Life in the Neolithic Age - The Wisdom Of The Stones - Prehistoric Humans Neanderthal

• published: 24 Nov 2014
• views: 0

In this documentary strives to roll back the limits of history to include the remarkable achievements of the Neolithic Age. Engineering skills, as demonstrated by the temple of Hagar Qim and the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, in Malta; indications of well-developed religious systems; evidence of acupuncture techniques; examples of bookkeeping via clay tokens; and proof of an intricate social structure through the digs at Çatal Höyük and Asikli Höyük, in Turkey, reveal the depth and the genius of the Neolithic peoples. Architect Richard England, writing specialist Denise Schmandt Besserat, and others support Rudgley's thesis with expert analysis. Richard travels from New York to the Pyramids and beyond in search of evidence of writing, medicine and architecture from the Neolithic or New Stone Age (8000 - 3000 BC) - way before conventional history says they existed. It was the time when human beings embarked on a bold experiment - settling down in fixed communities - and establishing a style of living that still exists today. Slightly patronising anthropologist Richard Rudgley goes in search of the origins of civilisation. This episode looks at the Egyptian pyramids and then goes back through the Neolithic age, to Malta and the discovery of Ötzi in the Alps, from the earliest writing and then on to Catal Hoyuk in Turkey.