Why the first people in Europe died out, scientists have established.

The first humans arrived in Europe about 1.4 million years ago, but disappeared already about 1.1 million years ago, probably unable to adapt to climate change, which suddenly became much colder.

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This is evidenced by the results of a study by scientists from University College London (UK), who revealed evidence of previously unknown extreme glacial conditions that were established at that time, EurekAlert reports.

The climate when humans arrived on the continent was generally warm and humid, punctuated by mild periods of cold. Until now, it was believed that when humans arrived in Europe, they were able to survive due to multiple climatic cycles and adapt to more stringent conditions.

However, it is now established that an extreme glacial cooling set in about 1.1 million years ago, which casts doubt on the possibility of long-term early human settlement of Europe.

The glacial cooling pushed the European climate to a level higher than that in which archaic people could survive, devastating the continent from human populations, the article notes.

Analyzing data collected from sediments off the coast of Portugal, scientists found signs of dramatic climate change at the time, which culminated in extreme cooling, when the ocean surface temperature near Lisbon dropped below 6 °, and semi-deserts spread on the adjacent land.

To our surprise, we found that this cooling 1.1 million years ago is comparable to some of the most severe events of the last ice ages, the scientists add.

It is noted that a cold snap of this magnitude would have been a significant test for the small groups of hunter-gatherers that made up the then population of Europe, especially because early humans may have lacked appropriate adaptations, such as:

• physique necessary for a cold climate;
• means of making fire;
• effective clothing;
• the presence of shelters.

Paleoclimatic data, together with the results of computer simulations carried out by scientists, indicate that southern Europe has eventually become depopulated. This is also confirmed by the absence of stone tools and human remains dated to the next 200,000 years.

In this scenario, Europe could have been re-colonized about 900,000 years ago by more resilient humans with evolutionary or behavioral changes to survive the growing intensity of glacial conditions, the researchers conclude.

Source: EurekAlert

Source: Racurs

David

I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.