Peopling the Earth: The Greatest Migration

Abstract

The initial peopling of the earth is one of the most remarkable of human experiences, and yet we know very little about this expansion. Over many centuries, and in ways as yet not clearly understood, human beings found their way into virtually all of the habitable areas of the world. Indigenous peoples have clear and consistent explanations for their emergence in their homelands, ideas and explanations which often conflict with the arguments advanced by western science. Archeologists, now joined by biologists, linguists, geneticists, and others, have been painstakingly attempting to reconstruct one of the world’s great mysteries. How, when, and why did human beings spread out across the globe? This great migration played a crucial role in shaping human history, and is obviously at the foundation of any attempt to understand the emergence of aboriginal societies.