First Migrants
Ancient Migration in Global Perspective, Revised edition
2nd Edition
Published on 30. April 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
352 pages
978-1-394-20241-6 (ISBN)
Description
How Our Restless Ancestors Shaped the Interconnected World We Live in Today
First Migrants Revisited: Ancient Migration in Global Perspective reveals how human and hominin migrations over the past five million years shaped the world we inhabit today. Peter Bellwood synthesises insights from archaeology, palaeoanthropology, genetics, and linguistics to trace humanity's earliest movements - from the first African expansions to the global spread of agriculture. The book reveals how migration redistributed the results of biological and cultural evolution, transforming societies and environments in every corner of the globe.
Bringing together decades of scholarship, Bellwood challenges simplistic narratives of ancient migration as random events without cause or consequence, instead positioning it as a powerful mechanism the behind the formation and spread of new patterns in human biology and culture. Through rich interdisciplinary analysis, he shows how the permanent movements of populations created enduring patterns of genetic, linguistic, and cultural diversity that continue to define us. Covering the migrations of early hominins, Homo sapiens dispersals across continents, and the global diffusion of agriculture, the book provides a richly interdisciplinary account of humanity's shared past, drawing clear connections between environmental change, demographic expansion, and the human impulse to explore.
Deepening our understanding of migration as one of the most enduring forces in human history, First Migrants Revisited:
Reinterprets migration as a dynamic process of redistribution of human biology, culture, and language
Highlights the enduring consequences of prehistoric migration for contemporary human societies
Provides new insights into the large-scale population movements that shaped the genetic, cultural, and linguistic diversity that still characterizes humanity today
Features accessible summaries of the latest findings on early Homo sapiens dispersals and the global spread of agriculture
Includes comparative discussions of different hominin species and their adaptive strategies
First Migrants Revisited: Ancient Migration in Global Perspective is ideally suited for upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate courses in archaeology, anthropology, human evolution, and historical linguistics, as well as for modules in global history, evolutionary biology, and population genetics within BA, BSc, and MA degree programmes.
First Migrants Revisited: Ancient Migration in Global Perspective reveals how human and hominin migrations over the past five million years shaped the world we inhabit today. Peter Bellwood synthesises insights from archaeology, palaeoanthropology, genetics, and linguistics to trace humanity's earliest movements - from the first African expansions to the global spread of agriculture. The book reveals how migration redistributed the results of biological and cultural evolution, transforming societies and environments in every corner of the globe.
Bringing together decades of scholarship, Bellwood challenges simplistic narratives of ancient migration as random events without cause or consequence, instead positioning it as a powerful mechanism the behind the formation and spread of new patterns in human biology and culture. Through rich interdisciplinary analysis, he shows how the permanent movements of populations created enduring patterns of genetic, linguistic, and cultural diversity that continue to define us. Covering the migrations of early hominins, Homo sapiens dispersals across continents, and the global diffusion of agriculture, the book provides a richly interdisciplinary account of humanity's shared past, drawing clear connections between environmental change, demographic expansion, and the human impulse to explore.
Deepening our understanding of migration as one of the most enduring forces in human history, First Migrants Revisited:
Reinterprets migration as a dynamic process of redistribution of human biology, culture, and language
Highlights the enduring consequences of prehistoric migration for contemporary human societies
Provides new insights into the large-scale population movements that shaped the genetic, cultural, and linguistic diversity that still characterizes humanity today
Features accessible summaries of the latest findings on early Homo sapiens dispersals and the global spread of agriculture
Includes comparative discussions of different hominin species and their adaptive strategies
First Migrants Revisited: Ancient Migration in Global Perspective is ideally suited for upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate courses in archaeology, anthropology, human evolution, and historical linguistics, as well as for modules in global history, evolutionary biology, and population genetics within BA, BSc, and MA degree programmes.
More details
Edition
2nd edition
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 225 mm
Width: 150 mm
Thickness: 34 mm
Weight
518 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-394-20241-6 (9781394202416)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
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E-Book
04/2026
2nd Edition
Wiley-ISTE
€35.99
Available for download
E-Book
03/2026
2nd Edition
Wiley-ISTE
€35.99
Available for download
Previous edition
Book
08/2013
Wiley
€29.90
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Person
PETER BELLWOOD is Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University. An International Fellow of the British Academy and Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, he is internationally recognised for his research on human population history in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. His previous publications with Wiley Blackwell include First Farmers, First Migrants, First Islanders, and The Global Prehistory of Human Migration. In 2021, he was awarded the International Cosmos Prize in Osaka, Japan.
Content
List of Figures xi
Table xiii
Preface xiv
A Note on Dating Terminology xvii
Acknowledgments xix
1 Prehistoric Human Migration and Why It Mattered 1
Migration as a Cyclical Phenomenon - Punctuations and Quiescence 2
Defining Ancient Migration 6
Migration Versus Conquest and "Elite Dominance" as Vectors of Human Dispersal 8
Potential Reasons for Ancient Migration 9
Researching Ancient Migration at the Level of the Biological Population 10
Language Families and Historical Linguistics 13
When and How Did Language Families Originate and Spread? 17
Cultures in Archaeology - Did They Equate with Linguistic and Biological Populations? 20
On Triangulating Opinions from Different Disciplines 21
2 Migrations in History and Anthropology - A Consideration of Outcomes 24
Settling Uninhabited New Lands - Medieval Iceland, and the Bounty Survivors on Pitcairn Island 25
Ancient China: Imperial Conquest with Mass Settlement of Previously Inhabited Territory 26
The Anglo- Saxons in England: Success in Migration Where the Romans Failed 28
The Nuer and Dinka of Sudan: Demic Diffusion Between Neighbors Fueled by Imbalances in Raiding Group Size and Bride Price Demands 31
The Iban of Sarawak and the Yanomami of Venezuela: Population Growth in Tribal Circumstances and a Constant Need for New Land 32
Roman Britain: Imperial Conquest and Major Cultural Change, but No Mass Settler Immigration 34
Indic- influenced Southeast Asia: Religious and Cultural Influence, but No Mass Settler Immigration 35
The Helvetii: A Failed Attempt at a Planned Migration 36
The Relevance of Historical and Ethnographic Migrations for Understanding Prehistoric Situations 37
Notes 41
3 Migrating Hominins, Until the Emergence of Homo Sapiens 42
How Did Species Originate and Migrate? 42
The First Hominins 44
The Issue of Inter- Species Hybridization 48
Early Hominins and Migration in Africa 51
Out of Africa, But How Often? 54
Who Were the First Hominin Migrants beyond Africa? 59
Flores, Luzon, and Crossing the Sea 62
Large Brained Hominins of the Middle Pleistocene - Out of Africa Again? 65
Neanderthals and Denisovans 68
Stone Tools and Hominin Species - Did They Correlate? 70
Taking Stock 72
4 Early Homo sapiens in Africa and Eurasia 74
Where and When Did Homo sapiens Originate? 74
What Was, and Still Is, Homo sapiens? 77
Behavioral Modernity 81
Eurasia and Africa in Comparative Perspective 82
The Expansion of Modern Humans Across Africa 84
Out of Africa - When? 85
The Environments Behind Homo sapiens Migration into Eurasia 87
The Upper Paleolithic in Eurasia 91
Ancient Genetic Perspectives on Upper Paleolithic Eurasians 95
The Crossings of Asia 96
The Fates of the Neanderthals and Denisovans 97
5 Early Homo sapiens Offshore: Island Southeast Asia, Australia, New Guinea, Japan, and The Americas 101
The Southern Route to the East 101
Homo sapiens Arrives in Sahul, But When? 102
How Did People Reach Australia and New Guinea? 106
How Many Settlers? 108
Heading North and Offshore Again - Japan 110
The Americas 114
Getting to and Through Beringia 116
The Genetic Sources of the First Americans 118
The Rapid Unfolding of American Colonization 120
Paleo- Inuit and Thule Inuit Migrations 123
The Apache and the Navajo of the US Southwest 126
6 Last Hunter- Gatherers, First Farmers, and the Warming of the Earth 129
Goodbye to the Last Glacial Maximum, Welcome to the Holocene 129
Food Production, the First Farmers, and Their Fecund Offspring 134
Why Did Food Production Develop in Some Places, But Not Others? 139
Why Was Domesticated Food Production Relatively Slow to Develop? 141
Food Production and Population Expansion 143
7 Ancient Farming Migrations in Western Eurasia and Northern Africa 149
Agricultural Beginnings in the Fertile Crescent 152
Migrations Out of the Fertile Crescent 156
Neolithic Expansion from Anatolia into Southeastern Europe 158
Neolithic Migration Through Europe, Beyond Greece and the Balkans 161
The Eurasian Steppes, Central Asia, and Towards the Indian Subcontinent 165
Iran, Pakistan, and South Asia Beyond the Indus River 168
The Spread of the Fertile Crescent Food- Producing Economy into North Africa 171
Genomic Perspectives on the Fertile Crescent Food Production Complex 174
Genomic Expansions Out of the Fertile Crescent 175
The Indo- European Language Family - Origins and Dispersals 180
Peninsular India and the Dravidian Language Family 183
Northern Africa and the Afro- Asiatic Language Family 185
Notes 188
8 Ancient Farming Migrations in Eastern Asia and Oceania 189
Eastern Asian Topography and Its Effect on Human Migration 189
Agricultural Beginnings in East Asia 192
Who Were the First Farmers of East Asia? 194
One Beginning, or Two, or More? 198
Neolithic Migrations from the Central and Northern Chinese Riverine Plains 200
Sino- Tibetan and Transeurasian Migrations from the Liao and Yellow Rivers 202
Southern China and Mainland Southeast Asia 204
A Key Archaeological Sequence from Northern Vietnam 209
The Austroasiatic and Kra- Dai (Tai- Kadai, or Daic) Language Families 211
Island Southeast Asia and Oceania, and the Role of the New Guinea Highlands 214
Archaeological and Genetic Migrations Through Island Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and Oceania 219
The Colonization of Oceania Beyond New Guinea and the Solomons 224
Holocene Australia and Its Migration Puzzles 229
9 Ancient Farming Migrations in Sub- Saharan Africa and the Americas 232
Africa Before Food Production 233
Africa with Food Production 234
Sub- Saharan Crop Domestication 236
The Bantu Expansion 238
Independent Cultural Developments and Migrations in the Americas 241
The Rise of Food Production in the Americas, Especially Maize 246
Food Production and Migration in the Americas 248
Early Farmers in Ecuador and Peru 251
Early Farmers in Amazonia 252
The Caribbean Islands 254
Mesoamerica and the US Southwest 255
The Eastern Woodlands of North America 259
Notes 261
10 What Happened in (Pre)History(?) 262
Global Hominin Prehistory and Migratory Punctuation - A Review 262
Some Further Questions 266
References 269
Index 310
Table xiii
Preface xiv
A Note on Dating Terminology xvii
Acknowledgments xix
1 Prehistoric Human Migration and Why It Mattered 1
Migration as a Cyclical Phenomenon - Punctuations and Quiescence 2
Defining Ancient Migration 6
Migration Versus Conquest and "Elite Dominance" as Vectors of Human Dispersal 8
Potential Reasons for Ancient Migration 9
Researching Ancient Migration at the Level of the Biological Population 10
Language Families and Historical Linguistics 13
When and How Did Language Families Originate and Spread? 17
Cultures in Archaeology - Did They Equate with Linguistic and Biological Populations? 20
On Triangulating Opinions from Different Disciplines 21
2 Migrations in History and Anthropology - A Consideration of Outcomes 24
Settling Uninhabited New Lands - Medieval Iceland, and the Bounty Survivors on Pitcairn Island 25
Ancient China: Imperial Conquest with Mass Settlement of Previously Inhabited Territory 26
The Anglo- Saxons in England: Success in Migration Where the Romans Failed 28
The Nuer and Dinka of Sudan: Demic Diffusion Between Neighbors Fueled by Imbalances in Raiding Group Size and Bride Price Demands 31
The Iban of Sarawak and the Yanomami of Venezuela: Population Growth in Tribal Circumstances and a Constant Need for New Land 32
Roman Britain: Imperial Conquest and Major Cultural Change, but No Mass Settler Immigration 34
Indic- influenced Southeast Asia: Religious and Cultural Influence, but No Mass Settler Immigration 35
The Helvetii: A Failed Attempt at a Planned Migration 36
The Relevance of Historical and Ethnographic Migrations for Understanding Prehistoric Situations 37
Notes 41
3 Migrating Hominins, Until the Emergence of Homo Sapiens 42
How Did Species Originate and Migrate? 42
The First Hominins 44
The Issue of Inter- Species Hybridization 48
Early Hominins and Migration in Africa 51
Out of Africa, But How Often? 54
Who Were the First Hominin Migrants beyond Africa? 59
Flores, Luzon, and Crossing the Sea 62
Large Brained Hominins of the Middle Pleistocene - Out of Africa Again? 65
Neanderthals and Denisovans 68
Stone Tools and Hominin Species - Did They Correlate? 70
Taking Stock 72
4 Early Homo sapiens in Africa and Eurasia 74
Where and When Did Homo sapiens Originate? 74
What Was, and Still Is, Homo sapiens? 77
Behavioral Modernity 81
Eurasia and Africa in Comparative Perspective 82
The Expansion of Modern Humans Across Africa 84
Out of Africa - When? 85
The Environments Behind Homo sapiens Migration into Eurasia 87
The Upper Paleolithic in Eurasia 91
Ancient Genetic Perspectives on Upper Paleolithic Eurasians 95
The Crossings of Asia 96
The Fates of the Neanderthals and Denisovans 97
5 Early Homo sapiens Offshore: Island Southeast Asia, Australia, New Guinea, Japan, and The Americas 101
The Southern Route to the East 101
Homo sapiens Arrives in Sahul, But When? 102
How Did People Reach Australia and New Guinea? 106
How Many Settlers? 108
Heading North and Offshore Again - Japan 110
The Americas 114
Getting to and Through Beringia 116
The Genetic Sources of the First Americans 118
The Rapid Unfolding of American Colonization 120
Paleo- Inuit and Thule Inuit Migrations 123
The Apache and the Navajo of the US Southwest 126
6 Last Hunter- Gatherers, First Farmers, and the Warming of the Earth 129
Goodbye to the Last Glacial Maximum, Welcome to the Holocene 129
Food Production, the First Farmers, and Their Fecund Offspring 134
Why Did Food Production Develop in Some Places, But Not Others? 139
Why Was Domesticated Food Production Relatively Slow to Develop? 141
Food Production and Population Expansion 143
7 Ancient Farming Migrations in Western Eurasia and Northern Africa 149
Agricultural Beginnings in the Fertile Crescent 152
Migrations Out of the Fertile Crescent 156
Neolithic Expansion from Anatolia into Southeastern Europe 158
Neolithic Migration Through Europe, Beyond Greece and the Balkans 161
The Eurasian Steppes, Central Asia, and Towards the Indian Subcontinent 165
Iran, Pakistan, and South Asia Beyond the Indus River 168
The Spread of the Fertile Crescent Food- Producing Economy into North Africa 171
Genomic Perspectives on the Fertile Crescent Food Production Complex 174
Genomic Expansions Out of the Fertile Crescent 175
The Indo- European Language Family - Origins and Dispersals 180
Peninsular India and the Dravidian Language Family 183
Northern Africa and the Afro- Asiatic Language Family 185
Notes 188
8 Ancient Farming Migrations in Eastern Asia and Oceania 189
Eastern Asian Topography and Its Effect on Human Migration 189
Agricultural Beginnings in East Asia 192
Who Were the First Farmers of East Asia? 194
One Beginning, or Two, or More? 198
Neolithic Migrations from the Central and Northern Chinese Riverine Plains 200
Sino- Tibetan and Transeurasian Migrations from the Liao and Yellow Rivers 202
Southern China and Mainland Southeast Asia 204
A Key Archaeological Sequence from Northern Vietnam 209
The Austroasiatic and Kra- Dai (Tai- Kadai, or Daic) Language Families 211
Island Southeast Asia and Oceania, and the Role of the New Guinea Highlands 214
Archaeological and Genetic Migrations Through Island Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and Oceania 219
The Colonization of Oceania Beyond New Guinea and the Solomons 224
Holocene Australia and Its Migration Puzzles 229
9 Ancient Farming Migrations in Sub- Saharan Africa and the Americas 232
Africa Before Food Production 233
Africa with Food Production 234
Sub- Saharan Crop Domestication 236
The Bantu Expansion 238
Independent Cultural Developments and Migrations in the Americas 241
The Rise of Food Production in the Americas, Especially Maize 246
Food Production and Migration in the Americas 248
Early Farmers in Ecuador and Peru 251
Early Farmers in Amazonia 252
The Caribbean Islands 254
Mesoamerica and the US Southwest 255
The Eastern Woodlands of North America 259
Notes 261
10 What Happened in (Pre)History(?) 262
Global Hominin Prehistory and Migratory Punctuation - A Review 262
Some Further Questions 266
References 269
Index 310