Episode 2 Neanderthal

This two part documentary explains how we as Homo sapiens, populated the Earth only because we were successful in overwhelming two more advanced species: Homo erectus and Homo neanderthalensis, known today as Neanderthals. In the not too distant past, humans shared this planet with other species of hominid. This series tells how, against all the odds, Homo sapiens survived.
Episode 1 Homo Erectus – This episode is set 75,000 years ago in India, following a catastrophic super volcanic eruption which forced a showdown between our ancestors and a completely different species of human, Homo erectus, who up until that point had reigned supreme. Homo erectus was a successful, long lived species that migrated out of Africa. Possibly the first humans to live in hunter gatherer societies, they also used rafts to travel the oceans.
Episode 2 Neanderthal – This episode is set 35,000 years ago and depicts Homo sapiens’s encounter with Homo neanderthalensis. As the ice caps retreated, the Neanderthal stronghold in Europe weakened, providing a window of opportunity to which modern humans owe their existence. As almost exclusively carnivorous, both male and female Neanderthals hunted. Evidence of a huge number of injuries, like those seen in today’s rodeo riders, suggest that hunting involved dangerously close contact with large prey animals.