What Drove Homo Erectus Out of Africa?
Excavations at a site in northern Israel are at the heart of a debate about the species’ migrations
Josie Glausiusz, Sapiens
October 19, 2021
The 'Ubeidiya site today is an expanse of grasses. Concealed from this view are slabs of fossilized pebbly clay, a source of ancient finds that have helped scholars learn about the journeys of Homo erectus. Josie Glausiusz
On a searing hot summer day at ‘Ubeidiya, an ancient site in northern Israel, an undulating expanse of dry grasses and thistles stretches into the distance. Far on the horizon, the mountains of Jordan shimmer through the haze; nearby stand cultivated olive groves and a date palm plantation.
Just south of the Sea of Galilee, and up a rocky dirt road, ‘Ubeidiya seems like a secret, with no sign to indicate its archaeological riches. About 1.5 million years ago, ‘Ubeidiya’s panorama would have looked dramatically different, says archaeologist Omry Barzilai, of the Israel Antiquities Authority, as he tramps through hillside brambles. “You would have seen a large lake that extends all the way to the Jordanian hills,” he says.
Hippopotami would have grazed on aquatic plants. The landscape was thickly wooded by wild oak, olive, and pistachio trees. And on the lakeshore, one might have glimpsed some of modern human’s relatives, a band of Homo erectus, using sharpened stone hand axes to rip up the carcass of a deer or hippo slaughtered by a saber-toothed tiger.
‘Ubeidiya is one of the earliest-known sites settled by H. erectus (sometimes called Homo ergaster) en route out of Africa. The ancient site—named after a nearby Palestinian Arab village and discovered in 1959 by members of a local farming collective, Kibbutz Afikim—may be key to understanding why H. erectus migrated from its place of origin.
More:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-drove-homo-erectus-out-of-africa-180978881/
= new reply since forum marked as read
Maybe it was a combination of getting away from something and being drawn toward something.
Even snowy, icy climates have their "summers" which are periods of a little warmer temperatures when there is some partial melting and some plant growth. That would provide food and water for some animals that humans might have hunted. Following animals into snowy regions during those "summers" could have introduced humans to a gradual adaptation to colder climates as they learned how to keep warm and find shelter.
I don't know of any human ancestors older than Neanderthal that lived in cold, snowy environments. H. Sapiens and our Neanderthal ancestors/cousins needed to have already developed the use of fire and a level of tool technology that made survival possible in such cold climates.
But why would they bother to adapt to such weather and CHOOSE to live there? Getting away from competitors for resources in their own species or even from another skilled hunting animal? Avoiding confrontations? How many wars are fought in Arctic climates when all your energy needs to be focused on daily survival and mutual dependence? A preference for fighting against natyre instead of each other?
Or maybe resources in their original habitat became scarcer due to climate change making some regions dryer. There is always water available in snowy, icy climates. Just melt some ice or snow.
I also wonder why some humans adapted to desert life. They just didn't want to move when their habitat got hotter and dryer?
