The Fortified Site of Leceia (Oeiras) in the Context of the Chalcolithic in Portuguese Estramadura

Research into the Chalcolithic period in the region of Lower Estremadura, south of Torres Vedras, western Portugal, has generated much new data from fortified sites and cemeteries. The lack, so far, of a thorough overview of this diverse body of information has hindered the definition of the Chalcolithic culture of the region. The economic, social and cultural transformation observed at sites with a long sequence beginning with the Late Neolithic, has never been analysed.
The results obtained by the author in one of the most notable sites of the region, the fortified site of Leceia, near the town of Oeiras, are of particular interest. Seventeen excavation campaigns carried out since 1983 have provided a remarkable body of information. The characterization of other previously identified Chalcolithic groups in Portugal allow us to see how the Chalcolithic of Estremadura relates, at a regional level, with the cultural development to the north, the south, the hinterland and the coast.
Of major importance to this discussion are the chronometric results obtained in Leceia. For the first time, the 36 radiocarbon dates and their subsequent statistical treatment have allowed us to establish absolute boundaries for the existing successive cultural phases of the Late Neolithic and the Early, Middle and Late Chalcolithic.     

Children's Perceptions of the Use of Public Open Spaces for Active Free-play

Activity performed by children in their free-time may have a significant impact on overall physical activity levels, however, very little is known about the influences on children's active free-play. To examine the role and use of public open spaces, 132 children (6–12 years) from a selection of primary schools participated in small focus group interviews. Children reported that their use of public open spaces was influenced by a combination of intrapersonal, social and environmental factors including; the play equipment and facilities at local parks, lack of independent mobility, urban design features, presence of friends, and personal motivation.     

The sin of cain

In this comment, the author reflects on where Europe has gone wrong in terms of becoming more inward looking. What might anthropologists do about it?     

An overview of Caribbean and Latin-American cultural heritage studies

Abstract

This review analyzes, through three recently published books that talk about cultural heritage in Latin America, how the Cultural Heritage Studies have allowed us to understand the current situation in the region characterized by the growing tendency to promote declarations of heritage as part of a plan for the use of culture as a resource for sustainable development. Likewise, those books analyze how responses from local communities are generated to hegemonic definitions of heritage, which indicates that cultural heritage in Latin America is not something given but something in constant construction and dispute.     

Filiation as a crossroads in Bahia

Drawing on ethnographic material collected in Bahia (Brazil) between 2004 and 2011, this article presents an alternative account of the notion of ‘filiation’ that avoids the equivoques concerning this concept that are dominant within contemporary anthropological discourses on kinship. The story of a lay preacher whose faith responds to her lack of a father figure illuminates how the constitution of personhood is based on filiation as a triangulation.     

Children, ‘healthy’ food,school and family: the ‘[n]ot really’ outcome of school food messages

ABSTRACT

This paper draws on a multi-method study with 50 families in Victoria, Australia. Primary school children were asked about food knowledge from school and whether they felt motivated to bring knowledge home. Generally, children and parents felt school food messages are unclear, contradictory and not relevant to them and this reduced the likelihood of messages coming home from school. We identify a critical difference in how families thought about healthy eating and food practices at home and the framework of school messages. Families focused on children’s eating in a pragmatic way, infused with nurturance as well as concern. We argue their practices can be viewed as a form of relational consumption (Lindsay and Maher 2013. Consuming Families: Buying, Making, Producing Family Life in the Twenty-First Century. New York: Routledge.) where food is part of the everyday exchange of love and care. A disjunction exists between familial relational approaches and the regulatory framework of school food messages that impacts how messages move between these spaces. Attention to relational aspects of food consumption at school might allow for a more valuable exchange between family and schools that supports family endeavours to feed children well.