Participant Institutions: IEM NOVA FCSH; Câmara Municipal de Vouzela

Lead Researchers: Catarina Tente; António Faustino Carvalho
Research Team: Daniel Melo, João Pedro Tereso, José Almeida, Maria José Roxo, Sylvia Valenzuela, Tiago Santos, João Rocha, CatarinaMeira, João Luís Veloso, Gabriel de Souza
Duration: 2022-2025

The plurisecular landscape of the Serra do Caramulo, with its history and heritage, is the subject of this project. The multidisciplinary methodology combines archaeology with history, geography and ethnography in a pioneering approach in Portugal to understanding the mountains of Beira Alta.

The focus of the research is three parishes in the municipality of Vouzela: Cambra and Carvalhal de Vermilhas, Fornelo do Monte and Ventosa. Here we find examples of various traces of an ancient and persistent human presence in this mountain range. Some take us back thousands of years, others date back to the time of our grandparents.

The project favors close interaction with people as living repositories of the recent past.The testimonies of the men and women of Vouzela, recorded on video, are an invaluable source of information for understanding the mountains in their former lives, and today constitute an authentic archive of memories.

Research goals:
Globally, the aim of this project is to provide a coherent and systematic overview of the interactions between the human past and the local landscape.

In this sense it is an approach made in the long diachrony and intended to: characterize the evolution of settlement; identify the transit routes of the populations; study the origin of wasteland and agro-pastoral practices; and evaluate the human impact on the mountain landscape.

The project also aims to train undergraduate and master ‘s archaeology students in fieldwork. The Mons project results from a partnership between IEM and Vouzela Municipal Council.