How early Europeans got through the Ice Age – Knowledge

A large genome analysis delivers several surprises: Before the last glacial period, there were several groups of people in Europe who apparently had no contact with each other. And in Italy, the hunter-gatherers probably died out.

You have to live in Europe very uncomfortable over long stretches of the past 100,000 years. Warm and cold periods alternated, the Neanderthals adjusted to the ups and downs of temperatures. Around 45,000 years ago, Homo sapiens came from Africa and stayed, they lived side by side with the Neanderthals for a good 5,000 years until the latter disappeared, for whatever reason. Things could have continued like this for the descendants of the Neanderthals and the newly immigrated humans if a drastic event had not occurred on the continent around 25,000 years ago: During the coldest phase, the ice expanded from the north to around the middle of today Out of Germany, the mountains froze, and people migrated south, where it wasn’t exactly comfortable either, but where it was at least possible to survive.