Blurs

Around 74,000 years ago, something happened that makes almost every volcanic eruption in human history look insignificant. A volcano in what is now Indonesia erupted with extraordinary force. The eruption was so enormous that it left behind a vast volcanic depression known as the Toba caldera. Millions of tonnes of volcanic material were blasted into the atmosphere. Ash travelled enormous distances. The climate was affected.  And the eruption occurred at a critical point in human prehistory. Our species already existed, but humanity was far from dominant. There were relatively small populations of Homo sapiens scattered across Africa and perhaps beyond. Other human species were still alive. Neanderthals occupied large parts of Europe and western Asia. Denisovans lived somewhere across Asia. And numerous populations of other hominins had existed before them. Then Toba erupted. The obvious question is: Did this enormous volcanic catastrophe change the course of human evolution? Perha...