Recent research has shown that an extreme frost that had previously been unknown to science drove early people out of Europe for a period of 200,000 years. This event occurred in Europe. However, they were able to adjust to their new environment and finally came back.
The results of scientists studies indicate that dramatic shifts in temperature happened around 1.1 million years ago, with temperatures being higher by more than 5 degrees Celsius at that time.
Some people are under the impression that our ancestors could not possibly have survived since they did not have access to any heating or clothes that might keep them warm.
Up until this moment, the consensus had been that humans had been constantly present in Europe for the last 1.5 million years.
Artifacts fashioned of stone by ancient humans and found in Kenya
The unearthing of ancient human remains in County Armagh’s graveyards
We should have properly accounted for the length of time that had passed since ancient times.
The sediments on the seabed off the coast of Lisbon, Portugal, contain remnants of the severe freezing that took place in the past. Each year, fresh layers of sediment are laid down, and these layers act as a record of the conditions that prevailed in the ocean during that time period. In addition, they include pollen grains, which serve as a record of the many kinds of plants that were prevalent in the region at the time.
Researchers from the IBS Centre for Climate Physics in Busan, which is situated in South Korea, made use of the data from the sediments in order to perform computer model simulations. They determined that wintertime temperatures had plunged too far below freezing in a number of different regions of Europe, despite the fact that the Mediterranean is usually a place that has more moderate weather.
According to Professor Axel Timmermann, who is the director of the organization, a decrease of this scale may not appear like it would be too cruel by today’s standards since the majority of people have access to some heating, warm clothing, and food. In other words, a decline of this size would not be too harsh by today’s standards. On the other hand, this was not the case back in those days.
According to what he had said, “early humans were not yet well-adapted to cope with such tough conditions.” At this time, there is no evidence to show that they were even capable of managing the fire. Moreover, there is no evidence to suggest that they ever attempted to control the fire. Therefore, the icy and dry conditions that existed throughout Europe and the accompanying lack of food must have been a considerable hurdle to the ongoing survival of human beings. This scarcity of food must have also been a significant obstacle.
A graph that illustrates the evolution of humanity throughout Europe.
The current territory of Spain was the location of the archaeological dig that yielded the oldest human bones ever found in Europe. They were found in Spain and date back around 1.4 million years. According to these discoveries, a variety of early humans known as Homo erectus, which had its roots in Africa, had made its way to Europe via southwest Asia around the same period.
The leader of the research project, Professor Chronis Tzedakis of University College London, conducted interviews with early human settlement experts in order to establish whether or not the fossil and archaeological evidence supports the hypothesis that the ice age pushed people to leave Europe. He came to the conclusion that the idea was correct.
The researchers came to the conclusion that there were human remains in Spain that date back as recently as 1.1 million years after they conducted an intensive inquiry into the matter. After then, there was a pause in time until roughly 900,000 years ago, when stone tools and footprints in ancient clay were unearthed in Happisburgh, which is situated in Norfolk, England. In those clays, the tools and prints were made of stone.
Due to the absence of fossil evidence, it is still being determined what sort of humans lived at Happisburgh. However, later remains recovered in other locations in Europe reveal that they may have been a more advanced species known as Homo antecessor.
There is a possibility that the footprints discovered on Happisburgh Beach belonged to a group of people who were searching for food.
Even though the Great Frozen Period had come to an end by the time the first humans walked in Happisburgh, the temperature was still much lower than it is now in that part of Europe. It is considered that early humans had already undergone sufficient evolution to be able to adapt to the harsher conditions of Europe in order to be able to travel there and dwell in that region. Professor Nick Ashton of the British Museum is the one who put forth this hypothesis.
“It may have prompted evolutionary adaptations in humans, such as more body fat as insulation or greater hair,” he told BBC News. “These changes may have occurred as a result of this.” “Increased body fat as a means of insulation” is one of these alterations.
“It is probable that this event led to the development of new technologies, such as better hunting or scavenging abilities, as well as the capacity to construct clothes and shelters that are more effective than before.”
According to Professor Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum, it is likely that these developments were what enabled humanity to cope with subsequent periods of great cold and to occupy areas of Europe continually ever since. This is according to the fact that Professor Stringer believes it is feasible that these advancements were what allowed humanity to develop agriculture. This is the viewpoint that Professor Stringer holds.
His interpretation is that Europe was a “laboratory for human adaptation” throughout that time period.
“Either a new species that had developed more complicated behaviors that enabled them to adapt, or a different species that had learned how to survive better, eventually made its way back into Europe.” “A more robust species came back into Europe, either because they learned how to live better or because another species learned how to survive better, and they were able to learn from one another.”
It’s probable that the human species that resided in Happisburgh was the ancestor of the Neanderthals, who were already well established by the time 400,000 years ago rolled around.
The point of our own species, Homo sapiens, is believed to have occurred in Africa some 400,000 years ago. Humans had already established a foothold in Europe by the time 42,000 years ago rolled around. At that time, we briefly shared the continent with Neanderthals until the latter died out approximately 40,000 years ago.