Unravelling human migrations: DISPERSALS Project sheds light on early Homo sapiens' journey

Abstract

Unravelling human migrations: DISPERSALS Project sheds light on early Homo sapiens' journey DISPERSALS will compare the human occupation and ecology between central Mozambique and eastern and southern Africa using a multi-scale approach based on the study of regional diachronic cultural traits. It will reconstruct regional population patterns, followed by comparative quantitative population genetics combined with GIS computational network analyses. The results will then be integrated through agent-based modelling, based on the incremental creation, elimination, or reorientation of network links to simulate a quantitative framework to study the evolution of population dispersal across southern-eastern Africa. The project will be crucial in providing groundbreaking high-resolution archaeological, chronological and paleoenvironmental data. DISPERSALS will deliver a fundamental perspective on the key processes that triggered migrations and dispersals within Africa and out of Africa, ultimately resulting in the human diaspora over the entire planet.