Beyond just you, the reader, my target audience includes children – yours and mine. I've always wanted them to know where they came from and the migrations that brought them to where they are today.
Our children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents, and possibly a few "greats" beyond that--how many rings on our ancestral tree do any of us know?
Beginning in the late 19th century and extending into the present, many government and private entities have been highly effective at collecting extensive information about 'us.' There isn't much about the individual and the demographic ‘you’ that isn't already known and digitally available.
If your ancestors owned property or were members of a particular religious and/or social class, chances were that you could trace your family history back several generations. If your ancestors were members of the butcher-baker-candlestick-maker class, or if they were peasants/serfs, itinerant something-or-others: gypsies, snake oil salesmen, card sharks, or fugitives of one sort or another, chances are your ancestry faded in the mists of time.
For many the genealogic trail grows cold beyond their great-grandparents. Birth-marriage-death certificates, census/tax records, wills, cemetery headstones, old photographs, letters, journals, a name on a ship manifest, an oral family history passed down through the generations may allow you to wind the clock back to some earlier century on some distant continent but eventually, it all comes to a historical record dead-end and a big question mark about who you are and where you came from.
Some may claim to be descendants of an Egyptian prince or royalty of some sort, but chances are it’s all a bit of nonsense-hooey-bullsh*t-poppycock. If these claims aren’t accompanied by rigorous research and ample citations... beware. It’s more likely that they were related to the folks doing the heavy lifting on the pyramid-building crews than to actual royalty.
First Peoples
All is not lost though. Fossil discoveries, genetic analysis, and archeological findings all seem to point to Africa and the Rift Valley as our starting point some 250,000 and 300,000 years ago when early modern humans appeared. More
Then around 100,000 years ago some of our relatives decided it was time to move -- not sure anyone knows why but it is likely that it was either a Push or a Pull event.
Push Events: Possibly some environmental disaster such as drought, which led to famine and disease. This story continues to be written. What is known is that one, or some series of events/conditions led our ancestors to pick up and go.
Pull Events: Curiosity, better weather, more water, more to eat, less struggle, friendlier environment. There might have been a combination of Push and Pull events that eventually led modern humans out of Africa and on separate migratory paths.
It is important to emphasize that this story is not settled science and fossil and archeological discoveries continue to be made. Refinements in genetic analysis may also continue to improve our understanding.
Recent African Origin - Great Hominin Dispersals - Multiregional Evolution
Based on my understanding, RAO, GHD, and MRE theories differ in their origin interpretations. Along the way, connections were forged with other humans. For example, traces of Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA have been found in non-African populations. Interbreeding has led to a complex stew of genetic diversity that influenced physical traits: disease susceptibility/immunity, bone density, hair and skin color, and the cultures that emerged. Here is a very short outline. Click on the accompanying “more” link for details.
RAO
This theory argues that modern humans evolved ~ 200,000 years ago in Africa with waves of migration beginning ~ 70,000 years ago and that we are descendants of a small founder population that migrated out of Africa ~65,000 years ago. More
GHD
This theory argues that there were multiple migration events that occurred throughout human history, involving different hominin species like Homo erectus and Homo heidelbergensis, not just Homo sapiens. More
MRE
This theory argues that things got started ~ two million years ago and that we evolved within a single, continuous human species to include all archaic human forms such as H. Erectus, Neanderthals, modern forms that evolved to the diverse populations of anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens). More
23andMe
When the 23andMe genetic testing company launched November 2007, you could buy a test for $999. In 2010 they introduced a kit for $199. Then as the technology improved, other modules were added and continued to be refined. In 2017 the price dropped to $99. You can now become a member for $69/yr. This isn’t a plug for 23andMe, there are other similar services available now: AncestryDNA, MyHeritageDNA, and LivingDNA. More
However, none of these services claim to be the final word. Even though I can pull back the curtain and learn more about the genetic 'me' and where I came from, these platforms will continue to evolve as scientific discoveries help unravel the complexity that is human evolution and population history.
According to 23andMe’s analysis of my genetic stew as of 1.1.2024, I am:
. 73.2 European
Southern European 51.7% (Spanish, Portuguese, Italian), Northern European 20.3% (British & Irish, Broadly Northwestern European (Finland, Norway, France), Ashkenazi Jewish
. 23.4% Indigenous American
. 1.3% Sub-Saharan
Congolese and Southern East African 0.7%, Angolan & Congolese 0.7%, West African 0.6% (Nigerian 0.4% and Senegambian & Guinean 0.2%).
. 1.3% Trace History: North African 0.4%, Broadly Chinese 0.3%, Broadly East Asian 0.2%, Chinese Dai 0.2% and Broadly Central & South Asian 0.2%
Conclusion
There is soooo much more to this story than can be captured in this blog. I plan on Part II of the migration story and how migration became immigration along the way.
Your thoughts and comments are welcome. You are also welcome to write and submit a guest blog on a new topic, or in response to any of my published topics.
To be continued...
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