Migration is an integral part of human existence, as evidenced by fossilized footprints on American soil nearly 23,000 years ago.
The first proven migration would go back Homo erectus Two million years ago, what experts call the “Exodus from Africa” began. Since then, our species has been the only one to spread across the entire planet. In his book Homo migrans, From Leaving Africa to the Great Captivity (ed. Payot, 2022), archaeologist Jean-Paul Demoule develops several explanations.
Several factors have pushed man to discover other areas
There galloping demographics since the Neolithic requires more and more space. The will to power leads to the fact that the dominant constantly strives to expand its territory. The need to define oneself pushes one to turn to the barbarian, to that hated “other”. After all, the sense of community, solidarity, has always led Homo sapiens to found a society. This has resulted in a permanent hybrid that is visible in languages and cultures as well as in our genomes.
Man, the largest mammalian predator
If humans hadn’t existed or migrated, northern Europe would have wolves, moose and bears, as well as free-roaming rhinos and elephants. Just as Texas and northern Argentina would welcome species now seen only on photo safaris… Yes, in the absence of the ultimate super predator, large mammals would be present everywhere on the planet, unlike today where they are only found in East Africa Preserved Territories like the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. This analysis by Danish researchers, published in 2015, is based on large mammal species distribution models that show this the presence of man has a greater effect than the natural development of its surroundings. Spaces in Africa that have long been uninhabited and hardly urbanized or mountainous areas on other continents are places of refuge for them.
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