Over 60,000 years ago, the first modern humans left their African homeland and entered Europe, then a bleak and inhospitable continent in the grip of the Ice Age. But when they arrived, they were not alone: the stocky, powerfully built Neanderthals had already been living there for hundreds of thousands of years. So what happened when the first modern humans encountered the Neanderthals? Did they make love or war?
Writing
Turns genetic archaeology into juicy prehistoric gossip.
Production
Dramatic reconstructions that don't feel like cheap reenactments.
Director
Nick Clarke Powell
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This doc dropped right as ancient DNA research was revolutionizing anthropology—basically lightning in a test tube.
The 'love or war' framing deliberately echoes colonial narratives, making viewers uncomfortably examine their own assumptions about human encounters.
US
