Our earliest ancestors evolved in Africa. For about five million years, these predecessors—ancient hominids—remained there, never venturing from the continent of their birth. The fossil record indicates that during much of this time, a wide variety of hominid species inhabited the African forests and grasslands.

Illustration by Greg Wakabayashi

But about two million years ago, early members of our genus, Homo, began a journey out of northeast Africa. The only land route out of the continent was in northeastern Africa, through what is now Egypt. (Crossing from Africa to Spain by water would have been impossible for these early hominids, as they did not know how to make boats.) According to available fossil evidence, the first African emigrants initially seem to have moved further eastward, toward Asia, probably because the routes north and west were blocked by rugged terrain and cold climates. Eventually, however, hominids leaving Africa turned west and moved into Europe. By around one million years ago, our restless ancestors had populated the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe.

This slow migration occurred in waves, with different species leaving at different times. One of the first to depart Africa may have been Homo ergaster, represented by the Turkana Boy specimen on display in this exhibition. Our species, Homo sapiens, probably migrated from Africa around 100,000 years ago.