Documentary films & series
Our analyses and companions to the great documentaries on prehistory and antiquity: what science actually says, with sources.
For centuries, Egyptian hieroglyphs kept their secrets. How did Champollion and the Rosetta Stone unlock one of Antiquity's greatest mysteries?
Watch the documentary →In thé frozen burial mounds of thé Altai, archaeologists found mummified Scythian warriors alongside their horses, weapons, and carpets. This docum…
Watch the documentary →Discovered in 1961 in Afghanistan, Ai Khanoum is one of thé few Greek cities excavated in Central Asia. This documentary traces thé fascinating his…
Watch the documentary →Founded by thé Ptolemies in thé 3rd century BCE, thé Library of Alexandria was thé greatest collection of knowledge in thé ancient world. This docu…
Watch the documentary →The "Sistine Chapel of prehistory" is no longer where art was invented. Patrick Boucheron of the College de France revisits Lascaux in this short ARTE documentary to question our relationship with prehistoric time and the invention of images.
Watch the documentary →In thirteen years of military campaigns, Alexander thé Gréât built one of antiquity's greatest empires. This documentary follows archaeologists and historians in thé footsteps of his conquests, from Macedonia to India.
Watch the documentary →Thonis-Heracleion, Canopus, Menouthis: three cities submerged in Abu Qir Bay have been revealing their secrets for twenty years. Colossal statues, temples and ancient shipwrecks are emerging from thé Mediterranean seabed.
Watch the documentary →Beneath thé waters of Alexandria's bay lie thé remains of thé Ptolemaic royal palace, thé lighthouse foundations, and colossal statues. Underwater archaeology has been uncovering its best-kept secrets for thirty years.
Watch the documentary →At Kromdraai in South Africa, palaeoanthropologist Jose Braga unearthed two children aged 2.5 million years side by side: one Homo, one Paranthropus. This award-winning documentary follows the scientific investigation at the heart of the Cradle of Humankind.
Watch the documentary →Hisarlik, Turkey: for 150 years, archaeologists have been excavating the site believed to be Homer's ancient Troy. Between myth and reality, science and controversy, a fascinating inquiry into Antiquity's most famous city.
Watch the documentary →Beneath the frozen steppes of Mongolia and the Altai, Scythian kurgans have kept their secrets intact for over 2,500 years: tattooed mummies, ancient carpets, sacrificed horses. A journey into these timeless burials.
Watch the documentary →For eight years, a Franco-Saudi mission excavated Hegra (Mada'in Saleh), the ancient Nabataean capital of Arabia. Over 130 monumental tombs, a sophisticated hydraulic network, and Aramaic inscriptions reveal a crossroads city at the heart of ancient caravan routes.
Watch the documentary →Beneath the sands of Saqqara, the world's oldest royal necropolis keeps delivering: 59 sarcophagi in 2020, a gold-covered 4,400-year-old mummy, the Serapeum's underground labyrinth. Imhotep built for eternity.
Watch the documentary →Through the Dame du Cavillon, the burials of Dolni Vestonice, Sungir and the Cussac cave, this ARTE documentary (2021) reveals the unsuspected complexity of Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer societies.
Watch the documentary →Paintings of extinct thylacines, mouthless Wandjina figures, 17,000-year-old Gwion Gwion: Australia holds humanity's oldest rock art tradition, spanning 50,000 years and millions of images.
Watch the documentary →Beyond its monumental palaces, Persepolis concealed an entire city: artisan quarters, cuneiform archives, royal workshops. Recent excavations reveal the true nature of the Achaemenid capital.
Watch the documentary →Thirty-seven metres underwater near Marseille, Cosquer cave hides 27,000 years of prehistoric art: horses, aurochs and gréât auks painted by Homo sapiens deeply connected to thé coastal world. This documentary explores thé maritime roots of our species, from thé shell-adorned Lady of Cavillon to thé whales of prehistoric Atlantic Europe, and asks what thé rising seas have swallowed of our past.
Watch the documentary →A team of palaeontologists ventures into the Namibian Kalahari for Mission HON (Human Origins in Namibia), searching for limestone caves sealed for 3 to 4 million years. Following in the footsteps of Little Foot and the Australopithecines of South Africa, they develop a novel calcite-detection method to unlock the buried secrets of humanity's origins.
Watch the documentary →In thé Dampier Archipelago of Western Australia, close to one million petroglyphs engraved over 50,000 years form thé world's largest ensemble of engraved rock art. This SLICE HISTOIRE documentary explores this unique Aboriginal héritage and thé threat posed by adjacent industrial installations.
Watch the documentary →In Brazil, within 25,000-year-old layers at Serra da Capivara, archaeologist Eric Boeda examines strange quartzite pebbles. Dating, microscopic analysis and experimental archaeology reveal tools that challenge the chronology of the peopling of the Americas.
Watch the documentary →In July 2001, Michel Brunet announced the discovery of a 7-million-year-old skull in Chad's Djurab desert. This documentary retraces the scientific adventure that redefined the origins of humanity.
Watch the documentary →A century after Howard Carter, specialists reopen the crates of Tutankhamun’s treasure for its transfer to the Grand Egyptian Museum at Giza. This 2018 Arte documentary reveals surprising secrets about the young pharaoh and the story of the discovery itself.
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