Charcoal Identification as Means of Central California Landscape Reconstruction

Summary

The purpose of my paper is to present a paleoethnobotanical study of a late prehistoric Central California site (located in Sonoma County) that reconstructs the pre-contact landscape via the identification of wood charcoal remains. The analysis of charcoal and the low-impact paleoethnobotancial methodologies utilized in this study provide the basis for generating hypotheses about how Native peoples interacted with the local environment while also considering how the landscape may have changed over time through anthropogenic management. By identifying the representative tree taxa of the site through wood charcoal analysis and identification, this study will provide critical information for future environmental restoration projects initiated by local tribes and resource managers. With the completion of this project, a better understanding of human interactions with the pre-Contact Bay Area landscape may be reached and plans for the restoration of native plants can be initiated.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage