Pleistocene may be found at elevations of several hundred meters. Pleistocene The Pleistocene (, often colloquially referred to as the Ice Age) is the geological epoch which lasted from about 2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the world's most recent period of repeated glaciations. The end of the Pleistocene corresponds with the end of the last glacial period and also with the end of the Paleolithic age used in archaeology. The Pleistocene is the first epoch of the Quaternary Period or sixth epoch of the Cenozoic Era. In the ICS timescale, the Pleistocene is divided into four stages or ages, the
Plio-Pleistocene because the greater Plio-Pleistocene period covers the gradual but prolonged long-term cooling of the earth's atmosphere from the generally warmer temperatures of the late Oligocene / early Neogene times to and continuing through the Late Pleistocene—and indeed continuing through current times, if the present interglacial warming is considered as merely superimposed on the longer trend of cooling. Beginning about 3 mya, the late Pliocene saw the start of glaciation in the Northern Hemisphere, and many authors may informally use the term "Plio-Pleistocene" as a synonym for the period during which the Northern Hemisphere has been glaciated. Plio-Pleistocene The term Plio-Pleistocene