Recent discoveries in paleontology, archaeology, and especially genetics of striking similarities between extant humans and some ancient populations are further complicating assessments of modern humans’ origins. One leading idea was that modern humans’ primitive ancestor Homo erectus left Africa nearly two million years ago, and dispersed into other areas of the world.
古生物学、考古学以及（尤其是）遗传学的最新发现表明，现在的人类和一些古代人具有惊人的相似之处，这让评估现代人起源的工作更加复杂了。一个主流观点是现代人的远古祖先直立人在近200万年前离开非洲，散向世界各地。的地区的人中又逐渐地进化为智人，首批现代人行为大约出现在40 000年前的欧洲。