Editing Paleolithic (section)

=== Homo erectus ===
At the beginning of the Paleolithic, hominins were found primarily in eastern Africa, east of the [[Great Rift Valley]]. Most known hominin fossils dating earlier than one million years before present are found in this area, particularly in [[Kenya]], [[Tanzania]], and [[Ethiopia]].

By {{c.|2,000,000|1,500,000}}&nbsp;BP, groups of hominins began leaving Africa, settling southern Europe and Asia. The [[South Caucasus]] was occupied by {{c.|1,700,000|lk=no}}&nbsp;BP, and northern China was reached by {{c.|1,660,000|lk=no}}&nbsp;BP. By the end of the Lower Paleolithic, members of the hominin family were living in what is now China, western Indonesia, and, in Europe, around the Mediterranean and as far north as England, France, southern Germany, and Bulgaria. Their further northward expansion may have been limited by the lack of control of fire: studies of cave settlements in Europe indicate no regular use of fire prior to {{c.|400,000|300,000|lk=no}}&nbsp;BP.<ref>{{cite journal|title=On the earliest evidence for habitual use of fire in Europe |first1=Wil |last1=Roebroeks |first2=Paola |last2=Villa |journal=[[PNAS]] |date=14 March 2011 |volume=108 |issue=13 |pages=5209–5214
 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1018116108|pmid=21402905 |pmc=3069174 |bibcode=2011PNAS..108.5209R |doi-access=free }}</ref>

East Asian fossils from this period are typically placed in the genus ''[[Homo erectus]]''. Very little fossil evidence is available at known Lower Paleolithic sites in Europe, but it is believed that hominins who inhabited these sites were likewise ''Homo erectus''. There is no evidence of hominins in America, Australia, or almost anywhere in Oceania during this time period.

Fates of these early colonists, and their relationships to modern humans, are still subject to debate. According to current archaeological and genetic models, there were at least two notable expansion events subsequent to peopling of Eurasia {{c.|2,000,000|1,500,000}}&nbsp;BP. Around 500,000&nbsp;BP a group of early humans, frequently called ''[[Homo heidelbergensis]]'', came to Europe from Africa and eventually evolved into ''Homo neanderthalensis'' ([[Neanderthal]]s). In the Middle Paleolithic, Neanderthals were present in the region now occupied by Poland.

Both ''Homo erectus'' and ''Homo neanderthalensis'' became extinct by the start of the Upper Paleolithic. Descended from ''Homo sapiens'', the anatomically modern ''[[Homo sapiens sapiens]]'' emerged in eastern Africa {{c.|300,000}}&nbsp;BP, left Africa around 50,000&nbsp;BP, and expanded throughout the planet. Multiple hominid groups coexisted for some time in certain locations. ''Homo neanderthalensis'' were still found in parts of Eurasia {{c.|40,000}}&nbsp;BP years, and engaged in an unknown degree of interbreeding with ''Homo sapiens sapiens''. DNA studies also suggest an unknown degree of interbreeding between ''Homo sapiens sapiens'' and ''[[Denisovan|Homo sapiens denisova]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Callaway |last=Ewen |date=22 September 2011 |title=First Aboriginal genome sequenced |journal=[[Nature News]] |doi=10.1038/news.2011.551}}</ref>

Hominin fossils not belonging either to ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or to ''Homo sapiens'' species, found in the [[Altai Mountains]] and Indonesia, were radiocarbon dated to {{c.|30,000|40,000}}&nbsp;BP and {{c.|17,000|lk=no}}&nbsp;BP respectively.

For the duration of the Paleolithic, human populations remained low, especially outside the equatorial region. The entire population of Europe between 16,000 and 11,000&nbsp;BP likely averaged some 30,000 individuals, and between 40,000 and 16,000&nbsp;BP, it was even lower at 4,000–6,000 individuals.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.evolhum.cnrs.fr/bocquet/jas2005.pdf |title=Estimates of Upper Palaeolithic meta-population size in Europe from archaeological data |first=Jean-Pierre |last=Bocquet-Appel |year=2005 |journal=[[Journal of Archaeological Science]] |doi=10.1016/j.jas.2005.05.006 |volume=32 |issue=11 |pages=1656–1668 |bibcode=2005JArSc..32.1656B |display-authors=etal |access-date=9 October 2012 |archive-date=20 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020081349/http://www.evolhum.cnrs.fr/bocquet/jas2005.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref> However, remains of thousands of butchered animals and tools made by Palaeolithic humans were found in [[Lapa do Picareiro]], a cave in [[Portugal]], dating back between 41,000 and 38,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cosmosmagazine.com/history/archaeology/more-surprises-about-palaeolithic-humans/ |title=More surprises about Palaeolithic humans |website=[[Cosmos Magazine]] |date=29 September 2020}}</ref>