Ancient Europe, Prehistory: Palaeolithic Period (1400-11.7 kya)

Archaeological evidence and genetic studies have repeatedly challenged the theories of hominan (human) evolution. Homo erectus (1200-143 kya) is thought to have left Africa about 2000 kya and moving via the Levantine corridor and the Horn of Africa brought the Oldowan industry (2700-1600 kya) into Eurasia. Fossil remains of these ancient humans have been found in Dmanisi in Georgia (1800 kya) and the Atapuerca mountains in Spain (1200 kya).

A series of fossils of a different archaic human have been found in Eurasia and Africa. Because there is a fair degree of similarity between them they are generally referred to as a single species Homo heidelbergensis (600-200 kya) and generally found in association with tools of the Acheulian (handaxe) industry (1700 to 140 kya). Homo heidelbergensis had a larger brain and body proportions than Homo erectus.

Evidence from the many fossils found in Eurasia and Africa suggests that Homo heidelbergensis was the ancestor of Homo neanderthalensis (Europe and West Eurasia), Homo denisovan (East Asia), and Homo sapiens (modern humans) who eventually replaced all the earlier species.

The archaic human Homo Neanderthalensis (400-40 kya) is associated with the Mousterian industry (160-40 kya) – the third major era of tool making after the Oldowan and Acheulian – which was later enhanced by the Levallois technique (250-50 kya). Neanderthals are recorded from Western, Central, Eastern, and Mediterranean Europe. 

Cro-Magnons (45-10 kya) were the earliest European modern humans (EEMH) to settle in Europe. They interacted and interbred with the indigenous Neanderthals and by 37 kya all EEMH had descended to a single founder population (Homo sapiens) ancestral to present-day Europeans.

● Late (Transitional) Upper Palaeolithic (20-11.7 kya)

Towards the end of the Ice Age with temperatures and sea levels rising, some hunter-gatherer groups rather than following the herds of mammoths, reindeer and bison moving northwards stayed behind and by adapting to the changing conditions they became Mesolithic. The people, however, were still nomadic, erecting wigwam type structures mostly occupied for only a few days until the resources in the surrounding area were exhausted.