As in Africa, fossils that seem to represent subspecies of Homo sapiens have been found in Central Europe at Vértesszőlős (about three hundred and fifty thousand years old), ...

...Steinheim (two hundred and fifty thousand to three hundred and fifty thousand years old), ...

...Biache, and ...

...Swanscombe.

The Swanscombe fossil from southern England, the skull of an adult female with heavy brow ridges and a large projecting face.

Identified as Homo heidelbergensis, the Swanscombe skull dates to the Hoxnian Interglacial of four hundred thousand years ago, and since this follows the extreme Anglian ice age which drove humans out of the British Isles, the Swanscombe people must represent a re-colonization.

It is among these and similar finds in Africa that the line of distinction between Homo erectus and Homo sapiens becomes dim, for one species is apparently grading imperceptibly into its successor.

Homo erectus (a species of human best known from finely made handaxes and other butchery tools found at locations like Isimila and …

…Kalambo Falls in eastern Africa, sites dating to more than two hundred thousand years ago) has proven to be a more effective forager than its predecessor, with the ability to kill even large animals with fire-hardened wooden spears.

According to conventional theory, these archaic humans, who settled in all parts of Africa, evolved gradually toward modern forms, their skulls becoming more rounded, skeletons less robust, and molar teeth smaller.

H. ergaster is thought to be the first hominin to vocalize.

As H. heidelbergensis developed, more sophisticated culture proceeded from this point.

Prehistory of the Netherlands: A Landscape Shaped by Water

The prehistory of the region that is now the Netherlands was largely shaped by the sea and rivers, which continuously shifted the low-lying geography over millennia. The dynamic interplay of water and land influenced human settlement patterns, with early inhabitants gravitating toward higher ground as the landscape evolved.

Early Human Presence: Neanderthal Traces near Maastricht

• The oldest known human traces in the region belong to Neanderthals, whose presence dates back approximately 250,000 years.
• These remains have been discovered in higher, more stable soils near Maastricht, an area less affected by the flood-prone terrain of the lowlands.
• The Neanderthals likely adapted to a changing environment, utilizing the resources of rivers and forests for survival.

A Landscape in Constant Flux

Throughout prehistory, the region’s geological and climatic changes played a crucial role in shaping early habitation:

• Glacial and interglacial periods altered sea levels, periodically expanding and contracting habitable land.
• The Rhine, Meuse, and Scheldt rivers created fertile but unstable floodplains, influencing settlement choices.
• Rising sea levels and sediment deposits led to the formation of peat bogs and coastal dunes, features that would later define the Dutch landscape.

These early environmental factors set the stage for the later development of prehistoric cultures, as humans adapted to a land in flux, balancing the challenges of water management with the rich resources provided by the rivers and coastlines.

Homo erectus becomes extinct, with the known exception of Solo Man in Indonesia, by around 200,000 BCE, while Earth’s only remaining hominid, Homo sapiens Neanderthalensis, or Neanderthal Man, has spread into Europe and the Middle East.

The Neandertals, unlike Homo erectus, have brains similar in size to—or possible larger than—those of modern humans, although Neandertal brains are lighter in front and heavier in back.

They match modern humans in body weight, but are generally shorter, stockier and more muscular.

Although similar in appearance to modern humans, Neandertals have the large teeth, pronounced eyebrow ridges, protuberant jaws, receding chin, and sloping forehead associated with Homo erectus.

The similarity of their tongue bones to those of modern humans suggests that the Neandertals are fully capable of speech.

The Neandertals are the first hominids (as far as is known) to bury their dead and to actively care for aged and crippled members of their communities.

The fact that Neandertal graves contain food indicates a belief in some form of afterlife, although no grave goods have turned up.

Like previous members of the genus Homo, they have tamed fire and use it to roast meat and other foods.

The large animals hunted by the Neandertals include the giant cave bears, the mammoth, and the woolly rhinoceros.

Neandertaler stone implements represent distinct improvement over the tools of Homo erectus: more delicate, more precise, and more varied.

No artwork has been discovered in association with Neandertal sites.

The Indian Ocean World, one of the twelve divisions of the Earth, is centered on the Indian Ocean and encompasses Madagascar, several small island groups, Maritime East Africa, Southeastern Arabia, Southern India, Sri Lanka, and Aceh—the northernmost tip of Sumatra. Its southernmost point is Kerguelen Island.

To the north of Madagascar, the island nations of the Comoros and the Seychelles are situated in the western Indian Ocean, while Mauritius lies to the east of the great island.

On the African mainland, the region includes portions of Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, and Somalia, all of which also have cultural and historical ties to Afroasia.

The Arabian nations of Yemen and Oman face the heart of the Indian Ocean World, with their division aligning with the traditional boundary separating North India from South India and Sri Lanka.

To the west of Southern India, the Maldives form a prominent island chain within this maritime world.

Along the northeastern boundary, only Aceh, the northwesternmost tip of Sumatra, belongs to the Indian Ocean World, distinguishing it from the rest of the Indonesian archipelago.

HistoryAtlas contains 1,059 entries for the Indian Ocean World from the Paleolithic period to 1899.

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Homo erectus, long settled in sparse communities throughout East Asia, probably becomes extinct in China before 200,000 BCE, evidently replaced by Homo sapiens.