The routes that our ancestors followed out of Africa have been long debated. But now researchers have uncovered evidence that the so-called northern route — a traverse that took Homo sapiens from the Sinai Peninsula into the Jordan Rift Valley — might have been a particularly viable corridor during the last interglacial period, which persisted from about 129,000 to 71,000 years ago.
Sediments unearthed at three sites in southern Jordan suggest that wetland conditions likely persisted there during that time. A water-rich landscape would have provided ample food resources in the form of both plants and animals for migrating humans.
Today, much of southern Jordan is a desert. It’s a landscape known not for its waterfalls but, rather, for its rock formations; the famed archaeological site of Petra is literally built into the red sandstone that abounds in the region.
The climate is hot and arid, said Mahmoud Abbas, a ...
