ABSTRACT
In addition to the human fossils, there have been substantial archaeological studies in Australia examining the initial colonization. Estimates of the autosomal mutation rate differ according to whether they are based on direct measurements in modern families, or inferred indirectly on the basis of sequence divergence between humans and other species. The sparse fossil evidence from that period suggests a transition from archaic to modern human forms but places few constraints on early demography. Fossil and archaeological evidence suggest that modern humans expanded out of Africa whenever the climate allowed. Anatomically modern but behaviorally pre-modern humans expanded into the Levant and Arabian Peninsula during the last interglacial 90–120 KYA. Archaeological evidence for modern human behavior, including the use of complex technologies, pigments, and art, is found in Africa 60–100 KYA, but outside Africa only after this period.
