The Western Periphery of the Red Sea (WPRS) is an important region for paleoanthropological discussions about the history of hominin dispersal out of Africa. This paper examines the existing Paleolithic evidence in the region and some key aspects of its environmental setting, with the goal of assessing its role in hominin survival and dispersals. The paper’s chronological focus is the span 1.8–0.05 million years ago (Ma). Although the majority of the Paleolithic (Stone Age) sites so far documented in the region lack precise chronological control, the available evidence comprises Acheulean, Middle and Later Stone Age technocomplexes that can be broadly linked to distinct hominin settlement episodes. Most of the documented sites appear to be related to terrestrial niche exploitation around channelized alluvial plains between the coastal zone and the eastern slopes of the Red Sea Hills, although wave erosion may have destroyed sites associated with coastal resource use. As an extension of the East African Rift system, the WPRS mirrors the landscape features of the fossil-rich Rift Valley region, with the addition of a coastal niche. Thus, it may have posed little survival risk for hominins coming from the inland habitats, and some of the inhabitant populations may have easily dispersed toward Eurasia from there.

红海西部边缘（WPRS）是古人类学讨论古人类从非洲扩散的历史的重要地区。本文研究了该地区现有的旧石器时代证据及其环境背景的一些关键方面，目的是评估其在古人类生存和扩散中的作用。这篇论文的时间重点是 1.8 至 05 万年前 (Ma)。尽管迄今为止该地区记录的大多数旧石器时代（石器时代）遗址缺乏精确的时间顺序控制，但现有证据包括阿舍利、中石器时代和晚期石器时代的技术综合体，这些技术综合体可以与不同的古人类定居事件广泛联系起来。大多数记录在案的遗址似乎与沿海地区和红海丘陵东坡之间的渠道化冲积平原周围的陆地生态位开发有关，尽管波浪侵蚀可能破坏了与沿海资源利用相关的遗址。作为东非裂谷系统的延伸，WPRS 反映了化石丰富的裂谷地区的景观特征，并增加了沿海生态位。因此，对于来自内陆栖息地的古人类来说，它可能几乎没有构成生存风险，并且一些居民群体可能很容易从那里分散到欧亚大陆。