The introduction of farming had far-reaching impacts on health, social structure and demography. Although the spread of domesticated plants and animals has been extensively tracked, it is unclear how these nascent economies developed within different environmental and cultural settings. Using molecular and isotopic analysis of lipids from pottery, here we investigate the foods prepared by the earliest farming communities of the European Atlantic seaboard. Surprisingly, we find an absence of aquatic foods, including in ceramics from coastal sites, except in the Western Baltic where this tradition continued from indigenous ceramic using hunter-gatherer-fishers. The frequency of dairy products in pottery increased as farming was progressively introduced along a northerly latitudinal gradient. This finding implies that early farming communities needed time to adapt their economic practices before expanding into more northerly areas. Latitudinal differences in the scale of dairy production might also have influenced the evolution of adult lactase persistence across Europe.

No debate científico em torno do processo de Neolitização no Ocidente Peninsular, uma das etapas mais difíceis de caracterizar corresponde à fase média do Neolítico. Apesar de, por parte da investigação arqueológica, lhe ser reconhecida uma importância decisiva na evolução das comunidades neolíticas, corresponde a um período que ainda demonstra um conhecimento desigual face às etapas imediatamente anteriores e posteriores (Neolítico antigo e Neolítico final). Este texto apresenta, numa perspetiva historiográfica, o percurso da investigação em torno do Neolítico médio, no Centro e Sul de Portugal, desde da década de 70 do século XX até à actualidade. Neste trajecto de quase 50 anos, serão referidos os investigadores, sítios e estudos que mais contribuíram para o conhecimento desta temática crono-cultural específica, as linhas de investigação e de metodologia adoptadas, bem como as principais características e objectivos do questionário científico que orientou as acções de índole arqueológico.

From the excavations carried out between 1936 and 1967 in the Chalcolithic settlement of Vila Nova de São Pedro (Azambuja, Portugal), there were recovered more than 500 ceramic elements usually known as “loom weights” with different shapes, dimensions and, in the majority, with decorated surfaces. The iconographic repertoire is quite diverse, with the geometric motifs in higher representation, followed by soliforms, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic motifs. For the zoomorphic motifs there were identified eleven decorated surfaces, whose typology is split into two categories: quadruped – whose species are not identifiable; deer representations. These iconographic motifs are part of the symbolic and conceptual universe of Iberian communities from the 3rd Millennium BC, also appearing in several artifactual categories such as ceramics, figurines, plates, engravings and rock art paintings. Understanding the mechanisms that create and increase this thematic uniformity, as well as the meaning of the deer for these agro pastoral groups, will allow a closer approach to the cultural and social behavior of these communities.

As etapas finais do Neolítico antigo e a passagem para o Neolítico médio constituem-se como problemáticas em aberto no inquérito relativo ao processo de neolitização no actual território português. Parece seguro que esta fase de transição ocorre a partir da segunda metade do 5º milénio cal BC, finalizando com a construção dos primeiros monumentos megalíticos de cariz funerário, em pleno 4º milénio. No entanto, a dificuldade em caracterizar cronológica e culturalmente este momento faz com que, no essencial, esta etapa seja definida a partir de generalidades não demonstradas.Até à data, o debate centrou-se na análise dos processos históricos ocorridos entre a segunda metade do 6º e a primeira metade do 5º milénio cal BC, e na transição do 4º para o 3º milénio cal BC, permanecendo o Neolítico médio uma etapa vazia entre estes dois momentos bem definidos, o Neolítico antigo e o Neolítico final.Caracterizar e apresentar uma primeira reflexão acerca dos grupos do Neolítico médio, no Sul de Portugal, através da escassa evidência empírica hoje disponível, ao nível dos territórios ocupados, das estratégias de exploração dos espaços, dos padrões de implantação dos lugares de habitat, dos ritmos de mobilidade e das práticas económicas é o objectivo deste texto.

Neste artigo, propomos uma metodologia para a construção da estrutura a termo da taxa de juros livre de risco no Brasil, usando o modelo de Svensson para interpolação e extrapolação das curvas de juros e algoritmos genéticos, em complemento aos algoritmos tradicionais de otimização não linear, para a estimação dos parâmetros do modelo. O objetivo é contribuir para que o mercado segurador brasileiro mensure suas obrigações descontando seus fluxos de caixa de maneira consistente e coerente, considerando a adoção, pela Superintendência de Seguros Privados (SU-SEP), de padrões internacionais de supervisão de solvência e de reporte financeiro. Ao longo do artigo, apresentamos os resultados encontrados na modelagem das estruturas a termo de diferentes curvas de juros no Brasil.
In this paper, we propose a methodology for the construction of the risk-free interest rate term structure in Brazil, using the Svensson model for interpolation and extrapolation of the interest rate curves, and genetic algorithms, in complement to traditional algorithms of nonlinear optimization, for estimation of model parameters. The objective is to contribute to the Brazilian insurance market, so that insurance ces can appropriately measure their long-term obligations discounting cash flows in a manner that is consistent and coherent, considering the adoption of international standards of solvency supervision and financial reporting by the Superintendência de Seguros Privados (SUSEP). We present the results found in modeling the term structure of a number of interest rate curves in Brazil

In 2017, a team from UNIARQ – School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon and the Association of Portuguese Archaeologists presented a research project to the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage, entitled Vila Nova de São Pedro in the 3rd millennium (VNSP3000), with the intention to resume excavations in VNSP. Within the scope of a seminar of the Degree in Archaeology at the School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon, Ana Costa Francisco, analysed the remains recovered in the first campaign of 2017. The fauna recovered in the following campaigns were studied by Cleia Detry. The remains of domestic fauna demonstrate the presence of sheep/goat (Ovis/Capra), cattle (Bos taurus) and pig (Sus scrofa domesticus). Hunting is also highly prevalent with the presence of rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and red deer (Cervus elaphus). The auroch (Bos primigenius) and wild boar (Sus scrofa), although difficult to distinguish from their domesticated counterparts, were also identified in the assemblage.

The archaeological site of Vila Nova de São Pedro (Azambuja) was discovered in 1936 through the surveys carried out by Hipólito Cabaço. In 1937, the first excavation campaign was led by Eugénio Jalhay and Afonso do Paço. With the death of the first, in 1950, Paço assumed, with occasional collaborations, the direction of the archaeological works on the site, until 1967. This article intends to analyse the fauna collected and described by Afonso do Paço during these campaigns, about which, however, there is no information on the stratigraphic provenance of artifacts and ecofacts. The data from these campaigns are also compared with the fauna collected during the 2017 and 2018 excavations, carried out under the VNSP3000 project. From this faunistic material without context, it was still possible to acquire some knowledge about species present in the vicinity of Vila Nova de São Pedro during the Chalcolithic.

Presentation of the polished and ground stone tools artefacts from Neolithic site of Moita do Ourives. It corresponds to a low number of artifacts in poor preservation condition and high degree of fragmentation, making the typological and functional classification quite difficult. The tools production is based mainly on locally available raw materials, such as quartzite, sandstone and quartz (85% of the all set). Exogenous raw materials (amphibolite and granite), possibly obtained more than 40km from the site, represent 15% of the recovered elements. The results of this study allow, together with the analysis of other material culture elements, a reflection on the functionality of this settlement, as well as the mobility and socioeconomic activities of the communities of the Middle Neolithic in the Western Iberia.