What We Did Before | Human Survival and Ancient Inventions

OG Podcasts - Pre Modern Life and Human History
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Before modern inventions and conveniences, humans had ingenious ways of solving problems. So how exactly did humans survive before fridges, without clothes or before surnames were invented? Find out the answers to these questions and more, right here. Hosted by Ollie Guillou.

  1. 4 DAYS AGO

    Before Burial: When Bronze Age Homes Were FULL of Human Bones

    💬 When Barry Molloy’s team started digging up an ancient Bronze Age settlement - they never expected to uncover quite so many human bones. And they weren’t found in one place - they were everywhere. Archaeologists uncovered over 100 fortified Late Bronze Age sites, and their findings tell us something unusual about the way we dealt with the dead throughout history. At this time in history - there really was no single way people would bury their dead. Sometimes bodies would be pulled apart, and a loved one’s bones would be brought into the home. ⚡In this episode we find out why ancient people collected the bones of their dead, what they might have been doing with them and whether these practices helped them deal with the grief of loss better. Don't miss an episode - subscribe now: https://podfollow.com/what-we-did-before  🎧 Stay tuned to learn about: ➡ How Barry found bones everywhere in a Bronze Age megafort in Europe  ➡ The many ways the dead were treated in history - from inhumation to excarnation ➡ Why some skulls seem to have been placed on pikes around borders to the site ➡ How the bones of family members may have been chewed by pets ➡ Why collecting bones could be about respecting and disrespecting the dead  ➡ How Bronze Age people would collect the bones of ancient heroes Read Barry’s paper here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00934690.2026.2641968#abstract  About the podcast: What We Did Before is a podcast exploring the history of everyday life, from how we kept food fresh before fridges, to how we survived without shoes and what came before AI. About your hosts: Ollie Guillou is an award-winning podcast producer and broadcaster. He's co-founder of OG Podcasts, working with the likes of New Scientist, Dr Karan and Lessons From Our Mothers. Connect with Ollie: Website: www.ogpodcasts.co.uk  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ollie-guillou  Email: hello@ogpodcasts.co.uk Image Credits: Interfase, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Jan Kameníček, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    44 min

  2. 4 MAY

    Britain’s Forgotten Deportees: Families Sent to Nazi Camps

    ⚡ In 1942, during the height of World War 2, Hitler ordered the deportation of more than a thousand islanders from Guernsey. In retaliation against the Allied Forces, innocent men, women and children were forced to leave their island homes - set on a path to Biberach internment camp. 💡 Jill Chubb was just 3 years old when she set sail, but her memories are vivid and clear. And in this special podcast series, her grandson, former BBC Guernsey presenter Ollie Guillou, charts her story - joined by three other deportees and two prominent historians. With special thanks to: Jill Chubb, Chair of the Guernsey Deportees Association Ralph Godwin, Deportee Janet de Santos, Deportee Jill Oliver, Deportee Alan Chubb, Secretary of the Guernsey Deportees Association Dr Gilly Carr, University of Cambridge Matthew Lucas, War Historian About the podcast: What We Did Before is a podcast exploring the history of everyday life, from how we kept food fresh before fridges, to how we survived without shoes and what came before AI. About your host: Ollie Guillou is an award-winning podcast producer and broadcaster. He's co-founder of OG Podcasts, working with the likes of New Scientist, Dr Karan and Lessons From Our Mothers. Connect with Ollie: Website: www.ogpodcasts.co.uk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ollie-guillou Email: hello@ogpodcasts.co.uk Photo by Enrapture Captivating Media on Unsplash David.Monniaux, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-223-0042-13 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en, via Wikimedia Commons Emdx, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Andrew Milligan sumo, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons User:Staberinde, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en, via Wikimedia Commons Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-1987-1210-502 / Hoffmann, Heinrich / CC-BY-SA 3.0 Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-218-0504-36 / Dieck / CC-BY-SA 3.0 Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1971-042-08 / CC-BY-SA 3.0 FOTO:FORTEPAN / Konok Tamás id, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2018, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/deed.en, via Wikimedia Commons EC-JRC (ECHO), CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Bob Embleton, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Andrew Milligan sumo, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2018, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/deed.en, via Wikimedia Commons Bundesarchiv, Bild 101II-MW-5152-14A / Järisch / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en, via Wikimedia Commons Stadtbiberach, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Rigmor Dahl Delphin, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Christian Michelides, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    2h 2m

  3. 27 APR

    Before Neanderthals Went Extinct: We Shaped Our Culture Together

    💬 A new study is rewriting our understanding of Neanderthals and human evolution. It seems ancient Homo sapiens didn't just coexist with them - but they shared ideas, cultures and inventions. ⚡ In this episode we challenge long held beliefs about human origins - exploring what the world was like before we were the last species of human left. A time when Neanderthals and Denisovans lived among us. We highlight one particular finding in Tinshemet Cave in Israel, where shared burial practices, stone tools and signs of symbolic behaviour have been found. Did early humans interact way more than we first realised? Don't miss an episode - subscribe now: https://podfollow.com/what-we-did-before  🎧 Stay tuned to learn about: ➡ What our shared Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA tells us ➡ Surprising findings about how we interbred with Neanderthals ➡ How Neanderthals buried their dead ➡ The real reason the Neanderthals died out ➡ New hints that Neanderthals could speak About the podcast: What We Did Before is a podcast exploring the history of everyday life, from how we kept food fresh before fridges, to how we survived without shoes and what came before AI. About your hosts: Ollie Guillou is an award-winning podcast producer and broadcaster. He's co-founder of OG Podcasts, working with the likes of New Scientist, Dr Karan and Lessons From Our Mothers. Matt Pyle is a lead software developer and tech enthusiast with a keen interest in media, and a love for interesting conversation and learning. Connect with Ollie: Website: www.ogpodcasts.co.uk  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ollie-guillou  Email: hello@ogpodcasts.co.uk Image credits: Neanderthal-Museum, Mettmann, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Fährtenleser, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Fu et al. (2025), CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    35 min

  4. 20 APR

    Before Agriculture: Was It Humanity’s Biggest Mistake?

    💬 Did agriculture make life as a human worse? Many historians widely agree the answer is yes! Despite giving us an abundance of food and an ability to spread globally, there are many reasons it may have been a catastrophe for our species. ⚡ In this episode we explore 6 key arguements that outline exactly why agriculture may have created a world that has made inidividual lives more difficult. From creating vast social and economic inequalities, to increasing the spread of diseases - we examine some of the biggest arguments in favour of this idea. We also highlight a multitude of very important caveats. The question is, were early human hunter-gatherers really better off than we are in the modern age? Or are we just romanticising the past? Don't miss an episode - subscribe now: https://podfollow.com/what-we-did-before  🎧 Stay tuned to learn about: ➡ How grain enabled the large-scale hoarding of wealth that led to vast inequality ➡ Why hunter-gatherers may have worked LESS than we do now ➡ How early human mental health (and sleep quality) was probably better ➡ How settled living has allowed diseases to spread more rapidly ➡ What the climate might have looked like without agriculture taking hold About the podcast: What We Did Before is a podcast exploring the history of everyday life, from how we kept food fresh before fridges, to how we survived without shoes and what came before AI. About your hosts: Ollie Guillou is an award-winning podcast producer and broadcaster. He's co-founder of OG Podcasts, working with the likes of New Scientist, Dr Karan and Lessons From Our Mothers. Matt Pyle is a lead software developer and tech enthusiast with a keen interest in media, and a love for interesting conversation and learning. Connect with Ollie: Website: www.ogpodcasts.co.uk  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ollie-guillou

    58 min

  5. 13 APR

    Before Borders: How Migration Made Us Human

    💬 Before borders, passports and immigration systems - early humans moved freely around the world. Throughout history our yearning to migrate and explore the planet shaped our very evolution as a species and built civilisation as we know it. ⚡So what was it really like for our early ancestors, first crossing continents into unknown landscapes? What made them take the risk of venturing beyond the horizon? In this episode migration historian Markus Reisle explores a time before borders - which was much more recent than you might think - and how movement is what made our species so dominant. Don't miss an episode - subscribe now: https://podfollow.com/what-we-did-before  🎧 Stay tuned to learn about: ➡ How many borders we know today were only drawn in the last 100 years ➡ How migrants were really accepted into communities in ancient times ➡ What it might have been like for early humans, first stepping foot into alien landscapes ➡ How migration - and movement - is locked up in our very DNA ➡ Why migrants built great cathedrals and made the expansion of civilisations possible About the podcast: What We Did Before is a podcast exploring the history of everyday life, from how we kept food fresh before fridges, to how we survived without shoes and what came before AI. About your host: Ollie Guillou is an award-winning podcast producer and broadcaster. He's co-founder of OG Podcasts, working with the likes of New Scientist, Dr Karan and Lessons From Our Mothers. Connect with Ollie: Website: www.ogpodcasts.co.uk  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ollie-guillou  Email: hello@ogpodcasts.co.uk

    31 min

  6. 6 APR

    Before Money: When Humans Paid With Knives and Giant Stones

    💰 Money is one of those things that feels like it's always existed - like gravity, or disappointing weather on a bank holiday. But for most of human history, there were no coins, no notes, and no bank accounts. So how did people actually buy things? Or did they even buy things at all? ⚡ From giant stone discs that nobody moved, to cocoa beans you could eat (or counterfeit with dirt), to handwritten scraps of paper worth a year's wages - the history of money is really the history of trust. And humans have trusted some very strange things. 💰 In this episode, we trace the weird and wonderful journey from barter to Bitcoin, and ask whether our modern money is actually the strangest version yet. Don't miss an episode - subscribe now: https://podfollow.com/what-we-did-before 🎧 Stay tuned to learn about: ➡ Why barter was far more annoying than your school textbook made it sound ➡ The Pacific island where a stone at the bottom of the ocean still counted as money ➡ How the Aztecs used chocolate as currency - and how people counterfeited it ➡ Ancient Chinese coins shaped like tiny knives ➡ The handwritten IOUs that launched the Bank of England - and the hundreds executed for forging them ➡ How burning old wooden money accidentally destroyed the Palace of Westminster ➡ Why the ridges on your coins exist because of medieval scammersAbout the podcast:What We Did Before is a podcast exploring the history of everyday life, from how we kept food fresh before fridges, to how we survived without shoes and what came before AI.About your hosts:Ollie Guillou is an award-winning podcast producer and broadcaster. He's co-founder of OG Podcasts, working with the likes of New Scientist, Dr Karan and Lessons From Our Mothers.Matt Pyle is a lead software developer and tech enthusiast with a keen interest in media, and a love for interesting conversation and learning.Connect with Ollie:Website: www.ogpodcasts.co.uk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ollie-guillou Email: hello@ogpodcasts.co.uk Image credits: Knife Money image by PENG Yanan, 2006: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yan_State_Coins.jpg 50 Euro Bill Watermark image by Amin, 2018: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:50_Euro_bill_watermark.jpg Cowry Money image by Bin im Garten, 2011: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Cowry_money#/media/File:Cowry_money_Monetaria_annulus_1.JPG

    51 min

  7. 30 MAR

    Before Modern Board Games: What Did Humans Play 6,000 Years Ago? | Walter Crist

    💬 Before the likes of Monopoly and Chess, our ancient ancestors played many, unique board games. It’s a pastime that has endured for 9,000 years - maybe longer! ⚡ And the rules to one mysterious ancient game have just been cracked - using artificial intelligence. Walter Crist is an expert in the archaeology and history of board games, and recently used AI to uncover the rules of a 2,000 year-old game from the late Roman Empire. In this episode he tells us all about this incredible discovery, while exploring the full history of our ancient obsession with board games. What games have we played through the ages - and why is it such a human thing to do? Don't miss an episode - subscribe now: https://podfollow.com/what-we-did-before  🎧 Stay tuned to learn about: ➡ How a 6,000 year-old gaming set was found buried in a tomb in Egypt ➡ The cultural and religious importance of games through history ➡ The earliest gaming pieces people used - and why dice are so ancient ➡ What games like Senet or Hounds and Jackals are like to play in the modern age ➡ Exactly how Walter used AI to crack the mystery of this ancient Roman game About the podcast: What We Did Before is a podcast exploring the history of everyday life, from how we kept food fresh before fridges, to how we survived without shoes and what came before AI. About your host: Ollie Guillou is an award-winning podcast producer and broadcaster. He's co-founder of OG Podcasts, working with the likes of New Scientist, Dr Karan and Lessons From Our Mothers. Connect with Ollie: Website: www.ogpodcasts.co.uk  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ollie-guillou  Email: hello@ogpodcasts.co.uk Image Attributions: Senet & 20 Twenty Squares board - Rogers Fund, 1916, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Senet game board - Enoch Leung, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    1hr 2min

  8. 23 MAR

    Before Organisations: From Stone Age Tribes to a Fragmented World | Peter Garrett

    💬 Our Stone Age ancestors lived for hundreds of thousands of years without organisations. Just small tribes of 20-40 people. But now organisations run every part of our world, from the clothes we wear to the water we drink.  ⚡ So have we lost something by allowing faceless organisations to take over? Peter Garrett, author of A New Kind of Dialogue, argues organisations have created a fragmented experience of life, shifting what it means to be human.  In this episode we examine daily life as a Stone Age person, organised through families, tribes, kinship and trust. And we compare it with the modern day - the “age of organisations” - where artificial entities make all the decisions, and life has grown more complex than ever. Don't miss an episode - subscribe now: https://podfollow.com/what-we-did-before  🎧 Stay tuned to learn about: ➡ How Peter’s first-hand experience growing up in the African bush has shaped his views ➡ How daily life might have looked for a Stone Age person ➡ Why organisations have even reshaped our relationship with time itself ➡ Peter’s theory of “fragmentation” - and what systems are robbing from us ➡ Why organisations cause more problems than they solve About the podcast: What We Did Before is a podcast exploring the history of everyday life, from how we kept food fresh before fridges, to how we survived without shoes and what came before AI. About your host: Ollie Guillou is an award-winning podcast producer and broadcaster. He's co-founder of OG Podcasts, working with the likes of New Scientist, Dr Karan and Lessons From Our Mothers. Connect with Ollie: Website: www.ogpodcasts.co.uk  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ollie-guillou  Email: hello@ogpodcasts.co.uk

    1hr 12min
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Before modern inventions and conveniences, humans had ingenious ways of solving problems. So how exactly did humans survive before fridges, without clothes or before surnames were invented? Find out the answers to these questions and more, right here. Hosted by Ollie Guillou.

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