The Out-of-Africa Dispersal

In this chapter, I review the archaeological and genetic evidence on the direction and timeline of the out-of-Africa dispersal 80–45 kya during which Asia, Europe, and Sahul (Australia and New Guinea) were settled by H. sapiens. I discuss the theory of range expansions and colonizations of distant land masses and review what we know about the interactions between H. sapiens and later extinct hominins such as Neanderthals and Denisovans. I discuss major advances in social capital and technology manifested in female figurines, cave art, watercraft, and forest management.