Preliminary fire history and (multi) cultural practices in the Cachapoal river’s middle basin (34º S), Central Chile

Abstract

This work was developed in the Cachapoal river basin, Andean Mountain, of Central Chile. In this basin the relations between anthropogenic factors and fire frequency in Austrocedrus chilensis forests were explored. Fire history of this area was reconstructed using cypress cross-sections dating, historical revision and local people interviews. Archaeological information reports human occupation of this zone since the Early Holocene. Starting in the XVII century, this area was used by Jesuits mainly for cattle ranching activities. Later, the property was passed to private owners who continued using this area for agricultural and cattle purposes. The tree-ring chronology presents a length of 754 years (1249 -2003). The oldest fire dated occurred in 1389 and the latest fire in 1923. Based on the numbers of dated samples, the main fires during this period occurred in 1484, 1526, 1575, 1800 and 1893. The fire in this region is an important process in the ecosystem functioning and a major landscape modeler. The interviews showed that fire had been an element widely used by rural population for heating and cooking functions, location (smoke signals) and animal hunting. These evidences allow making a close connection between anthropogenic activities and climate in the occurrence and frequency of fires.