The Fourth Meeting of the International Association for Quaternary Research (INQUA) was held in Rome and Pisa from 30 August to 10 September 1953. It was attended by some 300 students of the various aspects of the Quaternary.

The papers fell naturally into two main groups, those dealing with the archaeological aspect of the period and those dealing with the stratigraphy of the Quaternary in its broadest sense.

Little time was given to the study of modern glaciers, but several important papers were read on the divisions of the glacial period and the problems of correlation between widely separated areas. This was particularly evident in the discussions on the correlation of the various episodes of the last (4th) glacial.

During the congress numerous whole and half-day excursions were arranged. These either visited the famous Upper Palaeolithic sites of Italy or were planned to show the members the stratigraphy of the sites upon which the boundary between the Pliocene and Pleistocene was drawn at the top of the Plaisancian-Astian and base of the Calabrian-Villafranchien.