We have studied polycrystalline Yb 4 LiGe 4 , a ternary variant of the R 5 T 4 family of layered compounds characterized by a very strong coupling between the magnetic and crystallographic degrees of freedom. The system is mixed valent, with non-magnetic Yb 2+ and magnetic Yb 3+ present, and is characterized by coexisting ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic correlations. We present measurements of resistivity, AC-susceptibility, specific heat, and muon spin relaxation (μSR), below 1 K. The low temperature measurements suggest a transition to a mesoscopically inhomogeneous magnetically ordered state below 2 K characterized by fluctuations well below the ordering temperature. This unusual state is believed to result from the enhanced twodimensionality produced by Li substitution and frustration effects inherent in the Yb sub-lattice geometry.2