Abstract
The association of different approaches, such as Environmental Archaeology, Anthracology, Historical Ecology, Plant Ecology, and Landscape Archaeology, offers new perspectives into recovering the histories of invisible people and of the forests in which they lived. The more than 2000 historical kiln sites and several other remains located in the urban forests of Rio de Janeiro city testify of the fuel economy during the colonial and imperial periods of the Brazilian society. Charcoal, allowing for easier handling and wider uses than firewood, was used in large amounts. Anthracological analysis associated to phytosociological surveys carried out in these historical charcoal kilns aims to bring a new understanding of charcoal burners who exploited these forests. Floristic similarity between the current and past forest formations is discussed, as well as the charcoal burners practices, such as location and species selection (or absence of). The main actors in this process – the charcoal workers – experienced intense social invisibility; their work, despite essential to society, showed signs of marginality and illegality. The studied landscape keeps the marks of this cycle of energy provision in several of its attributes
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Ecofacts are archaeological remains of biological origin that have a cultural significance, but that have not been directly modified by human action, including plant, animal, and landscape remains. For Emery (2007), ecofacts are both environmental and cultural indicators, being the most diverse and comprehensive archaeological remains. Ecofacts reflect the interrelationships of man with nature, with the climate, with different forms of life and with the landscape (Renfrew and Bahn, 2005). However, they also witness the choices of each group in the universe of possibilities that the environment presents to them. Therefore, the study of ecofacts, as well as artifacts of biological origin, goes beyond the interest in the biological trace itself, but seeks to identify in these remains the actions and motivations that may have led to their presence in an archaeological context.
- 2.
The Shannon diversity index (H′) is one of the most used diversity indices in plant phytosociology. In Ecology, the diversity of a sample, or of a vegetation type, depends on the specific richness (number of species) and the frequency of each taxon in the community. A plant association has low diversity if the number of species is low and if the frequency distribution of each taxon is uneven. On the contrary, the diversity is high if the number of species is high and if its abundance is equivalent. At identical number of species, diversity will be higher if taxa frequency distribution is more uniform (Scheel-Ybert, 2005).
- 3.
The Importance Value (IV) and Coverage Value (CV) indices are frequently used in phytosociology to synthetically express the relative order between species (Curtis & McIntosh, 1950). Importance Value Index considers density, dominance, and relative frequencies; it provides an idea of the density, spatial dispersion and the size reached by a species, reflecting its ecological importance (Matteucci & Colma, 1982). The Coverage Value Index is obtained by adding the relative values of density and dominance, providing information related to the number of individuals and the biomass of each species (Moro & Martins, 2011).
References
Abreu, M. A. (2006). Evolução Urbana do Rio de Janeiro (4th ed.). Instituto Pereira Passos.
Beauclair, M., Rangel, A., Oliveira, R. R., & Scheel-Ybert, R. (2011). Wood charcoal production and forest dynamics in the Pedra Branca massif, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. Saguntum, 11, 121–122.
Bender, B. (2006). Place and landscape. In C. Tilley, W. Keane, S. Küchler, M. Rowlands, & P. Spyer (Eds.), Handbook of material culture (pp. 303–314). Sage.
Bonhôte, J., & Vernet, J. L. (1988). La mémoire des charbonnières. Revue Forestière Française, 43(1), 197–212.
Budowski, G. (1965). Distribution of tropical American rain forest species in the light of successional processes. Turrialba, 15(1), 40–42.
Callado, C. H., & Guimarães, R. C. (2010). Estudo dos anéis de crescimento de Schizolobium parahyba (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae) após episódio de mortalidade em Ilha Grande, Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian Journal of Botany, 33, 84–91.
Curtis, J. T., & McIntosh, R. P. (1950). The interrelations of certain analytic and synthetic phytosociological characters. Ecology, 31, 434–455.
Deffontaines, P. (1937). La vie montagnarde dans la montagne de l’Itatiaya (Serra de la Mantiqueira, Brésil). Revue de Géographie Alpine, 25(3), 496–508.
Delamonica, P., Lima, D. F., Oliveira, R. R., & Mantovani, W. (2002). Estrutura e funcionalidade de populações de Miconia cinnamomifolia (DC.) Naud. em florestas secundárias estabelecidas sobre antigas roças caiçaras. Pesquisas. Botânica, 52, 125–142.
Emery, K. F. (2007). Ecofacts, overview. In D. M. Pearsall (Ed.), Encyclopedia of archaeology (pp. 1111–1114). Academic Press.
Firme, R. P., Vicenz, R. S., Macedo, G. V., Silva, I. M., & Oliveira, R. R. (2001). Estrutura da vegetação de um trecho de mata atlântica sobre solos rasos (maciço da Pedra Branca, RJ). Eugeniana, 24(1), 3–10.
Fraga, R. R., & Oliveira, J. S. (2012). Social metabolism, cultural landscape, and social invisibility. In M. Canevacci (Ed.), Polyphonic anthropology – Theoretical and empirical cross-cultural fieldwork (pp. 139–156). INTECH.
Guariguata, M. R., & Ostertag, R. (2001). Neotropical secondary forest succession: Changes in structural and functional characteristics. Forest Ecology and Management, 148, 185–206.
Ingold, T. (1993). The temporality of the landscape. World Archeology, 25(2), 152–173.
InsideWood. (2004-onwards). Published on the internet. Retrieved July 13, 2019, from http://insidewood.lib.ncsu.edu/search
Junqueira, A., Shepard, G., & Clement, C. (2011). Secondary forests on anthropogenic soils of the middle Madeira River: Valuation, local knowledge, and landscape domestication in Brazilian Amazonia. Economic Botany, 65(1), 85–99.
Kammen, D. M., & Lew, D. J. (2005). Review of technologies for the production and use of charcoal. Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory Report.
Latorraca, J. V. D. F., Souza, M. T. D., Silva, L. D. S. A. B. D., & Ramos, L. M. A. (2015). Dendrocronologia de árvores de Schizolobium parahyba (Vell.) SF Blake de ocorrência na REBIO de Tinguá-RJ. Revista Árvore, 39(2), 385–394.
Lavradio, M. (1913). Relação do Marquêz de Lavradio (Parte II): Relações parciais apresentadas ao Marquêz de Lavradio [1779]. Revista do Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro, 127, 284–360.
Levis, C., Costa, F. R. C., Bongers, F., et al. (2017). Persistent effects of pre-Columbian plant domestication on Amazonian forest composition. Science, 355(6328), 925–931.
Ludemann, T. (2002). Anthracology and forest sites: The contribution of charcoal analysis to our knowledge of natural forest vegetation in south-West Germany. In S. Thiébault (Ed.), Charcoal analysis: Methodological approaches, palaeoecological results and wood uses (British Archaeological Reports International Series) (Vol. 1063, pp. 209–217). Archeopress.
Ludemann, T. (2008). Experimental charcoal-burning with special regard to anthrocological wood diameter analysis. In G. Fiorentino & D. Magri (Eds.), Charcoals from the past: Cultural and palaeoenvironmental applications (British Archaeological Reports International Series) (Vol. 1807, pp. 147–157). Archaeopress.
Ludemann, T., & Nelle, O. (Eds.). (2002). Die Wälder am Schauinsland und ihre Nutzung durch Bergbau und Köhlerei. Forstwissenschatliche Fakultät der Universität Freiburg und Forstlische Versuchs und Forschungsanstalt.
Magalhães Corrêa, A. (1936). O sertão carioca. Imprensa Nacional.
Marziani, G., & Citterio, S. (1999). The effects of human impact on the arboreal vegetation near ancient iron smelting sites in Val Gabbia, northern Italy. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 8(3), 225–229.
SOS Mata Atlantica, & INPE. (2019). Atlas dos Remanescentes Florestais da Mata Atlântica. Relatório Técnico, Período 2017–2018. Retrieved January 7, 2021, from https://www.sosma.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Atlas-mata-atlanticaDIGITAL.pdf
Matteucci, S. D., & Colma, A. (1982). Metodologia para el estudio de la vegetacion (p. 22). Série Biologia – Monografia.
Molina-Colón, S., & Lugo, A. E. (2006). Recovery of a subtropical dry forest after abandonment of different land uses. Biotropica, 38(3), 354–364.
Moro, M. F., & Martins, F. R. (2011). Métodos de levantamento do componente arbustivo-arbóreo. In J. M. Felfili, P. V. Elsenlohr, M. M. d. F. Melo, L. A. Andrade, & J. A. A. M. Neto (Eds.), Fitossociologia no Brasil: métodos e estudos de caso (pp. 174–212). Editora da Universidade Federal de Viçosa.
Nash, R. (1970). Environmental history. In H. J. Bass (Ed.), The state of American history (pp. 249–260). Quadrangle Press.
Oliveira, R. R. (2002). Ação antrópica e resultantes sobre a estrutura e composição da mata atlântica na Ilha Grande, RJ. Rodriguésia, 53(82), 33–58.
Oliveira, R. R. (2005). Os cenários da paisagem. In R. R. Oliveira (Ed.), As marcas do homem na floresta. História ambiental de um trecho da Mata Atlântica (pp. 23–33). PUCRio.
Oliveira, R. R. (2007). Mata Atlântica, paleoterritórios e história ambiental. Ambiente & Sociedade, 10(2), 11–23.
Oliveira, R. R. (2008). Environmental history, traditional populations, and paleo-territories in the Brazilian Atlantic coastal Forest. Global Environment, 1, 176–191.
Oliveira, R. R. (2015). Fruto da terra e do trabalho humano: paleoterritórios e diversidade da Mata Atlântica no Sudeste brasileiro. Revista de História Regional, 20, 277–299.
Oliveira, R. R., Fraga, J. S., & Berck, D. E. (2011). Uma floresta de vestígios: metabolismo social e a atividade de carvoeiros nos séculos XIX e XX no Rio de Janeiro, RJ. INTERthesis, 8, 286–315.
Oliveira, R. R., Solórzano, A., Sales, G. P. S., Oliveira, M. B. D., & Scheel-Ybert, R. (2013). Ecologia histórica de populações da carrapeta (Guarea guidonia (L.) Sleumer) em florestas de encosta do Rio de Janeiro. Pesquisas Botânica, 64, 323–339.
Oliveira, R. R., Patzlaff, R. G., & Scheel-Ybert, R. (2020). A Floresta como Esconderijo: Arqueologia da Paisagem na Mata Atlântica do rio de Janeiro. Revista Mosaico, 13, 61–82.
Olson, S. D. (1991). Firewood and charcoal in classical Athens. Hesperia, 60(3), 411–420.
Patzlaff, R. G., Araújo, D. S. D., Oliveira, R. R., & Scheel-Ybert, R. (2018). Historical charcoal kilns: A method to compare the surrounding vegetation with the anthracological data in forested slopes of Rio de Janeiro estate, RJ, Brasil. In S. Paradis-Grenouillet, S. Burri, & R. Rouaud (Eds.), Charbonnage, charbonniers, charbonnières: Confluence de regards autour d’un artisanat méconnu (pp. 173–178). Aix Marseille University Press.
Renfrew, C., & Bahn, P. (Eds.). (2005). Archaeology: The key concepts. Routledge.
Sales, G. P. S., Solórzano, A., Patzlaff, R. G., & Oliveira, R. R. (2014). Resultantes ecológicas, práticas culturais e provisão de lenha para a fabricação de carvão nos séculos XIX e XX no Rio de Janeiro. Pesquisas. Botânica, 65, 389–402.
Sales, G. P. S., Patzlaff, R. G., Solórzano, A., & Oliveira, R. R. (2020). De cinzas para floresta: atividade carvoeira e trajetórias sucessionais no maciço da Pedra Branca. GEOPUC., 13, 364–385.
Salles, G. P. S., Oliveira, R. R., Solórzano, A., & Patzlaff, R. G. (2016). No caminho dos carvoeiros: composição florística e estrutura da floresta em um paleoterritório de exploração de carvão no Maciço da Pedra Branca, RJ. In Anais do Simpósio Internacional de História Ambiental e Migrações (pp. 951–966). UFSC.
Santos, V. S., Solórzano, A., Guedes-Bruni, R. R., & Oliveira, R. R. (2006). Composição do estrato arbóreo de um paleo-território de carvoeiros no Maciço da Pedra Branca, RJ. Pesquisas. Botânica, 57, 181–192.
Scheel-Ybert, R. (2002). Evaluation of sample reliability in extant and fossil assemblages. British Archaeological Reports, 1063, 9–16.
Scheel-Ybert, R. (2004). Teoria e métodos em antracologia. 2. Técnicas de campo e de laboratório. Arquivos do Museu Nacional, 62(4), 343–356.
Scheel-Ybert, R. (2005). Teoria e métodos em antracologia. 3. Validade amostral. Arquivos do Museu Nacional, 63(2), 207–232.
Scheel-Ybert, R. (2016). Charcoal collections of the world. IAWA Journal, 37, 489–505.
Scheel-Ybert, R. (2020). Anthracology (charcoal analysis). In C. Smith (Ed.), Encyclopedia of global archaeology (2nd ed., pp. 408–418). Springer.
Scheel-Ybert, R., & Gonçalves, T. A. P. (2017). First anthracological atlas of Brazilian species (p. 10). Museu Nacional, Série Livros Digital.
Scheel-Ybert, R., Carvalho, M. A., Moura, R. P. O., Gonçalves, T. A. P., Scheel, M., & Ybert, J. P. (2006). Coleções de referência e bancos de dados de estruturas vegetais: subsídios para estudos paleoecológicos e paleoetnobotânicos. Arquivos do Museu Nacional, 64(3), 255–266.
Scheel-Ybert, R., Buarque, A., & Oliveira, R. R. (2013). “Cariocas da Gema”: evidências de presença humana na Ilha Redonda no período pré-colonial. In F. Moraes, A. Bertoncini, & A. Aguiar (Eds.), História, Pesquisa e Biodiversidade do Monumento Natural das Ilhas Cagarras (pp. 38–47). Série Livros Museu Nacional 48.
Scheel-Ybert, R., Beauclair, M., & Buarque, A. (2014a). The forest people: Landscape and firewood use in the Araruama region (southeastern Brazil) during the late Holocene. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 23(2), 97–111.
Scheel-Ybert, R., Boyadjian, C. H. C., Mateus, J., & Selle, Y. P. (2014b). Los sistemas Anthrakos y Phyton: Propues¬ta de creacion de bancos de datos en linea. In Taller Micro paleoetnobotánica: Relevancia de una red interdisciplinaria de investigaciones en fitolitos y almidones (pp. 98–104). Resumens.
Scheel-Ybert, R., Caromano, C. F., & Azevedo, L. W. (2016). Of forests and gardens: Landscape, environment, and cultural choices in Amazonia, Southeastern and southern Brazil from c. 3000 to 300 cal yrs BP. Cadernos do LEPAARQ (UFPEL), 13, 425–458.
Shepherd, G. J. (1995). Fitopac: manual do usuário Departamento de Botânica. Universidade Estadual de Campinas.
Solórzano, A., Oliveira, R. R., & Guedes-Bruni, R. R. (2005). História ambiental e estrutura de uma floresta urbana. In R. R. Oliveira (Ed.), As marcas do homem na floresta. História ambiental de um trecho de mata Atlântica (pp. 817–106). PUC-Rio.
Solórzano, A., Guedes-Bruni, R. R., & Oliveira, R. R. (2007). Composição florística e estrutura de dois trechos de Floresta Ombrófila Densa submontana, no Parque Estadual da Pedra Branca, RJ. Revista Brasileira de Biociências, 5, 609–611.
Swaine, M. D., & Whitmore, T. C. (1988). On the definition of ecological species groups in tropical rain forests. Vegetatio, 75, 81–86.
Ter Steege, H., Pitman, N. C., Sabatier, D., et al. (2013). Hyperdominance in the Amazonian Tree Flora. Science, 342(6156), 1243092. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1243092
Vernet, J. L. (1997). L’homme et la forêt méditerranéenne de la Préhistoire à nos jours. Errance.
Wolda, H. (1981). Similarity indices, sample size and diversity. Oecologia, 50, 296–302.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the teams of Laboratório de Arqueobotânica e Paisagem (MN/UFRJ) and Laboratório de Biogeografia e Ecologia Histórica (PUC-Rio). This work benefited from funding from the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq), and Foundation Carlos Chagas Filho for Research Support of the State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ). The third author is a CNPq fellowship holder and a Senior Scientist from FAPERJ.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Patzlaff, R.G., de Oliveira, R.R., Scheel-Ybert, R. (2023). Charcoal Production, Social Invisibility and the Genesis of a Landscape in the Pedra Branca Massif (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). In: Colonese, A.C., Milheira, R.G. (eds) Historical Ecology and Landscape Archaeology in Lowland South America . Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32284-6_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32284-6_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-32283-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-32284-6
eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)