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Silva, F.M.; Sousa, G. Women Archaeologists’ Contributions to Uncovering the Pre- and Proto-Historical Occupation of Northern Portugal. Encyclopedia. Available online: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/59703 (accessed on 10 May 2026).
Silva FM, Sousa G. Women Archaeologists’ Contributions to Uncovering the Pre- and Proto-Historical Occupation of Northern Portugal. Encyclopedia. Available at: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/59703. Accessed May 10, 2026.
Silva, Fatima Matos, Goreti Sousa. "Women Archaeologists’ Contributions to Uncovering the Pre- and Proto-Historical Occupation of Northern Portugal" Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/59703 (accessed May 10, 2026).
Silva, F.M., & Sousa, G. (2026, April 29). Women Archaeologists’ Contributions to Uncovering the Pre- and Proto-Historical Occupation of Northern Portugal. In Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/59703
Silva, Fatima Matos and Goreti Sousa. "Women Archaeologists’ Contributions to Uncovering the Pre- and Proto-Historical Occupation of Northern Portugal." Encyclopedia. Web. 29 April, 2026.
Peer Reviewed
Women Archaeologists’ Contributions to Uncovering the Pre- and Proto-Historical Occupation of Northern Portugal
This is a peer-reviewed entry published in Encyclopedia Journal, full entry can be found at 10.3390/encyclopedia4020064

The history of women archaeologists in Portugal and their contribution to the development of the discipline is yet to be studied. However, in recent years, some articles published in Portugal have contributed to the construction of this history. Some of these are from the year 2020, and although the coronavirus pandemic has affected the progress of these investigations, especially regarding fieldwork. Generally, these are quantitative studies based on the number of publications by women archaeologists and their references and interviews in newspapers. These articles, which require significant time for database analysis, have not yet explained the existing gaps. It is not the scope of this paper to pursue this quantitative scope; instead, it intends to conduct a qualitative analysis of the contribution of women archaeologists to the development of prehistoric studies in Northern Portugal. To achieve this goal, we are focusing on analysing the doctoral theses developed by women concerning pre- and proto-historic archaeology in Northern Portugal. With this evaluation, we intend to contribute to the history of Portuguese women’s archaeology and, at the same time, highlight their methodological and conceptual achievements.

women archaeologists Northern Portugal doctoral theses prehistory proto-history
The contribution of research developed by Portuguese women archaeologists to the development of the discipline is yet to be researched. The problem has begun to be debated only in the second half of the 1990s [1]. The first article to be published on this topic appeared in 1996 [2], followed by a void of publications until the last decade, in which few articles constituting valid contributions towards the construction of this history have been published. Some of them are even from the year 2020. However, in general, these are quantitative studies based on the number of publications by female archaeologists [1] and on mentions and interviews in newspapers [3] on the direction of archaeological excavations or other types of research projects [1][4].
These analyses almost always require a significant amount of time for database scrutiny. However, they have not addressed the gaps concerning the fundamental knowledge of female contribution to archaeology’s history and/or the progress of understanding the past.
With this paper, we intend to analyse the contribution of women archaeologists’ doctoral theses, focussing, above all, on the advances each brought to the knowledge of the evolution of the occupation of the territory of Northern Portugal during pre- and proto-historic times.
Recent research shows that, in terms of gender issues in the archaeological profession, Northern Portugal has not yet achieved the parity that was consolidated in the early twentieth century in the rest of the country [5]. The same delay had already been identified in the study developed by Filipa Dimas and Mariana Diniz [1] concerning the presence of female archaeologists as authors of articles published in archaeological journals from the north of the country.
On the other hand, the Northern region of the country played a significant role in the teaching of Archaeology in Portugal, both at the technical level, through the Professional School of Archaeology of Freixo, or, mainly, at a higher level, through the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Porto, which played a pioneering role with the creation of the bachelor’s in History and the major in Archaeology (1990), and later the bachelor’s in Archaeology (1999). The same institution had, since 1989, a master’s degree in Archaeology [5]. Unfortunately, they no longer have a PhD in archaeology, maintaining only bachelor’s and master`s degrees.
The Archaeology Unit of the University of Minho has developed several studies in this territory related to the middle basin of the Cávado River and systematic research projects conducted mainly by Manuela Martins and Ana Bettencourt, among others, which gave rise to their doctoral theses.
The evaluation we are now proposing represents an essential contribution to the history of Portuguese archaeology. We have analysed all the finished and publicly defended PhD theses deposited in the institutional repositories of all universities, searching for entries of completed doctoral theses. A second step was the selection of all theses that fit the conceptual and geographical framework of this paper, from which those performed by women were identified.
Because they are older, some of these theses were inaccessible in the institutional repositories. However, it was possible to access them through, for example, publications. In only one case, a total lack of information prevented the analysis.
This analysis resulted in the collection of thirteen PhD theses developed by female archaeologists. Eleven were presented at Portuguese Universities (four at the University of Porto, three at the University of Minho, two at the University of Coimbra, one at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro and another one at the School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon) and two others at Spanish universities (one at the University of Granada and the other at the University of Santiago de Compostela). Chronologically these studies comprehend research projects based on pre- and proto-history and fall within the selected geographical area—Northern Portugal. The data collected are presented in a table (Table 1) to help the reader’s comprehension.
Table 1. PhD Theses between pre- and proto-history of Northern Portugal.
Title Author Geographic Area Chronology Others
Late Prehistoric Settlements of the Chaves, Vila Pouca de Aguiar Region (Trás-os-Montes Occidental): bases for the knowledge of the IIIrd and second millennia BC in Northern Portugal Susana de Oliveira Jorge Chaves Vila Pouca de Aguiar (Trás-os-Montes Ocidental) 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. Thesis presented in 1986 at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Porto. Open access to the repository. Published in 3 books in 1986.
Late Prehistory of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro Maria de Jesus Sanches Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro Late Prehistory Thesis presented in 1995 at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Porto. Closed access to the repository. Published in 2 books in 1997.
The Tumular and Megalithic Phenomenon in the Galaico-Portuguese Region of Minho Goreti Sousa Upper Minho/Baixo Miño cross-border region Late Prehistory Thesis presented in 2012 at the Santiago de Compostela University. Open access to the repository. Unpublished.
Space Production Modalities in the Context of a Monumentalized Hill: The Prehistoric Site of Castanheiro do Vento in Vila Nova de Foz Côa Ana Margarida Aparício do Vale Chestnut of the Wind (Horta do Douro, Vila Nova de Fôz Côa) 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. Thesis presented in 2012 at the University of Porto (FLUP). Open access to the repository. Unpublished.
The proto-historical settlement and the romanisation of the upper-stroke basin of Cávado Manuela Martins Cávado Middle Course Basin, Braga District Proto-History and Romanization Thesis presented in 1987 at the University of Minho. It does not exist in the repository. Published in 4 books between 1986 and 1991.
Landscape and Man in the Cávado Basin during the IInd and Ist Millennia BC. Ana Bettencourt Cávado Basin, Braga district Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Thesis presented in 1999 at the University of Minho. It does not exist in the repository. Published in 4 books between 2000 and 2001.
The schematic art of Northeastern Trás-os-Montes: contexts and languages Sofia Catarina Soares de Figueiredo Northeastern Trás-os-Montes Late Prehistory Thesis presented in 2014 at the University of Minho. Open access to the repository.Published in one book in 2017.
The Atlantic art of the Monte de S. Romão (Guimarães) in the context of the post-Palaeolithic rock art of the Ave Basin—Northwestern Portugal Daniela Dolores Faria Cardoso Ave Basin—Northwestern Portugal Palaeolithic to Middle or Modern Age Thesis presented in 2015 at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD). Open access to the repository. Unpublished.
Change and transformation. Chalcolithic, Early and Middle Bronze in Eastern Trás-os-Montes: Reflections from Ceramic Containers Elsa Verónica Penas Luís Eastern Trás-os-Montes Chalcolithic; Early Bronze and Middle Ages Thesis presented in 2016 at the School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon. Open access to the repository. Unpublished.
Contributions to the history of the valorisation of archaeological heritage in Portugal Olga MariaPinto de Matos Portugal - Thesis presented in 2003 at the University of Coimbra. Closed access to the repository. Unpublished.
The Proto-Historical Settlement and the Romanization of the Coura River Upper Basin: Study, Musealization and Dissemination Maria de FátimaMatos da Silva Coura River Superior Basin, district of Viana do Castelo Proto-History and Romanization Thesis presented in 2008 at the University of Granada. Open access to the repository. Partially published in 2 books between 2007 and 2015.
The Crasto de Palheiros in the Iron Age. Contribution to the implementation of a new methodology in the study of ceramics Dulcineia Candida Bernardo Pinto Crasto de Palheiros, Murça Iron Age Thesis presented in 2012 at the University of Coimbra. Open access to the repository. Unpublished.
The coastal settlement between Cávado and Lima: from its origins to the Arab invasions Marta Sofia Alves de Miranda Marques The coastline between Cávado and the Lima Rivers Palaeolithic to Arab invasions Thesis presented in 2013 at the University of Porto (FLUP). Access is closed in the repository and not published.
The first evidence was the non-existence of a doctoral thesis developed by a female archaeologist discussing the ancient prehistory of Northern Portugal, whether Lower, Middle or Upper Palaeolithic. It is also noted that, in recent years, most doctoral theses have addressed localised problems, including case studies and studies of archaeological materials.
Through bibliographical research and the author’s experience and knowledge, which immensely helped in the several stages of this research, we wondered if any of the volumes were disseminated through publications. We noticed that only half (50%) accomplished it. Furthermore, even in the seven doctoral theses that have been published, some of the volumes presented are not published because they are detailed studies or offered results of analyses presented as annexes.
The first thesis, which was publicly defended by a female archaeologist regarding investigations carried out in the chronological and geographical frames of the present study, was presented in 1986, and the last was presented in 2016.
In parallel, although it was not a particular goal of this article, we developed other bibliographic research aiming to verify the evolution of the archaeologists included in our research in terms of research and publications. We found that some continue to develop research projects in archaeology or other areas, publishing several articles. However, most have not followed this course.

References

  1. Dimas, F.; Diniz, M. Dados para a história das mulheres na arqueologia portuguesa, dos finais do século XIX aos inícios do séc XXI. In Arqueologia em Portugal 2020—Estado da Questão; Associação de Arqueólogos Portugueses: Lisbon, Portugal, 2020; pp. 57–71.
  2. Jorge, V.O.; Jorge, S.O. Women in Portuguese Archaeology. Trab. Antropol. Etnol. 1996, 36, 159–167.
  3. Costeira, C.; Luís, E. Retractos da arqueologia portuguesa na imprensa: (in)visibilidades no feminino. In Arqueologia em Portugal 2020—Estado da Questão; Associação de Arqueólogos Portugueses: Lisbon, Portugal, 2020; pp. 73–83.
  4. Bugalhão, J. O papel da mulher na arqueologia portuguesa. OPHIUSSA Rev. Cent. Arqueol. Univ. Lisb. 2017, 1, 123–130.
  5. Bugalhão, J. Arqueologia e Arqueólogos no Norte de Portugal . In Arqueologia em Portugal 2020—Estado da Questão; Associação de Arqueólogos Portugueses: Lisbon, Portugal, 2020; pp. 85–100.
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Subjects: Archaeology
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Goreti Sousa
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Online Date: 29 Apr 2026
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