UCC archaeologists unravel Ireland’s Iron Age diet

A UCC-led project, the first of its kind of Ireland, has witnessed a team of international archaeologists unearthing evidence of the food people ate in the southeast of Ireland during the Iron Age.

The findings unearthed from excavations, from animal bones to seeds, reveal the food grown and cooked in Ireland over 2000 years ago and have now led to its experimental reconstructions of Iron Age cuisine.

“We have identified evidence of settlement, as well as arable and pastoral agriculture, indicating that communities were thriving in the southeast of Ireland. The apparent lack of archaeological sites dating had previously created mystery around this period,” said Dr Katharina Becker, Lecturer, Archaeology, UCC.