Where did early humans go?
Scientists think that Homo sapiens (modern human beings) spread out around the world after some of them left Africa about 70,000 years ago. They started to settle in Europe and Asia about 25,000 years later, but until now no one knew where or how they lived in the years between. Now researchers think they have figured out where these ancient humans had their base.
To find out, the researchers compared modern and ancient human DNA (a chemical that carries information about how a living thing grows). Ancient DNA can be found preserved in the remains of animals and plants. They found that the DNA of people who live in an area called the Persian Plateau closely matched ancient DNA from the earliest groups that left Africa. The Persian Plateau covers land that is now part of Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The researchers think that from this base, groups broke off and settled across
Asia and Europe over thousands of years.
The researchers also looked at other evidence from the past, such as fossils (preserved traces of living things), to learn more about what the environment was like back then. They found that across the Persian Plateau there would have been a variety of landscapes, including forests and grassland. The study suggests humans lived in small groups and got their food by hunting animals and gathering plants. Michael Petraglia, who worked on the study, said, “Their diet would have been composed of edible plants and small to large-sized game (animals hunted for food).”
Petraglia thinks these humans probably lived in mountainous regions during the summer but moved to lower ground for the chillier winter months. The evidence suggests they had plenty to eat from hunting gazelles, goats and wild sheep. The researchers said it is possible that humans learned how to make cave art while living in this area, as the first paintings emerged soon after they left.