facts that first people originated from africa?

Answer 1

It's been proved genetically, by mitochondrial DNA.
Gene diversity decreases, the further from Africa. This indicates, that as populations spread out, they also became more "inbred" and experienced a bottleneck effect.

Answer 2

The earliest fossil skeletons of hominids (distant ancestors of today's human beings) have been found in Africa. To be more precise, they were found in Ethiopia.

The most famous hominid discovered in Ethiopia is called "Lucy". She lived about 3 million years ago. We know that Lucy is a hominid, not an ape, by the way that her pelvis and hips are formed. Apes walk on all four legs. Lucy walked on her hind legs: her forelegs had become arms.

We can't use DNA testing on Lucy to prove that she is an ancestor of today's human beings, because DNA is destroyed in the process of fossilization. But few experts seriously dispute that Lucy is one of our very distant ancestors.

Since Lucy was discovered in 1974, more hominid fossil skeletons have been discovered in the same region of Africa. Some of them are dated to more than 4 million years ago.

This evidence about Lucy and other hominids does not prove with 100% certainty that our ancestors originated in Africa: it is possible, I suppose, that next week someone will dig up hominid bones from Siberia or somewhere else that are even older. But that is not at all likely to happen. Based on what we know today, Africa was indeed the cradle of mankind.

Answer 3

[edit] African and Eurasian Civilizations of the "Old World"

The earliest known civilizations (as defined in the traditional sense) developed from proto-civilized cultures in Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in modern-day Iraq, the Nile valley of Egypt, while smaller civilizations arose in Elam in modern-day Iran, (Especially those parts considered to be the "Fertile Crescent"), the Indus Valley region of modern-day Pakistan and North India, and the parallel development of Chinese civilizations in the Huang He River (Yellow River) and Yangtze River valleys of China, and on the island of Crete and in Mycenaean Greece in the Aegean Sea, Persia in modern-day Iran, as well as the Olmec civilization and the Caral civilization in modern day Mexico and Peru. The inhabitants of these areas built cities, created writing systems, learned to make pottery and use metals, domesticated animals, and created complex social structures with class systems. Proto-civilized cultures developed as a late stage of the Neolithic Revolution, and pioneered many of the features later associated with civilizations. The oldest granary yet found, for instance, dates back to 9500 BC and is located in the Jordan Valley. The earliest known settlement in Jericho (9th millennium BC) was a Pre-Pottery Neolithic A culture that eventually gave way to more developed settlements later, which included in one early settlement (8th millennium BC) mud-brick houses surrounded by a stone wall, having a stone tower built into the wall. In this time there is evidence of domesticated emmer wheat, barley and pulses and hunting of wild animals. However, there are no indications of attempts to form communities (early civilizations) with surrounding peoples. Nevertheless, by the 6th millennium BC we find what appears to be an ancient shrine and cult, which would likely indicate intercommunal religious practices in this era. Findings include a collective burial (with not all the skeletons completely articulated, jaws removed, faces covered with plaster, cowries used for eyes). Other finds from this era include stone and bone tools, clay figurines and shell and malachite beads. Despite considerable urban development in the Early and Middle Bronze Ages, these sites only became part of the fully civilized world around 1500 to 1200 BC when the pre-literate sites of Jericho and other cities of Canaan had become vassals of the Egyptian empire.

In Anatolia, the first urban complex has been identified at Catal Huyuk, having many of the characteristics found in later cities and towns in the Near East. It has been hypothesized that this culture came to an end when nearby forests were depleted of timber, a fate similar to that of the Anaszasi in America. At Mersin, an early fortress has been identified guarding the Cicilian Gates trade route through the Taurus Mountains. At Hamoukar in Syria, evidence of an early battle has been found circa 4,500 BC, with those benefiting from the struggle being members of the Uruk culture from Southern Iraq. Whilst civilization at Hamoukar and nearby Tell Brak previously had been independent from Southern Iraq, henceforth Southern Iraq developed more rapidly with a higher population density.

It is also important to note various literate and pre-literate civilizations and proto-civilizations developed in southern Sudan and East African regions prior to European contact (eg. See Ghana Empire, Mali Empire, Songhai Empire, Great Zimbabwe, Munhumutapa Empire).