Screens of the Stone Age

Josh Lindal, Dr. Kimberly Plomp, and Dr. Ross Barnett
  • 5.0 (6)
  • FILM REVIEWS
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

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. 23H AGO

    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

  2. MAR 29

    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/

    1h 2m

  3. MAR 15

    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

  4. MAR 1

    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

  5. FEB 15

    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

  6. FEB 1

    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

  7. JAN 18

    Korg: 70,000 B.C. (1974)

    Today we’re reviewing Korg: 70,000 B.C. (1974), a children’s TV series about a Neanderthal family from Hanna-Barbera, creators of The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, and more. Unlike those series, however, this one is live-action! Who knew? Anyway, we talk about a lot of academic papers about Neanderthals, because nothing happens in the episode we watched. 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 Korg on the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/korg-70-000-bc-s-1ep-01-the-blind-hunter-1974-low-480x-360/Korg+70%2C000+BC+-+S1ep01The+Blind+Hunter1974+%5BLow%2C+480x360%5D.mp4 Cave lions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panthera_spelaea Caspian tigers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspian_tiger Paleoloxodon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palaeoloxodon Phylogenetic trees: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phylogenetic_tree California woodpeckers: https://avibirds.com/woodpeckers-of-california/ UK woodpeckers: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife/how-identify/identify-uk-woodpeckers Shanidar 1: https://www.sci.news/othersciences/anthropology/paleoanthropology/shanidar-1-neanderthal-05355.html Trinkaus et al. (2019) External auditory exostoses among western Eurasian late Middle and Late Pleistocene humans: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0220464 Buzi et al. (2025) The first preserved nasal cavity in the human fossil record: The Neanderthal from Altamura: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2426309122 Márquez (2008) The paranasal sinuses: The last frontier in craniofacial biology: https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.20791 The Invention of Prehistory (2024) by Stefanos Geroulanos: https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324091455

    49 min

  8. JAN 4

    The Rap Guide to Evolution (2009)

    To kick off the New Year, we’re reviewing The Rap Guide to Evolution, a music album by Baba Brinkman which is... pretty self-explanatory, really. So here’s an hour and 15 minutes of us explaining it! We get into evolutionary psychology, 2000s-era edgelord atheism, postmodernism, genital evolution, and much more! 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 The Rap Guide to Evolution on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROgR3nK6ayk&list=PLuHbMGCLLUYZ0pq_mN093hqzn_28SvpVS Ambulocetus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambulocetus Gol’din and Radović (2018) A Middle Miocene baleen whale from Bele Vode in Belgrade, Serbia: https://doi.org/10.13130/2039-4942/9751 Marković et al. (2025) First dinosaur remains from Serbia: Sauropod and theropod material from the uppermost Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Osmakovo: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106177 Recapitulation theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recapitulation_theory Out of Africa: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of_Africa Jebel Irhoud: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22335 Apidima: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1376-z Social constructivism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_constructivism Tim Minchin - Storm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhGuXCuDb1U Science communication and science denial: https://mahb.stanford.edu/blog/busting-myths-a-practical-guide-to-countering-science-denial/ Grizzly bear attacks school children in Canada: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz68x1n5qd6o Evolutionary Psychology: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_psychology Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo Pig domestication: https://www.thoughtco.com/the-domestication-of-pigs-170665 Ape testicle size: https://theconversation.com/why-did-humans-evolve-big-penises-but-small-testicles-71652 James Watson dead at 97: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/watson-james-obituary-9.6971457

    1h 15m
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 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
    130
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Joshua Lindal
  • Show Website
    Screens of the Stone Age

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