Watch A Neanderthal Burial on PBS. See more from NOVA.
The NOVA episode goes into the science of discovery, the theories we've developed out of artifacts and their deployment, and a great reconstruction of a red-headed, blue-eyed neanderthal woman - not the dark, monkey-like object so many 19th century racist theorists would have liked to liken to certain peoples of color. In fact, the overwhelmingly clear finding is that African genetics are by far the most "modern human"/homo sapiens to be found on the planet. The caveman's genes are most highly concentrated in Europeans, so take that, uber-mensch. (And, yes, once again too lazy to go umlaut hunting. Sorry ...)
At ten, and the more challenging for me as I was well fed, highly head-ached, and extremely fatigued from some weeks' exertion, stress - and, oh yeah, travel (my personal idea of Hell), was Secrets of the Dead with Caveman Cold Case. SotD is always a bit pop-science and even sensationalistic, but as paired (clearly an intentional thematic repetition by PBS, and a good one) it was enough to keep my lolling head up almost through the entire program. Rather a feat, considering I'd been getting ready for bed till I saw the "up next" teaser after enjoying NOVA so much. Here for your viewing pleasure, is the whole 52-minute vid. Please make a point of finding the NOVA ep when it's available. Like all NOVA pieces, it's worth the watch.
Watch Caveman Cold Case on PBS. See more from Secrets of the Dead.
I will have to re-watch it myself, in fact, because with the best of intentions I seem to recall being horizontally smeared across my hotel bed through parts of the second show, like a five-year-old swearing "I am NOT tired!" and wanting "just five more MINutes, MOM!"
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