North Cork’s Single Incision
Archived: 9 September 2026
Around 31,880 BCE, Ireland was a cold, changing landscape on the north-western fringe of Upper Palaeolithic Europe, approaching but preceding the Last Glacial Maximum. Calendar precision is impossible; evidence consists chiefly of cave remains, sediments and glacial landforms. Castlepook Cave, north County Cork, contains Ireland’s richest pre-maximum vertebrate assemblage, including reindeer, mammoth, giant deer, bears and hyenas, indicating habitats able to sustain Ice Age fauna over millennia. Ice was advancing unevenly, though the extent of ice-free ground remains uncertain. A possibly cut-marked reindeer femur suggests a human visit, but lacks secure context. No evidence proves Palaeolithic settlement, society or continuity.