The First Toolmakers
The Ancients20 Apr 2023

The First Toolmakers

Invention and innovation are two concepts that have propelled humankind forward for as long as people can remember - but who were the first, original tool makers, and what can we learn from them? Travelling back nearly 3 million years ago to the African continent, in modern Kenya, recent archaeological discoveries have altered long standing opinions about who the first tool makers were - so which hominin species deserves the title 'the first toolmakers', and just how related to them are we?


In this episode Tristan welcomes the Professor Fred Spoor back to the podcast to help answer some of these questions. Together they look at some of these recent archaeological discoveries and how they change our understanding of human history. Examining, and questioning, some long-held assumptions about our distant ancestors, they journey through the mid-pliocene to help piece together this murky moment of history.


The Senior Producer was Elena Guthrie

The Assistant Producer was Annie Coloe

Mixed & edited by Aidan Lonergan


For more Ancients content, subscribe to our Ancients newsletter here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(638)

Egypt's Book of the Dead

Egypt's Book of the Dead

For over a thousand years, the Book of the Dead guided ancient Egyptians through the afterlife. Filled with powerful spells these remarkable texts were designed to help the dead overcome the dangers o...

9 Jul 50min

The Trojan War

The Trojan War

The story of Achilles, Odysseus and the siege of Troy has captivated audiences for millennia, but behind the legends lies a deeper mystery. Was this epic war a myth, a memory of a real Bronze Age conf...

5 Jul 1h 9min

The Flood Myth

The Flood Myth

Thousands of years before the story of Noah and the Ark, people in ancient Mesopotamia were already telling tales of a devastating divine flood. Written into the Epic of Atrahasis, this ancient story ...

2 Jul 56min

Delphi: Centre of the Ancient World

Delphi: Centre of the Ancient World

For more than a thousand years, Delphi was considered a cultural centre of the ancient world. Every year a throng of pilgrims climbed the slopes of Mount Parnassus to seek the words of Apollo through ...

28 Jun 55min

Stonehenge with Ken Follett

Stonehenge with Ken Follett

What if the secrets of Stonehenge lie not just in the stones, but in the people who hauled them there?Tristan Hughes sits down with best-selling novelist Ken Follett to uncover and imagine the lives o...

25 Jun 46min

The Library of Alexandria

The Library of Alexandria

The Library of Alexandria was one of the most important and most celebrated buildings of the ancient Mediterranean. It was a great hub of learning and literature and made Alexandria one of the ancient...

21 Jun 42min

Boudica and the Iceni

Boudica and the Iceni

In 60 AD Roman Britain was very nearly brought to the brink. Cities burned, authority crumbled, and for a brief moment one woman challenged the might of the Roman Empire. Her name was Boudica.Today, T...

18 Jun 56min

The Cambrian Explosion: When Life Began?

The Cambrian Explosion: When Life Began?

538 million years ago, life on Earth changed forever. In an evolutionary burst known as the Cambrian Explosion, complex animals rapidly appeared in the oceans, laying the foundations for almost every ...

14 Jun 1h

Populært innen Historie

rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
henrettelsespodden
med-egne-oyne
historier-som-endret-norge
historier-som-endret-verden
aftenposten-historie
sektledere
rss-nadelose-nordmenn-gestapo
rss-benadet
historiepodden
rss-frontkjemperne
vare-historier
sannhet-eller-konspirasjon
rss-strid-de-norske-borgerkrigene
liberal-halvtime
historiepodden-ww2
diktatorpodden
virkelig-grusomt
skuddet-pa-toftoy
rss-gamle-greier