How Did Humans Spread Across Europe from Africa Around 45,000 Years Ago? — Here’s What They Faced Along the Way

It is estimated that Homo sapiens migrated out of Africa around 50,000 to 70,000 years ago; however, it took them a few thousand more years to reach Europe and establish themselves across the whole continent compared to other regions.

Europe was already home to Neanderthals even before the modern human species arrived there, so how exactly did our ancestors successfully survive and thrive in this new environment? Did they simply outcompete the Neanderthals and other hominins to inhabit the globe and be the leading civilization? Let’s explore these questions and find out what the evidence says.

Where Did Humans First Arrive in Europe?

Modern humans first entered Europe via a northern route through the Middle East, where they first arrived after migrating out of Africa. They travelled through places like today’s Egypt and Sinai into the Levant, which refers to modern Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

This step is one of their biggest, arriving on a new continent, where they soon met another human species, the Neanderthals. From the Levant, early humans followed green corridors, rivers, and grasslands where they could hunt for food and find water sources.

By around 47,000 to 45,000 years ago, they had already reached the southeastern part of Europe, such as regions like Greece and the Balkans. From this point on, they slowly spread through central Europe. Archaeological sites in Germany, at Ranis in Thuringia, and in the Czech Republic, at Zlatý kůň, both show fossil remains and tools, which suggests that modern humans were living far north, and possibly for far longer than we originally thought.

Read more: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

What Obstacles Did They Face Along the Way?

Modelling Homo sapiens spread in Europe

During the expansion into Europe, early humans faced several obstacles and evolutionary challenges that they had to overcome in order to pave the way for the civilization that we know today. First, there were the climate changes and the colder temperatures.

Since Homo sapiens lived only in Africa before they arrived on the other continents, most of the habitats they have grown accustomed to are warmer compared to northern Europe. Additionally, during the Ice Age, more areas became uninhabitable because of the cold weather, glaciers, and long winters, which resulted in less vegetation and scarcity of resources.

Another problem that may have been a help in disguise is the competition of Homo sapiens with another human species, the Neanderthals, who have been living in Europe for the past few hundred thousand years.

Compared to early humans, Neanderthals were adapted to the cold environment, and they also had tools and the right survival strategies in place specific to their habitats. In other words, Homo sapiens who just moved in needed to compete for food, shelter, and the habitable lands.

The third obstacle was the natural and geographical barriers, such as mountains, rivers, ice sheets, and even diseases they have not evolved to fight. These circumstances blocked or slowed their movements and triggered Homo sapiens to adapt to different kinds of new environments that may be unique to Europe.

How Did Humans Overcome These Challenges?

So, Homo sapiens faced a lot of problems in the new continent of Europe, but how exactly did they survive all these challenges? First, there are climate changes that could have resulted in less food and resources at certain times, and made it harder to survive day-to-day life.

The Homo sapiens were able to overcome this problem with their advanced tools and technology, which they developed before they even came to Europe, and then just further refined it over the next generations. These tools help them hunt and survive in the new lands, as Africa back then was also a diverse environment that may have trained early humans to be more ecologically flexible.

The other problem was the competition with already well-adapted Neanderthals. However, we mentioned this may have been a help in disguise because Homo sapiens mated and interbred with them, to the point that, until today, most humans outside of Africa still have their DNA.

This gene flow and mixing could have given Homo sapiens beneficial genes, such as those for adapting to the cold environment and having a better immune defense system against diseases. It is also possible that there may have been an exchange of ideas and culture between the two species, which could have contributed to the survival of the early humans.

The third problem was the natural and geographical barriers, but combining the two characteristics and traits that allowed humans to survive the first two mentioned obstacles, this one may have been easier to overcome. Once they had learned to create the right tools and survival strategies for the new lands and the changing climates, humans were able to continue to adapt and spread across Europe.

Read more: NATURE

Spreading Across the Continent

Map Shows How Humans Migrated Across The Globe

Over the next few thousand years, after reaching southeastern and central Europe, Homo sapiens spread across the entire continent. They went to Italy and France, where they left some art and tools behind. Tens of thousands of years later, famous cave paintings in Spain and France were created, showcasing the evolving creativity of humans.

By around 40,000 years ago and possibly older than that, Homo sapiens were in Spain, Northern Europe, and other eastern regions. After each journey, they needed to adapt to a new environment, whether it was forests, open plains, icy tundra, or coastal zones.

It was also around this time that the Neanderthals slowly disappeared because of a combination of reasons, such as the competition with Homo sapiens, lack of genetic diversity, as they usually live in smaller numbers, climate changes, and possibly blending in with modern humans.

Later on, the population number of Homo sapiens increased, and the adaptations to the new environments and interbreeding with Neanderthals affected their evolution, such as the development via natural selection of lighter skins to absorb more sunlight and genetic shifts in their stature, metabolism, and hair pigmentations. Their migration into this new continent would pave the way for the more advanced human civilization to take place, until we reach the point where our recorded history began.

Author's Final Thoughts

The spread of humans into Europe around 45,000 years ago, after staying their whole species’ life in Africa, marked one of the most significant moves in history. They started in Africa, ventured into the Middle East and Asia, passed through the Levant, entered southeastern Europe, and then spread across the continent.

It was a very long story, and although it was not always easy and a straight path, these early humans were clearly resilient and had a strong drive to survive. They created more advanced tools, interbred with already well-adapted Neanderthals on the continent, passed on their knowledge to the next generation, and built the foundation of what would become human culture and civilization in Europe.

Read next: How Did Humans First Enter the Americas Between 16,000 and 25,000 Years Ago? — Here’s the Journey Scientists Are Tracing

References & Further Reading

Hershkovitz, I., Weber, G. W., Quam, R., et al. (2018). The earliest modern humans outside Africa. Science. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aap8369

Higham, T., Douka, K., Wood, R., et al. (2014). The timing and spatiotemporal patterning of Neanderthal disappearance. Nature. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13621

Devièse, T., Hulme, M., Skinner, A. R., et al. (2017). Direct dating of Neanderthal remains from the site of Vindija Cave and implications for late Neanderthal survival in Europe. PNAS. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1709235114

Marín-Arroyo, A. B., et al. (2023). Subsistence of early anatomically modern humans in Fumane Cave (Italy): Zooarchaeological evidence from Protoaurignacian levels. Scientific Reports. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-30059-3

Mylopotamitaki, D., Bachellerie, F., Holliestelle, D., et al. (2024). Homo sapiens reached the higher latitudes of Europe by 43,000 y ago. Nature. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06923-7