How Humans Survived the Ice Age

We weathered the Ice Age while similar species disappeared. Specialists still struggle to understand why.

By Sam Walters
Dec 9, 2021 2:00 PMFeb 2, 2023 2:26 PM
Ice Age human
(Credit: iurii/Shutterstock)

Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news
 

Since the origin of our species approximately 300,000 years ago, modern humans have spread throughout the whole world, armed with the ability to adapt to our surroundings.

Beyond the innate talent to withstand a wide variety of climates, Homo sapiens are also able to endure episodes of extreme climate change. In the Ice Age, starting approximately 115,000 years ago, humans survived wild swings in the weather that their hominin relatives were ultimately unable to stand. How did these humans do it? Anthropologists and archeologists currently lack a clear-cut answer. Yet the murky theories and potential explanations often emphasize our species’ exceptional social abilities and knack for altering our surroundings to our advantage.

A Climate Crisis

To understand how humans survived and adapted to the Ice Age, it’s important to appreciate what they were dealing with. In long-lasting periods called ice ages, the temperatures throughout the planet’s atmosphere and surface cool, causing continental ice and glaciers to cover substantial swaths of the terrain. Though these periods are typically perceived as a constant freeze, ice ages actually feature frequent fluctuations in climate, as the temperatures oscillate between cold and colder. In fact, the period approximately 115,000 to 11,700 years ago, colloquially called the “Ice Age,” included incredible climate instability.

0 free articles left
Want More? Get unlimited access for as low as $1.99/month

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

0 free articlesSubscribe
Discover Magazine Logo
Want more?

Keep reading for as low as $1.99!

Subscribe

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

Stay Curious

Sign up for our weekly newsletter and unlock one more article for free.

 

View our Privacy Policy


Want more?
Keep reading for as low as $1.99!


Log In or Register

Already a subscriber?
Find my Subscription

More From Discover
Recommendations From Our Store
Shop Now
Stay Curious
Join
Our List

Sign up for our weekly science updates.

 
Subscribe
To The Magazine

Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine.

Copyright © 2024 Kalmbach Media Co.