Mineral magnetic, organic carbon and pollen studies of two varved Holocene lake-sediment sequences in the boreal forest of northern Sweden indicate that signi” cant environmental changes took place between c. 6000 and 5700 bc. This interval is characterized by an increase in mineral-matter accumulation, which is a proxy for winter-snow accumulation, and a statistically signi” cant decrease in total pollen in‘ ux (predominantly Pinus, Betula and Alnus), which may re‘ ect lower spring and summer temperatures and increased frost frequency. Notable increases in the in‘ ux of deciduous tree species (including Quercus and Corylus) suggest a rapid change to warmer conditions between 5700 and 5600 bc. Given dating errors associated with the varve chronologies and the Greenland ice-core timescales, the cold interval can be considered to re‘ ect a regional (possibly global) climatic cooling, which is often referred to as the ‘8.2 kyr BP cooling event’. However, the younger age of the cold event in northern Sweden does not support the hypothesis of forcing by the sudden drainage of Laurentide glacial lakes into the North Atlantic, unless a minimal 300-year delay in ocean-atmospheric coupling is accepted. The data contribute to a complex picture of early-Holocene environmental change, in response to deglaciation of the Northern Hemisphere.
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