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Channel crossing

During the Ice Age so much water was locked up in glaciers and ice sheets, that sea levels around the world were much lower than today. The North Sea didn’t exist and the Thames was a mere tributary of the ancient German Rhine, which ran down the middle of where the English Channel is today. And all around was a vast plain - tundra - that stretched between Britain and mainland Europe. In the winter months this was a cold and barren place. Only animals adapted to sub-zero temperatures could survive.

Come the spring there was a partial thaw, when the land teemed with life. In the short summer the rich pastures attracted huge herds of grazing animals from the south. The lower sea level meant that animals could walk to these summer pastures from mainland Europe, across what’s now the English Channel.

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