THE CONQUEST OF THE WORLD BY EUROPEANS.
SH] [SHOUTING IN SPANI
AND STEEL.
BUT HOW DID THEY DEVELOP THESE ADVANTAGES IN THE FIRST PLACE?
WHY DID THE WORLD EVER BECOME SO UNEQUAL?
HAS SPENT MORE THAN 30 YEARS TRYING TO ANSWER.
DIAMOND HAS TRAVELED THE WORLD LOOKING FOR CLUES.
AND EXPLORE THE VERY ROOTS OF POWER IN THE MODERN WORLD.
BECAUSE THEY'RE THE BIGGES T QUESTIONS OF HUMAN HISTORY.
HOW HAVE GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL SHAPED THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD?
BEGAN IN THE RAINFORESTS OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA.
[SPEAKING NEW GUINEAN LANGUAGE]
BUT HIS REAL PASSION HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE STUDY OF BIRDS.
AND IS NOW A LEADING EXPERT ON THE BIRD LIFE OF THE ISLAND.
I'VE GOTTEN TO KNOW AND LI KE THOUSANDS OF NEW GUINEANS.
AND MUCH OF WHAT I KNOW ABOUT BIRDS I PICKED UP FROM THEM.
SO WHY ARE THEY SO MUCH POORER THAN MODERN AMERICANS?
AND WE NEW GUINEANS HAVE SO LITTLE?
IT WAS TREATED WITH AN ALMOST RELIGIOUS REVERENCE.
AND NEW GUINEANS SO LITTLE.
. IN THIS ENVIRONMENT I'D BE HELPLESS WITHOUT THEM
[CAR HORNS HONKING]
THAT'S WHAT YALI WANTED TO KNOW.
HOW DID OUR WORLDS EVER BECOME SO DIFFERENT?
A QUESTION AS OLD AS HUMAN HISTORY ITSELF.
OR THE MAYA?
DURING THE COURSE OF HISTORY.
THAT FEW SCHOLARS WOULD HAVE DARED TAKE ON.
THE GREAT PUZZLES OF HUMAN HISTORY?
WERE LIVING MORE OR LESS THE SAME WAY.
BACK INTO PREHISTORY.
ONE AREA WHERE HUMANS WERE THRIVING WAS THE MIDDLE EAST.
AS HUNTER-GATHERERS IN SMALL, MOBILE GROUPS.
ANIMALS TO HUNT OR PLANTS TO GATHER.
TO THE NEXT VALLEY OR RIDGE, LOOKING FOR NEW SOURCES OF FOOD.
AND HOW WE FOUND FOOD.
AND ENCYCLOPEDIC KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HUNDREDS OF ANIMAL SPECIES.
YOU HAVE TO BE PRETTY SMART TO BE A HUNTER.
TRACKING DOWN WHATEVER GAME THEY COULD FIND.
IT TAKES TIME TO TRACK EACH ANIMAL...
THERE'S NO CERTAINTY OF HOW THE HUNT WILL END.
YOU NUMBER ONE, ME NUMBER TWO.
HAVE USUALLY RELIED MORE ON GATHERING.
THE GATHERING IS DONE BY WOMEN.
AN IMPORTANT SOURCE OF FOOD HERE IS WILD SAGO.
WHICH CAN BE TURNED INTO A DOUGH AND THEN COOKED.
OF FINDING FOOD THAN HUNTING.
TO SUPPORT A LARGE POPULATION.
DON'T YIELD ANYTHING THAT WE COULD EAT.
AND IT'S NOT GOING TO BE A SAGO SWAMP.
BEFORE THIS WOULD HAPPEN.
GLOBAL TEMPERATURES DROPPED AND ICE AGE CONDITIONS RETURNED.
THE WORLD BECAME COLDER AND DRIER.
ANIMAL HERDS DIED OFF-- SO DID MANY TREES AND PLANTS.
THE DROUGHT LASTED FOR MORE THAN A THOUSAND YEARS.
THEY WOULD SOMEHOW SURVIVE AND EVEN PROSPER.
ONE THAT WOULD CHANGE THE FACE OF THE EARTH.
WHO SPECIALIZES IN THE STONE AGE HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE EAST.
NEAR THE DEAD SEA-- A PLACE KNOWN AS DHRA.
AND WORKS WITH AN INTERNATIONAL TEAM OF ARCHAEOLOGISTS.
THAN ANY HUNTER-GATHERER SHELTERS.
ONE OF THE EARLIEST PERMANENT VILLAGES ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.
PEOPLE WERE STARTING TO PUT DOWN ROOTS.
IN A REALLY EXTENSIVE WAY.
IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
IF TIMES WERE SO HARD?
IT LIES IN THIS UNIQUE STRUCTURE.
IN A PARTICULAR LOCATION ON A YEAR-ROUND BASIS.
AND DURABLE ENOUGH TO BE STORED FOR YEARS.
PEOPLE STARTED GROWING THEIR OWN FOOD.
AND PLANTED NEW FIELDS OF WHEAT AND BARLEY AROUND THEM.
REALLY THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE SEE THIS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.
WERE BECOMING FARMERS, THE FIRST FARMERS IN THE WORLD.
WERE CHANGING THE VERY NATURE OF THE CROPS AROUND THEM.
PEOPLE WERE STARTING TO CONTROL NATURE.
TO BE EVER MORE USEFUL TO HUMANS.
THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
THEY WERE ALWAYS GONNA BE AT A CHRONIC DISADVANTAGE.
WHERE ELSE IN THE ANCIENT WORLD PEOPLE HAD BECOME FARMERS?
. I'D BE WELL ON MY WAY TO ANSWERING YALI'S QUESTION
THE HIGHLANDS OF NEW GUINEA.
WITH ONE OF THE OLDEST SYSTEMS OF FARMING IN THE WORLD.
ALMOST AS LONG AS THE PEOPLE OF THE MIDDLE EAST.
WHY DIDN'T THEY END UP PRODUCING THEIR OWN CARGO?
SUFFERED FROM PROTEIN DEFICIENCY.
TO SUPPLEMENT THEIR DIET.
ULTIMATELY IT CAME DOWN TO GEOGRAPHIC LUCK.
WERE BORN FROM THE CROPS WE EAT.
WHICH PROVIDES ABOUT A FIFTH OF ALL THE CALORIES THEY EAT.
COULD NEVER HAVE BEEN SUSTAINED BY TARO AND BANANAS.
TO SHAPE THE COURSE OF HUMAN HISTORY?
INTO HAVES AND HAVE-NOTS?
BUT BY NOW THEY ALSO HAD ANOTHER STEADY SOURCE OF FOOD.
AND OF COURSE FOR THE HUMANS.
ALLOWING FARMERS TO GROW MORE FOOD AND FEED MORE PEOPLE.
BECAUSE THEY NEVER HAD THE ANIMALS TO PULL THEM.
AND ALMOST ALL OF THE FARM WORK IS STILL DONE BY HAND.
WHY DIDN'T NEW GUINEANS DOMESTICATE ANY OF THEIR OWN?
AND I WAS AMAZED BY WHAT I FOUND.
BUT BECAUSE YOU'D HAVE TO GR OTHER ANIMALS JUST TO FEED THEM.
AFRICANS HAVE NEVER DOMESTICATED THE ELEPHANT.
AND REACH AN AGE WHERE IT CAN START REPRODUCING.
OVER THE WHOLE HERD OR WHOLE FLOCK.
SOME ANIMALS DON'T HAVE TH E TEMPERAMENT TO LIVE ON A FARM.
ZEBRAS HAVE BECOME FLIGHTY, NERVOUS CREATURES.
THEY HAVE A VICIOUS STREAK THAT HUMANS HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO TAME.
OR RIDDEN INTO BATTLE.
AS THE FERTILE CRESCENT.
IT GAVE THEM A HUGE HEAD START.
WAS LEADING TOWARDS THE FIRST HUMAN CIVILIZATION.
IN ROWS OF HOUSES THAT WERE A WONDER OF TECHNOLOGY.
FROM THE INSIDE, AT LEAST, WERE COVERED WITH PLASTER.
IT'S VERY EXPENSIVE TO HAVE A PLASTERED HOUSE.
AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES.
AT A TEMPERATURE OF 1,000 DEGREES.
A TECHNOLOGY THAT WOULD TRANSFORM THE WORLD.
IN WAYS THAT HAVE BARELY CHANGED FOR CENTURIES.
NO METALWORKERS, NO METAL TOOLS.
AND USED THEIR TECHNOLOGY TO COLONIZE THE COUNTRY.
HOW DID IT LOSE ITS HEAD START?
TO SUPPORT CONTINUOUS INTENSIVE FARMING.
I MEAN, YOU ARE FACING THE WALL.
IS THE OUTCOME OF OVEREXPLOITING THE ENVIRONMENT.
BUT AGAIN GEOGRAPHY WAS ON THEIR SIDE.
WHEREVER THEY WENT, THEY TRANSFORMED HUMAN SOCIETIES.
THEY CAUSED AN EXPLOSION OF CIVILIZATION.
AND THE ARMIES OF PEOPLE REQUIRED TO BUILD THE PYRAMIDS.
FED THE ARTISTS, INVENTORS AND SOLDIERS OF EUROPE.
WERE TAKEN BY EUROPEANS TO THE NEW WORLD.
AND AMERICANS CONSUME 20 MILLION TONS OF WHEAT A YEAR.
WITHOUT THE SPREAD OF FARMING FROM THE FERTILE CRESCENT.
IN SHAPING THEIR OWN DESTINY.
. THEY'RE NOT ITS ROOT CAUSE
BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE SAME RAW MATERIALS.
TRYING TO CATCH UP WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD.
UNFORTUNATELY FOR THEM, THERE' S STILL A BIG GAP TO OVERCOME.
YOUR PEOPLE WOULD HAVE BEEN THE ONES TO INVENT HELICOPTERS.
LIES WITHIN THE LAND ITSELF.
SH] [SHOUTING IN SPANI
THE AGE OF GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL?