Derryvree’s Tundra Silt
Archived: 10 September 2026
Abstract
31,831 BCE is a modern label, not a recoverable Irish historical year, and evidence belongs broadly to climatically unstable Marine Isotope Stage 3. At Derryvree, Fermanagh, freshwater silts dated to 30,500 radiocarbon years BP, between glacial tills, preserve signs of cold, open, waterlogged tundra rather than woodland. Cave assemblages show that reindeer, giant deer, horse, mammoth, predators and other mammals occupied Ireland during parts of MIS 3. A marked Castlepook reindeer femur may indicate butchery by humans around 33,000 years ago, but remains unconfirmed. Ice advances, changing coastlines and poor preservation limit secure conclusions about settlement, society, movement and subsistence.