Anthracology in a relict forest in the South Pacific: An archaeobotanical approach on wood charcoal assemblages from Mocha Island

Abstract

Mocha Island is located in the South Pacific Ocean (38°22′ S) only 30 km off the coast of Southern Chile. The first Europeans set foot on the island in 1544 CE, and the reports left by navigators between the 16th and 17th centuries inform of a well populated island, where the natives grew maize, beans and kept “sheep” with long necks (camelids). The Spaniard conquerors, who never settled on the island forced its depopulation between 1685 and 1687 CE. The island was uninhabited until 1850 CE, when the Chilean state started a colonization program in Southern Chile.

The last decades of archaeological research on the island show that pre-Hispanic groups visited it sporadically during the Archaic Period (1500 BCE), and more regularly from the Early Ceramic Period (100 CE). But around the year 1000 CE (Late Ceramic Period) the archaeological sites show continuous and regular use of the space around domestic units; mound and platform complex has also been dated to this period.

This paper presents the wood charcoal analysis results of three archaeological sites from Mocha Island, dated between the 850 CE and 1685 CE. The aim is to discuss the forest environment over 500 years of Pre-Hispanic and early Historic inhabitation that involved crop cultivation, camelid husbandry and population growth in this insular territory of 52 km². The anthracological results indicate the presence of lauriphyllous and sclerophyll taxa, suggesting ecotonal zones where different types of taxa can coexist, and in which the development of woody taxa with edible parts might have been promoted.