The earliest hominid remains in Eritrea date from two million years ago, placing the land near the dawn of humankind on the planet. Stone tools from Abdur – at 125,000 years old – are the earliest. Tools found in the Barka Valley from 8000 BC are the first evidence of human settlement here. Rock paintings have been found in several sites dating from 2000 BC. So far, fifty- one prehistoric sites have been identified across Eritrea, from Karora in the north to Beylul in the southeast, but many more are expected to be explored in the coming years.The earliest inhabitants of Eritrea were probably related to the Central African Pygmies. They later co-mingled with Nilotic, Cushitic and Semitic peoples who migrated here from as far away as the Nubian low-lands and the Arabian peninsula. The legendary Land of Punt referred to by the Egyptian Pharaohs and the object of major expeditions from the First and Second Dynasties (2920-2649 BC) may have been here, for the area was rich in gold, frankincense, myrrh, ostrich feathers, ebony, ivory and other precious commodities.