ABSTRACT
The Arctic, the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese islands were the last significant regions of Asia that were colonised by our species. The earliest evidence from the Arctic dates back 45,000 years, and that from the Korean Peninsula ca. 40,000 years. The main Japanese islands were colonised by sea ca. 38,000 years ago, and the Ryuku Islands ca. 36,000 years ago. Northeast Asia is the most likely region from which the Americas were colonised. Recent evidence indicates that humans were in North America ca. 16,000 years ago, before an ice-free corridor opened in Alaska. The most probable route for these early colonists was along the Pacific coast of northeast Asia.
