João Cascalheira

Frontiers | Late Neanderthal subsistence and foraging mobility at Lapa do Picareiro: a zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis of Level JJ Recent revisions of Neanderthal behavioral models call into question the notion of inflexible subsistence strategies. Here, we present new zooarchaeological ...

📢 New publication: "Late Neanderthal subsistence and foraging mobility at Lapa do Picareiro: a zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis of Level JJ" by Carvalho, M., Haws, J. A., & Jones, E. L., in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology (2025).
🔗 More info: doi.org/10.3389/fear...

Old age variably impacts chimpanzee engagement and efficiency in stone tool use Long-term standardized data collection on wild western chimpanzees reveals late-life changes in stone tool use, and the extent of these changes varies between individuals.

📢 New publication: "Old age variably impacts chimpanzee engagement and efficiency in stone tool use" by Howard-Spink, E., Matsuzawa, T., Carvalho, S., Hobaiter, C., Almeida-Warren, K., Gruber, T., & Biro, D., in eLife (2025).
🔗 More info: doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

Experimental Protocol for Cooking Rabbits and its Archaeological Implications - Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory Small prey such as rabbits are present in Middle Paleolithic and are abundant in the diet of Upper Paleolithic human groups in southwestern Europe, especially in the Iberian Peninsula. Several archaeo...

📢 New publication: "Experimental Protocol for Cooking Rabbits and its Archaeological Implications" by Real, C., Rufà, A., Carvalho, M., Pérez, L., Haws, J., & Sanchis, A., in Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory (2025).
🔗 More info: doi.org/10.1007/s108...

The dichotomy of human decision-making: An experimental assessment of stone tool efficiency The physical properties of distinct raw materials, such as hardness, homogeneity, and grain size, have been recurrently suggested as some of the key reasons for human decision-making, namely the selec...

📢 New publication: "The dichotomy of human decision-making: An experimental assessment of stone tool efficiency" by Nora, D., Marreiros, J., Gneisinger, W., Pedergnana, A., & Pereira, T., in PLOS ONE (2025).
🔗 More info: doi.org/10.1371/jour...

Why skip protocols in literature reviews? Join our hands-on course for rigorous synthesis in archaeology & anthropology, 29–31 Oct 2025, Faro 🇵🇹 Register👇
heirs.icarehb.com/calls-traini...
#archaeology #openscience #researchsynthesis #anthropology #HEIRS #ICArEHB

📢 New publication: "The role of lithic technology in shaping mobility and decision-making: The case of Ararat-1 Cave" by Nora, D., Frahm, E., et al., in Quaternary Science Reviews (2025).
🔗 More info: doi.org/10.1016/j.qu...

📢 "Intensive resource exploitation in Late Neolithic Iberia: Bone marrow and subsistence changes at Branqueiras, central-coastal Portugal" by Costa, C., Martins, M. J. (...) & Carvalho, A. F., in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2025).
🔗https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105324

📢 Built-in smartphone LiDAR for archaeological and speleological research by Antón, D., Mayoral-Valsera, J., Simón-Vallejo, M. D., Parrilla-Giráldez, R., & Cortés-Sánchez, M., in J. Archaeol. Sci.
🔗 doi.org/10.1016/j.ja...

📢Close to sunlight or deep underground? New data to reconstruct site formation processes at the Middle Paleolithic Escoural Cave (southern Portugal) by Alzate-Casallas, G., Gomes, A., Ferar, N. (...) Cascalheira, J., & Barbieri, A., in Quat. Sci. Rev.
🔗https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109550

Close to sunlight or deep underground? New data to reconstruct site formation processes at the Middle Paleolithic Escoural cave (southern Portugal) The ability to exploit the deeper levels of cave systems is regarded as complex human behavior. Evidence that Neanderthals possessed this skill remain…

📢 Just published: our latest paper on site formation processes at the Middle Paleolithic sequence of Escoural Cave, southern Portugal.

Check it out!

@erc.europa.eu @icarehb.bsky.social #neanderthals #archaeology #openscience

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

#SAfA2025 kicks off today in #Faro, #Portugal!
Hosted by #ICArEHB, we’re ready to welcome the global #AfricanistArchaeology community for a week of connection and knowledge-sharing at the #CrossroadsThroughTime.

BREATHE BREATHE aims to contribute a new understanding of cultural and behavioral traits of North African early modern humans through the archaeological record of the central and northern Sahara The project'...

Proudly introduce BREATHE, a project investigating late Quaternary human behavior in the Sahara. Funded by #HorizonEurope - ERA Postdoctoral Fellowships, BREATHE is based at the University of Algarve’s fabulous #ICArEHB and partnered with #Sapienza University of Rome.

INTERNATIONAL TENDER FOR THE RECRUITMENT OF A POST-DOCTORAL ASSOCIATE RESEARCHER International tender to recruit one (1) ) post-doctoral initial level researcher to perform duties in the scientific area of Palaeolithic Archaeology or related areas, under the research project “ERC ...

Calling all palaeolithic archaeologists. Come and work with me on a really exciting new survey and excavation project in Uganda: euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/348570

📢 New publication: "Deciphering the diet of the Iberian lynx: Insights from taphonomic analysis of Pleistocene coprolites" by @annarb.bsky.social, (ICArEHB, UAlg), Sanz, M., & Daura, J., in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 675 (2025).
🔗 More info: doi.org/10.1016/j.pa...

Frontiers | Collagen peptide markers for three extinct Australian megafauna species Recent advancements in biomolecular archaeology, such as stable isotope and ancient DNA research, have expanded our understanding of megafauna extinction pro...

📢 New publication: "Collagen peptide markers for three extinct Australian megafauna species" by Peters, C., Oertle, A., Gillespie, R., Boivin, N., & Douka, K., in Frontiers in Mammal Science 4 (2025).
🔗 More info: doi.org/10.3389/fmam...

Quantifying Levallois: a 3D geometric morphometric approach to Nubian technology - Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences Levallois technology, a hallmark of Middle Palaeolithic stone tool manufacture, involves sophisticated core reduction strategies that have major implications for understanding human cognitive and tech...

📢 New publication: "Quantifying Levallois: a 3D geometric morphometric approach to Nubian technology" by Hallinan, E. & Cascalheira, J., in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 17, 88 (2025).
🔗 More info: doi.org/10.1007/s125...

🔍 Postdoc in Palaeolithic Archaeology
Join the #ERC Starting Grant #WRAP – Western Rift Archaeology and Palaeoenvironments project at ICArEHB! We're exploring human prehistory through fieldwork, machine learning, and interdisciplinary research.
🔗 www.icarehb.com/research-pos...

Don’t miss this opportunity, join us in @icarehb.bsky.social and work with @tomosproffitt.bsky.social on this great project!

Reliable long-term individual variation in wild chimpanzee technological efficiency - Nature Human Behaviour Wild chimps in Bossou, Guinea, use stone tools to crack nuts. They show individual variation in how efficient they are, and some individuals are consistently more efficient than others.

📢 New publication: "Reliable long-term individual variation in wild chimpanzee technological efficiency" by Berdugo, S., Cohen, E., Davis, A. J., Matsuzawa, T. & Carvalho, S., in Nature Human Behaviour 9(3), 472–480 (2024).
🔗 More info: doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Agent-based simulations reveal the possibility of multiple rapid northern routes for the second Neanderthal dispersal from Western to Eastern Eurasia Genetic and archaeological evidence imply a second major movement of Neanderthals from Western to Central and Eastern Eurasia sometime in the Late Pleistocene. The genetic data suggest a date of 120−8...

📢 New publication: "Agent-based simulations reveal the possibility of multiple rapid northern routes for the second Neanderthal dispersal from Western to Eastern Eurasia" by Coco, E. & Iovita, R., in PLOS ONE 20(6), e0325693 (2025).
🔗 More info: doi.org/10.1371/jour...

Tudo pronto para o último dia da #FestaDaArqueologia2025!
Visite-nos no Museu Arqueológico do Carmo, entrada livre até às 18h! #ICArEHB #Arqueologia
Everything's ready for the final day! Visit us at the Carmo Archaeological Museum — free entry until 18:00! #Archaeology

It was truly a pleasure having you here! We’re so happy you enjoyed #HOG2025! Looking forward to many more collaborations and good times ahead. Safe travels and see you soon!

New Insights on an Old Excavation: Re-visiting the Late Middle Palaeolithic Site of Far’ah II, North-western Negev, Israel - Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology Revisiting collections from old excavations with new research objectives and analytical tools brings them to life and integrates them into evolving models of human-landscape interactions. This paper e...

📢 New publication: "New Insights on an Old Excavation: Re-visiting the Late Middle Palaeolithic Site of Far’ah II, North-western Negev, Israel"
by Goder-Goldberger, M., Gilead, I., Paixão, E., et al., in J Paleo Arch (2025, Vol. 8, Article 13).
🔗 More info: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

📢 New publication: "Revisiting the thermal alteration of buried bone"
by Gallo, G., Aldeias, V., & Stahlschmidt, M., in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2025, Vol. 63).
🔗 More info: doi.org/10.1016/j.ja...

Large scale and regional demographic responses to climatic changes in Europe during the Final Palaeolithic The European Final Palaeolithic witnessed marked changes in almost all societal domains. Despite a rich body of evidence, our knowledge of human palaeodemographic processes and regional population dyn...

📢 New publication: "Large scale and regional demographic responses to climatic changes in Europe during the Final Palaeolithic" by Schmidt, I., Gehlen, B., Winkler, K., Arrizabalaga, A., Arts, N., Bicho, N., et al.
🔗 More info: doi.org/10.1371/jour...

📢 "Scales of toolstone transport in the Armenian Highlands during MIS 3: The contribution of Ararat-1 Cave (Ararat Depression) to reconstructing opportunities for social interactions" by Frahm, E., Nora, D., et al., in Quaternary Science Reviews.
🔗 doi.org/10.1016/j.qu...

📢 Registration is OPEN!
Join us for ICArEHB Dialogues: Technology – Past and Future
🗓️ May 29th | 🕓 4pm Lisbon | 📺 Live on YouTube

3 speakers. 1 question:
How does the past inform our future?

🔗 Register now: www.icarehb.com/dialogues/te...

Quantifying Levallois: a 3D geometric morphometric approach to Nubian technology - Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences Levallois technology, a hallmark of Middle Palaeolithic stone tool manufacture, involves sophisticated core reduction strategies that have major implications for understanding human cognitive and tech...

📢 We have a new paper out!! Led by the incredible @eshallinan.bsky.social we introduce a novel application of three-dimensional geometric morphometrics (GM) to quantify the shape variability of Nubian Levallois cores. #archaeology #openscience @icarehb.bsky.social

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

🚀 New Seminar Series: #AltAc Paths!

ICArEHB’s AltAc Paths brings PhDs in #archaeology & related fields who’ve moved outside #academia. Open conversations, real advice, no stigma.

📅 Every 3 months | 💻 Online & hybrid
🎙️ 2 speakers, Q&A
First session soon—stay tuned!

📢 Alt-Ac Paths: First Seminar!
Thinking beyond #academia? Join us on Zoom Tue 25 March 11:00 (GMT) for insights from two #archaeology #PhDs who made the leap!
🔹 Patrícia Monteiro – Archaeobotany Researcher @ Cultural Heritage
🔹 Rita Dias – Senior Archaeologist @ Era Arqueologia
🔗 t.co/mp096GfFY9