João Luís Cardoso

Born in 1956, he is a retired Full Professor of History (Pre-History) at the Open University (Lisbon), where he coordinated the PhD in History and the Master’s in Heritage Studies since the creation of both courses, in 2006 and 2009, respectively, as well as the Degree in History. At this University he assumed management and coordination positions, including the Presidency of the University’s Scientific Council, the Presidency of the Teacher Evaluation Board, and the Presidency of the Editorial Board, in addition to being Vice-Rector for Research and Dissemination of Knowledge.

At the Portuguese Academy of History, he assumed several positions on the Academic Council, having been successively elected Vice-Secretary-General, 2nd Vice-President and 1st Vice-President.

At the Lisbon Geography Society, after serving as a member of the Board of Directors, he was elected in 2023 as Vice-President, a position he currently holds. Between 2001 and 2011 he assumed the presidency of the Archeology section, which he refounded.

He obtained his PhD in Geology (specialty in Stratigraphy and Paleobiology), at Universidade NOVA de Lisboa/Faculty of Sciences and Technology) in 1992, being awarded the highest distinction. He completed the Aggregation in the area of History (speciality Pre-History and Ancient History) at the Open University, in 2000, having been awarded the classification of Approved, by Unanimity of the Jury.

He has been a Number Academician of the Portuguese Academy of History since 2001, a full member of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences since 2022, a foreign correspondent member of the Real Academia de la Historia (Madrid) since 2011 and of the German Archaeological Institute (Berlin) since 2009. In 2022 he was elected foreign correspondente member of the Real Academia de Doctores e España.

He has been coordinator of the Center for Archaeological Studies of the Municipality of Oeiras (Câmara Municipal de Oeiras) since its creation in 1988.

His activity as an archaeologist began in 1975, and he is currently the author or co-author of around 950 publications, including books, scientific articles published in specialized journals and book chapters, and is the author of around 30 books, including two syntheses of the Prehistory of Portugal, as a result of the field and office work he has carried out, especially in Baixa Estremadura in general and in the Oeiras region in particular, and also in the south of Beira Interior, in the Upper Eastern Algarve and in Setúbal Peninsula, with emphasis on the Sesimbra region.

Such works covered a remarkable diversity of archaeological stations, from domestic sites to necropolises, of wide diachrony, from the Lower Paleolithic to the Contemporary Age, also including studies on the History of Archeology and Industrial Archaeology.

He has carried out multidisciplinary research, valuing the contribution of Natural Sciences to Archaeology, being responsible for new areas of research in Portugal, namely Zooarchaeology, guiding the first doctorates in Portugal in this field.

He was distinguished with the Professor Carlos Teixeira Prize, from the Lisbon Academy of Sciences (1993) attributed to his PhD Thesis and, at the Portuguese Academy of History, with the Possidónio Laranjo Coelho Prize (1998), Aboim Sande Lemos (2000 and 2002) , Pedro da Cunha Serra (2005), Joaquim Veríssimo Serrão (2007), EMEL – History of paths, routes and mobility (2018), Augusto Botelho da

Costa Veiga (2020 and 2022) and Octávio da Veiga Ferreira (2023) Prizes, attributed to published books of his own.

He holds the Municipal Merit Medal – gold grade – from the Municipality of Oeiras, which was awarded to him in 1995.