The Nova special The Great Human Odyssey follows the story of Homo sapiens and how we were able to become one of the most successful, and prominent species on the planet. The documentary starts with man’s origin using different fossils to piece together where our species originated. It was found that Humans originated in Africa and most likely the Great Rift Valley. From there the documentary goes on about how man was able to leave Africa taking on many different climates and ecosystems and conquering them all. This documentary does a great job of telling the entire story and kept me engaged the entire time. This documentary also does a great job at using evidence to support all of their claims, and hypothesis and they even let the viewer know where scientists just aren’t sure about things. One of my favorite parts of this documentary is when they begin explaining how humans adapted to living near the ocean. I find it fascinating that after so long humans are still able to do some of these great feats underwater, and it’s as if some people are born to swim. I had never thought of how strange it was that humans were such good swimmers and that we can hold our breath for so long. Humans really are an incredible and adaptive species.
The end of the documentary had one of my favorite pieces of evidence, which was the sweet potato. This piece of evidence along with the burial site found in North America showed how man was able to colonize the New World. The sweet potato is especially important because it showed that humans were able to cross the Pacific Ocean from Asia and make it to South America. This great achievement would not have been able to happen if it weren’t for our great minds. Humans were able to build sophisticated boats, had intricate and accurate forms of navigation, and knew how to survive. Early man was everything but primitive and without our superior minds and stamina, we wouldn’t be in the same place we are today.
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