Upper Danube, Southern Germany

2. Fisherman and hunters take heart! A warming trend has been observed in France and this spring promises a bountiful take. The local Magdalenian folk report numerous recent sightings in coastal rivers of spawning salmon with hungry seals in hot pursuit, accompanied by mating eels and the early blooming of many plants. 15,000 BC 27,000 BC Upper Danube, Southern Germany Southern France

3. As the weather continues to improve the occupants of La Riera have begun to visit the seashore where they collect limpets, periwinkles and sea urchins. The pine and birch woodland that have now become established in the hills harbor roe deer and wild boar, which the La Rierans stalk indi- vidually using the newly invented bow and arrow. 15,000 BC 27,000 BC Upper Danube, Southern Germany La Riera, Northern Spain

4. Our station in northern Spain reports that large bison herds form the basis for susten- ance in the region. The Magdalenian people there celebrate the bison at the cave of Altamira in art, song and dance. 15,000 BC 27,000 BC Upper Danube, Southern Germany Altamira, Northern Spain

5. We have been receiving consistent spring- time reports from the Loire Valley in southern France for the last several years of a lusher growth of grass, earlier nesting times for birds, and reduced snowfall. In response Magdalenian people are moving every year a kilometer or so deeper into central France. 14,000 BC Southern France

6. Although the northern glaciers have begun to retreat and the weather is warmer to the south, tundra-like conditions persist at Chaleux Cave in Belgium, as evidenced by the large numbers of cold-loving Arctic lemmings found there, as well as larger tundra-loving animals, such as reindeer and musk ox. 14,000 BC Chaleux, Belgium

7. The climate all across Europe has begun to improve with higher temperatures. Herbs and shrubs have taken hold in the rolling hills of central Europe, and for the first time in millennia we are seeing plants such as dwarf willow and mugwort. 13,500 BC Europe

8. On the eastern front hunting has been excellent at Mezhirich overlooking the Dnieper River. The residents there take full advantage of all the seasons pursuing mammoth in the winter, reindeer in the spring, and fur-bearing animals and water- fowl in summer. 13,000 BC Mezhirich , Ukraine

9. The retreat of the northern glaciers has exposed the continental shelf between France and Britain and large herds of reindeer and horse have been seen grazing in the deep valley separating the Thames from the Rhine. 12,800 BC Doggerand

10. FLASH… Improved weather has allowed humans to return to Britain for the first time in over 10,000 years. They are in pursuit of horse and reindeer across the tundra there and some members of mtDNA haplogroup U5 have encamped at Gough’s Cave in the Cheddar Gorge where they have developed new technology. 12,700 BC Gough’s Cave, Southern England

11. IN MEMMORIAM We mourn the passing of Erggg, our longtime reporter from southern Britain. He will be sorely missed. But we predict that thousands of years from now he will become a celebrity when his remains will be found, named Cheddar Man, and his U5 mtDNA matched to that of a local school teacher named Adrian Targett. Go Erggg! 12,690 BC Gough’s Cave, Southern England

12. With the recent retreat of the Scandinavian glacier thousands of reindeer have begun to use the Ahrensburg Valley for their annual migrations across the treeless tundra to winter pastures in southern Sweden. Magdalenian hunters are taking easy advantage of this predictable route and are enjoying the excellent summer weather with temperatures reaching as high as 13° C. 12,600 BC Meiendorf, Northern Germany

13. Well, judging by the harpoon in my hands I seem to be a totally deranged fisherman that has been distracted from spearing salmon in the river below by a passing herd of reindeer and has run amuck trying to hunt them down with an inappropriate bone harpoon. Magdalenian hunters actually used the bow and arrow to hunt reindeer. WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE? 27,000 BC 12,600 BC Upper Danube, Southern Germany Northern Germany

14. The recent dramatic peak in temperature, melting of the northern glaciers and resulting sea level rise of almost 100 m is now being called the Bølling Oscillation by our paleocasters at the Glacier Channel. 12,500 BC Europe

15. After several centuries of colder weather temperatures have risen again to a peak, called the Allerød Oscillation, and with it full woodlands of birch, poplar and pine have penetrated northern Germany, Britain and Scandinavia. 11,500 BC Europe

16. 11,000 BC Gönnersdorf, Central Germany

17. Horse meat is the dietary staple of the people living at Gönnersdorf on the middle Rhine. The Gönnersdorfers are also accomplished artists and specialize in engraving images of horses and women on slabs of slate. Their dwellings are also quite sophisticated. They are circular, 20 to 25 feet in diameter, built with solid wooden posts and covered with sods of turf and thick hide. 27,000 BC 11,000 BC Upper Danube, Southern Germany Gönnersdorf, Central Germany

18. 11,000 BC Gönnersdorf, Central Germany

19. Just when we thought it was safe to recolonize the northern latitudes sub-arctic conditions have descended yet again on central Europe in less than a decade forcing the Magdalenians south into warmer refugia. Our paleocasters are betting the cold may last another 1000 years and are calling this the Younger Dryas period. 10,500 BC Europe

20. The horse herds of central Europe have been decimated by the severe cold. Gönnersdorf has been abandoned for good. 27,000 BC 10,500 BC Upper Danube, Southern Germany Gönnersdorf, Central Germany

21. Despite the hardships of the recent Younger Dryas glacial advance, the hunters of Stellmoor on the northern German tundra have been very successful in the reindeer hunt. Spears have been replaced by bows and arrows tipped with distinctive tanged points, thus increasing tremendously the efficiency of the hunt. 10,500 BC Stellmoor, Northern Germany

22. Europe is experiencing a dramatic warming trend, which is providing the thickest covering of woodland the continent has seen for more than 100,000 years. Our paleocasters have proclaimed that this is the end of Younger Dryas period and warm Holocene days are ahead. 9,600 BC Central Europe

23. The glacial tundra is gone and thick woodlands now cover most of Britain. Forest-dwelling red deer and roe deer have replaced the migratory reindeer of the Pleistocene. 9,600 BC Northern England

24. Dense forests of birch now surround Lake Pickering in northern Britain. There the Mesolithic residents of Star Carr 8,600 BC Star Carr, Northern England

25. To the east of Star Carr, on the low exposed continental shelf known as Doggerland, the rising sea level has created a rich lagoon environment, which is a magnet to waterfowl. The Mesolithic hunters of this area have developed new technology Taking great quantities of . The Mesolithic hunters of this area have developed new technology Taking great quantities of . 8,000 BC Doggerland

26. JUST IN FROM THE ARCTIC OCEAN… A massive sub-marine landside has occurred midway between the coast of Norway and Iceland creating an immense tidal wave. The tsunami has flooded most of the lowlands of Doggerland between Scotland and Denmark burying hundreds of Mesolithic settlements under 17,000 cubic km of sediment. The Dogger Hills are still dry but increasingly threatened by the rising sea level and advance of the newly created North Sea. 7,500 BC Doggerland

27. For the first time since the Last Glacial Maximum of 18,000 BC the glaciers have retreated from Northern Ireland allowing many human settlements to spring up there. At Mount Sandel in County Antrim Mesolithic hunters and foragers are living year round and eating a wide variety of seasonal resources: wild boar, eel, hazelnuts and water lilies in the fall and winter, salmon and other fish in the spring and summer. 7,000 BC Northern Ireland

28. To Be Continued