Human Migration

     The last couple of classes we have really started to focus on human migration. After reading The Greatest Journey, reading Traces of Distant Past, and watching The Journey of Man, have learned a lot of things about the world that I did not know before. I would have never before guessed that Native Americans were from Asia.

 


We learned that everyone came out of Africa, and how our migration out of Africa can be determined by genetic markers, either using mitochondria, tracing maternal line, or using the more effective Y-chromosome approach, which gives you a more accurate way to trace the markers because there are tens of million of nucleotides as opposed to just 16,000 in the mitochondria, and they don't get chopped up from generation to generation. These two approaches have given us 'Mitochondrial Eve' and 'Y-chromosome Adam'. This genetic approach of tracing human migration is much more effective than the use of fossils and artifacts, for these are so rare and there are so few that there are huge wholes that would not have been filled without using genetics.

I learned that the San tribe is the first ancestors of mankind. That they are very unique, in that they speak in a clicking language, which is actually very effective in hunting because they can talk without scaring of their food. I learned that humans first migrated to Australia, while the ocean level was low enough for them to walk most of the way, this was due to the Ice Age. One of last cool things that I would like to talk about is the man named Niazov who lived in Central Asia. What was significant about him is that he was a direct descendant of a man who lived there 40,000 years ago, when it was the pit stop to the rest of he world. This man would have been an ancestor to Europeans, Native Americans, Russians, and many more. If you look at his face, you can definitely see a lot of diversity.