Middle Stone Age Ireland (8000 BC - 4500 BC)
The first people arrived in Ireland over 9000 years ago during the Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic) time. They were hunter-gatherers who:
- hunted wild boar and gathered fruits, nuts and berries in the forests
- fished in the rivers and loughs for salmon, trout and eel
- hunted sea mammals such as seals, collected shellfish, gathered seaweed
- caught birds and collected their eggs
Early Mesolithic (8000 - 6000 BC)
Amongst the collections of the Ulster Museum are the artefacts from the oldest settlement site in Ireland excavated in the 1970s at Mount Sandel, near Coleraine, County Londonderry. During the excavation circular houses, hearths, rubbish and storages pits, and flint-working areas were discovered. These first hunter-gatherers used very distinct stone tools called microliths. Other types of tools included flint and stone axes, picks and borers.
Late Mesolithic (6000 - 4500 BC)
Later, hunter-gatherers did not use microliths. The most common tool of this time is the large leaf-shaped point commonly called ‘Bann flake' or butt-trimmed flake. The museum's collections include material from some of the most important Late Mesolithic sites in Ireland such as the Curran Pointin Larne, Cushendun and Newferry, all in County Antrim.
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