Climate change and hunter gatherers in Ireland: problems, potentials and pressing research questions

This paper reviews evidence for the potential impact of climate change on the earliest human settlement of Ireland, primarily within the Mesolithic period. Three key areas are examined: the broad correlation between climate change and the timing of the settlement of Ireland; the impact of climatically driven sea level change; and, finally the influence of key Holocene climate ‘events’ such as the 8.2 cal BP Event. Ireland should be well-placed to contribute to debates about the impact of climate change on prehistoric hunter-gatherers, but much of our data is insufficiently precise to understand this in detail.