ABSTRACT
This chapter provides some of the factors that played an important role in the initial movement of people out of Africa during the Pleistocene, with a focus on Homo erectus and Homo sapiens. It presents a brief review of early hominid evolution during the Pliocene and the early Pleistocene, because the physiological and cultural development of these initial forms laid the foundation for the successful dispersal of humans to regions throughout the world where our species has established permanent residence. Interest in early human ancestors has a deep history, clearly evident in some of the first recorded documents from Mesopotamia, Egypt, and elsewhere. The formidable Pleistocene megafauna included a number of large predators, such as the cave bear, which humans could not match in physical strength and size. There is a continuing debate about the degree to which the dispersed human populations retained any contact.
