A forest of vestiges: social metabolism and charcoal makers activity on the XIX and XX centuries in Rio de Janeiro, RJ

Abstract

In terms of landscape, what can be considered nowadays as "natural" may be a paleo-territory used by previous populations.In the Pedra Branca Massive, on the west side of Rio de Janeiro, despite being covered by forests, there can found evidences of houses foundations and of historical charcoal kilns. This paper is a survey of these remains done randomly from existing trails and pre-defined transects all georeferenced. We found a total of 168 charcoal kilns and 33 ruins of foundations made with piled irregular rocks. Besides the "natural" aspects of changes in the structure and functioning of ecosystems, we discuss the process of social metabolism that links, in the landscape, the forest to the city.

Keywords

• Metabolismo social
• Produção de carvão
• Paisagem
• Florestas urbanas