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A long cold climatic spell prevailed until about 9,000 years ago, and most of Ireland was covered with ice. This era was known as the [[Ice Age]]. Sea-levels were lower then, and Ireland, as with its neighbour Britain, instead of being islands, were part of a greater continental Europe. [[Mesolithic]] [[stone age]] inhabitants arrived some time after 8000 BC. Agriculture arrived with the [[Neolithic]] circa 4000 to 4500 BC where sheep, goats, cattle and cereals were imported from southwest continental Europe. At the Céide Fields in County Mayo, an extensive Neolithic field system - arguably the oldest in the world - has been preserved beneath a blanket of peat. Consisting of small fields separated from one another by dry-stone walls, the Céide Fields were farmed for several centuries between 3500 and 3000 BC. Wheat and barley were the principal crops cultivated.{{fact}}
The [[Bronze Age]], which began around 2500 [[Anno Domini|BC]], saw the production of elaborate gold along with bronze ornaments, weapons and tools. The [[Iron Age]] in Ireland was supposedly associated with people known as [[Celts]]. They are traditionally thought to have colonised Ireland in a series of waves between the 8th and 1st centuries BC, with the [[Gaels|Gael]], the last wave of Celts, conquering the island and dividing it into five or more kingdoms. Many scientists
emphasises cultural diffusion from overseas over significant colonisation such as
what [[Clonycavan Man]] was reported to be.
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