The Real Eve

The Real Eve

2002, Science  -    -  Playlist 78 Comments
6.53
12345678910
Ratings: 6.53/10 from 68 users.

The Real EveMitochondrial DNA is passed from mother to children, both male and female, unchanged and it mutates at a predictable rate; i.e., the more the genetic mutations in the DNA, the more ancient the origin of the population.

Using these facts, some scientists are studying mitochondrial DNA to try to trace back the origins of the human race.

Using this method, the scientists have traced the human race to one female in Africa several million years ago. Then they traced the migration patters of her descendants as they spread across the earth.

The Real Eve is a fascinating documentary presenting a new and controversial theory of human evolution. It does what all good documentaries do, it makes you think, and it entertains at the same time.

More great documentaries

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

78 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Miranda
Miranda
6 years ago

I watched this doc when it first aired and was having a debate over this. Why do so many people find it so hard to believe? People just need to get over skin tone period it's very sickening to hear or see people argue over race. Even without scientific beliefs and a person wants to go the Christian belief even in Bible it states we all came from one woman "Eve" and for lack of better word all was of one "race". Little insight of my life...I'm a "white" woman from the south that was raised with Christan beliefs. My husband is African American and we have a beautiful child together. With that being said i feel like this doc provided lot info that several people don't wanna agree with for diff reasons either religious point of view which doesn't make sense to me considering what the Bible states (just like the blonde hair blue eye Jesus picture hanging in homes and churches that is WRONG). Or just disagree cause they don't like anyone that's different than them. Sorry just rambling on cause its hard to argue with ignorance on any topic period. So it's pointless to argue with people that don't agree with u regardless if there is proof into your statements. With that being said yes I believe in God and yes I believe we came from one woman and yes I believe this document made great points regardless of Eve skin tone.

Soothsayer
Soothsayer
8 years ago

Lets do some simple math on a much shorter scale of time. Your ancestors from around 1000 AD are about 25 generations ago. They number of your grandparents double with each generation. At 25 generations you have 33,554,432 grandparents. That is roughly all or more than the entire population of Europe.

Go back 4 or 5 more generations and your ancestors would number the entire world's population. But this is not practical and the reality is that at that point you have only one grandparent for every 10 or more. From that point the ancestor number goes UP and the global population goes down. You rapidly hit the point where there is only one available ancestor for every 1,000 or more on your "family tree".

This is all recent history (a few thousand years) and illustrates some inconvenient truths that cannot be argued as someones "idea" or theory. Its an absolute mathematical fact. . All species are in-bread to one degree or another. We are ALL much more closely related than our modern morality is comfortable with. Add some racism and bigotry to that and people will not admit to the most absolute of truths.

Expand on this several thousand times and you have the truth of humankind.

I found the film very educational and a high probability of truth. But I had already read the supporting articles in National Geographic and other places that fill in more of the details of the science.

Bob Robinson
Bob Robinson
11 years ago

This does not mean we all came from the same mother, what it does mean is we all have dna from that mother. I think the makers of this doc missed that point. We are all different, but yet we all share some common dna. I think the most accurate theory yet stats that humans co-evolved in several different areas and crossed dna at some point in this evolution. Modern humans have serveral different ape species encoded in their dna. Asians, middle easterns, and europeans get some of their dna from neanderthals and other extinct ape species. Africas have several genes of unknown orgin from a long lost species of ape. When you look at our genes its amazing how it all came together to form us and now we can almost manipulate our own genes with science. Simply amazing!

Daka Ty
Daka Ty
11 years ago

now they will take the DNA of Obama and say Americans came from Africans and Africans came from Chimps.Americans are decedents of Chimps.these theories are based on biased experiments and guesses (theory).we need more time and unbiased theories (politically and scientifically).let me ask a question if some scientist say Africans came from chimps and europians are not what will be the reaction.Chinese already have some proof saying that they had evolved separately from others.lets wait for some time before jumping in to conclusion.first do a unbiased scientific study before saying some thing

AbdelZ
AbdelZ
11 years ago

Fascinating : great docu . thanks

francuccio
francuccio
12 years ago

"wit" for with and "gathizz" for gatherers were reasons enough for me to find another documentary.

Thomas N. Bolton
Thomas N. Bolton
12 years ago

With 97% of our DNA the same as an oak tree it is only by the remaining 3% that we can classify/devide all races of people, ....cousin!

Brittany Howell
Brittany Howell
12 years ago

i luv this thank god mi teacher told me bout dis well back to mi movie review

Leydi Perez
Leydi Perez
12 years ago

i believe this was an extraodinary research that is why so many people look alike even if they are not related to each other

Xbow
Xbow
12 years ago

How did the original strain of the human animal fail to keep social and technological pace with its offspring? Strange.

Wooly291
Wooly291
12 years ago

This documentary represents an opportunity wasted. It could have told the fascinating story of how genetic techniques, markers, mutation, science, and investigation of mitochondria, made available the mostly non-historic but accurate information about the evolution and spread of humans from Africa around the entire globe. Instead, the genetics was lost in the anthropological and archaeological perspective taken. This was a self-conscious cinematic effort which touched on the science of genetics very little. If you are really interested in how the study of genes made all of the conclusions given here valid, you might want to read "Before the Dawn" by Nicholas Wade who does a marvelous job of telling an engaging an informative story about the inheritance of genetic material and the wealth of information it holds.

Hans Zandvliet
Hans Zandvliet
12 years ago

@Ivan Sherlock. Thanks for observing the search for our ancestors stops at the American-Mexican border. It shows it's a tipical Gringo-docu: after we have traced our own genetical history, nothing else matters. Like in general: only our own American interests count, no other country's needs matter.

Ivan Sherlock
Ivan Sherlock
12 years ago

Had DNA , both Paternal and Maternal done last winter and so this is a great source of information for me . The only weakness I can see is when analyzing various groups in the Americas , as the story heads south it stops at around the Mexican border . There is all of Mexico , Central America , and the continent of South America left out of the story .

Haqim Omar
Haqim Omar
12 years ago

hey i post something fact but its not there ? dont believe this.i post something.

kelamuni
kelamuni
12 years ago

good doc. oppenheimer does solid science. nice complement to original adam doc.

michael manning
michael manning
12 years ago

The program addressed the adaptation of human skin tone to environment. The humans that migrated to the colder climates / less sunlight of the northern latitudes for example, arrived dark but lightened over time until after about 1,000 generations or 20,000 years that skin time became a fixed characteristic of that, one of four, racial groups. But then I could be wrong!

Jack1952
Jack1952
12 years ago

There seems to be a lot or racist remarks posted here. Which is ironic since this documentary seems to suggest that we are all variations of the one. Maybe, its because this idea conflicts with our own personal intolerances.

Dolly_Dagger
Dolly_Dagger
13 years ago

XipeToltec,
What is your explanation for people in different parts of the world having different skin colors? It makes perfect sense that people in tropical climates would have darker skin to protect them from UV, where we in northern climates have less need of it. It's hard for me to understand why people are so fearful of this whole idea. I am a Christian struggling to balance science and creationism but find a lot of ways that both sides can explain this theory.
I always take scientific theory with a grain of salt because it's just that, theory. But I find the whole idea of Mitochondrial DNA fascinating. Can't wait to get my kit and see where all my "cousins" live!

XipeToltec
XipeToltec
13 years ago

I don't believe it. Also, skin color isn't determined by the sun. They are trying to force a minimal amount of scientific data to support a theory that it doesn't support.

Val
Val
13 years ago

Wow amazing job, the photographs and history so passionnate.... I am heading to Papua New Guinea soon, cant wait.....

kretik77
kretik77
13 years ago

I find this documentary disappointing.

viva afriqa
viva afriqa
13 years ago

@billclinton3

your statement makes no sense. you contradicted your self. If "we" don't know what the first humans looked like, then how can u declare they were not black.

billclinton3
billclinton3
13 years ago

saying that all people descended from a 'black woman' is false. people did not take on the racial characteristics you see today until they were out of africa. we don't know what the first humans looked like, but they weren't 'black'

anonymous12
anonymous12
13 years ago

@go2mark what youve said is complete BS. read more on the history of mankind. you obviously dont know anything. >.<

viva afriqa
viva afriqa
13 years ago

@ queenbee ..... "I think it is important to understand how and why bad things happen"

The arabs, the ottomanempire, etc did what they did "for islam". Because they wanted to convert all "infidels", to follow the muslim religion.

The europeans did what they did for sake of domination, power and control. Fuelled by their greed, lack of culture, and spiritual inferiority. They saw black, and brown faces, they saw different ways of life. And so they ignorantly and arrogantly (both seemingly natural traits to the past europeans) declared those people and their cultures to be wrong, beneath them and inhumane. Because they could not understand the concept of differentiation, they did what the europeans today still continue to do. They declared themselves Kings of the world, and unleash hell on anything different.

Anyway, their is no denying that the human race descended from Afica- the motherland. Whether or not one chooses to admit this, it will not make it any less true.

The white people of the past, and the whitepeople of today should not be categorised together, each to his own actions.

Nowadays racism, seems to have been takenover of classism - once again inflicted by the europeans (this includes the americans, who're descendants of past europeans)
It just so happens that the lower class is unanimously made of black and asian people.

Classism--indirectly slavery. Because the white people of today (who still hold their racist ideology's) are smarter and slyer than before.

mike
mike
13 years ago

If I say a disproportionate amount of the crimes against humanity that have been committed throughout history can be attributed to the prevailing anglo culture that came from europe, and I prove it to be true, THEN IT IS NOT AN "ANTI WHITE" STATEMENT - BUT, A FACT oF HISTORY. And I do believe this statement to be true...however a more interesting question would be to ask WHY?

We know genetically we are all so closely related, that any explanation based on the premise of "race" is unreliable. However the premise that all people are more or less eqaul does not mean that all cultures must also be seen as equals. Thus, the notion brought about by "Creatio-whaa!?" that ANY other culture would have committed the same atrocities had they been the first to industrialize is outlandish.

First of all, even it was not your intention, your statement seems to imply that the industrial age was some sort of inevitability, and a logical progression in cultural advancement/developement. Well, this is a very western way of looking at the world, and in fact many cultures focus more on preservation and conservation of land, rather than the exploitation of its resources.

Second of all, you need look no further than the native north and south american societies in how they dealt with their foreign european counterparts to realize that not every culture is about domination. Now, I am not trying to idealize these indigenous societies, western archeology and historical documents tell us that some of these societies may very well have had some distrubing practices, but despite this we are also told from western history itself that it was their lack of violence/hate/prejudice that allowed them to be conquered. These indigenous societies did not see themselves as superior, and were not looking to kill the europeans, in fact many helped them out.

gimpsd
gimpsd
13 years ago

@all
Why is it that all acts of intolerance and prejudice is justified with the term "human nature"? Maybe we should change what human nature means...afterall we all contribute to "human nature".

"You can change the world from the ground up starting with yourself."

Creatio-whaa!?
Creatio-whaa!?
13 years ago

The Africa centric theory of human origin is basically the mainstream today, I'm not sure how much hotter the debate was back in 02. I'm perfectly fine with the theory, I don't know why this video has stirred up all the racial debate. From what I've read, there's more anti-white racism on this board than white people complaining about having an African ancestor. I'm white as hell and I have no problem with a black grandma... what's the big deal?

And to the anti-whitists out there, WTF are you talking about? Have you actually studied pre-industrial history anywhere on the globe...? Europeans aren't inherently/genetically any more evil than anyone else, though they did perpetrate grave injustices throughout the imperial period. They just happened to get to the industrial age first, which gave them a tremendous advantage over pre-industrial civilizations. I can guarantee you that had another part of the globe gotten it first, the situation would have been exactly the same: the use of industrial might to control pre-industrial civilizations and a racist/nationalist ideology to justify the practice. It doesn't justify the imperial era, but human nature is human nature guys, chill out.

maria
maria
13 years ago

the number of interracial (for a lack of a better term) relationships is on the rise. is it possible that in the next 1000 or 10,000 years, the world's population will be a blended people no longer divided by skin colour but by political alliances/beliefs?

what would these future people look like? if in the past our ancestors had African features, will OUR future offspring also resemble our ancestors?

please don't attack me I am just curious. People commenting here seem smart enough.

Nikki
Nikki
13 years ago

Chief: well said. Especially this.

"The institutionalization of the ideology of white superiority is embedded in the educational systems of the secular and sectarian spheres."

It also follows that you could replace all instances of the word "white" with "male". Leading one to understand why it is that most scientists studing other cultures focus on the political, the economic, and are more likely to follow the hunters than they are to focus on the women, the mothers, of any particular group.

It is about time that our white, male centered scientists and historians take a long hard look at the true bulding block of any society, the Mother/child unit.

I am reminded of a comment of a dear old friend, "Momma's baby, daddy's maybe". No, it makes no sense to study human history from the narrow perspective of patriarchal law. In my view, every time a woman marries and gives up her name, a little, but important piece of history, herstory, is obliterated.

ELL Ray
ELL Ray
13 years ago

We have to stop turning on each other and pointing fingers at each other and saying and doing things that divide rather than unite. We need each other right now. We are in deep doo doo. The global economy is coming down like a lead ballon. The corporations are poisoning our food. Our government lies to us and feeds us BS and we just keep taking it up the rear end. The only way through this thing is hand in hand united against the tyrants that have us all chasing our tails.

ELL Ray
ELL Ray
13 years ago

@chief I wonder if you believe in reincarnation?

QueenBee
QueenBee
13 years ago

Not sure how a documentary about mitochondrial DNA sparked a discussion about white/black racism and slavery, but...

@Chief, you might be interested in locating a copy of a book called "Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America" by David Hackett Fischer.

It explores how the earliest waves of settlers from Great Britain influenced American culture. You will probably be most intrigued by the Cavaliers, who came from the south of England, where slavery existed until the 14th century. It was uniquely in America where the concept of slavery was tied to skin color and continent of origin.

For the record, I do not condone slavery or racial discrimination; however, I think it is important to understand how and why bad things happen. I'm not excusing Europeans for exploiting other cultures, but we are all human, and all equally capable of fault.

Chief
Chief
13 years ago

@ Michael Ferguson

My response was to other comments made in this forum; my comments on "The Real Eve" have been posted. The DNA evidence offered is given as fact and corroborates the Theory of Evolution as given by Charles Darwin.

Thanks for the source of projected numbers of OLD WORLD losses. The site depicted wars, atrocities, massacres, etc. and Russia is not in Europe. The context of my defense to 82 and Trish specifically referred to Europe. Turkey is in Europe and Asia and as a country influenced by the rise of Islam, the historical thrust of religion had a lot to do with the aspirations of medieval rulers. To the Muslims, defeat of the infidels is a tenet in their religion. Religious wars have been going on for a long time. The encroachment of Europeans into Africa and the New World was not one of warring nations of empires. I'm sure you know the reasons used to justify "crimes against humanity."

@Christ puncher

Slavery, as practiced by Great Britain, Portugal and Spain has no parallel in the form of servitude that you referenced. The dehumanization of another people, is a peculiar institutionalized program developed uner the authority of Catholicism; it reached its zenith under protestanism through Great Britain, resting in America where humans were reduced to chattel slavery, property akin to livestock.

Now, as a descendant of enslaved Africans, I am well aware of atrocities in the USA, but until I watched "Racism: A History" I did not know what English speaking people did to the indigenous people of Tasmania. I did not know what the Belgiums or Germans did to Africans. It may soothe your historical memory to cite other historical conflicts between diverse human groups, but it doesn't change the facts of more recent acts of genocide and ethnic clensing; along with an assortment of barbaric acts performed by people who claimed Christianity and the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as a prelude to conquest. The British Historian, Basil Davidson, offers a descent book and video documentary that chronicles the methodology used under the title "The Bible and The Gun".

ChristPuncher
ChristPuncher
13 years ago

So just to review. It's not just white people. Proof being the ottoman invasion of europe (where so many italian and spanish men were murdered, and their wives raped, which is why italians and spanish are now dark eye and hair), the mongolian invasion of russia (remember ghengis khan? No...you probably dont, tard) Atilla the hun vs the roman empire, And the middle eastern invention of slavery. All very atrocious, and all against whitey. pwnt.

ChristPuncher
ChristPuncher
13 years ago

And funny, the one time you state a source, its from the BBC (a history of racism) Kinda ironic how you get your facts, dont you think?

ChristPuncher
ChristPuncher
13 years ago

And to Support 82, he is reffering to the ottoman empire (turks, arabs) invading half of europe....you are either playing dumb, or dont know very much on this subject, because all you are doing is raising questions of doubt, never showing any real facts, or bringing up any valid information for that matter except for one comment.

ChristPuncher
ChristPuncher
13 years ago

@Chief

Alright, gladly...how about i start with one of the most atrocious acts in human history, slavery. Famous for being a White on black Scenario. You cannot possibly believe that white people were the first to enslave another culture, if cultures have pre-dated europe for 100,000+ years?

The start of slavery probably followed the development of farming about 10,000 years ago. Farming gave people an opportunity to put their prisoners of war to work for them. People captured in war continued to be the chief source of slaves in the earliest civilizations. Other slaves were criminals or people who could not pay their debts

The first known slaves formed the lowest class in the civilization developed by the Sumerians in Mesopotamia (now mostly Iraq) about 3500 B.C. Slavery also existed in Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt, Persia, and other ancient societies of the Middle East. In addition, it was practiced in ancient China and India and among the early blacks of Africa and the Indians of America

Thats one example of something white man borrowed from the cultures you hold in such high regard. Does that satisfy that question enough, or do you trust that i could provide other examples?

And finally, the comment i made about it being mostly theory is correct. And you are just arguing semantics, which seems you pretty much make a living of that here, need a life much? You said it was plausible, not factual...Narrowest of terms, maybe, but still the term! As close as one can speculate on this subject, without being a practicing scientist who has personally studied the matter.

Chief
Chief
13 years ago

@ Trish

So what did the Mongolians do to Europeans? Racism: A History is an excellent BBC documentary about European atrocities; in that light, I would be interested in knowing, other than what Europeans did to each other, what was done to them as 82 has suggested. In fact, anyone with that information can answer the question for me if it isn't too much trouble. Specifically, what Arab nation attacked England, France, Spain, etc.? What did Iran or babylon do to any European nation? Sure, there were the Crusades and Jihads, but those were religious wars focused primarily on Jerusalem. I'm looking for the evidence 82 is talking about since I am being admonished by the phrase, "Don't just blame white ppl."

If you are going to support 82. please take the time to provide the resources so that I can increase my understanding of how brutal other nations have been towards people of other ethnic groups.

trish
trish
13 years ago

@ Chief
82 is right, I don't have any sources but i took a few european history classes in university and we learned about all this stuff. He forgot to mention what the mongolians did to the Russians, that's why many of them have Asian features.

Chief
Chief
13 years ago

@ 82

Do you have the time to share those reasons? Also, what nations, under Arabian or Persain governance, were invaded. Describe the atrocities heaped upon the specific European group or site a source where this information can be acquired.

82
82
13 years ago

Don't just blame white ppl, arabs and persians invaded and raped them before the invention of guns. There are reasons for why ppl in portugal, spain, greece, italy etc look the way they look.

Chief
Chief
13 years ago

@normal

Other hominids, according to my research, can be documented is the fossil record as far back as 17 million years ago, in an area near the modern day county of Kenya.

Chief
Chief
13 years ago

@Christpuncher

In the documentary, Dr. Stephen Oppenheimer, a noted paleontologist identified the fossilized remains of humans in Nazareth that were dated at 122,000 years old. The DNA of this group is extinct. Since the scientist use cutting edge technology with verifiable access to the latest reconstruction of specific DNA markers, the conclusion of the origins of humanity is not theoretical. Their explanations for the diversity of the human species, over time are plausible; they can be called a theory in the narrowest sense of the term. What is your basis for saying it is MOSTLY THEORY?

Chief
Chief
13 years ago

@Christpuncher

Please share with me the atrocities of other cultures that are comparable to what white people have done. We have historical records of what white people did in India, Austratila, Tasmania, New Guinea, China, America, South America and Africa.

Where can I find evidence of what the Aztecs or Incas did to other nations? Where is the evidence of what aboriginal people of Australia did to other nations?

Chief
Chief
13 years ago

@go2mark

The oldest fossilized human remains have been found in East Africa. For this reason, it is presently called "the cradle of life". Kemet(Egypt)is in Africa and boasts a high civilization that produced marvels unexplained to this very day. The Great Zimbabwe also boasts ancient relics that some would rather attribute to aliens than to entertain thoughts that the structure was produced by indigenous African. My point is that there have been astounding developments, even in West Africa centered around the fabled city of Timbuctoo.

The incursion of the Romans into Kemet (Egypt) led to a vast migration across the Sahel. Couple that with the rise and spread of Islam, Africans have been under seige for almost two thousand years. The inhabitants have been enslave or colonized since the 8th Century AD. The depopulation of Africa by Europeans and the encroachment of the Sahara Desert into ariable lands contribute to the seemingly lack of development. End slavery and transfer that to colonization and the decline continues. End colonization after you acquire ownership of lands and resources and the establishment of independent nations with artificial boundaries corrodes self sufficiency and self-determination. This is only a sampling of the problems and the mind controlling dogmas of competing religious ideologies only makes matters worse.

Collette
Collette
13 years ago

Very well said Chief!!! Very true!

ChristPuncher
ChristPuncher
13 years ago

Also, yes, this documentary was mostly a theory, but they did use evidence to back up their claims, which is more than a lot of docs even attempt to do. There are INFACT 10,000+ year skeletons exhumed, and thanks to radio carbon dating, you can tell how long the earth has been around them since. a remarkable thang.

ChristPuncher
ChristPuncher
13 years ago

LOL! @ esmuziq: "i wonder where do white people come from ?
where did al these people live before taking over the usa from the native americans"

Oh gee, i wonder....europe? :P

Btw, what white people did to that natives was nothing new...other cultures have been doing it for thousands of years. Running low on space and resources in your area, steal from the weak to survive. It's all part of nature, even animals do it. It's a damn shame, yes...but you should have fought harder, or maybe they shouldnt have sold the isle of manhattan for 20 bucks...just some pointers for their culture. oh heres an idea...lets re-instate all the old borders from thousands of years ago, so no ones poor land gets stolen after all :< Dont like t? rise up from oppression...people have been doing that for thousands of years too.

go2mark
go2mark
13 years ago

this doc is complete bs from the start. if mankind originated in africa why is it the least developed continent on earth. this continent has all the natural resources to be the most powerful and advanced society on earth yet they are thousands of years behind everyone else.