INQUA Congress 2019: The Quaternary of the Isles of Scilly

Date: 1st – 5th August 2019
Leader: James Scourse
Contact email: j.scourse@exeter.ac.uk
Guide price: (includes accommodation, transport, all meals and transport from Exeter airport)
£845.24 single accommodation; £759.64 shared accommodation
Link for further information and booking not yet open

The Isles of Scilly have been recognised as a classic Pleistocene locality for some 50 years following a seminal paper by Frank Mitchell and Tony Orme who mapped a clear ice limit across the archipelago. The excursion will review the stratigraphic and morphological evidence for this ice limit and review the application of combined dating methods recently used to constrain its age within the context of the BRITICE-CHRONO project. Sequences of glacial, periglacial, littoral, aeolian and full glacial organic sediments will be examined in open coastal cliff sections. Scilly is also exceptional archaeologically, described as the “Isles of the Dead” based on the profusion of burial structures, and the excursion will visit Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age and some more recent sites in the context of changing Holocene palaeoenvironments and relative sea level. The wealth of Quaternary geological and archaeological sites alongside great natural beauty – stunning beaches, crystal clear sea, benevolent climate with sub-tropical gardens – make Scilly a beguiling and enchanting place to visit for Quaternarists and accompanying participants alike. Please note that transport will be on foot on all days and will involve quite long treks over sometimes rough terrain; transport to off islands will be by boat taxi.