Doneraile’s Cut-Marked Reindeer
Ireland was entering a severe phase of the last glacial cycle, but it had not yet reached the Last Glacial Maximum. The fullest extent of the British–Irish Ice Sheet came later, broadly between about 27,000 and 23,000 calibrated years before present. Around the notional date used here, ice margins, local glaciers, permafrost and open ground probably varied greatly between regions and over comparatively short spans of time. It is misleading to picture one uniform white blanket covering the whole island, yet equally misleading to imagine a familiar green Ireland. This was an unstable northern landscape in which advancing ice, freezing ground, sparse vegetation and exposed sediment could rapidly alter the possibilities for plants, animals and any human visitors.