In Search Of… I swing my legs into the opening. Mud squelches beneath me. My feet search around until I fi nd a rock. I shimmy down, pushing with my hands and feeling my way with my feet. It’s dark. I’m now completely inside the


narrow passage. My back is against one wall, and my face not far away from the other. T e only sound I can hear is the quiet trickling of water.


My feet poke out of the hole. Gustavo


guides them to the cave fl oor. Now I’m standing on the main level of El Portillo. My husband and expedition


photographer, Dillon, joins me. We set up some lights and get to work. We are looking for signs on the one and only map of this cave. T ere’s a note about “two red dots” on the cave wall. More than anything, I want to fi nd them.


Ice Age


Over time, Earth’s climate has changed between very cold and very warm periods. During the cold periods, glaciers covered large parts of the world. During the warm periods, the glaciers melted. An ice age can last for millions of years. At the height of the last ice age, much of Northern Europe was covered by ice. It was more than a kilometer thick.


This time was not without life, though.


Ice age people lived here, among the cold weather and fi erce predators. They were tough and hardy people. They left behind many artifacts. These included tools, clothing, and shelters. They also left behind beautiful art painted and engraved on cave walls. What their art meant, we do not know.


PPATHFINDER 19


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