<p>I understand following comment as part of your question:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Was that climate and terrain habitable by prehistoric humans?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I also assume that by "interglacial periods" you don't mean the last and current one, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene" rel="nofollow">Holocene</a>. The next latest one is Eemian. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eemian_Stage#Sea_level" rel="nofollow">wikipedia</a> sais on the sea level during that period:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Sea level at peak was probably 4 to 6m (13 to 20 feet) higher than
  today...</p>
  
  <p>A 2007 study found evidence that the Greenland ice core site Dye 3 was
  glaciated during the Eemian,[7] which implies that Greenland could
  have contributed at most 2 m (6.6 ft) to sea level rise.[8][9]
  Scandinavia was an island due to the inundation of vast areas of
  northern Europe and the West Siberian Plain.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>So there regions were submerged either under ice or sea and definitely not habitable.</p>

<p>And what before? I didn't find as thorough data through a brief google search, but supposing that Homo Heidelbergensis was the first "prehistoric human" species, we have some 600 ky of history, with several interglatials. Continental drift is marginal during this period (few kilometers IS marginal), so no continent could have been near the North Pole during any period of that time. During interglacials, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vostok_Petit_data.svg" rel="nofollow">the temperature was about the same as now, +/- 2 °C</a>, and so the sea level was similar to current level. Even if some parts of Lomonosov ridge (just under North Pole) were above sea, they wouldn't be habitable for the humans of that time, at least due to ice. Paleolithic Eskymos in that areas are extremely unlikely.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-09T07:02:32.877Z
And what of the the last one, Quaternary era? During the Pleistocene, could the things have been more genial?
Rohit
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-09T08:37:03.463Z
@Rohit: I don't understand your comment. My answer IS about pleistocene, and to sum it up, it says that the area was submerged by either ice or water (or both - the Lomonosov Ridge might have been above sea level during Ice Ages, but covered with ice) during all the pleistocene.
Pavel V.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-17T15:32:38.210Z
2014-08-17T15:32:38.210Z
Pavel V.
<p>Is it true, that circumpolar regions around North pole, were not submerged in water and had a habitable genial climate, until  the last Iceage, or glacial period?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-15T13:15:08.537Z
Habitable by who?  The only uninhabited part of the Earth surface is interior Antarctica.
gerrit
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-16T11:01:56.790Z
Habitable by humans @gerrit
Rohit
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-16T14:21:54.557Z
Are you asking what climate there was, or whether that climate was habitable by prehistoric humans?  To me those are two quite distinct questions.  (Clearly, modern humans can live in *any* climate on Earth).
gerrit
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-17T07:03:36.057Z
Was that climate and terrain habitable by prehistoric humans?
Rohit
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-17T02:15:15.900Z
Might help if you provided a reference for the claim that it was free of water.
naught101
<ice-age><poles>
Circum polar regions in Interglacial periods
Rohit
# Circum polar regions in Interglacial periods

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-06-15)

Is it true, that circumpolar regions around North pole, were not submerged in water and had a habitable genial climate, until the last Iceage, or glacial period?

**Tags:** ice-age, poles

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Habitable by who?  The only uninhabited part of the Earth surface is interior Antarctica.  
> **username_0**: Habitable by humans @username_1  
> **username_1**: Are you asking what climate there was, or whether that climate was habitable by prehistoric humans?  To me those are two quite distinct questions.  (Clearly, modern humans can live in *any* climate on Earth).  
> **username_0**: Was that climate and terrain habitable by prehistoric humans?  
> **username_2**: Might help if you provided a reference for the claim that it was free of water.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2014-08-17. Score: 4

I understand following comment as part of your question:

> Was that climate and terrain habitable by prehistoric humans?

I also assume that by "interglacial periods" you don't mean the last and current one, the [Holocene](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene). The next latest one is Eemian. The [wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eemian_Stage#Sea_level) sais on the sea level during that period:

> Sea level at peak was probably 4 to 6m (13 to 20 feet) higher than
> today...
>
> A 2007 study found evidence that the Greenland ice core site Dye 3 was
> glaciated during the Eemian,[7] which implies that Greenland could
> have contributed at most 2 m (6.6 ft) to sea level rise.[8][9]
> Scandinavia was an island due to the inundation of vast areas of
> northern Europe and the West Siberian Plain.

So there regions were submerged either under ice or sea and definitely not habitable.

And what before? I didn't find as thorough data through a brief google search, but supposing that Homo Heidelbergensis was the first "prehistoric human" species, we have some 600 ky of history, with several interglatials. Continental drift is marginal during this period (few kilometers IS marginal), so no continent could have been near the North Pole during any period of that time. During interglacials, [the temperature was about the same as now, +/- 2 °C](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vostok_Petit_data.svg), and so the sea level was similar to current level. Even if some parts of Lomonosov ridge (just under North Pole) were above sea, they wouldn't be habitable for the humans of that time, at least due to ice. Paleolithic Eskymos in that areas are extremely unlikely.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: And what of the the last one, Quaternary era? During the Pleistocene, could the things have been more genial?  
> **username_3**: @username_0: I don't understand your comment. My answer IS about pleistocene, and to sum it up, it says that the area was submerged by either ice or water (or both - the Lomonosov Ridge might have been above sea level during Ice Ages, but covered with ice) during all the pleistocene.  

---

