Biography

I am an archaeologist interested in prehistoric hunter-gatherer adaptations, specifically in how these are related to processes of climate and environmental change. I focus on the study of lithic technological organization and its correlation with various aspects of ecological dynamics and human behavior. I currently direct fieldwork in several sites within the context of my ERC Consolidator Grant - FINISTERRA: Population trajectories and cultural dynamics of the late Neanderthals in Far Western Eurasia. I am also a collaborator in different projects on the Middle and Later Stone Age in Mozambique and Sudan. Currently I am also the Director of ICArEHB, a research center for Archaeology at the University of Algarve.

Interests

  • Prehistoric Hunter-gatherer adaptations
  • Stone tool technology
  • Computer applications in archaeological practice

Education

  • Habilitation in Archaeology, 2024

    Universidade do Algarve

  • PhD in Archaeology, 2013

    Universidade do Algarve

  • MA in Archaeology, 2009

    Universidade do Algarve

  • Licenciatura in Cutural Heritage, 2007

    Universidade do Algarve

Latest Publications

For a complete list check my CV

Alternating carnivore and Neanderthal activities at Escoural Cave: insights from the taphonomic and machine learning analysis of leporid remains

Exploring the varied subsistence strategies and cave occupation patterns of Neanderthals is key to understanding their complex …

Creating frames of reference for chert exploitation during the Late Pleistocene in Southwesternmost Iberia

Southwestern Iberia has played a key role in characterizing Late Pleistocene human ecodynamics. Among other aspects of human behavior, …

The sediment at the end of the tunnel: Geophysical research to locate the Pleistocene entrance of Gruta da Companheira (Algarve, Southern Portugal)

Until recently, evidence of Neanderthal cave use in the Algarve (Southern Portugal) came only from the site of Ibn Ammar. Over the last …

Projects

FINISTERRA - Population Trajectories and Cultural Dynamics of late Neanderthals in Far Western Eurasia

We now know more than ever about how Neanderthals disappeared and how our species successfully expanded across a single, enormous piece …

The origins and evolution of human cognition and the impact of southwestern european coastal ecology

The main objective of this project is to investigate the emergence and development of complex human cognition during the transition …

The last hunter-gatherers and the first farming communities of Muge (Central Portugal)

This project will develop and expand our knowledge of the transition of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers to Neolithic farmers in central …

Contact