The Origin of Anatomically Modern Humans ( Homo sapiens ) in Africa
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24217023 |
|---|---|
| Authors | A P Derevianko (0000-0003-1156-8331, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 54 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 3-27 |
| Publication date | 2026-10-04 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Archaeology Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1563-0110 • E-ISSN: 1531-832X |
| Publisher | Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.17746/1563-0110.2026.54.3.003-027 |
| OpenAlex | W7220402938 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 118 |
The emergence of anatomically modern humans was a pivotal event in evolution. It has been dealt with in hundreds of books and an infi nite number of articles. I have been tackling this problem for more than half a century, especially in the last 15–20 years, after the results of sequencing Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA had become available. My conclusions will be outlined in two articles. The fi rst one focuses on the evolution of H. erectus in Africa, culminating in the emergence of early Homo sapiens , while in the second one the emergence of H. s. neanderthalensis in Europe and H. s. denisovensis in Central Asia, and the convergent evolution of local H. erectus populations toward H. sapiens in East and Southeast Asia will be examined. Homo sapiens sapiens originated in the process of the dispersal of anatomically modern humans from Africa 60–30 thousand years ago and their admixture with H. s. neanderthalensis in Europe, Denisovans (the informal term is Homo s. denisovensis ) in Central Asia, and early modern humans, informally termed Homo s. orienthalensis , who had originated in China and Southeast Asia.
admixture · anatomically modern humans · Convergent evolution · Denisovan DNA · Denisovans · Homo erectus · Neanderthal DNA · Neanderthals · Forensic and Genetic Research · Language and cultural evolution · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
Patterns of Middle Pleistocene hominin evolution in Africa and the emergence of modern humans
Genetic history of an archaic hominin group from Denisova Cave in Siberia
Middle and later Pleistocene hominins in Africa and Southwest Asia
Early Homo erectus skeleton from west Lake Turkana, Kenya
Mitochondrial DNA and human evolution
Small Mid-Pleistocene Hominin Associated with East African Acheulean Technology
A New Cave Man from Rhodesia, South Africa
The complete genome sequence of a Neanderthal from the Altai Mountains
Modern human origins
Southern Africa and modern human origins
Postcranial Remains of Homo erectus from Bed IV, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
Palaeoanthropological discoveries in the Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia
Direct dating of Florisbad hominid
Remains of Homo erectus from Bouri, Middle Awash, Ethiopia
Could African Eve Have Admired the Pacific Sunrise
Origin of Modern Humans
From Acheulean to Middle Stone Age in the Kapthurin Formation, Kenya
Climatic Changes, Paleogeography, and the Evolution of the Neandertals
Middle Pleistocene Diversity in Africa and the Origin of Modern Humans
The Evolution of Homo Erectus
Multiple dispersals and modern human origins
Human evolution in the Middle Pleistocene
Resolving the “muddle in the middle”
Concocting a divisive theory
On stony ground
In the shadow of the modern synthesis? Alternative perspectives on the last fifty years of paleoanthropology
Archeology and the evolution of human behavior
On the origin of modern humans in China
The Assimilation Model of modern human origins in light of current genetic and genomic knowledge
Middle pleistocene humans from africa
Vingt-cinq ans après
The Stratigraphy and Sedimentology of the Main Site Sequence, Klasies River, South Africa
Origin of Neanderthals. Neanderthals of the Altai
Pre-sapiens hypothesis or Afro-European sapiens hypothesis
Provenience, age and associations of archaic Homo sapiens crania from Lake Eyasi, Tanzania
The Acheulian Site of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov Volume IV
The 1992–1993 Excavations at the Die Kelders Middle and Later Stone Age Cave Site, South Africa
Bone tools from Broken Hill (Kabwe) cave, Zambia, and their evolutionary significance
Continuity and change in the origin of modern Homo sapiens
The bovids from Elandsfontein, South Africa, and their implications for the age, palaeoenvironment, and origins of the site
Two Late Pleistocene-Holocene Archaeological Depositories from the Southern Cape, South Africa
Middle Pleistocene hominids from Olduvai Gorge, Northern Tanzania
The fossil human remains from the Paleolithic site of Sidi Abderrahman (Morocco)
Hominid cranial remains from upper pleistocene deposits at Aduma, Middle Awash, Ethiopia
Pathological alterations in the archaic Homo sapiens cranium from Eliye Springs, Kenya
Hominid evolution in northwest Africa and the question of the north African “Neanderthaloids”
A recent discovery in human paleontology
A comparison of the NariokotomeHomo erectus with juveniles from a modern human population
Hominid molars from a middle stone age level at the Mumba Rock Shelter, Tanzania
A new hominid parietal from Bodo, middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia
Modern human origins
Variability in traces of Middle Pleistocene hominid behavior in the Kapthurin Formation, Baringo, Kenya
A numerical cladistic analysis for the genus
Some further notes on the morphology and dating of the Petralona hominid
The Neanderthal “chignon
Homo in the middle pleistocene
The origin of anatomically modern humans and their behavior in africa and eurasia
Implications of Border Cave Skeletal Remains for Later Pleistocene Human Evolution [and Comments and Reply]
Neurocranial evolution in modern humans
Who Were the Denisovans
The Origin of Anatomically Modern Humans in China
Comparative studies of Late Pleistocene human remains from Klasies River Mouth, South Africa
The Ndutu cranium and the origin ofHomo sapiens
The ES-11693 cranium from Eliye Springs, West Turkana, Kenya
The revolution that wasn't
Human foot bones from Klasies River main site, South Africa
Genomics refutes an exclusively African origin of humans
The human chin revisited
Human remains from Blombos Cave, South Africa
Additional human remains from Blombos Cave, South Africa
Dating, archaeology and human fossils from the Middle Stone Age levels of Die Kelders, South Africa
Paleoanthropology of the Kibish Formation, southern Ethiopia
The one-million-year-old Homo cranium from Bouri (Ethiopia)
The Omo I hominin clavicle
Morphological affinities of the proximal ulna from Klasies River main site
The face of Olduvai Hominid 12
Conceptual issues in hominin taxonomy
Multiregional, not multiple origins
The human cranium from Bodo, Ethiopia
Evidence from facial morphology for similarity of Asian and African representatives ofHhomo erectus
La pneumatisation du massif cranio-facial chez les hommes actuels et fossiles (suite)
L'humérus d'enfant moustérien (Homo 4) du Djebel Irhoud (Maroc) dans son contexte archéologique
A Middle Palaeolithic burial of a modern human at Taramsa Hill, Egypt
Early Modern Humans
Paleo-Demes, Species Clades, and Extinctions in the Pleistocene Hominin Record
A Diffusion Wave out of Africa
The Place of Rabat Man (Kebibat, Morocco) in Human Evolution
| Highly cited | No |
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