This first multi-parametric analysis of the basal ice layer of the NEEM ice core reveals that its formation does not result from a mixing process between local relict ice and the deepest ice layers of the advancing ice sheet during its growth phase. Instead, it is shown that the basal sequence partly originates from melting and refreezing processes acting at the ice/bedrock interface under a well-developed ice sheet. These have partially destroyed the paleoclimatic records of the ice.