Climate change and prehistoric human populations: Study finds eastward shift of settlement areas at end of last Ice Age

A new study sheds light on how prehistoric hunter-gatherer populations in Europe coped with climate changes over 12,000 years ago. Led by scientists from the University of Cologne, a team of 25 prehistoric archaeologists from twenty European universities and research institutions revealed significant shifts in population size and density during key periods at the end of the last Ice Age, specifically during the Final Paleolithic between 14,000 and 11,600 years ago.