Could African Eve Have Admired the Pacifi c Sunrise?

Could African Eve Have Admired the Pacific Sunrise?

doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2026.54.2.003-026

A.P. Derevianko
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

One of the key problems of modern science is the origin of anatomically modern humans and their dispersal across the planet. Skeletal, archaeological, and genetic studies suggest that early modern man originated in Africa no later than 200-150 ka BP and possibly earlier, given the 300 ka old fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco. Having departed from Africa, members of the H. sapiens species began to populate Eurasia 70-60 ka BP. Some experts argue that this dispersal resulted in the displacement of aboriginal groups, whereas others believe that partial hybridization was involved. The previous article published in this journal (2025, vol. 3) addressed the origin of anatomically modern humans in China. The present study, continuing it, discusses a tentative scenario of H. erectus evolving into H. sapiens in the territory adjoining China—Southeast Asia.

Keywords: H. erectus, H. sapiens, pebble-flake industry, Pleistocene, assimilation