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The True Origins of Irish Society
Copyright © 2003 by Desmond Keenan Early ManSummary. Describes early man in Europe during the last Ice Age, and the physical changes which marked the ending of the Ice Age. There are no indications of the presence of man in Ireland in the Palaeolithic Period, but there are of Mesolithic peoples. This culture is described. Questions. of dating and chronology are discussed *********************************************************************** *********************************************************************** Glacial Epoch to 13000 BC
The Ice Ages
This chapter deals with the origin of
man, his spread throughout the world during the last
Ice Age, the distribution of the white race and the repopulating of The Pleistocene, or early Quaternary
period, was marked by frequent and severe oscillations in climate. In the
colder phases or glaciations huge masses of ice covered large parts of the
globe. In the warmer phases the ice caps retreated. The last glaciation ended
abruptly about 15000 years ago. In the succeeding post-glacial period up to the
present there were lesser fluctuations, and for a considerable part of that
time annual temperatures in The icesheets were not a continuous
unbroken mass and their extent varied from glaciation to glaciation, and from
time to time within each glaciation. Icecaps formed first in the mountainous
regions and spread outwards in all directions. There was a great Scandinavian
ice cap that covered much of northern South of these icesheets were cold
grasslands and scrublands, which supported the mammoth, the bison, the
antelope, and other animals which were hunted by the contemporary humans. Earliest Man
It is not necessary to describe the
ancestors of man in the course of the Ice Ages before the arrival of modern Homo Sapiens.
Those inhabiting End of Ice Age; Cave Art
Homo
Sapiens split off from
the parent stock perhaps about the same time as the Neanderthal line about half
a million years ago, but as it seems not to have used flint tools we know
little of its history. They probably were not very numerous, and confined to The humans in all these cultures
belonged to the modern Homo Sapiens; what happened to the Neanderthals we do not
know. All palaeontologists are agreed that there is only one human race at
present and the different varieties, the Caucasoids, Negroids, Mongoloids,
Bushmen, Australian aborigines, etc. all belong to the same stock and are all
classified as Homo Sapiens. The
Caucasoids are distinguished by their fair skin and wavy hair, the Negroids by
dark skin and curly hair, and the Mongoloids by straight hair and olive, yellow
or bronze skins. All the people in The Caucasoids themselves were
distributed from the Though farming originated among the
peoples in the
When they try to find out about the
peoples and their way of life archaeologists use not only artefacts which
survived but also the results of other disciplines. Modern archaeology is
linked to many other fields. For example, to establish a chronology
archaeologists often use techniques developed by researchers in other
disciplines: radiocarbon dating, developed by atomic physicists;
geological-dating procedures, developed by geologists; and techniques for
evaluating fauna, developed by palaeontologists. Even by examining a piece of
pottery an archaeologist can deduce many things about the person or society who
made it, how technologically advanced they were, what artistic values they had,
what contacts with other peoples, or what uses they put the artefact. Studying
other present day peoples like tribes in These later Palaeolithic peoples and
cultures are marked not only by their distinct skeletal remains, but also by
their characteristic forms of stone tools. There was a sudden and surprising
flowering of art of a quality not to be matched for thousands of years. It
would seem that clothing was developed in this period as well. The Magdalenians
had barbed harpoons and spear throwers, two new additions to the toolkit. It
would seem they had a well-developed system of speech. But far from speaking a
common language, judging by what was found in Australia, there were innumerable
languages, each probably spoken by no more than 500 people. They lived in small
scattered groups of 20 0r 30 individuals, or in cases
as few as half a dozen. Different groups would meet at particular times for
festivals or jamborees, and for the celebration of marriage, for all had to
marry outside their own group (Hawkes and Woolley 119ff). Population density in
the hunting-gathering cultures was very low, and the total world population
probably did not exceed several million. They buried their dead, or otherwise
disposed of the corpses in a ritual manner. Dating
and Chronology
Experts are now agreed on the principles of dating. In earlier times attempts were made to date everything with reference to dates in the Bible, which provides an quite accurate chronology though slightly incomplete back to about 1000BC. Geologists by the beginning of the nineteenth century were beginning to point out that much longer timescales had to be contemplated. Archaeologists too realised that dates in the Bible before 1000 BC were not reliable. Because of an abundance of widely traded
pottery in the The
fact that pottery was traded meant that typically Egyptian pottery could be
found in Just
after the end of the war, archaeologists began to apply a new technique called
carbon 14 dating based on the rate of decay of a radioactive isotope of carbon 14, using the fact that radioactivity decays at constant
rates. A growing substance accumulates carbon 14 while it is alive, but not
after it dies. Thereafter the radioactivity decays at a constant rate. Therefore,
if the layers contained vegetable matter like pieces of wood, it was possible
to determine with some accuracy how long before the present the piece of wood
was in use. Though the figures were often inaccurate by a couple of hundred
years, it was possible to make large corrections, especially in northern and
western The
third great method of dating was developed in the south-western The
further back we go the greater the margin for inaccuracy, and techniques for dating are being improved all the
time. Nevertheless we can be confident that we have reasonably accurate dating
for most archaeological sites.
[Top] Post-glacial from 13000 BCRetreat
of Ice 13000 to 10000 BC
Physical Consequences Nobody has ever
been able to explain what causes the alterations in climate that has caused the
earth over the past million years or so alternately to warm up and cool down.
But once a period of warming starts the ice retreats fairly quickly. What was
built up over 20000 or 30000 years could virtually disappear within a few
thousand years. About 13000 BC the most recent warming commenced and rose to its
highest peak in modern times about 5000 BC, by which time the icesheets had
virtually disappeared from The
level of the sea at the end of the Ice Age was probably 130 meters below the
present level. About 3000 BC it rose considerably above its present level,
giving rise to raised beaches along the coast. As the rise in the water was
more rapid than the rise in the land, when the earth recovered its shape after
the removal of the ice the old beaches were raised above sea-level Formation
of soil Probably the most important consequence of the glaciations and
meltings was the formation of soils, most of which were fertile for plant life,
and which then were able to support animal and human life. The action of the
ice also produced those well-known features of the Irish landscape, drumlins
and eskers. The latter were long ridges of gravel and had their use in providing
dry and open pathways across the country. But the formation of the soil was the
most important effect. The weight of the ice crushed, ground, and transported
rock. This was laid down as barren glacial drift that covers much of But
as the ice cover was removed the upper layers of the soil were exposed for
thousands of years to the action of frost, and rain and wind. A moist powdery
surface was formed which was colonised by plants, Arctic plants at first, then
grasses, and trees whose seeds were scattered by the winds. Return
of the forests As the ice retreated to the north the landscape at
first resembled the tundra of northern The
great animals that had been hunted during the Ice Ages disappeared and ponies,
cattle, pigs, sheep, deer, and the smaller mammals took their place. These wild
animals were much smaller than their modern domesticated counterparts that are
the result of selective breeding Mesolithic
Period 10000 to 4500 BC
Climatic Periods Climate in Climatologists
distinguish the following periods between 10000 BC and about 400 AD, Dryas,
Pre-Boreal, Boreal, Atlantic, Sub-Boreal, and Sub-Atlantic. After
300 or 400 AD, though with much less certainty they identify a colder period
from 400 AD to 1000 AD. Some then identify a rise in temperature from c
1000 AD to 1350 AD, followed by a fall until 1740, the so-called 'Little Ice
Age', and a rise between 1740 and 1940. Others identify an earlier medieval rise
in temperatures and a minor climatic optimum in the It
is estimated that average temperatures in The
effects in modern times were so slight that the only historical event that
could plausibly have been affected by them was the expansion of the Vikings. By
the later Middle Ages advances in technology were sufficient to overcome any
adverse effects. The rise or fall of 1 degree in average temperatures would not
be noticed. But even a brief succession of cold or hot or wet or dry years
could produce a series of bad harvests that could have marked political effect.
The Land League for example in the 1880s might not have had much effect had it
not been preceded by a series of bad harvests. Dryas This refers to the earliest post-glacial period when vegetation was beginning
to spread. It gets its name from a characteristic Arctic plant. It extended
from approximately 12000 BC to approximately 8000 BC. It was divided into Older
Dryas, an intervening cold snap, and the Younger Dryas. The dating is very
inaccurate especially for Pre-boreal The resumption of the growth of trees marks the
Pre-boreal period. The birch
reappeared, willow, juniper, birch and hazel. The pine that together with birch
and hazel dominated the landscape followed these. Oak, elm, yew, ash, and alder
were also present in small numbers. Peat bogs began to appear. (Bellamy, loc. cit., Mitchell 63ff) Boreal The Boreal and Atlantic periods are named from the
prevailing wind systems and associated weather patterns. There was probably
some connection with the oscillating phases of temperature, but the link is
obscure. The terms were originally used to describe climatic periods in The
Boreal period was also the period of the 'climatic optimum'. The forests of
pine, birch, and hazel gave way to forests of oak, and elm but without totally
the latter displacing the former species. The forests were filled with small
animals, and the rivers with fish. It was during this time that man first came
to
Sub-Boreal
and Sub-Atlantic.
Of the Sub-boreal and Sub-Atlantic there is little
to be added as they were repeats of the former period with the difference that
average temperatures were somewhat lower than in the earlier periods. The
Sub-boreal period coincided with the peak of cultural development in the
prehistoric period. It was the period of the full development of the Neolithic
and megalithic cultures, and the Bronze Age in Ireland. It was when the great
passage grave mounds were built. (It was also the period of Stonehenge in
England and the great pyramids of Egypt.) The Sub-Atlantic period coincides
roughly with the Iron Age in Ireland and the period of the 'Celtic invasions'.
It is the most obscure period in the whole of Irish history. The grasslands
which had been developed and cultivated by the farmers in the preceding period
were swept away and the forests closed in again. Bogs again grew rapidly Mesolithic
Cultures
SouthWest Asia The term Mesolithic is used to describe the
culture of the hunter-gatherers in the post-glacial period. In many ways it was
a continuation of the old Palaeolithic culture. The characteristic markers of
the period are the microliths. These are flint tools
composed of small sharpened flints mounted in wood or bone to form tools with
composite blades. Among these were arrows and flint sickles. The bow and arrow
had just been invented. The sickle showed that the grains of the wild cereal
plants were being gathered. The dog was the only domesticated animal. The
Mesolithic period was short in South West Asia where the farming and other
techniques like the manufacture of pottery of the Neolithic period soon
developed. But the phase lasted several thousand years in parts of north western Europe, and it is to these latter that the term
Mesolithic is normally applied. Mesolithic cultures in
Western Europe The
Mesolithic culture in north west Europe is usually
called the Maglemosian after a site in Denmark. This culture extended from
Ireland to Russia. The people possessed the microlithic
tools and used wood, stone, antler, and bone artefacts. They had dugout canoes.
They hunted game in the forests, and fished in the rivers and lakes beside
which they preferred to make their habitation. The owned
dogs. They invented an axe
capable of felling trees and making dugout canoes. They made nets, hooks, and
all kinds of fishing gear. At a later stage in Denmark the Ertbølle culture was
distinguished by the enormous middens of shells from
shellfish they left behind them. The ever increasing density of the forests
compelled them to live on seashores and the margins of the forests. The
Maglemosians made their way across the land bridge where the southern North Sea
now is. A classical Maglemosian site has been excavated at Starr Carr in
Yorkshire, and a midden culture was discovered at
Oban in Scotland. The Mesolithic peoples began the process of deforestation,
not by clearing sites with axes but by the use of fire. They did not herd
animals, but deer and other wild animals would have been attracted to the fresh
grass that would spring up on a stretch of forest burned by fire. Unfortunately
the removal of the trees had the effect on the mountains of causing
water-logging, and this led to the development of blanket bogs. The entire
population of Britain probably did not exceed 1000. At the same time there was
a town covering 10 acres at Jericho in Palestine. Techniques of carpentry were
discovered at this time, and also the technique of spinning thread. This latter
was a prelude to the invention of weaving, but its earliest use was for making
nets and traps. The earliest fibre spun was from nettles. The manufacture of
boats dates from the Mesolithic period. Both fire and flint axes were used for
the purpose. The Australian aborigines and the South African Bushmen retained
the Mesolithic way of life until the coming of the Europeans. Mesolithic Settlers in
Ireland Ireland was still connected with
Scotland and northern England when the first men arrived in Ireland. This was
between 7000 BC and 6500 BC and coincides with the onset of the warmer Boreal period.
A site at Mount Sandel near Coleraine, Co. Londonderry,
is the earliest recorded. They made tools from flints that were found in a rare
chalk outcrop in Ireland. Unlike in southern England and northern France chalk
deposits with flints are rare in Ireland. This fact too led to the development
of trading, for tools made of chert were found there. Flint is a nearly pure silica. Chert is also composed of silica, but
is more coarse-grained, is not so good, but is found more widely distributed.
Flint, chert, and the rare volcanic glass obsidian, could be shaped by
chipping. Granites and schists, though equally hard,
could not, and the techniques of grinding had not yet been discovered. A group
of about a dozen people probably occupied the site for most of the year. Mesolithic
settlement are largely associated with the north of
Ireland, but sites have been found as far south as county Offaly, and even in
Munster (Harbison 16ff). A site at Newferry on the Bann seems to have been
occupied seasonally to catch eels. This was occupied at a much later period and
was in existence when the Neolithic settlers arrived. Another site was excavated
at Larne, county Antrim, and at one time they were called Larnian people. The
people at this site specialised in the manufacture of flint tools. Some
consider, on the basis of the style of the tools, that they were a different
group of settlers from Britain. The Mesolithic people were the sole occupiers
of Ireland for over 2500 years. It is impossible, from lack of evidence, to say
if occupation was continuous during that period. Languages, religion, and
social organisation The social organisation was undoubtedly
unchanged from that of their ancestors in the late glacial period as described
above. We have no idea what language or languages they spoke, or whether there
was only one language in the British Isles. Whether there was more than one
language spoken in Ireland would depend on whether more than one linguistic
group colonised Britain. As Britain was attached to the Continent all the way
from Denmark to Brittany the chances are that more than one linguistic group
entered. There is only one non-Indo-European language in western
Europe, namely, Basque, and some claim it was more widely spoken than it is at
present. But there is no indication that it was spoken in northern Europe. With
regard to religious beliefs and practices we can hazard that they differed
little from those of the preceding period. The question whether any of their
descendants remain in Ireland to the present day will be discussed under the
Neolithic Period.
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright Desmond J. Keenan, B.S.Sc.; Ph.D. ;.London, U.K.
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