Zooarchaeological evidence from the Iron Age site of Castro da Azougada (Moura, Portugal)

This paper presents the zooarchaeological results from the 2016 excavation in Castro da Azougada (Moura, Portugal). The latter is a well preserved site dated from the 5th and 4th centuries BC, and it is a key element for the understanding of the Iron Age occupation of Baixo Alentejo. Castro da Azougada was first excavated in the 1940s by Fragoso de Lima and Manuel Heleno, and only revisited in September 2016 when it was recovered an assemblage of archaeological materials including pottery, metals, lithics, bones and shells from Iron Age levels. The faunal assemblage is composed by 632 remains of mammals, shells and fish. Mammals are the best represented but the high fragmentation of the remains allows species identification of only a few fragments. They reveal a local rural economy including domesticated species, such as cattle and caprids. Red deer is also present, even though it is hard to determine if it was hunted by local people or acquired by commercial exchanges. The exploitation of the local rivers Guadiana and Ardila is confirmed by the presence of freshwater shells (Unio delphinus and Potomida littoralis); whereas trading activity with the country’s littoral is revealed by the identification of saltwater shells (cf. Ruditapes sp.) and fragments of marine fish bones (probably from the shark family). To sum up, zooarchaeological evidence shows an inland Iron Age site characterised by herding and local fishing activities, with diets including wild game and complemented by coastal resources obtained by trading.Neste estudo apresentam-se os resultados da análise dos restos faunísticos recuperados em 2016 na escavação arqueológica do Castro da Azougada (Moura, Portugal). O sítio apresenta uma cronologia que aponta para os séculos V–IV a.C. e que, pelo seu grau de conservação, consiste num elemento importante para a compreensão da Idade do Ferro no Baixo Alentejo. Inicialmente escavado na década de 1940 por Fragoso Lima e Manuel Heleno, o Castro da Azougada voltou a ser intervencionado em setembro de 2016 recuperando-se um conjunto de materiais arqueológicos, nos quais se incluem cerâmicas, metais, líticos e um conjunto de faunas da Idade do Ferro. O conjunto faunístico é constituído por 632 restos de fauna mamalógica, malacológica e ictiológica. A coleção mamalógica é a mais representativa, mas o elevado grau de fragmentação possibilitou apenas a identificação de alguns restos. Estes indicam a exploração de uma economia local bastante ruralizada, onde se incluem espécies domésticas, como o gado bovino e ovicaprino. A presença de espécies selvagens está também confirmada pelas evidências de veado, embora o seu modo de aquisição seja ainda desconhecido, se por atividades de caça locais ou por trocas comerciais. Foram também recuperados restos de conchas fluviais (Unio delphinus e Potomida littoralis), que apontam para uma exploração dos recursos dos rios Guadiana e Ardila. A presença de fragmentos de malacofauna marinha (cf. Ruditapes sp.) e de fragmentos de espinhas de peixe de espécies também marinhas (possivelmente da família dos tubarões) é reveladora de relações comerciais com o litoral. Os dados faunísticos apontam assim para um sítio de características rurais, pelo menos em parte dedicado à exploração dos recursos agropecuários e fluviais do território em que se implanta, revelando alguns indícios de ligações comerciais com o litoral.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Neanderthal Diets in Portugal: Small and Large Prey Consumption during the Marine Isotope Stage 5 (MIS-5)

Gruta da Figueira Brava and Gruta da Oliveira are two key-sites within the Middle Palaeolithic research in the Iberian Peninsula. They are located in Central Portugal, the former occupying a coastal position, whereas the latter is about 60 km inland. They were occupied during the MIS-5 and the retrieval of two important faunal collections are now vital to the reconstruction of the palaeoeconomic activities of the Last Interglacial Neanderthals, as well as to understanding their mobility patterns within the landscape. Both caves were within resource-rich landscapes with permanent water sources nearby. Gruta da Figueira Brava also profited from its proximity to the coast with access to an ecotonal environment. This results in the formation of faunal assemblages proliferous in ungulate remains, leporids, birds, tortoises, molluscs and crabs. After detailed taphonomical analyses, it was possible to ascertain that all faunal remains resulted from human activities with some contributions from other agents of accumulation. Neanderthals brought in complete carcasses of small prey, deer and ibex, whereas only the nutrient-rich parts of larger animals were brought home for further processing and consumption. All prey sizes were being evenly targeted, with systematic use of shellfish resources that led to the formation of deposits in Gruta da Figueira Brava comparable to those from nearby Mesolithic sites. Biometric analyses of limpets and tortoises hint at the systematic use and overexploitation of such resources. Quick moving small prey were targeted, with leporids and birds being used for food and maybe for pelts and feathers. The wide range of species exploited demonstrates that Neanderthals had consistent broad spectrum diets, which had implications on the type of site use, with a tendency for year-round occupations, which could have promoted the development of larger Neanderthal groups, and the consequent formation of more complex, more stratified and more organised social structures

Sistema elástico da laringe : revisão de alguns aspectos anatómicos

Trabalho Final do Curso de Mestrado Integrado em Medicina, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, 2016A fibras elásticas do ligamento vocal e da mucosa da laringe foram muitas vezes investigadas desde a sua descoberta e a sua importância funcional na produção e modificação da voz tem despertado interesse acerca da sua distribuição e arranjo. A laringe adulta está situada na parte média do pescoço, actua como um esfíncter. Podemos considerar que o lúmen da laringe é dividido em compartimentos diferentes por duas pregas emparelhadas, as bandas ventriculares (também denominadas pregas ventriculares ou falsas cordas) e as cordas vocais. A região delimitada pelas cordas vocais chama-se glote abaixo desta, subglote. O termo supraglote refere-se à região da laringe acima da glote. A laringe evoluiu e tem como função a passagem do ar, proteção e limpeza da via aérea, mas a sua complexa anatomia endolaríngea toma um papel central na fonação humana. A camada superficial das cordas vocais é formada por epitélio ciliado e em certos locais por estratificado não queratinizado, na parte profunda do epitélio está localizada a membrana basal. Abaixo do epitélio podemos encontrar a lâmina própria, que por sua vez está dividida em superficial, intermédia e camada profunda. Os componentes da matriz extracelular, secretados pelas células da lâmina própria ou fibroblastos. A elastina é responsável pela maior parte das propriedades que fazem com que as cordas vocais sejam capazes de esticar e voltar a sua forma original. Cada vez mais novas intervenções exploram este conhecimento crescente acerca da histologia das cordas vocais, de modo a desenvolver terapêuticas que atrasem o envelhecimento e curem patologias.The elastic fibers of the vocal ligament and the larynx mucous layer have been investigated since their discovery and their funcional importance in producting and modifing the human voice has aroused interest. The adult larynx e placed in the neck and it acts like a sphincter. We can consider that the larynx lumen is divided in diferente compartments by two paired folds, the ventricular folds and the vocal folds. The region that is delimited by the vocal folds is called glottis, and under glottis is located the subglottis, above these two is the supraglottis. The larynx serves the critical evolutionary function of air pathway, airway protection and material clearance, and also plays a central role in human phonation. The superficial layer of the vocal fold is non-keratinizing stratified squamous, and at the deepest aspect of the mucosal layer is the basement membrane. Under it, we find the lamina própria, divided in three layers, superficial, intermediate and deep. Extracellular matrix (ECM) components, secreted by the lamina propria cells or fibroblasts, exist in different quantities throughout the three layers. Elastin is responsible for much of the vocal fold’s elastic recoil or stretch properties. Increasingly, new interventions explore this knowledge so new therapeutics able to cure pathologies and delay aging

CDK1 Prevents Unscheduled PLK4-STIL Complex Assembly in Centriole Biogenesis

The deposited article is a post-print version (author's manuscript from PMC and available in PMC 2017 May 9).This publication hasn't any creative commons license associated.This deposit is composed by the main article and the supplementary materials are present in the publisher's page in the following link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982216303001?via%3Dihub#sec4Centrioles are essential for the assembly of both centrosomes and cilia. Centriole biogenesis occurs once and only once per cell cycle and is temporally coordinated with cell-cycle progression, ensuring the formation of the right number of centrioles at the right time. The formation of new daughter centrioles is guided by a pre-existing, mother centriole. The proximity between mother and daughter centrioles was proposed to restrict new centriole formation until they separate beyond a critical distance. Paradoxically, mother and daughter centrioles overcome this distance in early mitosis, at a time when triggers for centriole biogenesis Polo-like kinase 4 (PLK4) and its substrate STIL are abundant. Here we show that in mitosis, the mitotic kinase CDK1-CyclinB binds STIL and prevents formation of the PLK4-STIL complex and STIL phosphorylation by PLK4, thus inhibiting untimely onset of centriole biogenesis. After CDK1-CyclinB inactivation upon mitotic exit, PLK4 can bind and phosphorylate STIL in G1, allowing pro-centriole assembly in the subsequent S phase. Our work shows that complementary mechanisms, such as mother-daughter centriole proximity and CDK1-CyclinB interaction with centriolar components, ensure that centriole biogenesis occurs once and only once per cell cycle, raising parallels to the cell-cycle regulation of DNA replication and centromere formation.ERC grant: (ERC-2010-StG-261344); FCT grants: (FCT Investigator, EXPL/BIM-ONC/0830/2013, PTDC/SAU-BD/105616/2008); EMBO installation grant.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The prelude to industrial whaling:Identifying the targets of ancient European whaling using zooarchaeology and collagen mass-peptide fingerprinting

Taxonomic identification of whale bones found during archaeological excavations is problematic due to their typically fragmented state. This difficulty limits understanding of both the past spatio-temporal distributions of whale populations and of possible early whaling activities. To overcome this challenge, we performed zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry on an unprecedented 719 archaeological and palaeontological specimens of probable whale bone from Atlantic European contexts, predominantly dating from ca 3500 BCE to the eighteenth century CE. The results show high numbers of Balaenidae (many probably North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis)) and grey whale (Eschrichtius robustus) specimens, two taxa no longer present in the eastern North Atlantic. This discovery matches expectations regarding the past utilization of North Atlantic right whales, but was unanticipated for grey whales, which have hitherto rarely been identified in the European zooarchaeological record. Many of these specimens derive from contexts associated with mediaeval cultures frequently linked to whaling: the Basques, northern Spaniards, Normans, Flemish, Frisians, Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians. This association raises the likelihood that early whaling impacted these taxa, contributing to their extirpation and extinction. Much lower numbers of other large cetacean taxa were identified, suggesting that what are now the most depleted whales were once those most frequently used.</p

Palaeogenomic analysis of black rat (Rattus rattus) reveals multiple European introductions associated with human economic history

The distribution of the black rat (Rattus rattus) has been heavily influenced by its association with humans. The dispersal history of this non-native commensal rodent across Europe, however, remains poorly understood, and different introductions may have occurred during the Roman and medieval periods. Here, in order to reconstruct the population history of European black rats, we first generate a de novo genome assembly of the black rat. We then sequence 67 ancient and three modern black rat mitogenomes, and 36 ancient and three modern nuclear genomes from archaeological sites spanning the 1st-17th centuries CE in Europe and North Africa. Analyses of our newly reported sequences, together with published mitochondrial DNA sequences, confirm that black rats were introduced into the Mediterranean and Europe from Southwest Asia. Genomic analyses of the ancient rats reveal a population turnover in temperate Europe between the 6th and 10th centuries CE, coincident with an archaeologically attested decline in the black rat population. The near disappearance and re-emergence of black rats in Europe may have been the result of the breakdown of the Roman Empire, the First Plague Pandemic, and/or post-Roman climatic cooling.Peer reviewe

Tropical tree growth driven by dry-season climate variability

Interannual variability in the global land carbon sink is strongly related to variations in tropical temperature and rainfall. This association suggests an important role for moisture-driven fluctuations in tropical vegetation productivity, but empirical evidence to quantify the responsible ecological processes is missing. Such evidence can be obtained from tree-ring data that quantify variability in a major vegetation productivity component: woody biomass growth. Here we compile a pantropical tree-ring network to show that annual woody biomass growth increases primarily with dry-season precipitation and decreases with dry-season maximum temperature. The strength of these dry-season climate responses varies among sites, as reflected in four robust and distinct climate response groups of tropical tree growth derived from clustering. Using cluster and regression analyses, we find that dry-season climate responses are amplified in regions that are drier, hotter and more climatically variable. These amplification patterns suggest that projected global warming will probably aggravate drought-induced declines in annual tropical vegetation productivity. Our study reveals a previously underappreciated role of dry-season climate variability in driving the dynamics of tropical vegetation productivity and consequently in influencing the land carbon sink.We acknowledge financial support to the co-authors provided by Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica, Argentina (PICT 2014-2797) to M.E.F.; Alberta Mennega Stichting to P.G.; BBVA Foundation to H.A.M. and J.J.C.; Belspo BRAIN project: BR/143/A3/HERBAXYLAREDD to H.B.; Confederação da Agricultura e Pecuária do Brasil - CNA to C.F.; Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES, Brazil (PDSE 15011/13-5 to M.A.P.; 88881.135931/2016-01 to C.F.; 88887.199858/2018-00 to G.A.-P.; Finance Code 001 for all Brazilian collaborators); Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq, Brazil (ENV 42 to O.D.; 1009/4785031-2 to G.C.; 311874/2017-7 to J.S.); CONACYT-CB-2016-283134 to J.V.-D.; CONICET to F.A.R.; CUOMO FOUNDATION (IPCC scholarship) to M.M.; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft - DFG (BR 1895/15-1 to A.B.; BR 1895/23-1 to A.B.; BR 1895/29-1 to A.B.; BR 1895/24-1 to M.M.); DGD-RMCA PilotMAB to B.T.; Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Académico of the UNAM (Mexico) to R.B.; Elsa-Neumann-Scholarship of the Federal State of Berlin to F.S.; EMBRAPA Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation to C.F.; Equatorian Dirección de Investigación UNL (21-DI-FARNR-2019) to D.P.-C.; São Paulo Research Foundation FAPESP (2009/53951-7 to M.T.-F.; 2012/50457-4 to G.C.; 2018/01847‐0 to P.G.; 2018/24514-7 to J.R.V.A.; 2019/08783-0 to G.M.L.; 2019/27110-7 to C.F.); FAPESP-NERC 18/50080-4 to G.C.; FAPITEC/SE/FUNTEC no. 01/2011 to M.A.P.; Fulbright Fellowship to B.J.E.; German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to M.I. and M.R.; German Ministry of Education, Science, Research, and Technology (FRG 0339638) to O.D.; ICRAF through the Forests, Trees, and Agroforestry research programme of the CGIAR to M.M.; Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI-SGP-CRA 2047) to J.V.-D.; International Foundation for Science (D/5466-1) to M.I.; Lamont Climate Center to B.M.B.; Miquelfonds to P.G.; National Geographic Global Exploration Fund (GEFNE80-13) to I.R.; USA’s National Science Foundation NSF (IBN-9801287 to A.J.L.; GER 9553623 and a postdoctoral fellowship to B.J.E.); NSF P2C2 (AGS-1501321) to A.C.B., D.G.-S. and G.A.-P.; NSF-FAPESP PIRE 2017/50085-3 to M.T.-F., G.C. and G.M.L.; NUFFIC-NICHE programme (HEART project) to B.K., E.M., J.H.S., J.N. and R. Vinya; Peru ‘s CONCYTEC and World Bank (043-2019-FONDECYT-BM-INC.INV.) to J.G.I.; Peru’s Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico, Tecnológico y de Innovación Tecnológica (FONDECYT-BM-INC.INV 039-2019) to E.J.R.-R. and M.E.F.; Programa Bosques Andinos - HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation to M.E.F.; Programa Nacional de Becas y Crédito Educativo - PRONABEC to J.G.I.; Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future to J.N.; Sigma Xi to A.J.L.; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute to R. Alfaro-Sánchez.; Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs AECID (11-CAP2-1730) to H.A.M. and J.J.C.; UK NERC grant NE/K01353X/1 to E.G.Peer reviewe

Revisão sumária do percurso de investigação zooarqueológica no quadro teórico dos estudos de subsistência do Paleolítico Médio

In the course of a general review of zooarchaeological studies, particular attention is given to the development of the thinking process associated with hominin dietary strategies. Since the dawn of archaeological studies animal bones were noticed and recovered in association with man‑made tools. Since then, faunal remains have been discussed as the result of human dietary practices. However, the way such feeding activities were conducted has been the focus of an ongoing heated debate. Different subsistence strategies – i.e. Hunting vs Scavenging; Specialization vs Broad Spectrum; Inland vs Coastal Adaptation – have a strong impact on the image we create about our ancestors. Indeed, depending on the mode of acquisition and processing of faunal remains, hominins have been assessed on their cognitive abilities and, therefore, stamped as more, or less, evolved. More recently, new insights have been provided by the development of actualistic studies, highlighting the need to understand in detail the origin of the faunal accumulations. The formation of faunal assemblages in archaeological sites is not only dependent on anthropogenic activities.Durante uma revisão geral da evolução do pensamento zooarqueológico, é dada especial atenção ao desenvolvimento do processo intelectual associado às estratégias de subsistência dos hominídeos. Desde os primórdios da prática arqueológica que os ossos de animais foram observados e recuperados em contexto de escavação e em associação com outros utensílios de origem antrópica. Os restos de fauna têm, desde então, sido apresentados como o resultado de práticas alimentares humanas. Contudo, o modo como tais actividades foram realizadas no passado tem sido o centro de um contínuo e aceso debate. Diferentes estratégias de subsistência – como Caça vs Necrofagia; Dieta Especializada vs Dieta de Largo Espectro; Adaptação ao Interior vs Adaptação Costeira – têm tido um forte impacto na imagem que criamos sobre os nossos antepassados. O modo de aquisição e processamento de elementos faunísticos influenciam a forma como entendemos as suas capacidades cognitivas e, consequentemente, a forma como os consideramos mais, ou menos, evoluídos. Mais recentemente, novos dados têm vindo a ser fornecidos por variados estudos actualísticos que sublinham a necessidade de compreender de forma pormenorizada a origem das acumulações faunísticas. A formação destes conjuntos em contexto arqueológico não está apenas dependente de actividades antropogénicas.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Neanderthal Subsistence in Portugal: What Evidence?

A total of 270 Middle Palaeolithic sites are recorded in the Portuguese Archaeology Archive. However, only a few were systematically excavated, present valuable archaeological information and show reliable absolute date results. Amongst them, 13 archaeological sites yielded animal remains, but most of these assemblages are of indeterminate origin, or due to natural or carnivore accumulations. Therefore, only three sites have faunal assemblages produced by hominin activity: Gruta Nova da Columbeira, Gruta da Figueira Brava and Gruta da Oliveira. The last two caves are the ones currently being studied for a funded research project conducted in UCL Institute of Archaeology, therefore, providing substantial information on Neanderthal subsistence and palaeoenvironment in Portugal