Traveling West embodied the United State’s 19th century expansionist tendencies. Traveling East might have been an appropriate tendency for early humans living in what is now Europe near the end of the Ice Age.
A team of researchers describe how populations shifted in size, density, and region during the Final Paleolithic Period between 14,000 and 11,600, according to a study in PLOS ONE.
The U.S. population transfer was driven by a search for wealth, particularly gold. The Ice Age movement may have had more to do with its inhabitants’ efforts to survive a changing climate, the study says.
Early Human Population Trends
To better understand Paleolithic population trends, a group of scientists combined two efforts. First, they created a database of all known archeological sites in Europe that covered the desired time period. Then they used a statistical tool called the "Cologne Protocol." The method enabled them to estimate population sizes and densities of prehistoric humans across different regions of Europe over time.
Their analysis revealed a broad trend, as well as some smaller ones. The big picture showed populations increasing in north central Europe during the Final Paleolithic, followed by a plunge during the last cold period of the Ice Age. But the microtrends showed that select location remained stable or even grew slightly.
Read More: The Journey of Early Humans Leaving Africa Reveals a Key Migration Point
Climate of the Final Paleolithic and Ice Age
The climate differences between periods were pretty drastic. During the warmer period of the Final Paleolithic, humans continued to spread into northern and north-eastern central Europe. Then things got cold. That’s probably what prompted people to move. During the northern hemisphere’s climactic period known as the "Younger Dryas," the total population of Europe decreased by half, according to a press release.
“These observations probably reflect the eastward movement of people in response to the very abrupt and pronounced climatic cooling during the Younger Dryas,” Isabell Schmidt, a University of Cologne archeologist and an author of the study, said in a press release. “Humans during the Final Paleolithic apparently responded by migrating to more favorable areas.”
The researchers have studied other prehistory population declines, including during the late Gravettian (29,000 years to 25,000 years ago), when cooler temperatures cut the number of western and central European inhabitants by up to two-thirds.
The study also represents a long-term human trend that persists to this day — the constant search for a place with better weather.
Read More: The Gravettian Culture that Survived an Ice Age
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Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul Smaglik spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues. He began his career in newspapers, but switched to scientific magazines. His work has appeared in publications including Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.
