The Mülheim–Kärlich clay pit (Kärlich hereinafter) is located along the Middle Rhine Valley (MRV), about 10 km north-westward of the city of Koblenz (Fig. 1a). Owing to its > 30 m thick Quaternary sequence (Fig. 1b), it perhaps represents the most significant sedimentary profile along this entire valley reach. The sequence provides key information on long-term landscape evolution in the MRV, including successive fluvial aggradation phases related to the so-called main terraces of the Rhine and the Moselle (e.g. Boenigk and Frechen, 2006, 1998), and is also relevant for its archaeological and palaeoenvironmental record (e.g. Gaudzinski et al., 1996).