WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN IGBOLAND 40,000 YEARS AGO.

The first living creatures to  appear in what became Nigeria ,the HOMO ERECTUS were in southeast Nigeria. They later went extinct to give rise to modern humans. They are sometimes classified as proto-Igbos.

WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN IGBOLAND 40,000 YEARS AGO.....

(This is based on verifiable research work)

According to a research done by The African Genome Variation Project (AGVP) ,The AGVP 

found evidence of widespread hunter-gatherer ancestry in African populations, including ancient 

(9 ky) Khoesan ancestry in the lgbo from Nigeria"...I ky(kiloyear):1 000. So 9Ky:9000 years. 

Another genetic Analysis found the Y chromosome of igbo genetic makeup which gives a 

haplogroup EM2 predominace, with the time of origin being 39,300 years BP which puts it at 

37350BC.With all these, we should not be in doubt that igbos have been on their land for 

thousands of years.The archaeological findings scattered all over igboland, the acheulien 

handex at ugwuele uturu, the Afigbo pottery findings all dating thousands of years also 

supports igbo antiquity and evolution on their land.The discovery of these genetic make among 

igbos and not on her neighbours, all indicate igbos were either the first to arrive in this part of 

the world ,lived side by side with the pygmies who are said to have inhabited this part of the 

world or  there direct descendants.

 Haplogroup E-M2,subclade-E1b1a1a1f1a (YCC E1b1a7)  is the predominant  Y-chromosome and Igbo genetic  marker. 

According to Montano et-al who conducted the research, He found  that the E1b1a1a1f1a (YCC E1b1a7) is defined by marker M191/P86 and is distributed   in Nigeria(igbos) Gabon, Cameroon and Congo. M191/P86 positive samples occurred in tested populations of Annang (38.3%), Ibibio (45.6%), Efik (45%), and Igbo (54.3%) living in Nigeria, West Africa.

The time of origin of groups with such DNA is 39,300 years  BP(37,350BC)   and period of Coalescence age is 15,700 years  BP.

 This genetic findings, together with the various archaeological findings of late stone age in Afigbo (3000BC),Ugwuele uturu further proves that ancient igbo ancestors evolved in their land ,inhabited within the numerous caves in Igboland from late stone age.The ancient evolution of Igbo ukwu culture (8TH-9TH century) which is centuries older than Ife and Benin attest to the  ancient Igbo habitation,second only to Nok culture. 

Archeological and linguistic sources suggest that foragers occupied Igboland during the Middle LSA (8000 b.c–3000 b.c.). The sources also affirm that some foragers from the Igbo area as well as from other parts of southeastern Nigeria, inhabited by the Bantu, had started to migrate in waves from their homeland to populate most of sub-Saharan Africa

between 5000 b.c. and 4000 b.c. Oral traditions of the early Igbo dealing with foraging are lost to memory. The Nri, for example, give faint hints of the foraging era by claiming that their mythical founder, Eri, descended from the sky to the Anambra River when yams and other crops had not been domesticated in the area. There are similar traditions of autochthonous groups who had occupied different parts of the Igbo hinterland in ancient times, saying that they “sprouted from the earth.” Their movements across the dense tropical rain forests were probably facilitated by “elephant paths.” Although the tradition of Aba town, for example, deals with a later period, it claims that the progenitors of the town, from northern Ngwaland, used elephant paths to migrate and settle near the Aza River. Hence, Aba is popularly called “enyi mba” (lit. the elephant town). The traditions and P. Manning’s study of human migrations suggest that riverbanks, seashores, and lakesides were among the early zones of human habitation in Igboland during the foraging era.Their strategic locations enabled foragers to sustain themselves with the resources of both the riverain and forest ecological zones. In addition, it was easier, faster, and safer for them to travel on the rivers than through the thickly forested areas populated by wild and dangerous carnivores.

Foragers possessed tools that enabled them to carry out their daily economic activities. They used Archeulian hand axes (egbugbu) for hunting, “woodworking, scraping skins, and especially skinning and butchering animals.”6 Other tools were traps (onya), and bows (uta) and arrows (aku) for hunting and for defending themselves against carnivores. Their tool kits also included sharpened sticks (mbazi) for hunting and for digging up wild growing yams (adu), cocoyams (ede inyamkpe), and other root crops. Those who lived near riverbanks manufactured nets and boats made of reed and tropical bamboo rafts for fishing.

 For those shouting Igbos migrated from Israel,sorry to disappoint you,Igbos are aboriginal Africans that evolved in their land.And even if anyone came from Israel or elsewhere, they came and met Igbo ancestors on ground and inter-married .

Reference:

■The Genetic Structure and History of Africans and African Americans

■ Powell A, Plaster CA, Zeitlyn D, Mendell NR, Weale ME, Bradman N, Thomas MG (March 2010). "Little genetic differentiation as assessed by uniparental markers in the presence of substantial language variation in peoples of the Cross River region of Nigeria".

■ Political Organization in Nigeria Since the Late Stone Age, A History of the Igbo People by :John N Oriji.

■  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_E-M2

   ■https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13997#:~:text=The%20African%20Genome%20Variation%20Project%20provides%20a%20resource%20with%20which,individuals%20across%20sub%2DSaharan%20Africa.