If Past Is Prologue

Jack Dempsey, chair of archaeology at the University of London, studies the disappearance of the Neanderthals and the rise of Homo sapiens. He believes their story reflects the same struggles for territory, identity, and power that continue to shape modern societies.

In Peru’s Nazca Desert, Dempsey sends an archaeological team to examine immense geoglyphs created thousands of years ago. Their work explores how resources, religion, and the growth of human consciousness became entangled with conquest and killing.

When members of the expedition are captured and held for ransom, the theories become immediate and personal. If Past Is Prologue confronts the recurring machinery of domination and asks whether understanding our earliest violence can help us escape its modern forms.