Out of Africa: Early migrations of ancient people

DK History!: The Past as You’ve Never Seen it Before :

From the book History!: The Past as You’ve Never Seen it Before

The first humans evolved in Africa 300,000 years ago. When the climate in the previously impassable Sahara Desert briefly turned wetter 100,000 years later, they started to explore, elsewhere.

When humans migrated out of Africd, they shared the planet with several different kinds of human-like species called hominins. The most common were the Neanderthals in Europe and western Asia and the Denisovans in East Asia. All early humans were hunter-gatherers. They moved from place to place as they searched for fresh sources of food. This lifestyle meant early humans were great travellers. Humans’ ability to travel and adapt to changing environments meant they survived while all other hominins went extinct by about 40,000 years ago. Over many generations, early humans gradually travelled further and further. By 15,000 years ago, humans had spread into every continent (except Antarctica).

Collection: prehistory - Tags: human-migration