Chapter 1. Primitive Society. § 1. The earliest people. Describe the environment in which the earliest people lived in the Middle Volga region. What animals did they encounter?

Environment and Fauna of the Middle Volga Region during the Paleolithic Era

The earliest people in the Middle Volga region appeared around 100,000 years ago during the Paleolithic era, a time marked by a glacial period on Earth. During this epoch, the land was covered by ice, making it difficult for humans to adapt.

Environmental Conditions:

• Climate: The period was characterized by extreme cold due to glaciation.
• Landscape: Near the glaciers, the environment was a tundra, a treeless plain with numerous lakes and marshes. Further south, vast cold steppes stretched out.
• Glacial Impact: The most powerful Dnieper glaciation, which occurred 200-250 thousand years ago, extended its reach to cover the western part of the Penza region, with its border situated west of the Sura River.

Fauna Encountered:

The steppes were inhabited by a variety of large Ice Age animals, including:

• Mammoths
• Woolly rhinoceroses
• Primitive or wild cattle (aurochs)
• Giant deer (reindeer or similar species)

Archaeological findings in the region have revealed a significant number of fossilized bones from these extinct animals, indicating their presence and the hunting activities of early humans.

Answer: The Middle Volga region during the Paleolithic era was characterized by a cold, glacial climate. The environment transitioned from tundra near the ice sheets to vast, cold steppes further south. Early humans encountered megafauna such as mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, aurochs, and giant deer.