Woolly mammoths — Mammuthus primigenius — roamed these grasslands in numbers that are difficult to estimate but that must have been substantial given the density of mammoth bone found at Upper Paleolithic sites across Siberia.

The woolly rhinoceros accompanied them.

Reindeer migrated through the region seasonally.

Horses, bison, cave lions, wolves, and arctic foxes were all part of the Pleistocene Siberian fauna.

For the human communities living in this landscape, the mammoth was central to survival in multiple ways.

Mammoth meat provided food.

Mammoth fat — rendered and stored — provided both calories and fuel for lamps and fire.

Mammoth bone provided structural material for shelters: at multiple Upper Paleolithic sites in Siberia and eastern Europe, researchers have documented semi-subterranean structures in which mammoth bones and tusks form the framework of the walls and roof, with hides presumably covering the organic frame.