What was life like 10,000 years ago?

10,000 years ago would take us back to around 8,000 BCE when the human population of the world had well over 1,000 years to establish themselves from the end of the last glacial period of the ice age. The thawing of the earth started from the equator and spread outwards towards the poles which still remain frozen thousands of years later.

(An example of some of the flint tools and weapons you’d be working with everyday)

Living this long ago would be very different depending on where you are in the world, which would determine everything about your culture from your clothes to the food you eat. Because it was so long ago and no one on earth had a written language at that point, information on the various civilizations that existed comes from fragmented sources, but it still gives up a good impression of how hard life would have been back then.

Northern Hemisphere – Current day Central Europe

The central countries of Europe would have been much colder 10,000 years ago because the poles were still retreating to where they are today. They would have existed purely as a hunter-gatherer society and farming was still a long way off for them. One advantage they would have was the enormous amounts of wild game available to hunt, which would have included some animals extinct today like the Irish Elk, a giant deer that stands up to 10 feet tall.

(The Irish Elk lived across most of Europe and parts of Asia, but went extinct around 6,000 BCE)

Metal was still a long way off and all the tools and weapons used would have been made from wood, bone, stone and sharpened flint. Homes would most likely have been covered with animal skins as no evidence of thatching has been found from this long ago. Diets would have been heavily meat based, with the small variation in edible wild plants acting as a supplement instead of a staple.

Because no type of farming took place this long ago, there was no opportunity to grow fibre bearing crops to make fabric, and their hunter based society didn’t need to domesticate animals, so linen, cotton and wool weren’t available, leaving all their clothing to be made from nothing but animal skins.

There’s a wooden carving known as the Shigir idol that was found in Russia and is believed to be as old as 12,000 years, which makes it 2,000 years older than the time in question, but still gives a look at the potential belief system from a similar era. The statue stands around 5 meters tall and includes a number of strange symbols that seem to represent animals and parts of the landscape. It wasn’t unusual for early man to worship everything from the sun to a mountain, and we can only guess about the gods these people believed in.

(An example of the kind of homes people would have lived in 10,000 years ago, consisting of nothing more than sticks and turf tied together with vines and plant roots)

Equator zones – modern day Middle East

Running through several countries in the Middle East are the Tigris and Euphrates river systems, and they just so happen to be located right next to the cradle of humanity in one of the first areas of the earth to warm. The two rivers run through parts of modern day Turkey, Syria and Iraq and flow through huge areas of flat ground perfect for farming.

Even though there were people in most areas of the world by this point, they all existed in hunter-gatherer societies and didn’t engage in farming a permanent settlement until much later. The first evidence of mass farming comes from a region called Mesopotamia that runs along the banks of the two rivers.

(The region of Mesopotamia was home to 5 major civilisations and dozens of smaller independent settlements)

Early crops included beans and wheat, along with various animals they were able to graze on the fertile soils next to the rivers. Life here would have consisted of nothing but farming, with tools made only from stone and wood.

The name Mesopotamia refers to a region of land, but because the river systems are so long, there were several civilizations that lived there, including the Babylonians, Sumerians and the Akkadians. Social and personal life would vary depending on the cultures and customs of the society you lived in, but work life would have been the same anywhere.

Because they were able to produce crops, plants like flax could now be grown to produce linen clothing, and the animals would provide a steady source of wool, making daily life slightly more comfortable than having to wear animal skins all the time.

Homes would most likely have been either stacked sandstone for the wealthy, or simple stick huts for the poor. The weather would have been much more forgiving in Mesopotamia due to its proximity to the equator, so there would be less need to make sure walls were windproof and a fire could be constantly burning.

Metal was still a long way off, so people would have used tools and weapons made from bone, flint and rocks. All cooking would have taken place over open fires or in clay pots placed on the ashes to act as an oven, but one massive advantage they had was the variety in their diet compared to the rest of the world. Staple crops could be mass-produced and dried to preserve them, making things like bread available all year round.

Southern Climate – Tropical / Subtropical

Unfortunately, the people of the tropical areas of the world like South America and south-east Asia didn’t have a written language for a long time after everyone else did, and some uncontacted South American tribes still don’t have one to this day. Because societies often keep to themselves and didn’t advance with the rest of the world, it could be safe to assume they lived 10,000 years ago similarly to when they were first found by the modern world.

The best example of this would be a place that’s appeared in the news a few times called Sentinel island. This small tropical island is located in the Bay of Bengal and is home to a group of people known as the sentinelese, who for unknown reasons are very unfriendly.

(A group of people from the Sentinel tribe reacting angrily to a passing helicopter)

They live in a similar manner to tribes in the Amazon and other Micronesian islands, but unlike all the others they attack people on sight and refused any attempt to even talk to anyone who doesn’t already live there. Because of this they have advanced at a very slow rate, completely independently of the rest of the world.

They use tools and weapons made from wood and stone, but no farm land has been seen on the island and it isn’t big enough to support a large population of mammals. This suggests their diet is made up mostly of fish and various seafood, though there are many fruit and coconut trees that make up the canopy. Their homes are made by covering stick frames in grass or leaves, with them not needing anything more substantial in the warm climate.

Tropical rainforest is home to a huge amount of wild food and game, and as long as you know how to find and hunt it, there would simply be no need for farming. This lack of needing to advance has led to many of the tribes staying exactly the same way for thousands of years, giving no reason to think that life in a tropical zone 10,000 years ago would have been much different from the isolated tribes that exist today.

Facts about life 10,000 years ago

• Sea level was up to 60 meters lower and would have exposed millions of square miles of land around the world that are now underwater.

• No one on earth had entered the metal age yet, and everything from sowing clothes to ploughing fields all had to be done with either flint, bone or a rock.

• The population of the world was around 10 million people, spread mostly across equator zones and the neighbouring areas.

• Forest would have covered most of the land and would be home to a massive amount of wild food, and some very dangerous animals like the giant cave bear.

• Most of the world had to do without the foods we enjoy today. Only Mexico had corn, only Peru had potatoes and many other foods that are grown round the world today only existed in a single country.

• Life expectancy was believed to be around the early to mid-50s, and that’s if you didn’t catch one of the many diseases there was no treatment for.