The deglaciation of Finland after 10,000 B. P.

Abstract

Various concepts of the deglaciation of Finland are presented in the form of a historical review. The suggestions of an early (12,000–10,000 B.P) deglaciation of eastern and northern Finland are considered to be erroneous. A map depicting the ice recession as successive ice‐marginal lines is presented. According to radiocarbon dates the Finnish territory was entirely deglaciated slightly after 9000 B. P.

Fennoscandian phylogeography of the common shrew Sorex araneus. Postglacial recolonisation—combining information from chromosomal variation with mitochondrial DNA data

“…Sweden was connected to the Danish island Sjaelland until 8,200 BP, when Öresund strait opened up and terminated the continental connection (Björck 1995). Colonisation from north-east was possible from around 10,000 BP with the beginning of deglaciation of south-west Finland (Ignatius et al 1980). The northern part of Sweden was connected to the southern part about 9,000 BP by an ice-free corridor, permitting secondary contact between northern and southern colonisers (Björck 1995;see Jaarola et al 1999).…”

“…When the ice retreated, virgin land appeared which later was recolonised by flora and fauna residing in areas outside Fennoscandia. Two major colonisation routes emerged, from the south via land bridges and from the northeast through pre-historic Finland (Ignatius et al 1980;Björck 1995).…”