Irish 'Kerry Cow' Bones Identified as Bear and Wild Boar, Challenging Farming Theory

For over 30 years, animal bones unearthed at Ferriter's Cove in Ireland were considered key evidence of early farming on the island. These remains, informally known as the “Kerry cow” bones, were thought to be cattle and suggested contact between Ireland's hunter-gatherer communities and Neolithic farming societies elsewhere in Europe.

However, recent research by University College Dublin and University College Cork has overturned this long-standing interpretation. Using a modern technique called Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS), scientists analyzed proteins in the ancient bone collagen. This method allowed for precise species identification, even from fragmented remains.

The analysis revealed that the bones were not from cattle but from a bear and a wild boar. This discovery removes a critical piece of evidence supporting the theory of early domestic animal arrival in Ireland. The findings underscore how advanced scientific methods can revise our understanding of archaeological discoveries made decades ago.