A recent study published in the journal Science Advances revealed new evidence about the migration route of the first humans who left Africa for Asia approximately 80,000 years ago.
The research was carried out by scientists from the University of Southampton, in the United Kingdom, and Shantou University, in China, together with scientists from Jordan, Australia and the Czech Republic.
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Rift Valley region in Jordan. (Photo: Google Maps/Reproduction)
Until then, it is believed that the first Homo sapiens used the southern crossing, passing through the Red Sea from the Horn of Africa, when sea levels were low.
However, the findings of this study indicate that an alternative, more northerly route through the Sinai peninsula and Jordan was also widely traveled.
Researchers have discovered traces of hand tools, known as “chips,” in dried-up river channels in Jordan's Rift Valley.
These tools, which date back to around 84,000 years ago, provide tangible evidence that early humans followed this route toward Western Asia and Northern Arabia.
The study used luminescence dating techniques to establish the age of the sediment in which the tools were buried. This methodology allows you to calculate how much time has passed since the material was last exposed to light.
According to Paul Carling, professor of geomorphology at the University of Southampton and co-author of the study, the discovery of the migration corridor through Jordan is of enormous relevance.
She demonstrated that small wetland areas in the region were important stopping points during the migration, contradicting the belief that early humans depended on large lakes for their survival during their journey.
Carling explains that the recently published evidence is fundamental to understanding how humans migrated along a northern route, using wet areas as a base while hunting wildlife on the drier prairies.
This suggests that the vast savannas provided the resources necessary for migrants to survive as they moved out of Africa toward Southwest Asia and beyond.
Mahmoud Abbas, lead author of the study, adds that instead of an arid desert, the humid areas along route would have played a crucial role in the survival of early humans during this journey ancestral.
