PALEOECOLOGICAL SIGNIFICATION OF ARCHAEOL OGICAL CHARCOAL USED AS DOMESTIC FUEL

Current methods used in the study and interpretation of archaeological charcoal fragments are not sufficiently rigorous to reconstruct the p alaeocology of past vegetation accurately. A rigorous sampling method, excluding fireplaces, and a statistical analysis of charcoal fragment ation are developed here. The problem of mass reduction is not yet res olved. On this basis, the hypothesis of palaeocological representativi ty of charcoal is disputable. New principles of palaeoecological inter pretation are proposed.