Early Human Migrations - Early Humans (before Homo Sapiens)

Early Humans (before Homo Sapiens)

Further information: Yuanmou Man and Lantian Man

Early members of the Homo genus, i.e. Homo ergaster, Homo erectus and Homo heidelbergensis, migrated from Africa during the Early Pleistocene, possibly as a result of the operation of the Saharan pump, around 1.9 million years ago, and dispersed throughout most of the Old World, reaching as far as Southeast Asia. The date of original dispersal beyond Africa virtually coincides with the appearance of Homo ergaster in the fossil record, and the associated first emergence of full bipedalism, and about half a million years after the appearance of the Homo genus itself and the first stone tools of the Oldowan industry. Key sites for this early migration out of Africa are Riwat in Pakistan (1.9 Mya), Ubeidiya in the Levant (1.5 Mya) and Dmanisi in the Caucasus (1.7 Mya).

China was populated more than a million years ago, as early as 1.66 Mya based on stone artifacts found in the Nihewan Basin. Stone tools found at Xiaochangliang site were dated to 1.36 million years ago. The archaeological site of Xihoudu (西侯渡) in Shanxi Province is the earliest recorded use of fire by Homo erectus, which is dated 1.27 million years ago.

Southeast Asia (Java) was reached about 1.7 million years ago (Meganthropus). West Europe was first populated around 1.2 million years ago (Atapuerca).

Bruce Bower has suggested that Homo erectus may have built rafts and sailed oceans, a theory that has raised some controversy.