In this paper, we explore the use of firewood during Pre-Aksumite (>800-400 BCE) and Aksumite periods (400 BCE-900 CE) in Ethiopia. Charred wood samples from two archaeological sites are being analyzed: the Pre-Aksumite rural site of Mezber and Ona Adi, an urban center occupied from the Late Pre-Aksumite onwards. Located in the province of Tigray (northern Ethiopia), an irregular plateau with temperate climate, they were inhabited during times of critical cultural developments, as it was the substitution of the so-called kingdom of D’mt by the Aksumite Empire. As so, together they provide a unique laboratory to investigate human-environmental interactions. Both sites have been excavated by the Eastern Tigray Archaeological Project (ETAP). Archaeobotanical, zooarchaeological and isotopic evidence at Mezber document a fully-developed agropastoral economy, with an early presence of Near Eastern crops such as wheat, barley, lentils, flax and livestock such as cattle, sheep, goat and donkey. At Ona Adi, ETAP began extensive excavations in 2014 and in-depth analyses of ceramics, lithics, animal bone, seeds and radiocarbon dating are currently ongoing. Here, we present the preliminary results of the anthracological analysis from the complete chronocultural sequence of both sites. So far, 10 samples and over 1000 charcoal fragments have been studied, with a minimum of 100 charcoals per phase. Analyzed charcoal shows over 98.5% of angiosperm dicotyledonous species. Over 25 different plant types have been documented, including Acacia sp. Dodonaea sp., Maerua sp., cf. Rhus sp., cf. Celastrus sp. cf. Rhamnus sp., cf. Diospyros sp., cf. Carissa sp. and cf. Maytenus sp., as well as the gymnosperms Podocarpus sp. and cf. Juniperus sp., thus indicating a wide use of wood resources and the exploitation of different ecological niches. Finally, a charcoal reference collection as well as an anthracological atlas are being constructed.