In the previous graphs there was a sharp decrease in lifespans at the time of Peleg. Genesis Chapter 10 says that the earth was divided during his time. Genesis chapter 11 starts with the scattering of the nations (people groups). The people were defiant against God's command to spread out and decided instead to build the city of Babel with a very high tower to make themselves famous. God put a stop to those plans by the sudden creation of different languages. That forced the people to divide up into language groups and scatter to other locations. It was about the same time that the Chinese started their first dynasties.

An analysis of the people groups in Chapter 10 gives a general trend of migration. Descendents of Shem generally stayed in what is now called the Middle East. Descendents of Ham generally expanded into Africa and some Mediterranean locations. Descendents of Japheth generally expanded to the north and then both eastward into Asia and westward into Europe. By language group analysis, some Japheth descendents also went into India. So the Chinese and Europeans are related through Japheth. Everyone is related through Noah and his wife. It was in isolation that genetic differences resulted in various people groups developing particular visual characteristics.