August 28, 2025

by John Willman

One of our 2024 Archaeology of Portugal Fellowship winners, John Willman, provides us with an update:

During the course of the project, an extensive collection of deciduous and permanent first and second molars from Middle Neolithic and Late Neolithic/Chalcolithic sites from Portugal were examined and microCT scanned. Sites studied include: Abrigo da Buraca da Moira, Cova das Lapas, Cova da Moura, Monte Canelas I, Pai Mogo I, São Paulo I, and Bolores. These collective burial sites range from natural caves to artificial caves, rockshelters, and tholoi—thus, illustrating a wide range of mortuary practices during the late prehistory of western Iberia. The microCT scans are currently being reconstructed and segmented to create virtual models of 3D enamel-dentine junction (EDJ) morphology. EDJ morphology will be explored in terms of inter- and intrasite variability upon completion of the full dataset with implications for understanding population dynamics, interactions, and mobility. The dataset is currently the largest regional sample of late prehistoric individuals amassed to explore biological variability using EDJ morphology to date. The open access datasets will be available for use by researchers interested in expanding comparisons within and beyond late prehistoric Portugal.

Furthermore implications of the research instigated under the auspices of the AIA include opportunities to reconstruct dietary and non-dietary uses of teeth through the analysis of dental wear in some collections (e.g., Bolores) and expand analyses of dental calculus to identify microparticles and the pathways of their entrapment. Implications for understanding diet, non-dietary behavior, and respiratory health among other topics will be explored.

The timing of this project has had important consequences for my career trajectory. First, it consolidated my research on virtual anthropology of bioarchaeological materials in Portugal. Secondly, it provided many opportunities to establish strong institutional connections within Portugal. For instance, I am now a collaborator on the O EcoPLIS – Ocupação Humana Plistocénica nos Ecótonos do Rio Lis project lead by Dr. Telmo Pereira through the integration of Late Neolithic material from his ongoing excavation of Abrigo da Buraca da Moira (Leiria, Portugal).

An added benefit is my inclusion in the study of new Paleolithic human fossils coming from the older sequences of the site. Likewise, while an agreement to study material from Feteira II was agreed upon, the material could not be located in time for this project. However, I have been invited to restudy the material when it is located and an official collaborative agreement between the Museu da Lourinhã and the Universidade de Coimbra is being drafted to mutually benefit our institutions.

Further interest in the project is acknowledged by the international interest in the materials I am studying. Because all data will be available open access, other researchers will include my data in their broader studies of prehistoric populations dynamics (e.g., interactions between Iberian and North Africa). Thus, the impact of my project is not limited to Portugal.

I also provided three lectures at three different universities in Portugal (listed below) that highlighted the research being accomplished through the generous funding of the AIA. During these lectures I also made students aware that they could apply for the grants, and I am happy to report that interested students asked me for details on the application procedure at the end of each lecture. The lectures provided increased visibility of my role as one of the few practitioners of virtual anthropology in Portugal.

Lastly, the renewed interest in the human remains from Bolores for this project has stimulated a master’s thesis project that I will be co-advising at the Universidade de Coimbra.