Vestiges of dozens of historical charcoal kilns can be found in the Caçambe River watershed, located in Southeastern Pedra Branca Massif, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. These archaeological sites are remains of the charcoal production that took place in the region from late XIXth to mid XXth century, probably to supply Rio de Janeiro city. This dissertation’s aim is to understand the Atlantic Forest dynamics under human influence through the analysis of charcoal fragments from these kilns (taxonomic identification and diameter estimates), comparing the results to present day phytosociological data, as well as to contextualize the charcoal production in Rio de Janeiro’s history. Almost a thousand fragments were analyzed from a kiln at the valley bottom and another one at the water divide. In the bottom valley kiln pioneers and secondary initials like Cecropia, Guarea, and Tibouchina were the most frequent taxa, and small diameters predominated. In the water divide kiln genera characteristic of more advanced successional stages, such as Copaifera, Pouteria, and Lamanonia were most frequent, and larger diameters were more common. Charcoal production does not seem to have significantly altered the structure and diversity in the water divide. In the bottom valley we found no structural difference, but species diversity was considerably diminished. The spread and dominance of Guarea guidonia, a species with allelopathic properties in this area, is responsible for the maintenance of lower diversity through an alternative successional pathway. The intensity of human activity in the area is believed to have created environmental conditions that favored G.guidonia. Charcoal production was probably very common in Rio de Janeiro city and state. Besides the fact that this activity probably had an important role in the development of modern landscapes, its remains are an invaluable source of information about past forests and their dynamics under human influence.