Charcoal Analysis: Methodological Approaches, Palaeoecological Results and Wood Uses. - BAR.

This volume presents the proceedings of the Second International Meeting of Anthracology, held in Paris in 2000. It shows that research on the relationship between humans and their environment in the past, through reconstruction of the past vegetation cover, is becoming ever more important. This book constitutes both a state of the question and an overview of the main topics that are likely to be developed in the future. Its three main themes are: progress in methodological issues such as statistics, taphonomy and processing of data, including the first results of new applications of charcoal analysis such as the study of ancient fires and quantitative eco-anatomy; palaeoecology, i.e. study of the relationship between humans and plants, here demonstrated through charcoal analysis, especially the study of ancient charcoal burning sites; and ethnobotany, including studies on the different uses of wood, as fuel, for construction and to produce wooden artefacts.