At the crossroads of West Africa and Central Africa, the territory of what is now Cameroon has seen human habitation since some time in the Middle Paleolithic, likely no later than 130,000 years ago. The earliest discovered archaeological evidence of humans dates from around 30,000 years ago at Shum Laka. The Bamenda highlands in western Cameroon near the border with Nigeria are the most likely origin for the Bantu peoples, whose language and culture came to dominate most of central and southern Africa between 1000 BCE and 1000 CE.
At the crossroads of West Africa and Central Africa the territory of what is now Cameroon has seen human habitation since some time in the Middle Paleolithic likely no later than 130000 years ago The earliest discovered archaeological evidence of humans dates from around 30000 years ago at Shum Laka The Bamenda highlands in western Cameroon near the border with Nigeria are the most likely origin for the Bantu peoples whose language and culture came to dominate most of central and southern Africa between 1000 BCE and 1000 CE