Yoruba people have more than one ancestor. By incontestable logic it is obvious that ancestors are the paternal line, maternal line, and autosomal line. Oduduwa’s own lineage begins after 17,300 generations (346,000 years) of African history. Where did his parents come from?
Geneticists explored three potential birthplaces for Scientific Adam through Y-chromosome studies, and mitochondrial Eve through mitochrondrial studies. Africa's diverse genetic pool suggests an ancient origin. The Middle East's historical significance and its genetic diversity make it a contender. Asia's genetic variations also play a role. By analyzing genetic markers and mutations, researchers attempt to pinpoint Adam's origin and Eve’s origin, exploring migrations and evolutionary patterns. The debate continues due to complexities in genetic data and human migration, with each region offering compelling evidence for scientific Adam's ancestral roots, along with scientific Eve.
By 200,000-300,000 years ago there were modern humans in all zones of Africa along with archaic humans: in West, North, East, Central and Southern Africa.
The migration path of West African ancestors traces back to East Africa, where early humans exhibited remarkable innovation and adaptability. Dating back hundreds of thousands of years, evidence from archaeological digs in Olorgesailie, Kenya, and Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, showcases early technological advancements and trade networks. Genetic research supports the notion of ancestral migrations, with various subclades of the E-M96 Y-DNA haplogroup indicating movements within Africa.
Linguistic reconstructions provide further insight, revealing shared cultural practices and societal structures among ancient West African populations. These include early justice systems even by 40,000-50,000 years ago, the emergence of religion by 40,000 years ago, and communal approaches to conflict resolution, evident in the Proto-Niger-Congo and Proto-Afro-Asiatic language families. Archaeological findings, such as pottery making and agricultural development, underscore the settlement and development of West African communities over time.
Oral traditions also contribute to our understanding, offering narratives of migration and settlement patterns. These traditions, while subject to evolution over time, provide valuable insights into the historical journey of West African populations.
Despite the comprehensive evidence supporting this migration path, alternative explanations and counterarguments must be considered. Genetic inference, cultural continuity and change, and methodological limitations all play a role in shaping our understanding of Yoruba history. Interaction with other groups, such as North African civilizations and trans-Saharan trade routes, also likely influenced the development of West African societies.
Mythologies are neatly linear, and fascinating to commit to memory or to induce large populations to form a shared sense of culture but multidisciplinary evidence, dna studies, archaeology and linguistic evidence which establish facts provide a multifaceted view.
There have indigenous inhabitants in Southwest Nigeria for millennia and continuous arrivals of foreigners who intermarried, learned the local language and settled down. Their journey was not a linear path but a complex, multifaceted migration. Various routes emerged, bringing African admixtures from diverse populations into Southwest Nigeria. The migration paths weren't uniform; groups ventured along different trajectories, adapting to varied environments, climates, and challenges encountered along the way.
In about the 9th century AD, a very important revolution started at Ife in central Yorubaland and, over the next six centuries (until about 1600 AD), swept over the whole of Yorubaland. The revolution resulted in the creation of unified kingdoms and towns all over Yorubaland. It transformed the ancient clumps of small and separate settlements into unified kingdoms and towns everywhere in Yorubaland. Starting from Ife in the 9th Century AD, this revolution continued until about the 16th Century AD, and turned Yorubaland into a country of many proud kingdoms and many rich towns.
Prior to the promotion of Yoruba identity under Ajayi Crowther and the independence movements, the Yoruba people had more diverse languages and city states.
Oduduwa myth of him descending from an iron chain carrying a chicken and earth is known by many intelligent Yoruba people to be myth. No one from Benin that has scientific training thinks the first Ogiso fell out of the sky. The allegory mainly means they came from somewhere far away or their impact felt like a Godsend.
Yoruba, as well all other Niger-Congo ancestry traces back to E-M2/E-M96 Y DNA ancestors, L0-L7 mitochondrial ancestors, and it is over 17,000 ancestors as well as over 350,000 years deep.
Term “Yoruba” covers various ethnicities - Oyo, Ife, Ijebu, Owu, Ijesha, Ile, Sabe, Popo, Egba, Ondo, Ekiti, Itsekiri, Awori, Taro, Ga, Ewe, Igbomina, Ikale, Egbado, Akure, Ilorin, Owo, Ahori, Ssbe, Lokoga, Ketu and others. It also covers many cities founded by hunters, and other Baale families over 150 of them. Oranyan did not only marry Torosi, a Tapa princess, who became the mother of Sango Akata Yẹri-Yẹri, he also married Moremi Ajasoro. Likewise, all other royal families from Oyo, Ife, Ijebu, Owu, Ijesha, Ile, Sabe, Popo, Egba, Ondo, Ekiti, Itsekiri, Awori, Taro, Ga, Ewe, Igbomina, Lokoga, Ketu, and other regions across over 50 generations, either married indigneous families, or daughters from other neighbouring kingdoms or federations. Yoruba people, like all humans trace their ancestry not only down the paternal line and maternal line which is approximately statistically 0.5% of lineage but also down the autosomal line which accounts for 99.5% of lineage. All these ethnicities are interconnected for many reasons not only by oral tradition, religious myths, language, trade, genetics, and politics.
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