Awbeg Valley Faunal World
Archived: 10 September 2026
Around 31,842 BCE, Ireland lay in the unstable Late Pleistocene, before the Last Glacial Maximum, when expanding ice alternated with cold, open freshwater landscapes. Inter-till deposits in Fermanagh preserve evidence of grasses, sedges, tundra plants, insects and waterlogged ground. Castlepook Cave above the Awbeg Valley contains Marine Isotope Stage 3 remains of reindeer, mammoth, giant deer, hyaena, wolves and other cold-adapted fauna, demonstrating links with wider north-west Europe. A cut-marked reindeer femur may indicate brief human butchery, but disturbed cave contexts preclude certainty. No settlement, tools, hearths or cultural evidence confirms occupation. Scientific dating and environmental remains define it best.