Coalition-building in Portuguese Spatial Planning: Is There a Southern European Context?

This paper aims to discuss institutional capacity building in spatial planning focussing on two experiences of public policy in Portugal involving institutional cooperation. These experiences reveal the importance of factors associated with the roles of the central state and local political leadership in the way integrated tools of urban and territorial policy are implemented. They also show that the capacity to mobilize local agents is mitigated by the deep-rooted presence of highly personalized institutional ties, reflecting a relational model that is particularly characteristic of Portuguese society. We will conclude that territorial policies may be jeopardized when these policies are centred mainly upon the mobilization of local agents. In fact, these two case-studies, as well as similar experiences in Italy, suggest that, in southern Europe, two other aspects are central for the definition of territorial policies on the inter-municipal and local scales: the influence of the state, and the role of political leadership at local level.     

Preliminary Assessment on Seismic Vulnerability of Masonry Churches in Central Chile

ABSTRACT

The 2010 Maule Chile earthquake (Mw 8.8) caused extensive structural damage to the built heritage. In particular, the poor seismic performance of a set of unreinforced masonry (URM) churches highlighted the need to implement protective and safety strategies in order to preserve these buildings which exhibit unique constructive and typological features, as a result of a combination of Chilean and European construction cultures.

The peculiarity of this heritage and the high seismic hazard of Chilean territory have motivated the present study which aims to apply systematic procedures to assess the seismic vulnerability of these buildings. This article is of archival nature and presents a complete database generated from the geometrical, constructive, and structural characteristics of a representative stock of 106 churches located in central Chile, with the goal of proposing fragility curves to be used in seismic risk assessment. Considering variables related with geometrical, architectonic, and stylistic features, as well as damage levels for the 2010 Maule earthquake, this church sample is classified into three homogenous groups: colonial, neo-classic, and neo-gothic. Moreover, a preliminary qualitative assessment of the seismic capacity of these structures is provided using a survey and analysis of geometric indices for each of the three selected groups.     

Toward Hybrid Modeling and Automatic Planimetry for Graphic Documentation of the Archaeological Heritage: The Cortina Family Pantheon in the Cemetery of Valencia

ABSTRACT

The current trend toward the hybrid methodology of combining terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) with close-range and UAV-assisted photogrammetry is becoming the most effective method for the complete capture of archaeological sites. In this article, we consider three objectives in this regard: first, to check an integration procedure, based on different capture techniques, to obtain the best possible complete digital model in different situations related to size, lighting, and occlusions. Second, a “laser scanning with the help of photogrammetry” strategy for the operation with the different data sources, which allows to adapt the processes of photogrammetric orientation, cloud registration, and automatic texturing, to the characteristics of each capture model. Finally, to present the digital edition of these models through automatic technical projections and realistic visualizations, to show their ability to interpret their geometry or share their knowledge, respectively.     

Shellfish Exploitation in the Western Canary Islands Over the Last Two Millennia

ABSTRACT

The residents of the Canary Archipelago consumed limpets since the arrival of humans ～2500 yrs. ago, and these harvested gastropods were deposited in large coastal shell middens. This work preliminarily explores shell margin oxygen isotope composition (δ¹⁸O) and body size of the black limpet (Patella candei d’Orbigny, 1840) from archaeological sites in the Canary Islands to assess possible seasonal variability and intensity of shellfish collection throughout the late Holocene. The shell margin δ¹⁸O values of 100 shells (radiocarbon dated between ～500 and ～1800 cal. yr BP) were analysed to estimate sea surface temperature (SST) at time of death. Paleotemperature estimates suggest shellfish harvesting was not year-round, and was avoided in the cooler months (when SST?<?20°C). This pattern differs from most higher latitude Mesolithic and Neolithic human groups, which gathered shellfish year-round, targeting winter more heavily. Preliminary body-size measurements suggest shell sizes have experienced a decline from aboriginal times to the present, which possibly resulted from increasing anthropogenic pressures. During aboriginal inhabitation, maximum adult shell size remained stable, suggesting that present-day harvesting practices are more intense than harvesting from aboriginal human groups. This intensive collection has likely diminished the average adult size of limpet populations in the islands by ～27%.     

The Emirate of Córdoba (756–929 AD) and the introduction of the Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon) in Iberia: the remains from Muge,Portugal

We describe new finds of Herpestes ichneumon (Egyptian mongoose) from an archaeological context in Portugal, directly ¹⁴C dated to c. 800 AD. This is at least two centuries older than a previously reported find of this species from Andalusia (southern Spain; Riquelme-Cantal et al., 2008). Our finding provides further support to the hypothesis that the Muslims introduced this animal to the Iberian Peninsula. In particular, we suggest that Berber settlers might have brought it some time during the Umayyad conquest of Iberia or with the establishment of the Emirate of Córdoba.