New Study Reveals Three Waves of Modern Human Migration into Europe.

A new study suggests that modern humans migrated into Europe in three waves between 54,000 and 42,000 years ago, with evidence of the earliest migration found in southern France's Rhône Valley. The study argues that a second wave of modern humans may have entered Europe between the 42,000-year-old Protoaurignacians and the 54,000-year-old Neronians, and that the Levant was a key gateway for modern humans migrating out of Africa. The new model of modern human settlement of Europe is "ambitious and provocative," according to experts.