familiar land features
Hi
Would you explain ''familiar land features'' in this context. The Yam period coincided with the end of the last ice age. This brought about tremendous change to the environment, with sea levels rising and creeping steadily inland. This flooded many familiar land features and also caused a great deal of disruption to traditional patterns of life, hunting in particular.
Thank you

Question

familiar land features
Hi
Would you explain ''familiar land features'' in this context. The Yam period coincided with the end of the last ice age. This brought about tremendous change to the environment, with sea levels rising and creeping steadily inland. This flooded many familiar land features and also caused a great deal of disruption to traditional patterns of life, hunting in particular. 
Thank you

Answer

"land features" are things like mountains, hills, forests, swamps, etc.  So, a forest that you have known for several years is a "familiar land feature".  During the Yam period, rising sea levels made familiar land features disappear--forests that people had grown up in were suddenly flooded, and disappeared under the ocean.