Videos and Audios

Scroll through our media content and gain an insight into our research.

A Brief History of Bling
From the Leakey Foundation’s “Origin Stories”  Podcast: Travel through 50,000 years of human history following clues hidden inside beads made from ostrich eggshells. In this episode, researchers Jennifer Miller and Yiming Wang share how these tiny artifacts reveal a sweeping story of ancient social networks, cultural connections, and human adaptability. more
Podcast Deutschlandfunk Kultur with Jürgen Renn (audio in German) more
arte 42 - Die Antwort auf fast alles: Do dogs really love us?
Anyone who has a dog is convinced that the relationship between dog and human is something unique. A close bond, unshakeable, perhaps even love. Dogs are the most popular pets worldwide. But why does the relationship between humans and dogs feel so special? Do dogs really love us? And if so, why? more
“Balsam für die Mumie”
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft: Balsam für die Mumie | Wissen Was News (Video in German) - Researchers from MPI-GEA have now analyzed the fragrances of a mummy for the first time and recreated the smell. These are the richest and most complex balsams identified so far for this period of Egyptian history. more
„Der Mensch ist zu einer geologischen Kraft geworden“
Deutschlandfunk Kultur interview with Jürgen Renn (audio in German) more
Anthropozän: Stecken wir schon in einem neuen Erdzeitalter?
SRF interview with Jürgen Renn on the beginnings of the Anthropocene (audio in German) more
Interview: Ostrich Eggshell Beads Reveal 50,000 Year-Old Social Network
Dr. Jennifer Miller and Dr. Yiming Wang discuss how their research into ostrich eggshell beads reveals symbolic behavior and social networks in the distant past more
Environmental History for Public Policy
A series of videos from a global network of interdisciplinary scientists researching the relationship between past societies and their environmental history more
Pollen, infectious disease and the Black Death with Adam Izdebski
Adam Izdebski joins the Infectious Historians to discuss his work at the frontier between pollen and disease, and in particular in light of his recent work analyzing pollen from the time of the Black Death. The conversation begins with an introduction to palynology (pollen analysis) and its limitations. Adam discusses fieldwork as well as a few examples for what pollen can offer us before turning to his research and what his large meta-analysis of pollen sites across Europe found about the Black Death. Adam also touches upon the potential of interdisciplinary work as well as his outreach initiatives, including his project of getting involved with policymaking.  more
Barbara Huber studies old plant remains by using biochemical and biomolecular approches
Barbara Huber is a Joachim Herz Foundation Add-On Fellow for Interdisciplinary Life Science. In her PhD research at the Max Planck Institute she studies old plant remains by using biochemical and biomolecular approches to find out how people used plants in the past. more
A Journey to the West: The Ancient Dispersal of Rice out of East Asia
Rice is one of the most culturally valued and widely grown crops in the world today, and extensive research over the past decade has clarified much of the narrative of its domestication and early spread across East and South Asia. By better understanding the adoption of this water-demanding crop in the arid regions of West Asia, we explore an important chapter in human adaptation and agricultural decision making.
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glyph - An online game to crowdsource the science of letter shapes
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Harvard, and PSL University, have designed a gaming applet where players compete to classify the letter shapes of the world's writing systems. Researchers will better understand how letter shapes evolve to be distinctive and informative thanks to this crowdsourced typology more
International Dog Day: Having a Dog is Healthy
Biologist Juliane Bräuer researches the animals as head of dog studies at the Max Planck Institute. Unlike many other animal species, the sympathy between humans and dogs is based on mutuality, the expert explains. (Audio in German) more
International Left-Handers Day!
Are you a left-hander? Well, Dr. Natalie Uomini will tell you all you need to know! more
The Genes of the Barbarians
From Deutschlandfunk: July 27, 2021. Little is really known about the groups of people who roamed Europe, Asia and Africa between the 3rd and 8th centuries. Who were they? And what drove them? What we know and tell about them is based on a rather thin source material. DNA analysis could reveal some of their secrets. Audio in German. more
Finding Rico – Recruitment Advertisement Video
Juliane Kaminski (Dog Cognition Centre, University of Portsmouth) and Juliane Bräuer (DogStudies, MPI for the Science of Human History, Jena) are looking for special dogs, that are able to distinguish objects by name. more
The Oldest Burial in Africa - detektor.fm
Dr. Patrick Roberts about the oldest known human burial in Africa. (in German)
detektor.fm - 13.05.2021 more
The Power of Prejudice
02/25/2021 - Prof. Johannes Krause discusses "The Power of Prejudice" (Die Macht der Vorurteile) and how genetic research can combat racism (video in German, available until 02/25/2026). more
Archaeology During the Anthropocene
Jan. 2021 - Director Nicole Boivin discussed on Deutschlandfunk how studying the past can help us shape the future. (In German) more
scobel: Geheimnis DNA - was sie über uns verrät
Dec. 3, 2020. Johannes Krause in an interview with Gert Scobel (ZDF). more
HR2 Kultur - Interview with Juliane Bräuer
Auf den Hund gekommen - Juliane Bräuer and Alf Haubitz discuss Juliane's new book "Was Hunde wissen" (What dogs know). Broadcast date 11/24/2020, audio in German more
Deep Dive Podcast Ep. 13
Professor Krause on migration in human history, DNA from the stone age, genetic differences today, the term "ethnicity" and much more (German Language) more
Microbes on the Move
With an interdisciplinary approach that bridges the gap between cultural heritage, contemporary economies and microbial biodiversity, this conference brings together a diverse group of scientists, livestock owners, civil society actors and state employees from Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, China and Germany. more
All Organisms in the World are Related
Professor Johannes Krause interview on Deutschlandfunk Nova. Audio in German. more
Experimental Procedure of Our Dog Studies
The Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History is also conducting experiments testing dogs' cognitive abilities. For a brief insight, watch this video. more
Paleolithic to Bronze Age Siberians reveal connections with First Americans and across Eurasia
He Yu and Johannes Krause discuss the findings of their research in the region of Lake Baikal more
Why Animals Are Smarter Than We Think
Campus Talks featuring Juliane Bräuer, ARD-alpha May, 09 2020 more
The Bronze Age: Mobile Women and Social Inequality
Campus Talks featuring Prof. Dr. Philipp W. Stockhammer. ARD-Alpha. April, 27 2020 (in German) more
Anthrodish Podcast: Episode 70
Learning from past farming strategies to adapt to our changing world with Ayushi Nayak. more
The Arch & Anth Podcast: Episode 53
What can proteomics and stable isotope analyses tell us about the first dairying and agricultre in South Asia? Ayushi Nayak discusses all this on The Arch & Anth Podcast. more
Frozen artifacts emerging from Mongolia's "eternal ice"
Archaeologists from the University of Colorado-Boulder Museum of Natural History and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History traverse the high Altai Mountain range of western Mongolia in search of clues to the area's past melting from alpine ice more
Futureproof Extra: Left-Handedness
Interview with Dr. Natalie Uomini about the curious origins of handedness. Newstalk, Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea, aired on 03 March, 2020 more
The Journey of our Genes (Die Reise unserer Gene)
Interview with Johannes Krause (in German) about his book Die Reise unserer Gene.
Saarländischer Rundfunk (SR 2), Fragen an den Autor,
aired on 22.09. 2019 more
Die Reise der Menschheit (in German)
Follow the documentary to learn more about humankind's history and how the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History contributed to the documentary. more
Mongolia Field Work
When and how did Homo sapiens succeed in inhabiting Mongolia and adapting to the sometimes extreme environmental conditions? The video shows the work of the archaeologists on site and gives an insight into how the laboratory succeeds in drawing an ever more differentiated and complete picture of the human past from the samples obtained. more
An Introduction to the Dog Lab
Join Dr. Juliane Bräuer at the Dog Lab and learn more about dogs' cognitive capabilities. more
Future of the Past - Origins of the Biblical Philistines
An international team, led by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, retrieved and analysed, for the first time, genome-wide data from 10 Bronze and Iron Age individuals (~3,600-2,800 years old) excavated by the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon. more
Future of the Past - The genetic heritage of the Paleo-Eskimos
700 years ago, the cultural evidence of the Paleo-Eskimos seemingly disappeared. Join our researchers in a quest to retrace it. more
Future of the Past - Sino-Tibetan languages
Follow our scientists from the Department of Linguistics and Cultural Evolution to learn more about the relatively little studied Sino-Tibetan language group. more
Future of the Past - First farmers in ancient Anatolia
Intersted in the history of agriculture? We are as well! Come along with our archaeologists to discover more about their latest research trip to Anatolia. more
Future of the Past - Monkey Hunters
Follow our archaeologists to learn more about the early human history of Sri Lanka and their way of hunting. more
Wild Sea Otter Mussel Pounding Leaves Archaeological Traces
Watch how a wild sea otter pounds open a mussel. more
Evolution of the Puppy-Eye (Evolution des Hundeblicks)
Interview with Juliane Bräuer (in German)
WDR 5 Neugier genügt, aired on 29.07.2019, available until 28.07.2020 more
Who were the philistines - and where do they came from?
Interview Johannes Krause (in German, starts at min. 29:40)
WDR 5 Quarks, Wissenschaft und mehr, aired on 30.07.2019, available until 29.07.2024 more
New old history (Neue alte Geschichte)
Interview with Chiara Barbieri (in German)
detektor.fm, Forschungsquartett, aired on 29.08.2019 more
The heritage of the Paleo-Eskimos
Interview with Stephan Schiffels (in German)
Deutschlandfunk, Forschung aktuell, aired on 06.06.2019 more
Who lived when in the Denisova cave?
Interview with Katerina Douka (Report in German)
Deutschlandfunk, Forschung aktuell, aired on 31.01.2019
more
Historical Phylogenetic Tree: The Origin of the Sino-Tibetan Languages
Interview with Johann-Mattis List (in German)
Deutschlandfunk: Forschung Aktuell, aired on 07.05.2019 more

Exploring the Origins of the Apple

TV Report in German, MDR Thüringen Journal, 10.06.2019
<p>Presented on the Daily Show by Trevor Noah (starts at min. 4:49)</p>

Ancient Cannabis Smoking (Cannabiskonsum in der Vorgeschichte)

Presented on the Daily Show by Trevor Noah (starts at min. 4:49)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=740Ii1tew9Y
Latest Thinking - What Does Dental Calculus Reveal About Human Evolution?
Dental calculus, a calcified form of tooth plaque, can give detailed information about the diets, diseases and lifestyles of past humans. Christina Warinner discusses how she gains new knowledge about the way human beings used to live, what they ate, and how their microbiome has evolved. more
Latest Thinking - What Can We Learn from Studying Homo sapiens’ First Moves into Tropical Forests?
In popular culture as in traditional archaeology, the tropical forest has been assumed to represent an environment inhospitable to humans. In this video, Patrick Roberts challenges this view. more
Latest Thinking - Where Did the Japanese Language and Its Speakers Come From?
One of the most disputed issues in historical-comparative linguistics is the origin of the Japanese language and the question of whether it is related to the Transeurasian languages. Martine Robbeets has already shown in past research that it is possible to find a small core of evidence that relates Japanese as a daughter language of Transeurasian. more
Latest Thinking - Do Kea Birds Have Cooperative Abilities?
The ability to cooperate with each other has given humans one of the key advantages in the colonization of this planet. What about other species? Do they have cooperative abilities as well? Russel Gray and his fellow researchers have investigated this particular question observing keas, a New Zealand bird known for its playfulness and inquisitiveness. more
Latest Thinking - Did Religion Play a Causal Role in the Evolution of Large, Complex Societies?
The notion of a powerful god is often said to play a significant role in supporting the transition from small relatively equal hunter and gatherer societies to big hierarchical societies. Russel Gray gets to the bottom of it. more
Latest Thinking - Are Europeans Today Genetically Different From Their Ancestors?
Different ethnic groups have shaped the genetic makeup of today’s Europeans. By analyzing D.N.A extracted from ancient bones, Johannes Krause traces back the genetic ancestry of human beings, especially those living in Europe today. more
Latest Thinking - How Does Writing Reflect Deep Human Preferences for Certain Shapes?
Human development is determined by biology and culture. Biologically seen, the history of evolution has brought us certain cognitive biases, whereas our cultural legacy is built through interactions with other people. Olivier Morin pursues research at the intersection of these two legacies and his particular area of interest is cultural transmission. more
Latest Thinking - What New Insights Can Archeology Provide Into Homo Sapiens' Emergence from Africa?
Traditional theory holds that Homo sapiens’ first moved Out of Africa into Eurasia along coastal routes some 60,000 years ago. In this video, Michael Petraglia explodes this theory demonstrating that modern humans emerged from Africa much earlier and, at least some of the time, via inland routes. more
Latest Thinking - How Well Do Automatic Methods for Language Comparison Work?
To find out how languages are related and form a family, linguists compare them by sifting through dictionaries, grammars or word lists. Recently, scholars have proposed automatic methods to compare languages more efficiently. Johann-Mattis List wants to know how well these automatic methods for language comparison really perform. more
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