Human Migration Out of Africa
Running head: OUT OF AFRICA
Out of Africa
It has been proposed that all modern humans share a common ancestor. This ancestor has been referred to as Mitochondrial Eve. She is said to have lived close to 200,000 bce (CBS News, 2010). It is believed that her descendants migrated out of Africa and populated the rest of the continents. This was said to have occurred around 100,000 bce (Oppenheimer, 2003).
The first human migration out of Africa was said to have occurred around 125,000 bce. This migration went north through the Sahara. They were said to have settled the Levant (Oppenheimer, 2003). The Levant is the eastern coastline of the Mediterranean Sea (The Free Dictionary, 2010). Those settlers died out approximately 90,000 bce due to an ice age (Oppenheimer, 2003).
A second migration would occur just 5,000 years after the catastrophic loss of the first migration. These settlers would travel northeast across the mouth of the Red Sea. These people are said to be the direct descendants of humans outside of Africa. These people continued to migrate from 85,000 to 75,000 bce along the coast of the Indian Ocean into Indonesia and continued through Borneo and eventually into southern China.
In 74,000 bce Mt Toba in Sumatra erupted causing a 1,000 year ice age. It is believed at this time that the human population decreased to roughly 10,000. This is believed to have caused the southern migration into Australia and New Guinea that occurred between 74,000 bce and 65,000 bce. However when the climate began to grow warmer approximately 52,000 years ago people began migrating northward and into the Levant (Oppenheimer, 2003).
From 52,000 to 45,000 bce there was another smaller scale ice age. This led to the migration of humans into Europe. Between 45,000 and 40,000 bce groups began moving into Central Asia and Indo-China. Civilization expansion continued from 40,000 to 25,000 bce when people from Central Asia move north into the Arctic Circle and east towards
Out of Africa
It has been proposed that all modern humans share a common ancestor. This ancestor has been referred to as Mitochondrial Eve. She is said to have lived close to 200,000 bce (CBS News, 2010). It is believed that her descendants migrated out of Africa and populated the rest of the continents. This was said to have occurred around 100,000 bce (Oppenheimer, 2003).
The first human migration out of Africa was said to have occurred around 125,000 bce. This migration went north through the Sahara. They were said to have settled the Levant (Oppenheimer, 2003). The Levant is the eastern coastline of the Mediterranean Sea (The Free Dictionary, 2010). Those settlers died out approximately 90,000 bce due to an ice age (Oppenheimer, 2003).
A second migration would occur just 5,000 years after the catastrophic loss of the first migration. These settlers would travel northeast across the mouth of the Red Sea. These people are said to be the direct descendants of humans outside of Africa. These people continued to migrate from 85,000 to 75,000 bce along the coast of the Indian Ocean into Indonesia and continued through Borneo and eventually into southern China.
In 74,000 bce Mt Toba in Sumatra erupted causing a 1,000 year ice age. It is believed at this time that the human population decreased to roughly 10,000. This is believed to have caused the southern migration into Australia and New Guinea that occurred between 74,000 bce and 65,000 bce. However when the climate began to grow warmer approximately 52,000 years ago people began migrating northward and into the Levant (Oppenheimer, 2003).
From 52,000 to 45,000 bce there was another smaller scale ice age. This led to the migration of humans into Europe. Between 45,000 and 40,000 bce groups began moving into Central Asia and Indo-China. Civilization expansion continued from 40,000 to 25,000 bce when people from Central Asia move north into the Arctic Circle and east towards
Cited: CBS News. (2010, August 17). Age of "Mitochondrial Eve" Confirmed: 200,000 Years Old. Retrieved December 2, 2010, from www.cbsnews.com: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-20013899-501465.html Oppenheimer, S. (2003). The Journey of Mankind. Retrieved December 2, 2010, from www.bradshawfoundation.com: http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/journey/ The Free Dictionary. (2010). Levant. Retrieved December 2, 2010, from The Free Dictionary: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Levant