With much of the ocean water frozen during the last ice age, sea levels dropped, revealing land that wasn’t there before, according to Human Journey. Because of this, homo sapiens continued to spread all over the planet, sometimes chasing migratory animals for food, and other times seeking to escape the cold and inhospitable weather.

As far as the climate was concerned, though, things were pretty bad everywhere for humans during this period in time. How early humans lived through the ice age is largely due to their big brains — which remain largely unchanged in modern-day humans. This strong mental capacity allowed early humanity to creatively solve the problems they encountered during this difficult period (via History).

First off, homo sapiens had language during this time, which provided a significant advantage. Where there’s language there’s also typically cooperation in hunting and other tasks associated with survival. Creativity and art also bound early groups of humans together during the ice age, and when humans work together, they tend to survive. Likewise, ice age humans had tools, like the needle for sewing clothing to protect against the elements, and the ingenuity to build structures as shelter from storms and freezing temperatures. The cognitive abilities of early homo sapiens is a big reason why there are any humans alive today.