Castlepook’s Reindeer Scar
Archived: 18 September 2026
Abstract
Around 31,251 BCE, Ireland cannot be described through precise calendar dating or written history. Evidence from Derryvree, County Fermanagh, records an ice-free Middle Midlandian interval, with wet, treeless tundra vegetation between glacial advances. MIS 3 climates fluctuated, while the British–Irish Ice Sheet was expanding and changing coastlines and routes. Castlepook Cave, County Cork, preserves diverse Ice Age fauna, including a reindeer femur bearing a scar possibly made by a stone tool. This may indicate brief human carcass processing, but old excavation methods and disturbed cave deposits prevent proof of hunting, occupation or settlement. Ireland’s earliest human presence therefore remains unresolved.