ANT101H5 Chapter Notes - Chapter 11: Middle Pleistocene, Atapuerca Mountains, Homo Heidelbergensis
Document Summary
Homo heidelbergensis and neanderthals lived in the middle pleistocene, a period beginning 780,00 ya and ending 125,000 ya. It is called the ice age because it was marked by periodic advances and retreats of massive continental glaciations. Glaciations are climactic intervals when continental ice sheets cover much of the northern continents. During glacial periods, when temperatures dropped dramatically, ice accumulated as a result of more snow falling each year than melted, causing the advance of massive glaciers measuring nearly a mile thick. Pleistocene was characterized by numerous advances and retreats of ice, with at least 15 major and 50 minor glacial advances documented in. Hominins liviving at this time- all still restricted to the old world- were severely affected as the climate, flora, and animal life shifted during these. Like their homo erectus predecessors, later hominins were widely distributed in the old world, with discoveries coming from three continents- africa,
