First Migration of Humans Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

First Migration of Humans - Research Paper Example The early human migrations, or the movement and expansion of the first humans, can be classified into three main categories, based on the geological period in which they migrated and moved out of the area in which they lived in and around. The species of Hominid up to the Australopithecines and the early Homo habilis have occupied and inhabited the chained mountain valleys located in the eastern portion of the African continent. Approximately, between two to one million years ago, a group of people, the Homo ergaster who may possibly have descended from the Homo habilis moved out of the mountain valleys into a vaster and larger expanse of land. After a while, they moved around again, travelling on to eastern and central Asia. Along this journey of migration, these hominid species have evolved into the next group of hominids, the Homo erectus. The Homo erectus, the next Hominid species after the Homo habilis had a more robust body than the body type of modern human. They were the firs t group of hominids to be able to create rafts in order to cross over bodies of water, the first ones to live in a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle, and they were considered as the first to be able to create and make use of fire. One hundred twenty five thousand years ago, these people migrated to the Sahara, which at that time was green. However, they died out by ninety thousand years ago. This area was later reoccupied by the Neanderthals. Around eighty thousand years ago, a new Hominid species, the Homo heidelbergensis, emerged in Africa. Just like the earlier groups of Hominid species such as the Homo habilis and Homo ergaster, it too, migrated all the way through the entire continent of Africa and then later on, also notably, they became the first to move to Europe. This group of people showed similar characteristics as the Homo erectus in that it used the same Acheulean stone tool manufacturing and industry. However, their physical features were slightly different, their bone structures were larger and heavier and their hunting strategies were more strategized and systematic compared to the Homo erectus. The entire human population all over the world who are living today all belong to the classification of Homo sapiens, the final hominid species. This group of people is the only member of the genus Homo that was able to survive and live out the tough and harsh conditions in the early past. Based on the various facts and findings gotten from the oldest skull on Earth, which were found in Africa, the earliest Homo sapiens must have originated from the great continent about two hundred thousand years ago. The Homo sapiens are set apart from the earlier groups of Hominid species by their ability to think in a higher level, communicate with other humans through the use of a more developed language and to be able to live in a more complex manner. Current discoveries and results implicate that this species have appeared for the first time in East Africa. Later on, archeological and anthropological expeditions came across numerous skulls located at several places in East Africa such as in Ethiopia and Tanzania. After eighty five thousand years since their first appearance, they have started to expand their populace to South, Southwest and central Africa. Each skull found showed an advanced transition in physical form, implying that migration has taken place. Mitochondrial DNA studies have confirmed these results. After this migration, the Homo sapiens move out of Africa, moving on to the