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Introduction
Archaeologist and archaeobotanist I carry out investigation in several subjects within vegetation history, the evolution of agricultural systems and the exploitation of plant resources by human communities. Still, most of my investigation focuses the relation between social trends and environmental changes with a particular emphasis on the evolution of agriculture. Currently I coordinate the Environmental Archaeology Group at InBIO (Research Network In Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology).
Current institution
Publications
Publications (168)
Some of the earliest Western European macroremains of rye (Secale cereale) have been recently recovered in Northwest Iberia. However, the chronological and cultural contexts of these remains have not been yet exhaustively analysed. To address this gap of research, previous and unpublished assemblages have been reviewed and analysed through an analy...
This paper presents the results of carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses on 50 charred seed samples from the medieval villages of Zornoztegi and Aistra, dated to between fourth and fourteenth centuries CE. The assemblage was mainly formed by Triticum aestivum/durum, although some Hordeum vulgare, Avena and Vicia ervilia samples were also incl...
Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) diversity richness results from a complex domestication history over multiple historical periods. Here, we used whole-genome resequencing to elucidate different aspects of its recent evolutionary history. Our results support a model in which a central domestication event in grapevine was followed by postdomestication h...
This paper analyses and discusses the fuel and plant offerings found in 174 primary (pyre remains) and secondary contexts (ritual pits) of the necropolis of Via XVII in Bracara Augusta (Braga), in northern Portugal. This site is one of the largest Roman funerary complexes in the Iberian Peninsula, spanning from the last decades of the 1st century B...
The site of Castelinho (Torre de Moncorvo, northeast of Portugal) is a fortification strategically placed on a small elevation, near the river Sabor, built in the Late Iron Age and occupied until the Early Roman period. It is characterized by impressive defensive features, including large walls with turrets, ditches and complex entrances, inside of...
Cities played a crucial role in spreading the new Roman way across a vast Empire. This included the dissemination of different crops and processed food products such as wine, olive oil and fish sauces. Besides, the concentration of population in cities put pressure on local resources, not just for food, but also for wood, needed for construction an...
Financiado por fundos nacionais da FCT no âmbito do projeto B-Roman (PTDC/HAR-ARQ/4909/2020). Resumo O projeto hidroelétrico do Baixo Sabor (Torre de Moncorvo, Bragança) implicou a implementação do Plano de Salvaguarda do Património (2010-2015) e a realização de um conjunto de trabalhos arqueológicos. As intervenções permitiram identificar cinco sí...
resumo
Ao longo de milénios, a madeira foi a principal matéria-prima usada em construção,
manufatura de objetos e como combustível. Em contextos arqueológicos, pode surgir
preservada de diferentes formas e associada a diferentes contextos, pelo que o seu
estudo permite compreender de que modo e para que fins seria usada pelas comunidades
do passado...
Resumo O uso de materiais vegetais foi, e ainda é, uma constante em contextos funerários das mais variadas cronologias, culturas e geogra-fias, onde podem ter funções ou simbolismos variados. No entanto, sendo perecíveis, só se preservam em condições particulares e a sua identificação, recolha e estudo exigem méto-dos específicos. Este artigo abord...
Nesta síntese caracterizam‑se
as dinâmicas de vegetação com recurso a dados polínicos
de diferentes sequências do ocidente peninsular, de forma a obter informação acerca do
impacte da romanização no que viria a tornar‑se
a província da Lusitania.
De uma forma geral, as tendências de desflorestação já observadas na Idade do Ferro
mantêm‑se,
com perd...
Resumo
O artigo apresenta os resultados dos trabalhos arqueológicos levados a cabo na chamada Casa de Andercus, nas ruínas
da cidade romana de Conimbriga (Coimbra, Portugal).
A casa, identificada nas escavações de 1964–1971, mas apenas muito limitadamente escavada, foi pela primeira vez alvo
de um levantamento completo por georradar, que permitiu r...
O uso de materiais vegetais foi, e ainda é, uma constante em contextos funerários das mais variadas cronologias, culturas e geografias, onde podem ter funções ou simbolismos variados. No entanto, sendo perecíveis, só se preservam em condições particulares e a sua identificação, recolha e estudo exigem métodos específicos. Este artigo aborda o poten...
Nas últimas décadas, assistiu-se em Portugal a uma maturação acelerada da produção científica em Arqueobotânica. No entanto, existem ainda muitos obstáculos à definitiva afirmação desta arqueociência no país e à salvaguarda de uma componente do Património arqueológico nacional que é ainda largamente ignorada. Neste artigo, os autores propõem a cria...
Laksar is a small river near the village of Ksar Seghir, located between Tangier and Ceuta (Morocco), strategic points to control the Strait of Gibraltar over centuries. The river outlets at the western part of a sandy beach that can block the fluvial discharge in years of low precipitation/river flow. The area is densely occupied since the 5th cen...
Freixo/Tongobriga (Marco de Canaveses, Northwest Portugal) is an archaeological site on a vast hill near the Tâmega and Douro rivers. It was an important Roman city, well-known for its monumental buildings (e.g. Forum, Baths). Nonetheless, excavations have shown that the area was occupied for a longer time span. In this paper, archaeobotanical resu...
NW Iberia is dominated by Atlantic climate areas that favour pollen preservation, useful for palaeoecological studies. However, the region also includes Mediterranean sectors in which preservation of such palaeoenvironmental evidence is more difficult. To overcome these constraints, archaeological plant macroremains can be used to help characterize...
This paper discusses the archaeological research and historical contextualisation of the Alto da Raia enclosure located on the border between northern Portugal and Galicia, identified as a possible Roman camp, following an interdisciplinary and multi-proxy approach. This included archaeological excavation, remote sensing and geophysical survey, as...
Os ambientes húmidos, situados em áreas de interface terra – água, encerram enorme potencial em termos
de conservação de materiais orgânicos, pelo que exigem estratégias arqueológicas que incorporem todas as
componentes que permitam potenciar este património único. Nos últimos anos verificou-se uma necessidade
crescente de realizar intervenções e i...
During the 1990’s and 2000’s, several excavations in Alcáçova de Santarém revealed extensive archaeological evidences dated from the Bronze Age until the Medieval Period. The archaeobotanical analysis conducted on samples recovered in pits dating from the Late Antiquity to the Islamic Period revealed an abundant set of
macroremains, composed of mul...
In the scope of FCT project IGAEDIS, focussing on the agrarian landscapes around ciuitas Igaeditanorum, archaeological excavations were made in the rural settlement of Terra Grande (Idanha-a-Velha, Castelo Branco). These revealed a building of substantial size whose material culture points to a chronology between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Sever...
As intervenções arqueológicas realizadas no sítio da Foz do Medal revelaram lareiras, buracos de poste e, principalmente, fossas datadas de diferentes momentos do Mesolítico e do Bronze Médio, onde foram recolhidos
macrorrestos vegetais. O seu estudo sugere que as comunidades humanas que frequentaram o local no Mesolítico e na Idade do Bronze movim...
Ferro e a Época Romana Imperial (séculos IV a.C. – II d.C.), sendo reocupado, depois
de um hiato, em Época Omíada (séculos IX-XI). O estudo arqueobotânico sugere que
o sítio integrava uma paisagem bastante antropizada, com abundantes estevais e algumas
áreas de bosque de azinheiras e/ou sobreiros, onde as comunidades humanas
terão recolhido lenha p...
Intervenções arqueológicas realizadas no castro de Salreu (Estarreja) permitiram identificar
vestígios de uma cabana e da estrutura de delimitação do povoado, assim como
balizar a sua ocupação entre os séculos IV/III a.C. e I a.C./I d.C. Através de análises
arqueobotânicas foi possível identificar abundantes frutos e sementes de diferentes
espécies...
Started in 2022, the project “Ecologies of Feedom: Materialities of Slavery and Post-emancipation in the
Atlantic World” (ECOFREEDOM) is an archaeological, interdisciplinary research project about the formation
of the Atlantic world since the 16th century, with a focus on the social and environmental impacts of slavery
and colonialism in Cacheu,...
Pits excavated in the ground are the most frequent archaeological features in prehistoric sites. Their processes of backfilling are extremely complex, and therefore the interpretation of the archaeobotanical data obtained from them has been difficult. Our previous research focused on Bronze Age sites of northwest Iberia such as Monte das Cabanas (S...
At Rei Ramiro (Vila Nova de Gaia, Norte de Portugal), just a few meters away from the Douro river a diversified set of archaeological contexts was identified, testifying for an extensive and long-term occupation. The uniqueness of some structures stands out, namely circular houses from the Iron Age, as well as a large granary (horreum), probably bu...
Mesas do Castelinho was occupied between the Late Iron Age and the Roman Imperial Period (4th century BC- 2nd century AD). After a hiatus it was reoccupied in the Ommiad Period (9th-11th centuries). Archaeobotanical analyses suggest that it was part of a highly humanized landscape. Shrubby formations dominated by rockroses were likely abundant, tog...
Excavations carried out at “Casa Romana” (Roman house) of the Castro de São Domingos (Lousada, Northern Portugal) between 2009 and 2021 included the recovery of sedimentary samples for archaeobotanical analyses. Th ese samples came from a diverse set of contexts from between the Iron Age and the Late Antiquity. Th e carpological study (fruits/seeds...
RESUMO
Três campanhas arqueológicas no Castro de Alvarelhos (Trofa) realizadas entre 2020 e 2022 no âmbito do projeto
CAESAR, permitiram a identificação de vários contextos de ocupação e estruturas domésticas datadas de
entre o séc. II a.C. e os sécs. IV-V d.C. Foram recolhidas amostras sedimentares para análise arqueobotânica no
CIBIO-BIOPOLIS.
Ne...
RESUMO
A villa da Quinta da Bolacha, localizada na Falagueira (Amadora), possui uma longa e complexa diacronia de
ocupação, que lhe confere singular importância no contexto da caracterização do ager de Olisipo.
A sua ocupação durante a Antiguidade Tardia é a que surge mais nitidamente na leitura estratigráfica, uma vez
que se sobrepôs às anteriores...
![Fig. 3. Detailed view of Structures [229] (above) and [247] (below).](profile/Luis-Seabra-4/publication/361587817/figure/fig2/AS:1185296859312128@1659608201710/Detailed-view-of-Structures-229-above-and-247-below_Q320.jpg)
The site of Castro S. João das Arribas is placed on the edge of a cliff over the Douro river (Miranda do Douro, Northeast of Portugal). Archaeological interventions in its highest area uncovered a main occupation from Late Antiquity. On its western part a functional space was recorded, which included two small above-ground structures and abundant c...
The excavation of the Roman Healing Spa of Aquae Flauae (Chaves) revealed a vast set of waterlogged archaeobotanical remains, ascribed to the late 4th century AD. This material included varied timber pieces, diverse small wooden objects and macro carpological remains. The arqueobotanical study of wooden remains, aside from the identification of tec...
O presente artigo efectua uma primeira apresentação do concheiro neolítico do Lisandro (Mafra, Lisboa, Portugal), numa abordagem interdisciplinar. Identificado em 2017 e objecto de uma escavação de emergência em 2018, Lisandro apresenta um depósito conquífero entre dunas, evidenciando uma ocupação exclusivamente relacionada com o consumo de fauna m...
Small rural places are largely absent from early medieval written sources, but they were profuse and relevant in regional settlements and economies. Only through archaeological and archaeobotanical investigation is it possible to unveil their structure and productive strategies; however, this kind of investigation is still uncommon in Iberia. Here,...
A Arqueologia é uma ciência inerentemente interdisciplinar, pelo que as Arqueociências são parte integrante da atividade arqueológica. Embora a um ritmo lento, a Arqueologia portuguesa tem acompanhado a tendência de renovação
metodológica e de crescente interdisciplinaridade que caracteriza a Terceira Revolução Científica. É expectável que este per...
Grapevine ( Vitis vinifera L.) is one of the most significant crops in the world. Today’s richness in grapevine diversity results from a complex domestication history over multiple historical periods. Here, we employed whole genome resequencing to elucidate different aspects of the recent evolutionary history of this crop. Our results support a mod...
Studies regarding medieval agriculture have focused
almost exclusively on written sources but archaeological
investigation has already proven to be
a valuable source of information, particularly when
it includes archaeobotanical analyses. However, Iberian
Medieval Archaeobotany is still underdeveloped,
which represents a definite loss of key eviden...
Archaeological excavations at Vila do Touro uncovered a Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age occupation at the top of a prominent hill. It consisted of a structure built with perishable materials, supported by postholes, and a small subcircular storage facility made of stone. Abundant carbonized plant remains were visible throughout the excavation area d...
A transição do Pleistocénico para o Holocénico correspondeu a um período de fortes flutuações climáticas com
grande impacto na paisagem e o estudo do registo paleoecológico para este período é crucial para conhecermos como se estabeleceram e evoluíram as condições do atual interglaciar.
Apresenta-se, aqui, uma síntese dos dados palinológicos e antr...
A large set of archaeobotanical samples were recovered during the excavation of Quinta de Crestelos (Mogadouro), several of which have already been published. This paper focusses on the charcoal analysis still unpublished from two sectors of this site. The first, located in the lower platform, relates to a habitation area comprised of huts and fire...
O Castro de Guifões (Matosinhos, Noroeste de Portugal), estrategicamente implantado junto ao Rio Leça, tem sido alvo de estudo por vários arqueólogos, desde os finais do século XIX. Em 2016, tiveram início novas escavações arqueológicas que levaram à recolha de amostras sedimentares para análises arqueobotânicas. Neste trabalho serão divulgados os...
In the last few years, large-scale archaeological projects carried out at medieval sites in the Basque Country have obtained a significant collection of archaeobotanical assemblages, creating the opportunity to address, from a fresh perspective, a social history of agriculture in the region. This paper presents the study of the village of Zornozteg...
Wood has been ubiquitous, widely available and multipurpose raw material used trough History for crafting from individual possessions and utilitarian utensils as well as for building dwellings and other kind of buildings, or even for making means of transport-such carts, sleds, boats, etc.-, carving sculptures and figures, etc. Crafting wood involv...
The Tardiglacial of Portugal has been associated with the Magdalenian culture and lithic industries characterized by tool miniaturization, a diversity of microlith types, and the absence of a intentional blade production. The technological characterization, the chronology and the phasing of the Portuguese Magdalenian have been defined based on data...
In prehistoric sites, the most common features identified by archaeologists are negative ones, such as pits, postholes, hearths, sunken hut, and among others. However, interpretations are not easy, and some researchers prefer not to reflect upon them, classifying them as rubbish pits while other researchers argue that these structures have other fu...
During the excavation of eight roman sites in the Lower Sabor valley, sediment samples were recovered and carpological analyses were carried out in order to obtain data regarding agriculture and storage. Naked wheat was the most frequent crop during the Roman period, but barley and millet were also relevant. The presence of grapes is documented whi...
Dear colleagues, We would like to invite you to submit your abstracts for the EAA session 228-"The exchange of plants and food practices through the Neolithic period to Iron Age". With this session, we intend to gather papers focusing on the exchange of plants and food practices in all stages of agricultural systems from the seeds, harvesting tools...
In this paper we present a case of a double burial (T.310/326) from the Phoenician Punic necropolis of Monte Sirai (Carbonia, Sardinia, Italy). This peculiar tomb, which comprises the inhumation of a woman, presents unique constructive features, namely a big stone cover that confers a high visual reference to the necropolis. Furthermore, a cooking...
Coodinadoras: María Martín-Seijo y Olallá López Costas.
Universidad de Veran 2019. Curso "Bioarqueología: introducción teórico-practica". Santiago de Compostela. Facultad de Biología. 17-21 de junio de 2019. 25 horas lectivas.
This paper presents an overview of the current state of research on Roman, Late Antique and medieval agriculture in the Iberian Peninsula through the study of archaeobotanical samples (seeds and fruits) collected on a large number of rural and urban sites spread throughout Iberia's geography. It includes published and unpublished data. The plant ta...
The Iron Age site of Crastoeiro (Mondim de Basto, Vila
Real, North Portugal) revealed an interesting set of pits opened
in the bedrock. Soil samples were collected from these and a
carpological study was carried out in order to obtain information
about crop diversity and characterize the storage structures.
Nineteen samples from 4 pits yielded impo...
El yacimiento de la Edad del Hierro de Crastoeiro (Mondim de Basto, Vila Real, Norte de Portugal) reveló un interesante conjunto de fosas excavadas en la roca. De su interior se recogieron muestras de sedimento y se realizó un estudio carpológico con el objetivo de obtener información sobre la diversidad de cultivos y prácticas agrícolas y de carac...
The archaeological campaigns in the Iron Age site of Crastoeiro (Mondim de Basto, Vila Real) exposed a set of pits opened in the bedrock. These revealed a wide amount of carpological remains, allowing a better understanding about crop diversity, as well as storage practices. Through the study of nineteen samples from four pits, the results showed t...
Poster presented at ESHE 2018 Meeting
O povoado da Quinta de Crestelos (Mogadouro) foi intervencionado no âmbito das medidas de minimização do Aproveitamento Hidroelétrico do Baixo Sabor. Na área mais elevada deste povoado, uma crista alongada, foram identificados 8 horrea com cronologias balizadas entre o séc. I a.C. e II d.C. Durante a escavação da área, foram efetuadas recolhas de s...
ARCH-BOT: II Ciclo de conferencias en arqueoloxía e arqueobotánica
Coordina: María Martín-Seijo (GEPN-AAT.USC)
Inscrición previa: maria.martin.seijo@usc.es
O Crasto de Palheiros tem sido alvo de diferentes estudos interdisciplinares que, desde o início incluíram análises de arqueobotânica. Neste âmbito, os estudos carpológicos permitiram a identificação de uma área de armazenagem na Plataforma Inferior Leste deste povoado, que terá sido destruída por um incêndio no final da Idade do Ferro. Restavam, p...
Environmental archaeology can reveal long term changes in species distributions, helping to understand the interplay of ecological and human factors driving range shifts. Here we investigate changes in the distribution of the mastic tree Pistacia lentiscus in western Iberia, and explore the role that changes in climate, environment and society coul...
Inserted in the Patrimonial Safeguard Plan of the Hydroelectric Exploitation of the Lower Sabor, the archaeological site at the Quinta do Medal (EP 201) is one of the few sites of this project whose chronology spans the late-modern period. The archaeobotanical contents of 26 samples retrieved on-site allowed an anthracological and carpological anal...
The functionality of Cova da Baleia (Mafra, Portugal) is hereby presented and discussed in this paper. In an excavated area of 500m² was identified a large concentration of structures (128), of which 104 were in clay, with two phases of occupation. The absolute chronology indicates a majority occupation of the second half of the 8th millennium cal...
A fire event in S. Gens allowed the conservation of organic material from the destruction of timber structures associated with rock outcrops in the settlement entrance. Results revealed the dominance of oak species (Quercus spp.) in the charcoal assemblage and broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) in the carpological assemblage. Concerning the remai...
Based on data from different disciplines, such as Archaeology, Palaeobotany and History, the key moments of landscape evolution in the coastal stretch surrounding the Aveiro Lagoon are identified and interpreted in a broad diachronic perspective. In the southern part of the region, just north of the Lower Mondego River Valley, we find a broad flatt...
Recent archaeobotanical studies in medieval sites from Central Portugal provided relevant data on the use of wood as construction material and fuel . Archaeological levels with clear signs of destruction by fire are documented in several sites dated to the 9 th-10th centuries . Such fires allowed the preservation of a wide set of evidences of daily...
This paper focuses on the relationship between human communities and wood resources in the Sabor valley (Trás-os-Montes region, northeast Portugal) during the Early and Middle Bronze Age. Charcoal from three archaeological sites—Terraço das Laranjeiras, Foz do Medal and Quinta de Crestelos—was analysed. As in other Early-Middle Bronze Age sites in...
The construction of Baixo Sabor Dam (NE Portugal), led to the discovery and excavation of the site of Quinta de Crestelos, with a human occupation ranging from the Early Palaeolithic to mid-20th century. Its Iron Age phase, found at the site's hilltop, revealed an unprecedented large number of combustion structures, comprehending several typologies...
