The most recent ice age peaked between 24,000 and 21,000 years ago, when vast ice sheets covered North America and northern Europe, and mountain ranges like Africa's Mt. Kilimanjaro and South America's Andes were encased in glaciers.
At that point our hom*o sapien ancestors had migrated from the warm African heartland into northern European and Eurasian latitudes severely impacted by the sinking temperatures. Armed with big, creative brains and sophisticated tools, though, these early modern humans—nearly identical to ourselves physically—not only survived, but thrived in their harsh surroundings.
WATCH: Journey to 10,000 B.C.on HISTORY Vault
Language, Art and Storytelling Helped Survival
For our hom*o sapien forebears living during the last ice age, there were several critical advantages to having a large brain, explains Brian fa*gan, an emeritus professor of anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and author of many books, including Cro Magnon: How the Ice Age Gave Birth to the First Modern Humans and Climate Chaos: Lessons on Survival from our Ancestors.
"One of the most important things about hom*o sapiens is that we had fluent speech," says fa*gan, "plus the ability to conceptualize and plan ahead."
With the advent of language, knowledge about the natural world and new technologies could be shared between neighboring bands of humans, and also passed down from generation to generation via storytellers.
"They had institutional memory through symbolic storytelling, which gave them a relationship with the forces of the environment, the supernatural forces which governed their world."
Also through music, dance and art, our ancestors collected and transmitted vast amounts of information about the seasons, edible plants, animal migrations, weather patterns and more. The elaborate cave paintings at sites like Lascaux and Chauvet in France display the intimate understanding that late ice age humans possessed about the natural world, especially the prey animals they depended on for survival.
"When wildlife biologists look at those paintings of reindeer and bison, they can tell you what time of year it was painted just from the appearance of the animals' hides and skins," says fa*gan. "The way these people knew their environment was absolutely incredible by our standards."
The last ice age corresponds with the Upper Paleolithic period (40,000 to 10,000 years ago), in which humans made great leaps forward in toolmaking and weaponry, including the first tools used exclusively for making other tools.
One of the most important of these was called a burin, a humble-looking rock chisel that was used to cut grooves and notches into bone and antler, lightweight material that was also hard and durable. The intricate spearheads and harpoon tips made from that bone and antler were small and light enough to be carried on foot by hunters over long distances, and were also detachable and interchangeable, creating the first compound tools.
"Think of the Swiss army knife—it’s the same thing," says fa*gan. "The weaponry they made covered an extraordinary range of specialized tools, most of which were made from grooving antler and bone."
But even these sophisticated hunting weapons were useless outside of close-range attacks, which sometimes required the hunter to leap on the back of his massive prey. Once again, our human ancestors used their intelligence and planning skills to take some of the danger and guesswork out of hunting.
In one famed hunting ground in eastern France, ice age hunters built fires every fall and spring to corral migrating herds of wild horses and reindeer into a narrow valley marked by a limestone tower known as the Roche de Salutré.
Once in the corral, the animals could safely and easily be killed at close quarters, harvesting an abundance of meat that was then dried for the summer and winter months. Archeological evidence shows that this well-coordinated slaughter went on for tens of thousands of years.
Invention of the Needle Brings Tailored Clothing
When the first humans migrated to northern climates about 45,000 years ago, they devised rudimentary clothing to protect themselves from the cold. They draped themselves with loose-fitting hides that doubled as sleeping bags, baby carriers and hand protection for chiseling stone.
But everything changed around 30,000 years ago with what fa*gan argues is the most important invention in human history: the needle.
"If you saw a needle from 20,000 or 30,000 years ago, you'd know what it was in an instant, a very fine-pointed tool with a hole in one end to put thread through," says fa*gan. "The miracle of the needle was that it enabled humans to make tight-fitting clothing that was tailored to the individual, and that's vital."
Like modern mountaineering clothing, clothes from the late ice age were meant to be worn in layers. An ice-age tailor would carefully select different animal skins—reindeer, arctic foxes, hares, even birds like ptarmigans—and sew together three or four layers, from moisture-wicking underwear to waterproof pants and parkas.
Thread was made from wild flax and other vegetable fibers and even dyed different colors like turquoise and pink. The result was a fitted, versatile wardrobe that fully protected its wearer from sub-freezing temperatures.
Video: How Humans Survived the Ice Age
Rock Shelters Provided Protection From Weather
For shelter in the coldest months, our ice age ancestors didn't live deep in caves as Victorian archeologists once believed, but they did make homes in natural rock shelters. These were usually roomy depressions cut into the walls of riverbeds beneath a protective overhang.
fa*gan says there's strong evidence that ice age humans made extensive modifications to weatherproof their rock shelters. They draped large hides from the overhangs to protect themselves from piercing winds, and built internal tent-like structures made of wooden poles covered with sewn hides. All of this was situated around a blazing hearth, which reflected heat and light off the rock walls.
In the brief summer months, the hunters would move out into the open plains that stretched from the Atlantic coast of Europe all the way to Siberia. With cold temperatures persisting at night, shelter was taken in dome-shaped huts partially dug into the earth.
“The framework was built from a latticework of mammoth bones, either hunted or raided from carcasses,” says fa*gan. “On top of it they'd lay sod or animal hides to make a house that was occupied for months on end.”
FAQs
When the first humans migrated to northern climates about 45,000 years ago, they devised rudimentary clothing to protect themselves from the cold. They draped themselves with loose-fitting hides that doubled as sleeping bags, baby carriers and hand protection for chiseling stone.
Did any humans survive the ice age? ›
Yes, people just like us lived through the ice age. Since our species, hom*o sapiens, emerged about 300,000 years ago in Africa, we have spread around the world. During the ice age, some populations remained in Africa and did not experience the full effects of the cold.
How many humans survived the ice age? ›
Near extinction for hom*o sapiens
Genetic studies of modern human DNA tell us that at some point during this period, human populations plummeted from more than 10,000 breeding individuals to as few as 600. hom*o sapiens became a highly endangered species; we almost went extinct.
What early humans existed before ice age? ›
At the beginning of the Ice Age, we weren't the only hominin around. The last vestiges of the long-lived hom*o erectus and short-statured hom*o floresiensis traversed the islands of Indonesia. The Denisovans populated Asia. And the Neanderthals tolerated the cold conditions of Europe.
How did early humans survive harsh winters? ›
They hibernated, according to fossil experts. Evidence from bones found at one of the world's most important fossil sites suggests that our hominid predecessors may have dealt with extreme cold hundreds of thousands of years ago by sleeping through the winter.
What triggers an ice age? ›
In general, it is felt that ice ages are caused by a chain reaction of positive feedbacks triggered by periodic changes in the Earth's orbit around the Sun. These feedbacks, involving the spread of ice and the release of greenhouse gases, work in reverse to warm the Earth up again when the orbital cycle shifts back.
What stopped the ice age? ›
New University of Melbourne research has revealed that ice ages over the last million years ended when the tilt angle of the Earth's axis was approaching higher values.
What killed the ice age? ›
Scientists have found evidence in sediment cores to support a controversial theory that an asteroid or a comet slammed into Earth and helped lead to this extinction of ice age animals and cooling of the globe. It's called the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis and was first suggested in 2007.
Did humans evolve during the ice age? ›
All later species of hom*o evolved during the Pleistocene (2,600,000-11,700 years ago). This was generally a time of more extreme world cooling and recurrent glaciations (ice ages).
How tall were humans in the ice age? ›
Pre-glacial maximum Upper Palaeolithic males (before 16,000 BC) were tall and slim (mean height 179 cm, estimated average body weight 67 kg), while the females were comparably small and robust (mean height 158 cm, estimated average body weight 54 kg).
Ice cores are cylinders of ice drilled through the thick sheets of Greenland and Antarctica. So it is very likely that Earth will turn cold again, possibly within the next several thousand years.
When did humans almost go extinct? ›
New genetic findings suggest that early humans living about one million years ago were extremely close to extinction. The genetic evidence suggests that the effective population—an indicator of genetic diversity—of early human species back then, including hom*o erectus, H.
Did humans go extinct in the ice age? ›
Were humans around during the Ice Age? Humans were (and still are) definitely alive during the Ice Age. Scientists and anthropologists have found evidence of human remains existing nearly 12,000 years ago. The current interglacial period began around 10,000 years ago.
How did animals survive the ice age? ›
How did life survive the most severe ice age? A team has found the first direct evidence that glacial meltwater provided a crucial lifeline to eukaryotes during Snowball Earth, when the oceans were cut off from life-giving oxygen, answering a question puzzling scientists for years.
Did dinosaurs exist before the ice age? ›
Long Before Dinosaurs, a Giant Asteroid Crash Caused an Ancient Ice Age. About 466 million years ago, long before the age of the dinosaurs, the Earth froze. The seas began to ice over at the Earth's poles, and the new range of temperatures around the planet set the stage for a boom of new species evolving.
Why humans don t hibernate? ›
According to Martin, humans probably do not hibernate because it was not to our evolutionary advantage. It would not have promoted survival and reproduction. Here are some reasons why: Being in torpor (shutting down your metabolism) or hibernation (prolonged torpor) would mean you are unable to reproduce.
How did early settlers stay warm in winter? ›
The main source of heat was a fireplace or stove. If they had them, the families may hang fur or textiles against the walls as an added layer against the cold and wind. Simple wooden beds were lined with straw and children often slept two or three to a bed for the benefit of added body heat.
How did Neanderthals survive the cold? ›
Their large nose opening could have helped them take in and warm up more air. Their short limbs likely helped them maintain their body heat. Skeletal differences are the result of adaptations since Neanderthals' and humans' last common ancestor.
How quickly can an ice age start? ›
During the beginning of the Quaternary glaciation, from about 2.7 million to 1 million years ago, these cold glacial periods occurred every 41,000 years. However, during the last 800,000 years, huge glacial sheets have appeared less frequently — about every 100,000 years, Sandstrom said.
How long will Earth last? ›
At the current rate of solar brightening—just over 1% every 100 million years—Earth would suffer this "runaway greenhouse" in 600 million to 700 million years. Earth will suffer some preliminary effects leading up to that, too.
Scientists have predicted that Earth is 15 years away from a "mini ice age," The Telegraph reports. Using a new model of the sun's activity, the solar researchers estimate that in the 2030s the movements of two waves of fluids within the star will lead to a 60% reduction in solar activity.
Why are we overdue for an ice age? ›
However, the two factors related to Earth's orbit that affect the glacials' and interglacials' formation are off, Live Science added. “That, coupled with the fact that we pump so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, means we're probably not going to enter a glacial for at least 100,000 years," said Sandstrom.
Will global warming stop the next ice age? ›
Although the next ice age isn't due for another 50,000 years from now, a considerable amount of the carbon dioxide that we've emitted already, and will continue to emit, will still be in the atmosphere thousands of years from now.
Did everything freeze in the ice age? ›
"During the great freezing," says Schrag, "carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere dropped, the earth's temperature fell to around 58 degrees below zero, and the ice covered everything — ocean and land alike." Glaciers moved down from the mountains, dragging along rocks and the rubble that would be left behind when the ...
What animals did not survive the ice age? ›
During the end of the last Ice Age, peaking around 12,000 years ago, many of the world's large, land-dwelling animals went extinct. Giant ground sloths, sabertoothed cats, mastodons, huge camels, and many more creatures - often called megafauna - vanished forever.
How quickly did the ice age end? ›
Roughly 20,000 years ago the great ice sheets that buried much of Asia, Europe and North America stopped their creeping advance. Within a few hundred years sea levels in some places had risen by as much as 10 meters—more than if the ice sheet that still covers Greenland were to melt today.
What did people from the ice age look like? ›
Analysis of genes carried by Ice Age Europeans shows, among other things, that they had dark complexions and brown eyes. Only after 14,000 years ago did blue eyes begin to spread, and pale skin only appeared across much of the continent after 7,000 years ago - borne by early farmers from the Near East.
How tall was Jesus? ›
He may have stood about 5-ft.-5-in. (166 cm) tall, the average man's height at the time.
Were early humans stronger? ›
Our ancestors, who had to hunt and gather their food before the invention of agriculture, were more physically active than we are. Their bones were much stronger, too. A new study shows that human skeletons today are much lighter and more fragile than those of our ancient ancestors.
How tall was the average Viking? ›
"The examination of skeletons from different localities in Scandinavia reveals that the average height of the Vikings was a little less than that of today: men were about 5 ft 7-3/4 in. tall and women 5 ft 2-1/2 in.
Summary: Was it humankind or climate change that caused the extinction of a considerable number of large mammals about the time of the last Ice Age? Researchers have carried out the first global analysis of the extinction of the large animals, and the conclusion is clear -- humans are to blame.
How did Aboriginals survive the Ice Age? ›
A NEW STUDY HAS revealed how indigenous Australians coped with the last Ice Age, roughly 20,000 years ago. Researchers say that when the climate cooled dramatically, Aboriginal groups sought refuge in well-watered areas, such as along rivers, and populations were condensed into small habitable areas.
Could humanity survive another ice age? ›
Modern humans have survived the last three glacial periods. As an animal, we would have no problem surviving another without special evolutionary modifications.
What did humans eat during the Ice Age? ›
It is likely, however, that wild greens, roots, tubers, seeds, nuts, and fruits were eaten. The specific plants would have varied from season to season and from region to region. And so, people of this period had to travel widely not only in pursuit of game but also to collect their fruits and vegetables.
