LeSSOn B
Reading
Our Family Journey
track 1-08
A
StudieS of modern dnA and ancient human remains tell
us that all humans today come from a small group of African
ancestors. Over 50,000 years ago, these ancestors began an
amazing journey. After leaving Africa, they split into groups
and entered new lands. By crossing from continent to
continent, our ancestors migrated to all parts of the globe.
1 Oldest Humans
B
Omo I and Omo II are the oldest known fossil
remains of modern humans like ourselves. Scientists
believe Omo I and Omo II lived about
195,000 years ago.
2 Distant Relative
C
The common male ancestor of every living man lived
in Africa about 60,000 years ago. This man was not the
first human—he had human ancestors. Also, he was not
the only man alive at that time. However, his descendants
are the only ones still alive in the present day.
3 Leaving Africa
D
The first large group of migrants left Africa about
50,000 years ago. They probably traveled through
southern Arabia, across India, and into Southeast Asia.
4 First Australians
E
Some of the early migrants reached Australia. Scientists
have discovered stone objects and other remains in the area
of Lake Mungo. The findings show that people cooked fish
and other animals there about 45,000 years ago.
5 Across Asia
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Monte Verde
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About the same time, other groups of migrants moved
across central Asia. Scientists call this area a “migration
superhighway.” Some humans went west, but mountains and
forests made reaching Europe difficult. Most migrants went
east, across flat lands called the Eurasian steppes. As they moved
north, they made clothing to keep warm in the colder weather.
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6 Mammoth Hunters
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FPO
Discovery of hunting tools shows that humans reached Siberia about
40,000 years ago. The hunters probably followed migrating mammoths.
Scientists found similar hunting tools in North America. These findings
tell us the hunters’ descendants were probably the first people to reach
North America.
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ChauvetPont-d’Arc
7 Early Art
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9 Journey’s End
J
In 1976, 13,000-year-old human
remains were found by a river in the
Monte Verde area in southern Chile.
South America was the last continent
reached by humans in their migration
around the globe.
These tools of early Americans, discovered
in Cactus Hill, Virginia, may be some of the
oldest yet found in the Americas.
In 1994, scientists found the
world’s oldest artwork in a French
cave called Chauvet-Pontd’Arc. Early humans painted
hundreds of animals on the
cave walls, including lions,
H rhinos, and mammoths.
Scientists also found the
oldest human footprints
here. They are probably
the footprints of a child
who lived about 26,000
years ago.
8 Into America
Lake Mungo
About 25,000 to
30,000 years ago, the sea level
was about 300 feet (90 meters)
I
lower than it is now. At that time,
a 620-mile (1,000-kilometer)
“land bridge” connected Asia and
North America. Humans probably
migrated from Asia to North America
by this bridge.
F A m i ly T i e s
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