The erratic swings of the last Ice Age stabilised at 30,000 years ago (the transition from glacial stage 3 to stage 2), local Homo sapiens populations grew strongly, expanding into Europe and northern Asia, and Homo neanderthalensis became extinct.

Archaeological evidence for modern human presence increases (Gravettian culture in Europe, Zhoukoudian fossils in China).

Note that only a selection of mtDNA haplogroups is shown on the maps, for space reasons.