TREES AND WOODLANDS OF SOUTH INDIA

This volume introduces the ecological history of woodland vegetation in South India. It incorporates a critical overview of the theories of ecological on the subcontinent while detailing the history of long-term changes in the tree and shrub vegetation of the Indian peninsula that have resulted from climate change and the impact of human activities on the landscape. The volume also demonstrates the potential of microscopic analysis of archaeological wood charcoal remains for the purpose of palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Included in the volume is a practical guide for the microscopic identification of the principal timber species of South India, accompanied by detailed information on the synecology and autecology of native trees and shrubs, and ethnographic evidence on their diverse uses and properties. An accompanying CD-ROM contains the complete identification guide and many full color illustrations of South Asian trees and shrubs to facilitate analysis.

This volume introduces the ecological history of woodland vegetation in South India. It incorporates a critical overview of the theories of ecological on the subcontinent while detailing the history of long-term changes in the tree and shrub vegetation of the Indian peninsula that have resulted from climate change and the impact of human activities on the landscape

Eleni Asouti is Lecturer in Environmental Archaeology at the School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool. Her research and teaching interests include environmental and landscape archaeology, the prehistory and palaeoecology of the Eastern Mediterranean and South Asia, the prehistory and socioeconomics of ancient subsistence practices, and the Early Neolithic of Western Asia. She has previously held a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, and is currently involved in a number of research projects in Turkey, Jordan, Greece and South India.Dorian Q. Fuller is Lecturer in Archaeobotany at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. His research focuses on human plant use in prehistory (with emphasis on food production and consumption), the prehistory and palaeoecology of South Asia and Africa, and the origins and spread of agriculture and crop domestication worldwide. He is currently undertaking research in Sudan, South Asia and China.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
CHAPTER 1 – PRODUCING SOUTH INDIAN LANDSCAPES:THE INTERSECTION OF CLIMATE, LANDFORMS, ECONOMIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY
CHAPTER 2 – INDIAN FOREST ECOLOGY AND THE POLITICS OF LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER 3 – BACKGROUND TO VEGETATION HISTORY: CLIMATE, GEOLOGY AND CULTURAL HISTORY
CHAPTER 4 – SOUTH INDIAN WOODLAND VEGETATION: ITS COMPOSITION, STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS
CHAPTER 5 – AN ABRIDGED ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF SOUTH INDIA
CHAPTER 6 – AUTECOLOGY AND ETHNOBOTANY OF SOUTH INDIAN TREES AND SHRUBS
CHAPTER 7 – WOOD IDENTIFICATION AND CHARCOAL ANALYSIS: A CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF ANCIENT VEGETATION AND PAST ECONOMIES IN SOUTH INDIA
CHAPTER 8 – WOOD IDENTIFICATION KEY AND ANATOMICAL CHARACTERS
CHAPTER 9 – WOOD ANATOMICAL DESCRIPTIONS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX