Editing Atlantic Ocean (section)

=== Old World ===
[[Mitochondrial DNA]] (mtDNA) studies indicate that 80–60,000 years ago a major demographic expansion within Africa, derived from a single, small population, coincided with the emergence of behavioral complexity and the rapid [[Marine isotope stage|MIS]]&nbsp;5–4 environmental changes. This group of people not only expanded over the whole of Africa, but also started to disperse [[Recent African origin of modern humans|out of Africa]] into Asia, Europe, and Australasia around 65,000 years ago and quickly replaced the archaic humans in these regions.<ref>{{Harvnb|Mellars|2006|loc=Abstract}}</ref> During the [[Last Glacial Maximum]] (LGM) 20,000 years ago humans had to abandon their initial settlements along the European North Atlantic coast and retreat to the Mediterranean. Following rapid climate changes at the end of the LGM this region was repopulated by [[Magdalenian]] culture. Other hunter-gatherers followed in waves interrupted by large-scale hazards such as the [[Laacher See]] volcanic eruption, the inundation of [[Doggerland]] (now the [[North Sea]]), and the formation of the [[Baltic Sea]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Riede|2014|pp=1–2}}</ref> The European coasts of the North Atlantic were permanently populated about 9–8.5 thousand years ago.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bjerck|2009|loc=Introduction, pp. 118–119}}</ref>

This human dispersal left abundant traces along the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean. 50&nbsp;kya-old, deeply stratified [[shell midden]]s found in [[Ysterfontein]] on the western coast of South Africa are associated with the Middle Stone Age (MSA). The MSA population was small and dispersed and the rate of their reproduction and exploitation was less intense than those of later generations. While their middens resemble 12–11&nbsp;kya-old Late Stone Age (LSA) middens found on every inhabited continent, the 50–45&nbsp;kya-old [[Enkapune Ya Muto]] in Kenya probably represents the oldest traces of the first modern humans to disperse out of Africa.<ref>{{Harvnb|Avery|Halkett|Orton|Steele|2008|loc=Introduction, p. 66}}</ref>
[[File:Meilgaard-boplads.jpg|thumb|Excavation of the [[Ertebølle culture|Ertebølle]] middens in 1880]]
The same development can be seen in Europe. In [[La Riera Cave]] (23–13&nbsp;kya) in Asturias, Spain, only some 26,600 molluscs were deposited over 10&nbsp;kya. In contrast, 8–7&nbsp;kya-old shell middens in Portugal, Denmark, and Brazil generated thousands of tons of debris and artefacts. The [[Ertebølle culture|Ertebølle]] middens in Denmark, for example, accumulated {{cvt|2000|m3}} of shell deposits representing some 50 million molluscs over only a thousand years. This intensification in the exploitation of marine resources has been described as accompanied by new technologies{{snd}}such as boats, harpoons, and fish hooks {{snd}}because many caves found in the Mediterranean and on the European Atlantic coast have increased quantities of marine shells in their upper levels and reduced quantities in their lower. The earliest exploitation, however, took place on the now submerged shelves, and most settlements now excavated were then located several kilometers from these shelves. The reduced quantities of shells in the lower levels can represent the few shells that were exported inland.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bailey|Flemming|2008|loc=The Long-Term History of Marine Resources, pp. 4–5}}</ref>