200,000 years ago we took our first steps in Africa. Today there are seven billion of us living across the planet. How did our ancestors spread from continent to continent? This is a global detective story, featuring the latest archaeological discoveries and genetic research. On each continent, we track down the earliest members of our species, Homo sapiens. Who were these First Peoples? What drove them to the ends of the earth?

Master director Patricio Guzman travels 10,000 feet above sea level to the driest place on earth, the Atacama Desert, where atop the mountains astronomers from all over the world gather to observe the stars. The sky is so translucent that it allows them to see right to the boundaries of the universe. The Atacama is also a place where the harsh heat of the sun keeps human remains intact: those of Pre-Columbian mummies; 19th century explorers and miners;...

Classical archaeology, the excavation and analysis of ancient Greek and Roman sites, has been one of the leading branches of archaeology, pioneering its basic methods and major innovations. In these 36 half-hour lectures, Dr. John R. Hale of the University of Louisville guides the listener through 18th-century excavations at Herculaneum and Pompeii, tours many important archaeological sites or discoveries, from the Bronze Age to late antiquity, and...