Africa · 350,000 to 50,000 years ago

The first of our species

The oldest fossils of our species, about 315,000 years old, come from Morocco.1 Others come from Ethiopia and South Africa, thousands of kilometres away.2

The parts that make us who we are did not arrive together, or in one place.45

Jebel IrhoudOmo KibishOlorgesailieFlorisbadBlombos CaveA rounded head300,000200,000100,000

Years ago. Each row is a site, north to south. A dot is the first evidence found there; a pale bar, a range of dates. The last row is the one change that came slowly: the rounded shape of our heads, complete between 100,000 and 35,000 years ago.4

Jebel IrhoudOmo KibishOlorgesailieFlorisbadBlombos Cave

  1. Jebel IrhoudMorocco

    • The oldest fossils of our species about 315,0001
    • A face like ours about 315,0003
    • Middle Stone Age tools about 315,0002
    • A brain as big as ours about 300,0004

    Chapter 1 Older than anyone thoughtChapter 4 A face like ours

  2. Omo KibishEthiopia

    • A skull of our species, under volcanic ash at least 233,0009

    Chapter 3 Under the ash at Omo

  3. OlorgesailieKenya

    • Middle Stone Age tools by about 320,0006
    • Red pigment from iron-rich rock 320,000 to 295,0007
    • Stone carried from 25 to 50 km or more 320,000 to 295,0007

    Chapter 2 A new way to make tools

  4. FlorisbadSouth Africa

    • A skull whose age and species are disputed about 259,000?8

    Chapter 5 One cradle or many?

  5. Blombos CaveSouth Africa

    • Paint mixed and stored about 100,00010
    • Shell beads 78,000 to 71,00012
    • Engraved patterns about 77,00011
    • A drawing about 73,00013

    Chapter 6 Paint, beads and a drawing

Five sites, up to 6,000 km apart, with the chapters that tell them. Coast: Natural Earth.

The six chapters

In the order they are best read

  1. 1Older than anyone thoughtAbout 315,000 years agoHow did a site in Morocco push our species back by 100,000 years?
  2. 2A new way to make toolsBy about 320,000 years agoWhat changed when people stopped making hand axes?
  3. 3Under the ash at OmoAt least 233,000 years agoHow can a volcano tell us the age of a skull?
  4. 4A face like oursFrom about 300,000 years agoIf the first of our species had faces like ours, why did their heads look different?
  5. 5One cradle or many?About 300,000 to 100,000 years agoDid our species begin in one place, or across all of Africa?
  6. 6Paint, beads and a drawingAbout 100,000 to 73,000 years agoWhen did people start to make marks that meant something?

People in these chapters

Researchers today; the first of our species left no names

  • Jean-Jacques HublinPalaeoanthropologist; led the new digs at Jebel Irhoud with Abdelouahed Ben-Ncer
  • Abdelouahed Ben-NcerArchaeologist at Morocco’s National Institute for Archaeology and Heritage; co-leader at Jebel Irhoud
  • Daniel RichterDated the heated flints of Jebel Irhoud by thermoluminescence
  • Céline VidalLed the study that traced the ash above the Omo skull to an eruption of Shala volcano
  • Alison Brooks and Rick PottsIn the team that dated and described the earliest Middle Stone Age at Olorgesailie, Kenya
  • Eleanor ScerriFirst author of the case that our species formed in many linked groups across Africa
  • Christopher HenshilwoodDirects the excavations at Blombos Cave, first dug in 1991

Before us

Our species had ancestors in Africa long before Jebel Irhoud. Fossils from a quarry at Casablanca, also in Morocco, are about 773,000 years old and may come from a population close to our ancestry.14 That story, and the millions of years before it, is told on our companion site.

Sources for this page

Every number on this page comes from one of these. How we check.

Last reviewed 13 November 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

  1. Richter, D., Grün, R. and others (2017). The age of the hominin fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, and the origins of the Middle Stone Age. Nature 546, 293–296. doi.org/10.1038/nature22335Used for: The age of the Jebel Irhoud fossils, about 315,000 years (give or take 34,000). Checked 11 November 2026.
  2. Max Planck Society (2017). The first of our kind: scientists discover the oldest Homo sapiens fossils at Jebel Irhoud, Morocco. Research news, 7 June 2017. www.mpg.de/11322481/oldest-homo-sapiens-fossils-at-jebel-irhoud-moroccoUsed for: Jebel Irhoud known since the 1960s; new digs from 2004; fossils from six to 22, of at least five people; skulls, teeth and long bones; heated flints dated by thermoluminescence; the Irhoud 3 jaw once dated to 160,000 years; Omo Kibish 195,000 and Herto 160,000 the oldest before; quotes from Jean-Jacques Hublin and Daniel Richter; the face almost indistinguishable from people today and the long braincase, and a quote from Philipp Gunz; Florisbad and the three oldest sites across Africa; animal bones from hunting, mostly gazelle; Middle Stone Age tools, Levallois prepared cores and mostly pointed forms, of good flint brought to the site, and no hand axes; a quote from Shannon McPherron; photographs of the skull, tools and site. Checked 13 November 2026.
  3. Hublin, J.-J., Ben-Ncer, A. and others (2017). New fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco and the pan-African origin of Homo sapiens. Nature 546, 289–292. doi.org/10.1038/nature22336Used for: The Jebel Irhoud fossils as early members of our species, and the debate around them. Checked 11 November 2026.
  4. Neubauer, S., Hublin, J.-J. and Gunz, P. (2018). The evolution of modern human brain shape. Science Advances 4, eaao5961. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5783678/Used for: By 300,000 years ago brain size in early Homo sapiens was within the range of people today; brain shape changed gradually, from long to rounded (globular), reaching today’s range between about 100,000 and 35,000 years ago; Neanderthals and other archaic humans have long braincases. Checked 13 November 2026.
  5. Scerri, E. M. L., Thomas, M. G., Manica, A., Gunz, P., Stock, J. T., Stringer, C. and others (2018). Did our species evolve in subdivided populations across Africa, and why does it matter? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 33, 582–594. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6092560/Used for: Homo sapiens evolved within a set of interlinked groups living across Africa, whose connections changed over time, not in one region or population; early fossils (Jebel Irhoud, Florisbad, Omo Kibish, Herto) are varied in form; some researchers call Jebel Irhoud and Florisbad a more primitive species; the Sahara shrank and lakes and rivers spread across north Africa at times; the KhoeSan of southern Africa keep the greatest genetic diversity of any people today, on a branch that split 150,000 to 300,000 years ago. Checked 13 November 2026.
  6. Deino, A. L., Behrensmeyer, A. K., Brooks, A. S., Yellen, J. E., Sharp, W. D. and Potts, R. (2018). Chronology of the Acheulean to Middle Stone Age transition in eastern Africa. Science 360, 95–98 (abstract). doi.org/10.1126/science.aao2216Used for: At Olorgesailie, Kenya, late Acheulean tools from 615,000 to 499,000 years ago; Middle Stone Age without Acheulean tools most likely by about 320,000 years ago and at least by 305,000. Checked 13 November 2026.
  7. Brooks, A. S., Yellen, J. E., Potts, R., Behrensmeyer, A. K., Deino, A. L., Leslie, D. E., Ambrose, S. H. and others (2018). Long-distance stone transport and pigment use in the earliest Middle Stone Age. Science 360, 90–94 (abstract). doi.org/10.1126/science.aao2646Used for: Middle Stone Age sites at Olorgesailie from at least 295,000 to about 320,000 years ago; prepared cores and points; red pigment from iron-rich rocks; stone brought from 25 to 50 km away or more; large and small prey. Checked 13 November 2026.
  8. Berger, L. R. and Hawks, J. (2023). Revisiting the age of the Florisbad hominin material. Homo 74, 55–60 (abstract). doi.org/10.1127/homo/2023/1541Used for: A tooth from Florisbad was dated in 1996 to 259,000 years, give or take 35,000; it may not belong with the skull; current data do not show Homo sapiens in southern Africa about 260,000 years ago. Checked 13 November 2026.
  9. Vidal, C. M., Lane, C. S., Asrat, A., Barfod, D. N., Mark, D. F., Tomlinson, E. L., Tadesse, A. Z., Yirgu, G., Deino, A., Hutchison, W., Mounier, A. and Oppenheimer, C. (2022). Age of the oldest known Homo sapiens from eastern Africa. Nature 601, 579–583. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8791829/Used for: Omo I found in the late 1960s in the lower Omo valley; usually dated to about 197,000 years, Herto to about 160,000 to 155,000; the KHS Tuff lies above the layer with Omo I, about 1.4 m higher, and comes from an eruption of Shala volcano; a minimum age of 233,000 years, give or take 22,000; Omo I and Herto have a tall braincase and a chin; the ash below, the Nakaa’kire Tuff, dated to about 197,000 years but its place relative to the fossils uncertain; the KHS Tuff more than 2 m thick and too fine to date directly; the chemistry of its glass matched to deposits of the Shala eruption 350 km to the north-east. Checked 13 November 2026.
  10. Henshilwood, C. S., d’Errico, F., van Niekerk, K. L., Coquinot, Y., Jacobs, Z., Lauritzen, S.-E. and others (2011). A 100,000-year-old ochre-processing workshop at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Science 334, 219–222 (abstract). doi.org/10.1126/science.1211535Used for: Found in 2008: an ochre-rich liquid mixture made and stored in two abalone shells 100,000 years ago, with ochre, bone, charcoal, grindstones and hammerstones; its use unknown, perhaps decoration or protecting skin. Checked 13 November 2026.
  11. Henshilwood, C. S., d’Errico, F., Yates, R., Jacobs, Z., Tribolo, C., Duller, G. A. T., Mercier, N. and others (2002). Emergence of modern human behavior: Middle Stone Age engravings from South Africa. Science 295, 1278–1280 (abstract). doi.org/10.1126/science.1067575Used for: Two pieces of red ochre engraved with abstract patterns from Blombos Cave; the layers dated by thermoluminescence of burnt stone to a mean of 77,000 years. Checked 13 November 2026.
  12. Douze, K., Wurz, S. and Henshilwood, C. S. (2015). Techno-cultural characterization of the MIS 5 (c. 105–90 ka) lithic industries at Blombos Cave, South Africa. PLOS ONE 10, e0142151. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4651340/Used for: Blombos Cave lies in an old sea cliff about 100 m from the Indian Ocean, 34.5 m above the sea, with an opening 1 to 1.5 m high before digging began in 1991; the Still Bay layers (about 78,000 to 71,000 years ago) hold engraved ochre, marine shell beads, bone tools and heat-treated points; the Middle Stone Age of South Africa lasted from about 300,000 to 50,000 years ago. Checked 13 November 2026.
  13. Henshilwood, C. S., d’Errico, F., van Niekerk, K. L., Dayet, L., Queffelec, A. and Pollarolo, L. (2018). An abstract drawing from the 73,000-year-old levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Nature 562, 115–118 (abstract). doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0514-3Used for: A cross-hatched pattern drawn with an ochre crayon on a ground silcrete flake, about 73,000 years old; from Still Bay levels with shell beads and engraved ochre; at least 30,000 years older than the earliest drawings known before. Checked 13 November 2026.
  14. Hublin, J.-J., Lefèvre, D., Perini, S., Muttoni, G. and others (2026). Early hominins from Morocco basal to the Homo sapiens lineage. Nature. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12823423/Used for: Fossils from Thomas Quarry I, Casablanca, about 773,000 years old, from an African population older than our species and close to its ancestry; every securely dated Homo sapiens fossil older than 90,000 years comes from Africa or the edge of Asia. Checked 13 November 2026.