MICROSCOPY AND ANALYTICAL PYROLYSIS OF PALEOWOOD FROM NOTHOFAGUS-DOMBEYI AND AMOMYRTUS-LUMA

13,000-year-old wood pieces from Amomyrtus luma and Nothofagus dombeyi from southern Chile were investigated by light and electron-microscopy. Determination of the lignin/carbohydrate composition was performed by analytical micropyrolysis. S1 ans S2 layers of the cell walls were found to be heavily degraded, whereas compound middle lamellae and S3 layers appeared almost unchanged. Analytical micropyrolysis revealed that the degradation was mainly restricted to carbohydrates and to a very limited extent to lignin compounds. Both microscopy and micropyrolysis provided no clear evidence, whether degradation was dominated by biotic or abiotic processes.