Towards an ‘absolute’ timing of biostratigraphic and environmental phases from the Saalian late glacial to the Weichselian pleniglacial in central Europe—Insights from a lacustrine succession in Lichtenberg, northern Germany

Palynological records are central to the biostratigraphic subdivision of the Late Pleistocene in central Europe. Yet many interglacial and interstadial phases—such as the Eemian, Brörup and Odderade—remain only poorly constrained in time due to limited numerical dating. This lack of robust chronologies hampers efforts to assess the synchronicity of climatic and ecological transitions across regions and to contextualise human occupations during this period. Here, we present a 21-m-long, high-resolution lacustrine sediment succession from northern Germany that spans the Saalian late glacial (late Marine Isotope Stage—MIS 6) to the Weichselian pleniglacial (MIS 4 to MIS 2). Using a multi-proxy approach combining palynology (partially automated), sedimentology, geochemistry, magnetic susceptibility and microfossil-based reconstructions, we develop a detailed palaeoenvironmental reconstruction for this period. This is supported by 25 luminescence samples incorporated into a previously published Bayesian age–depth model, thus offering one of the most continuous and well-resolved chronologies for this interval in the region. According to our findings, the Saalian late glacial pollen zones B and C occurred between ∼133–132 ka and ∼132–129 ka, respectively. The Eemian interglacial lasted ∼21 500 years (∼128.8–107.3 ka), significantly longer than previously estimated at the key reference site of Bispingen (∼15 000 years). The Brörup and Odderade interstadials are constrained to ∼100–88.2 and ∼77–72 ka, while three newly identified, short-lived interstadials (WP Li Os I–III) occurred during MIS 4 and MIS 2 (∼69, 61 and 25 ka). These findings reveal hydrological and ecological responses that were partly asynchronous with both North Atlantic climate signals and biostratigraphic zonation, suggesting regional lags in vegetation change and/or uncertainties in the age–depth model. By providing a high-resolution, and independently dated palaeoenvironmental framework, this study improves the chronological constraints of central European pollen zones and thus offers a new basis for archaeological interpretations of Neanderthal activity. Our results call for re-evaluation of assumed synchrony in climate–ecosystem transitions across Europe during the last interglacial/glacial cycle and underscore the need for further high-resolution, numerically anchored records across the region.