Middle Palaeolithic paleoenvironment illustration

Illustration by Mauricio Antón for the permanent exhibition of the Altamira National Museum and Research Center. This illustration is a recreation of the likely environment and ecosystems during the Middle Paleolithic period on the Iberian Peninsula. It was during this period that the last glacial periods occurred, which led to a lowering in average temperatures as well as an increase in numbers of animal species that were native to the tundra and taiga, such as mammoths, reindeer, Eurasian wild horses and woolly rhinos. This landscape of the Iberian Peninsula was mainly inhabited by Neanderthals.