At that time time they were still hunter gatherers. So they might have been aware of their surroundings, but I presume not as much if they would have been a sedentary community.
The first communities started to settle more or less after the ice age ended, the sea level had risen and the planet had a more pleasant climate around 10000 years ago (source: I'm not a professional on this topic, just summarising what chatgpt tells me)
Why would hunter/gatherer cultures be less aware of their surroundings? They depend on them a lot more; need to know where to move next to find good food sources for the current season. Plus, it's not like these people haven't had sacred spaces that they visited, which requires knowing how to get there from wherever you currently are.