Castlepook Cave illustrates how a rich faunal assemblage can reveal an ecological world while resisting reconstruction as a single episode. The coexistence of mammoth, reindeer, hyaena and other remains may reflect repeated visits across changing conditions, rather than one local community. This matters especially for the cut-marked reindeer femur: it may signal a fleeting human encounter, yet cannot by itself demonstrate settlement or a stable route into Ireland. Comparisons with securely dated later Palaeolithic evidence sharpen that distinction. What evidence, excavation methods, or environmental modelling would most help distinguish occasional human incursions from then recurrent occupation in MIS 3 Ireland?