The Irish quaternary fauna project

Abstract

Much of Ireland's Pleistocene and Early Holocene mammalian faunas are derived from a series of late 19th/early 20th century cave excavations. In many instances it would appear that the deposits containing these faunal remains were disturbed. This project assessed the chronological range of the mammalian species present in the caves using 14C dating, in particular accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). The research has shown that (1) a wide range of mammals colonised Ireland in the period between at least 45 ka and 20 ka, with some elements surviving until close to the Last Glacial Maximum; (2) a more restricted range of species re-colonised Ireland during the Lateglacial period, with evidence for a slightly more temperature fauna being replaced by an Arctic fauna at about 11 ka; (3) certain elements of Ireland's Holocene fauna may have survived through from the Lateglacial into the Holocene; (4) there is a lack of evidence for red deer, Cervus elaphus, being present in the Early Holocene in Ireland; and (5) horse is only documented in the Irish Holocene from 4 ka. The paper also discusses the implications of the Quaternary Fauna Project for the Late Pleistocene of Ireland, the mechanism and period of colonisation of Ireland as well as the introduction of domesticates in the Mid Holocene.