Paleolithic people were nomadic for the majority of the Paleolithic era, which spanned from around 2.6 million years ago to 12,000 years ago. Throughout this period, humans relied on hunting and gathering for sustenance and, as a result, had to move frequently in order to follow the migration patterns of animals and to find new sources of food. It was only in the later stages of the Paleolithic that some human populations began to transition to a more settled lifestyle, with the advent of agriculture and the domestication of animals.