During the Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age) period, much of Ireland was covered by ice sheets.
No clear evidence has yet emerged to demonstrate the presence of humankind in Ireland during the Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age) period, a time during which much of Ireland was covered by ice sheets. A flint flake from gravel deposits at Mell, near Drogheda, Co. Louth, is the earliest known artefact found in Ireland. Fashioned elsewhere, perhaps between 300,000 and 400,000 BC, it was deposited subsequently by an ice sheet near the Irish coast. From around 12000 BC, the ice sheets melted and woodlands developed, providing a habitat for wildlife that migrated to Ireland via land bridges from Britain and mainland Europe. By around 7000 BC, the earliest Irish settlers were hunting animals, especially wild pigs, gathering wild plants and shellfish, and fishing in lakes, rivers and the sea.
In addition to the flint flake found in the quarry, a 2013 Geological Survey Report was completed on the Quarry, which provides interesting information on the nature of the 340 million rock and geology of the site.
Source: Museum.ie
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