The human species originated from humanlike creatures of the hominids group that has a scientific name of Homo-sapiens. Scientific evidence suggests that first primitive Homo-sapiens appeared around 300,000 years ago. The further evolution and migration process of Homo-sapiens started approximately between 70,000 to 100,000 years ago. This essay will answer the questions of why and how the Homo-sapiens expanded out of Africa, how and when they populated the Americas and why they preferred agriculture.
There are several theories about why Homo-sapiens left their birthplace, Africa, as there is not much evidence for science nowadays, apart from DNA samples and fossils. However, it is important to note that the Homo-sapiens migration did not happen at once, in fact, the first humans were continuously leaving Africa even 20,000 years before the main out-of-Africa event. Moreover, the fossils of Homo Erectus subspecies that existed before the Homo-sapiens were found in China, Indonesia, and Europe, which means that the first humanlike-creatures also tended to migrate. In an article about the reversal of human phylogeny, the authors, Árnason and Hallström (2020) even included evidence that shows that the Homo erectus left Africa and then came back as Homo sapiens. However, according to the majority of theories and the existing body of knowledge, the main reason Homo-sapiens eventually left Africa was climate change. As humans feel more comfortable in a warm climate, due to the glacial age, also called the ice age, Homo-sapiens left Africa seeking better living conditions.
The origins of different nations and countries that exist now reside in the first migration of early humans from Africa. According to Montaigne (2020), some theories suggest that the history of the first people populating the Americas started approximately 13,000 years ago. Then, small groups of Stone Age hunters explored the land bridge from eastern Siberia to the western side of Alaska (Montaigne, 2020). Further explorations eventually lead them to the ice-free inland corridor right to the center of North America. However, the recent pieces of evidence from archaeological sites on the West Coast of North America were dated to period even earlier than 13,000. The evidence was used for the development of a new modern theory of Homo-sapiens populating the Americas. The modern theory, also commonly known as the Kelp Highway, suggests that the first humans arrived in North America by boat while traveling down the Pacific shore. The new theory dramatically expanded the understanding of when the first humans arrived in the Americas.
During the migration process, the primary food resources for the early humans consisted of prey they collected during hunting and some of the crops they were able to collect on the way. The end of migration allowed Homo-sapiens to settle down in one place. Soon after the animal population around the new human settlements started to reduce due to hunting, Homo-sapiens started harvesting seeds and planting them, as they already developed a taste for grains. Then, human interests shifted more from hunting activities to agriculture, and Homo-sapiens started farming and domesticating animals.
In conclusion, this essay explored different aspects of the existence of Homo sapiens. Due to climate change, early humans left their birthplace, Africa, seeking more comfortable places to live. However, climate change is not the sole reason for the Homo sapiens to leave Africa, as some Homo-sapiens ancestors explored other locations long before the first migration. There are several theories on how and when first people populated the Americas, and one of them even suggests that they arrived on boats at least 20,000 years ago. The end of migration allowed the early people to switch from hunting to agriculture, which provided them a consistent source of food.
References
Árnason, Ú., & Hallström, B. (2020). The reversal of human phylogeny: Homo left Africa as erectus, came back as sapiens sapiens. Hereditas, 157, 1-13. Web.
Montaigne, F. (2020). How humans came to Americas. Smithsonian Magazine. Web.