Dawn of Humanity
Dawn of Humanity | |
---|---|
![]() DVD cover | |
Genre | Documentary film |
Directed by | Graham Townsley |
Narrated by | Jay O. Sanders |
Theme music composer | Robert Neufeld |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producer | Graham Townsley |
Editor | Emmanuel Mairesse |
Running time | 120 minutes |
Production company | National Geographic Studios |
Original release | |
Network | PBS |
Release | September 16, 2015 |
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[update],fossils of at least fifteen individuals, amounting to 1550 specimens, have been excavated from the cave.[8]
Participants
[edit]The documentary film is narrated byJay O. Sandersand includes the following participants[1]( Alpha betized by last name):
- Rebecca R. Ackermann (University of Cape Town)
- Zeresenay Alemseged(California Academy of Sciences)
- Lee R. Berger(University of the Witwatersrand)
- Pedro Boshoff (fossil hunter)
- Steven Churchill (Duke University)
- Viktor Deak (paleo-artist)
- Marina Elliott(paleontologist)
- Elen Feuerriegel(paleoanthropologist)
- Alia Gurtov(paleontologist)
- William Harcourt-Smith (American Museum of Natural History)
- John D. Hawks(University of Wisconsin-Madison)
- Amanda Henry (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)
- K. Lindsay Hunter (Sepela Field Programs)
- Rick Hunter (caver)
- Donald Johanson(Institute of Human Origins)
- Job Kibii (University of the Witwatersrand)
- Ashley Kruger (University of the Witwatersrand)
- Hannah Morris(paleoethnobotany) (Chena Consulting Group)
- Becca Peixotto(paleontologist)
- Rick Potts(Smithsonian Institution)
- Patrick Randolph-Quinney (University of the Witwatersrand)
- Brian Richmond (American Museum of Natural History)
- Peter Schmid (University of the Witwatersrand)
- Michael Tomasello(Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)
- Steven Tucker (caver)
- Carol Ward (University of Missouri)
- Celeste Yates (University of the Witwatersrand)
Critical reception
[edit]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
[edit]- ^abcStaff (September 10, 2015)."PBS - NOVA - Dawn of Humanity".PBS.RetrievedSeptember 11,2015.
- ^abBryner, Jeanna (September 10, 2015)."In Photos: New Human Relative Shakes Up Our Family Tree".Live Science.RetrievedSeptember 11,2015.
- ^Li, Shirley (September 10, 2015)."NOVA, National Geographic debut human fossil record film Dawn of Humanity".Entertainment Weekly.RetrievedSeptember 11,2015.
- ^Friedman, Lauren F. (September 10, 2015)."A breathtaking look at the death-defying discovery of our new human ancestor".Tech Insider.RetrievedSeptember 11,2015.
- ^Yong, Ed (September 10, 2015)."6 Tiny Cavers, 15 Odd Skeletons, and 1 Amazing New Species of Ancient Human".The Atlantic.RetrievedSeptember 13,2015.
- ^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
- ^Staff (September 10, 2015)."New Human Ancestor Discovered: Homo naledi (Exclusive Video)".National Geographic Society.Archived fromthe originalon September 12, 2015.RetrievedSeptember 14,2015.
- ^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.
- ^Genzlinger, Neil(September 14, 2015)."Review: PBS's 'Dawn of Humanity' Puts Prehistory in a New Light".The New York Times.RetrievedSeptember 15,2015.
- ^Cain, Brooke (September 16, 2015)."What to Watch on Wednesday: NOVA examines 'Dawn of Humanity'".The Charlotte Observer.RetrievedSeptember 16,2015.
- ^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.
External links
[edit]- Dawn of Humanityat thePBS WebSite
- Dawn of HumanityatIMDb
- Dawn of Humanity–Complete TEXT of the documentary film
- National Geographic blog of Rising Star Expedition members
- Hominid species
- Exploring the Hominid Fossil Record
(Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology at The George Washington University) - Human Timeline (Interactive)–Smithsonian,National Museum of Natural History(August 2016).
- Dawn of Humanity– Trailer(000:30)onYouTube
- Dawn of Humanity– video search onYouTube.
- Dawn of Humanity– video search onDailymotion.
- 2015 American television episodes
- 2015 in paleontology
- 2015 television films
- 2015 films
- 2015 documentary films
- Documentary films about prehistoric life
- American documentary television films
- National Geographic Society films
- Nova (American TV program) episodes
- PBS original programming
- Documentary television shows about evolution
- 2010s American films