Pollen Grain Study Yields New Picture Of Ice Age

Sweden

According to a new doctoral dissertation at Stockholm University in Sweden, based on analyses of deposits of pollen grains, it is possible that all of Sweden was virtually free of ice for long periods during the latest ice age. The findings show that the glaciation might have started some 20,000 later than was previously assumed.

Martina Hättestrand’s hypothesis, on the other hand, is that Sweden may have largely been ice-free between 59,000 and 40,000 years ago.

One must wonder if man wandered thru that area during that time.

Just as important, one might wonder, just how much does our esteemed scientific community actually 'know' and how much is their own 'learned' conjecture.

I suspect that, generally speaking, a lot of what we have been told about prehistory needs to be scrutinized more closely.

reply to post by Maxmars

Just as important, one might wonder, just how much does our esteemed scientific community actually 'know' and how much is their own 'learned' conjecture.

Hans: Hmmm they seem to know a lot and they learn more every day - this little tool called the Internet is a result of the scientific community actually knowing something!

I suspect that, generally speaking, a lot of what we have been told about prehistory needs to be scrutinized more closely.

Hans: Don't you really mean that you were told to think this by fringe writers? The pseudo historians usually make this charge to make their own ideas seem more believable. Does science know everything? Nope. Are they continuing to gather more data - yep.

[edit on 31/12/08 by Hanslune]

Here is the thesis itself (in English - you can get the Swedish version at this site too)

thesis

Actually it has been long recognized that the size and extent of
ice sheets were neither constant nor permanent during any glacial
period, including the Weichselian, which is defined in Europe as
extending from 114,000 to 11,700 BP. In Scandinavia, the problem
is in determining the actual timing and extent of the growth and
shrinkage of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet because the last glacial
advance during the Last Glacial Maximum (Late Weichselian) either
eroded or buried the sediments deposited during older periods of
glacial advances and retreats. As a result, much of the Weichselian
history remains poorly constrained and the subject of various
interpretations and speculation. This is summarized in:

Mangerud, J., J. Ehlers, and P. Gibbard, 2004, Quaternary
Glaciations : Extent and Chronology 1: Part I Europe. Elsevier,
Amsterdam. ISBN 0-444-51462-7

From a thread on the Hall of Ma'at by Paul H


Hall of Ma'at

reply to post by Hanslune


If it was free of ice and warm enough for vegetation to thrive, I would expect the area would have humans living there. It would be interesting to find out what the temperatures were during the time. Thank you for the find.

reply to post by kidflash2008


Its probably in the study as the plant pollen shows which types of trees and plants were in the area at the time. Plants usually have a rigid temperature range they can survive at.

Well reading the study - a slow go as its written in what I like to call 'experts language', steppe like vegetation and boreal forests alternating with birch based upland vegetation and steppe like tundra.

Good study, if men did make it there, the ice would have forced them out but they could have lived there during the 'breaks'. I'll check for stone tool finds in that area. At present I don't think there are any.

Added

Ah the earliest stone tools go back around 10,000 BP - compared to England that has them going back to 700,000 years.

[edit on 1/1/09 by Hanslune]