Why did groups of human beings migrate to northern zones of the world, and how did they survive?

After reading the abstract of the paper mentioned here I started wondering, why did human groups migrate away from southerner (warmer) places towards the north which is far colder and has less possibilities to grow crops and wild animals to hunt?

Was the population density too high?

And after they migrated, what did they mostly survive on? Were they hunters-gatherers? Did they cultivate? Was it not more difficult to survive in colder climates?

ZephyrXero ,

I wonder if the Sahara turning into a desert could coincide with a mass migration. It used to be lush once upon a time we believe. But I can’t remember the timings of the two, so I’m purely speculating

agent_flounder ,
@agent_flounder@lemmy.world avatar

This article indicates the opposite, actually.

New research indicates that Homo erectus likely capitalized on a “greener” corridor through the Sahara Desert in northeastern Africa, which was wetter and more vegetated than it is today, during their migration out of Africa. Climate cycles aligned to create this green passage, facilitating their journey.

Apparently the desertification of the Sahara is cyclic.

Approximately every 20,000 years, the Sahara transforms into a savannah covered with lush grasses due to the angle of the Earth’s axis changing. This axis change causes the position of the North African monsoon to shift, a monsoon that could revive the Saharan region. (source)

Here’s a graphic on the timings of early human migration. They list two migrations northeast, one occurring 120k years ago and another 100-90k years ago.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Putative_migration_waves_out_of_Africa.png

ZephyrXero ,

Neat! Thanks

Lath ,

Same reasons we use today.

JackGreenEarth ,
@JackGreenEarth@lemm.ee avatar

Well that just kicks the can down the road, and is also probably not accurate. People move today for better jobs, to escape warzones, because they like a country’s laws, and more reasons. Most of those reasons didn’t apply to hunter gatherers living thousands of years ago.

Lath ,

Really? What if the better hunting grounds were taken? What if a rival tribe kept harassing another and people just didn't want to fight? What if the ambitious youth didn't agree with the tribal leaders, so they moved to make their own fortune?
At our core, we really haven't changed all that much from our ancestors.

WarmSoda ,

Could really be the same reasons for them too.
People moved for better hunting/grazing areas. To escape areas of warfare. They didn’t like the tribes rules, and more reasons.

givesomefucks ,

Pre agriculture you need a lot of land to support a small amount of humans.

It’s not like someone walked from Africa to Norway. A group would expand a little North, settle, then another group would move a little further north.

It was a slow gradual migration. So people slowly got used to the changes.

But like you said, the further North the less food, so they had to spread further and further each time.

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