How It Works - UK (2020-02)

064 HowIt Works http://www.howitworksdaily.com

HISTORY

The global spread of

humans was gradual

Human

timeline

Homo sapiens

Homo neanderthalensis

Homo erectus

The great

human

migration
Follow the path of our ancestors
as they populated the world

40,000

200,000

100,000

70,000

25,000

50,000

1,500

OutofAfrica

Asconditionsgotdramatically

colder,it becamemoredifficultto

livein thearea,andthepopulation

begantospreadnorth.Reaching

fertileland,someofthesepeople

becametheworld’sfirstfarmers.

Inlanddiversion

Migrationawayfromthetropicstook

humanstoCentralAsia.Thisarea

suitedhuntersofmegafauna,such

aswoollymammoths,beforethey

becameextinct.Fromhere,different

migrationpatternssawthespecies

splitin a majorspread,headingfor

differentreachesoftheglobe.

A flint arrowhead found in a woolly

mammoth bone is evidence of

humans’ role in their hunting

© Science Photo Library

Ancientartwork

Remnantsofourancestors’artwork

canportrayaspectsoftheir

lifestyles,showingsignsofhumans

beginningtofocusonthoughts

beyondsurvival.Thefamousanimal

artworkin Lascaux,France,marks

thebeginningoffigurativeart.

Prehistoricartwascreatedusing

paintscomprisedofochre,charcoal,

crushedsealboneandrockchips.

Estimated to be 20,000

years old, cave paintings in

Lascaux mainly depict large

local animals

Source: Wiki/Prof saxx

Sailingtheseas

CrossingtheoceanfromAsiatoAustralia,humansdiscovereda largenew

continent.It is unclearwhetherhumanscrossedin oneplannedwaveor

whethermultipletripsweremadeovertime,butthejourneyis thoughtto

havebeenplannedin ordertoresultin enoughpeopleontheislandtokeepa

newpopulationgoing.Whiletheareaofoceanseparatingthelandswas

shorterwhenthismigrationoccurred,thejourneywouldstillhavecomeasa

challenge,navigatinglargestretchesofwaterontheirhandmadeboats.

After sea levels rose,

humans living in

Australia evolved and

adapted to the unique

land and ecosystem © Getty

Lucy’slocation

Remainsofa 3.2-million-year-old

humanancestorspecieswas

discoveredin Hadar,Ethiopiain

1974.Named‘Lucy’,herskeleton

wasthefirstAustralopithecus

afarensisskeletoneverfound.

Recreationsofwhatshewould

havelookedlike– basedonher

skullandothersnearby– show

hertohavehada lowforehead,

widecheekbonesanda brain

thesizeofa chimpanzee’s.

300,000-200,000yearsago

Homo sapiens (modern

humans) appeared in Africa.

Around70,000yearsago

Prior to migration, major climatic shifts

may have caused the human population

to drop, temporarily nearing extinction.

65,000-35,000yearsago

Humans reached the

Australian continent,

crossing the water in canoes.

70,000-100,000yearsago

Modern humans began to

leave A frica.