History of the World podcast

3500 - 200 BCE - In the mysterious Peruvian highlands, people were gathering from far and wide to take a psychedelic journey into a dark labyrinth to meet the ferocious looking jaguar deity of the Chavin.

1600 - 400 BCE - Just what was the Olmec fascination with rubber balls all about?  Did the Olmecs copy the Egyptians by constructing the first Mesoamerican pyramid?

1750 - 1046 BCE - Plotting the rise and fall of the Shang dynasty where archaeology meets traditional stories.  An incredible bronze age with innovative techniques and the comparison of cultural advances with the rest of the world.

7000 - 1750 BCE - What happened before the Shang dynasty?  We have the traditional stories to go by, but does it stack up against the archaeological evidence?

3400 - 2600 BCE - The Yamnaya Culture was a successful part of the wider Kurgan culture of the Pontic-Caspian Steppe. This Bronze Age culture influenced its neighbours and may have brought Bronze Age culture and modern European language to the European continent, as well as influencing the futures of Persia and India. (True first publish date - 1st May 2013)

7000 BCE onwards - Proto-Indo-Europeans are believed to have spoken a language ancestral to over four hundred languages of the modern world.  Why do we believe this when there is no firm evidence of a Proto-Indo-European language though?

2500 - 1600 BCE - The city of Mohenjo-daro has some surprisingly modern civil aspects. This episode explores the discoveries and suggest what they can tell us about the people who lived there.

3300 - 1600 BCE - A mysterious, but peaceful and successful trading civilisation.  Their undeciphered script cannot hide some amazing and unique aspects.

1190 BCE? - The Trojan War is a mythological story about a city called Troy which was attacked after a large wooden horse was pulled into the city secretly containing Greek warriors.  Is there any chance that it could be based on truth?

1600 - 1070 BCE - Mythology and archaeology are the ingredients of a good ancient period story and the Mycenaeans are no exception.  The rise and fall of the first civilised mainland Greeks.