List of first human settlements

This is a list of dates associated with the prehistoric peopling of the world.
The list is divided into four categories: Middle Paleolithic,
Upper Paleolithic, Holocene and Modern.
List entries are identified by region, country or island, with the date of the first known or hypothesised modern human presence.
Human "settlement" does not necessarily have to be continuous; settled areas in some cases become depopulated due to environmental conditions, such as glacial periods or the Toba volcanic eruption. Early Homo sapiens migrated out of Africa from as early as 270,000 years ago, although these early migrations may have died out and permanent Homo sapiens presence outside Africa may not have been established until about 70–50,000 years ago.

Middle Paleolithic

Before Homo sapiens, Homo erectus had already spread throughout Africa and non-Arctic Eurasia by about one million years ago. The oldest known evidence for anatomically modern humans are fossils found at Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, dated to about 360,000 years old.

Region	Country	Date	Place	Notes	Ref
Africa, North Africa	Morocco		Jebel Irhoud	Anatomically modern human remains of eight individuals dated 300,000 years old, making them the oldest known remains categorized as "modern".
Asia, West Asia	Turkey		Neanderthal admixture	Genetic evidence for early Homo sapiens admixture to Neanderthals in West Asia, discovered in 2017.
Asia, South Asia	India		South India	Quartzite tools excavated at Attirampakkam were dated back to 250,000-385,000 years old.
Africa, Horn of Africa	Ethiopia		Omo Kibish Formation	The Omo remains of modern humans found in 1967 near the Ethiopian Kibish Mountains, dated stratigraphically to 195 ± 5 ka, may be related to Ledi-Geraru.
Asia, West Asia	Israel		Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel	Fossil maxilla is apparently older than remains found at Skhyul and Qafzeh. Layers dating from between 250,000 and 140,000 years ago in the same cave contained tools of the Levallois type, which could put the date of the first migration even earlier if the tools can be associated with the modern human jawbone finds.
Africa, Southern Africa	South Africa		Klasies River Caves, population genetics	Remains found in the Klasies River Caves in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa show signs of human hunting dated c. 125 ka. There is some debate as to whether these remains represent anatomically modern humans. Evidence from population genetics suggests separation before 110 ka, most likely between 130 and 200 ka.
Africa, East Africa	Sudan		Singa	Anatomically modern human discovered 1924 with rare temporal bone pathology
Asia, West Asia, Arabia	United Arab Emirates	125	Jebel Faya	Stone tools made by anatomically modern humans.
Asia, West Asia, Arabia	Oman		Aybut	Tools found in the Dhofar Governorate correspond with African objects from the so-called 'Nubian Complex', dating from 75 to 125,000 years ago. According to archaeologist Jeffrey I. Rose, human settlements spread east from Africa across the Arabian Peninsula.
Africa, Central Africa	Democratic Republic of the Congo		Katanda, Upper Semliki River	Semliki harpoon heads carved from bone.
Asia, South Asia	India		Central India	Archaeological excavation carried out in the trenches at Dhaba in the upper Son river valley found stone tools and other evidences of human occupation in this area 80,000 years back.
Asia, East Asia	China, PRC		Fuyan Cave	Teeth were found under rock over which 80,000 years old stalagmites had grown.
Africa, North Africa	Libya		Haua Fteah	Fragments of 2 mandibles discovered in 1953
Asia, South Asia	Sri Lanka		population genetics	Genetic evidence suggests first settlement 70–66 kya. Available fossil evidence from Sri Lanka has been dated to 34 kya.
Asia, Southeast Asia	Sumatra, Indonesia		Lida Ajer cave	Teeth found in Sumatra in the 19th century
Asia, Southeast Asia	Luzon, Philippines		Callao Cave	Mijares and Piper found bones in a cave near Peñablanca, Cagayan, originally thought to be modern human. However, these were subsequently dated ca. 134 kya, belonging to a different species, Homo luzonensis.
Africa, North Africa	Egypt		Taramasa Hill	Skeleton of 8- to 10-year-old child discovered in 1994
Australia	Arnhem Land, Australia		Madjedbebe	The oldest human skeletal remains are the 40ky old Lake Mungo remains in New South Wales, but human ornaments discovered at Devil's Lair in Western Australia have been dated to 48 kya and artifacts at Madjedbebe in Northern Territory are dated to at least 50 kya, and to in one 2017 study.

Upper Paleolithic

Region	Country / island	Date	Place	Notes	Ref
South America	Northeast Region, Brazil		Pedra Furada	Hypothetical Pleistocene peopling of the Americas: charcoal from the oldest layers yielded dates of 41,000–56,000 BP.
Asia, East Asia	Honshu, Japan		Lake Nojiri	Genetic research indicates arrival of humans in Japan by 37,000 BP. Archeological remains at the Tategahana Paleolithic Site at Lake Nojiri have been dated as early as 47,000 BP.
Asia, Southeast Asia, Indochina	Laos		Tam Pa Ling Cave	In 2009 an ancient skull was recovered from a cave in the Annamite Mountains in northern Laos which is at least 46,000 years old, making it the oldest modern human fossil found to date in Southeast Asia
Europe				The earliest known remains of Cro-Magnon-like humans are radiocarbon dated to 43,000–46,000 BP, found in Bulgaria, Italy, and Great Britain.
Europe	Bulgaria		Bacho Kiro cave	A tooth and six bone fragments are the earliest modern human remains yet found in Europe.
Europe	Italy		Grotta del Cavallo, Apulia	Two baby teeth discovered in Apulia in 1964.
Europe	Great Britain, United Kingdom		Kents Cavern	Human jaw fragment found in Torquay, Devon in 1927
Europe	Germany		Geißenklösterle, Baden-Württemberg	Three Paleolithic flutes belonging to the early Aurignacian, which is associated with the assumed earliest presence of Homo sapiens in Europe. It is the oldest example of prehistoric music.
Europe, Baltic	Lithuania		near Gargždai	A hammer made from reindeer horn similar to those used by the Bromme culture was found in 2016. The discovery pushed back the earliest evidence of human presence in Lithuania by 30,000 years, i.e. to before the last glacial period.
Asia, Southeast Asia	East Timor		Jerimalai cave	Fish bones
Australia	Tasmania		Jordan River Levee	Optically stimulated luminescence results from the site suggest a date ca. 41,000 BP. Rising sea level left Tasmania isolated after 8000 BP.
Asia, Southeast Asia	Borneo, Malaysia		Niah Cave	A human skull in Sarawak, Borneo
Asia, Southeast Asia	New Guinea		Indonesian Side of New Guinea	Archaeological evidence shows that 40,000 years ago, some of the first farmers came to New Guinea from the South-East Asian Peninsula.
Europe	Romania		Peștera cu Oase
Asia, East Asia	Hong Kong, PRC		Wong Tei Tung	Optically stimulated luminescence results from the site suggest a date ca. 39,000 BP.
Europe	Russia		Mamontovaya Kurya	Earliest evidence of human presence at Arctic latitudes.
Asia, Central Asia, Tibetan Plateau	Tibet, PRC		Salween River	Formerly dated to 15 kya, the date modern human presence in Tibet has been pushed back to at least 38 kya based on genetic evidence. Archaeological evidence from the bank of the Salween River in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau was dated between 32 and 39 kya.
Asia, South Asia	Sri Lanka		Fa Hien Cave	The earliest remains of anatomically modern man, based on radiocarbon dating of charcoal, have been found in the Fa Hien Cave in western Sri Lanka.
North America	Canada		Bluefish Caves	Hypothetical Pleistocene peopling of the Americas: Human-worked mammoth bone flakes found at Bluefish Caves, Yukon.
Asia, East Asia	Okinawa		Yamashita-cho cave, Naha city	Bone artifacts and an ash seam dated to 32,000±1000 BP.
Europe	France		Chauvet Cave	The cave paintings in the Chauvet Cave in southern France have been called the earliest known cave art, though the dating is uncertain.
Europe	Czech Republic		Mladeč caves	Oldest human bones that clearly represent a human settlement in Europe.
Europe	Poland		Obłazowa Cave	A boomerang made from mammoth tusk
Asia, Southeast Asia	Buka Island, New Guinea		Kilu Cave	Flaked stone, bone, and shell artifacts
Asia, East Asia	Taiwan, Republic of China			In 1972, fragmentary fossils of anatomically modern humans were found at Chouqu and Gangzilin, in Zuojhen District, Tainan, in fossil beds exposed by erosion of the Cailiao River. Though some of the fragments are believed to be more recent, three cranial fragments and a molar tooth have been dated as between 20,000 and 30,000 years old. The find has been dubbed "Zuozhen Man". No associated artifacts have been found at the site.
Europe	Portugal		Abrigo do Lagar Velho	Possible Neanderthal/Cro-Magnon hybrid, the Lapedo child
North America	United States		Lake Otero	Human footprints in White Sands National Park in New Mexico. Stone, bone, and wood artifacts and animal and plant remains dating to 16,000 BP in Meadowcroft Rockshelter, Washington County, Pennsylvania.
Europe	Sicily		San Teodoro cave	Human cranium dated by gamma-ray spectrometry
South America	Chile		Monte Verde	Carbon dating of remains from this site represent the oldest known settlement in South America.
South America	Peru		Pikimachay	Stone and bone artifacts found in a cave of the Ayacucho complex
North America	Santa Rosa Island		Arlington Springs site	Arlington Springs Man discovered in 1959. The four northern Channel Islands of California were once conjoined into one island, Santa Rosae