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Dawn of Humanity

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Dawn of Humanity
DVD cover
GenreDocumentary film
Directed byGraham Townsley
Narrated byJay O. Sanders
Theme music composerRobert Neufeld
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerGraham Townsley
EditorEmmanuel Mairesse
Running time120 minutes
Production companyNational Geographic Studios
Original release
NetworkPBS
ReleaseSeptember 16, 2015(2015-09-16)

Dawn of Humanity[1]is a 2015 Americandocumentary filmthat was released online on September 10, 2015, and aired nationwide in the United States on September 16, 2015. ThePBSNOVANational Geographicfilm, in one episode of two hours, was directed and produced by Graham Townsley. The film describes the 2013 discovery, and later excavation, of the fossil remains ofHomo naledi,anextinct speciesofhomininassigned to the genusHomo,found within the Dinaledi Chamber of theRising Star Cavesystem, located in theCradle of Humankind,South Africa.[1][2][3][4][5][6]Additionally, theNational Geographic Societyhas multiple videos on its website covering different phases of the discovery and excavation of the fossils during a two-year period.[2][7]As of September 2015,fossils of at least fifteen individuals, amounting to 1550 specimens, have been excavated from the cave.[8]

Participants

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The documentary film is narrated byJay O. Sandersand includes the following participants[1]( Alpha betized by last name):

Critical reception

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Neil GenzlingerofThe New York Timesnoted, "Documentaries aboutprehistoryandpaleoanthropologyare usually interesting, sometimes even thought-provoking. But you don't often encounter one that's thrilling. Yet that is a fitting adjective forDawn of Humanity,a program... that brings an aura ofbreaking newsto a field that can often seem musty. "[9]Brooke Cain ofThe Charlotte Observerreports that the documentary features "exclusive footage of the hair-raising descent deep into a nearly inaccessible cave to retrieve more than 1,500 hominid fossils."[10]

According to archaeologist K. Kris Hirst,Dawn of Humanityprovides "a rich context for the discovery [of the fossils ofHomo naledi], setting the historical and evolutionary background so that viewers can understand the significance of the discovery....[Lee] Berger's charming personality and the hordes of otherpaleontologistsin this video make this contextual effort easily and visually accessible to the public. "[11]In addition, according to Hirst, the behavior of apes in the "Dawn of Man" sequence ofStanley Kubrick's1968 film2001: A Space Odyssey,largely influenced by the notions ofRaymond DartandRobert Ardrey,has been proven false since such violent apes have now been shown to bevegetariansinstead.[11]

References

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  1. ^abcStaff (September 10, 2015)."PBS - NOVA - Dawn of Humanity".PBS.RetrievedSeptember 11,2015.
  2. ^abBryner, Jeanna (September 10, 2015)."In Photos: New Human Relative Shakes Up Our Family Tree".Live Science.RetrievedSeptember 11,2015.
  3. ^Li, Shirley (September 10, 2015)."NOVA, National Geographic debut human fossil record film Dawn of Humanity".Entertainment Weekly.RetrievedSeptember 11,2015.
  4. ^Friedman, Lauren F. (September 10, 2015)."A breathtaking look at the death-defying discovery of our new human ancestor".Tech Insider.RetrievedSeptember 11,2015.
  5. ^Yong, Ed (September 10, 2015)."6 Tiny Cavers, 15 Odd Skeletons, and 1 Amazing New Species of Ancient Human".The Atlantic.RetrievedSeptember 13,2015.
  6. ^Berger, Lee R.;et al. (2015)."Homo naledi,a new species of the genusHomofrom the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa ".eLife.4(published September 10, 2015).doi:10.7554/eLife.09560.PMC4559886.PMID26354291.
    Full list of authors
    • Lee R. Berger
    • John D. Hawks
    • Darryl J de Ruiter
    • Steven E Churchill
    • Peter Schmid
    • Lucas K Delezene
    • Tracy L Kivell
    • Heather M Garvin
    • Scott A Williams
    • Jeremy M DeSilva
    • Matthew M Skinner
    • Charles M Musiba
    • Noel Cameron
    • Trenton W Holliday
    • William Harcourt-Smith
    • Rebecca R Ackermann
    • Markus Bastir
    • Barry Bogin
    • Debra Bolter
    • Juliet Brophy
    • Zachary D Cofran
    • Kimberly A Congdon
    • Andrew S Deane
    • Mana Dembo
    • Michelle Drapeau
    • Marina C Elliott
    • Elen M Feuerriegel
    • Daniel Garcia-Martinez
    • David J Green
    • Alia Gurtov
    • Joel D Irish
    • Ashley Kruger
    • Myra F Laird
    • Damiano Marchi
    • Marc R Meyer
    • Shahed Nalla
    • Enquye W Negash
    • Caley M Orr
    • Davorka Radovcic
    • Lauren Schroeder
    • Jill E Scott
    • Zachary Throckmorton
    • Matthew W Tocheri
    • Caroline VanSickle
    • Christopher S Walker
    • Pianpian Wei
    • Bernhard Zipfel
  7. ^Staff (September 10, 2015)."New Human Ancestor Discovered: Homo naledi (Exclusive Video)".National Geographic Society.Archived fromthe originalon September 12, 2015.RetrievedSeptember 14,2015.
  8. ^Shreeve, Jamie (September 10, 2015)."This Face Changes the Human Story. But How?".National Geographic News.Archived fromthe originalon September 10, 2015.RetrievedSeptember 10,2015.
  9. ^Genzlinger, Neil(September 14, 2015)."Review: PBS's 'Dawn of Humanity' Puts Prehistory in a New Light".The New York Times.RetrievedSeptember 15,2015.
  10. ^Cain, Brooke (September 16, 2015)."What to Watch on Wednesday: NOVA examines 'Dawn of Humanity'".The Charlotte Observer.RetrievedSeptember 16,2015.
  11. ^abHirst, K. Kris (2015)."The Dawn of Humanity - Newly Discovered Homo Naledi Video Review - Accessible Science on the Rising Star Paleolithic Site".About.Archived fromthe originalon September 30, 2015.RetrievedOctober 3,2019.
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