Human Expansion from Africa to Asia

April 13, 2019 DAIGU SIGUA

Image credit: File:Human spreading over history.png

Human Expansion from Africa to Asia

According to National Geographic Society's Genographic Project, it shows the expansion routes of human after coming out of Africa. There are two routes associated with eastern Asia, the divergence point of these two routes is located in the Arabian Peninsula. After leaving there, the south route follows the shores of Indian Peninsula, the Indochina Peninsula, the Malay Archipelago, and then goes north through Taiwan, the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, and the Korean Peninsula, entering the eastern part of the Asian continent. The north route enters Central Asia from the Persian Gulf and reaches the Indochina Peninsula along the southern foothills of the Himalayas, and thus enters China to the north. The south route which arrived in Taiwan 50,000 years ago, known as M174, is the ancestor of the East Asian nations. The north route, called M122, arrived in the northern part of China in 10,000 years ago and was the ancestor of the Han people. M174 is 40,000 years earlier than M122. It can be seen that the M174, the route of ancestors who settled in Taiwan, had a much earlier civilization than the Chinese had by 40,000 years. M174, the route of Taiwanese ancestors began to expand again to the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean 5,000 years ago. Their descendants are the vast distributed Austronesian.

The definition of human in this article refers to Homo sapiens, not referring to the hominid, or great apes. Homo sapiens left Africa around 60,000 years ago. It may be due to the climate change that the originally lush Sahara had gradually become an arid barren land. After humans came out of Africa, they split into several routes in the Arabian Peninsula, heading northward to the Mediterranean and Central Asia, and heading eastward to India and Southeast Asia. Among them, M174 travellers spent 10,000 years to reach Southeast Asia, including Taiwan and Indonesia.

60,000 years ago, the Earth was in the ice age, and the glaciers covered most of the Earth's surface. The sea level fell and the coastline expanded outward. The East China Sea, the South China Sea, and the waters around Indonesia were land. (See the red part in the map below). This area is one of the few locations in the Ice Age that was suitable for human habitation.

The area included the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, Java and the seas in between. This entire area was above sea level during the Ice Age. In biogeography it is known as Sundaland and is an extension part of the modern Asia continent. Evidences of geological findings show that the continent was a landmass formed between 110,000 and 12,000 years ago, and that humans could travel from Indonesia to Taiwan without using a ship. The Sundaland is also the dividing point of M174, southern M130 and northern M130 routes.

The southern M130 arrived in Australia 50,000 years ago and is the route of the ancestors of today's Aboriginal Australian. The identification of this date has already been proven, and the conclusions of National Geographic Society's project are consistent with that. The north M130, northward along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, reaches Hokkaido and is the route taken by the ancestors of the Ainu people. Others continued to go north along the coast, crossing Beringia, the current Bering Sea, and entering the northern part of the Americas 24,000 years ago. These were the ancestor of the North American natives. It was the first time humans have entered the Americas. 4,000 Years later, the M242 from Siberia once again entered the Americas. Beringia was the gateway for humans to enter the Americas, although most of what is currently seen today is below sea level. The exploration of human prehistoric history, perhaps the part that submerged under the sea is the determining key point.

The concept of Taiwania is also a topic that cannot be ignored in the prehistory of East Asia. This area covers Taiwan, the Ryukyu Islands, the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea, the Bohai Sea, the Yangtze River Estuary, and the Taiwan Strait. It is also a land that was exposed to the sea during the Ice Age. Taiwania is the cradle of the two major civilizations of the Austronesian and the East Asian nations. Especially the former, the Austronesian was the world's first maritime civilization with its excellent navigation technology and vessels. Through navigation, the Austronesians spread their language, culture, technology, and domesticated animals and plants to the rest of the world. (See Taiwan’s gift to the world / Jared M. Diamond)

Located on the southern coast of Taiwania, Yonaguni was the island closest to Taiwan within the Ryukyu Islands. The relic is an altar-like artificial structure on the seabed near Yonaguni, which sank to the bottom of the sea after the end of the ice age 12,000 years ago. It is also a prehistoric relic of the civilization at that time. Since humans have arrived in Taiwan 50,000 years ago, the history that can be traced back is only 5,000 years ago. We know almost nothing about human activities in Taiwania, the continent existed in prehistory. The legendary Mu Continent and Atlantis may have relationship with Taiwania.

Since there is no such thing as a nation in prehistoric era, the discussion of prehistoric history should not be based on the nation. From a linguistic point of view, the ethnic groups of East Asia and Southeast Asia are using the Austronesian language to a greater or lesser extent. (See Table 1) From a geological point of view, from 110,000 to 12,000 years ago, East Asia and Southeast Asia belonged to the same land mass. Their people are also highly homogenous in culture.

The M242 from Central Asia is another main migration route for the East Asian people, although it is 30,000 years later than the M174 route. The ethnic group of this route belongs to the Altaic language family, including the languages of Turkic, Mongolian, and Tungusic. The fiercely Altaic people and the Han Chinese in the south were in conflict for thousands of years. The Han people was also conquered by the Mongol Empire and the Qing Empire for 373 years. The so-called Chinese has been mixed with the language of many conquerors during this period. (See Table 1) Modern Chinese Mandarin is distant from the tongue of ancient Chinese, just like the language of a foreigner.

The importance of M174 is to clarify the historical concepts of many previous simulations. Taiwan had been inhabited 50,000 years ago, and the distribution of civilization is from south to north. The same is true when it comes to the distribution of language. The Austronesian language spread from Taiwan to the north. In Japanese, Korean, and Wu, Yue, Shanghai, Min, and Cantonese, to the south of the Yangtze River, can be found the cognates of Austronesian.

The National Geographic Society's Genographic Project is an groundbreaking initiative. The mitochondrial DNA is analyzed by modern technology, and the relationship of different migration routes of human beings are being pursued. Its research conclusions set a model for human prehistoric activities. The prehistory of human is always composed of speculations. The routes and dates of the conclusions of this study will be a guideline for follow-up discussions. For example, if a miner gets a satellite map of a mine vein, gain is expected if he digs within the range. In addition to survival, exploring the truth of history and finding the footsteps of the ancestors should be the subject that all human beings must pay attention to.