The different route theorems modern humans adapted coming out of Africa

When discussing the migration of "Homo sapiens out of Africa", two main routes are most commonly proposed: the Southern Route and the Northern Route. While some researchers argue that one route was the primary pathway, others suggest that early humans may have migrated through both routes at different times. In this section, I will explore the scientific evidence behind each hypothesis and discuss which route (or combination of routes) is currently considered more likely.

The Northern Route: Some of the earliest "Out of Africa" Homo Sapiens remains were found in the Levant, which currently represents Israel. Due to this, it has been suggested that modern humans traveled across the Sinai Peninsula to the Levant to cross continents, making their way out of Africa. From here, modern humans could spread into Europe through Anatolia and into South & East Asia through Arabia.

The Southern Route: The mitochondrial DNA studies have favored a Southern route across the Bab el Mandeb strait at the mouth of the Red Sea. From there this theory suggests that modern humans have spread into regions of Southeast Asia and Ocenia. More interestingly, under the "single wave serial bottleneck model", it is thought that a group of modern humans crossed the mouth of the Red Sea and traveled along the Southern coast towards India as "beachbombers" exploiting shellfish and other marine products.

Therefore, even though humans will most likely never get a certain answer, the archeological human findings support the Northern route while the mitochondrial DNA studies support the Southern route. It should be noted that these both ways are true and supported under the "Multiple Dispersal Model" although which one happened first still remains a mystery.