Bird-shaped Pestle

Bird-shaped Pestle

Neil MacGregor continues his retelling of human history using 100 selected objects from the British Museum. This week he explores the profound changes that humans experienced at the end of the Ice Age. By this period, humanity is reconsidering its place in the world and turning its attention to food, power, worship, and human relationships.

But then, as now, one of the most important parts of human existence was finding enough food to survive. Taking a pestle from Papua New Guinea as an example, Neil asks why our ancestors decided to grow and cook new foods. The answer provides us with a telling insight into the way early humans settled on the land. Becoming farmers and eating food that was harder for other animals to digest made us a formidable force in the food chain. The impact on our environment of this shift to cookery and cultivation is still being felt.

Neil is joined by Indian food writer Madhur Jaffrey, campaigner Sir Bob Geldof and archaeologist Professor Martin Jones

Episoder(101)

Arabian bronze hand

Arabian bronze hand

Throughout this week Neil MacGregor is looking at how the great faiths were creating new visual aids to promote devotion around the world of 1700 years ago. Having looked at emerging images from Hindu...

4 Jun 201014min

Hinton St Mary Mosaic

Hinton St Mary Mosaic

This week Neil MacGregor is exploring how many of the great religions, less than 2000 years ago, began creating sophisticated new images to aid prayer and focus devotion. Many of the artistic conventi...

3 Jun 201013min

Silver plate showing Shapur II

Silver plate showing Shapur II

Throughout this week Neil MacGregor is describing how people across the globe around 1700 years ago found new images to express their religious beliefs. Today's object is a dramatic visualisation of p...

2 Jun 201014min

Gold coin of Kumaragupta I

Gold coin of Kumaragupta I

This week Neil MacGregor is exploring how several of the great religions around the world, less than 2000 years ago, began creating sophisticated new images to represent their beliefs and their deitie...

1 Jun 201014min

Seated Buddha from Gandhara

Seated Buddha from Gandhara

This week the history of the world as told through one hundred objects is looking at how the world's great religions began trying to find the perfect way to visually express the divine, less than 2000...

31 Mai 201013min

Hoxne pepper pot

Hoxne pepper pot

Neil MacGregor's world history told through objects at the British Museum arrives in Britain at the time of the Roman collapse. Throughout this week he has been looking at how different cultures aroun...

28 Mai 201014min

Admonitions Scroll

Admonitions Scroll

Throughout this week, Neil MacGregor has been exploring pleasure and recreation across the world of 200 years ago. Today he arrives in China to explore a painting based on a poem that attempts to defi...

27 Mai 201014min

Ceremonial ballgame belt

Ceremonial ballgame belt

Neil MacGregor's history of humanity as told through one hundred objects that time has left behind. This week he is looking at objects of leisure and pleasure around the world about 2000 years ago. Ho...

26 Mai 201014min

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