Evidence from Lincolnshire of the age and intensity of the mid-Devensian temperate episode

Abstract

THE study of fossil beetles from several sites has indicated a period of temperate climate in the middle of the Devensian (Weichselian)1. Upton Warren (Worcestershire), dated at about 42,000 yr BP, yielded an assemblage composed, in part, of thermophilous beetles2. At Four Ashes (Staffordshire) deposits of the same age which contain warm species overlie Devensian silts of arctic aspect3. A further warm fauna of this age has been investigated from Isleworth, Middlesex (personal communication from G. R. Coope). New faunal and 14C evidence from this critical period of mid-glacial climatic change is currently being investigated from Tattershall Castle Pit, Lincolnshire (map ref. TF570210). © 1974 Nature Publishing Group.