quarta-feira, 25 de maio de 2011

Archaeological Prospection


Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association


Festival Britânico de Arqueologia – O Dia da Arqueologia 2011

O Dia da Arqueologia 2011 é um projecto online que permitirá aos arqueólogos, que trabalham em todo o mundo, registrarem o que eles fazem num dia, 29 de julho de 2011. Esta data coincide com o Festival Britânico de Arqueologia, que vai de 16 a 31 de julho de 2011. Arqueólogos que participam no projecto poderão registrar o seu dia através de fotografias, vídeos e posts escritos.


Para mais informações:

Journal of Human Evolution


Journées de l' archéologie 2011

Mais informações em: http://journees-archeologie.inrap.fr

9º Encontro de Arqueologia do Algarve

É com prazer que se anuncia, que o 9º Encontro de Arqueologia do Algarve terá este ano lugar nos dias 20, 21 e 22 de Outubro, na Fissul em Silves.

Trata-se de uma iniciativa da Câmara Municipal de Silves, que conta com a colaboração da Universidade do Algarve, Instituto de Gestão do Património Arquitectónico e Arqueológico,IP e Direcção Regional de Cultura do Algarve.

O evento assume novamente o seu formato regular objectivando-se na apresentação de comunicações e posters resultantes de trabalhos arqueológicos (de campo ou estudos) ocorridos na ou sobre a região do Algarve no biénio de 2010/2011.

Desta forma, aceitam-se propostas de comunicações e posters até ao dia 24 de Junho. A(s) proposta(s) deve(m) conter:
- o nome do autor(es),
- o tipo de apresentação pretendida (comunicação/poster),
- o título e
- um resumo que não exceda os 2500 caracteres.

Esclarecimentos adicionais poderão ser solicitados, através dos seguintes contactos:
Sector de Arqueologia da Divisão de Património Histórico-Arqueológico e Museus
Câmara Municipal de Silves, Praça do Município, 8300-117 Silves
Email: maria.gonçalves@cm-silves.pt
Telefone directo : 282444100

Göbekli Tepe

The Birth of Religion

We used to think agriculture gave rise to cities and later to writing, art, and religion. Now the world’s oldest temple suggests the urge to worship sparked civilization.

By Charles C. Mann
Photograph by Vincent J. Musi


Notícia em nationalgeographic

terça-feira, 24 de maio de 2011

Uma vitória...

Participação da arqueóloga Leonor Medeiros na Final do FameLab, que venceu. Em menos de três minutos, como a arqueologia pode ajudar a contar a história de um crime com 5000 anos e de uma ida à praia algumas horas atrás.

"Indústria Lítica - Aplicação prática"

domingo, 15 de maio de 2011

JIA, o rescaldo...


AGRADECIMENTOS…

À nossa casa, UNIVERSIDADE DO ALGARVE, pelo apoio incondicional e pela cedência do autocarro;
À nossa FACULDADE DE CIÊNCIAS HUMANAS E SOCIAIS pelo apoio contabilístico;
À FACULDADE DE ECONOMIA e ex FERN pela cedência das salas e auditórios;
A todos os patrocinadores pelo apoio logístico;
À OrJIA e ao ESTRAT JOVE por todo apoio e incentivo à realização destas jornadas em Portugal;
Ao professor NUNO BICHO, pelo apoio incondicional e por acreditar em nós;
Ao TELMO PEREIRA, por todo o trabalho realizado, nomeadamente com a feira do livro;
A todos os técnicos de som dos auditórios;
Ao senhor condutor do autocarro, pela paciência e amabilidade;
A todos os participantes, coordenadores, oradores e posters presentes, o nosso muito obrigado!

E por último, mas não menos importante, a todo o STAFF, todos os nossos meninos, carinhosamente apelidados de “putos”, que trabalharam arduamente não dó durante as jornadas, mas também na sua organização. Sem vocês não teria sido possível! Muito obrigado.

Por fim, a todos nós… Foram muitos dias sem dormir, muito trabalho, que resultou em três dias de umas excelentes jornadas, com muitos trabalhos, discussões, sessões, mesas redondas e troca de ideias… VALEU A PENA!!!

Até para o ano em SANTIGO DE COMPOSTELA









Pedimos a todos os que tenham fotografias do JIA 2011 (FARO) que enviem para nap.ualg@gmail.com. Obrigado.
Dentro em breve, as fotografias estão disponíveis para download.

Pedimos a todos los que tienen fotografías del JIA de 2011 (FARO) para enviar a nap.ualg@gmail.com. Gracias. 
Pronto, las fotografías están disponibles para su descarga.

We ask all who have photographs of the JIA 2011 (FARO) to send to nap.ualg@gmail.com. Thanks. 
Soon, the photographs are available for download.

terça-feira, 10 de maio de 2011

JIA 2011...


Após o sucesso indiscutível das edições anteriores em Madrid (2008 e 2009) e Barcelona (2010), as IV Jornadas de Jovens em Investigação Arqueológica - JIA 2011 terão lugar no Campus de Gambelas da Universidade do Algarve, Faro, entre os dias 11 e 14 de Maio de 2011.
Esta será a primeira vez que as jornadas se realizarão em território português, fruto de uma iniciativa do Núcleo de Arqueologia e Paleoecologia (NAP) da Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais da UAlg.

O JIA é um evento científico realizado por e para jovens investigadores (não doutorados) em Arqueologia. A sua linha estrutural passa sobretudo pela exposição e debate de temas de investigação actuais e amplos, pretendendo, desta forma, fomentar o espírito científico no seio da comunidade de jovens arqueólogos; divulgar e debater trabalhos de investigação sobre um alargado leque de problemáticas; e facilitar o contacto e cooperação entre os diversos investigadores, de modo a criar grupos de investigação amplos e interdisciplinares.

A edição de 2011 manterá o molde aplicado nos anos anteriores, com quatro dias de congresso, com um total de doze sessões temáticas de comunicações orais (duas sessões paralelas por cada manhã e por cada tarde) e uma sessão de posters. As sessões orais abrangerão, tal como nos anos anteriores, apenas temas específicos, propostos pelos coordenadores de cada uma delas, enquanto que a sessão de posters contará com a contribuição de temáticas livres e terá um horário específico dentro do programa com o objectivo de permitir uma maior interacção entre os autores de cada poster e os restantes participantes. No quarto e último dia das jornadas, como vem sendo tradição, está agendada uma saída de campo com visita a alguns dos sítios arqueológicos mais emblemáticos da região algarvia.

Quanto a novidades, o JIA 2011 contará com dois novos espaços na estrutura do evento: uma área dedicada à venda de publicações de Arqueologia e disciplinas relacionadas; e um espaço de publicitação de oportunidades de trabalho, bolsas e estágios. Ambos pretendem, naquele que é um dos poucos eventos totalmente dedicado a jovens investigadores, dar continuidade ao esforço de tornar as jornadas JIA num ponto de encontro e de aprendizagem a nível internacional.

A comissão Organizadora e o Comité Científico sentem-se honrados, desde já, em convidar a comunidade de jovens arqueólogos a participarem nas IV Jornadas de Jovens em Investigação Arqueológica.

É JÁ AMANHÃ... ESPERAMOS POR TI!!!

sábado, 7 de maio de 2011

HEIDELBERG MAN LINKS HUMANS, NEANDERTHALS

While many eyes are on Heidelberg Man as being the likely common
ancestor  to Neanderthals and our species, the jury is still out as to
where that pivotal evolution took place. Silvana Condemi
The last common ancestor of humans and Neanderthals was a tall, well-traveled species called Heidelberg Man, according to a new PLoS One study.

The determination is based on the remains of a single Heidelberg Man (Homo heidelbergensis) known as "Ceprano," named after the town near Rome, Italy, where his fossil -- a partial cranium -- was found.

Previously, this 400,000-year-old fossil was thought to represent a new species of human, Homo cepranensis. The latest study, however, identifies Ceprano as being an archaic member of Homo heidelbergensis.


The finding may shed light on what the species that gave rise to both Neanderthals and Homo sapiens looked like.

"Considering other fossils that can be lumped together with Ceprano in H. heidelbergensis, we can hypothesize that the 'Ceprano-morphotype' was tall, with a strong mandible (jaw) and small teeth," coauthor Silvana Condemi told Discovery News.

Condemi is the Director of Research at the National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS) in the laboratory of anthropology at the University of Marseille, where she directs the unit of paleoanthropology.

For the study, she and colleagues Aurelien Mounier and Giorgio Manzi compared Ceprano with 42 fossils from Africa and Eurasia ranging from 1.8 million to 12,000 years ago. The scientists also compared Ceprano to 68 modern humans. The sample set is the most extensive ever assembled in relation to the ancient Italian fossil.

In addition to identifying Ceprano as a Heidelberg Man, the analysis found notable similarities with other human-associated fossils from Europe dating to the Middle Pleistocene 781,000 to 126,000 years ago. Connections were also made to early human fossils from Africa. The researchers therefore believe that Homo heidelbergensis was widespread, dispersing throughout Eurasia and Africa beginning around 780,000 years ago.

Good weather may have permitted Heidelberg Man's worldly lifestyle.

"We can hypothesize that particular environmental conditions during the Middle Pleistocene may have favored the expansion of H. heidelbergensis and contacts between populations," explained Condemi, who is also the co-editor of the new book Continuity and Discontinuity in the Peopling of Europe (Springer, 2011). "The gene flow was never completely stopped between Old World populations."

Paleontologist Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum, London, told Discovery News that he agrees with most of the new study's conclusions.

"I have long argued that Homo heidelbergensis represented our common ancestor with the Neanderthals about 400,000 years ago, and the Ceprano fossil, with its newly-determined late date, is well-situated chronologically to be part of this common ancestral group," Stringer said.

"However, it is quite a primitive specimen in several respects and therefore it may be that, like some other samples of heidelbergensis in Africa and Europe, it does not represent the actual last ancestral population," Stringer added.

"In my view, we still do not know where that particular population existed," he explained, "and it may even have lived in a place from which we have very little evidence at present, such as western Asia."

Ian Tattersall, curator of anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History, told Discovery News that he agrees Ceprano has been "appropriately assigned to the cosmopolitan species Homo heidelbergensis. But in Europe this species is contemporaneous with the lineage leading to Homo neanderthalensis."

If Homo heidelbergensis did arrive before modern humans, "it must thus have been via an earlier, presumably African, representative of the species," Tattersall explained.

While many eyes are on Heidelberg Man as being the likely common ancestor to Neanderthals and our species, the jury is still out as to where that pivotal evolution took place.

Anthropologist Eric Delson of Lehman College, The City University of New York, thinks the new study is "very interesting and takes a good approach," but he believes additional research is needed to elucidate exactly when, where and how Neanderthals and modern humans originated.

domingo, 1 de maio de 2011

American Journal of Archaeology

Unreported Heritage News: Did Peking Man wield a spear? New research suggest...

Unreported Heritage News: Did Peking Man wield a spear? New research suggest...: " A replica of the skull of Peking Man. New research indicates that this group of Homo erectus used spears and sophisticated butcherin..."

Bear DNA is clue to age of Chauvet cave art - life - 19 April 2011 - New Scientist

Bear DNA is clue to age of Chauvet cave art - life - 19 April 2011 - New Scientist

CAVEMEN, CAVE BEARS



This diaroma shows what a crew of cavemen painters may have looked like.
Both of the caves examined in this study feature art on the walls,
some of which shows cave bears. Corbis
Cavemen may have had to jostle with bears to settle into caves up to 32,000 years ago, as research shows cave bears lived in the same spaces coveted by prehistoric humans.

The new study on cave bears, which has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Archaeological Science, may also shed light on the age of cave art depicting these enormous animals and why the bears eventually went extinct.

A clue to the mysteries is that from 32,000 to 30,000 years ago, both humans and cave bears lived in two French caves, creating a likely man-versus-bear battle.

"Paleolithic humans used to kill large animals during their hunts, so they were able to kill cave bears," lead author Celine Bon told Discovery News.

While genetics show cave bears consumed a mostly vegetarian diet, "they might have been violent if they were disturbed during hibernation or if they felt frightened," added Bon, a researcher in the Institute of Biology and Technology at Saclay, France.

"In such a case, they may have been very dangerous because of their huge size and their impressive claws and canines (teeth)."

For the study, Bon and her colleagues performed radiocarbon dating, mitochondrial DNA analysis and isotope investigations of cave bear remains from Chauvet-Pont d'Arc and Deux-Ouvertures caves located along the Ardeche River in France. Both caves feature art on the walls, some of which shows cave bears.

The tests revealed that cave bears inhabited the Ardeche region from around 37,000 to 27,400 years ago, with the oldest samples from Chauvet dating to 29,000 years ago. For a while, the bears had few rivals for the caves

That changed when humans first began to use the natural shelters 32,000 to 30,000 years ago. The DNA analysis determined the cave bear population was small and isolated, and that the bears probably died out not long after humans came onto the scene.

"The cave bear population began to decline at the same time that modern humans arrived in Europe," Bon said. "Yet it is unclear if humans are responsible for the cave bear extinction because of competition over space or food resources, or if the extinction of cave bears is due to climatic and/or environmental changes.

"Our data favor both explanations because they show a small cave bear population size in caves occupied by humans."

She thinks it's doubtful the bears and humans ever lived together simultaneously in the caves. Despite the probable competition, there appears to have been a period where the bears occupied the caves during the winter while the humans took over the caves in the summer. There also might have been intervals lasting several years between cave occupations by either group.

Since the oldest cave bear remains from the Chauvet cave date to 29,000 years ago, that supports prior claims that the charcoal drawings there are the oldest in the world.

In the journal paper, the authors explain: "Because painting an animal that is no longer present is hardly feasible, we propose that these red rock art pictures are indeed very ancient, dating back to the Aurignacian (a period lasting from 40,000 to 28,000 years ago)."

Archaeologist Jean-Michel Geneste, who is director of France's National Center for Prehistory, told Discovery News said the "results are important for the interpretation of the Aurignacian paintings."

Andrew Lawson, an archaeologist based in Salisbury, U.K., also supports the new findings. But Paul Pettitt of the University of Sheffield is skeptical that the Chauvet paintings are so ancient.

Pettitt believes their style is too advanced for the date given, likening them to a Renaissance painting found in a Roman villa. He further questions if the bears in the drawings are cave bears or brown bears, but Bon's team say the skull shapes for each species are unique.

Bon and her colleagues hope future studies will put a more firm date on when cave bears went extinct. The researchers also call for analysis of charcoal fragments spotted in the Chauvet cave places containing the cave bear remains.

L'Anthropologie


Industrie archaïque, industrie à bifaces, Moustérien

P@lethnology

P@lethnology is the first bilingual review of Prehistory (French-English) on-line. Its digital support and bilingual presentation allows a wide diffusion of diverse works, particularly research by French-speaking authors, to a broad scientific community. A socio-cultural approach to prehistoric populations (hunter-gatherers, pastoralists and agro-pastoralists) is developed in the review through the inclusion of a large range of disciplines: analyses of archaeological artefacts, paleoenvironments, archaeozoology, art, monographic studies of sites, etc. Each issue includes a Thematic Section, articles presenting recent research, as well as reviews of colloquia, publications and various scientific manifestations.

Journal of Human Evolution