In this book, the author provides an overview of the main problems associated with the origin of our species, simultaneously summarizing and presenting in a form accessible to non-specialists what is now known about its origin and evolutionary history, the driving forces of cultural development, the dynamics of settlement, as well as possible relationships with other hominid species that lived contemporaneously with early Homo sapiens. For each of the listed topics, the most interesting and important information available to paleoanthropology, archeology and related sciences as of mid-2014 was taken into account. The book is addressed to everyone who is interested in the ancient past of mankind.