The Mesolithic in Ireland (The Hunter/Gatherer)

Mesolithic domestic scene

“Prehistory” is a general title given to a period of time before written records were kept or before writing was adopted. There are three large segments of time into which Prehistory is divided, The Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age. Each of these ages is further subdivided and with respect to the Stone Age those subdivisions are the Palaeolithic (old stone), the Mesolithic (middle stone), and the Neolithic (new stone). (Brindley, Irish Prehistory 1994: 5) We will concentrate on the Mesolithic period ca 9,000 to 5,500 years ago and the inhabitants of Ireland at this time.

The last Ice Age started receding about 20,000 years ago when Ireland was virtually completely covered in glaciers and ice sheets. At 15,000 years ago the southern part of Ireland was virtually free from ice, while Ulster still remained under ice. At this time the melting waters created a large fresh water lake which is now the Irish Sea and a significant land bridge connected South East Ireland to South West England. Then from 13,000 to 11,000 years ago (also known as the Woodgrange Interstadial) plants and animals arrived via the land bridge.

Many theories are put forward about Palaeolithic man arriving in Ireland at this time, during his colonial expansion throughout Europe. However, no evidence has ever been unearthed to prove any of these claims. There was a Palaeolithic hand axe found at Dún Aonghusa, in Co. Galway, but this is widely believed to have been rolled over from England in a glacier during the Nahanagan Stadial, which was the 1000 year cold snap that followed the Woodgrange Interstadial. Proof of any settlers in Ireland which has been excavated thus far is from the Mesolithic period from about 9,000 years ago. The argument of Palaeolithic man reaching Ireland is still open as during the Nahanagan Stadial all parts of Ireland south of the line from Waterford to Tralee were free from ice.

Mesolithic man in Ireland has been described by some archaeologists as having an easy life due to the abundance of food. This gives the impression that all he had to do was stretch out and gorge himself. It can be seen by their diet that Mesolithic man did not have it so easy. They needed to migrate frequently due to seasonal food supply and could not afford the security of large settlements. Metaphorically they were on the hard road.

The Mesolithic Highway photo from Margaret Elphinstone

Mesolithic man was the Hunter/Gatherer. Salmon and eel were trapped at their summer riverside settlements. With winter came the hunt for hare and boar. Spring and autumn saw the lakeside camps arrive to exploit the migrating water fowl. Settlements at the seaside provided limpets, periwinkles, oysters and mussels. They gathered waterlily seeds, wild fruit, and crab apple. They had a particular preference for hazelnuts as they can be stored for winter.

The Mesolithic tool kit

Mesolithic man had rudimentary technology, their tools, constructed of wood, bone, and stone. Their clothes were tailored from animal skins stitched with sinew by bone needles. They relied heavily on string; made from sinew or plant fibre; for manufacturing fishing nets, baskets and traps, for stitching clothes and binding items. As basic and as simple their technology was, their craftsmanship when it came to making blades and axes was exemplary. They made small blades and arrowheads from flint or chert collectively called microliths. These microliths were bound or glued to wooden handles to make knives and spears. They made axeheads from stone. From 6,500 years ago they fashioned larger pieces of flint to be used as axes or hand held cutting tools. These are commonly called Bann Flakes after a discovery in the river Bann. They used forks in trees with flakes attached to make two pronged and even three pronged spears for fishing.

Interpretation of a Mesolithic Hut

The Mesolithic hut was simple but very effective in providing shelter and heat. It was a circular structure about six metres in diameter consisting of wooden struts placed into the ground then bent inward and bound at the centre. A circular hearth was scrapped out of the ground in the centre of the hut for the provision of heat. The outer lining could have been made from reeds or animal hide. There are many conflicting views on what the outer lining was made from but we can assume that it lasted and provided shelter for a decent span of time possibly a generation.

A scan through text books and websites related to prehistory in Ireland and or archaeology in Ireland will tell you that Mesolithic man has left us no relic of his treatment of the dead. Human bone was found at some Mesolithic sites, but no clues as to the formalities or rituals of the Mesolithic funeral. Neolithic man on the other hand has provided us with a wide variety of monuments and tombs dotted all across the land. However, very recent excavations at The Hermitage in Castleconnell, Co. Limerick have unearthed an important and significant cremation and pit burial process. This find corresponds with finds in other areas for example Scandinavia.

A Mesolithic cutting tool

The Hermitage excavation was of an area approximately 4,400 square metres which was sub sectioned into 4 smaller areas. In the first area the archaeologists found a cremation pit circular in shape. In this pit they found a large stone axe which had been resting against a post. The archaeologists think it reasonable to suggest that this post would have projected up from the ground to act as a grave marker. They also found a shallow pit and an area that suggests cremation took place due to the heat reddened clay. It was a place of burning. In the second area to be excavated they found an adze, a stone axe, both flint and chert and the site of three sub circular huts. Quite a number of stake and post holes were also discovered. In the third site they found a “fulacht fiadh” and some roasting pits with heat fractured stone contained. They also found large quantities of flint and chert and a total of 13 stone axe heads. (http://www.aegisarchaeology.com/index.php/Hermitage-Castleconnell.html) Should this site be proven to be a cremation pit it tells us that Mesolithic man in Ireland possessed vast knowledge of the dynamics of fire, the properties of wood, and possibly a bellows system all required to create a temperature of upwards of 600^oC. The temperature required to reduce human bone to ash is in the region of 600^o-1200^oC.

Other Mesolithic settlements have been found at Mount Sandel in Co. Derry, Lough Boora in Co. Offaly, and Ferriter`s Cove in Co. Kerry. Mesolithic man nomadically traversed the Irish landscape until his successor’s embraced farming and settled permanently. Mesolithic man is a hard one to track down as the thousands of years that passed between us have eroded a lot of his legacy.