Centre for Archaeology - University of Lisbon

Publicações

Environmental changes in the Atlantic World: how did the trade of enslaved people shape the landscapes

Publication . Costa, Ana; Pombo de Freitas, Maria da Conceição; Gomes Coelho, Rui; Cachao, Mario

ABSTRACT: This paper focuses on the environmental changes that occurred along the margins of Cacheu River (Guinea-Bissau) and Sado River (Portugal), in the context of the transatlantic trade of enslaved people and its aftermath (15th century to the present). We collected four sediment cores in the estuarine areas of those two rivers – Cacheu1, Cacheu2, Cacheu3 and Laxique. The sediments were analysed for environmental proxies and radiocarbon dated. The preliminary analyses of Cacheu1 and Cacheu2 reveal a long sedimentary sequence covering changes over the last 8000 years. The preliminary analyses of sediments collected from the Sado River indicate anthropic influence and the introduction of N-fertilisers in the river alluvial plain before the 18th century, probably related to the production of rice. New dating will improve the resolution of the age-depth models produced for the sedimentary sequences in recent years and will allow a more accurate environmental evolution model.

2025-04Artigo científico

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Follow that blade!- Petroarchaeological proxies as indicators of human mobility during the Copper age of the SW of the Iberian Peninsula: Vila Nova de Sao Pedro case study (Portugal)

Publication . Jordão, Patrícia; Neves, César; Mesquita Soares, Sofia; Morgado-Rodríguez, Antonio; Diniz, Mariana; Arnaud, José M.

ABSTRACT: Petroarchaeological proxies of blades are a powerful tool for the study of mobility in prehistoric populations to deliver more information on the network relationships of exchange, particularly during the Copper age. However, it is only recently that the first petroarchaeological studies have begun in the SW of the Iberian Peninsula, concerning Recent Prehistory. A sampling of blades from Vila Nova de Sao Pedro, one of the main fortified settlements in Portuguese Estremadura, was used for petrographic and geochemical study. Following the same protocol, geological samples of flint and also igneous rocks were analysed. Additionally, a techno-typological approach was combined in order to characterize the blades types in circulation. This preliminary study traced the diverse and complex dynamics of blade production, which involved the collection of the most readily available Rio Maior flint and the regionally selected Caxarias flint. There were no significant differences in knapping techniques for these two types of flint. The most distant oolitic varieties from Subbetic Cordillera (within 500 km) and the igneous rocks from the Iberian Piryte Belt (within 250 km), particularly for large blades, were not debitated at the site. Due to the high numbers of those types of materials at the site, Vila Nova de Sao Pedro most likely played a significant role in the complex mobility networks of large blades, establishing itself as an aggregating site and possibly a distributor of these artefacts to the Southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Considering the proximity and the quality of Rio Maior flint sources but also to the amount of raw materials at the site sourced from a long distance, this study shows that mobility is more influenced by cultural motivations than by the availability or quality of raw materials.

2026-06Artigo científico

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Palavras-chave

Archaeology,History,Cultural Heritage,Museology,

Entidade financiadora

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P.
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P.

Programa de financiamento

6817 - DCRRNI ID
Concurso de avaliação no âmbito do Programa Plurianual de Financiamento de Unidades de I&D (2017/2018) - Financiamento Base

Número da atribuição

UIDB/00698/2020