Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind · chapter 1 · id sapiens-c1-04-homo-sapiens-originated-in-eas
“Homo sapiens originated in East Africa about 200,000 years ago.”
TRUE, BUTconfidence: high⚠ extracted by pipeline, re-audit pending
Receipts
Hublin et al. (2017), Nature 546:289-292 -- Jebel Irhoud redatingDOI registry: valid
New fossils and revised dating at Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, push the origin of Homo sapiens back to approximately 315,000 years ago and to North Africa, not East Africa.
Vidal et al. (2022), Nature 601:579-583 -- Omo I redatingDOI registry: valid
The Omo I fossils from Ethiopia are redated to at least 233,000 years ago, further pushing back the East African record beyond Harari's 200,000-year figure.
Scerri et al. (2018), Trends in Ecology & Evolution 33(8):582-594DOI registry: valid
Homo sapiens evolved as a subdivided, pan-African meta-population, not from a single East African cradle. Multiple regions across Africa contributed to the emergence of our species.
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