Some time ago, I read a book (can't track it down - may have been a (now returned) library book), which put forward the "beachcomber" theory for the spread of humanity. On this thesis, on Out of Africa 2, modern or near modern man turned right along the coast (the other way was blocked by glaciation, and settled in a pattern of coast and river following. Europe was settled late (IIRC consistent with the European bottleneck) when a relatively (in geological terms) climate change opened a path from the upper Tigris/Euphrates round the Black Sea and into Europe. Thus the population of Europe would come from the relatively small number who made it through, thus explaining the population bottleneck as a founder effect.
I'll see if I can track down the reference.
Mark Austin
For Whigs admit no force but argument.
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