Lino André

What do you enjoy most/what do you find most interesting about your research topic?

I am currently studying personal ornaments made out of marine shells and faunal remains from the Mesolithic and early Neolithic found in Portugal. The most interesting aspect of my research is to understand, and consequently disseminate the information, what role these items perform in the social and economical relations between the Mesolithic population that inhabited our territory and the exogenous Neolithic communities arriving from the Mediterranean regions.

What is one of your favorite moments in the field?

I really don’t have a “favorite moment” in the field, but I have always found that it is very gratifying when local citizens, from all ages, come to the archaeological sites on our so called “open days” to visit us and to see what we are doing. They always tend to ask the most strange and persistent questions, mostly small children, and it’s very funny to see their faces as we answer them or when they get to touch the artifacts exhibited, in part because we are excavating very ancient sites and also because for most of them, it’s the first time ever that they have had contact with archaeology.