Palaeontological remains from the Manga Larga Cave

O Algar da Manga Larga tem-se revelado uma das mais importantes cavidades verticais em Portugal e, apesar de ser já conhecido pelos espeleólogos desde há mais de trinta anos, continua a fornecer dados com relevante significado científico. No decurso de uma acção de pesquisa espeleológica promovida pela AESDA no referido Algar foi fotografado um conjunto de ossos de carnívoro, jacentes numa galeria a cerca de 95 metros abaixo da entrada da cavidade. As respectivas características morfológicas e biométricas indicavam tratar-se de um grande felídeo, remetendo para espécie actualmente extinta na Europa, nomeadamente o leopardo, Panthera pardus (L., 1758). A evidente importância paleontológica dos testemunhos ósseos levou a que se desencadeasse um conjunto de procedimentos com o objectivo de os salvaguardar adequadamente e de promover o seu estudo. Para esse efeito, realizaram-se os contactos necessários e procedeu-se ao registo e à recolha das peças em apreço atribuindo especial atenção à sua integridade e conservação. Seguiram-se as tarefas ligadas ao estudo biométrico comparativo dos restos osteológicos. A presença deste e outros vestígios faunísticos, nomeadamente de gato-bravo, em zonas profundas e de difícil acesso desta gruta, indiciam a existência de condutas que estão ou estiveram em contacto com o meio exterior, as quais não foram ainda referenciadas. Deste modo, para além do evidente interesse paleontológico da descoberta, é possível serem extrapoladas interpretações com aplicação no âmbito da exegese da própria cavidade, situação que levou já à descoberta de uma galeria não registada. Este trabalho tem vindo a ser amplamente divulgado junto da comunidade espeleológica nacional e internacional, inclusivamente no 14º Congresso Internacional de Espeleologia que se realizou em 2005 na Grécia. O estudo paleontológico está concluído e a aguardar publicação em revista da especialidade (CARDOSO & REGALA, no prelo)

O património espeleo-arqueológico do Algarve: inventariação, caracterização e salvaguarda de cavidades cársicas com potencial arqueológico

No presente trabalho procedeu-se à compilação, tanto quanto possível exaustiva, da informação existente sobre as grutas rochosas naturais do Algarve e à caracterização patrimonial de um conjunto de 135 cavidades. É proposto um modelo para a avaliação das mesmas quanto à sua importância arqueológica, cultural (lato sensu) e natural, com base em 14 descritores e dois sistemas alternativos de equacionamento. Essa valoração patrimonial deu alicerces a uma padronização, também aqui proposta, das medidas de salvaguarda a adoptar, sendo detalhadas as vias de aplicação dessas medidas no presente quadro legal de protecção do património cultural, dos Instrumentos de Gestão Territorial e dos procedimentos de Avaliação de Impacte Ambiental. É sugerida a classificação de 15 grutas no grau de Interesse Municipal, 4 grutas no grau de Interesse Público e, como Monumento Nacional do património cultural, o complexo de grutas de Ibn Ammar. Embora a metodologia desenvolvida seja particularmente dirigida ao contexto do barrocal algarvio e ao quadro legal português, houve a preocupação de a tornar tão universal quanto possível, tentativamente adaptável a quaisquer outros contextos cársicos. O cruzamento metódico dos dados recolhidos em campo com os constantes da documentação coligida possibilitou a criação de um documento - Anexo I - que é, simultaneamente, um inventário das grutas do Algarve e um tratado do conhecimento técnico e científico sobre as mesmas produzido ao longo do tempo. Foram identificadas no terreno 195 cavidades, às quais acrescem as referências documentais a 42 grutas não confirmadas in situ. Sendo actualmente reconhecidas as virtudes da inter e pluridisciplinaridade das ciências, a arqueologia, o património cultural e o património natural foram aqui conjugados, numa abordagem eminentemente espeleológica. A investigação realizada conduziu à identificação de vestígios e contextos arqueológicos relevantes em meio endocársico, dos quais não existia registo, aumentando o conhecimento sobre esse recurso patrimonial no Algarve, com 24 novos sítios a integrar no Sistema de Informação e Gestão Arqueológica.In this research work we present a compilation, as exhaustive as possible, of the documented information related to natural rock cavities in the Algarve and a characterization of 135 caves. A model for the assessment of their archaeological, cultural (lato sensu) and natural importance is here proposed, based on 14 classification indicators and two alternative reckoning systems. This evaluation provides the ground for a standardization, also proposed, of the protective measures to be promoted. The conveying administrative resources are specified, within the current legal framework for the protection of cultural heritage, the Territorial Management Instruments and the Environmental Impact Assessment procedures. We suggest the classification of 15 caves within the Municipal Interest degree, 4 caves graded to the National Public Interest and the cave complex of Ibn Ammar as a National Monument of our cultural heritage. Although the endorsed methodology is mainly directed to the Algarvian “barrocal” context and the portuguese legal framework, concern was taken to make it as universal as possible, tentatively adaptable to any other karst areas. Data collected in the field was methodically cross-checked with the gathered documented information, on a case-by-case basis, allowing the production of a document - Appendix I - that is, simultaneously, an inventory of caves in the Algarve and a treatise of the scientific and technical knowledge for this matter produced over time. A total of 195 caves was referenced in the field and 42 additional caves were referred to in documents but not confirmed in situ. Presently, the virtues of inter and pluridisciplinary sciences are recognized, therefore, archeology, cultural and natural heritage were combined here, in an eminently speleological approach. The conducted investigation led to the identification of relevant archaeological vestiges and contexts, of which there was no previous record, increasing the knowledge about this resource in the Algarve, summing up 24 new sites to the Portuguese archaeological data-base

Os adornos do Paleolítico Superior de Vale Boi (Vila do Bispo - Algarve)

Dissertação de mest., Arqueologia, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais, Univ. do Algarve, 2011Na jazida arqueológica de Vale Boi (Vila do Bispo - Algarve) surgiu um significativo conjunto de peças de adorno fabricadas a partir de conchas de gastrópodes marinhos e fluviais (Littorina obtusata / fabalis, Trivia monacha / arctica e Theodoxus fluviatilis), de escafópodes (Dentalium sp.) e de dente de cervídeo, em contextos do Paleolítico Superior, desde o Gravetense ao Magdalenense. Apresenta-se o inventário e a descrição dos materiais, e são analisadas as características subjacentes às técnicas utilizadas para a modificação das matrizes naturais, recorrendo a métodos experimentais. Estabelecem-se comparações biométricas para uma caracterização paleobiológica de algumas das espécies presentes. Do mesmo modo, estes artefactos são comparados com outros congéneres quanto aos aspectos tecno-tipológicos. Com base nas características dos materiais em foco procura-se determinar relações de afinidade tipológica e estilística com peças análogas, sobretudo as recolhidas em território ibérico mas relacionando, também, com peças provenientes de outras jazidas do ocidente europeu

Sobre a presença de Mamute, Mammuthus Primigenius (Blumembach, 1799) em Portugal: descoberta de uma lamela dentária em depósitos Plistocénicos do fundo do estuário do Tejo (Cruz Quebrada, Oeiras)

Em Abril de 1999, o pescador Pedro M. A. Pereira, no decurso de operação de arrasto para a pesca de amêijoa em zona defronte de Cruz Quebrada (Oeiras), deparou na draga (gadanha) com a peça que será objecto deste estudo. Despertando-lhe natural curiosidade, pela sua bizarra morfologia, guardou-a, vindo a entregá-la para estudo, por intermédio do Assistente de Arqueólogo Marco Calado, a quem se agradece a comunicação que dela prontamente fez, a um de nós (F. T. R.).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Understanding paleolithic human coastal adaptations in southwetern Iberian Peninsula (Paleocoast Project)

The geological and geomorphological formations in the Atlantic shore of Southern Portugal in Algarve are characterized by karstic formations. Karstic features, such as natural caves and shelters, have long been seen as an attractive ecological and geological landscape to early human occupation during the Pleistocene and Early Holocene. The project PaleoCoast, Paleolithic Human Coastal Adaptations in Southwestern Iberian Peninsula, aims to locate and identify coastal karst formation, and assess its speleological and geological characterization, and archaeological potential. This poster introduces the PaleoCoast research project, including research scope, goals and methods, and an overview on the preliminary results from the pilot study conducted in 2017.PALEOCOAST Projectinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Vale Boi (Algarve, Portugal) y el Solutrense en el suroeste de la Península Ibérica

Located at the crossroads of two rather different ecological and cultural worlds (Mediterranean Spain and Portuguese Atlantic), the site of Vale Boi (Algarve, Portugal) is a crucial element in understanding the economic and social traits of the communities that inhabited Southwestern Iberia during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Combining an open-air with a rockshelter component, Vale Boi presents a lengthy Solutrean record starting with a Proto-Solutrean phase followed by a set of occupations in the 25 to 20.3 ka cal BP time-span. The very rich and well preserved assemblages proved that the site was treated, throughout, as a seasonal residential camp and although a striking combination of exogenous cultural traits has been identified, regional adaptive idiosyncrasies are quite evident. This paper focuses on the results of the lithics, fauna, beads and portable art analysis from Vale Boi, and their impact on the comprehension of the LGM ecodynamics in Southwestern Iberia.Localizado en el marco de dos contextos diferentes desde el punto de vista ecológico y cultural (el Mediterráneo español y el Atlántico portugués), el yacimiento de Vale Boi (Algarve, Portugal) es un lugar fundamental para comprender la organización económica y social de las comunidades que habitaron el sudoeste de la Península Ibérica durante el Último Máximo Glacial (LGM). Situado en una zona en la que se combinan ocupaciones al aire libre y en abrigo, Vale Boi presenta un amplio registro solutrense que comienza con el Proto-Solutrense y a la que le siguen un amplio número de ocupaciones entre el 25 y el 20,3 ka BP. El importante y bien preservado conjunto demuestra que este asentamiento funcionó como un campamento residencia estacional. Aunque han sido identificados diversos caracteres culturales de origen exógeno, son también evidentes los elementos adaptativos idiosincráticos. El presente artículo se centra en los resultados de los análisis del utillaje lítico, la fauna, las cuentas ornamentales y los objetos de arte mueble de Vale Boi y su impacto en la comprensión ecodinámica del LGM en el sudoeste de la Península Ibérica

The Bom Santo Cave (Lisbon, Portugal): catchment, diet, and patterns of mobility of a Middle Neolithic population

The study of the Bom Santo Cave (central Portugal), a Neolithic cemetery, indicates a complex social, palaeoeconomic, and population scenario. With isotope, aDNA, and provenance, analyses of raw materials coupled with stylistic variability of material culture items and palaeogeographical data, light is shed on the territory and social organization of a population dated to 3800-3400 cal BC, i.e. the Middle Neolithic. Results indicate an itinerant farming, segmentary society, where exogamic practices were the norm. Its lifeway may be that of the earliest megalithic builders of the region, but further research is needed to correctly evaluate the degree of this community's participation in such a phenomenon

Genomic variation in baboons from central Mozambique unveils complex evolutionary relationships with other Papio species

Background Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique hosts a large population of baboons, numbering over 200 troops. Gorongosa baboons have been tentatively identified as part of Papio ursinus on the basis of previous limited morphological analysis and a handful of mitochondrial DNA sequences. However, a recent morphological and morphometric analysis of Gorongosa baboons pinpointed the occurrence of several traits intermediate between P. ursinus and P. cynocephalus, leaving open the possibility of past and/or ongoing gene flow in the baboon population of Gorongosa National Park. In order to investigate the evolutionary history of baboons in Gorongosa, we generated high and low coverage whole genome sequence data of Gorongosa baboons and compared it to available Papio genomes. Results We confirmed that P. ursinus is the species closest to Gorongosa baboons. However, the Gorongosa baboon genomes share more derived alleles with P. cynocephalus than P. ursinus does, but no recent gene flow between P. ursinus and P. cynocephalus was detected when available Papio genomes were analyzed. Our results, based on the analysis of autosomal, mitochondrial and Y chromosome data, suggest complex, possibly male-biased, gene flow between Gorongosa baboons and P. cynocephalus, hinting to direct or indirect contributions from baboons belonging to the “northern” Papio clade, and signal the presence of population structure within P. ursinus. Conclusions The analysis of genome data generated from baboon samples collected in central Mozambique highlighted a complex set of evolutionary relationships with other baboons. Our results provided new insights in the population dynamics that have shaped baboon diversity.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL : A data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in P ortugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with 26% of all species being includedin the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associatedwith habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mam-mals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion formarine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems func-tionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is cru-cial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS INPORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublishedgeoreferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mam-mals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira thatincludes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occur-ring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live obser-vations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%),bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent lessthan 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrowsjsoil moundsjtunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animaljhairjskullsjjaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8),observation in shelters, (9) photo trappingjvideo, (10) predators dietjpelletsjpine cones/nuts, (11) scatjtrackjditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalizationjecholocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and100 m (76%). Rodentia (n=31,573) has the highest number of records followedby Chiroptera (n=18,857), Carnivora (n=18,594), Lagomorpha (n=17,496),Cetartiodactyla (n=11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n=7008). The data setincludes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened(e.g.,Oryctolagus cuniculus[n=12,159],Monachus monachus[n=1,512],andLynx pardinus[n=197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate thepublication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contrib-ute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting onthe development of more accurate and tailored conservation managementstrategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite thisdata paper when the data are used in publications.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mammals in Portugal: a data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in Portugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with ~26% of all species being included in the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associated with habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mammals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion for marine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems functionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is crucial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublished georeferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mammals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira that includes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occurring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live observations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%), bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent less than 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrows | soil mounds | tunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animal | hair | skulls | jaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8), observation in shelters, (9) photo trapping | video, (10) predators diet | pellets | pine cones/nuts, (11) scat | track | ditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalization | echolocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and 100 m (76%). Rodentia (n =31,573) has the highest number of records followed by Chiroptera (n = 18,857), Carnivora (n = 18,594), Lagomorpha (n = 17,496), Cetartiodactyla (n = 11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n = 7008). The data set includes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened (e.g., Oryctolagus cuniculus [n = 12,159], Monachus monachus [n = 1,512], and Lynx pardinus [n = 197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate the publication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contribute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting on the development of more accurate and tailored conservation management strategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications