Castlepook’s Faunal Mosaic
Archived: 14 September 2026
Labelled 31,736 BCE, this period cannot be dated in Ireland more closely than later Marine Isotope Stage 3, a climatically volatile phase preceding the Last Glacial Maximum. Evidence from Derryvree and Aghnadarragh indicates shifting environments, including open wetlands, cool-temperate episodes, periglacial ground and changing ice margins. Castlepook Cave preserves a time-depth assemblage of reindeer, mammoth, giant deer, bears, wolves, Arctic foxes, lemmings and hyaenas, demonstrating varied animal communities but not a single contemporaneous fauna. A possibly butchered reindeer bone suggests an Upper Palaeolithic visit, yet no settlement is proven. The record illuminates ecology and glaciation, while precluding year-specific human history.