A Lacustrine Revolution: Adaptive Shifts in the Late Glacial of South Central Europe

Abstract

The environmental changes in Europe at the end of the last ice age had profound effects on human populations. One of these changes, the development of numerous lakes in the region north of the Alps, created new habitats and niches that were rapidly exploited, with significant effects on many aspects of behavior. The record of environmental and archaeological changes in southern Germany and Switzerland are examined with an emphasis on some of the implications of the resulting change in settlement patterns.