19-24 June 2012, Venice, Italy
The Venice Paleofire Workshop focused on identifying research synergies among biomass burning records from ice cores and sedimentary records. Participants presented recent fire history research and discussed the pros and cons of a range of approaches for reconstructing past fire activity. The workshop was sponsored by The Early Human Impact (EHI) Project, funded by the European Research Council and headed by Prof. Carlo Barbante (Ca’ Foscari University, Venice, Italy). The project aims to investigate the linkage between humans and fire during the Holocene by reconstructing the history of human-use of fire through an analysis of ice cores and lake sediments. Evidence of past fire activity is being explored in regions proximal to the origins of agriculture, across seven continents, and are being analyzed by a globally present molecular marker called levoglucosan, used for identifying and measuring biomass burning in ice cores and lake sediments. Presentations are available from the workshop at the following link: http://www.earlyhumanimpact.eu/updates/paleofire_workshop/workgroup_presentations
