Humans in Africa's wet tropical forests 150 thousand years ago.

ABSTRACT: Humans emerged across Africa shortly before 300 thousand years ago (ka)^1-3. Although this pan-African evolutionary process implicates diverse environments in the human story, the role of tropical forests remains poorly understood. Here we report a clear association between late Middle Pleistocene material culture and a wet tropical forest in southern Côte d'Ivoire, a region of present-day rainforest. Twinned optically stimulated luminescence and electron spin resonance dating methods constrain the onset of human occupations at Bété I to around 150 ka, linking them with Homo sapiens. Plant wax biomarker, stable isotope, phytolith and pollen analyses of associated sediments all point to a wet forest environment. The results represent the oldest yet known clear association between

SUBMITTER: Ben Arous E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11981921 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature