Out of Africa I

In palaeoanthropology, Out of Africa I is the first series of hominin expansions into Eurasia, which took place from 1.8 to 0.8 million years ago (Ma). Shortly before in Africa, Homo erectus had descended from the woodland-restricted Homo habilis. H. erectus, diverging from H. habilis, adapted to the open grounds of the savannahs and arid landscapes, and later managed to expand out of East Africa, eventually into Eurasia.

According to the recent African origin of modern humans hypothesis (Out of Africa II), anatomically modern humans started moving into Eurasia and replacing earlier hominins c. 100,000 years ago. The phrase Out of Africa used alone generally means Out of Africa II, the expansion of modern humans into Eurasia.

Early hominins moved out of Africa in at least three waves. Primitive chopper producers were first out by c. 1.8 Ma, followed by early Acheulean industries c. 1.4 Ma, and various cleaver-producing Acheulean groups around 0.8 Ma.

Until the early 1980s, hominins were thought to have been restricted to the African continent in the , or until about 0.8 Ma; thus, archaeological efforts have been disproportionately focused on (East) Africa. Further, hominin migrations out of East Africa were probably rare in the Early Pleistocene, leaving a record of events broken in space and time. In general, archeological evidence does not fit simple theories of where the migrations took place and is insufficient to support elaborate conjectures.

The oldest hominin sites are in East Africa. The earliest known retouched tools were found in Lomekwi, Kenya, and date back to 3.3 Ma, in the late Pliocene. They might be the product of Australopithecus garhi or Paranthropus aethiopicus, the two known hominins contemporary with the tools.

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