Ennis bones solve the riddle of the deer

ANCIENT DNA from red deer bones from caves on the outskirts of Ennis is being used to establish that Kerry red deer are direct descendants from the native species present in Ireland 5,000 years ago.
Researchers from the National Museum of Ireland have successfully extracted ancient DNA from two different red deer bones from small caves at Edenvale, Ennis, which were originally excavated about 100 years ago.
Dr Ruth Carden, research associate, zoology/animal osteology at the National Museum of Ireland, has confirmed the Ennis deer dated back to the early Bronze Age and late Bronze Age-Iron Age.
“The late Bronze Age/Iron Age period genetic signature matched with some of the modern Kerry red deer samples.
“The Kerry red deer represent a unique population within an Irish context and therefore should be given special conservation and management status within Ireland,” she said.
The caves in Clare that produced bones of red deer as well as other Irish mammals were excavated about 100 years ago.
Six specialists, RF Scharff, RJ Ussher, GAJ Cole, ET Newton, AF Dixon and TJ Westropp, as well as two men employed for the heavy labour, were involved in the Ennis dig on land owned by Mrs Stacpoole.
According to a report published in 1906, the specialists were able to identify the various species of animal and guess at how old they might be.
In the 1990s, funding from The Heritage Council allowed the National Museum to radiocarbon date bones and establish accurately the sequence of late ice age animals.
The latest work on red deer is based on examination of DNA in these remains.
Natural History Division keeper, Nigel T Monaghan ,explained the value of the 1906 excavations lie in the fact that they still have the notebooks detailing the animal bone finds.
“We also have the bones in the museum collections. This allows us to build on the simple science of 1906 over a century later and apply the latest techniques to unravel the story of Ireland’s native fauna in some detail,” he said.
The origin of most of Irish animals is uncertain and one of the most iconic species, the red deer, is most controversial – is this species native or introduced?
A multinational team of researchers from Ireland, Austria, the UK and USA will answer the age-old question of whether red deer is a native species or introduced in a new study that will be published online this Friday in the scientific journal Quaternary Science Reviews.
By comparing DNA from ancient bone specimens to DNA obtained from modern animals, the researchers discovered that Kerry red deer are the direct descendants of deer present in Ireland 5000 years ago.
Further analysis using DNA from European deer proves that ancient Neolithic people from Britain brought the red deer to Ireland. Although proving the red deer is not native to Ireland, researchers believe that the unique Kerry red deer population in Ireland are worthy of special conservation status.
Fossil bone samples from the National Museum of Ireland, some up to 30,000 years old, were used in the study.
Results also revealed several 19th and 20th century introductions of red deer to Ireland, which are in agreement with written records from the same time. At present there is no evidence of red deer in Ireland during the Mesolithic period, 9000 years ago, when humans first settled in Ireland.
The investigation’s findings are in agreement with archaeological evidence, which also suggests a special relationship between humans and red deer during prehistoric times. Antler fragments and tools are frequently found in Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age excavations.