Unknown: Cave of Bones

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David H Fantastic. Why would pre-historic hominids drag their dead far underground, through tight, dark passages that are almost inaccessible even now? And what can we really understand about them by sifting through their remains? The science, the excavation methods, the personalities involved, the challenges interpreting what's found are all very well presented, I thought. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/21/24 Full Review J W A tad dramatized and one of the guys was ultra cheesy/cringey each time he was on camera. It was alright. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 12/13/23 Full Review Gretchen G Entertainment not exposition; confronting the various perspectives countering this endeavor would have lent it more credibility. Overall, sad to see the compromise of scientific method and critique/collaboration/consensus of the scientific community for the sake of entertainment. Ironically, it may have had more "entertainment" value if it did. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 12/07/23 Full Review William P It was a great experience, to think there was a species capable of using fire and burying their dead with trinkets in one location 200,000 years before humans is just amazing. Just goes to show us that we're not as wise in our historical knowledge as we thought. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/04/23 Full Review Genevieve G Loved it! It's enthralling, fascinating and all these beautiful women and men who dare to think and study our past are quite frankly inspiring Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/02/23 Full Review cconnelly1 *Spoilers warning* Very interesting, however it could have used more expert analysis from scientists other than the two or three archaeologists featured in the show. As another reviewer said, everything sort of sounded like conjecture. How did they know that what they were looking at was the remains of a fire? How did they know that the tiny piece of bone they were holding up was probably that of an antelope ( some specific animal - I think they said antelope). I'm not a scientist, but it seemed like a very small piece to be able to determine what sort of animal it was from. And the object that look like a tool, that was very cool, but again- how about some input from other scientists from around the world as to whether that is really a tool or not. If it is such a huge, important finding, surely they could find someone else to comment about it. That goes for the carvings on the wall. They gave some evidence that these might be artwork, but sounded unsure. More like "Wow, it really does look like artwork, isn't that amazing?" Rather than a more scientific discussion. Another problem was the lengthy discussions about what the findings meant in terms of what kind of life these ancient people (?)had. The fact that they went to such pains to bury their dead, prompts the scientists to say that they must have loved each other very much and cared for each other. Perhaps they even had belief in an afterlife since they buried their dead so carefully; and also buried one body with a tool (possibly), which could mean they thought their loved one might use the tool in the afterlife. Okay, maybe. But there are probably other explanations for why they buried their dead or why there was a tool buried with the body. They should have discussed those possibilities as well. Much of the show was taken up by animated sections, which portrayed these people going about their daily lives, burying the dead, walking off hand in hand into the sunshine outside of the cave. Much time was spent talking about the personal connection they must have had to each other, how humanlike they were in terms of how much they cared for one another, etc. It really was over the top. I mean, the scientists had some interesting findings, but they really just took massive leaps in their conclusions about what it meant. Also, towards the end, they spent way too much time going on about the emotional experience of one of the scientists. We were told many, many times-at least 10-that this man had never planned to enter the burial chamber. But then, we are told he had "slimmed down" and decided to attempt to get himself through the narrow passageway that led to the burial chamber. We see his struggle to get through the narrow passageway. We see his emotional reaction once he gets to the chamber. Then we see his emotional reaction when he gets back up and shares his experience with the other scientists. We see the tears in his eyes. He talks about how meaningful it was to him. Many shots of him talking about how important this experience is to him. It was just too much. We want to know about the scientific findings, not the deep emotional feelings this man has about going to see the chamber. I'd recommend for the fascinating things they did find, but I was just left wanting more substance. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 11/28/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Unknown: Cave of Bones

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