The Mesolithic Peoples of Ireland.

For more than 30 years, animal remains discovered during excavations at Ferriter’s Cove, a small bay on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, and dated to the end of the Mesolithic period (8000-4000 BCE) have been cited as proof that before agriculture became established in Ireland, there was contact between its Mesolithic hunter-gatherers and Europe’s Neolithic farming communities.

The bone fragments produced for establishing this theory were identified as belonging to cattle . It led to the find being considered to be the earliest evidence for the presence of domesticated farm animals for the islands of Ireland and Britain.

Researchers at the University of Dublin School of Archaeology  are re-examining important Mesolithic archaeological sites using modern scientific techniques. The bones have been looked at again and are now identified as belonging to bear and wild boar.

Dr Martin Moucheron, whose is leading the project explained:

“For at least four millennia hunting and gathering people lived on the island, and there is a common conception that they left little trace and that we know very little about them – unlike the megaliths of Neolithic farmers, who are portrayed in ways that feel very familiar in Ireland.

“But there is much we can understand about Mesolithic people just by going back to the sites and material we have, and by looking at them with new eyes and new techniques – and an open mind.”

The so-called “Kerry Cow” discovered at Ferriter’s Cove contradicted existing theories of the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in Ireland, and, ever since, have been cited as evidence that its Mesolithic communities had established links with early farmers arriving from Continental Europe.

In collaboration with Dr(s) Benjamin Gearey, Barra Ó Donnabháin, and Margaret McCarthy, from University College Cork, and Kate Kanne (UCD), the original archaeological material from Ferriter’s Cove, which is now stored at UCC, were sent to the CNRS lab in Lille, France, to undergo biomolecular analysis.

Using a technique known as ZooMS that identifies species through proteins preserved in ancient bone collagen, the results found the fragments were not from domesticated cattle as originally thought but instead came from a bear and a wild boar.

As a result, there is currently no archaeological evidence to support the idea that domesticated cattle, and by extension, early farming communities, had reached or influenced Ireland before 4000 BC.

“Ferriter’s Cove is an iconic archaeological site, originally excavated by the Late Professor Peter Woodman, Department of Archaeology, UCC; this new collaboration with colleagues at UCD marks an exciting new phase of research and these remarkable results are set to change our understanding of the earliest evidence for agriculture in Ireland,” said Dr Gearey. 

Beyond rewriting one of Ireland’s best-known archaeological narratives, the study highlights the value of revisiting important archaeological collections with modern scientific methods, demonstrating how advances can challenge long-held assumptions and reshape the understanding of the past.

Further analyses are now underway to determine whether the bear remains belonged to brown bears or polar bears, with the hope of providing new insights into prehistoric Ireland’s bear populations prior to their extinction during the Bronze Age.

Professor Graeme Warren,School of Archaeology, University College Dublin said:

“These exciting results show the real value in going back to key sites with new analytical techniques – which can change the stories we tell about our past”

Click on this link to access, No sacred cows: ZooMS identification of the Late Mesolithic bone assemblage at Ferriter’s Cove, Co. Kerry, Ireland, published in PAST.