Castlepook Cave Mammals
Archived: 9 September 2026
Around 31,942 BCE, Ireland experienced a cold, unstable Late Pleistocene climate before the Last Glacial Maximum, with ice coverage varying regionally and open tundra-like habitats in ice-free areas. Castlepook Cave, County Cork, preserves a time-layered fauna including mammoth, reindeer, giant deer, bears, wolves, hyaenas and lemmings, demonstrating ecological connections with north-west Europe. Cave deposits cannot reconstruct a single moment, and earlier dating requires reassessment. Human occupation at this date remains unproven: a possible cut-marked reindeer bone needs further testing. Secure evidence of people in Ireland is far later, during the Younger Dryas. No societies, settlements or events can be identified.