ABSTRACT
Human beings have been present in Europe ever since the Cromer Interglacial. During the earlier glaciations, man probably was forced to retreat to the southern peninsulas. In the Wurm he was able to cope with the Arctic environment. From the earliest times man in Europe was a hunter. As early as the Cromer his main tool was the hand-axe, made for the skinning of game. The all-encompassing importance of the game to Ice Age man is very evident when one studies the Late Pleistocene cave paintings, engravings and sculptures. At the end of the Ice Age the Arctic mammals once again retreated northward and a woodland fauna of interglacial type became established in central Europe. In comparison with the Eemian fauna, however, it was much impoverished. This is also true of the present-day Arctic fauna of northern Europe compared with that of the Wurm.
