Wood resources management by iron age communities of northwest iberia: the settlement of sao joao de rei (portugal)

The settlement of Sao Joao de Rei (Povoa de Lanhoso, Braga, Portugal) has provided new archaeobotanical data to reconstruct diverse aspects related to wood resources management by Iron Age communities in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. This site has several phases of occupation from 6th-5th BCE to the Roman Period, with several chronological hiatuses. Data provided by charcoal analysis have attested the existence of a diversified exploitation of different taxa from the mixed deciduous woodlands (Quercus spp.) and the riverine forests (Salix/Populus, Fraxinus sp.) as well as shrubby (Arbutus unedo) and scrubland (Fabaceae) formations for firewood procurement. The register of several dendrological attributes has allowed us to identify alterations in the growth of annual tree-rings that might be related to the existence of silvicultural practices.