.
It ended in 2007,
and he published his team's findings shortly thereafter.
Based on radiocarbon dating,
the archeologist concluded that the year after civilization
that built the integrated urban complex
had reached the peak of its power and prosperity
at around the year 2,500 BC.
However, signs indicated
that initial construction on the complex may have begun
as long ago as the fifth millennium BC.
During this excavation,
and during another that was launched in 2014,
archeologists continue to find many valuable
and intriguing artifacts inside the mounds
and beneath the surrounding landscape.
Most notably, they also found four tablets inscribed
in two different languages,
one of which was composed entirely of geometrical figures
and could not be compared to anything
that had been found before.
So just how significant was the discovery
of this long-lost, literate kingdom
in a bleak desolate area of Iranian desert?
Significant enough to throw the identification
of Mesopotamia as the cradle of civilization into question.
Jean Perrot, a French archeologist
with previous excavation experience in Iran
was invited to inspect the site and its contents
during the earliest stages of the first excavation.
When asked to share his impressions,
he stated the following,
"An area we formerly regarded as resided only by nomads
and their cattle
was the heart of an incredibly advanced civilization.
In this area, people lived with a social hierarchy.
These people had an explicit view of the world,
which distinguishes them from the Sumerians.
Henceforth, we must consider the Jiroft
as the origin of civilizations,
and refer to all other civilizations
as pre or post-Jiroft civilization."
There may be a bit of hype in this statement
since Sumerian civilization can be traced back
at least as far, if not farther,
than the Jifoft civilization,
to the fifth and sixth millenniums BC,
but given that Mesopotamia and Southern Iran are separated
by only 600 miles, or 1000 kilometers,
there exists a possibility
that the Jiroft civilization shared a common ancestor
with the Sumerians, and that perhaps the two split
following the chaos, confusion, and destruction caused
by the great floods that occurred
at the end of the last Ice Age.
At the very least, it's reasonable to assume
that the peoples of Mesopotamia would have interacted
with their Jiroftian neighbors to the east,
perhaps to a significant enough extent
that each culture was influencing
the development of the other.
In fact, many of the artifacts discovered at Konar Sandal
are decorated with mythological imagery
that seems to link its culture with that of Mesopotamia.
The Jiroft civilization specialized
in the creation of pottery
using a semi-precious mineral known as chlorite,
and examples of this pottery
containing strikingly similar iconography have been found
at various archeological sites
throughout the Middle East and Asia,
including sites identified with Bronze Age Mesopotamia.
[tranquil music]
Different interpretations of the exact identity
of the lost Jiroft civilizations have been offered.
Dr. Majidzadeh believes that he and his colleagues
may have discovered the site
of the legendary land of Aratta,
a glorious Atlantis-like kingdom from the Bronze Age
that mysteriously disappeared from the pages of history
in the far distant past.
However, knowledge of Aratta comes primarily
from Sumerian poems, which has led some to question
whether such a place ever existed at a all.
An alternative theory suggests
that the newly-discovered Iranian civilization
may be the ancient kingdom of Marhasi,
which was located in Southern Iran,
and is known to have been involved in conflicts
with the Mesopotamian kingdom of Akkad
in the third millennium BC.
A final answer to the riddle of the Jiroft civilization
may never be found, but the fact that it existed at all
is forcing archeologists and historians
to reassess everything they thought they knew
about the primacy and importance of Mesopotamia
to world history.
Mesopotamia has not been diminished, but going forward,
it may have to share the title cradle of civilization
with its cousin from the east.
[dramatic music]
Scientists have uncovered decorated artifacts
dating from between 40,000 and 75,000 years ago
from Tanzania and the southern tip of South Africa
that show that man developed the capacity
for symbolic thought long before previously believed.
The discovery of these artifacts could present huge problems
to conventional thinking about human history.
The earliest kind of decoration used by humans
was probably ochre, which we know was used
over 200,000 years ago in the middle Stone Age
and middle Paleolithic.
The earliest evidence of its use in Africa
dates back 285,000 years.
Ochre is an umbrella term
for a range of earthy, iron-rich rocks
composed of iron oxides or oxyhydroxides
such as shales, sandstones, mudstones, and specularites.
In Africa, ochre is still used for protection from the sun
and against insects, such as mosquitoes.
It has also been scientifically proven
to inhibit the effect of UV radiation,
and also has many other uses.
Fascinatingly, ochre appears in the archeological record
around the same time as anatomically modern humans,
and became more frequently used
from about 100,000 years ago at many Middle Stone Age sites.
One of the most often debated questions
in the study of early man is when did the origins
of modern human behavior begin?
When and where did our common ancestors first begin
to behave in ways similar to ourselves?
Although it is well known
that Homo sapiens were anatomically modern
by 200,000 years ago in Africa,
there's an never been evidence to support the idea
that these humans could be capable of modern behavior,
but all that changed with the discovery of the Blombos heads
on the 24th of April, 2004, by a team of scientists
led by Dr. Christopher Henshilwood,
a South African archeologist affiliated
with university of Bergen in Norway
and the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
The discovery was made Blombos Cave
on the shore of the Indian Ocean,
200 miles east of Cape Town.
Archeologists now believe
that due to these and other findings,
most ancient symbolic traditions in Africa date back
at least 100,000 years.
Years after these amazing discoveries,
new discoveries relating to early Homo sapiens'
cognitive abilities are still challenging mainstream views.
The archeological site at Blombos Cave
contains Middle Stone Age archeological deposits,
including hearts, bone, stone, marine shells, and sand
in discrete layers dated to between 100,000
and 72,000 years ago.
This is seen by many researchers
as probably the most important period
in the early development of modern human behavior.
Published results from Blombos Cave indicate
that some aspects of modern behavior evolved
during the early Late Pleistocene,
after 100,000 years ago in Africa.
Excavations at the cave match recent and older findings
from a number of African Middle Stone Age sites
that date to this time period.
The discoveries at the cave show
that people apparently had the intention
to make a statement about themselves with jewelry
about 30,000 years earlier
than any previously identified personal ornaments used
by our human ancestors.
This was the conclusion of the archeologist
who discovered a collection
of tiny shells pierced with holes,
as if they had been prepared for stringing
as primitive beads.
The 41 pea-size shell beads were uncovered
in groups arranged by sizes and shade,
each cluster probably representing
a single piece of jewelry.
According to researchers,
the strings of bead represent the oldest,
well-dated examples of people making and wearing jewelry.
This can be interpreted as further evidence
that these people possessed a language
capable of sharing the symbolic meanings of these objects.
Two years before the discovery of the beads,
Dr. Henshilwood reported the discovery of other evidence
of possibly complex symbolic thinking
by the inhabitants of Blombos Cave,
including abstract engravings,
and finely worked bone tools and weapon points.
The shell beads of Blombos Cave
were from a small snail-like mollusk,
which must have been brought by the group
from rivers more than 10 miles away.
All the recovered shells from Blombos Cave
were carefully pierced around 75,000 years ago
using a bone tool to create a keyhole perforation.
These were then strung and worn as a personal ornament.
Archeologists discovered signs of repeated rubbing
on the beads, a sign that they had been rubbed
against one another, and against the cord,
resulting in discreet use-wear surfaces on each bead.
Such patterns of wear are not present on the shells
in their natural environment.
Microscopic residues of ochre discovered
inside some of the beads probably resulted
from deliberate coloring by the wearer,
or perhaps by transfer when worn.
Henshilwood and other researchers believe
that this small, but rowing record
of very early artistic artifacts from Africa
are vital evidence that modern behavioral traits,
such as the use of external symbols,
developed slowly over a couple of hundred thousand years,
not abruptly after our ancestors emerge from Africa,
as some archeologists have suggested.
However, not all searches agreed
with Dr. Henshilwood's interpretation
that these mysterious artifacts were expressions
of a modern type of creativity.
Indeed, a few of them have even questioned
whether the shells were actually used as beads.
Archeologist Randall White of New York University,
for example, does not believe that humans made the holes
in this snail shell, saying "I'm disturbed by the fact
that there are no tool traces."
Up until the discoveries in Blombos Cave,
the earliest African personal ornaments
with 13 ostrich egg shell beads from Kenya
dated to 40 to 45,000 years ago.
Other slightly more recent evidence
includes a 43,000-year-old perforated teeth
from Bulgaria, and 41,000 year old marine beads from Turkey.
In 2000, archeologists reported finding
ostrich eggshell beads, as well as ochre pencils
and fish bones at a site
in the Serengeti National Park of Tanzania.
The archeologists were not able to date
the two carved donut-shaped pieces
of ostrich shell precisely,
but they came from the same layer as tools
from the African Middle Stone Age
between 280,000 and 45,000 years ago.
For some reason, the mysterious discovery was not announced
until four years later, in March, 2004,
at the Paleoanthropology Society meeting in Montreal.
Despite the uncertainty over their exact age,
one of the archeologists who discovered the beads,
Curtis Marean from the Institute of Human Origins
and department of anthropology at Arizona State University,
stated that they were unambiguous examples
of symbolic behavior.
But why do decorated beads mean
that we may have discovered the earliest examples
of modern human thinking?
Research has shown that symbols cannot exist in isolation,
but generally form a part of interlinked systems.
Modern human behavior is usually defined as behavior
that is caused by socially constructed patterns
of symbolic thinking, actions, and communication.
The capacity for symbolic thought
is not the main defining factor for modern human behavior,
but rather it is the use of symbolism to organize behavior
that defines us.
So early humans were first behaviorally modern
when symbols became an inherent part of their daily lives.
In basic terms,
this means that people were using the artifacts
that they made to organize their social world
in a similar way as we do today.
Within each group of people,
such as those at the Blombos Caves,
artifacts may have had meanings
that could be understood only by members of that group.
A good example is the design
of the bead necklace discovered in the cave,
which may have carried a significant meaning
that was not understood by people outside the group.
The findings from Blombos Cave and from Tanzania,
and the subsequent reanalysis and excavation
of other relevant sites have resulted in a clear change
in our understanding of the timing and location
of the development of modern human behavior.
Archeologists believe that these discoveries
undoubtedly reflect the acquisition
of completely modern cognitive abilities
by Southern African populations
at least 100,000 years ago.
Although scientists are aware
that these are vastly important discoveries,
in terms of early man,
they still seem to be a little reluctant
to believe very early dates.
Randall White commented, "If the dates hold up,
we now seem to be seeing a trail of representational objects
that it is increasingly older
as we move back from Europe into Africa."
[dramatic music]
A mysterious small clay figurine of a human found
in 1889 at Nampa, Idaho,
has remained a controversial artifact since its discovery.
As the figuring was found at a depth of 300 feet
in a geological stratum that dates
to around 2 million years ago,
some researchers believe the culture that created it
must have flourished at the same period,
but according to conventional chronology,
this is simply not possible.
In 1887, five gentlemen, James A. Pinney,
Nathan Falk, Joseph Perrault, John Bernard,
and M. A. Kurtz formed a company to locate artesian water
at the new town of Nampa, Southwest Idaho.
By July of 1889, their sand pump had reached a depth
of over 300 feet.
According to Mr. Kurtz, he was at the sand pump,
checking the contents coming out,
when, in his own words, he had the clay image in his hand
and supposed it was a twig.
"I dipped it into a barrel of water standing near,
washed it off, and saw it once what it was.
The tiny, baked-clay artifact
was about an inch-and-a-half long in the shape of a human.
American amateur geologist George Frederick Wright
later wrote about the discovery in his book,
"The Origin and Antiquity of Man,"
"The record of the well shows
that they had penetrated first about 50 feet of soil,
then about 15 feet of basalt,
and afterwards passed through alternate beds
of clay and quick sand, down to the depth of 300 feet,
when the sand pump began to bring up numerous clay balls,
some of them more than two inches in diameter,
densely coated with iron oxide
2 million years old."
Wright went on to describe the mysterious figurine.
"It was a female figure and had the lifelike lineaments
in the parts which were finished that would do credit
to the classic centers of art."
American archeologists at the time noticed
that the apparent similarities between the Nampa figurine
and those of Upper Paleolithic Europe,
but how had the figure ended up in a geological formation
from the Pliocene-Pleistocene transition
dating to approximately 2 million years ago?
The oldest known example of a depiction of a human being
is the Venus of Hohle Fels from a cave
in the Swabian Alps of Germany,
which is date to between 40,000 and 35,000 years ago.
Does the incredibly ancient Nampa figurine
challenge the evolutionary scenario,
as some independent researchers have suggested?
What mysterious culture existed
in North America 2 million years ago
who could have been sophisticated enough
to craft such an object?
Perhaps the figure shows that intelligent humans
might have existed on Earth far earlier
than originally believed by science.
The Nampa figurine has been held up
by some as a perfect example of an out-of-place artifact,
objects found in context that are way out of sync
with the accepted chronology of human history.
For some researchers,
such artifacts place a huge question mark
against what we think we know of the world in its history.
Some argue that these discoveries offer persuasive evidence
that in remote antiquity,
mankind was significantly more advanced
than we could ever imagine.
They insist that at very times in prehistory,
we have reached a high level of civilization
only for it to be subsequently destroyed without a trace
by natural or manmade catastrophes.
Two well-known examples of such out-of-place artifacts
are the supposed fossilized human footprints
discovered in the 1880s at the summit of Big Hill
in the Cumberland Mountains in Jackson County, Kentucky,
and an apparently man-made object enclosed in rock,
known as the Coso artifact,
which to all intents and purposes,
resembles a modern spark plug.
The Coso artifact was initially believed by some
to be more than 500,000 years old
and belong to an unknown, impossibly old civilization.
However, later research into the object
concluded something entirely different.
Two researchers believing the object to be relatively modern
enlisted the help
of the Spark Plug Collectors of an America.
They sent letters and copies of the X-rays of the artifact
to four different spark plug collectors
who had no knowledge of the case,
and had never seen the pictures before.
The collectors independently came to the same conclusion.
They were certain
that it was a 1920s-era champion spark plug,
one that had probably powered a Ford Model T,
and had been modified,
possibly to serve the mining operations
in the Coso mountain range.
The amount of decay in the artifact
was an almost perfect match for the rates of decay
that would occur in a spark plug from this era.
So the Coso artifact had been lying on a mountain
for no more than 40 years,
and had not been encased in rock at all,
but in a material composed mainly of hardened clay
with a mixture of organic matter.
Understandably, members of the scientific community
do not support the extreme date for the Nampa figurine.
For example, Michael Brass in his 2002 book,
"The Antiquity of Man:
Artifactual, Fossil and Gene Records Explored"
notes that such a small fragile clay figurine
would've undoubtedly been destroyed
by the drilling equipment upon retrieval,
as it was brought up to the surface.
Other researchers have pointed out
that there are a number of ways
by which the figurine could have worked its way
into the Pliocene-Pleistocene clay through fishers,
through mining activity,
or even by being pushed there by the drill.
The presence of the clay balls
found at the same general depth close to the solid bedrock,
this might suggest that a variety of materials
had descended fairly rapidly through the deposit
by a mechanism currently unknown.
The reliability of the work of George Frederick Wright,
which is so critical for those who believe
that the figurine is really 2 million years old,
has also been called into question
and revealed to be highly suspect.
Wright's contemporaries were highly critical of his writing
and did not take his work seriously as science.
D.G. Brinton wrote a book review
of Wright's "Man and the Glacial Period"
in the journal "Science" in 1892.
In this review, he states,
"Dr. Wright's last example is the feeblest
of all the Nampa image,
a beautifully-formed clay image of a female
said to have been brought up from a depth of 300 feet
in the holding of an artesian well at Nampa, Idaho.
It is sad to destroy illusions,
but when this same image with its story
was laid before a well-known government geologist,
and he at once recognized it's a clay toy
manufactured by the neighboring Pocatello Indians,
the person displaying it replied with engaging frankness,
'Well, now don't give me away.'
As if that were not enough,
the well-known government geologist was, in fact,
J.W. Powell, who wrote in "Popular Science" monthly in 1893.
In the fall of 1889, the writer visited Boise city in Idaho.
While stopping at a hotel,
some gentleman called on him to show him a figurine,
which they said had been found
in sinking an artesian well in the neighborhood
at a depth of more than 300 feet.
It was claimed that this figurine had been brought up
from the bottom of an artesian well
while the men were working.
When this story was told, the writer, Powell,
he simply jested with those who claimed to have found it.
He had known the Indians that live in the neighborhood,
had seen their children play with such figurines,
and had no doubt that the little image
had lately belonged to some Indian children,
and said the same.
While stopping at the hotel,
different persons spoke about it,
and it was always passed off as a jest,
and various comments were made about it by various people,
some of them claiming it had given them much sport."
When Powell later read George Frederick Wright's book,
he was extremely surprised to discover
that Wright had obtained the Nampa figurine,
and that he had actually published it as evidence
of the great and antiquity of man
in the valley of Snake River.
A certain Mr.McGee also attacked the honesty
of the supposed discoverers
of the ancient artifact, Kurtz and Duss.
In the 1894 second edition of "Man and the Glacial Period,"
George Frederick Wright repeats McGee's assertions.
"It is a fact," says McGee,
"That one of the best known geologists of the world
chanced to visit Nampa while the boring was in progress,
and the figurine and the pretty fiction
were laid before him.
He recognized the figurine as a toy,
such as the neighboring Indians give their children,
and laughed at the story,
whereupon the owner of the object
enjoined a secrecy pleading, 'Don't do give me away.
I fooled a lot of fellows already,
and I'd like to fool some more.'"
What does the Nampa figurine represent?
In the years since this discovery,
a lot of research has been done
into the culture of the Native Americans local to the area
where the figure was found.
These studies have found,
as J.W. Powell stated 120 years ago,
that small, fragile clay figurines like the ones discovered
were common to these Native American tribes
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The evidence overwhelmingly points
to the Nampa figurine being a hoax
perpetrated at a time when such stunts were popular
and people enjoyed their brief notoriety.
[dramatic music]
A drawing recently discovered on the wall of a cave
in the west of France
appears to be the oldest known portrait of a human face.
The portrait was drawn with calcium carbonate,
and used the bumps in the wall to give form to the face.
The cave drawing was found alongside a human body,
and represents the only second time in history
that a human body from the Upper Paleolithic period
had been found placed in a cave with decorations.
It's unclear if the portrait has any connection
with the mysterious Venus figurines,
small statuettes of female figures found throughout Europe
and some parts of Asia,
some of which date back 40,000 years.
In 2006, it was announced
that archeologists had discovered
the earliest known depiction of a human face
in the Vilhonneur cave system near Bordeaux,
in Western France.
The image, which had originally been discovered
by a local pensioner, Gerard Jourdy,
was only made public after six months of scientific testing
and examination by French scientists and archeologists
that dated the drawings to 27,000 years ago,
which makes the Vilhonneur grotto
one of the oldest sites of rock art in the world.
The face is drawn with black calcium carbonate
on an already face-shaped rocky mass.
Two pieces of calcite that split
are used form the hair with two black horizontal strokes
depicting the eyes.
A vertical stroke forms the nose,
and another horizontal stroke the mouth.
The cave also featured other wall decorations,
including a negative imprint of a right hand
surrounded in black on a wall,
made by blowing color onto the area
once the hand had been placed there, according to experts.
Also found inside the same cave was a skeleton
of a young man placed on the ground.
Two rib bones from these skeleton were analyzed
at the laboratory in Miami, Florida,
and dated the skeleton two 27,000 years ago.
Five skeletons of young hyenas were found in nearby parts
of the cave system.
Just a few months after the world found out
about the Vilhonneur grotto find,
controversy arose about the claim
that it was the oldest representation of a human face.
Australian rock art experts questioned the claim,
pointing to the wealth of engravings and paintings of man
made by early Aborigines.
Professor Mike Morwood
of the University of New England said
some of the earliest rock painting traditions
in the Pilbara, the Kimberley, and Arnhem Land
date back over 30,000 years ago,
and include depictions of human figures as well as animals.
So while the Vilhonneur cave painting
is a very significant finding,
and may be the oldest portrait known in Western Europe,
it certainly is not the oldest such artwork in the world.
Archeologist Josephine McDonald
of the University of Western Australia
is the author of an academic work entitled
"Archaic Faces to Headdresses:
The Changing Role of Rock Art Across the Arid Zone."
She was in agreement with professor Morwood's opinion
that faces in a Australian rock art
appear to predate the recent French discovery.
Certainly, there's some rock art in Australia
that is at least 30,000 years old,
and it indicates the depiction of faces.
Most Australian archeologists agree the earliest art
in Australia was produced before the last Ice Age,
which gives it a significant age.
There are some researchers, however,
who believe that both the Vilhonneur grotto portrait
and the earliest Australian Aboriginal portrait art
are predated by small statuettes known as Venus figurines.
Venus figurines are a class of distinctive artifacts
dating back to the Upper Paleolithic period,
roughly between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago.
Early 20th century prehistorians,
believing that the figurines depicted
an ancient model of beauty,
named the objects Venus figurines,
in references to the Roman goddess of beauty.
The figurines were fashioned mainly in the form
of stylized representations of females
with large breasts and buttocks,
and are found over a vast area of Europe
and parts of Western Asia.
The most famous of these Venus figurines,
and until the discovery of the Vilhonneur grotto portrait,
is the Venus of Willendorf,
found near the town of Willendorf, Austria.
The most notable and common type of Venus figurines
are small, three-dimensional sculptures of voluptuous women,
ranging in height from 1.2 inches to more than 15 inches,
and carved from a wide range of materials,
including serpentine, schist, limestone,
steatite, fired clay, ivory, bone, and antler.
There are also carved plaques
showing similar representations,
and figurines that apparently show young females.
The sizes and proportions of the Venus figurines vary,
though the majority follow certain artistic conventions:
large breasts and stomach, wide hips and swollen thighs,
all probably intended to depict pregnancy.
Facial features are usually absent, as are arms,
hands and feet, and the heads are relatively small.
A few examples have what appears to be braided hair,
such as the Venus of Brassempouy,
and the Venus of Willendorf,
and others have been discovered
with traces of red ochre on them.
Venus figurines were manufactured over a vast period of time
from around 40,000 years ago,
and up to around 13,000 years ago.
The figurines have been discovered
from the French Pyrenees to the Siberian planes,
mostly from cave and rock shelter sites.
Recently, however, a remarkable carved ivory Venus figurine
was discovered in Hohle Fels in Southwestern Germany,
which is thought to be the oldest sculpture
of a human figure ever found.
In fact, it is the oldest undisputed example
of Upper Paleolithic art
and figurative prehistoric art in general.
The 2.4-inches-tall figurines,
dated between 35,000 and 40,000 years ago,
belonging to the early Aurignacian oration,
are the very beginning of the Upper Paleolithic,
which is associated with the assumed earliest presence
of Homo sapiens in Europe.
The sculpture was fashioned without a head,
like some other examples of Venus figurines,
but it does have a carved ring where the head should be,
suggesting that it was worn as a pendant.
In the opinion of professor Conard,
the various incised lines and markings
that cover much of the surface of the figure
may represent clothing.
Excavations at the site by Nicholas J. Conard
from a university in Germany,
also discovered other figurines including a horse's head,
a waterbird, and a half human, half lion figurine,
all dated to about 30,000 to 33,000 years ago.
Also found at this remarkable site were worked flint,
bone, and ivory, bones of horses, reindeer, cave bear,
mammoth, and ibex, as well as a deliberately burned bone.
A puzzling artifact, though, is a bird bone flute
with five finger holes.
It was also unearthed in this incredible cave,
dating to about 35,000 years ago,
which would've made it
the oldest handcrafted musical instrument ever discovered.
However, subsequent examination of the artifact
has persuaded scientists that it is, in fact,
the earliest known instrument for making rope.
One intriguing possibility which has been put forward
is that the Neanderthals,
rather than anatomically modern humans, Homo sapiens,
crafted the artifacts at the Hohle Fels site.
However, although Neanderthals were still living in Europe
about 30,000 to 35,000 years ago,
and are known to her have frequented the Hohle Fels cave,
the archeological layers in which the Venus figurine
and other carvings were found is characteristic
of modern humans rather than Neanderthals.
A wide variety of interpretations regarding
what Venus figurines were meant to represent exist.
These explanations range
from children's educational material
to representations of fertility goddesses.
The extreme accumulation of fat around the buttocks
depicted on many of the figurines
has led some researchers
such as French archeologist, Edouard Piette,
to suggest that the figurines
are actual physical representations
of members of the Ice Age hunting tribes who made them.
However, the fact that many Venus figurines depict females
who do not possess such a feature would suggest
that this theory is at best unproven.
A few decades ago, the most popular theory
to explain these strange figurines
was that they were representations
of a worldwide mother Goddess cult.
The belief, put forward by archeologist Marija Gimbutas,
among others, that Stone Age people
worshiped the Earth Mother as a universal deity,
has been largely discredited now,
though it still has some adherence.
In Paleolithic pre-agricultural hunter gatherer societies
who lived in harsh Ice Age environments
where the population did not have quick or easy access
to a food supply,
the Venus figurines may have suggested a desire
for abundancy and security,
though not all examples were rotund
or had exaggerated feminine features.
The fact that Venus figurines are found
over such a wide geographical area indicates
that there was a shared understanding
among the Paleolithic hunter-gatherer tribes
of Europe and Western Asia
of a particular aspect of womanhood
or a certain type of woman.
However, like the vast majority of examples
of prehistoric art, we can only guess
at the cultural meaning and significance
of the Venus figurines to our remote Ice Age ancestors.
[suspenseful music]
[dramatic music]
The remains of an ancient domesticated dog
that spent its life with humans
has been unearthed in an Italian cave.
Believe it or not,
this ancient domesticated dog
is now considered to be Europe's earliest pet dog
and might be 20,000 years old.
How wolves became wolf-like, and then our early friends?
The early ancestors of gray wolves, Canis lupus,
were a group of carnivores named the Creodonts,
that roamed the Northern hemisphere
between 100 and 120 million years ago.
About 55 million years ago,
this ancient species gave rise to the carnassials,
a group of wolf-like animals that had specialized jaws
and razor-sharp teeth for tearing and eating meat.
One member of this family, miakis,
is thought to be the common ancestor
of all present day wolves, bears, raccoons,
weasels, and dogs.
Researchers hope this incredible discovery in Italy
will provide new information
on how and when dogs diverged from wolves
and became domesticated human pets.
Dr. Francesco Boschin heads the team of archeologists
from the University of Sienna in Italy
that published the study
on the Italian canid and wolf remains found in the caves.
According to an article in "Scientific Reports,"
he stated it might be the oldest ever remains
of a domesticated pet dog found in Europe.
The animal remains were expected to be somewhere
between 14 and 20,000 years old.
This was a time when humans and canines
first began a mutually beneficial relationship
that eventually made our dogs our best friends,
solving the hows and whys of early canine domestication.
For millions of years, humans and wild wolves
shared the same hunting landscapes.
While it's unknown exactly when domesticated dogs,
Canis familiaris, evolved from the great wolves,
we do have some important scientific clues.
A 2009 study published
in the "Molecular Biology and Evolution Journal"
cites an analysis of ancient dog mitochondrial DNA
that suggests they evolved alongside wolves
over 100,000 years ago.
Thus many experts believe canines began scavenging
due to a lack of food,
and that humans slowly developed a bond with these animals
that also acted as an early warning
if larger creatures approach to campsite or entered a cave.
Some scientists believe wolves
and early humans hunted together,
and this is how the relationship was formed.
The latest study by Dr. Boschin and his team
focused on bone fragments from ancient canines and wolves
found at two Paleolithic caves in Southern Italy,
the Paglicci Cave and the Romanelli Cave.
These ancient animals, according to the research,
are the first dogs to live alongside humans as a pet.
Furthermore, according to an article in the "Daily Mail,"
the ancient canine-human connection
offers a definitive answer to the longstanding question
of how and when dogs first became pets.
Anyone who has a dog or has experience losing one
knows the depth of uniqueness of that special bond,
but why and when in the history of our planet
did this love affair between humans and dogs begin?
Discover the history of dogs and human interaction.
The earliest known ancestors of gray wolves,
a major figure in the history of dogs, are called Creodonts.
They roamed the Northern hemisphere
between 100 and 120 million years ago.
By 55 million years ago,
these pack hunting carnivores gave rise to the carnassials,
wolf-like animals that had jaws
for tearing and devouring meat.
One member, his family known as my miacis existed
between 60 and 55 million years ago,
and is thought by mainstream scientists
to be the common ancestor of all present day wolves,
dogs, bears, and raccoons.
About 45 million years ago,
up to around 2 million years ago,
a massive species known as bear dogs
roamed across North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia,
sharing hunting planes with Canis lupus,
one of the closest relatives to the modern gray wolf.
Around 25 million years ago,
a species called Cynodictis
split in two evolutionary branches
resulting in African hunting dogs
and Eurasian wolves and dogs.
At this time in North America,
the plans were dominated by the fearsome Tomarctus,
equipped with razor-sharp claws, a powerful biting jaw,
and a long tail for balance while hunting and fighting.
Up until 2010,
most experts to believed domestication occurred
about 14,000 years ago, but studies of dog mitochondrial DNA
strongly suggest they evolved alongside each other
100,000 years ago.
Supporting this new paradigm,
in 2009, several richly buried dog skulls were discovered
in a cave in the Czech Republic, which dated to 30,000 BC.
Furthermore, in 2011, a Paleolithic dog skeleton
dated to 30,000 BC was found biting a large mammoth bone
and its brain had been carefully removed
some time after death,
suggesting it held ritual significance.
Another dog skull dated to 31,000 BC was found buried
with a human body in a cave in Siberia,
not only telling archeologists
that the man had domesticated hunting dogs,
but they had played an important role
within his supernatural belief system.
The relationship between humans and dogs was cemented
at the dawn of farming when people realized
just how quickly a wolf could be domesticated with starch.
Having sharp teeth, strong jaws and speed,
semi-tamed wolves were used
to protect small hunting stations,
and in return were rewarded with companionship,
protection, shelter, and a reliable food source.
By 6,000 BC, dogs were being trained
as effective farming tools,
and weapons used at times of inter-tribal fighting.
And these inherent tension skills are still evident today
in different dog breeds.
For example, guard dogs, police dogs, military dogs,
sheep dogs, and rat catchers.
The rise of organized religions
led to the ritualization of dogs,
and they were generally associated
with the human soul's journey in the afterlife.
Canine deities were worshiped in ancient China, Egypt,
and south America, where they were carved
into statues and temples,
and featured centrally in mythologies and legends.
Evidence of the ritualization of dogs was found
in the skeleton of male Husky-like dog
that lived 7,000 years ago in Siberia,
that had worked alongside humans throughout his lifetime,
ate human food, and was richly buried
as though it were a human.
What is more, a wild wolf was ritualistically buried nearby,
perhaps once perceived as protecting human souls
on their journey through the afterlife.
Around 2000 BC, the Iron Age saw Romans, Egyptians,
Greeks, and Britons increasingly using dogs in warfare,
blood sports, and violent entertainment.
Larger breeds such as the mastiff and wolf hound
were found to be effective in war,
and the ancient Roman history Strabo reported in 38 AD
of large British dogs, which were bred
in the homeland of Britannia
to hunt dangerous game as war dogs.
In 43 AD, at the Roman conquest of Britain,
a procurer called Cynegii was recorded as selecting dogs
for exporting to Rome to either compete in the amphitheater
or to join the Roman army as war dogs.
He mentioned a wide-mouth giant dog
that surpassed the Roman Molossus dog.
What does the future have in store for dogs and us?
Today, like in so many aspects of life,
dogs have become extremely polarized,
and we have specially trained medical dogs
that detect cancers
and smell when diabetic patients are suffering hypoglycemia,
low blood sugars.
This is all happening as astronaut dogs are being trained
in space programs,
and search and rescue dogs leap from helicopters
and speedboats, not to mention military dogs
that can detect explosives and locate injured bodies
in places deem you dangerous for soldiers.
A highlight in research for this article was learning
that in 1943, during World War II,
the American Army began a war dog training program,
which parachuted puppies into war zones
to sniff out enemy tunnels and bunkers.
What on earth will dogs be doing in the future?
In the modern police and army,
dogs that are trained to bite often suffer
from broken teeth, which are now being replaced
with sharp titanium fangs
at a cost of between $600 and $2000 a tooth.
Is this the beginning
of a new evolutionary path for canines?
Like us, will we soon be able to sync our dogs
with our computers and smartphones?
In conclusion, the evolution of dogs
that has spanned nearly 45 million years
is far from complete,
and although we have altered its course irreversibly
with mass breeding over the last 200 years,
so far, no other animal has evolved to live alongside humans
as harmoniously as dogs have.
[dramatic music]
[dramatic music continues]