A series of loams in north Kent, ranging in date from earliest Late Glacial times to the middle of the Sub-boreal period, and their contained molluscan and archaeological evidences

Abstract

The loams, forming the source of the results recorded below, range in date from earliest Late Glacial times to the middle part of the Sub-boreal period. These loams are to be divided, on the basis of colour, into seven distinct groups. The molluscan fauna contained in the loams show an absence of both marsh and freshwater species. Contrary to the generally accepted view the shells Helicella striata (Muller) and Helicella geyeri (Soos)-both now extinct in this country-continued to flourish in north Kent well into the post-glacial climatic optimum. This optimum reached its apogee in Atlantic/Sub-boreal times. Before this occurred these two species had ceased to occupy the neighbourhood in question. Reference has been made previously to the relative distribution, in certain deposits, of Hel. striata and Hel. geyeri, on the one hand, and of Hygromia hispida (Muller) on the other (Burchell, 1971).