The non-maar vents at Espenberg appear to be over 500,000 years old, given that they are covered with vegetation and the lavas shattered by frost, and are probably older than the maars. The Espenberg maars were originally considered to be of Holocene age, but research has shown that the latest eruptions occurred during the Pleistocene. Various dating methods have been used to determine the ages of the Espenberg maars: