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In a time before cars, planes, and boats existed, have you ever wondered how and when humans first spread across the globe?
From the deserts of Africa to the icy landscapes of North America, our ancestors’ journey is one of adventure, survival, and discovery. Today, scientists continue to piece together the puzzle of human migration, using ancient artifacts, genetic data, and even footprints to track where we came from and how we reached every corner of the Earth.
Curious to learn more about the incredible path our ancestors took? Click on to explore the fascinating history of how humans became the global citizens we are today.
Homo sapiens first evolved in Africa about 300,000 years ago, making the continent the birthplace of modern humans.
The idea that modern humans evolved simultaneously in multiple regions, like Europe and Asia, was once a popular theory called the multiregional or candelabra hypothesis.
However, current research, as confirmed by paleoanthropologist Michael Petraglia, has largely dismissed this idea.
The prevailing theory suggests that Homo sapiens originated in Africa and then spread across the world, displacing or interbreeding with other hominin species along the way. As Petraglia notes, "All evidence points to the origin and movement of Homo sapiens out of Africa."
Around 200,000 years ago, Homo sapiens began their migration out of Africa, initially traveling to nearby regions, with their full global spread occurring over the next several millennia.
One of the earliest routes out of Africa may have been through the Sinai Peninsula, a now-desert region between Egypt, Jordan, and Israel that was much greener when early humans traveled through it into the eastern Mediterranean.
One theory suggests that early humans walked across a land bridge from Africa to Arabia via the Bab el-Mandeb (or Bab al-Mandab) Strait, located between the Horn of Africa and the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.
However, a 2006 study refuted the idea of a land bridge, suggesting that early humans might have paddled or floated across instead.
Over 100,000 years ago, Homo sapiens spread into Asia, with evidence suggesting they followed coastlines and then gradually moved into the interior regions.
Around 54,000 to 44,000 years ago, modern humans met and mixed with the Denisovans, another ancient human species.
As a result, researchers point out that traces of Denisovan DNA can still be found in the genes of some present-day Asian populations.
The first evidence of Homo sapiens arriving in Europe dates back to around 210,000 years ago, with fossils found in the Apidima Cave, in southern Greece.
However, if this dating is correct, Martin Richards, evolutionary geneticist at the University of Huddersfield in England, suggests it could be from an early wave of migrating Homo sapiens that either died off or retreated during a glaciation (the process of being covered by glaciers).
After this period, scientists believe Homo sapiens established a permanent presence in Europe between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago. During this time, Homo sapiens interbred with Neanderthals, another ancient human group, and eventually replaced them.
DNA evidence shows that modern humans reached Southeast Asia approximately 60,000 years ago.
At that time, much of Southeast Asia and Australia was connected by land, and humans spread across these regions.
Some 50,000 years ago, modern humans had reached New Guinea, as evidenced by archaeological findings. From there, they spread across the Pacific Islands in multiple waves of migration, adapting to each island's unique environment.
Through the study of Lapita pottery, scientists have traced early human presence in New Guinea and surrounding areas. According to UNESCO, Lapita sites mark the initial human colonization of Tonga around 2,800 years ago.
Similar sites in the Bismarck Archipelago, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, and Samoa reflect major cultural shifts in the Western Pacific around 3,000 years ago, linked to the migration of Austronesian-speaking people from Southeast Asia to Remote Oceania.
From about 1,500 years ago, Polynesians embarked on extensive voyages across the Pacific, reaching far-flung islands like Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand.
The traditional theory of human migration into North America suggests that early Homo sapiens crossed from Siberia over a land bridge called Bering (or Beringia) about 13,000 years ago.
Nomadic native groups from Siberia, like the Chukchi (pictured), are the closest living connection to early settlers in the region. The Chukchi are also considered the closest Asian ancestors of Indigenous peoples in the Americas.
Archaeologists have found evidence of pre-Clovis settlements and even older human footprints in New Mexico, suggesting the first North Americans arrived via this route—and possibly the Pacific coast—at least 23,000 years ago.
This predates the Clovis people, who are believed to have populated the Americas between 10,000 and 9,000 BCE.
Homo sapiens reached South America by around 15,000 years ago, with archaeological sites like Monte Verde in Chile providing proof of human settlement from around 14,550 years ago.
While the timeline of early human arrival in South America is debated, evidence from multiple sites supports the theory that Homo sapiens arrived much earlier than previously thought.
The Uros are one of Peru's oldest indigenous groups, with roots dating back about 3,700 years, when the central Andes were first settled.
According to geneticist José Raúl Sandoval, who studied their DNA, "the vast majority of South American natives are genetically related, since they derive from the same group of ancestors that initially arrived on the continent," regardless of their arrival route.
Humans reached Antarctica later than any other continent. While American John Davis' 1821 landing is the first officially recorded, there are suggestions of earlier visits.
Even the claim that Norwegians Henrik Bull and Carsten Borchgrevink (pictured) were the first to set foot there in the late 1800s is disputed.
Some studies suggest that the Māori people from New Zealand may have sailed to Antarctica as early as the 7th century, although this idea is not widely accepted by historians.
Sources: (Live Science) (Britannica) (UNESCO) (Big Think)
When did humans reach each continent?
Theories about how Homo sapiens spread across the world have evolved over the years
LIFESTYLE Archaeology
In a time before cars, planes, and boats existed, have you ever wondered how and when humans first spread across the globe?
From the deserts of Africa to the icy landscapes of North America, our ancestors’ journey is one of adventure, survival, and discovery. Today, scientists continue to piece together the puzzle of human migration, using ancient artifacts, genetic data, and even footprints to track where we came from and how we reached every corner of the Earth.
Curious to learn more about the incredible path our ancestors took? Click on to explore the fascinating history of how humans became the global citizens we are today.