Rainforests acted as barriers that redirected and slowed the Bantu expansion
In short: Researchers analyzing the history of approximately 400 Bantu languages found that the massive expansion from West Central Africa was not a random movement. Instead, migrating populations followed specific savannah corridors, as rainforest environments repeatedly acted as temporal barriers that redirected their path and slowed their progress.
The study demonstrates that even with the ability to use cultural innovations to inhabit new areas, unfamiliar landscapes significantly influence human dispersal. By using a dated phylogeny of languages, the researchers observed that moving from savannah into rainforest delayed migration by an average of 300 years compared to movement within a single habitat type. However, the study's conclusions are based on linguistic reconstructions of historical movements.
Why it matters: Even with cultural innovation, landscape features like rainforests can significantly redirect and delay human migrations.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Research: Grollemund et al. (2015). Bantu expansion shows that habitat alters the route and pace of human dispersals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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