First Migration of Humans - Research Paper Example

 Migration is an inevitable part of every one’s life. From animals to humans, everybody needs to migrate for different reasons. It has been recurring time and time again, since the first appearance of man. The very first however, was largely based on the environmental conditions happening at that time, most of which was the several phases of the Ice Age. The periodical melting and the freezing of water and ice sheets determined the period of the series of migrations of the first humans. The early human migrations, or the movement and expansion of the first humans, can be classified into three main categories, based on the geological period in which they migrated and moved out of the area in which they lived in and around. The species of Hominid up to the Australopithecines and the early Homo habilis have occupied and inhabited the chained mountain valleys located in the eastern portion of the African continent. Approximately, between two to one million years ago, a group of people, the Homo ergaster who may possibly have descended from the Homo habilis moved out of the mountain valleys into a vaster and larger expanse of land. After a while, they moved around again, travelling on to eastern and central Asia. Along this journey of migration, these hominid species have evolved into the next group of hominids, the Homo erectus. The Homo erectus, the next Hominid species after the Homo habilis had a more robust body than the body type of modern human. They were the first group of hominids to be able to create rafts in order to cross over bodies of water, the first ones to live in a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle, and they were considered as the first to be able to create and make use of fire. One hundred twenty five thousand years ago, these people migrated to the Sahara, which at that time was green. However, they died out by ninety thousand years ago. This area was later reoccupied by the Neanderthals. Around eighty thousand years ago, a new Hominid species, the Homo heidelbergensis, emerged in Africa. Just like the earlier groups of Hominid species such as the Homo habilis and Homo ergaster, it too, migrated all the way through the entire continent of Africa and then later on, also notably, they became the first to move to Europe. This group of people showed similar characteristics as the Homo erectus in that it used the same Acheulean stone tool manufacturing and industry. However, their physical features were slightly different, their bone structures were larger and heavier and their hunting strategies were more strategized and systematic compared to the Homo erectus. The entire human population all over the world who are living today all belong to the classification of Homo sapiens, the final hominid species. This group of people is the only member of the genus Homo that was able to survive and live out the tough and harsh conditions in the early past. Based on the various facts and findings gotten from the oldest skull on Earth, which were found in Africa, the earliest Homo sapiens must have originated from the great continent about two hundred thousand years ago. The Homo sapiens are set apart from the earlier groups of Hominid species by their ability to think in a higher level, communicate with other humans through the use of a more developed language and to be able to live in a more complex manner. Current discoveries and results implicate that this species have appeared for the first time in East Africa. Later on, archeological and anthropological expeditions came across numerous skulls located at several places in East Africa such as in Ethiopia and Tanzania. After eighty five thousand years since their first appearance, they have started to expand their populace to South, Southwest and central Africa. Each skull found showed an advanced transition in physical form, implying that migration has taken place. Mitochondrial DNA studies have confirmed these results. After this migration, the Homo sapiens move out of Africa, moving on to the other parts of the world, about sixty thousand years ago after the great progress in the way of life and in mental ability. There are a number of reasons and causes for this great migration of the Homo sapiens out of Africa. Migration, or the permanent relocation of a group of people from one area to another, can be caused by a series of push or pull factors. Some conditions experienced might have attracted or pulled them into an area. Some pull factors might be abundance of natural resources in an area, and better living standards such as a more peaceful climate and weather. Other conditions may have wanted them to move out of an area, a push factor. Examples of these factors are natural catastrophes and disasters in an area like famine and drought, deficient food sources and many others. Two of the major beliefs concerning the real cause of the migration of the Homo sapiens out of Africa is the rapid climate change that was probably occurring that time and the search for food. During this period of the first great migration of humans, roughly ninety thousand years ago, a group of Homo sapiens left the African continent for the Middle East, since the upper portion was still too cold and some parts were totally covered in ice. So they crossed the Red Sea, arriving in the Arabian Peninsula. Following the coastlines of the Indian Ocean, they migrated and moved to India, and then from Sri Lanka, they went on to western Indonesia, then followed to the attached landmass towards Borneo and to South China. Seventy four thousand years ago, while this migration was happening, the volcano in Sumatra, caused a super-eruption that broke the chain of the movement. This eruption caused a nuclear winter and an ice age that lasted for a thousand years. It also caused the fall of the population, bringing the numbers down to about ten thousand adults. The volcanic ash that was emitted buried India, as well as the land of Pakistan, causing a disruption in the migration of the people. Nevertheless, repopulation took place and soon, the pattern of migration has started again. From Borneo, the people crossed the sea through boats to reach the land of New Guinea in Southeast Asia. Various groups of people also used boats to cross the island of Timor. From Timor, they moved to the big country and the smallest continent, Australia. The people slowly inhabited the entire continent or about twenty nine thousand years. After that, it took them an additional sixteen thousand years to be able to reach the southern part of Australia and its neighboring islands such as New Zealand and Tasmania. After the thousand years of cold climate, the Earth started to rapidly warm, increasing in temperature about fifty thousand years ago. This meant that people could now be able to move up north, above the Arabian Peninsula to the Fertile Crescent. The Bosporus, which is also known as the Istanbul Strait and is the boundary between Asia and Europe, is what they crossed in order to reach the continent of Europe. It took them approximately fifteen thousand years I order for the continent to be colonized and settled in, especially with the competition between the Homo sapiens and the Neanderthals who have been occupying Europe for two hundred thousand years already. Although the Neanderthals were more robust and had a stronger physical appearance and structure, the advanced development of the modern humans in regards to the technology and their improved mental abilities in thinking and strategizing. Although the expansion to Europe was limited due to another occurrence of an ice age, they were able to spread to the north, reaching the British Isles. While this was happening, the East Asians continued to spread around the enormous land mass, from Pakistan, they moved to Indo-China, then to Tibet and the Qinghai province. After that, they spread throughout the giant landmass of mainland China, and then went up to Mongolia. Central Asians then moved west to Eastern Europe, and then moved up north into the Arctic Circle, where they would later travel to Eurasia, joining the Eastern Asians as they continually moved to the east. Again, during this time, from forty thousand years until twenty five thousand years ago, there came another cold phase that affected major areas in Europe, specifically the Central and the Northwest area. Evidences such as the fossils or the preserved remains of plants and insects packed inside a rock or other types of geological deposit. Also, the characteristics of the ancient dunes or hills of sand and the permanently frozen land supported this idea. During the series of ice ages, when the water is frozen, the sea level decreases, exposing large shallow masses of land, also known as land bridges. These land bridges were very helpful and useful during migration. They became the gateway for them migration of the whole world, including America which is an isolated land mass, to be settled in. This allowed people, along with them animals and other types of vegetation to be able to travel to new land. There were a few land bridges that emerged during the Ice Age. Examples are the one that connected Britain and Europe, New Guinea and Australia, the Philippines and Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India and others. One of the major land bridges that appeared was Beringia. This land bridge connected Asia and North America. This paved the way for the East Asians, along with the Central Asians who traveled from Europe to Asia, to move and migrate to the remote land of the Americas. These people, together with the Siberians who were in search and in hunt for food sources, crossed the land bridge. This migration happened towards the end of the last Ice Age just about twenty five thousand years ago. From Alaska, they moved to Canada into the United States of America, going south all the way to Mesoamerica or Central America, in the land of Mexico where the first American civilizations began later such as the Olmec and the Zapotec. Moving further south into South America, along the coastlines of Peru fourteen thousand years ago, they migrated to where the first South American civilizations would later be built such as the Chavin, the Naztec and the Moche civilizations. In Monte Verde, Chile, a lot of stone tools and excavated remains of the people were found. Again through the coastal routes, they spread throughout the Americas, even reaching as far as the state of Pennsylvania. After the reoccupation of North America, the people moved up and out to the sub Arctic region to become the Eskimos, Na-Dene and the Aleuts. Over a hundred thousand years of migrating and moving, spreading and expanding took place before different people inhabited the entire world. All are descendants of the first human species, the only group of hominids to survive, the Homo sapiens. And since that time on, the people were able to adjust and adapt to the living conditions of the area in which they decided to permanently settle, developing agriculture, domestic herding and later on, engaging in nonagricultural pursuits such as weaving, craft making and others, developing the civilizations, into the modern world we now live in. Works Cited Schrover, Dr. Marlou. "History of International Migration". Universiteit Leiden. n.d. 17 April 2011 Tilden, Eric. “The History of World Migration.” eHow. Demand Media, Inc. n.d. Web. 17 April 2011. Oppenhelmer, Stephen. “Journey of Mankind.” Bradshaw Foundation. Adaptation from “Out of Eden”/”The Real Eve.” Bradshaw Foundation. 2003. Web. 16 April 2011. Sullivan, James. “The History of Human Migration.” Finding Dulcinea. Dulcinea Media, Inc. 29 September 2010. Web. 16 April 2011. Evans, Lawrence. “Homo sapiens.” Ecotao. N.p. 1998-2008. Web. 16 April 2011. Read More