The Ancients – "The Ice Age" (Re-release)

Host: Tristan Hughes
Guest: Cody Cassidy, author and science writer
Date: December 28, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of The Ancients is a re-release of a popular installment from the "How to Survive" series. Host Tristan Hughes is joined by author and science writer Cody Cassidy to discuss survival during the Ice Age, focusing especially on early human life in central Europe more than 20,000 years ago. The conversation zeroes in on the Pavlovian culture—specialist mammoth hunters—and explores the major climatic, environmental, and technological challenges ancient people faced, as well as the incredible ingenuity and adaptations that enabled their survival.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Defining the Ice Age

• The "Ice Age" as a Misnomer:
  Climate scientists define an Ice Age as any period with permanent ice in the Northern Hemisphere—which is technically still ongoing. Popular usage refers more specifically to the last glacial maximum, around 25,000 years ago.
  • "Technically, they define an Ice Age as anytime ice permanently covers the Northern Hemisphere, which...it does. So we are actually living in an Ice Age." – Cody Cassidy (06:48)
• Causes of Long-Term Cooling:
  Significant tectonic activity and the sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide played a huge role in global cooling starting ~3 million years ago, setting the stage for repeated cycles of glaciation.
  • "Our climate is dictated by carbon in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide...it sort of serves as our planet's insulation, it captures heat." – Cody Cassidy (07:21)

Glacial Maximum & Landscape

• Glacial Coverage & Environments:
  Northern Europe was covered by glaciers as high as skyscrapers. The tundra below was arid but had fertile soils in some river valleys, leading to a mosaic of habitats rich in megafauna.
• Fauna and Mega-fauna:
  Included mammoths, cave bears, woolly rhinoceroses, reindeer, and predators like lions and wolves—all living in what would appear surprising juxtapositions to modern sensibilities.
  • "You sort of had packs of lions chasing reindeer, or you had, you know, bears, wolves and woolly rhinoceroses, but you also had cheetah..." – Cody Cassidy (13:07)

Ice Age Cultures and Human Adaptation

Gravettian & Pavlovian Cultures

• Gravettian Culture:
  Spanned much of Europe during the glacial maximum. People were tall, slim, and mobile—following animal herds—and created sophisticated art and tools.
  • “They were, in general, quite tall, surprisingly...They were slender. They were mobile cultures that moved with herds...” – Cody Cassidy (15:11)
• Venus Figurines:
  Noted for the voluptuous carved female figures whose function is unclear (potentially ritual, artistic, or religious).
• Pavlovian Culture:
  A subgroup of Gravettian, especially specialized in hunting mammoths in Eastern Europe, evidenced by archaeological sites where 98% of bones are mammoth.
  • “These odd mammoth hunting specialists...98% of the bones are mammoth bones and they're sort of roving...mammoth hunting specialists.” – Cody Cassidy (17:22)

Clothing and Survival

• Textiles & Tools:
  Thick parka-like clothes made from small predators (e.g., wolverine, fox); bone needles suggest sewing.
• Resource Scarcity:
  Few trees meant mammoth bones were likely used as fuel as well as material for tools and shelter.

Mammoth Hunting: Risks, Techniques, and Evidence

Weapons and Hunting Strategies

• Atlatl Usage:
  Prehistoric hunters used atlatls (spear throwers) to increase throwing speed and force.
  • "Just by doing that, you can take what would be...a thrown spear, and hurl it speeds above 60 miles an hour." – Cody Cassidy (20:38)
• Effectiveness and Danger:
  Archaeological finds, like an obsidian point embedded in mammoth bone, show the weapons' power and suggest hunting required coordination of many people.
  • "They found...an obsidian spearhead stuck into the bone of a mammoth, which just to make it past the skin can signify how deep this thing...would have had to been going..." – Cody Cassidy (22:11)

Tactics and Teamwork

• Herd Selection:
  Female mammoths were targeted, not just calves or sick animals, and herds may have been manipulated into natural traps such as cul-de-sacs surrounded by rock walls.
  • “You would have had to...face it and to face the massive tusks and...throw your spear at a very angry, very heavy animal.” – Cody Cassidy (24:13)
• Critical Danger:
  Facing down a charging mammoth was described as more frightening than facing any other animal, even by modern elephant hunters.
  • “The charge of an elephant...is simply terrifying and dangerous even now with modern guns...So you can only imagine what it would have been like.” – Cody Cassidy (25:44)

Adaptation and Comparison

• Cultural Stability:
  The Gravettian and Pavlovian cultures demonstrate remarkable stability in art and lifestyle over 10,000+ years, an almost unimaginable period compared to modern cultural change.

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On the awe of deep time:
  "It's hard for us to comprehend because this is happening on such a...the geologic time frame is so much longer than anything, any sort of time frame that humans are familiar with." – Cody Cassidy (10:52)
• On the danger of mammoth hunting:
  “You miss your shot...[and] you've got a mammoth coming down towards you with tusks and bearing down at you, you're as good as gone.” – Tristan Hughes (25:13)
• On the seeming impossibility:
  "You wouldn't believe it except for it happened. Clearly, you know...You wouldn't believe they survived...but then this subculture, the Pavlovian, that survived on specifically mammoths...it's otherwise just sort of impossible to imagine how they did it." – Cody Cassidy (27:30)

Key Survival Tips; Lessons from the Ice Age (29:27)

• Essential Approaches:

  • Hunt mammoth in groups to increase effectiveness and safety
  • Craft and master the atlatl for ranged combat
  • Use obsidian or other hard, sharp materials for spear points
  • Leverage team strategy, including distracting the animal to protect individual hunters
  • When trapping a mammoth, isolate one animal and trap it in a natural cul-de-sac before attacking from the front

• Cody Cassidy’s Summary:
  "You're gonna have to hunt these mammoth if you're going to want to eat...craft an atlatl, which is not too difficult...Get that obsidian sharpened and attached to the end of your dart...You're going to have to make sure to not go alone...Then, unfortunately, when you trap the mammoth...you're gonna have to wait till it faces you to throw your dart." (29:27)

Exploring Disaster Survival Beyond the Ice Age

• Cody Cassidy’s book, How to Survive History, looks at other historical challenges, from the dinosaur-killing asteroid to Pompeii and beyond, often finding scientific or historical lessons in each scenario.
  • “There's something sort of deeper to say about them, either scientifically or historically...what the results of what changed in human culture after them.” – Cody Cassidy (30:32)

Notable Segment Timestamps

• Introductions & Framing: 02:08
• What is the Ice Age? 06:26–07:57
• Causes of Ancient Climate Change: 08:00–09:10
• Life & Ecology During the Glacial Maximum: 13:07–14:41
• People & Cultures of Ice Age Europe: 15:11–17:22
• The Pavlovian Specialist Mammoth Hunters: 17:22–18:27
• Weapons, Atlatls, & Hunting Evidence: 20:38–22:11
• Mammoth Hunting Tactics: 23:33–25:13
• Perils & Psychology of Mammoth Hunting: 25:44–27:30
• Cultural Longevity: 28:19–29:10
• Practical Survival Tips: 29:27–30:20
• Cody on the Asteroid Strike (Bonus Segment): 31:03–33:46

Final Thoughts

This episode offers a compelling, scientifically informed glimpse into the challenges of Ice Age survival, with engaging storytelling and vivid detail. Cody Cassidy’s hands-on disaster scenarios make prehistory relatable, highlighting the stamina, teamwork, and ingenuity our ancestors needed to thrive against unimaginable odds—reminding listeners of the extraordinary endurance of humanity and of history itself.

For more:

• Cody Cassidy’s book: How to Survive History
• Cody’s TikTok (for quick explainers on disasters from history)
• Subscribe to The Ancients for more on ancient life and survival stories