2013-01-01
0
In Morocco, new excavations on the site of Jebel Irhoud upset the generally accepted view of the dating of the appearance of man.
Impressionistic picture of the Third Avenue Elevated Railway in Manhattan, New York City, before it was demolished. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2010.
It's the most extraordinary feat of engineering in history, and one of the most iconic man-made structures on the planet - the Great Wall of China, stretching thousands of miles across barren deserts and treacherous mountains before finally plunging into the sea. But why did the Chinese go to such staggering lengths to build it, and what are the secrets that have enabled it to survive for over 2,000 years? Now, ground breaking science is re-writing its complex history and de-coding its mysteries to reveal that there is much more to the Great Wall than just bricks and mortar. Cutting edge chemistry reveals that the secret to the Great Wall's remarkable strength is a simple ingredient found in every kitchen, and a new survey also determines that its length is truly amazing, as we finally solve the enigma at the heart of the world's greatest mega-structure.
Up to one million gladiators are thought to have died in arenas across the Roman Empire. And, although fascination with gladiators has been high, the details of their lives and deaths remain fragmentary. Now, with the discovery of an ancient Roman burial site containing 80 skeletons thought to be gladiator warriors, National Geographic recreates the world of the Roman arena and how six gladiators lived, fought and died.
Nova and National Geographic present exclusive access to an astounding discovery of ancient fossil human ancestors.
David Attenborough brings to life, in unprecedented detail, the last days of the dinosaurs. Palaeontologist Robert DePalma has made an incredible discovery in a prehistoric graveyard: fossilised creatures, astonishingly well preserved, that could help change our understanding of the last days of the dinosaurs. Evidence from his site records the day when an asteroid bigger than Mount Everest devastated our planet and caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. Based on brand new evidence, witness the catastrophic events of that day play out minute by minute.
In this special follow-up programme, the only television team with access to the dig and the scientific tests on the skeleton uses unseen footage and conducts two days of additional interviews to tell this extraordinary forensic detective story in even greater scientific and archaeological detail.
A multibillion-pound investment is underway to make our railways bigger, better and faster. Over three years, we go behind the scenes with Wales’s newest rail body as they try to make ambitious promises a reality.
This Traveltalk series short celebrates San Francisco, past and present.
In summer 2003, when the heatwave hit in Europe, in Switzerland, the glacier below the Schnidejoch pass, released a mysterious object: a piece of a Neolithic quiver.
Documentary that discovers all the secrets of mummification in the Canary Islands thanks to pioneering research. Regis Francisco López approaches the mummification techniques that took place in Tenerife for more than 10 centuries.
This explores the mysterious and catastrophic collapse of ancient civilizations during the late Bronze Age, from the Hittites to the Mycenaeans and the Egyptians, revealing the tumultuous events that brought an end to a thriving era of human history, and warns we may be facing similar threats today.
Huelva, Spain, an isolated region lost in time. The grass, the sand and the sky are the same that those foreigners saw in the spring of 1895, when they crossed the sea from a distant country to mark the unspoiled terrain and extract its wealth, when the tower was new, when people could climb to the top of the highest dune and imagine that the city of Tartessos was still there, in the distance, almost invisible in the morning brume.
During risky expeditions in an underwater cave in Mexico, scientists unearth the skeleton of a 13,000-year-old prehistoric teenager to gain insight into the earliest known humans in America.
This rich, historical documentary captures the story of the high-speed, electric transit system that sparked the growth and development of Puget Sound's twin cities during the first quarter of the 20th century.
After decades of inaccessibility due to unrest and wars, teams of archaeologists from around the globe return to the greatest sites in Mesopotamia in a bid to save what can still be saved.
Ardal O’Hanlon explores a 1930s quest to find the first Irish men and women using archaeology, answering his deepest questions about what it means to be Irish.