Abstract

MAFFERRA, Luis; CHIAVAZZA, Horacio  and  JUNENT, Fidel Roig. The tree that bringeth forth fruit his hewn down and cast into the fire. Discussions about the firewood use in the colonial period in Mendoza. Comechingonia [online]. 2015, vol.19, n.2, pp.203-234. ISSN 1851-0027.

In this paper we present the results obtained in the analysis of archaeological charcoal associated to the colonial period (centuries from XVI to XVIII) recovered in Ciudad de Mendoza site. Specifically, it was located in the contexts Ruinas de San Francisco, Alberdi e Ituzaingó and Edificio Plaza Huarpe. In this work, we are interested to discuss the identification of charcoal remains of exotic woody species, both introduced fruit trees as the peach (Prunus aff. persica), quince, apple or pear tree (Aff. Cydonia/Malus/Pyrus) and vines (Vitis vinifera); as other trees such as guayacán (Caesalpinia paraguariensis) or tamarind (Tamarix gallica). We will analyze the importance of the use, from early times, of some of these woods as fuel in the context of no apprehension of native landscape and the integration of wood gathering within the everyday activities of the colonial society. On this basis, we will propose an entailment wider than the expected with the exotic fruit trees, since generally we only used to associate their introduction to the importance of fruit as food. At the same time, we will analyze the wood collection outside the extractive notion and within practices that probably implied also the care of these introduced trees.

Keywords : Anthracology; Historical Archaeology; Introduced trees; Transported landscapes.