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Choose a route into Ireland’s past: follow the newest additions, find a particular year or subject, or browse every available period.
Welcome to Emerald Archives
Emerald Archives presents Ireland’s story one reference year at a time, from the deep prehistoric past to the modern era. Each article explores the evidence, people, places and developments associated with a particular year and places them within their wider historical setting. The collection brings together archaeology, politics, society, religion, culture, conflict, everyday life and changing landscapes in one continuously expanding timeline. New articles appear here as the archive grows. You can also explore the full Irish History Timeline, search the archive directly, or use Explore to move through the collection by period and subject.
30790–30781 BCE
The Doneraile Reindeer Find
The key chronological lesson is that different kinds of date answer different questions. A radiocarbon date on organic mud measures when the sampled plants or animals ceased exchanging carbon with the atmosphere; it does not date every grain of sediment above or below it, nor prove that people were present. A date on an animal bone estimates when that animal died, not automatically when a surface mark was made, where it was killed, or whether a human group camped nearby.
