曾敏

A million years ago， the world was much colder than it is now. Large parts of North America lay under ice and snow. Ice covered parts of Europe， Asia， and South America. In places it was a mile deep！ We call this time the “Ice Age”. The Ice Age began long after the dinosaurs disappeared. It lasted thousands of years. It ended 10，000 years ago.

The Neanderthals 尼安德特人

Some of the earliest Ice Age people were the Neanderthals. Their fossils（化石）were first found in the Neander Valley in Germany. Neanderthals existed about 100，000 years ago. They lived in Europe， the Middle East， North Africa， and parts of Asia. The fossils tell us that Neanderthals were compact（矮小而健壯的）and muscular. They were about five feet six inches， tall and had thick bones. Their heads bulged（凸起;鼓起）slightly in the back. Their foreheads jutted out over their eyes. Neanderthals lived in caves or tents made of skins. They may have been the first people to wear clothes.

Shanidar（沙尼達爾穴居人）was home to a group of Neanderthals in Iraq. Scientists have discovered Neanderthal skeletons（骨架）in a cave there. One skeleton has captured the scientists’ imaginations. He is called the “Old Man of Shanidar.”

Homo Sapiens 智人

As time passed， other people slowly replaced the Neanderthals. They were called Homo sapiens. They are our early relatives. In fact， people today are still called “Homo sapiens.”

Gradually these people spread out all over the world. Their remains have been found in Europe， Asia， Africa， and America.

The Cro-Magnon’s Life 克魯馬努人的生活

A group of Homo sapiens who lived in Europe from 35，000 to 10，000 years ago were called the Cro-Magnon. They looked a lot like we do. They were skillful toolmakers and hunters. They made their own clothes. They wove ropes， nets， and clothes from plant fibers. They even made musical instruments.

Houses 房屋

In the winter， Cro-Magnon people didn’t move around much. Everyone lived in huts or longhouses made from mammoth（猛犸） bones， branches and hides（獸皮）. When summer arrived， they left to follow the herds. Then they lived in tents made of animal hides. These were easy to move and set up.

Hunting 捕獵

Ice Age campsites（露營營地）tell us Cro-Magnons were good hunters. They made weapons out of bone， ivory（象牙）， antler， stone and wood. They hunted with spears and knives. They also used bons and arrows. Hunting could be difficult. Sometimes hunters tracked an animal for days. Sometimes they trapped animals in swamps（沼澤地）. If an animal attacked， they had only simple weapons to defend themselves. When the hunters returned， there was much to do. Nothing was wasted. Animals were not just for meat. Fur was peeled away from the ide. People used it for clothes or rugs to sleep and sit on Hides were dried and stretched for clothes， tents， packs and pouches. Cro-Magnon people even saved the bones and the fat. Bones supported their tents or held up roofs. They used animal fat to burn in stone lamps. It gave them light on dark， cold nights.

Diet 飲食

Cro-Magnon people ate meat or fish whenever they could. Scientists think that reindeer provided much of their meat. When thy killed an animal， they ate almost every part. They even ate the brains and livers and tongues！ Cro-Magnon cooked over open fires. Meat was often roasted on spits. Sometimes it was boiled. The cooks put the meat into leather pouches（皮質(zhì)的袋子）. Then they heated water by dropping hot stones into pots. Later they dried the leftover meat. They preserved it by rubbing salt into it. If it was icy， the ice acted like a freezer. They also gathered plants， berries， eggs， nuts and seeds. They picked dandelions（蒲公英）and all kinds of greens. They ate sunflower seeds and hazelnuts（榛子）. They gathered plants or herbs like catnip（貓薄荷）of medicine.

Clothing 衣物

People in the Ice Age needed warm clothes. In the winter， they wore clothes and shoes made of furs and animal skins. They also wore belts， cloaks and warm hats. They sewed them together with needles made of bone or ivory. Many researchers think Cro-Magnon people wove clothes from plant fibers. They wore these lighter clothes during the summer.