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Do not fill this in! ===Prehistory=== {{Main|Prehistoric Africa}} {{See also|Recent African origin of modern humans}} [[File:Lucy blackbg.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|[[Lucy (Australopithecus)|Lucy]], an ''[[Australopithecus afarensis]]'' skeleton discovered in 1974 in the [[Awash Valley]] of [[Ethiopia]]'s [[Afar Triangle]] ]] Africa is considered by most [[paleoanthropology|paleoanthropologists]] to be the [[cradle of Humankind|oldest inhabited territory]] on Earth, with the Human species originating from the continent.<ref name="HerreraGarcia-Bertrand2018">{{cite book|first1=Rene J.|last1=Herrera|first2=Ralph|last2=Garcia-Bertrand|title=Ancestral DNA, Human Origins, and Migrations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZF1gDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA61|year=2018|publisher=Elsevier Science|isbn=978-0-12-804128-4|pages=61–|access-date=18 October 2020|archive-date=30 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330032459/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZF1gDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA61|url-status=live}}</ref> During the mid-20th century, [[Anthropology|anthropologists]] discovered many [[fossil]]s and evidence of human occupation perhaps as early as seven million years ago ([[Before Present|Before present]], BP). Fossil remains of several species of early apelike humans thought to have [[Evolution|evolved]] into modern humans, such as ''[[Australopithecus afarensis]]'' [[Radiometric dating|radiometrically dated]] to approximately 3.9–3.0 million years BP,<ref>Kimbel, William H. and Yoel Rak and Donald C. Johanson. (2004) ''The Skull of Australopithecus Afarensis'', Oxford University Press US. {{ISBN|0-19-515706-0}}</ref> ''[[Paranthropus boisei]]'' (c. 2.3–1.4 million years BP)<ref>Tudge, Colin. (2002) ''The Variety of Life.'', Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-860426-2}}</ref> and ''[[Homo ergaster]]'' (c. 1.9 million–600,000 years BP) have been discovered.<ref name=Sayre/> After the evolution of ''[[Homo sapiens]]'' approximately 350,000 to 260,000 years BP in Africa,<ref name="Schlebusch2017"/><ref name="Guardian"/><ref name="NYT-20190910"/><ref name="NAT-20190910"/> the continent was mainly populated by groups of [[hunter-gatherer]]s.<ref>Mokhtar, G. (1990) ''UNESCO [[General History of Africa]], Vol. II, Abridged Edition: Ancient Africa'', University of California Press. {{ISBN|0-85255-092-8}}</ref><ref>Eyma, A.K. and C.J. Bennett. (2003) ''Delts-Man in Yebu: Occasional Volume of the Egyptologists' Electronic Forum No. 1'', Universal Publishers. p. 210. {{ISBN|1-58112-564-X}}</ref> These first modern humans left Africa and populated the rest of the [[globe]] during the [[Recent African origin of modern humans|Out of Africa II]] migration dated to approximately 50,000 years BP, exiting the continent either across [[Bab-el-Mandeb]] over the [[Red Sea]],<ref>Wells, Spencer (December 2002) [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/12/1212_021213_journeyofman.html The Journey of Man] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427020944/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/12/1212_021213_journeyofman.html |date=27 April 2011 }}. ''National Geographic''</ref><ref>Oppenheimer, Stephen. [http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/journey/gates2.html The Gates of Grief] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140530001241/http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/journey/gates2.html |date=30 May 2014 }}. bradshawfoundation.com</ref> the [[Strait of Gibraltar]] in Morocco,<ref>{{Cite web|title=15. Strait of Gibraltar, Atlantic Ocean/Mediterranean Sea|url=https://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/slidesets/humanimprints/slide_15.html|website=www.lpi.usra.edu|access-date=13 May 2020|archive-date=26 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126205023/https://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/slidesets/humanimprints/slide_15.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fregel |first1=Rosa |last2=Méndez |first2=Fernando L. |last3=Bokbot |first3=Youssef |last4=Martín-Socas |first4=Dimas |last5=Camalich-Massieu |first5=María D. |last6=Santana |first6=Jonathan |last7=Morales |first7=Jacob |last8=Ávila-Arcos |first8=María C. |last9=Underhill |first9=Peter A. |last10=Shapiro |first10=Beth |last11=Wojcik |first11=Genevieve |last12=Rasmussen |first12=Morten |last13=Soares |first13=André E. R. |last14=Kapp |first14=Joshua |last15=Sockell |first15=Alexandra |last16=Rodríguez-Santos |first16=Francisco J. |last17=Mikdad |first17=Abdeslam |last18=Trujillo-Mederos |first18=Aioze |last19=Bustamante |first19=Carlos D. |title=Ancient genomes from North Africa evidence prehistoric migrations to the Maghreb from both the Levant and Europe |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=26 June 2018 |volume=115 |issue=26 |pages=6774–6779 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1800851115 |pmid=29895688 |pmc=6042094 |bibcode=2018PNAS..115.6774F |doi-access=free }}</ref> or the [[Isthmus of Suez]] in Egypt.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.ffzg.unizg.hr/arheo/ska/tekstovi/out_of_africa.pdf|doi=10.1007/s10963-006-9002-z|title=Getting "Out of Africa": Sea Crossings, Land Crossings and Culture in the Hominin Migrations|journal=Journal of World Prehistory|volume=19|issue=2|pages=119–132|year=2005|last1=Derricourt|first1=Robin|s2cid=28059849|access-date=26 December 2013|archive-date=22 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222031934/http://www.ffzg.unizg.hr/arheo/ska/tekstovi/out_of_africa.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Other migrations of modern humans within the African continent have been dated to that time, with evidence of early human settlement found in Southern Africa, Southeast Africa, North Africa, and the [[Sahara]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Goucher, Candice|author2=Walton, Linda|title=World History: Journeys from Past to Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gY7cAAAAQBAJ|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-72354-6|pages=2–20|access-date=5 February 2018|archive-date=11 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611044204/https://books.google.com/books?id=gY7cAAAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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