How Did Early Humans Survive Winter? 

Mastering Fire for Warmth and Cooking

One of the most important innovations for surviving winter was the controlled use of fire. Early humans learned to start and maintain fires, which served multiple crucial functions. Foremost, fire provided a reliable source of warmth, allowing people to huddle around the flames and stave off the bitter cold. It was also essential for cooking food, which made many calorie-dense foods more palatable and digestible, and could be used to ward off predators. 

Beyond these basic needs, fire had important social and cultural significance. Sharing a firepit allowed groups to bond, exchange information, and preserve traditions through storytelling and other activities that not only lifted morale during the darkest days of winter, but also reinforced a sense of community. Gathered around hearths that afforded them warmth, light, and comfort, early humans could venture into climates that otherwise would have been too cold to withstand. 

Using Animal Hides for Clothing and Insulation

Early humans developed extensive clothing and other insulation methods to protect themselves from the cold. A key innovation was the use of animal hides, fur, and pelts. Hunting large game provided both a source of nutrition and also raw materials for warm garments; recent studies have revealed that people in northern Europe were able to survive in winter about 300,000 years ago thanks in part to warm bear skins. The development of sewing technology, including the use of eyed or holed needles made out of bone, allowed for the manufacture of tailor-made clothing, offering even more effective protection in freezing temperatures. 

Gathering and Storing Food Supplies

A major challenge in surviving the winter was ensuring an adequate food supply. During the warmer months, early humans could gather a wide variety of plant foods, hunt game, and, if near the coast, gather shellfish and catch fish. During the lean winter months, however, food could be scarce. Preserving food for later consumption was one solution, and we know that some of our early ancestors did just that. 

Analysis of evidence from Qesem Cave, Israel, suggests that as far back as 420,000 years ago, humans were wrapping and storing marrow in skins for delayed consumption, and storing animal bones for up to nine weeks before eating the bone marrow. Archaeological evidence also suggests that humans placed weights on mammoth meat and submerged it in cool ponds, where it would maintain its freshness for longer than it would in the open air. In frigid winter climates, it’s likely hunters would have frozen meat after a large kill in order to preserve it for later consumption. 

Slowing Down and Sleeping  

Beyond the practical matters of shelter, fire, clothing, and food, early humans also had to adapt their overall daily routines and activities to the winter season. During the warmer months, they may have spent more time outdoors, hunting, gathering, and exploring. In the winter, however, especially during extremely cold periods, they would have necessarily shifted to a more sedentary lifestyle, huddling inside their shelters and perhaps focusing on tasks such as hide processing and toolmaking. It’s even possible that early humans survived the harsh winters by hibernating. 

Evidence from bones found at the Sima de los Huesos (“Pit of Bones”) Paleolithic site in northern Spain — one of the world’s most important fossil sites — suggests that our hominid predecessors may have dealt with extreme cold hundreds of thousands of years ago by sleeping through the winter. By slowing down their metabolisms and sleeping for months, they may have been able to survive for long periods of time in frigid conditions with limited food, relying on their stored body fat. Researchers believe that disruptions in bone development in remains found at the site are potential proof of early human hibernation. 

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