干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

This paper analyzes the presence of micro-charcoals recovered in sediments from 17 stations sampled in the Ambato Valley (Province of Catamarca, Argentina). The aim of this study is to monitor the fire regimes in the past in the area and thus provide more data in paleoenvironmental reconstruction. The analysis complements previous studies based on observation of anatomical features in Geoffroea decorticans remains recovered in archaeological contexts in the valley. These analyzes indicated the existence of at least one arid moment towards the end of the occupation of the Aguada de Ambato. The connection between drought and wildfires has been widely mentioned in the literature. We discuss the possibility that the abandonment processes of the archaeological sites associated to the Aguada in Ambato valley, towards the end of the first millennium, can be linked to a scenario associated with drought and fire. The results seem to indicate that there was a high recurrence of forest fires and that they are recorded from 4500 BP.