Ice Age

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An Ice age is a period of time when colder global temperatures causes glaciers to expand across the planetary surface. There have been at least five significant ice ages in the history of the Earth – the most recent was called the Last Glacial Period from approximately 120,000-11,500 B.P. (Before Present). Humans (Homo sapiens) emerged approximately around 300,000 B.P. in Africa and lived through two of them.

The Last Glacial Maximum occurred around 24,000-21,000 B.P. and was when the Last Glacial Period hit its peak conditions with ice sheets covering northern Europe and North America. This was also a time of megafauna including mastadons, woolly mammoths, saber-toothed cats, and other large animals in addition to the usual deer, caribou, wolves, bears, and mountain lions as big game. It was also a period where humans had started populating most regions of the Earth. The last ice age was an extinction level event killing off most if not all megafauna.

Material culture and understanding of human evolution begins with the Ice Age giving us some interpretation of life struggles and survival of the fittest.

References:

• History Facts n.d. How Did Humans Survive the Ice Age?  — History Facts: https://historyfacts.com/science-industry/article/how-did-humans-survive-the-ice-age/ website referenced 7/23/24.