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Unknown: Cave of Bones

Play trailer Poster for Unknown: Cave of Bones 2023 1h 33m Documentary History Play Trailer Watchlist
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75% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 58% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
In South Africa's Cradle of Humankind, Paleoanthropologist Lee Berger has found the world's oldest graveyard -- and it's not human. If Lee and his team can prove that this ancient, small brained, ape-like creature practiced complex burial rituals, it will change everything we know about hominid evolution and the origins of belief.
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Unknown: Cave of Bones

Critics Reviews

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Brandon Yu New York Times 07/17/2023
As the team unearths evidence, the documentary offers a ripe window into the process of scientific discovery. Go to Full Review Archi Sengupta LeisureByte.com 07/05/2024
3.5/5
It’s an emotional and hopeful dip into the pool that is history and the curious case of early “humans” who had the ability to have deeper thought processes than we could’ve imagined. Go to Full Review Robert W. Butler Butler's Cinema Scene 09/14/2023
B
The result is a haunting, unexpectedly moving dreamlike experience that leaves the viewer in quiet awe. Go to Full Review Ready Steady Cut Staff Ready Steady Cut 07/31/2023
2.5/5
For someone who digs archaeology and/or has a specific interest in prehistory, then this documentary has a ton of information that will no doubt excite. For anyone else, the few moments that make this documentary interesting are few and far between. Go to Full Review JK Sooja Common Sense Media 07/27/2023
3/5
The recent finding of a new hominid is compelling, but a lot of this documentary is only about a handful of discoveries. Go to Full Review Graeme Tuckett The Post NZ 07/20/2023
Unknown: Cave of Bones is a well put-together and quite compelling thrash at some archaeology that is still going on today. There's a lot here to be engrossed by. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Giovanni A May 21 If you value facts and backed by scientific method avoid this. it's just conjectures presented as truths. See more David H 05/09/2024 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. See more J W 12/13/2023 A tad dramatized and one of the guys was ultra cheesy/cringey each time he was on camera. It was alright. See more Gretchen G 12/07/2023 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. See more William P 12/04/2023 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. See more Genevieve G 12/01/2023 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 See more Read all reviews
Unknown: Cave of Bones

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Cast & Crew

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Mark Mannucci

Director

Lee Berger

Self

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Unknown: Cave of Bones

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Movie Info

Synopsis In South Africa's Cradle of Humankind, Paleoanthropologist Lee Berger has found the world's oldest graveyard -- and it's not human. If Lee and his team can prove that this ancient, small brained, ape-like creature practiced complex burial rituals, it will change everything we know about hominid evolution and the origins of belief.
Director
Mark Mannucci
Distributor
Netflix
Genre
Documentary, History
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 17, 2023
Runtime
1h 33m
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