Animal bones, seeds and other food eaten by people in the southeast during the Iron Age have been discovered by archaeologists.
Using the evidence, the team of international experts, led by researchers at UCC, is working to recreate the bread and other dishes which would have been consumed by people some 2,700 years ago.
The culinary evidence was unearthed as a result of excavations during the laying of roads and gas pipelines.
Until now, scientists had struggled to understand why there were no obvious archaeological sites from that period in the region.
But the 'Settlement and Landscape in Later Prehistoric Ireland - Seeing Beyond the Site' project has laid many questions to rest by analysing findings made during the 'Celtic Tiger' period and since.
The team used advanced modelling techniques to identify and date samples of pollen records preserved in lakes and bogs in the southeast of Ireland and work out what grains were being cultivated during the period.
This was made possible by a discovery in a core taken from a lake in the region of material dating back 11,000 years to the end of the last Ice Age.
"We have identified evidence of settlement, as well as arable and pastoral agriculture, indicating that communities were thriving in the southeast of Ireland," said UCC lecturer Dr Katharina Becker in a statement.
"The animal bones and seeds recovered from road and gas pipeline excavations provide direct evidence of farming practises and the diet during the Iron Age, dating as far back as 2,700 years ago.
"Cattle and pigs provided dairy and meat, barley was a staple, and we also have evidence of a variety of wheats, including spelt, emmer and naked wheat."
Dr Ben Gearey said the analysis of lake sediments has allowed archaeologists to identify pollen grains from the plants people were using during prehistory.
The project was supported financially by Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the Heritage Council, and involved experts from Bradford University, Warwick University, UCD and UCC.
The team is now working with a local artisan baker from Cork's Arbutus Bread, as well as experts from the Cork Butter Museum and Cork Public Museum to investigate and recreate how farmers turned raw ingredients into delicious meals during Ireland's Celtic era.
The results of the kitchen experiments will be made public at Cork Public Museum during Heritage Week on 20 August.
