The last few months have been a bit chaotic to say the least. I wrapped things up at IPHES in December, packed up my belongings, and drove across the Iberian Peninsula with my partner. January 6, 2020 marked my first day on a new MSCA-IF postdoctoral research project at the Universidade de Coimbra. I joined CIAS - Research Centre for Anthropology and Health (Centro de Investigação em Antropologia) - in the Department of Life Sciences (Departamento de Ciências da Vida) at the University of Coimbra where I am working with Ana Maria Silva in the Laboratory of Prehistory. I will be studying prehistoric human dental morphology with a focus on Portuguese archaeological sites spanning the Paleolithic to Bronze Age over the next two years. The project will incorporate methods of assessing external crown and root morphology as well as virtual approaches to incorporate internal and three-dimensional dental morphology. Given the focus on virtual approaches, we named the project "Virtual Anthropology of Prehistoric Portugal" or VAPP for short. I'll continue using this blog to provide updates on the VAPP Project, as well as news of research coming out of the IDENTITIES Project and other collaborations. "Why Portugal?" Last week I had my first Portuguese language class in Coimbra. There were general introductions from the students and some follow-up questions from our instructor. When it was my turn, I introduced myself as being from the US and working at the University of Coimbra as a biological anthropologist studying archaeological human remains. I usually get a lot of puzzled looks and follow-up questions when I introduce myself like this, but that wasn't the case this time. Instead, I was asked, "Why Portugal? Why Coimbra?" My short answer was that I came to Portugal as an undergraduate, fell in love with the country, and have been wanting to come back ever since. I've been reflecting on this a bit lately because I never really thought that I would live in Portugal, just come back and visit once in a while. Even more inconceivable to me on reflection is that I have now lived on both sides of the Iberian Peninsula! But why Coimbra?I had a bunch of meetings during my first postdoc at IPHES that were focused on documenting the progress of the IDENTITIES Project but also on professional development. Among the most important meetings was an early one I had with Ignasi Pastó about research trajectories in Europe. Ignasi encouraged me to think about applying for another Marie Curie fellowship, and at the end of the meeting he said, "I will follow up with you in May [2018]. You should have an idea of what you want to work on and who you want to collaborate with." So, I was one and a half months into a new postdoc and already planning the next one!
My pipe dream of moving to Portugal resurfaced at that moment. I also knew that I wanted to gain greater knowledge of dental morphology and virtual approaches to human remains. So, I sought some advice from trusted colleagues about collaborators in Portugal and they kept recommending CIAS and the Laboratory of Prehistory at the University of Coimbra. So, I got in contact with Ana Maria Silva and proposed the collaboration that would become the VAPP Project. Long story short: we wrote a successful grant application and now I am in Coimbra. Yesterday, Jane Buikstra gave a talk at CIAS called "Bioarchaeology Goes Global & Historical." It was great to see a world-renowned bioarchaeologist give a talk, but it was even more incredible to hear her say that "the University of Coimbra has the best research institution in Bioarchaeology on the continent." So, if Jane Buikstra says so, I don't find it necessary to argue the point any further. Coimbra is a solid choice. Oh, pastries are also a good way to choose postdoc locations....
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John C. Willman
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