Screens of the Stone Age

Josh Lindal, Dr. Kimberly Plomp, and Dr. Ross Barnett
  • 5.0 (2)
  • FILM REVIEWS
  • UPDATED FORTNIGHTLY

The podcast where scientists review movies about prehistoric people! From The Flintstones to The Croods, from Iceman to Encino Man, from Year One to One Million Years BC, we dig into popular movies about the ancient past and sift the facts from the fiction. Hosts with expertise in archaeology, paleoanthropology, human evolution, paleontology, and paleogenetics take you behind the scenes to learn the truth about cave people like Neanderthals and Cro Magnons, and Pleistocene Megafauna like woolly mammoths and sabretooth cats. Plus, history movies, science fiction, pseudoarchaeology, and dinosaurs!

  1. 17 HRS AGO

    Caveman AI Slop

    Today we’re yelling at all you young whippersnappers to get off our lawn! That’s right, your favourite elder millennial academics are reviewing AI generated caveman slop. It’s a world of polydactyl chad-panzees and GIGO-chads, when men were apes and women were dirty supermodels. Are we witnessing the extinction of human creativity, or are we just stuck in the stone age and refusing to evolve? Get in touch with us! Bluesky: @sotsapodcast.bsky.social Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sotsa/ Website: https://screensofthestoneage.com Email: screensofthestoneage@gmail.com ArchPodNet: APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet Merch Store: https://archpodnet.com/shop In this episode: You can see the complete list of images and videos we reviewed in this episode in this document: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U5q3NPTsoZxdTIjlesyLd39PhDNxQcIL/view?usp=sharing Neanderthal skull characteristics: https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/3-s2.0-B9780123786326000173-f17-26-9780123786326.jpg Magnani and Clindaniel (2025) Artificial Intelligence and the Interpretation of the Past: https://www.doi.org/10.1017/aap.2025.10110 Why does AI screw up at hands and fingers? https://www.britannica.com/topic/Why-does-AI-art-screw-up-hands-and-fingers-2230501 People prefer human generated content over AI: https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/people-still-largely-prefer-humans-create-content-not-ai George Jetson and Rosie the robot: https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/293/343/488/042/214/original/d947ba2b674951c1.webp Microsoft’s “Tay” chatbot became a Nazi in 16 hours: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tay_(chatbot) "Walk My Walk" by Breaking Rust topped the Billboard Country Digital Song Sales chart in 2025: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_Rust Neanderthal fingerprint: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0g9jv707yo Neanderthal high-pitched voices: https://www.discovermagazine.com/if-neanderthals-were-able-to-speak-they-may-have-had-high-pitched-voices-46297 Neanderthals boiled water with stones: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/neanderthals-had-houses-hot-water-180956438/ Neanderthals distilled birch tar: https://www.science.org/content/article/scientists-uncover-hearth-neanderthals-may-have-used-make-tar Cue Scratch.WAV by Racche - License: Attribution 3.0: https://freesound.org/s/160907/

    1hr 2min

  2. 26 APR

    Don Verdean (2015) w/ Dr. Andrew Kinkella

    Today we’re reviewing Don Verdean (2015), the story of a washed-up Biblical archaeologist who, under pressure from his financial backers, begins to fake his discoveries. This movie is rife with pseudoarchaeological references, so we’ve invited Dr. Andrew Kinkella back to help us break it down. As a bonus, he uses his film degree to explain why, despite being hilarious, this movie is actually terrible. Dr. Andrew Kinkella’s links: Kinkella Teaches Archaeology: https://www.youtube.com/@KinkellaTeachesArchaeology The Pseudo-Archaeology Podcast: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/pseudo CRM Archaeology Podcast: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/crmarchpodcast Get in touch with us! Bluesky: @sotsapodcast.bsky.social Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sotsa/ Website: https://screensofthestoneage.com Email: screensofthestoneage@gmail.com ArchPodNet: APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet Merch Store: https://archpodnet.com/shop In this episode: The Frontonasal Suture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontonasal_suture Is carbon dating fake? Pseudo-Archaeology 180: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/pseudo/180 Ark of the Covenant in Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Our_Lady_Mary_of_Zion#Ark_of_the_Covenant The Oak Island Mystery: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Island_mystery The Kensington Runestone: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kensington_Runestone Moundbuilder Myths and Viking Runestones – Great Plains Archaeology Podcast 36: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/great-plains-archaeology/36 Holy Grail in America (2009): https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/223652-holy-grail-in-america Is There Archaeological Evidence That The Knights Templar Came To America? Mysteries Unearthed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpbBxUrq230 Genesis 19: Sodom and Gomorroah Destroyed: https://www.bible.com/bible/111/GEN.19.NIV 1 Samuel 17: David and Goliath: https://www.bible.com/bible/111/1SA.17.NIV Surovell et al. (2026) A mid-Holocene age for Monte Verde challenges the timeline of human colonization of South America: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adw9217 Dog digs up possible link to notorious 19th-century Devon murder case: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/mar/20/dog-19th-century-devon-murder-case-discovery Under the Banner of Heaven (2022): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1998372/ Johnny Jerusalem’s sarcophagus in a Utah dump: https://www.reddit.com/r/whatisthisthing/comments/8lclrc/friend_found_this_in_a_dump_yardin_utah_btw/

    1hr 10min

  3. 12 APR

    Luggage of the Gods

    Luggage of the Gods (1983) is the surprisingly unproblematic story of a relict tribe of cave people living in the uncharted central part of America who are thrust into contact with the outside world when an airliner is forced to dump its passengers’ luggage while flying overhead. This is a low budget ‘80s caveman movie, so you know what that means: we’re playing Caveman Movie Bingo! Get in touch with us! Bluesky: @sotsapodcast.bsky.social Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sotsa/ Website: https://screensofthestoneage.com Email: screensofthestoneage@gmail.com ArchPodNet: APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet Merch Store: https://archpodnet.com/shop In this episode: Watch Luggage of the Gods (1983) on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqujHn8_u8M Play Caveman Movie Bingo: https://bingobaker.com/#681e1d01d32b436e Oryctolagus cuniculus, the domestic rabbit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_rabbit Piebald: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piebald Vic Reeves singing in the style of a club singer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2prE-DUyESY Urki from Far Cry: Primal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HkrLuV6_Rs The Gods Must be Crazy (1980): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080801/ Cargo Cults: https://www.anthroencyclopedia.com/entry/cargo-cults QAnon as a New Religious Movement: https://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/what-the-study-of-new-religious-movements-can-tell-us-about-qanon/

    49 min

  4. 29 MAR

    Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)

    Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010) is a surreal documentary by Werner Hertzog offering viewers an unprecedented glimpse of Europe’s oldest Palaeolithic art inside France’s Chauvet Cave. As we step into the cave, we cross a threshold between present and past, waking and dreaming, fact and truth... sanity and insanity... A place where juggling archaeologists dream of lions, perfumers find caves by smell, and nuclear crocodiles draw closer every year. Get in touch with us! Bluesky: @sotsapodcast.bsky.social Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sotsa/ Website: https://screensofthestoneage.com Email: screensofthestoneage@gmail.com ArchPodNet: APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet Merch Store: https://archpodnet.com/shop In this episode: Watch Cave of Forgotten Dreams: https://watchdocumentaries.com/cave-of-forgotten-dreams/ Rock art from at least 67,800 years ago in Sulawesi: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09968-y Oldest cave art found in Sulawesi: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abd4648 The timing and spatiotemporal patterning of Neanderthal disappearance: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13621 Neanderthal hashtag: https://theconversation.com/is-that-rock-hashtag-really-the-first-evidence-of-neanderthal-art-31238 Mask of La Roche Cotard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mask_of_la_Roche-Cotard Majkić et al. (2017) Sequential Incisions on a Cave Bear Bone from the Middle Paleolithic of Pešturina Cave, Serbia: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-017-9331-5 Life Drawing and the Chauvet Lions: https://doi.org/10.4000/palethnologie.2677 The Crocodile Farm: https://www.lafermeauxcrocodiles.com/ Viminacium Archaeological Park: http://viminacium.org.rs/en/ Our review of The Lost City (2022): https://screensofthestoneage.com/podcast/episode-64-the-lost-city-2022/ Kathy Reichs’ Temperance Brennan Series: https://www.goodreads.com/series/43556-temperance-brennan Hertzog explains “ecstatic truth” vs. “accountant’s truth”: https://www.indiewire.com/news/general/werner-herzog-fesses-up-to-the-fake-mutated-albino-crocodiles-in-cave-of-forgotten-dreams-118193/ Azéma and Rivère (2012) Animation in Paleolithic Art: https://doi.org/10.4000/palethnologie.2094 Neanderthal perfume: https://neandertal.eu/

    1hr 2min

  5. 15 MAR

    Stone Age Advertising (Part 2)

    We’re back with more caveman TV commercials! From deodorant to veganism to car insurance, it seems like prehistoric people have been exploited to sell everything. All this commercialism seems to be getting to us and this episode kinda devolves into an anti-capitalist rant. So go plant a garden, buy local, and eat the rich! (This is Part Two of a two-part episode) Get in touch with us! Bluesky: @sotsapodcast.bsky.social Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sotsa/ Website: https://screensofthestoneage.com Email: screensofthestoneage@gmail.com ArchPodNet: APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet Merch Store: https://archpodnet.com/shop In this episode: Watch our Caveman Advertisements playlist on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzzOAyef3Dypl9g6GIFBv1_oLylmjpsku&si=ZNJvJD74X2jc-IYS The Invention of Prehistory (2023) by Stefanos Geroulanos: https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324091455 Vanished (2025) by Sadiah Qureshi: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/309254/vanished-by-qureshi-sadiah/9780241352106 Electric Pow Wow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpkUISUx3Low Erich von Däniken dead at 90: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/obituaries/erich-von-daniken-dead.html The Fortean Times: https://subscribe.forteantimes.com/ How to transition to reduced-meat diets: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137208 Brassica flavour and genetics: https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2017.1353478 James Van Der Beek's Widow Kimberly and Their 6 Kids Are 'Out of Funds' After His Death, 'Facing Uncertain Future': https://people.com/james-van-der-beeks-widow-and-their-6-kids-are-out-of-funds-after-his-death-11904875

    50 min

  6. 1 MAR

    Stone Age Advertising (Part 1)

    Today we’re exploring the crazy world of marketing – caveman style! We’re reviewing a compilation of television commercials featuring prehistoric people. McDonald’s, Budweiser, Doritos—if it’s modern and convenient, you can bet a caveman has tried to sell it. Why? I’m not sure, but I’m kinda craving some cheese products for some reason. (This is Part One of a two-part episode) Get in touch with us! Bluesky: @sotsapodcast.bsky.social Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sotsa/ Website: https://screensofthestoneage.com Email: screensofthestoneage@gmail.com ArchPodNet: APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet Merch Store: https://archpodnet.com/shop In this episode: Watch our Caveman Advertisements playlist on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzzOAyef3Dypl9g6GIFBv1_oLylmjpsku&si=ZNJvJD74X2jc-IYS Font-de-Gaume: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Font-de-Gaume Cotte de St. Brelade “mammoth drive”: https://eameigs.substack.com/p/revisiting-the-jersey-mammoth-drive Zdeněk Burian Palaeoart: https://www.proistoria.org/paleolithic/upper-paleolithic/upper-paleolithic-by-zdenek-burian/ The Invention of Prehistory (2023) by Stefanos Geroulanos: https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324091455 Interbreeding between archaic and modern humans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interbreeding_between_archaic_and_modern_humans Canadian dairy farmers react to changing market trends: https://canadiangrocer.com/dairy-farmers-pulls-print-ad-following-complaints

    53 min

  7. 15 FEB

    Boonie Bears: Blast into the Past (2019)

    Today we’re exploring the world of the Boonie Bears, China’s biggest animation brand. In the sixth feature film, the bears Blast into the Past—30 thousand years, to be exact, to a time when dinosaur skeletons dotted the landscape and humans were at war with wolves... and giants pandas took their name literally, and rainbow terror birds defied the physics of flight, and cavemen punched lava bombs out of the air with their bare hands! Get in touch with us! Bluesky: @sotsapodcast.bsky.social Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sotsa/ Website: https://screensofthestoneage.com Email: screensofthestoneage@gmail.com ArchPodNet: APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet Merch Store: https://archpodnet.com/shop In this episode: Watch Boonie Bears: Blast into the Past on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vwcaf6aj90 Eucladoceros (the bush-antlered deer): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucladoceros Homotherium: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homotherium Megacerops... or Brontops, or Brontotherium: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megacerops Phorusracids (terror birds): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phorusrhacidae Kumar et al. (2017) The evolutionary history of bears is characterized by gene flow across species: https://doi.org/10.1038/srep46487 Wu et al. (2022) High-precision U-series dating of the late Pleistocene – early Holocene rock paintings at Tiger Leaping Gorge, Jinsha River valley, southwestern China: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2021.105535 Fu et al. (2025) Denisovan mitochondrial DNA from dental calculus of the >146,000-year-old Harbin cranium: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2025.05.040 Callaway (2021) Oldest DNA from a Homo sapiens reveals surprisingly recent Neanderthal ancestry: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-00916-0

    52 min

  8. 1 FEB

    Cavegirl (1985)

    Today we’re reviewing Cavegirl (1985), a movie which Wikipedia misleadingly describes as a “sex comedy”. It tells the story of a teenage nerd (i.e., incel) who is accidentally thrown back in time due to some magic crystal/military helicopter shenanigans and meets a charming manic pixie cavegirl who nonetheless fails to instill in him any growth or character development whatsoever. Get in touch with us! Bluesky: @sotsapodcast.bsky.social Facebook: @SotSAPodcast Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/sotsa/ Website: https://screensofthestoneage.com Email: screensofthestoneage@gmail.com ArchPodNet: APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnet APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet Merch Store: https://archpodnet.com/shop In this episode: Watch Cavegirl (1985) on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3PZdKCzFDc Watch Cavegirl: A Second Journey Back in Time (2013): https://vimeo.com/193203934 Play Caveman Movie Bingo: https://bingobaker.com#681e1d01d32b436e Altamira cave paintings: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_Altamira Homo erectus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_erectus Shirley Temple – Animal Crackers in my Soup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNwFXLcrsbc What is a “dude ranch”? https://www.clazyu.com/blog/working-dude-ranch/what-is-a-dude-ranch-a-brief-history/ Stacy Q – Two of Hearts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfBdGT4dn4E Michelle Bauer in Dinosaur Island (1994): https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000292/mediaviewer/rm3165827072/?ref_=nm_ov_ph

    46 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

The podcast where scientists review movies about prehistoric people! From The Flintstones to The Croods, from Iceman to Encino Man, from Year One to One Million Years BC, we dig into popular movies about the ancient past and sift the facts from the fiction. Hosts with expertise in archaeology, paleoanthropology, human evolution, paleontology, and paleogenetics take you behind the scenes to learn the truth about cave people like Neanderthals and Cro Magnons, and Pleistocene Megafauna like woolly mammoths and sabretooth cats. Plus, history movies, science fiction, pseudoarchaeology, and dinosaurs!

Information

  • Creator
    Josh Lindal, Dr. Kimberly Plomp, and Dr. Ross Barnett
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    132
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Joshua Lindal
  • Show Website
    Screens of the Stone Age

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