New discoveries reveal the widespread presence of humans in Equatorial Guinea at least 45,000 years ago

A study led by Antonio Rosas, a researcher at the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN-CSIC), in collaboration with researchers from the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES-CERCA), presents the results of eleven paleoanthropological field seasons conducted in Equatorial Guinea. This research, published in the journal Quaternary International, reveals the technological capabilities and evolution of Homo sapiens who inhabited Equatorial Guinea for over 20,000 years, including in such challenging ecosystems as the African tropical rainforests.

Throughout the eleven field seasons carried out across Equatorial Guinea since 2014, researchers identified 449 stratigraphic outcrops. Fifty of these outcrops revealed evidence of human activity through the discovery of 868 stone tools. All the artefacts date to between 45,000 and 21,000 years ago, meaning they were produced at the end of the African Middle Stone Age (roughly spanning from 300,000 to 25,000 years ago).

“These data indicate that Middle Stone Age populations persisted in this region even when other parts of the continent had already transitioned to the Upper Palaeolithic,” explains Antonio Rosas.

The study not only confirms the presence of early Homo sapiens throughout Equatorial Guinea, but also shows that this occupation was systematic, widespread, and longer-lasting than previously believed. These conclusions support the results obtained by the same research team earlier this year, when a study published in Quaternary Science Reviews provided evidence of the advanced technological and cultural capacities of our ancestors.

In the Río Campo region of Equatorial Guinea, over 400 stone tools were found, including bifacial points and implements associated with hunting and material processing activities. This led to a twofold discovery: on one hand, the technological complexity of the tools clearly demonstrates the cultural capabilities of early Homo sapiens to adapt to hostile environments characterised by dense vegetation, high temperatures, and unpredictable resources. “These are traces of how modern humans adapted to complex environments such as the African equatorial rainforests,” Rosas notes. On the other hand, the dating of these tools to between 45,000 and 20,000 years ago “shows a transmission of technical knowledge that, in space, connects with other lithic industries from central and southern Africa and, over time, reflects a sustained technological tradition lasting millennia,” adds Juan Ignacio Morales, a researcher at IPHES-CERCA.

Human evolution in Central Africa

Traditional narratives of human evolution in Africa have proposed a simple, linear progression of our ancestors, akin to a one-directional evolutionary ladder climbing step by step from parent to child. However, the dating and location of the tools uncovered by the researchers suggest a much more complex and diverse evolutionary scenario, in which multiple hominin species coexisted, interacted, and adapted to different environments — challenging the traditional notion of a “straight ladder” and instead resembling a “branching bush” or a “complex mosaic.”

Furthermore, most research has traditionally focused on arid or semi-arid regions of Africa. In contrast, the anthropological fieldwork conducted by this research team highlights the importance of Central Africa for understanding the life, evolution, and adaptation of Homo sapiens. “The traditional view assumed a late human presence in the African equatorial rainforests, but both this study and our previous work confirm their presence in these extremely harsh environments,” adds Rosas.

The 12th field season

In early July, the twelfth anthropological research campaign will begin in Equatorial Guinea. In addition to the leadership of MNCN-CSIC and the collaboration of IPHES-CERCA, the expedition will include participation from Equatoguinean institutions such as the National Institute for Forestry Development and Protected Areas Management (INDEFOR-AP) and the National University of Equatorial Guinea.

The aim is to refine existing datings and gather sedimentological and geomorphological data in two regions in the north of the country: the Campo River basin and the Temelón region, which host some of the richest archaeological sites discovered to date.

With these data and findings, researchers hope to answer unresolved questions, such as the origins of the human groups who inhabited these ecosystems. “It’s possible that they were descendants of populations present in the region for over 250,000 years, although one hypothesis to be tested is the potential influence of human migrations from East Africa, coinciding with a major demographic expansion around 70,000 years ago,” explains the MNCN-CSIC researcher.

“While many questions remain, the progress made since the start of this transdisciplinary project has been significant and has helped shed light on a virtually unknown chapter in the story of human evolution in Central Africa,” the researchers conclude.

Reference

Rosas, A., García-Tabernero, A., Fidalgo, D., Fero Meñe, M., Rodríguez-Berriguete, A., Ebana Ebana, C., Mateo Ornia, J., Fernández-Martínez, J. y Morales, J. I. (2025). Widespread evidence of Middle Stone Age (MSA) presence in Equatorial Guinea (West-Central Atlantic Africa). Quaternary International. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2025.109849