The scientific data provided by Zooarqueologia imply «a new way of facing our responsibility for environmental changes, terrestrial or marine, some of them originating in Prehistory», reveals Maria João Valente, archaeologist and professor at the University of Algarve, in an interview with Sul Informação.
This issue and many others, especially the advances that are being made in this field of Science throughout Europe, but also in the Americas, will be highlighted in the 2017 Iberian Zoo-Archaeology Meeting (EZI2017) and at the 5th Scientific Meeting of Archeomalacology of the Iberian Peninsula (5RCAPI), which will take place between the 26th and 29th of April, in the auditorium of the Faculty of Economics (building 9), Campus de Gambelas of the University of Algarve. The first phase of registrations, cheaper, ends tomorrow, March 15.
O Sul Informação interviewed Maria João Valente, also responsible for the Organizing Committee, to find out about the importance of these initiatives and what news will be presented over the four days of work.
Sul Informação – These events are generating a lot of interest in the scientific community. How many communications will be presented?
Maria João Valente - The number of submissions far exceeded our expectations. Initially, we had thought that each oral communication could last 20 minutes, but given the amount of submissions (with only four days of meetings scheduled) we had to opt for presentations of 15 minutes and a greater number of posters.
For the two associated events we have 75 oral communications and over 40 posters planned.
SI – Where do the participants already registered for the meetings come from?
MJV - Since the meetings focus on work carried out in the two Iberian countries, the vast majority will be carried out by Spanish and Portuguese researchers. In Portugal, the institutions with the greatest representation are those with the most tradition in the subject: the University of Algarve, the University of Lisbon and the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage.
In addition, we also have some colleagues from the University of Coimbra, Porto, Nova de Lisboa, Aberta and Évora.
From Spain, we have a more eclectic representation, which also reflects the much broader scope of its zoo-archaeological research: among others, there are the Autonomous University of Madrid, the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, the Universitat de Barcelona, the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, the Universidad de Cantabria, the Universitat de València, the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Catalonia), the Universidad de Granada, the Universidad de Salamanca, the Universidad del País Vasco and the Sociedad de Ciencias Aranzadi, the Universidad de Cádiz, the Universidad de Zaragozad , the Universidad de Valladolid, the Universidad de Léon and the Universidad de La Laguna in the Canaries.
Additionally, some researchers from the United Kingdom will also be present (University of Shelffield, University of York, University College London), France (Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Center National de la Recherche Scientifique), Brazil (University of the State of Bahia, Federal University of Sergipe), United States (University of Louisville, University of New Mexico), Germany (Neanderthal Museum, Universität zu Köln/Cologne), Greece and Ecuador.
These are colleagues who have work in the Iberian Peninsula or who come to present studies related to Iberian themes.
SI – Why is the University of Algarve organizing this Iberian Meeting? What are the goals?
MJV - The University of Algarve already has a lot of experience in teaching and researching zoo-archaeological studies, and is also the only teaching institution in Portugal where zoo-archaeology has been included in the curricula of archeology courses since the 1st cycle (degree).
Over the past few years, it has also had several research projects with a strong component of zoo-archaeological studies, which is, by the way, essential for the advanced training of some of its students (2nd and 3rd cycles, that is, master's and doctoral degrees) .
The growing importance of this type of studies is also highlighted by the joint organization of these events by three Research and Development Units in the area of archeology: o CEAACP: ICarEHB and Uniarch.
SI – In addition to the Iberian Meeting, there are other initiatives going on. How is all this articulated?
MJV - These two Iberian meetings have different histories: the Scientific Meeting of Iberian Archeomalacology (5RCAPI) will have its 5th edition, the first to be held in Portugal, despite the centenary importance of mollusc studies in Portuguese archaeological contexts (our Mesolithic shell-makers are exceptional and have been studied since the XNUMXth century).
This was a challenge that our Spanish colleagues posed to us during the 4th edition (held in 2014 in Santander) and that we accepted, also to encourage this type of more specific study, with Portuguese researchers and students.
O Iberian Zoo-Archaeology Meeting (EZI2017) is the first in its scope and appears to make up for the lack of events specifically dedicated to peninsular themes.
There are several international meetings focused on zoo-archaeological research, some of them on a world scale, such as the meetings of the International Council for Archaeozology (ICAZ). One of these meetings, focusing on the theme of fish in archaeological contexts, took place recently in Lisbon.
At the same time, various events are also organized on a national or regional scale. The British do them on a regular basis, resulting in very interesting partnerships and unique scientific production.
To somehow make up for the absence of these events in our territory and taking into account the reasonable development of the specialty in the last decade and a half, in 2012, the first meeting dedicated to zooarchaeology in Portugal (ZAP, in Lisbon) was held. very interesting results, but without the desired national or international impact.
At first, our team thought of organizing a second meeting of this type, but knowing that the dynamization of zoo-archaeology in Portugal (both in research practice and in the training of specialists) would have much to gain from the presence of a wider range of broad number of researchers and with this sharing of experiences, we opted for the most ambitious organization and, judging by the excellent adhesion, the most appealing, of an Iberian meeting.
Our wish is that EZI2017 will be the beginning of a new cycle of cross-border scientific meetings, even because, during most of our historical past, such borders did not exist, so that the issues and issues to be debated are much better suited to the peninsular scale.
In short, these meetings, one with a broader object, the other essentially focused on archeomalacological materials, have as their main objective the greater dissemination of zooarchaeology in the peninsular context and the creation of new partnerships between zooarchaeologists (and their interdisciplinary collaborators: biologists, geologists, chemists, historians, etc) who work materials from both Iberian countries. In a way, reinforcing the conviction that science should have no borders.
SI – What is Zooarchaeology for? What data can be obtained from the investigation of animal remains in archaeological excavations?
MJV - Simplifying the theme, we can define zooarchaeology as the discipline that studies animals in an archaeological context.
The relationship between Humans and Animals has existed since the dawn of our gender and is extremely diverse: in some cases, animals functioned as a food resource (meat, milk), in others as raw material (skin, bone, shell), in others some relationships of greater affection were also established (for example, the dog or cat as pets) or even sacredness or repudiation.
This coexistence with animals shapes much of human history, whether from a social or cultural perspective.
It can be seen in literature or in social laws and rules, but it is particularly visible in the material remains of our existence: from medieval dumps to burials (humans and animals) from prehistoric times, through the art that depicts animals made by our people. more distant or closer ancestors.
Which animals were most appreciated for food at any given time? How was the domestication of animals processed and for what purpose? (To keep us company? To transport us or help hunting? To provide more meat? To give us wool or milk?)
Why are there so many cats in certain contexts and, conversely, the dog is rarer? How can you explain that, despite the religious-cultural taboo, some pig appears in the medieval Islamic dumps? Is the food of Christian communities that different from Muslim ones?
Why are there animals whose size decreases in certain periods, and then increases in others? What can this tell us about human behavior and paleoenvironmental changes or impacts?
Why are certain shells or animal teeth used more as ornamental elements?
There are endless questions, the answer to which opens the door to other questions. Questions that are intrinsically related to what it is to be human: our phenomena of adaptation, innovation, acculturation, identity.
In a single sentence: how can we, current representatives of the human race, get to know our similarities and differences, in the past and in the present, from this very special relationship that we have maintained with the most diverse animals.
SI – Does the data collected by Zooarqueologia have “applications” in other areas or activities?
MJV - In addition to the most obvious contribution to the knowledge of human history—which includes such issues related to social complexity, rituals, ideologies and identities, gender or inequalities -, one of the consequences of modern zooarchaeology is the finding of duplicity of our relationship with the environment.
We humans can no longer see ourselves only as a species that changes and adapts to the environment in which it operates, but we also have to recognize our role as ecological agents and highly modifying participants in that same environment.
An environment that includes the animals on which we act, leading to the modification and extinction of species or the territorial allocation of populations, sometimes with devastating consequences.
Such a vision also implies a new way of looking at our responsibility for environmental changes, terrestrial or marine, some of which originated in Prehistory.
If we focus our attention on more practical situations, we can also note how the use of data obtained by zooarchaeology, namely those related to ecological and demographic dynamics, are already at the service of historical tracking of diseases or biological conservation.
To exemplify the first cases, we have some studies of insects in the archaeological context of tropical zones that allow us to assess the rhythms of the appearance of some epidemics.
In the European case, analyzes of small mammals, such as the black rat or the rat, and their relationship with outbreaks of plague and other diseases have assumed greater preponderance.
With regard to biological conservation, the most famous studies originate in North America and focus, for example, on human and/or environmental actions that have modified the populations of marine animals in the Pacific.
In the Iberian Peninsula, we have work that is somewhat similar for the Iberian lynx or for some species of fish that were once abundant on our coast or rivers, but which have since disappeared (the sturgeon, for example).
The observation of these dynamics can (and should) be used in planning the reintroduction of species or in the future distribution of some animal populations.
This area of action, by many dubbed “applied zoo-archaeology”, becomes particularly urgent when biologists and managers of our natural resources have to make decisions for the preservation of animal species whose future may be at risk.
Ultimately, such measures will have other social repercussions, particularly in the tourist and cultural aspects.
The Algarve, in particular, is still sensitive to such repercussions because it is very dependent on a nice “fame” so obviously associated with the ecotone land-sea and the wonderful resources that come from it.
SI – What news will be revealed during this Iberian Meeting?
MJV - The materialization of the novelties will have to wait for the realization of the meetings, however we can already advance some themes that will have particular development. We emphasize: the importance of hunting and capturing small animals throughout the Paleolithic, namely rabbits and birds. Also included here are some very interesting data on the feeding of Neanderthals and the first communities of the Homo sapiens and the use they will have made of the various resources available to them.
The appearance of the first domesticated animals and what use would be given to them by the first agro-pastoral communities in the Iberian Peninsula. allochthonous to the peninsular territory).
The use of new methodologies for the study of nutrition and human mobility at various times in Iberian history. Isotopic studies (such as oxygen, nitrogen, carbon and strontium) have resulted in unprecedented data that open new perspectives on these topics.
The correlation between artistic representations of animals and faunal materials, especially during Prehistory. To what extent were the most portrayed animals the most consumed? Do the oldest artistic phenomena focus on another type of relationship with animals than that of a food resource?
The contribution of Iberian animals to Brazilian fauna from colonial times.
The importance and significance of dog burials during the Copper and Bronze Age periods and how they reflect the age-old relationship between human groups and their "best friend."
The management of goats and cattle during the Roman Empire (and Late Antiquity), taking particular interest in the evidence of breed improvement during this period.
The variation of fauna in the Medieval Islamic-Christian transition (XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries) and how human diets can serve as indicators of rhythms and cultural changes. (In a perspective of “tell me what you eat, I'll tell you who you are”).
The elements of adornment on shell during ancient Prehistory: what are the manufacturing techniques and what is their cultural significance?
The contribution of the study of marine invertebrates to the observation of climate and environmental changes over the last thousands of years.
The importance of molluscs in human nutrition in different historical periods: a luxury or a necessity?
SI – And how has the regional entities been welcoming these important scientific initiatives?
MJV - We would like to highlight the excellent reception we had from the Municipal Councils of Faro and Loulé, sponsoring institutions, which will welcome participants at the reception and official dinner of the events.
Other supporting institutions are the Algarve Archaeological Association and the Regional Directorate of Culture. In parallel, we also have an important partnership with the Mértola Archaeological Field.
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