Cro-Magnons were the first sign of modern humans, living in Europe around the same time as animals like mammoths and giant deer.  Despite not having any adaptations to directly fight the cold, Cro-Magnon humans were very intelligent, and very adaptable, being able to make tools and use their environment to help find a way to make a living.  Although cro-magnons themselves technically don't live today, we are direct descendants of them, as they were members of the species "Homo sapiens"; modern humans.

Basic info

Meaning of name: Cro-Magnons are also known as Homo Sapiens or Early European modern humans.

Time of existence: Cro-Magnons first evolved during the Pleistocene, 56,800 years ago.  Being our direct ancestors, they have survived all the way to the present day.

Diet: Evidence of weapons shows that Cro-Magnons hunted other animals, most likely rabbits, hares, and the giant deer Megaloceros.  They may have also occassionally hunted mammoths.  However, meat was not their only food, as evidence has been found showing they also fed on plant life.

Threats: Although Cro-Magnon were hunters, they were still at risk of being preyed on by cave lions, wolves, and giant hyenas.

Size: Most Cro-Magnons grew to about 5 feet 9 inches.

Attributes: The Cro-Magnon's most crucial attribute was their brain.  While not as intelligent as modern humans, Cro-Magnons were still able to think quite well, being able to solve problems and find ways to adapt.  They constructed weapons out of wood and stone, and used animal hide as clothes.  They would also grind a fine powder out of ocre to use as bug repellent.  They would also use the tusks of mammoths to build huts, and cover them in mammoth hide to keep them warm.  Indeed, Cro-Magnon were among the most intelligent of the early humans.

A Cro-Magnon male carrying a spear

Appearances in the Walking with... series

Walking with Beasts

A Cro-Magnon can briefly be seen in the opening, where it is seen being leaped over by a Megaloceros.

A Cro-Magnon in the opening

Episode 1-New Dawn

Cro-Magnons appear in the opening synopsis, where a group is seen passing a herd of woolly mammoths, and where one is seen throwing a spear.

Episode 5-Sabre Tooth

Cro-Magnons appear in the credits, where they are seen chasing a Megaloceros, passing a herd of mammoths, throwing a spear, and startling two Megaloceros.

Episode 6-Mammoth Journey

Cro-Magnons appear throughout the episode.  Two are first seen as day breaks after a mammoth falls into a frozen pond, waiting for her to die so they can scavenge, along with a wolf.  They are next seen arriving on the plains at the North Sea, carrying some mammoth tusks and spears, preparing to set up a camp.  One of the humans runs down a hill to chase some Megaloceros, possibly hunting them, as the rest head to a hut in construction.  The men and women make several huts, topping them with mammoth hide to insulate them, and the tusks as a skeleton.  It is even stated that they use the bones of dead animals for fuel.  Because of this, they can make the most of any resource.

Some Cro-Magnons construct a hut out of mammoth tusks

The most numerous of summer visitors are the flies, which irritate the mammoths, but the humans have even managed to find a way to deal with them.  Grinding a paste out of a mineral called ocre, and rub it on their skin, keeping the insects at bay.  We see both a man and a woman doing this.  Come autumn, the plains they inhabit will become a freezing hellhole, so all the creatures must make the most of the summer while they can.

A human rubbing ocre paste on his face to keep insects at bay

When early autumn arrives, we see that the humans have already left the North Sea, leaving behind only the skeletal remains of their huts.  As the mammoths travel to the Alps, they arrive in Belgium, where two Megaloceros duel.  However, a group of Cro-Magnons suddenly run out whooping, charging as a strategy to push the deer into the trees, where their antlers prevent them from escaping.  One Megaloceros is able to leap over the humans, knocking one down as he screams in shock. 

The Cro-Magnons pushing the Megaloceros into the trees

However, the other one is cornered, and one of the men raises a spear before throwing it, striking the Megaloceros.  The others do the same, though only one other actually hits the Megaloceros.  Once the deer dies, the humans move in to grab their weapons and take what they need before scavengers arrive, as wolves, hyenas and lions could make this a dangerous place to be.

The Cro-Magnons begin to take what they need before more dangerous scavengers arrive

As the mammoths continue their journey, they are joined by a group of humans, who are also heading to the Alps, as the cave systems there make perfect winter retreats.  The matriarch keeps an eye on the humans, with them knowing better than to get to close to the giants.

A Cro-Magnon man migrating

Later, as a bull mammoth crashes from a forest, two cave lions are seen feeding on the carcass of a human, who died during the journey.  The Cro-Magnons do not appear again until the end of the episode, where a group is seen on the North Sea plains, reconstructing their huts.  A woman is  seen making beads, as a man carves a small ivory figurine of a mammoth as the narrator states that while the other animals will die out, humans will remain because they can adapt, and one day they'll look back on all this before the same carving is seen in a museum.  We see the descendants of these early humans in a museum, looking around at the exhibits.

A Cro-Magnon carving an ivory figurine of a mammoth