Getting “Out of Africa”: Sea Crossings, Land Crossings and Culture in the Hominin Migrations
نویسنده
چکیده
Palaeoanthropologists and archaeologists have advanced a wide range of explanatory narratives for the various movements of Homo erectus/Homo ergaster, and the first modern Homo sapiens, “Out of Africa”—or even back again. The application of Occam’s razor—a parsimonious approach to causes—gives a more cautious approach. There is nothing in the available evidence that would require the ability for a human water crossing from Africa before the later Pleistocene, whether across the Strait of Gibraltar, the Sicilian Channel or the southern Red Sea (Bab el-Mandab). A parsimonious narrative is consistent with movements across the Sinai peninsula. The continuous arid zone from northern Africa to western Asia allowed both occupation and transit during wet phases of the Pleistocene; there is no requirement for a “sponge” model of absorption followed by expulsion of human groups. The Nile Valley as a possible transit route from East Africa has a geological chronology that could fit well much current evidence for the timing of human migration. The limited spatial and temporal opportunities for movements “Out of Africa,” or back again, also puts particular difficulties in the way of the gene flow required for the multiregional hypothesis of the development of modern Homo sapiens.
منابع مشابه
Very rapid long-distance sea crossing by a migratory bird
Landbirds undertaking within-continent migrations have the possibility to stop en route, but most long-distance migrants must also undertake large non-stop sea crossings, the length of which can vary greatly. For shorebirds migrating from Iceland to West Africa, the shortest route would involve one of the longest continuous sea crossings while alternative, mostly overland, routes are available....
متن کاملReliability Analysis of Switches and Crossings – A Case Study in Swedish Railway
It is reported that switches and crossings (S&C) are one of the subsystems that cause the most delays on Swedish Railways while accounting for at least 13% of maintenance costs. It is the main reason for choosing to base this study on this subsystem. Intelligent data processing allows understanding the real reliability characteristics of the assets to be maintained. The first objective of this...
متن کاملIdentifying at Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Hotspots in Canada
This research presents a risk-based Hotspots identification model at highway-rail grade crossings in Canada. Two sets of models were developed to predict collision frequency and consequence at individual crossings. A two–dimensional graphic approach was adopted to combine these two models together to predict the risk at each crossing. Hotspots based on collision history tended to be widespread ...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
عنوان ژورنال:
دوره شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2006