Abstract
Anthracological studies are firmly advancing in the tropics during the last decades. The theoretical and methodological bases of the discipline are well established. Yet, there is a strong demand for comparative reference material, seeking for an improvement in the precision of taxonomic determination, both in palaeoecological and palaeoethnobotanical studies and to help preventing illegal charcoal production. This work presents descriptions of charcoal anatomy of eleven Anacardiaceae species from six genera native to Brazil (Anacardium occidentale, Anacardium parvifolium, Astronium graveolens, Astronium lecointei, Lithrea molleoides, Schinus terebenthifolius, Spondias mombin, Spondias purpurea, Spondias tuberosa, Tapirira guianensis, and Tapirira obtusa). They are characterized by diffuse-porous wood, vessels solitary and in multiples, tyloses and spiral thickenings sometimes present; simple perforation plates, alternate intervessel pits, rounded vessel-ray pits with much reduced borders to apparently simple; parenchyma paratracheal scanty to vasicentric; heterocellular rays, some with radial canals and crystals; septate fibres with simple pits. These results are quite similar to previous wood anatomical descriptions of the same species or genera. Yet, charcoal identification is more effective when unknown samples are compared to charred extant equivalents, instead of to wood slides.
Highlights
Charcoal, frequent in archaeological or geological contexts, is an important proxy to the reconstruction of past vegetation and climate, as well as to palaeoethnobotanical interpretations.Anthracology, the identification of charcoal based on wood anatomical characters, is a discipline primarily developed for palaeovegetation studies related to archaeology, palaeoecology, geology, and others (Chabal 1997, Scheel-Ybert 2004a, Scott and Damblon 2010)
With the purpose of improving the anatomical knowledge on tropical species and assisting microscopic charcoal identification, we investigate the wood anatomy of carbonized samples from species of the rich Brazilian flora
Descriptions of tropical charcoal anatomy are of utmost importance in different fields of knowledge, such as archaeobotany, palaeoecology, wood technology, and environmental conservation
Summary
Anthracology, the identification of charcoal based on wood anatomical characters, is a discipline primarily developed for palaeovegetation studies related to archaeology, palaeoecology, geology, and others (Chabal 1997, Scheel-Ybert 2004a, Scott and Damblon 2010) It applies for archaeobotany and for the identification of contemporary unknown charcoal, in which case it can be used for charcoal control. Almost 90% of charcoal’s production goes to the iron and steel industry (Brasil 2012) – around 30-35% of the total output of this production comes from native species (IBGE 2010, ABRAF 2013) This illegal production is associated with criminal acts against human beings, often including children and workers under slave-like conditions (Carneiro 2008, IOS 2011a, b).
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