What Ancient Humans Had to Do to Survive the Brutal Winters

What did ancient humans actually have to do to survive the brutal Ice Age? From mastering fire and making warm clothing to building shelters, hunting huge animals, facing deadly predators and surviving serious injuries, this video explores the incredible ways prehistoric humans adapted to one of the harshest environments our species has ever faced. And in the end, their greatest survival tool might not have been a tool at all. credits: Korman 9 hearth image: P.R. Nigst / NEMO-ADAP Project, reproduced from Murphree & Aldeias (2022), CC BY 4.0. Archaeological image (Korman’ 9, Figure 11H): Murphree, W.C. et al. (2025), Fire Use During the Last Glacial Maximum: Evidence From the Epigravettian at Korman' 9, Middle Dniester Valley, Ukraine, Geoarchaeology 40:e70006. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Cropped from original figure. Palaeolithic eyed needle image (Figure 5): Gilligan, I., d’Errico, F., Doyon, L., Wang, W. & Kuzmin, Y.V. (2024), Paleolithic eyed needles and the evolution of dress, Science Advances 10(26), eadp2887. Figure 5, modified from d’Errico et al. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Image cropped/resized for video. Sunghir burial photograph: José-Manuel Benito Álvarez, via Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Image cropped/edited for video. Sunghir clothing reconstruction evidence: Bader, N.O. et al., Sungir archaeological research; bead distribution and clothing reconstruction discussed in published archaeological analyses of the Sunghir burials. Mezhyrich mammoth-bone dwelling reconstruction: Photograph by Momotarou2012, showing a reconstruction based on the Mezhyrich archaeological site, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo. Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Image cropped/resized for video. Mezhyrich archaeological site plan (Figure 3): Chu, W. et al. (2025), A revised radiocarbon chronology for the mammoth bone structures and associated features at Mezhyrich, Ukraine, Open Research Europe 5:198. Figure 3, showing mammoth-bone structures, pits, hearths and anthropogenic layers. Cropped/annotated for video. Maisières-Canal projectile point (Figure 1): Coppe, J., Taipale, N. & Rots, V. (2023), Terminal ballistic analysis of impact fractures reveals the use of spearthrower 31 ky ago at Maisières-Canal, Belgium, Scientific Reports 13, 18305. Figure 1. Photographs: TraceoLab; drawing: O. Touzé. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Image cropped/annotated for video. Upper Palaeolithic whale-bone projectile points (Figure 1): McGrath, K., van der Sluis, L.G., Lefebvre, A. et al. (2025), Late Paleolithic whale bone tools reveal human and whale ecology in the Bay of Biscay, Nature Communications 16, 4646. Artefact photographs by Alexandre Lefebvre and Jean-Marc Pétillon. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Figure cropped/edited for video. Siegsdorf cave lion archaeological evidence (Figures 2 & 3): Russo, G., Milks, A., Leder, D. et al. (2023), First direct evidence of lion hunting and the early use of a lion pelt by Neanderthals, Scientific Reports 13, 16405. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Figures cropped and annotated for video. Neanderthal–cave lion archaeological evidence (Figures 2, 3 & 5): Russo, G., Milks, A., Leder, D. et al. (2023), First direct evidence of lion hunting and the early use of a lion pelt by Neanderthals, Scientific Reports 13, 16405. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Figures cropped and annotated for video. Grotta del Romito cave excavation area: Photograph by Velvet, 2012, Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Image cropped/resized for video. Borsuka Cave elk-tooth ornaments (Figure 1): Kowalik, N., Anczkiewicz, R., Wilczyński, J. et al. (2020), Tracing human mobility in central Europe during the Upper Paleolithic using sub-seasonally resolved Sr isotope records in ornaments, Scientific Reports 10. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Figure cropped/edited for video. Joined-tooth pendant, Předmostí: Photograph by Zde, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Moravian Museum, Brno. Image cropped/edited for video. Gravettian mammoth-ivory pendant, Brillenhöhle: Photograph by Thilo Parg / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0. Landesmuseum Württemberg, Stuttgart. Image cropped/edited for video.