ABSTRACT
The last Ice Age peaked in terms of coldest temperature and furthest glacial extent around 20,000 b.c.e. All of northern Europe and Eurasia was covered with an ice sheet, and glaciers crept slowly through the upland areas of central Europe. Animals such as the cave bear, mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, reindeer, and wild horse populated a treeless, tundralike landscape. Cave paintings dating from ca. 18,000 b.c.e. show how humans survived by taking shelter from the cold in caves and hunting these animals for food and clothing. The use of fire, and the ability to make tools for hunting and to fashion clothing, allowed humans to adapt to the cold and thus survive in a climate where winters lasted for nine months.
