Ice-free conditions in Sweden during Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 3?

Published and unpublished 14C dates for Sweden older than the Last Glacial Maximum ice advance were evaluated. Acceptable 14C dates indicate that age ranges for interstadial organic material in northern and central Sweden are between c. 60 and c. 35 cal. kyr BP and for similar deposits in southern Sweden are between c. 40 and c. 25 cal. kyr BP, which is in good agreement with recently derived Optical Stimulated Luminescence ages. 14C dates on mammoth remains show a larger scatter, possibly as a result of incomplete laboratory pretreatment. A possible scenario based on calibrated 14C dates from interstadial deposits is that central and northern Sweden was ice-free during the early and middle part of Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 3 and that southern Sweden remained ice-free until c. 25 cal. kyr BP. A first ice advance into northern and central Sweden might have occurred as late as around 35 cal. kyr BP, more or less coeval with the Last Glacial Maximum ice advance onto the Norwegian shelf. To test the conclusions drawn here, new multi-proxy and high-resolution investigations of several key sites in north, central and south Sweden are required.