What Is a Human? The Evolution of the Nervous System - Ep 201

2026-03-12

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Welcome to Season 2 – Episode 1! In the first episode of Season 2, we explore one of the most fundamental questions in archaeology and human history: What is a human? Every person who has ever lived has experienced the world through a nervous system — a biological inheritance that long predates modern humans themselves. In this episode, we look at how the human nervous system evolved over millions of years, from early mammals through to Homo sapiens, and how the development of the brain — particularly the prefrontal corte...

Welcome to Season 2 – Episode 1!

In the first episode of Season 2, we explore one of the most fundamental questions in archaeology and human history:

What is a human?

Every person who has ever lived has experienced the world through a nervous system — a biological inheritance that long predates modern humans themselves. In this episode, we look at how the human nervous system evolved over millions of years, from early mammals through to Homo sapiens, and how the development of the brain — particularly the prefrontal cortex — helped shape the way humans think, feel, and interact with the world.

We also consider an intriguing idea: if human nervous systems have always existed on a spectrum, then variation in perception, attention, and sensitivity may have been part of our species for as long as humans have existed.

This episode sets the stage for a season exploring how archaeologists interpret the traces of the past, and what those traces can tell us about the experiences of the people who lived before us.

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