Amanuel Beyin
University of Louisville, Anthropology, Faculty Member
- Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, Post-Ph.D. Research Grants, Department Memberadd
- Broadly trained in African Prehistory, my research interests lie in early human (hominin) dispersal out of Africa, th... moreBroadly trained in African Prehistory, my research interests lie in early human (hominin) dispersal out of Africa, the cultural dimensions of human evolution with a focus on stone tool technology, and the role of coastal habitats in hominin survival and dispersals.edit
- https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/anthropology/faculty-and-staff/jshea.phpedit
This handbook showcases an Africa-wide compendium of Stone Age archaeological sites and methodological advances that have improved our understanding of hominin lifeways and biogeography in the continent. The focal time spans the... more
This handbook showcases an Africa-wide compendium of Stone Age archaeological sites and methodological advances that have improved our understanding of hominin lifeways and biogeography in the continent. The focal time spans the Pleistocene Epoch (c. 2.5 million–11,700 years ago) during which important human traits, such as obligate bipedalism that freed the hands to engage in creative activities, a large brain relative to body size, language, and social complexity, developed in the general forms that they are found today. The handbook is the first of its kind, and it is expected to play a significant role in human evolutionary research by:
❖ Collating the African Stone Age record, which exists in a fragmented state along the lines of national boundaries and colonial experiences.
❖ Showcasing emerging conceptual and methodological advances in African Pleistocene archaeology.
❖ Providing reference datasets for teaching and researching African prehistory.
❖ Making Africa’s Stone Age record accessible to researchers and students based in Africa who may not have access to journal publications where most new field discoveries are published.
The Handbook features 128 chapters, of which 116 are site entries grouped by the host countries and presented in an alphabetical order. A number of those site-related entries examine multiple archaeological localities lumped under specific projects or study areas. The rest of the contributions deal with methodological topics, such as luminescence and radiocarbon dating, field data recovery, lithic analysis, micromorphology, and hominin fossil and zooarchaeological records of Pleistocene Africa. The introductory chapter provides an historical overview of the development of Stone Age (Paleolithic) archaeology in Africa beginning in the mid-19th century, and paleoenvironmental and chronological frameworks commonly used to structure the continent’s Pleistocene record. By making a good amount of African Stone Age literature accessible to researchers and the public, we wish to promote interest in human evolutionary research in the continent and elsewhere.
❖ Collating the African Stone Age record, which exists in a fragmented state along the lines of national boundaries and colonial experiences.
❖ Showcasing emerging conceptual and methodological advances in African Pleistocene archaeology.
❖ Providing reference datasets for teaching and researching African prehistory.
❖ Making Africa’s Stone Age record accessible to researchers and students based in Africa who may not have access to journal publications where most new field discoveries are published.
The Handbook features 128 chapters, of which 116 are site entries grouped by the host countries and presented in an alphabetical order. A number of those site-related entries examine multiple archaeological localities lumped under specific projects or study areas. The rest of the contributions deal with methodological topics, such as luminescence and radiocarbon dating, field data recovery, lithic analysis, micromorphology, and hominin fossil and zooarchaeological records of Pleistocene Africa. The introductory chapter provides an historical overview of the development of Stone Age (Paleolithic) archaeology in Africa beginning in the mid-19th century, and paleoenvironmental and chronological frameworks commonly used to structure the continent’s Pleistocene record. By making a good amount of African Stone Age literature accessible to researchers and the public, we wish to promote interest in human evolutionary research in the continent and elsewhere.
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This book presents results of recent archaeological fieldwork on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea, NE Africa. The project documented more than a dozen sites representing Middle and Later Stone Age settlements from inland and near coastal... more
This book presents results of recent archaeological fieldwork on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea, NE Africa. The project documented more than a dozen sites representing Middle and Later Stone Age settlements from inland and near coastal landscapes. The evidence suggests repeated human presence on the Eritrean coast in the Later Pleistocene and Holocene times. Archaeological evidence from the Red Sea coast of Eritrea is important in the context of current debate on early human dispersal history out of Africa. Later Pleistocene hunter-gatherers specifically adapted to coastal habitats in northeast Africa are thought to have been source populations for the early inhabitants of Arabia and Southeast Asia. The Red Sea basin is considered to be one of the major gates of early human migrations out of Africa. Yet, its archaeological record remains less understood due to various factors. The strategic position of Eritrea with its long coastline along the Red Sea makes it an ideal place to search for prehistoric coastal settlements. The evidence reported in this book confirms the rich potential of the Red Sea basin for future explorations.
Amanuel Beyin, Ammar Awad M. Abdalla, Fakhri H. Abdallah Hassan, and Musaab Khair
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Although there is a general consensus on African origin of early modern humans, there is disagreement about how and when they dispersed to Eurasia. This paper reviews genetic andMiddle Stone Age/Middle Paleolithic archaeological... more
Although there is a general consensus on African origin of early modern humans, there is disagreement about how and when they dispersed to Eurasia. This paper reviews genetic andMiddle Stone Age/Middle Paleolithic archaeological literature from northeast Africa, Arabia, and the Levant to assess the timing and geographic backgrounds of Upper Pleistocene human colonization of Eurasia. At the center of the discussion lies the question of whether eastern Africa alone was the source of Upper Pleistocene human dispersals into Eurasia or were there other loci of human expansions outside of Africa? The reviewed literature hints at two modes of early modern human colonization of Eurasia in the Upper Pleistocene: (i) from multiple Homo sapiens source populations that had entered Arabia, South Asia, and the Levant prior to and soon after the onset of the Last Interglacial (MIS-5), (ii) from a rapid dispersal out of East Africa via the Southern Route (across the Red Sea basin), dating to ∼74–60 kya.
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The Red Sea basin is emerging as an important region for testing current hypotheses concerning early human dispersal routes out of Africa. However, the direct peripheries of the basin, especially the African side had seen little prior... more
The Red Sea basin is emerging as an important region for testing current hypotheses concerning early human dispersal routes out of Africa. However, the direct peripheries of the basin, especially the African side had seen little prior Paleolithic research, hindering well informed assessment of the temporal and cultural contexts of prehistoric human adaptations in the region. Recent archaeological investigation at Asfet, along the southern edge of the Gulf of Zula (Red Sea coast of Eritrea) has recorded a surface Middle Stone Age (MSA) assemblage. The Asfet assemblage features prepared core and blade technologies, the production of points (triangular, perforators and small bifaces) and various retouched tools mainly on local raw material sources. Typologically, the assemblage exhibits reasonable affinity with northeast (NE) African, the Nile Valley and Southern Arabian MSA Industries. Given the paucity of Paleolithic record from the western side of the Red Sea basin that can be compared with existing MSA datasets from the Horn of Africa, the Nile Valley and Arabian Peninsula, the discovery of an MSA assemblage along the Eritrean coast provides a much needed reference data to assess the role of the Red Sea coast as a potential refugium and dispersal corridor for early humans.
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Africa’s position as the cradle of humanity is widely accepted, supported by rich fossil and archaeological discoveries from different parts of the continent. Drawing on the Out-of-Africa theory of human origins, this article provides a... more
Africa’s position as the cradle of humanity is widely accepted, supported by rich fossil and archaeological discoveries from different parts of the continent. Drawing on the Out-of-Africa theory of human origins, this article provides a condensed narrative of the major milestones in human evolution and associated environmental settings. The underlying hypothesis is that changes in global climate played an important role in fueling early modern human origins and dispersals within and outside of Africa. As one will discover in this article, the history of humanity is a tale of small events that merged together into major milestones over a long span of time. There is an emerging consensus among scholars that the onset of variable global climate throughout the last 6 million years, particularly the repeated glacial and interglacial cycles in the last 2.5 million years, drove the evolution of the biological and behavioral traits that define the human lineage. As with our past, the futurity of humanity will likely hinge on future climate patterns.
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The Western Periphery of the Red Sea (WPRS) is an important region for paleoanthropological discussions about the history of hominin dispersal out of Africa. This paper examines the existing Paleolithic evidence in the region and some key... more
The Western Periphery of the Red Sea (WPRS) is an important region for paleoanthropological discussions about the history of hominin dispersal out of Africa. This paper examines the existing Paleolithic evidence in the region and some key aspects of its environmental setting, with the goal of assessing its role in hominin survival and dispersals. The paper's chronological focus is the span 1.8-0.05 million years ago (Ma). Although the majority of the Paleolithic (Stone Age) sites so far documented in the region lack precise chronological control, the available evidence comprises Acheulean, Middle and Later Stone Age technocomplexes that can be broadly linked to distinct hominin settlement episodes. Most of the documented sites appear to be related to terrestrial niche exploitation around channelized alluvial plains between the coastal zone and the eastern slopes of the Red Sea Hills, although wave erosion may have destroyed sites associated with coastal resource use. As an extension of the East African Rift System, the WPRS mirrors the landscape features of the fossil-rich Rift Valley region, with the addition of a coastal niche. Thus, it may have posed little survival risk for hominins coming from the inland habitats, and some of the inhabitant populations may have easily dispersed toward Eurasia from there.
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Despite East Africa's vital contribution to our understanding of human evolution, there exists a major knowledge gap concerning hominin occupation of its coastal peripheries along the Indian Ocean. This paper presents the results of a... more
Despite East Africa's vital contribution to our understanding of human evolution, there exists a major knowledge gap concerning hominin occupation of its coastal peripheries along the Indian Ocean. This paper presents the results of a recent archaeological survey in the Kilwa basin, coastal Tanzania. The survey documented two sites, namely, Mnaraeka and Mapimbi, that revealed lithic assemblages featuring recurrent centripetal Levallois and blade technologies. Although absolute chronological references for the sites have yet to be established, the lithic finds characteristically fit to the Middle Stone Age (MSA) technocomplex. The inhabitants targeted locally available stone raw materials such as quartzite, quartz, and chert. The technological strategies identified in the Kilwa basin are common at inland MSA sites across eastern and southern Africa, suggesting that the coastal ecozone may have been regularly exploited by hominins that possessed versatile technologies to adapt to diverse eastern African landscapes. Our finds lay a foundational step for future interdisciplinary research in the Kilwa basin and other parts of the East African coast.
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The state of our knowledge concerning the geographic routes through which hominins spread out of Africa remains incomplete. The Nile basin (Northern Route) and the Strait of Bab al-Mandab (Southern Route) have been commonly cited as the... more
The state of our knowledge concerning the geographic routes through which hominins spread out of Africa remains incomplete. The Nile basin (Northern Route) and the Strait of Bab al-Mandab (Southern Route) have been commonly cited as the likely Out-of-Africa dispersal paths, although the degree to which these routes were always accessible is unclear. This paper seeks to identify areas that may have served as viable routes for hominin dispersals from eastern Africa into the Levant using analytical tools within a Geographic Information System (GIS). We employed a heuristic model that would find the Least Cost Paths (LCPs) from three hypothetical origin points in the Ethiopian-Afar Rift basins to a predefined destination point on the Sinai Peninsula (a gateway to Eurasia). Three input variables, namely topographic roughness, drainage density and elevation were used in creating the LCP model. All of the resulting LCPs have travelled through the Nile basin, reinforcing the Northern Route hypothesis. It is also interesting to observe that all the LCPs have crossed the western highlands of Ethiopia before converging at the Nile, lending support to the recently proposed " Mountain Exile Hypothesis " (Vogelsang, 2018). This region had seen little Paleolithic research in the past, thus our model provides a critically needed baseline for future systematic fieldwork there.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.11.024
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.11.024
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This paper reports results of a recent Stone Age-focused archaeological survey in the Red Sea coastal region of the Republic of Sudan, northeast Africa. Bifaces (handaxes) are the most conspicuous artifact class encountered during the... more
This paper reports results of a recent Stone Age-focused archaeological survey in the Red Sea coastal region of the Republic of Sudan, northeast Africa. Bifaces (handaxes) are the most conspicuous artifact class encountered during the survey and are characteristic of the Acheulean technocomplex. Other recorded artifact types include points, scrapers, and prepared core products referable to the Nubian and recurrent Levallois methods. Most of the artifact-bearing localities lie landward—outside of the coastal margin—thus, the evidence does not signify direct coastal adaptation per se. Our preliminary findings suggest that multiple Pleistocene-age hominin settlements tied to a terrestrial niche existed in the region. The western margin of the Red Sea occupies a pivotal location, linking the Horn of Africa and the Levant, two vital regions in human evolutionary research. Thus, the Stone Age data from the Sudan region has direct relevance for assessing hominin dispersal routes out of Africa.
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The western coastal zone of the Red Sea basin occupies a pivotal place in current discussions regarding hominin dispersal routes out of Africa. Its long coastal niche, which once extended into the Danakil Depression, as well as its... more
The western coastal zone of the Red Sea basin occupies a pivotal place in current discussions regarding hominin dispersal routes out of Africa. Its long coastal niche, which once extended into the Danakil Depression, as well as its proximity to prominent paleoanthropological sites in the Main Ethiopian and Afar rift basins, make the region a plausible destination for hominins dispersing from the interior landscapes of eastern Africa. Unfortunately, compared to other parts of East Africa, the region has not seen adequate paleoanthropological research, hindering detailed assessment of its contribution to hominin adaptations. A recent archeological reconnaissance in the Red Sea coastal region of the Republic of Sudan documented two characteristic Acheulean sites, named Hayna 01 and 02, as well as numerous isolated scatters of stone artifacts representing diverse technotypological features. The launching of this pioneering project was aimed at finding Paleolithic (Stone Age) sites that can inform us about Pleistocene hominin adaptations in the western peripheries of the Red Sea. The recovered evidence will be subsequently used to assess the role of the region in early hominin survival and dispersal. Of the two Acheulean-bearing sites documented by the survey, Hayna 01 (HY01) is discussed here. It has a surface lithic assemblage characterized by a classic bifacial technology referable to the Acheulean Technocomplex.
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The Turkana Basin in northern Kenya is located in an environmentally sensitive region along the eastern African Rift system. Lake Turkana's sensitivity to fluctuations in precipitation makes this an ideal place to study prehistoric human... more
The Turkana Basin in northern Kenya is located in an environmentally sensitive region along the eastern African Rift system. Lake Turkana's sensitivity to fluctuations in precipitation makes this an ideal place to study prehistoric human adaptations during key climatic transitions. Here we present eleven radio-carbon dates from two recently excavated sites in West Turkana, Kokito 01 and Kokito 02. The sites span the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, a time of fluctuating lake levels and novel cultural responses within the region. Several scenarios are laid out for the interpretation of site chronologies, and these are discussed with reference to the terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene chronological record for the region. Given the paucity of well-dated sites from this timespan in the Turkana Basin, the new radiocarbon dates are an important step toward establishing human settlement history and associated cultural developments in the region.
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The Kalokol Basin on the west side of Lake Turkana, northern Kenya, has yielded three sites dating to the African Humid Period (AHP), a wet phase with intermittent dry spells that characterised the African climate c. 15.0-5.5 kya. Drawing... more
The Kalokol Basin on the west side of Lake Turkana, northern Kenya, has yielded three sites dating to the African Humid Period (AHP), a wet phase with intermittent dry spells that characterised the African climate c. 15.0-5.5 kya. Drawing on the chronological and
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During the African Humid Period (AHP; c. 15e5.5 ka), the rivers and lakes of much of the continent swelled due to changes in monsoonal rainfall driven by Earth's orbital precession. This period witnessed the growth of diverse... more
During the African Humid Period (AHP; c. 15e5.5 ka), the rivers and lakes of much of the continent swelled due to changes in monsoonal rainfall driven by Earth's orbital precession. This period witnessed the growth of diverse fisher-forager communities, whose members adapted their settlement patterns and created new technologies in order to take advantage of aquatic resources. Around Lake Turkana in northern Kenya, numerous surface sites have been documented along former shorelines dating to the AHP. Relatively few have been excavated and dated however, and just three e all from the eastern basin e have published faunal analyses. Here, we present archaeofaunal assemblages from the Kalokol region of the western basin, where three sites with microlithic technology, bone harpoons, and radiocarbon dates falling within the AHP were excavated. We present a detailed taphonomic assessment of the fish assemblages and a comparison with both natural and anthropogenic, and ancient and modern, fish bone accumulations. Taxa identified at the Kalokol sites are discussed in terms of the occupants' possible fishing technologies and strategies, drawing on ethological and ethnographic data. Our analysis, combining our data with those published from the eastern basin, enables a broader discussion of how people may have responded to fluctuating AHP environments in the Turkana Basin.
Throughout the Holocene, Lake Turkana has been subject to drastic changes in lake levels and the subsistence strategies people employ to survive in this hot and arid region. In this paper, we reconstruct the position of the lake during... more
Throughout the Holocene, Lake Turkana has been subject to drastic changes in lake levels and the subsistence strategies people employ to survive in this hot and arid region. In this paper, we reconstruct the position of the lake during the Holocene within a paleoclimatic context. Atmospheric forcing mechanisms are discussed in order to contextualize the broader landscape changes occurring in eastern Africa over the last 12,000 years. The Holocene is divided into five primary phases according to changes in the strand-plain evolution, paleoclimate, and human subsistence strategies practiced within the basin. Early Holocene fishing settlements occurred adjacent to high and relatively stable lake levels. A period of high-magnitude oscillations in lake levels ensued after 9,000 years BP and human settlements appear to have been located close to the margins of the lake. Aridification and a final regression in lake levels ensued after 5,000 years BP and human communities were generalized pastoralists-fishers-foragers. During the Late Holocene, lake levels may have dropped below their present position and subsistence strategies appear to have been flexible and occasionally specialized on animal pastoralism. Modern missionary and government outposts have encouraged the construction of permanent settlements in the region, which are heavily dependent on outside resources for their survival. Changes in the physical and cultural environments of the Lake Turkana region have been closely correlated, and understanding the relationship between the two variables remains a vital component of archaeological research.
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This paper evaluates risk-oriented frameworks for explaining environmental, social, and economic changes faced by fishing and herding communities in the Turkana Basin during and after the African Humid Period (AHP, 15–5 ka). The... more
This paper evaluates risk-oriented frameworks for explaining environmental, social, and economic changes faced by fishing and herding communities in the Turkana Basin during and after the African Humid Period (AHP, 15–5 ka). The orbitally-forced AHP created moist conditions, high lake levels, and unusual hydrological connections across much of northern and eastern Africa. As arid conditions set in and rainfall decreased between 5.3 and 3.9 ka in eastern Africa, Lake Turkana (NW Kenya) shrank dramatically. Shoreline retreat coincided with an expansion of open plains, creating new ecological conditions and potential opportunities for early herders in the basin. In this changing landscape, economies shifted from food procurement (fishing/hunting aquatic resources) to food production (herding), likely through both in-migration by pastoralists and adoption of herding by local fishers. Early pastoralists also built at least seven megalithic pillar sites that served as communal cemeteries ...
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A surface reconnaissance was conducted for prehistoric sites along the Gulf of Zula and the Buri Peninsula, on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. The sites, found in a wide range of geomorphological Settings, belong mainly to Middle Stone Age,... more
A surface reconnaissance was conducted for prehistoric sites along the Gulf of Zula and the Buri Peninsula, on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. The sites, found in a wide range of geomorphological Settings, belong mainly to Middle Stone Age, Late Stone Age and Neolithic cultural phases. A few Acheulian bifaces were also documented from eroding surfaces. The different contexts suggest intermittent occupation of the area during Late Pleistocene and Holocene times. Middle Stone Age and Late Stone Age sites in close proximity to the present coastline support a model of coastal adaptation by early humans during the Late Pleistocene. Such coastally-adapted humans are thought to have been source populations for human dispersal into Eurasia across the Bab al-Mandab Strait (southern Red Sea).
Research Interests: Archaeology, Geomorphology, Mesolithic, Field Archaeology, Model, and 5 morePopulation, Holocene, Surface, Document, and Source
This chapter focuses on a region that encompasses the Gulf of Zula and Buri Peninsula along the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. Middle and Later Stone Age (LSA) sites uncovered from the area shed light on the exploitation of marine and coastal... more
This chapter focuses on a region that encompasses the Gulf of Zula and Buri Peninsula along the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. Middle and Later Stone Age (LSA) sites uncovered from the area shed light on the exploitation of marine and coastal resources that sustained human populations during these periods. Two sites with Middle Stone Age (MSA) remains, namely Abdur - located on an elevated reef and dated to 125kya, and Asfet containing diagnostic stone artifacts that existed roughly 200 – 50kya demonstrate that the coast was visited, and may have served as stepping-stones of Ancient Modern humans during their spread from Africa into Asia, whether northward into the Levant or across the Red Sea into Arabia. In addition, three early to mid-Holocene (LSA) shell middens documented from the region reflect the exploitation of different coastal environments. Misse East and Gelalo Northwest were both dated to the eighth millennium BP. The presence of Atactodea striata (a bivalve that dwells in tidal flats near sandy beaches) and Terebralia palustris (a gastropod living in mangrove swamps) at the sites signifies that these molluskan organisms likely served as a supplementary food source. Gelalo Northwest also included a relatively large number of shell beads. Asfet Unit F, dated to the sixth millennium BP, was also dominated by Terebralia palustris. This coastal settlement is probably the result of adverse climatic conditions that prevailed in the hinterland during that period.
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The paper presents results of a second season of Paleolithic survey in the Agig area, the Red Sea region of the Sudan. The fieldwork recorded several Stone Age sites in the study area containing tool types referable to the Acheulean and... more
The paper presents results of a second season of Paleolithic survey in the Agig area, the Red Sea region of the Sudan. The fieldwork recorded several Stone Age sites in the study area containing tool types referable to the Acheulean and MSA technocomplexes. The emerging evidence suggests that hominins increased their survival chances in the study area by exploiting diverse landscapes.
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Despite East Africa’s vital contribution to our understanding of human evolution, there exists a major gap in our knowledge of the extent to which its coastal peripheries along the Indian Ocean were inhabited by Pleistocene hominins. Most... more
Despite East Africa’s vital contribution to our understanding of human evolution, there exists a major gap in our knowledge of the extent to which its coastal peripheries along the Indian Ocean were inhabited by Pleistocene hominins. Most previous paleoanthropological studies in the region have remained focused on the hinterlands, mainly in the vicinity of the Rift Valley. A recent archaeological reconnaissance in the Kilwa basin (Tanzanian coast) recorded sites containing Recurrent Centripetal (RC) core technology. This mode of core reduction is considered a variant of the prepared core (Levallois) flaking method associated with the Middle Stone Age (MSA) or Middle Paleolithic technocomplexes [1, 2]. Its discovery in the Kilwa basin raises important questions regarding the adaptive strategies hominins employed in the East African coasts.
Although this is not the first project to document Stone Age sites in the Kilwa basin, it is the first to recognize the presence of a distinctive lithic technology that suggests:
a) an innovative mode of core reduction geared toward producing a large number of flakes per a given mass/volume of core-blank,
b) land-use strategy characterized by residential mobility where foragers settled near food patches and rely on locally available raw material for making tools,
c) adaptation to a landscape characterized by predictable but variable food sources.
While our finds show that hominins inhabited the Kilwa basin, future research will have to establish the temporal and cultural contexts of prehistoric hominin occupation of the East African coastal zone.
Although this is not the first project to document Stone Age sites in the Kilwa basin, it is the first to recognize the presence of a distinctive lithic technology that suggests:
a) an innovative mode of core reduction geared toward producing a large number of flakes per a given mass/volume of core-blank,
b) land-use strategy characterized by residential mobility where foragers settled near food patches and rely on locally available raw material for making tools,
c) adaptation to a landscape characterized by predictable but variable food sources.
While our finds show that hominins inhabited the Kilwa basin, future research will have to establish the temporal and cultural contexts of prehistoric hominin occupation of the East African coastal zone.
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• The study succeeded in identifying areas that would have provided low-risk (least cost) paths for a putative hominin population trying to disperse out of eastern Africa toward the Levant during conditions that are similar to the present... more
• The study succeeded in identifying areas that would have provided low-risk (least cost) paths for a putative hominin population trying to disperse out of eastern Africa toward the Levant during conditions that are similar to the present time. • According to the Least Cost Path model, the western Ethiopian highlands stand out as the most desirable dispersal landscapes between the Main Ethiopian Rift and the Nile proper. This region had seen little Paleolithic-focused research in the past (with a few exceptions 6), thus our model provides a critically needed baseline for future systematic fieldwork in the region. • According to the Individual Based Model, the Red Sea route is preferred, although parts of the Nile basin were found to be desirable as well. This model also reveals the feasibility of an inland route through the Red Sea Mountains onto the Red Sea coastal plains. This result is congruent with recent findings along the Sudanese Red Sea coast 7. • Taken all together, our models show that hominin dispersal out of Africa involved multiple routes.
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Paleoanthropologists generally agree, hominins likely left Africa periodically during the Pleistocene. However, their geographic routes of exit remain unclear. In this work we evaluate potential Out of Africa human dispersal routes along... more
Paleoanthropologists generally agree, hominins likely left Africa periodically during the Pleistocene. However, their geographic routes of exit remain unclear. In this work we evaluate potential Out of Africa human dispersal routes along the Red Sea and Nile using an Individual Based Model (IBM). To model human dispersal using an IBM, we used relevant observations of foraging societies documented by anthropologists including Lewis Binford and Robert Kelly. The IBMs identified viable pathways for hunter-gatherer dispersal on a landscape encompassing the Ethiopian-Afar basin and the Sinai.