Look: Ancient humans crossed this unlikely path for 400,000 years

The Arabian Peninsula was a vital gateway for our ancient human ancestors to spill out of Africa and into Asia and Europe.

But a majority of that region is desert.

So how did early Homo sapiens survive in such harsh, arid climates?

Researchers writing in a September 1 report in the journal Nature describe stone tools and animal fossils found in the Nefud Desert in northern Saudi Arabia. These point to early human habitation.

Archeological sites in the Nefud were once home to ancient lakes and have earned recent archaeological interest.

In 2018, one team uncovered a 88,000-year-old fossilized Homo sapien finger bone in the Nefud Desert, which shifted our understanding of ancient human migration.

But much remains to be uncovered — literally — about when and where our ancient ancestors lived.