Anthropology Videos: Home

Linguist/anthropologist Ian Mackenzie has spent years documenting the language and culture of the Penan tribe of Borneo, Malaysia, possibly the last truly nomadic society on earth. Andrew Gregg follows him as he attempts to track down the last remaining nomadic band of Penan whose traditional way of life is threatened by loss of habitat due to logging in Sarawak.

The French Polynesian islands once housed thriving native populations that were tragically wiped out by European disease. The vines and trees of the jungles consumed huge stone cities that sprawled across the interiors of Tahiti, Raivavae and the marquesas Islands. the structures remained forgotten until archeologist Edmundo Edwards rediscovered them. Now, with each swipe of his machete, Edmundo is bringing to light a world that no one has ever imagined existed.

For 400,000 years, a remote Egyptian oasis has been inhabited by waves of people- from stone age man to modern-day Muslims. Egyptologist Tony Mills and his team are unearthing artifacts and examining skeletal remains of "the other Egypt," far away from the pyramids and the Nile.

Canadian paleo-pathologist Eldon Molto is leading the search for clues of the mysterious Pericu people of Baja California, Mexico- a fierce, independent tribe that disappeared over a century ago, after being exposed to European disease. They left virtually nothing behind but their bones. But by using DNA, Molto is piecing together the story of the Pericu and along the way makes a surprising discovery that these vanished people have descendants very much alive.

Examines the symbolism, aesthetics, and functionality of African art through the vast region's sculpture, masks, architecture, ornaments, clothing, and utensils. Explores religious beliefs through rituals and funerary statuary. Also presents prehistoric rock art, and the conceptual nature of African art.

Take a journey to 16 African countries to examine major influences on this complex continent: indigenous heritage, Western culture, and the Islamic religion. This series explores in depth Africa's geography, history, cultures, and religions. Discover the rich diversity of Africa and confront the problems that have resulted from different forms of government.

Had they been made of stone, they would have been among the greatest wonders of the ancient world. These were the pyramids and effigy earthenworks by the Mound Building Cultures of the eastern half of the United States. This is the story of the 3000 year Native American tradition that culminated with the construction of cities rivaling any on the planet when Columbus landed in the New World.

This DVD follows the incredible saga of a glorious 7000 year evolution of ancient Britain's people -- from the earliest Stone Age clans, to the builders of Stonehenge, to the formation of Bronze Age tribes and the founding of Iron Age hill forts, all leading to the castle building kings and queens and knights that we all recognize today.

Ancient Greece was a civilization like no other and now you can see why. Computer graphics, archival film, and classic art come together to recreate the past. Tour the Acropolis in the 5th Century B.C. Stand before Delphi's Temple of Apollo where the oracle spoke. Gaze at the Statue of Athena and marvel at the Parthenon.

As seen on The History Channel , Ancient Discoveries unearths amazing technologies that we think of as modern, but which actually have their origins in antiquity. The series travels back in time to uncover remarkably sophisticated inventions, and to celebrate the ancient engineers whose ingenuity laid the foundations for today’s technology.

British Egyptologist John Romer explores the ruins of an ancient village near Thebes, where generations of craftsmen and artists built and decorated royal tombs. There, relics reveal the most intimate details of the people's daily lives: their meals, their loves, their quarrels, and even their dreams.

They stand today much as their builders left them 500 years ago. These are the cities of the Anasazi, the ancient Pueblo people of the four corners region of the western United States. Their history is the history how a civilization, against all odds, became so successful at agriculture they were able to produce a leisure society capable of not only building these incredible cities, but also producing some of the greatest pottery, rock art and trading networks the world has ever seen.

The four fields Introduces the central concepts, concerns, and research methods of cultural anthropology. It takes a cross-cultural approach to diverse subject areas, including subsistence patterns, political organization, the family, social organization, economics, kinship, language, the arts and religion.

Home to the oldest mountains on the planet and the richest forests in North America -- within a mosaic of diverse habitats and cultures, Appalachia tells the story of a people struggling to find a true and proper relationship to the natural world.

King Arthur is one of the most famous figures in British mythology, but did he ever exist? New archaeological findings is shedding light into the Arthurian legend.

Olivier Higgins and Mélanie Carrier cycle their way across Mongolia, China, Tibet and India, discussing culture, traditions, western society, and the pursuit of happiness.

Trace the astonishing story of the Aztecs who rose from a beleaguered band of barely over 1,000 to dominate nearly all of Mexico in just over 400 years.

Journey deep into an African rain forest for a rare and intimate look at the lives of the Baka, a semi-nomadic people who have wandered central Africa for centuries.

Presents archaeological scholarship from the Holy Land to explore the beginnings of modern religion and the origins of the Hebrew Bible, also known as the Old Testament. This archaeological detective story tackles some of the biggest questions in biblical studies: Where did the ancient Israelites come from? Who wrote the Bible, when, and why? How did the worship of one God--the foundation of modern Judaism, Christianity, and Islam--emerge?

Attempts to determine how much of the Bible is actually based on historical events by reviewing the most recent archeological findings.

The story of the 200-year struggle to unlock the secrets of the Mayan hieroglyphs. This detective story is filled with false leads, rivalries and colliding personalities. It takes us around the world in an effort to reveal the hieroglyphs' secrets.

This video shows cave paintings of animals and mysterious symbols done thousands of years ago in Altamira Cave, Spain.

The ancient Maya civilization of Central America left behind an intricate and mysterious hieroglyphic script carved on monuments and painted on pottery and bark books. This program highlights the ingenious breakthroughs that cracked the code, unleashing a flood of dramatic new insights about the ancient civilization.

This program demonstrates the traditional techniques for making Acoma pottery.

Explore with National Geographic the last frontier of knowledge about the Ancient Maya as archaeologists uncover evidence of an early Maya culture more dynamic and sophisticated than ever believed.

This program journeys high into the Andes to investigate the mysterious role the dead played in Incan culture. Leading experts such as Jorge Flores-Ochoa, from Peru's Cuzco University, detail the astonishing beliefs that governed the Incas' relationship with their dead, and reveal how the mummies were preserved.

The complete season 1 journeys to the most intriguing and dangerous places on Earth - from the Andes Mountains on a quest for El Dorado to Ethiopia on the trail of the Ark of the Covenant to Queen Nefertiti's tomb.

Follow explorer and survival expert Josh Bernstein as he travels to history's best-kept secrets. Along the way, Josh tracks down the "untraceable" Roanoke Island colonists who disappeared four hundred years ago, journeys in search of the Amazon's lost cities, and uncovers the truth behind the Stonehenge monument.

A&E documentary exploring whether or not there is credible archaeological evidence to substantiate Biblical stories and claims.

When someone is willing to disturb the status quo and stand for the dream of a free and secure world, who will stand with them? Follow former enemy combatants, Israeli soldiers from elite units and Palestinian fighters, many of whom served years in prison, who have joined together to challenge the status quo and say enough. The film reveals their transformational journeys from soldiers committed to armed battle to nonviolent peace activists, leading to the creation of Combatants for Peace.

With captivating cultural insights, this series examines societies in some of Earth's most inhospitable places. Journalist Donal MacIntyre treks across the Arabian Desert, mines salt high in the Bolivian Altiplano, hunts crocodiles in the rainforest of Papua New Guinea, and spears stingrays with landless sea gypsies off the coast of Borneo.

This documentary explores Egypt's awe-inspiring engineering accomplishments through the prism of its pharaohs' indomitable personalities. Follow the empire's development from the First Dynasty of 3000 BC through the last days of the reign of Ramses the Great in 1212 BC, from dazzling obelisks to the 700-foot Great Pyramid of Giza.

This National Geographic Special shows treasures from the Cliffside of Tombs to the Valley of the Golden Mummies.

Examines the rise and fall of Egypt's New Kingdom, 1560 B.C. to 1080 B.C.

This video story not only traces the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs and Maya, but also follows the journeys, in 1839, of New York explorer John L. Stephens to these strange and wonderful cities. Using computer graphic reconstruction, animated maps, classic art, reenactment and beautiful on-location cinematography, the viewer sees Teotihuacan, Cholula, Monte Alban, Chichen Itza, Tenochtitlian, Tikal, Copan, Uxmal, and Palenque as they might have looked 1000 years ago.

In the years since Machu Picchu was discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911, there have been countless theories about this Lost city of the Incas, yet it remains an enigma. NOVA joins a new generation of archaeologists as they probe areas of Machu Picchu that haven't been touched since the time of the Incas and unearth burials of the people who built the sacred site.

An epic detective story that offers a gripping expose on why the world is so unequal. Professor Jared Diamond traveled the globe for over 30 years trying to answer this question. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book. Why did Eurasians conquer, displace, or decimate Native Americans, Australians, and Africans, instead of the reverse? Diamond dismantles racially based theories of human history by revealing the environmental factors actually responsible for history's broadest patterns.

This documentary traces the career of Melville J. Herskovits, the pioneering American anthropologist of African Studies and controversial intellectual who established the first African Studies Center at an American university and authored The Myth of the Negro Past. Rarely seen archival footage, provocative animation, and unique photo montage re-enactments propel the story and interviews from leading scholars of race and culture forward.

Petra, a stone city of temples and tombs carved deep into stark cliffs in Jordan, was the center of life two thousand years ago for a people called the Nabateans. Archaeologists excavate evidence of a highly sophisticated society and discover answers to questions about Nabatean beliefs, customs, and destinies.

David Byrne's breathtaking, impressionistic documentary on Candomble, the African spirit cult of the Bahia region of Brazil, that explores the influences on daily life and culture of the people of Brazil through music, art, religion, food and more.

Take a spectacular journey to the heart of the Andes where archeologists race against time to unearth mummies and artifacts that shed light on the amazing Inca. From new mummy discoveries in a town's schoolyard to a landmark expedition to Vilcabamba-- the final refuge of the Inca

Six hundred years ago, in less than a century, the Inca people, located in present day Peru, forged an empire equal to that of the Greeks and Romans. They built their empire, not by military conquest but by treaties, based on providing food for all the empire's citizens. In the process, the Incas built architectural wonders for all eternity.

In Papua New Guinea, status is earned by giving things away rather than acquiring them. Explores the Moka, a ceremony in which people give gifts to members of other tribes. The larger the gift, the greater the victory over the recipient. Follows Ongka as he prepares for the giving of his Moka.

There are more than 2000 Kayapo Indians living in the Amazonian jungle in Brazil. Gold was found in the area and their land was invaded by miners. However, they manage to protect their mine and profits, and preserve their traditional way of life with these profits.

A high-tech exploration of the most celebrated mummy ever, the boy-king Tutankhamun, to reveal the truths about the famed curse and a series of puzzling deaths that crosses the centuries.

In a remote corner of southwestern China, the Mosuo live in a matrilineal society where husbands do not exist. Anthropologist Chou Wah-Shan is one of the few outsiders that has lived and worked extensively with them. Commerce, belief systems, rituals and festivals, and the responsibilities of women and men are described.

Documentary about the safe and disease-free life the Lau Indians have established on the South Pacific Islands.

Mark Anstice and Olly Steeds embark on a unique expedition into one of the most remote rainforests on Earth. Their mission: to track down and live with the remarkable Kombai tribe, a people whose existence was discovered only 25 years ago.

Searching through treacherous jungles, extreme travellers Mark Anstice and Olly Steeds track down the most mysterious tribe in the Peruvian Amazon-- the Machigenga.

Climb high into the treacherous, mysterious central headlands of West Papua for the adventure of a lifetime. Experience the incredible journey along with Mark Anstice and Olly Steeds as they make friends among the Mekmen and learn the tribal laws.

An ethnographic view of Masai culture and society, focusing on the preparation of young Masai girls for marriage and life in their society. Probes, through a candid interview with an older woman, the feelings of the Masai women about polygamy and their inability to own property.

Shows a variety of ancient and contemporary masks from all over the world and explains how they are used in rituals, festivals, and as artistic objects.

The Yucatan, Mexico's southerly most point, is nothing less than a true paradise with legendary cities and culture of Chichen Itza, Uxmal and Merida-the white city. Finally visit the crystalline sea of Cancun and the fabulous nature reserves of Quitana Roo.

Contents: v. 1. Mexico : God, gold and glory -- v. 2. Mexico : from independa[sic]nce to the Alamo -- v. 3. Mexico : battle for North America -- v. 4. Mexico : revolution and rebirth.

An account of the discovery in 1911, by Hiram Bingham, of the ruins of Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas in the mountains of Peru, with speculation on the purposes of the complex, the engineering techniques employed in its construction, and the reasons for its abandonment by the Incas.

Story of the Roma, commonly referred to as Gypsies, a people who have been both romanticized and vilified in popular culture. The Roma have endured centuries of intolerance and persecution in Europe, most notably the Holocaust genocide where an estimated 500,000 were murdered. A People Uncounted documents their culturally rich yet often difficult lives, and demonstrates how their present state has been deeply shaped by the tragedies of the past.

Explore the process of building an ancient Egyptian pyramid and visit various historic sites and rare artifacts, including the mummy of Ramses II.

Draws on ancient accounts and the latest theories of today's scholars and archaeologists to separate the truth from the myths about the king who has symbolized chivalry and honor for centuries.

Episode one explores how recent scientific discoveries have toppled the concept of biological race. Episode two questions the belief that race has always been with us. It traces the race concept to the European conquest of the Americas. Episode three focuses on how our institutions shape and create race.

"In 2012, California amended its "Three Strikes" law--one of the harshest criminal sentencing policies in the country. The passage of Prop. 36 marked the first time in U.S. history that citizens voted to shorten sentences of those currently incarcerated. Within days, the reintegration of thousands of "lifers" was underway. The Return examines this unprecedented reform through the eyes of those on the front lines prisoners suddenly freed, families turned upside down, reentry providers helping navigate complex transitions, and attorneys and judges wrestling with an untested law. At a moment of reckoning on mass incarceration, what can California's experiment teach the nation?"

After twenty-five years Jean-Michel Cousteau returns to the Amazon and revisited areas he'd explored with his father, Jacques Cousteau. Deforestation, population shifts and burgeoning cities have taken their toll on the area but so have numerous efforts to protect the rainforests, wildlife and indigenous people. The ecology of this one river has global consequences.

Looks at the gigantic, ancient Egyptian statue of the Great Sphinx, a crouching lion, human-headed creature. Asks who built it, how it was built, and who or what it represents. Follows a team of scientists who are looking at the Sphinx in the context of the geology, history, archeology, and architecture of ancient Egypt.

Take a virtual tour through rediscovered cities and see archaeological sites as their inhabitants saw them centuries ago. Spectacular on-location photography, state-of-the-art graphics, and research from the world's leading archaeological experts.

Unlock mysteries and uncover lost history with the experts as they use yesteryear's technology to recreate ancient engineering marvels and to discover what daily life was really like in these communities. Travel around the globe to Easter Island and China to discover mysteries locked in stone and archaeological forms that served as a foundation for bridges.

Stonehenge may be the best-known and most mysterious relic of prehistory. Now investigations inside and around Stonehenge have kicked off a dramatic new era of discovery and debate. Who built Stonehenge? What was its purpose? How did prehistoric people quarry, transport, sculpt, and erect the giant stones? A new generation of researchers are tackling these questions.

A grisly discovery of more than 400 mutilated bodies in Mexico is turning history on its head. Aztec Massacre paints a new picture of the violent relations between the Aztecs and the Conquistadors and rewrites much of what we thought we knew about the Aztec civilization.

With unprecedented access to the Greek government's Acropolis Restoration Project, which has been restoring the Parthenon for over three decades, Nova takes viewers inside the minds of the ancient Greeks as they created their most enduring architectural miracle.

Provides background information on who may have created Stonehenge, its origins, and its purpose. Includes interviews with archaeologists, astronomers, and costumed revelers at a summer solstice celebration. Also includes animated maps, views of Salisbury Cathedral, and old film footage.

A portrait of a motorcycle-riding, freedom-loving, Vietnam veteran cast in the mold of an outlaw biker. The film follows Stray Dog as he caravans on his Harley with fellow vets to pay tribute to their fallen brothers at the Vietnam Memorial. Meanwhile, back home in southern Missouri where he owns and operates an RV Park populated by a community on the margins, he forges a new life of domesticity with his Mexican wife Alicia.

This Emmy-Award winning series for Outstanding Informational Series features original location cinematography in 25 countries, taking the viewer around the world on an incredible journey from ancient Mesopotamia to modern Tibet.

Chronicling a mother's desperation in the wake of her son's disappearance in the Peruvian Amazon, this film captures the indigenous cosmologies of a vanishing world. Folktales and compelling accounts of fishermen who make love to underwater creatures, women who give birth to dolphins, and people using dolphin sex organs as love charms in modern and globalized cities are amazingly portrayed in this documentary.

Follow the spiritual journey of an American voodoo priest and witness voodoo rituals rarely seen by the uninitiated, including snake deification and spirit possession.

Travel with NOVA to remote reaches of the Amazon rainforest to visit the Yanomami, an endangered tribe whose culture is built on fierce rivalries and communal harmony. Watch as two Yanomami villages attempt to reconcile past differences by sharing in a great feast. Family drama unfolds against the background of everyday life.

Central African Republic has one of the most extraordinary legal systems in the world. Every year, the government investigates, prosecutes and imprisons hundreds of people for committing the crime of witchcraft. One judge, however, doesn't believe in magic and does everything in his power to get the cases against the accused witches dismissed.

This program examines the life of author and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston. The film follows Hurston, best known for her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, to the subtropical paradise that shaped her childhood and her life's work.