CHARACTERIZATION AND PALEOECOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL CHARCOAL ASSEMBLAGES DURING LATE AND POSTGLACIAL PHASES IN SOUTHERN FRANCE

Archaeological sites at Abeurador and Font-Juvenal have produced exten sive charcoal-rich horizons. The results of the charcoal analysis, bas ed on the identification of woody species from anatomical features, co ntribute to the elaboration of plain phases within the development of vegetation in southern France. They are presented here in a new diagra m and are interpreted as four major vegetation phases from 11,000 C-14 yr. B.P. to the recent past. In order to interpret the palaeoecologic al significance of the charcoal assemblages we have used multivariate analysis. The data base consists of 42 taxa and 48 archaeological leve ls. The division into four vegetation phases based on analytical inter pretation is complemented by the more synthetic interpretation based o n correspondence factor analysis (CFA). The results reveal the pattern s of the vegetation history over the last 11 millennia, each being cha racterized by a key plant species. (C) 1998 university of Washington.