[Menydh]

Originally Posted by Visigodo

"In the case of the Irish, it seems to us unsafe to conclude that because they are tall and have big heads, they are necessarily derived in large measure from putative Mesolithic settlers of "Upper Palaelithic" types. In the first place we have no skeletal remains that can be attributed with certainly to these Mesolithic settlers and consequently we do not know that they were of the "Brünn" and the "Borreby" types. In the second place there is no evidence of a Mesolithic culture in Kerry and Cork, or anywhere in western Ireland, where Dr. Coon identifies living types as particulary little modified "Palaeolithic survivors".

"Excavations at Ferriter's Cove, near Ballyferriter, have revealed evidence of the first settlers, who were hunters and gathers, exploiting the food sources along the coast, and also using locally-found hard stones to make tools. This site was inhabited during what is known as the Mesolithic Period (8000-4000BC). This was a temporary settlement, for seasonal use. It has produced a wide range of food such as hazel nuts, red deer, pig, hare, birds (including the guillemot and gannet). There were 14 different species of fish identified, among them wrasse, conger eel, thornback ray, tope and haddock. The remains of several species of shellfish can still be seen in the sand dunes of the area, where they were deposited 6,000 years ago. One of the most important finds were some cow bones, dating to 5700 BP (Before Present), making them the earliest evidence for cattle in Ireland."

Dingle Peninsula, Kerry

There is, as I read, more megalithic monuments in Cork than in Kerry.