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3.2 How Humans Spread: ArchaeologyVersion 1.3 February 2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â (Previous Version)
This Chapter covers history from about 50,000 years ago to about 5,000 years ago, essentially before writing. We learn about these times from a variety of scientific evidence, especially the bones of humans and other animals, artefacts which last such as pottery, but also biology and linguistics. As people spread around the world they took their survival skills with them and adapted on the way. Initially all humans were small bands of hunter gatherers. Later humans began to domesticate plants and animals and turn into farmers, living more or less in one place, settled in villages. When they could, as people explored away from their home villages, they took their survival skills with them, and domesticated newly discovered plants and animals. But some of the new places were hostile to farming, so the people resumed being hunter gatherers. How it panned out depended mostly on the geography of the land – the climate, weather, landscape, and the local plants and animals. Scientists and historians have developed a rich story of how humans spread around the world and why some societies prospered more than others. There are many gaps in our knowledge, new controversies will arise, and the story will change, especially in the details.Â
We propose to look at how we know what we know about history under the following headings:
As stated in the chapter overview, this is the current summary of our conclusions in this area: Humans spread out of Africa into Eurasia, Australia, the Americas and many islands, adapting to but also changing their new environments, developing farming sooner in areas where plants and animals were easier to domesticate, in Eurasia and New Guinea, later in the Americas and Africa, and partially in Australia.  more                                                             Statement 15
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