Human dispersals out of Africa via the Levant
Human dispersals out of Africa via the Levant
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.
Abbas, Mahmoud
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Lai, Zhongping
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Jansen, John
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Tu, Hua
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Alqudah, Mohammad
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Xu, Xiaolin
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Al-Saqarat, Bety
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Al Hseinat, Mu’ayyad
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Ou, Xianjiao
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Petraglia, Michael
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Carling, Paul
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4 October 2023
Abbas, Mahmoud
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Lai, Zhongping
a8a92109-b480-4a17-9445-9e79ab60ea27
Jansen, John
78eecabd-5998-4709-8dec-abedb3e3ddb9
Tu, Hua
5ecbc186-f0f9-4392-884f-4d51f8c10cb7
Alqudah, Mohammad
946643a6-17d1-43d3-ac11-1eccec41f0b6
Xu, Xiaolin
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Al-Saqarat, Bety
6e0818e6-6792-46a1-b4b9-2f49f9aab27b
Al Hseinat, Mu’ayyad
84c2a745-950a-4866-a4fc-22996cb83d6b
Ou, Xianjiao
abd812c5-ff4c-415f-8923-e4deaf81f17e
Petraglia, Michael
36dfa3d4-c4ad-4211-8ad7-2b8aacbb887d
Carling, Paul
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Abbas, Mahmoud, Lai, Zhongping, Jansen, John, Tu, Hua, Alqudah, Mohammad, Xu, Xiaolin, Al-Saqarat, Bety, Al Hseinat, Mu’ayyad, Ou, Xianjiao, Petraglia, Michael and Carling, Paul
(2023)
Human dispersals out of Africa via the Levant.
Science Advances, 9 (40), [eadi6838].
(doi:10.1126/sciadv.adi6838).
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.
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adi6838_manuscript -Clean- with figures
- Accepted Manuscript
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sciadv.adi6838
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Accepted/In Press date: 29 August 2023
Published date: 4 October 2023
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
We thank A. Al-Rawabdeh from the Yarmouk University for providing the RTK GNSS, E. Aletoum from the Tsinghua University and Y. Lai from the Xi’An Tieyi International Cooperative School for the help during the fieldwork, and L. Yu from the Linyi University for the help in measuring the three MET pIR-IRSL samples. P. Lin from the Shantou University and J. Xie from the Jiaying University are thanked for the assistance in the luminescence laboratories.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2023.
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 483085
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/483085
ISSN: 2375-2548
PURE UUID: e28cfcc4-9f8a-4bd5-81ed-bba9d465241b
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Date deposited: 23 Oct 2023 16:37
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:59
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Contributors
Author:
Mahmoud Abbas
Author:
Zhongping Lai
Author:
John Jansen
Author:
Hua Tu
Author:
Mohammad Alqudah
Author:
Xiaolin Xu
Author:
Bety Al-Saqarat
Author:
Mu’ayyad Al Hseinat
Author:
Xianjiao Ou
Author:
Michael Petraglia
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