Vegetation, climate and fire in the eastern Andes (Bolivia) during the last 18,000Â years

► Fossil pollen, charcoal and spores provided an 18 ka year record of climate change. ► Charcoal revealed that fire was a transformative agent in the eastern Andes. ► A major increase in burning occurred in the early Holocene (10.1 ka cal BP). ► Pollen and charcoal indicated a shift to wetter conditions at 6.4 ka cal BP. ► The sensitivity of Polylepis woodland to fire is confirmed.