The first Homo sapiens species appeared about 150,000 years ago . . . but they didn’t begin creating symbolic art for another 100,000 years. Paleoanthropologist Ian Tattersall presents the evolutionary case that led to the survival and rise of modern humans to become the masters of the planet.

This text is used in the Advanced Seminar for Human Origins course. It's also available as part of the materials package for the course.