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New palaeoecological evidence for the potential role of fire in the Gran Sabana, Venezuelan Guayana, and implications for early human occupation

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Abstract

The neotropical Gran Sabana region of Venezuela is dominated by apparently anomalous vegetation types, treeless savannas and savanna-forest mosaics, considering the present-day warm and wet bioclimatic conditions. Past climatic changes and fire have been proposed as the more probable causes. Recent palynological studies show that savanna vegetation has been present since the beginning of the Holocene, but the earliest fires recorded so far only go back to 3,800 cal years b.p. This paper uses pollen and charcoal analyses to show the existence of early Holocene regional fires in the Gran Sabana, and to show the intimate connection between the proxies for fire (charcoal) and savanna vegetation (pollen) throughout the Holocene. Although the cause of such fires is not yet known, the possibility of early Holocene human occupation of the Gran Sabana is suggested.

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Acknowledgments

This research has been supported by the Biodiversity Conservation Program of the BBVA Foundation (project BIOCON 2004-90/05), and the Ministry of Education and Science of Spain (project CGL2006-00974/BOS). Samples were provided by Milagro Rinaldi. The author acknowledges the comments of two anonymous referees and the managing editor, Lee Newsom, who contributed to the improvement of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Palynology and Paleoecology Group, Botanic Institute of Barcelona (CSIC), Passeig del Migdia s/n, 08038, Barcelona, Spain

    Valentí Rull

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  1. Valentí Rull
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Correspondence to Valentí Rull.

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Communicated by L. Newsom.

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Rull, V. New palaeoecological evidence for the potential role of fire in the Gran Sabana, Venezuelan Guayana, and implications for early human occupation. Veget Hist Archaeobot 18, 219–224 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-008-0195-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-008-0195-1

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