World Civilizations
Fall 2008
Film: The Journey of Man
Directions: Use the film to answer the following questions. Please write in INK!
How do geneticists like Spencer Wells determine family tree from our blood?
What does Wells learn about the San Bushmen? How does this help Wells piece together the puzzle of man’s journey?
Why did our earliest ancestors leave Africa? What enabled humans to be able to leave?
According to Wells, where is the next place humans appeared after they left Africa? Why does Wells encounter difficulties in verifying the genetic markers here? What does he say about the DNA stories?
Where does Wells head to find evidence of a journey from Africa to Australia? What does he find here, and how does he find it?
What does Wells learn about the first humans living in Europe? Why do Europeans look different from Africans? How did this happen? Why did it take so long?
If Africa is the cradle of mankind, Central Asia is its ___________________. Why?
Why are the Chukchi of northern Russia better able to cope with the cold? How does Wells’s visit help him better understand this journey?
Why is the human journey across Beringia – from Russia to Alaska – and south into the Americas so remarkable? How do the Navajo creation stories help corroborate Wells’s explanation about man’s journey?
Thought question: What is the relationship between humans and geography? How did geography impact humans’ journey to people the world?