It's Been A Long Time A Long Time, I Shouldn't Have Left You

I haven't posted in a while, not because I haven't had anything to rant about (please see friends and significant other for evidence) but because I am a lazy arse.

Anyway, The Incredible Human Journey - Out Of Africa with Dr Alice Roberts has forced me back to blog-moaning. I really excitedly watched this last night (after looking forward to it since I saw the adverts for it last week) but found myself disappointed. As with all history/anthropology/geography/archaeology television programmes at the moment (apart from Time Team) the host, Dr Alice Roberts, is beautiful, photogenic and engaging; presenting in a call and response style (that drove my history degree holding boyfriend mad) she began to explain how early human beings had travelled from the cradle of life in East Africa to populate the rest of the world, travelling through the harsh deserts of the Sahara and Arabia (which we find out weren't so desert-like for a few thousand years so those intrepid few could pass through a lush, green and fresh water filled oasis where the Sahara is now) to the Middle East, Europe, Asia, The Americas blah blah blah.

Through DNA analysis, clever boffins have worked out that if you're not African you are descended from the few Africans who made just ONE successful trip from the continent to everywhere else. Pretty cool huh? Yeah, well except if you're African. I felt SO inadequate! The whole rest of humanity come from these adventurers who got up, dusted themselves off and bloody walked across continents and shagged like mad and made new homes all over the place. But me? Pah, my lot couldn't be bothered. We walked from one coast to the other and no further. Booo! How crap.

Also crap was the buff, tattooed, motorcycle riding American archaeologist that they dug up (arf! geddit!) from somewhere to temper Dr Roberts' clear eyed, home counties charm and make archaeology seem somehow dangerous and rock and roll. Barf.

Not all bad though, I was quite touched by a discovery in Israel (I think) of 10 Stone Age graves containing skeletons buried with items, explaining this as an example of modern thinking, ritual and even evidence of a belief in some form of afterlife I got a bit teary. I wanted to be an archaeologist as a child, but gave it up when I decided that all the cool stuff had been discovered (natch!) how wrong I was. How life affirming it must be to find these things for the first time and revel in the wonder of human endeavour, exploration and discovery. Amazing. 

Anyway, to sum up Sunday night TV science programme makes me feel lectured, irritated, insecure and full of wonder in turns. Standard.