Abstract. In northeastern Siberia, Russia, a 1.2 m sediment core was retrieved and radiocarbon dated from a small and shallow lake located at the western side of the lower Lena River (N 69°24", E 123°50", 81 m a.s.l.). The objective of this paper is to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental variability and to infer major palaeoclimate trends that have occurred since ~13.3 cal. kyr BP. We analysed the diatom assemblages, sedimentology (grain-size, total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN)), and the elemental and mineralogical composition using X-ray !uorescence (XRF) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD) of the sediment core. Our results show parallel changes in the diatom species composition and sediment characteristics. Enhanced minerogenic sediment input and the occurrence of pyrite is indicative of a cold period between ~12.7 and 11.6 cal. kyr BP. The diatom data enable a qualitative inference about the local ecological conditions to be made, and reveal an oligotrophic lake system with alkaline and cold condit