Nuno Bicho

Universidade do Algarve, ICArEHB - Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behaviour, Faculty Member

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I received my Ph.D. in Anthropology from Southern Methodist University in 1992, and I am currently an Associate Professor of Archaeology at the Universidade do Algarve, Portugal. I have been an Academic Editor at PLOS ONE and recently, was appointed as one of the Editors-in-Chief of the new Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology. I was Dean between 1998 and 2001 and 2005-2007. In addition, I am also the Director of the Interdisciplinary Center of Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behavior at the University of Algarve. I specialize in Paleolithic ecodynamics and my research has focused on prehistoric costal hunter-gatherers of southern Iberia for the last two decades. More recently I have also developed research on the Mesolithic of the Tagus Valley and on Stone Age of Mozambique.
Address: Loulé, Faro, Portugal

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Tristan Carter

McMaster University

Dorian Q Fuller

University College London

Kim M Cohen

Utrecht University

Ellery Frahm

Yale University

Marta Diaz-Guardamino

Durham University

Jose Ruben Guzman-Gutierrez

Universidad Humanista de las Americas

Armando Marques-Guedes

UNL - New University of Lisbon

Stefano R L Campana

University of Siena / Università di Siena

Gabriel Gutierrez-Alonso

University of Salamanca

Gary Feinman

Field Museum

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Papers by Nuno Bicho

Marine invertebrates and models of economic organization of the coastal zone during the Mesolithic: French and Portuguese examples (Chapter seven)

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2015

International audienc

Fire in the craddle of Humanity. Anthracological studies in Archaeological sites. Southern Africa

Los tiempos cambian, de la piedra al teclado. Actas de las X Jornadas de Jóvenes en Investigación Arqueológica (Burgos, 7-10 de junio de 2017) : JIA 2017, 2019, ISBN 978-84-09-11861-8, págs. 481-486, 2019

Luc Moreau, ed. Social Inequality Before Farming? Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Social Organization in Prehistoric and Ethnographic Hunter-gatherer-fisher Societies (McDonald Institute Conversations. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archeological Research, 2020, xii and 320pp., 57...

European Journal of Archaeology, 2021

Charcoal analyses from Muge shellmidden (Portugal): Comparative analyses from Cabeço da Arruda and Cabeço da Amoreira

Quaternary International, 2017

Cabeço da Arruda and Cabeço da Amoreira are shellmiddens that integrate the Mesolithic Muge shell... more Cabeço da Arruda and Cabeço da Amoreira are shellmiddens that integrate the Mesolithic Muge shellmidden complex. Paleoenvironmental studies indicate that Muge valley was both rich in marine and terrestrial resources. The exploitation of diverse resources from the Muge landscape is a crucial issue to understand the economy, subsistence and social complexity of these Mesolithic societies. This paper aims to shed light on the exploitation and use of woodland resources through charcoal analyses. Results from new samples collected in Cabeço da Arruda are presented and compared with charcoal data from Cabeço da Amoreira in order to understand the acquisition modalities of both sites. The results demonstrate a prevalence of Pinus in Cabeço da Arruda as well as the presence of Quercus. The similar pattern of Pinus and Quercus occurs in the Cabeço da Amoreira assemblages, although in this case some minor taxa were also identified This seem to indicate that both sites were exploiting the same main wood resources and the main species in the environment. The meaning of the absence of minor taxa in Cabeço da Arruda assemblage is still uncertain, it might happen because of the different acquisition modalities of the wood or uses for fuel, or due to the size of the sample.

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The Palaeolithic occupation of the Sado Basin (Alentejo, Portugal): preliminary results

Txina-Txina and the Later Stone Age of the Massingir Region, Mozambique

Springer eBooks, Dec 31, 2022

Stone Age Archaeology in the Elephant River Valley, Southwestern Mozambique

The 86th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2021

Of space and time: The non-midden components of the Cabeço da Amoreira Mesolithic shell mound (Muge, central Portugal)

Very little information is currently available on the internal layout and functional diversity of... more Very little information is currently available on the internal layout and functional diversity of Portuguese Mesolithic shell middens. This is mainly due to the fact that previous work has focused mostly on restricted parts of the middens. New excavations at Cabeço da Amoreira, however, have strongly been concerned with the study of site formation processes and spatial organization. The most remarkable feature of this new work has been the identification of a series of non-midden, multi-stratified loci found in the immediate vicinity of the mound. In this paper, we present the general characteristics of the non-midden components regarding their stratigraphic context, artefactual composition, and chronological succession. Although preliminary, these data are of major importance with regard to two aspects of the Muge shell middens. First, they disclose the organization of the settlement during the Mesolithic, with shell middens no longer being regarded as simple, isolated base camp units. Second, this work identified a series of Neolithic occupations around the midden as an important element in our understanding of the complexity of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transitional process in central Portugal. This is linked to the question of the ultimate fate of these Mesolithic communities

Stone Age Archaeology in the Lower Save River Valley, Southern Mozambique

The 86th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2021

Lithic Adaptive Strategies of Early Modern Humans in Southwestern Iberia: New Data from Vale Boi’s Layer 7 and 8

The 86th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2021

Alterações ambientais na costa moçambicana, durante o holocénico

GIS Tools for Intra-spatial Analyses: The Portuguese Mesolithic Cabeço da Amoreira Case Study

The 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2018

Lithic technological organization and social networks during the LGM in Southwestern Iberia

The 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2015

Assessing the spatial patterning of Middle Paleolithic human settlement in westernmost Iberia

The 84th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Oct 27, 2018

As intervenções arqueológicas de 2006 3 2007 no sitio Paleolítico de Vale Boi

XELB: revista de arqueologia, arte, etnologia e história, 2008

Testing the impact of environmental change on hunter-gatherer settlement organization during the Upper Paleolithic in western Iberia

Journal of Quaternary Science, Feb 14, 2018

Recent cross-disciplinary research in the Iberian Peninsula has revealed a synchronous pattern be... more Recent cross-disciplinary research in the Iberian Peninsula has revealed a synchronous pattern between rapid climate change and widespread cultural modifications during the Late Paleolithic. The beginning and development of each traditionally defined techno-complex is thought to be associated with different environmental conditions. A main contrast is put on the impact of cold and arid conditions at the onset of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and its coincidence with the development of blade/flake-size projectiles and bifacial technologies, against the dominance of bladelet-size backed points across more temperate and forested environments. Based on the long-recognized assumption that lithic technology operates within the broader context of Pleistocene human ecodynamics, here we test the hypothesis that climate-related lithic techno-typological changes across the Upper Paleolithic are linked to modifications in land-use patterns and settlement organization. We present statistical analysis comparing the Shannon-Weaver diversity index for retouched stone tool assemblages (used as proxy for site function) and locational parameters of a series of contexts from Central Portugal. The results show a trend of continuity and change between periods, with some of the most important deviations starting at the onset of the LGM, with the Heinrich Event 2 associated with patterns of technological diversification and biocultural expansion.

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

Archaeological Prospection

Until recently, evidence of Neanderthal cave use in the Algarve (Southern Portugal) came only fro... more Until recently, evidence of Neanderthal cave use in the Algarve (Southern Portugal) came only from the site of Ibn Ammar. Over the last couple of years, archaeological excavations inside another cave, Gruta da Companheira, yielded Mousterian stone tools associated with possible human fossils. The discovery of this assemblage is groundbreaking because it may contribute to enlighten the Neanderthal/cave relationship and explain the dearth of similar sites in the Algarve. Gruta da Companheira, however, is a complex karst system, which was partly destroyed during its accidental discovery. As result, the original entrance of the cave remains unknown, and it is unclear how sediments, archaeological materials and Neanderthals accessed the site. To tackle these issues, we combined geomorphological observations with speleological, Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) and Ground‐Penetrating Radar (GPR) prospections. Our data indicate that Gruta da Companheira was probably accessed from the...

Mudanças em Sistemas Ambientais e sua Expressão Temporal: Livro de Resumos da IX Reunião do Quaternário Ibérico

Asociación Española para el Estudio del Cuaternario, 2017

O CIMA – Centro de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental associa-se ao ICARHEB – Centro Interdisciplin... more O CIMA – Centro de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental associa-se ao ICARHEB – Centro Interdisciplinar de Arqueologia e Evolução do Comportamento Humano para acolher, pela segunda vez na Universidade do Algarve, a Reunião do Quaternário Ibérico. Esta associação é ditada pela crescente necessidade de integrar os dados obtidos acerca dos amplamente entendidos sistemas ambientais nos domínios de ciências humanas, naturais e económicos. Na realidade voltamos aos princípios de naturalismo integrador do Século XIX num contexto de complexidade infinitamente maior que exige um diálogo interdisciplinar tão necessário como difícil. No decorrer do Século XXI acumularam-se evidências claras de que a população humana do nosso Globo tornou-se um fator de alteração – forçador em praticamente todos os sistemas ambientais do Planeta. Vários destes sistemas aproximam-se de pontos-de-não-retorno e de novos equilíbrios físico-químicos, com consequências para as nossas sociedades que são difíceis de prever, embora os últimos relatórios de IPCC tracem já perspectivas quantitativas de elevada verossimilhança. O reconhecimento da dimensão do impacto antrópico foi possível graças ao desenvolvimento das novas tecnologias de superfície e espaciais que permitem obter, em tempo real, dados acerca do estado da atmosfera, hidrosfera, criosfera e biosfera em quase toda a superfície da Terra. Os dados acumulados abrangem, na maior parte dos casos, duas a três décadas, permitindo a monitorização da dinâmica e da evolução de sistemas na escala de tempo de decênios. Discernir o impacte antrópico da mudança/dinâmica natural dos sistemas nesta escala de tempo é impossível. Graças à abundância de proxies, da crescente firmeza das escalas temporais e das condições limites para os modelos dos sistemas terrestres, torna-se possível acoplar as mudanças observadas em escalas de tempo entre 102 e 106 anos com as observações instrumentais acima referidas. Assim, o principal desafio que se coloca perante a comunidade dos estudiosos do Quaternário é o de fornecer um quadro cada vez mais preciso das alterações inferidas dos arquivos naturais: marinhos, glaciais, costeiros, continentais, arqueológicos... para avaliar corretamente a dimensão do forçador antropogénico em escalas global, regional e local. Esta investigação, associada a crescentes contributos de arqueologia, cria uma base do conhecimento acerca da evolução da espécie humana e da sua expansão, bem como do seu impacto na esfera terrestre.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Technological Diversity of the Early Neolithic Pottery of the Muge Shellmiddens (Portugal): the Case Study of Cabeço da Amoreira

The exploitation of raw materials in prehistory: sourcing, processing and distribution, 2017, ISBN 1-5275-0523-5, págs. 432-448, 2017

Der Muschelhaufen von Cabeço de Amoreira in Muge, Portugal: Ergebnisse der archäologischen Arbeiten des letzten Jahrzehnts (2007-2017)

Die Erforschung der letzten Jäger und Sammler des Holozäns hatte sich in Portugal vor allem auf d... more Die Erforschung der letzten Jäger und Sammler des Holozäns hatte sich in Portugal vor allem auf die mesolithischen Muschelhaufen des Tejo-Tals konzentriert. Gut dokumentiert ist dabei auch die wichtige Rolle, die die Arbeit der portugiesischen Forscher bezüglich der europäischen Vorgeschichte seit der zweiten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts gespielt hat. Dieses Interesse seitens der nationalen und internationalen wissenschaftlichen Gemeinschaft mag vor allem in der Größe dieser archäologischen Stätten und der großen Anzahl der bis heute dort exhumierten menschlichen Skelette begründet liegen. Seit seiner Entdeckung im Jahre 1864 war derjenige von Cabeço da Amoreira der einzige bis heute systematisch untersuchte mesolithische Muschelhaufen, lieferte aber in der Zwischenzeit wichtige Daten für Schlussfolgerungen zur Lebensweise der menschlichen Gemeinschaften, die das Tejo-Tal zwischen 8000 und 7500 BP bewohnten und erschlossen. Dieser ermöglichte gleichzeitig die Untersuchung wichtiger Aspekte in Hinsicht auf die Neolithisierung Mittelportugals. Die im letzten Jahrzehnt (2007–2017) von Nuno Bicho koordinierten archäologischen Arbeiten fokussierten insbesondere auf das südwestliche Areal des Muschelhaufens sowie auf das umliegende Gebiet, um die Stratigraphie, räumliche Organisation, Chronologie sowie weitere kulturelle Spuren – wie Silextechnologie und Subistenz – zu untersuchen. In diesem Text präsentieren wir eine Zusammenfassung der Arbeiten des letzten Jahrzehnts an der Ausgrabungsstätte und konzentrieren uns dabei auf die Zielsetzungen und Methoden, aber vor allem auch auf die daraus resultierenden wichtigsten Ergebnisse und Deutungen.The research on the last Holocene hunter-gatherers in Portugal has mainly focused on the study of the mesolithic shellmiddens of the Tagus valley, and it is well documented the important role played by the Portuguese researchers in the european Prehistory since the second half of the 19th century. Among the reasons that may be at the core of this interest by the national and international academic community is the size of these archaeological sites and the high number of human skeletons exhumed to this day. Since its discovery in 1864, the Mesolithic shellmidden of Cabeço da Amoreira has been the only intervened to this date, albeit intermittently, and has consequently contributed more relevant data to the establishment of inferences about the mode of life of the human communities that inhabited and explored the region of the Tagus valley between c. 8000 and 7500 BP, allowing to explore simultaneously relevant aspects related to the neolithic issue of central Portugal. The archaeological works of the last decade (2007–2017), coordinated by Nuno Bicho, have focused not only on the southwest zone of the shellmidden but also on the surrounding areas in order to study stratigraphy, spatial organization, chronology and other cultural traits, including lithic technology and subsistence. In this text we present a summary of the last decade of work in the archaeological site, focusing on aspects related to the objectives, methodologies, but mainly the most relevant results and interpretations taken from them.As investigações sobre os últimos caçadores-recolectores do Holocénico em Portugal têmse centrado, principalmente, no estudo dos concheiros mesolíticos do vale do Tejo, encontrando- se bem documentado o papel de relevo que os trabalhos desenvolvidos pelos investigadores portugueses tiveram na Pré-História europeia desde a segunda metade do século XIX. De entre as razões que poderão estar na raiz desse interesse por parte da comunidade académica nacional e internacional, conta-se a dimensão destes sítios arqueológicos e o elevado número de esqueletos humanos exumados até aos dias de hoje.Desde a sua descoberta, em 1864, o concheiro mesolítico do Cabeço da Amoreira tem sido o único concheiro intervencionado até aos dias de hoje, ainda que intermitentemente, eque, consequentemente, mais tem contribuído com dados relevantes para o estabelecimento de inferências sobre o modo de vida das comunidades humanas que habitaram e exploraram a região do vale do Tejo entre c. 8000 e 7500 BP, permitindo explorar simultaneamente aspetos relevantes relacionados com a questão da neolitização do centro de Portugal. Os trabalhos arqueológicos da última década (2007–2017), coordenados por Nuno Bicho, têm-se focado, não só, na zona sudoeste do concheiro como, também, na zona envolvente com o intuito de estudar a estratigrafia, a organização espacial, a cronologia e outros traços culturais, incluindo&nbsp; tecnologia lítica e a subsistência. Neste texto apresentamos um resumo da última década de trabalhos no sítio arqueológico, focando aspetos relacionados com os objetivos, metodologias, mas principalmente os mais relevantes resultados e interpretações daí provenientes