The Late Pleistocene glacial remains of the Apennines are still poorly dated since behind the moraines only rarely did lakes form and organic substances, at high altitudes, were scarce; therefore fine sediments datable with the 14C method are very rare. In the period from 16,000 to 10,000 years ago, furthermore, various explosive volcanic eruptions occurred, of which the products were found in Central and Southern Italy, and a deposition of a Soess formed mainly of quartz took place. The discovery, on the Mt. Matese, of this loess and of three levels of tephra in the depressions behind the moraines, allowed for the definition of six phases of retreat of the glaciers. Four phases testified by moraines produced by valley glaciers and two phases testified by moraines formed by cirque glaciers were identified; the first four are older than 15,000 yr BP, while the other two could be datable to ca. 14,000 and 13,000 yr BP. Some cryoturbation phenomena, which involved the products of reworking of the most recent of the tephras taken into consideration, could date back to the Younger Dryas.

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