It also references the Big Ice Age, without naming it such, as the Pleistocene Era (AKA the Glacial Period as opposed to the Inter-Glacial Period that has existed for the last 12,000 years) when the serious glaciation existed from 130k years ago until 12k years ago.
IOWS the "small alpine glaciers" of the "Little Ice Age" are the anomaly not the disappearance of them. A lack of glaciers is the norm for an Inter-Glacial period.
