Michel Lorblanchet

There are seven billion humans on Earth, spread across the whole planet. Scientific evidence suggests that most of us can trace our origins to one tiny group of people who left Africa around 70,000 years ago. In this five-part series, Dr Alice Roberts follows the archaeological and genetic footprints of our ancient ancestors to find out how their journeys transformed our species into the humans we are today, and how Homo Sapiens came to dominate the planet.

The events and coincidences that led to rapid advances in human intelligence 50,000 years ago.

An interview between the painter Pierre Soulages and the prehistorian Michel Lorblanchet about cave art and the origins of art. Pierre Soulages and Michel Lorblanchet explored the most important sites of prehistoric art together. On this day in 1996, they met in the Cougnac cave (Lot region) to admire some of its wonders. Jean-Luc Bouvret's film presents the exchange of powerful and unique perspectives on the first "artists" of humankind. During the visit, a profound complementarity of perceptions emerges between the painter and the prehistorian. Where one tries to analyze and understand, the other strives to "perceive/see."