A review of charcoal analysis as a tool for assessing Quaternary and Tertiary environments: achievements and limits

Identification of charcoal fragments (≥2 mm) using reflected light microscopy is routinely carried out to study former natural ecosystems, assess changes in vegetation communities over time and identify the influence and patterns of behaviour of human populations on vegetation. Material studied comes either from archaeological horizons or soil profiles. Despite undeniable limits, informative results have been obtained in the last 25 years, mostly in southwestern Europe, where charcoal analysis has been widely applied in Quaternary studies. Examples of these achievements are provided, focusing on the major vegetation trends since the Upper Palaeolithic to the Middle Ages. The techniques used for charcoal analysis in the reconstruction of Quaternary vegetation are now being used to study Tertiary charcoal and lignites. The study of fossil charcoal can be a highly informative method for interpreting ancient ecosystems as species easily degraded may be preserved by charcoalification. Some results from the Lower Rhine Embayment (Germany) are presented here.