And so it ends! In the final episode of The Origins of Humankind, we explore the aftermath of the story so far—the story of how one peculiar species, Homo sapiens, evolved, spread, and outlived its relatives.

Guiding us through this final chapter is Johannes Krause once again. Together, we uncover the emerging picture of the global spread of farming, pastoralism, and other key ingredients of modernity. Along the way, we explore some of the central questions of history—from the origins of inequality to the surprisingly pivotal role played by the peoples of the Eurasian steppe. (Yes, Mongols will make an appearance! But the story of the steppe goes much deeper...)

As always, we end with my guest’s reflections on humanity.

Enjoy!

LINKS

More material: ⁠⁠⁠⁠OnHumans.Substack.com/Origins⁠⁠⁠⁠

Support the show: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon.com/OnHumans⁠⁠⁠⁠

Free lectures on human origins: ⁠⁠⁠⁠CARTA⁠⁠⁠⁠

Krause's books: ⁠⁠A Short History of Humanity⁠⁠; ⁠⁠Hubris: The Rise and Fall of Humanity⁠⁠

ABOUT THE SERIES

The ⁠⁠Origins of Humankind ⁠⁠is produced by On Humans and UC San Diego's Centre for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (⁠⁠CARTA⁠⁠). Other guests include Chris Stringer, Dean Falk, and Tim Coulson.

KEYWORDS

Anthropology | Biology | Human evolution | Human origins | Homo sapiens | Agriculture | Ancient DNA | Climate changes | Pleistocene | Holocene | Archaeology | Neolithic | Yamnaya | Bell Beakers | Proto Indo-Europeans | Ötzi Ice Man | Gunpowder Empires | Bantu-expansion | Austranesian expansion | Sami poeple | Y-chromosome bottleneck |