Is there a metallicity gradient in the LMC?
  A small but significant radial gradient in the mean periods of LMC RR Lyrae
variables is established from the OGLEIII survey data. This is interpreted as a
metallicity gradient but other possibilities are discussed. Data on the ratio
of photometrically selected C- and M-type AGB stars in the LMC, kindly provided
by M-R. L. Cioni, are reanalysed. Removing the effects of bias leads to
conclusions strikingly different to the original ones. There is a slight
gradient of the C/M ratio in the inner part of the LMC which might be due to a
very small mean metallicity gradient. In the outer part of the LMC the C/M
ratio drops dramatically. The most likely reason for this is that the
proportion of older stars increases in the outer regions. The mean metallicity
of the inner AGB star population estimated from the C/M ratio is lower than for
intermediate age LMC clusters and suggest that this population is in the mean
older than the clusters and has a mean age which falls in the LMC cluster age
gap.
