Reference collection of woods for the study of anthracology registration of the Southern Patagonia Atlantic coast of the Argentine Republic (Provinces of Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego)

Abstract

In the archaeological sites of hunter-gatherer societies in Patagonia, carbonized woody plant macro-remains are the most frequent and ubiquitous of the archaeobotanical record. For this reason, it is essential to create a reference collection that allows a correct identification and interpretation of anthracological remains and to infer collection and management practices. The objective of this work is to present the reference collection of woods potentially used by hunter-gatherer societies of the southern coast of Patagonia and the island of Tierra del Fuego. In addition, to create dichotomous keys and to apply the results obtained to the identification of archaeological charcoals from two archaeological sites of the late Holocene of the southern Atlantic coast of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego (Palo Alto and CSP2017). The importance of this work is due to the few anatomical descriptions for many of the species of the Atlantic coast of Patagonia, especially for taxa that do not have commercial use.