*2.2. Charcoal Analysis*

Sediment samples were collected during the archaeological excavations [30,31] and then sieved in situ by water through a sieving column. All charcoal fragments ranging between 2 and 4 mm mesh sizes were sorted under a dissection microscope and then analysed using a reflected light microscope (100X–1000X). Taxonomic identification relied on the reference collection of plant and wood anatomy, and wood anatomy atlases [33–37]. Relevant specific literature was used to reach the species level identification in the taxonomic group of deciduous *Quercus* [36].

We analysed charcoal from the Late Pleistocene layers, whose stratigraphy, the corresponding 14C dating and cultural facies, are shown in Table 1.

**Table 1.** Age and cultural facies of Serratura Cave layers (SW Italy). Conventional 14C ages were calibrated using the OxCal v. 4.3 program (Bronk Ramsey, 2009) and the IntCal3 calibration curve data (Reimer et al., 2013). Calibrated calendar years before present (cal BP) expressed as either a two-sigma probability age range and a median probability age.


Sampling layers were selected to collect only scattered charcoal (sensu Chabal) [38], because these fragments, resulting from long-term burning activities, can be considered representative of local vegetation and thus suitable for paleoecological studies [10,39–42]. A minimum of 200 charcoal fragments were examined for each layer except Layer 11, where the available number of fragments was limited to 100. Charcoal frequencies were calculated for all layers. While quantitative data were not shown for Layer 12, a fireplace where charcoals probably represent the remnants of a single burning event of collected wood [38].
