Sessões no JIA 2011

Entre os dias 11 e 12 ocorreram as sessões "The methodologies applied in bioarchaeology" e " From primates arqueology to human evolution" coodenardas por sócios do Grupo de Estudos em Evolução Humana.

The methodologies applied in bioarchaeology
Vanessa Campanacho e Luís Miguel Marado

Bioarchaeology intends, with its analysis, to extract information from osteological remains and contribute to the reconstruction of individuals’ and communities’ past lives. The human skeleton holds a great deal of information pertaining to the interaction between biology and behaviour. This scientific discipline acts on two instances: directly on the archaeological site and on the laboratory. The appropriate methods are employed on both these locations, so as to establish the degree of osseous preservation, how the osseous tissue will be maintained, the individuals’ biological profile, funerary rites, pathological condition, ritual and occupational behaviours, issues of biological relatedness and paleodemography. The achieved results much contribute to the characterization of adaptive change, biological impact originating on the movement of populations (invasions, colonization, etc.), social status, conflicts and resource limitations. As time goes by, new methodologies have emerged: 1) showing modification to existing methods, as happened with the changes to Todd’s (1920) age-at-death estimate pertaining to the osseous degeneration of the pubic symphysis; 2) using state-of-the-art technology, like new methods that apply three-dimensional scanning; 3) as well as methodological approaches that lack divulging, and so are scarcely applied today. In this session it’s intended that new methodologies are exposed and existing ones are tested, further discussing their relevance, reliability, limitations, advantages and disadvantages when applied to the evaluation of skeletal remains from archaeological context. The search for the past of human populations must have diversified and objective sources, guaranteeing the broadest and most accurate interpretation of material (as well as written) documentation as possible.


FROM PRIMATE ARCHAEOLOGY TO HUMAN EVOLUTION
Susana Carvalho (na fotografia)

The history of human origins and evolution can be portrayed as a shifting puzzle, remarkably fascinating, however far from being complete. In the challenging goal of reconstruct our evolutionary past, the recent fossil discoveries, as well as, the introduction of new tools of research have played a major role. In the last decade, an increasing development of interdisciplinary studies lead by Portuguese researchers has occurred. The search for answers about some of the most complex questions concerning our evolution and material culture has been the main focus. Thus, Paleoanthropology, Genetics, Primatology, Archaeology, are all linked and under current exploration by young researchers, with new innovative approaches. This session aims to promote the need of bridging different disciplines to further understand Human Evolution, with a particular focus on the recent “Primate Archaeology” manifesto. Studies focusing the material culture on non-human primates will serve as a basis to discuss the implications of using non-human primates as models to understand the earliest technologies in Africa.