A team of international researchers has announced the discovery of eight cave sites in south-west Ireland containing rock art that may represent the earliest evidence of human habitation in the country. The findings, part of the Lost Land Bridge Project, push back the timeline of human presence in Ireland by approximately 5,000 years compared to previously documented evidence.
The research was led by Dr George Nash of Liverpool University alongside experts from University College Dublin, the University of Adelaide, and institutions in Wales, Portugal, and Abu Dhabi. The team employed artificial intelligence and digital mapping technology to identify promising cave locations based on known characteristics of similar sites in south Wales. This computational approach led them to investigate 28 potential caves, of which eight showed evidence of ancient human occupation.
During the last Ice Age, lowered sea levels created a land bridge between what is now Pembrokeshire in Wales and the south-east coast of Ireland near Rosslare. This corridor, stretching approximately 46 miles across, would have featured forested and grassland terrain capable of supporting large herbivores such as wild horses, mammoth, bison, and reindeer. According to researchers, the region would have presented an attractive opportunity for hunter-gatherer populations seeking new territories and food sources.
The rock art discovered at these sites includes engravings, ochre and charcoal paintings, and line sketches created with fingertips in clay and earth. Researchers believe the artistic progression visible in these works reflects developments in human creative expression that had occurred over thousands of years in south Wales before populations expanded westward into Ireland.
The team has declined to disclose precise cave locations out of concern for preservation and protection against looting. Researchers suggest that additional sites likely exist in other regions of Ireland, and they plan to continue investigations to extend the known timeline of human settlement even further back.
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
Article summary produced by Claude AI