Historical developments of palaeolimnology study abroad as well as in China are reviewed. Two aspects in international palaeolimnology studies were expatiated. The author summarizes the progress of palaeolimnology study since 1950s. To make further progress in palaeolimnology studies, it was also suggested to make efforts in the basic study of lacustrine indexes, improve time-scale resolution, consider human impact on lake environment, carry out the study of water-sediment interface and establish regional archives for environment change and correlate them with global records