Title: MONKEY BUSINESS: A FUNNY WAY TO LEARN PRIMATOLOGY
Authors: Cristina Cruz and GEEvH - Grupo de Estudos em Evolução Humana [Group of Studies in Human Evolution], Afilliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Portugal
Abstract
The Human Evolution's topic is complex, interdisciplinary, and fascinate from the
pedagogic point of view, constituting a true challenge that requests permanent updates. All science lives in constant mutation. However, and in what concerns the auxiliary sciences that contributes to the human evolution knowledge, the progresses are extraordinary fast, and sometime the discovery of a small fossil may signify a
refurbishment of all human tree. This flux of data, conjugated with the complexity of
some issues, like those focused by Primatology, justifies the need to develop pedagogic tools, easy to apply, which may constitute a complement to formal education. Thus, in 2005 the Grupo de Estudos em Evolução Humana drew and presented a pedagogical activity entitled “Monkey Business”, in Portuguese schools. In this poster we present the main goals of the project, as well as the issues developed with particular emphasis to primate diversity, chimpanzees technology and habitats preservation. Additionally, it will be discussed the project receptiveness and the major difficulties found during the implementation of this educational activity.
Title: O ABRIGO DO LAGAR VELHO E O PALEOLÍTICO SUPERIOR EM LEIRIA, PORTUGAL: ANÁLISE DOS DADOS ARQUEOLÓGICOS NO ACTUAL CONTEXTO DA EVOLUÇÃO HUMANA
Authors: Vânia Carvalho
Afilliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Portugal; CIAS -
Centro de Investigação em Antropologia e Saúde, Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
Abstract
O processo de investigação despoletado em 1998 com a descoberta do esqueleto Lagar
Velho 1 - LV1, no Abrigo do Lagar Velho, Lapedo, Leiria, é encarado como um caso de
estudo, servindo de base para a análise e discussão dos resultados da investigação, nas áreas de arqueologia e paleoantropologia, referente ao Paleolítico Superior em Leiria. Pretende-se fazer um balanço sobre as problemáticas científicas em torno dos principais sítios arqueológicos enquadráveis no Paleolítico Superior e relacionadas com a descoberta e estudo do esqueleto LV1, considerando a relevância e o significado actual que o enterramento do Lagar Velho (LV1) tem no domínio da investigação em Evolução Humana.
Title: HOLOCENE LANDSCAPE AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES IN THE CAPITAL ZONE OF EGYPT: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES
Authors: Pedro Gonçalves
Afilliation: Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, U.K.; IMAR-CMA,
Coimbra, Portugal
Abstract
The recognition of the complex relations in the “Earth System” demands the need to
develop new interdisciplinary methods, notably when dealing with cultural evolution
and in anthropogenic environments. This research intend to reconstruct the movements
of the Nile River and to reveal the landscape and environmental evolution in the Nile
Valley during the last 6000 years, with a special focus on the period of ancient Egyptian civilization (3150 to 30 BC) at the area known as the Capital Zone of Egypt (southern part of Lower Egypt). The course of the Nile has changed continuously over the Holocene, mostly due to climatic oscillations. Archaeological research has shown the continuous expansion of settlements and complexes during the Dynastic Period, driven essentially by changes in the position of the Nile. Nevertheless, those sites are usually presented as embedded in stable geomorphologic environments, leading to possible mistaken archaeological interpretations. In river valleys, e.g. the Nile, geological techniques can be applied to extend our knowledge of both past landscapes and past environments, namely the analysis of geomorphologic features and depositional sequences of sediments. Thus, the research extends beyond the usual boundaries of both Archaeology and Earth Sciences. GIS databases can be a powerful tool for this purpose, as they can relate diversified sorts of data to spatial analyse. Understanding the nature and patterns of both landscape and environment changes can help to reveal evolutionary processes in the past but also to predict future threats to human cultures and settlements.
