| Abstract: |
Several different sources of evidence have been used to support a recent African origin for our species. It is commonly assumed that these sources of evidence support the same recent African origin. However, a close examination of the evidence available from four sources, including paleontology, archaeology, the level of human genetic variation, and the geographic structure of human genetic variation, shows that this is not the case. Each of these in effect supports a different recent African origin, and no hypothesis of a recent origin is compatible with more than two of them at a time. In contrast, all of these sources of evidence may be consistent with a multiregional model for our recent evolution.
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