New results constrain the timing of movement of early hominins out of Africa.

Abstract

Pollen records from Lake Malawi, Africa spanning the last 135 kyr show substantial and abrupt vegetation response to multiple episodes of extreme aridity. Thus, a likey period for human population explansion out of southern and equatorial Africa would have been during the climatic "crossover" time, between 80 ka and 70 ka, when intermediate precipitation regimes would have prevailed throughout Africa.