Although Neanderthals were structurally and anatomically adapted to the cold, they actually did not settle further north than Germany, while the hominid populations arriving from Siberia lived in much colder climates. This is not surprising considering that Neanderthals did not possess sewing technology (needle and thread) and did not have warm homes or other technologies essential for surviving in cold climates. The populations that populated Siberia in these years and began to move westward and descend into Europe were likely responsible, through intensive hunting, for the disappearance of the woolly mammoth and the woolly rhinoceros, as well as the giant elk.
