Past fuel management strategies and traditions at marginal Patagonian environments: the case of El Chueco 1 site (11500-2500 cal. B.P.)

The knowledge of the exploitation of resources by past hunter-gatherer societies are of utmost importance when studying regional archaeology, in order to understand between humans and the environments they inhabits. The Aisen region, at Central Western Patagonia is particular in this topic since it shows biomes ranging from evergreen forest (W) to steppes (E), providing us a good case for assessing differential procurement of resources. The Cisnes river valley, located in this ideal area connects the ecological diversity and has yielded human occupations starting at the onset of the Holocene at "El Chueco 1" archaeological site (950 masl). This is a key site for understanding the differential firewood resource selection, considering its evidences connectvity networks with other siter within this river basin, and the local contemporaneous palaeoenvironmental data available. The anthracological scope contributes to this research throurgh defining" chaines operatoires", wheere both the procurement of raw materials and the knowledge of the environment and its natural resources, are considered major components of human decision-making. These approach include taxonomic identification, taphonomy, and observations on wood development and economic attributes of the species represented in the archaeological record and traditional firewood species.