reply to post by The Magicians Apprentice
An interesting theory, Shadow. But one I must, respectfully, disagree with.
Have you ever heard of Pangaea, or any other
Super-continent theory? The basic premise is that
all seven modern continents were once a single, undivided landmass, most commonly known as Pangaea. Over time, this super-continent divided (due to
plate tectonics) into what we now know as the 7 major continents of the world: Asia, Africa, North American, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and
Australia. For your convenience, in the event you're not familiar with it, here is a
visual representation of the theory, as it is currently
understood.
According to the super-continent theory, our ancestors—which you incorrectly called Apes, we only share an ancestor with them, they're not our
ancestor themselves—could have migrated across the entire super-continent before the tectonics divided it. This would account for why our ancestors
(H. Habilis, H. Erectus, etc) from hundreds of thousands of years ago, have been found on just about every modern continent.
Modern human life though, did begin in Africa. The earliest Homo genus ancestors of modern humans (H. Habilis and H. Erectus) are both from fertile
locations in Africa. Neolithic groups of nomadic hunter-gatherers, and tribal bands then migrated North, toward modern-day Egypt. Once there, the
Neolithic Egyptian groups settled, while others migrated East into Asia, and the Near-and-Middle East (Iran, Iraq, etc. by today's maps).
The Ubaids and Natufian (two Neolithic groups of Mesopotamia) then settled in Sumer, between the Tigris and Euphrates. Mesopotamian culture began to
develop because of this settlement. Groups including the Akkadians, Amorites, Babylonians, Cassites, Elamites, etc. began to develop. From there,
cultures migrated both North, and East.
So, we now have primitive African tribes, permanent Egyptian cities, Mesopotamia and her city-states, the beginnings of what would become the Persian
empire, and northern groups in the land of Hati (the Hittite and Hurrian civilizations) developing.
All of these groups continued to expand both North and East, entering China and Europe, giving rise to those groups (Greece, China, Indo-European
groups, etc.) Once in Europe, through the use of boats and ships, every other continent slowly became accessible once again, just as they were in
prehistory, with Pangaea.
As for the sun, you're a bit off. Groups closer to the equator have darker skin tones (pigmentations) because the dark skin helps them live in the
intense heat with less dehydration (a product of evolution), which is why Africa, Egypt, and Mesopotamia are all dark skinned, like South Americans
and Mesoamericans.
The further North or South from the equator, the more fair skinned individual became (again due to evolution), because fairer skin absorbs more
sunlight, which helps keep us alive, when used in moderation of course. That is why China, Europe, North America, the Eskimo, and other groups have
lighter, fairer skin.
Obviously, due to world travel, we can now all exist anywhere.
~ Wandering Scribe