Boreal Period A period in post-glacial (i.e. post-Devensian or Flandrian) times from about 8800–7500 years bp, which preceded the climatic optimum of early Atlantic times (see Atlantic Period). Pollen records (pollen zone) typically show an increasing abundance of thermophilous tree species and also indicate the drier, more continental conditions that characterized the ensuing Atlantic period. The early Boreal corresponds to late Pollen Zone V; otherwise the Boreal is linked with Pollen Zone VI, which is sometimes subdivided to give Zones VIa, VIb, and VIc, according to the most abundant tree pollen represented. For Britain the Boreal Period is significant as the last period in post-glacial times in which Britain was joined to mainland Europe by a land bridge across the Dover Strait.

Boreal Period A period in post-glacial (i.e. post-Devensian or Flandrian) times from about 8800–7500 years BP, which preceded the climatic optimum of early Atlantic times. Pollen records (pollen zone) typically show an increasing abundance of thermophilous tree species and also indicate the drier, more continental conditions that characterized the ensuing Atlantic period. The early Boreal corresponds to late Pollen Zone V; otherwise the Boreal is linked with Pollen Zone VI, which is sometimes subdivided to give Zones VIa, VIb, and VIc, according to the most abundant tree pollen represented. For Britain, the Boreal period is significant as the last period in post-glacial times in which Britain was joined to mainland Europe by a land bridge across the Dover Strait.