SWAD

South-West Archaeology Digs (SWAD) is an archaeology field school running every year.

SWAD excavation and post-excavation works comprise a wide variety of sites in Portugal. Currently, our major projects are related with the excavation of the multi-period site of Castelo Velho de Safara and the Roman Ruins of Porto da Lama.

The field and lab school is designed to provide students with hands-on experience in excavation, recording excavation work through context sheets, section drawing, plans and photographs; and assisting in the recovery, processing, recording and archiving of finds and environmental samples. By the end of your stay, you will be able to work independently on site and in the lab, and will have developed considerable teamwork skills alongside the ability to prioritize and structure tasks within a set period of time.

Team

Project Director - Zooarchaeologist

Mariana Nabais holds a PhD in Archaeology from University College London, where she worked as a teaching assistant in Zooarchaeology (2014) and in Field Methods in Archaeology (2014-2016). She has been participating in several research projects ranging from the Palaeolithic to the Roman Era in Portugal and Spain and was the assistant direction of the excavations running in Downley, the Earls of Arundel Hunting Lodge (West Dean, UK), between 2014 and 2016. Mariana has extensive experience in public engagement activities in Portugal and the UK, and has a record of international peer-reviewed publications. Her research focuses primarily on reconstructing populations’ diets and environments through faunal analyses, including mammals, birds, reptiles, molluscs and crustaceans.

Research Gate

Project Director - Artefact Specialist

Rui Monge Soares is a member of the UNIARQ, Lisbon University's Institute of Archaeology. He completed his MSc in Archaeology (2012) on the subject of the Iron Age in Southwestern Iberian Peninsula at FLUL (Lisbon University). Since then, he has directed several excavations of Iron Age sites in the South of Portugal and he is currently undertaking a PhD in Archaeology at FLUL. His research focus is the Iron Age, specifically the ceramics between the V and IV centuries b.C. in Southwestern Iberian Peninsula.

Academia

Project Director - Human Remains Specialist

Cláudia Relvado completed her MSc in Human Evolution and Biology at the University of Coimbra in 2015 and has since worked in physical anthropology in both commercial archaeology and research projects. Her research focuses on the study of non-adults, particularly breastfeeding and weaning patterns and infant diet through stable isotope analysis.

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Site Assistant - Ceramic Specialist

Jakub Nicpon Jakub Nicpon holds an MSc in Classical Art and Archaeology (2024) from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He has participated in archaeological projects in Spain, Portugal, Scotland, and Greece, working on sites spanning from the Paleolithic to the Contemporary periods. Since 2023, Jakub has supervised the Castelo Velho de Safara project and manages its artefact inventory. In 2024, he began focused research on Roman Republican ceramics, particularly amphorae and fine ware, to explore patterns of trade and cultural interaction in the Western Mediterranean.

Research Gate
Academia

Collections Manager, Museum Mediator

Patrícia Brum works at the Lisbon Museum – Roman Theatre. She became an archaeologist in 2007, having taken part in excavations in Portugal, France and Italy. She holds an MA in Museum Studies having presented her “Contributions to the Museology Programming of the Archaeological Collection of the Roman Ruins of Tróia (Portugal)”, where she was the collections manager between 2008 and 2021.

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Academia

Image and Design expert

João Vidigal is a master of fine arts and a maker of all sorts: from his arts to archaeological equipment, from electronics to drone video and photography, from guitars and boats to web design. He has worked in all sorts of creative scenes both in Portugal and the UK. A true asset to the SWAD team as a jack of all trades.

Geoarchaeologist

Davide Susini holds a MSC in Archaeology from the University of Trento (Italy), and a PhD in Geoarchaeology from the University of Siena (Italy). His research focuses on site formation processes, geomorphology and soil micromorphology. Davide is currently a research member of an ERC project (nEU-Med), aiming to investigate the geomorphological evolution of the Medieval landscape extending from the Colline Metallifere to the Tyrrhenian Sea (South-West of Tuscany). He was also part of the geoarchaeology team (2011-2016) researching on issues related with the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic transition in Southeastern Iberia.

Research Gate

Conservator

Raven da Silva studied ancient civilizations at the University of Toronto, and holds an MSc in the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage from the University of Amsterdam. She has taken part in archaeological projects in Greece, Italy, and Northern Macedonia. Raven is passionate about public outreach in archaeology and art conservation, and is the founder of Dig it With Raven- a YouTube channel and online resource which aims to make learning about cultural heritage exciting and accessible to all.

Website

Archeobotanist

Nikolah Gilligan has worked in commercial archaeology since 1999 and has excavated sites in Ireland, Wales, Australia and Greece. Nikolah gained her Irish Site Director’s Licence in 2007 and has directed many excavations on large-scale infrastructural projects. Nikolah completed her MSc. in The Institute of Archaeology, UCL, in 2010, and has carried out archaeobotanical analyses of Irish assemblages, as well as material from Thailand and Vietnam as part of the NERC-funded Early Rice Project in The Institute of Archaeology. Nikolah is currently undertaking a PhD in University College Dublin.

Academia