Prehistoric Autopsy is a three part BB2 programme starting tonight, Monday 22 October at 9pm. It’s a journey into our evolutionary past, piecing together the bodies of our prehistoric family.

The Manchester Museum is pleased to hosting a BBC learning exhibition linked the series from Saturday 27 to Tuesday 30 October 2012. This follows on from the opening on 26 October of the new Ancient Worlds.

See: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00xfdmt/features/exhibition

Prehistoric Autopsy – Saturday 27 – Tuesday 30 October

To coincide with the BBC Two series Prehistoric Autopsy, BBC Learning is going on the road with a new hands-on exhibition aimed at families with children aged 7-12 years old. Visitors will come face-to-face with three of our earliest ancestors: a Neanderthal, a Homo Erectus and an Australopithecus Afarensis. The centrepiece of the exhibition will be the actual models used in the television series which have been rebuilt in extraordinary detail based on fragmented remains of ancient bones and the latest scientific research. There will also be interactive activities and games and a chance to recreate some of the shell jewellery that our ancestors may have once worn.
The exhibition will visit:

  • Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum – 22-25 October
  • Manchester Museum – 27-30 October
  • Great North Museum: Hancock
  • Newcastle – 1-4 November
  • National Museum Cardiff – 8-11 November
  • Horniman Museum, London – 14-18 November
  • National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh – 23-25 November

Prehistoric Autopsy Uncovered with Dr Isabelle De Groote – Monday 29 October, 5.30-6.30pm

Following the BBC Two series Prehistoric Autopsy, Dr Isabelle De Groote, gives us a greater insight into three of the most iconic members of our prehistoric family: A Neanderthal, a Homo erectus and an Australopithecus afarensis.

The series explores what they looked like, how they lived, how they compare with us today and how we ended up being the only human species left. Isabelle will explore these themes in this talk which accompanies a free exhibition, Prehistoric Autopsy Uncovered.

Isabelle, a paleoanthropologist, has worked at the Natural History Museum in London and is now based at Liverpool John Moores University. She was an advisor on the series.

Minimum age: 12

Book at: www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/

Posted on behalf of Anna Bunney, Curator of Public Programmes, The Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester