Elephant Hall’s Mammoth Bone
Ireland lay at the north-western edge of the European landmass and climatic system. Sea levels were substantially lower than now because large quantities of water were locked in global ice sheets. The present Irish Sea and Celtic Sea were altered landscapes, with exposed shelf in places and changing routes between Ireland, Britain and continental Europe. Yet lowered sea level did not automatically mean an easy or permanent dry crossing. The configuration of coasts, rivers, estuaries, sea ice and local ice margins changed through time, while Ireland’s relation to Britain was shaped by a complicated, mobile glacial environment.