Weichselian glaciation

The last glacial period and its association glaciation is known in Northern Europe and northern Central Europe as the Weichselian glaciation, Weichselian ice age (German: Weichsel-Eiszeit), Vistulian glaciation, Weichsel or, less commonly, the Weichsel glaciation, Weichselian cold period (Weichsel-Kaltzeit), Weichselian glacial (Weichsel-Glazial), Weichselian Stage or, rarely, the Weichselian complex (Weichsel-Komplex). In the Alpine region it corresponds to the Würm glaciation. It was characterised by a large ice sheet that spread out from the Scandinavian mountains and extended as far as the east coast of Schleswig-Holstein, the March of Brandenburg and North Russia.

In northern Europe it was the youngest of the glaciation phases (glacials) of the Pleistocene ice age. The preceding warm period in this region was the Eemian interglacial. The last cold period began about 115,000 years ago and ended 11,700 years ago. According to the international classification that is based on marine isotope stages, the last glacial period began at stage MIS 5d and ended at stage MIS 2. Its end coincided with the end of the Pleistocen epoch and start of the Holocene.

Last glacial period

The last glacial period, popularly known as the Ice Age, was the most recent glacial period within the Quaternary glaciation occurring during the last 100,000 years of the Pleistocene, from approximately 110,000 to 12,000 years ago. Scientists consider this "ice age" to be merely the latest glaciation event in a much larger ice age, one that dates back over two million years and has seen multiple glaciations.

During this period, there were several changes between glacier advance and retreat. The Last Glacial Maximum, the maximum extent of glaciation within the last glacial period, was approximately 22,000 years ago. While the general pattern of global cooling and glacier advance was similar, local differences in the development of glacier advance and retreat make it difficult to compare the details from continent to continent (see picture of ice core data below for differences).

From the point of view of human archaeology, it falls in the Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods. When the glaciation event started, Homo sapiens were confined to Africa and used tools comparable to those used by Neanderthals in Europe and the Levant and by Homo erectus in Asia. Near the end of the event, Homo sapiens spread into Europe, Asia, and Australia. Archaeological and genetic data suggest that the source populations of Paleolithic humans survived the last glacial period in sparsely wooded areas and dispersed through areas of high primary productivity while avoiding dense forest cover. The retreat of the glaciers allowed groups of Asians to migrate to the Americas and populate them.