The first artists During the last ice age, in the upper palaeolithic period, a large part of Europe was covered by an open grassy steppe that was populated by animals such as the mammoth, wooly rhinoceros, bison, reindeer and wild horses. Carnivores including the hyena, cave lion and cave bear could also be counted among those making their home on the steppes. Ice age man was a hunter and gatherer. He lived a nomadic life in tents, under rock shelters or in caves. He hunted the mighty mammals of the ice age with the help of the atlantl spear thrower, as well as hunting small mammals, birds and fish when not out gathering edible plants.