The Arrival Of Homo Sapiens To Asia

The Arrival of Homo Sapiens To Asia marks the major milestone of humanities journey Out of Africa.

Between 100–60 ka (100,000 to 60,000 years ago) humans migrated into South Asia for the first time, and shortly made their way into Southeast Asia, and Australia on our ancestors long journey Out of Africa. [1]

Homo sapiens appear to have migrated through the Middle East around 100 ka. Migrated along the Indian Ocean, since people in the most isolated areas of the Indian Ocean have the oldest non-African DNA markers. [1]

Humans migrated into inland Asia (through the Near East and Central Asia) travelling along the Great Eurasian Steppe — a great east-west band of grassland stretched across Eurasia, and north of the Himalayas, forming a prehistoric and ancient natural highway of a sort.

It is likely that early nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes made this journey as a result of following the herds of mammoth and bison that used the Eurasian Steppe as a migratory route themselves.

Timeline for the Arrival of Homo Sapiens to Asia

• Jebel Qafzah cave (Near Nazareth) c.93 ka — the skeletal remains in a cave of Jebel Qafzah, near Nazareth, include a double grave (mother and child) alongside archaic human remains that are not H. sapiens. They display a distinct, undivided brow ridge alongside other discrepancies. [1]
• Reached Siberia c.43 ka — from here they continued south, and east towards Bering and the Americas. [1]
• Reached Malaysia c.40 ka — a skull found on Borneo, Niah Cave. [1] It was on the islands of SE Asia that humans are known to have interbred with the Denisovans. [1]