The First Human Settlement of Europe

The question concerning the place of origin of humankind was widely debated for decades. Since it has been established that this was in Africa, much current research is focused on the age of the settlement of Eurasia. This work reviews three hypotheses concerning the age of the occupation of Europe. These hypotheses may be termed "Young," "Mature," and "Old" Europe, according to which systematic settlement took place either less than 500,000 years ago, somewhat before 0.78 mya (million years ago), or before 1.5 mya, respectively. The arguments for and weaknesses of each hypothesis are discussed, and the "Mature Europe" hypothesis is argued to be supported by the strongest current evidence.