What we hadn't known until this study is where exactly this homeland wasIt was a lush “oasis” surrounded by drier areas, she said, so it was a suitable habitat for modern humans and wildlife. “Using that we could pinpoint what we believe is our human homeland,” Hayes said. There is also a pattern of ancient humans leaving Africa, becoming isolated, and eventually going extinct, but leaving a distinct fossil record. These changes offered both a “push,” as the homeland dried up, and a “pull,” as new green corridors opened up. “Our results suggest that the greater Zambezi river basin, particularly the Kalahari region, had a significant role in shaping the emergence and prehistory of anatomically modern humans,” the Nature paper concludes.

Source: National Post October 28, 2019 15:11 UTC