A puzzling gap in the knowledge of ancient human whereabouts over a roughly 20,000-year period has finally been filled, according to experts.
Researchers have pinpointed the Persian Plateau — also known as the Iranian Plateau — as a pivotal geographical crossroad in the early exodus of Homo sapiens out of Africa, Knewz.com has learned.
An international team of scientists detailed their findings in a study titled "The Persian plateau served as hub for Homo sapiens after the main out of Africa dispersal," published on Monday, March 25, in the journal Nature Communications.
Based on genetic and archaeological evidence, historians believe Homo sapiens began their spread from Africa between 60,000 to 70,000 years ago. However, their expansion across Eurasia is said to have occurred 45,000 years ago, leaving researchers wondering where they settled beforehand.
The geographic whereabouts of early humans during this timeframe has been "difficult to reconcile," according to the researchers.
"Our multidisciplinary study provides a more coherent view of the ancient past, offering insights into the critical period between the Out of Africa expansion and the differentiation of Eurasian populations," Michael Petraglia, a co-author of the study and the director of Griffith University's Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, said in a statement. “The Persian plateau emerges as a key region, underlining the need for further archaeological explorations."
The team analyzed available genomic evidence and found an ancestral link between present-day populations in the Persian plateau and the ancient humans that settled outside Africa, they said.
"Such a genetic signature was detected thanks to a new approach that disentangles 40,000 years of admixture and other confounding events," the Griffith University statement read. "This genetic connection underscores the plateau’s significance as a pivotal location for early human settlement and subsequent migrations."
The team also examined climate data, which showed the region was an ideal habitat for early settlers, substantially more capable of sustaining larger populations compared to areas in West Asia.
"Furthermore, the presence of a viable area located on both shores of the Red Sea and stretching across the Mediterranean Sea would seem to offer a suitable habitat," the researchers wrote in the study.
Simulations of the ancient landscape and climate of the Persian Plateau also revealed it was at a higher elevation when early humans were dispersing from Africa, which would have given populations an edge over surrounding areas.
“The discovery elucidates a 20,000-year-long portion of the history of Homo sapiens outside of Africa, a timeframe during which we interacted with Neanderthal populations, and sheds light on the relationships between various Eurasian populations, providing crucial clues for understanding the demographic history of our species across Europe, East Asia, and Oceania,” the study's first author, Leonardo Vallini from the University of Padova in Italy, said.
“The revelation of the Persian plateau as a hub for early human migration opens new doors for archaeological exploration, enriching our understanding of our species’ journey across continents and highlighting this region’s pivotal role in shaping human history,” Professor Luca Pagani, the study's senior author, added.
