The cradle of humankind: Where did the first humans live and how did we evolve?

Explore the complex 2-million-year journey of human evolution. From the "Handy Man" in Africa to the interbreeding of Neanderthals and Denisovans, know how Homo sapiens populated the world.

The story of how we became human is a complicated one that took millions of years to develop. Our species (Homo sapience) has lived alongside other human ancestor species through time. The 'how' and the "where'" we became who we are is very different; the 'how' is being studied, but there is no question that it started in Africa.

The first humans: The 'handy man' (Homo habilis) and others

Scientifically, we identify humans as members of the genus Homo (the Latin word for 'man'). While the exact dates are still being established, we have identified the first known human ancestors and when they began to exist (all in Africa).

Homo habilis (Handy Man): existed approximately 2.4 to 1.4 million years ago in Tanzania and South Africa as one of the earliest stone-tool users.

Homo rudolfensis existed in Eastern Africa between 1.9 to 1.8 million years ago.

Homo erectus lived between 1.89 million years and 110,000 years ago and migrated from Africa to what is now China and Indonesian territory.

A number of different species that have evolved: All are interrelated

Modern humans did not develop from a line of humans that were completely isolated from any other group. There is evidence that there was a group of very ancient humans in Africa that broke away from other lines and began migrating.

It has been noted that "archaic" humans such as Neanderthals and Denisovans began to appear as time advanced. Neanderthals have been researched since the 1800s, but Denisovans weren't discovered until 2008. Data produced by genomic studies from the Max Planck Institute have confirmed the presence of Neanderthal DNA in modern human genomes, indicating that our ancestors were in contact and formed families with each other while migrating away from Africa approximately 70,000 years ago.

The gift of fire and knowledge

Our ancestors did not just exchange DNA with each other; they also exchanged knowledge that aided in their survival. For instance, researchers believe that ancient human species shared important survival skills such as how to create fire. Evidence of this is found in a 2018 article published in the journal Nature. The article reports a study showing that Neanderthals were quite skilled at creating fire in what is now France some 50,000 years ago, and they likely handed on this skill to early Homo sapiens.

From Africa to the ends of the earth

There is a wealth of data indicating that every major branch of the human family tree (including Australopithecus, Homo erectus, Neanderthals, and Homo sapiens) has its beginning in Africa. After living and thriving in many locations throughout the African continent for hundreds of thousands of years, these members of the family eventually migrated out of Africa, first settling in Europe and Asia and eventually populating the entire world.

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