Ice age comes to Fermanagh's Marble Arch Caves

Visitors to the Marble Arch Caves European Geopark on July 8 and 9, will be able to experience what life was like in the Ice Age.

The Ice Age Experience is a free of charge family event, designed for both adults and children to enable them to learn about life in the last Ice Age, and to see how scientists can discover so much information on the era.

Visitors will be able to imagine a world covered by huge rivers of ice, where the frozen ground beneath their feet never thaws and there are tribes of people hunting enormous mammals with stone-pointed spears.

A number of activities will take place for the Ice Age Experience at Marble Arch Caves, which will bring the Ice Age experience alive for everyone who visits.

Activities will include ‘Digging in the Glacial Mud’ to decipher where the glaciers travelled from; examining samples of Ice Age beasts from the Ulster Museum; and ‘flint knapping’ which shows how tools were made out of flint by our prehistoric ancestors.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to have a go at cave painting, making their own paint out of natural minerals and materials such as ochre and charcoal.

The Ice Age Experience will also feature ‘Pollen Power’ and ‘Bug Detective’ activities, where samples of beetle, midges and pollen spores can be examined with the aid of microscopes, which have been provided by Queen’s University Belfast.

The Ice Age Experience is free of charge, and no booking is required.

Activities take place between 10.00am and 5.00pm on July 8 and 9.

For further information, contact Marble Arch Caves European Geopark on 028 6634 8855.

(EF/SP)