Résumé
When addressing the nature and origin of loess deposits and the associated environment as deduced from terrestrial mollusc faunas, Vojen Ložek produced a synthetic review of the state of the art at that time (Ložek, 1965a). This synthesis was one among several papers that he published the same year in English about “The loess environment in Central Europe” (Ložek, 1965c) or “Problems of analysis of the Quaternary nonmarine molluscan fauna in Europe” (Ložek, 1965b). It was mainly based on his own experience of investigating terrestrial molluscs in Czechoslovakian Quaternary deposits. In his seminal paper, Ložek addresses key issues, which remain valid and are still relevant nowadays – 56 years later! Ložek noticed the problem “that it is surprising how little attention has been paid to the mollusc fauna, which occurs so frequently in loess that it can rightly be considered one of the main characteristics of this sediment”. Such a key statement still prevails today by comparison with other proxies which appear much more popular. This leads Ložek to conclude that “we still see that this goes far beyond the framework of the loess problem”.