Roots Rising

Why do scientists endorse the Out of Africa Theory, which posits that all modern humans originated in Africa? Paleoanthropologists studying human origins—analyzing ancient bones and other early human evidence—have found the earliest fossils in East Africa. In Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, Louis Leakey and his wife Mary uncovered fossil bones and teeth that bolstered the African origin hypothesis. As Leakey declared in 1977, “We are all Africans, either living in Africa or in exile.” Mary Leakey’s discovery of fossilized footprints in Laetoli, Tanzania, further demonstrated that upright walking occurred in Africa millions of years ago. Likewise, Donald Johanson’s unearthing of the fossil referred to as Lucy in Ethiopia provided one of the most pivotal fossil findings confirming upright walking on two feet among early humans. Collectively, these discoveries establish Africa as the cradle of humankind and early civilization, directly challenging longstanding Eurocentric narratives.

European scholars historically asserted that humanity began outside Africa—often in Europe itself—reflecting a worldview that placed European culture and history at the center of global heritage. Up until the 20th century, some academics even proposed that humans originated in the Middle East or Asia. The Middle Eastern hypothesis drew on the Biblical tale of Adam and Eve, rooted more in religious tradition and cultural bias than in empirical data.

At the turn of the 20th century, both African and international researchers dismissed these Eurocentric origin stories, citing fossils such as Lucy, Ardi, and other fossil discoveries in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania—all predating European findings by millions of years. Genetic studies have since confirmed that all living humans descend from African populations dating back approximately 200,000 to 300,000 years. These lines of evidence solidified the Out of Africa Theory, which today stands as the prevailing scientific model for human origins.

By Roland McFadden, MA

Sources:

Johanson, D. (1981). Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind.

Leakey, L. (1934). Adam’s Ancestors: The Origin of Humankind.

Leakey, R. (1977). Origin: What New Discoveries Reveal About the Emergence of Our Species and Its Possible Future.