Landscape and firewood use in Toca do Boqueirão da Pedra Furada (Piauí, Brazil) during early and Mid-Holocene

Abstract

Charcoal macroremains are evidence of past landscapes and of the uses different people made of it. These issues are investigated in this paper through the anthracological analysis of the most recent archaeological levels from Toca do Boqueirão da Pedra Furada (Piauí, Brazil) – dated from 10,050 ± 80 (11,822–11,241 cal yrs BP) to after 6150 ± 60 (7165–6797 cal yrs BP). Charcoal pieces were identified under reflected light optical microscopy. 71 taxa in 25 families and 30 genera were determinated in 1166 charcoal fragments. The results point to an intense use of the surrounding semideciduous Lauraceae forest vegetation in the early Holocene, with the presence of increasing cerrado vegetation thereafter and the development of caatinga after c. 6000 yrs. BP, associated to a drier climate. Low charcoal diversity suggests short-term occupations, implying that the site was probably used as a temporary settlement. Occupation was probably more intense around c. 8000–7000 cal yrs BP. Opportunistic firewood gathering of dry sound deadwood was probably made around the valley and the cuesta front. The selection of small logs was possibly a consequence of the vegetation structure itself, mostly composed of small trees. Indirect records of possible uses of plants as food and medicine are suggested.