Burning wood over 2300m a.s.l. in the Central Pyrenees. Anthracological results from Abric de l’Estany de la Coveta I and Abric de les Obagues de Ratera (Parc Nacional d’Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici)

Abstract

For several millennia, fire has been the source to provide heat and light to human habitations and so, gathering firewood might have been important for human societies, in particular, for those living in colder places like high mountain environments. Archaeological and paleoenvironmental studies on both sides of the Pyrenees have provided a large dataset confirming that human activities have been constant through the centuries in those places although their intensity and economic purposes have changed in time. Those actions have been historically related to stockbreeding but also mining, and charcoal production for industrial purposes. The consequences of which have had a primary impact on the landscape that can be tracked from the Neolithic to the recent past. Thanks to the research developed in the Parc Nacional d’Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici (PNAESM) by the GAAM group (Grup d’Arqueologia d’Alta Muntanya) more than 350 sites of archaeological interest have been documented. Most of them are related to grazing activity. In this poster, we present the anthracological results from Abric de l’Estany de la Coveta I and Abric de les Obagues de Ratera, two rock shelters located above the tree line at 2300-2400m asl.