Homo sapiens in Eurasia between 60 and 40 thousand years ago: where did everyone go? Unveiling the dynamics of the human dispersal after the Out of Africa

Several layers of genetic, palaeoanthropology and palaeoclimatology evidence point to ~60.000 years ago as the most likely time window for the major colonisation of Eurasia by Homo sapiens. The same evidence, however, also shows that until 45.000 years ago human populations did not expand much, both from a demographic and a geographic perspective, with the divergence between East and West Eurasians dated to ~45.000 years ago. Using a multidisciplinary approach centred primarily on genetics but complemented with archeological and paleoclimatic evidence, I analysed the early phase of the human dispersal in Eurasia, showing that the region in and around the Persian Plateau acted as a “Hub” for the ancestors of all present day non Africans between the Out of Africa (~60.000 years ago) and the broader colonisation of Eurasia (~45.000 years ago). Subsequently, the broader colonisation of the continent occurred through a series of multiple expansions from the Hub, characterised by a distinct chronology, genetic ancestry and technocultural association, with the earlier expansions ultimately becoming extinct or locally extinct and later replaced by a new one