Human dispersals out of Africa via the Levant

Abbas, Mahmoud and Lai, Zhongping and Jansen, John D and Tu, Hua and Alqudah, Mohammad and Xu, Xiaolin and Al-Saqarat, Bety S and Al Hseinat, Mu'ayyad and Ou, Xianjiao and Petraglia, Michael D and Carling, Paul A (2023) Human dispersals out of Africa via the Levant. Science Advances, 9 (40): eadi6838. ISSN 2375-2548

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Abstract

Homo sapiens dispersed from Africa into Eurasia multiple times in the Middle and Late Pleistocene. The route, across northeastern Africa into the Levant, is a viable terrestrial corridor, as the present harsh southern Levant would probably have been savannahs and grasslands during the last interglaciation. Here, we document wetland sediments with luminescence ages falling in the last interglaciation in the southern Levant, showing protracted phases of moisture availability. Wetland sediments in Wadi Gharandal containing Levallois artifacts yielded an age of 84 ka. Our findings support the growing consensus for a well-watered Jordan Rift Valley that funneled migrants into western Asia and northern Arabia.