28. Explain the diffusionism/ Out of Africa hypothesis

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Return to History 8 Human Origins Concepts

The Out of Africa hypothesis is the second proposed idea about the origin of the modern homo sapiens. This more popular explanation says that a small and isolated group of early humans developed into homo sapiens. It continues to state that this group successfully spread across Africa, Europe, and Asia, eventually replacing all other species as they spread. Molecular biology, more specifically mitochondrial DNA help support this idea, as ann approximate time of seperation from modern humans from the common ancestor can be taken from DNA. Research showed that this divergence happened around 200,000 years ago, too early for the Multiregional Hypothesis.

out_of_africa.jpg

Sources: SJS Manual Page 38

http://archaeology.about.com/od/oterms/g/outofafrica.htm

- Leila Pulaski

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