Geosites Project

Abernethy Forest is an outstanding biostratigraphic locality and is particularly important in demonstrating the Lateglacial and Holocene vegetation history of the Strathspey and Cairngorm area. It is especially significant in the context of the development and history of the native Scots pine forest. It has also been studied in greater detail than most other sites in terms of combined pollen and plant-macrofossil analyses. Furthermore, it provides important contrasts with sites further west in Scotland. In a wider context, the Loch Lomond Stadial in Scotland is more pronounced and more intensively recorded biostratigraphically than anywhere else in north-west Europe, and Abernethy Forest contributes significantly to the detail of this record.