Laboratório HERCULES

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Portugal
Évora
Laboratório HERCULES

In 2010, a mobile laboratory unit, HERCULES mobile, was added to the infrastructure, with a National Strategic Reference Framework QREN-PORA grant.

HERCULES (HERança CULtural, Estudos e Salvaguarda) Laboratory was established in 2009 in Évora University with the financial support from the EEA Grants mechanism. Since its creation, the HERCULES Laboratory has endeavoured interdisciplinary collaboration with national and international partners bringing together the broad academic expertise of the institutions to explore new areas in analysis, po

licy and programs in the field of cultural heritage conservation and research. During the last years, the HERCULES laboratory become an important service provider to heritage stakeholders, which include SME’s of conservation-restoration and archaeology, and national and regional authorities, becoming a major reference in the scientific studies of cultural heritage. Promoting cultural heritage studies has been an important aspect of the HERCULES laboratory activities since its beginning. These have included the cooperation with local high schools for the inclusion on the curricula of science and cultural heritage topics, the production of a TV documental series, production of workshops for the general public and the joint edition of the e-conservation journal. Nowadays, the laboratory researchers are engaged in the material and historical study of different cultural heritage artefacts, namely, archaeological artefacts (ceramics, glass, metals, organic materials), art objects (easel paintings and polychrome sculpture, metals, historical textiles, ancient manuscripts), and built heritage (mortars, stone, mur al paintings and glazed tiles). The study of the biodegradation processes of the materials used to produce artistic artefacts led to the development of novel biotechnology based products used for identification of biocontaminants and for materials conservation.

28/05/2026

É com grande entusiasmo que anunciamos o lançamento oficial do livro Santos Corpos | Um atlas dos corpi santi em Portugal?

Santos Corpos em Portugal. Onde estão? Quando chegaram? Porque chegaram? Em que estado se encontram? O que revelam sobre arte, culto e tradição?

Durante três anos investigadores de diferentes áreas afinaram o seu olhar para responder a estas e muitas outras perguntas sobre os simulacra em Portugal. O livro Santos Corpos reflete o culminar deste projeto, e queremos partilhá-lo consigo como uma oportunidade para redescobrir um património religioso singular, complexo e muito pouco conhecido em Portugal.

Ao longo da sessão, membros da equipa deste projeto irão discutir alguns temas explorados e haverá espaço para perguntas e conversa com o público.

O lançamento é aberto a todos. Convidamos a comunidade académica e não académica, os curiosos, e até os mais céticos, a juntarem-se a nós para celebrar este livro.

📍 Biblioteca Geral do Colégio do Espírito Santo, Universidade de Évora
📅 3 de junho | 16h00

27/05/2026

Santos Corpos | An Atlas of the Corpi Santi in Portugal is now published.

The result of three years of research developed within the FCT-funded project Holy Bodies, this volume brings together 17 authors and multiple perspectives to explore one of Portugal’s most fascinating and lesser-known religious heritages: the corpi santi.

From history and art history to conservation, archival research, exact sciences, ethical reflections, and digital humanities, the book unveils the multiple (in)tangible layers of these relics and their reliquaries.

Santos Corpos is an invitation to explore the intersections between disciplines and to transform the way we see and understand this singular religious heritage.

Publisher: Scribe, Produções Culturais Lda.
Coords: Eduarda Vieira, Joana Palmeirão, Margarida Nunes, and Teresa Ferreira
Design: Beatriz Nunes & Célia Figueiredo

The book will soon be available.

26/05/2026

Back from our one week fieldtrip in the Serra da Estrela!

We collected plants to establish the environmental strontium isotope baseline that we will use to investigate sheep transhumance during Roman and Medieval times between Idanha-a-Velha and the Serra da Estrela.

Project
-a-velha
#2024.16309.PEX

With Maria João Valente (University of Algarve), Catarina Tente (University Nova Lisboa), Anne-France Maurer (University Évora)

-----------------------------

De regresso de uma semana de trabalho de campo na Serra da Estrela!

Recolhemos amostras de plantas para estabelecer a linha de base (baseline) ambiental dos isótopos de estrôncio, que servirá para estudar a transumância de ovelhas entre Idanha-a-Velha e a Serra da Estrela durante os períodos romano e medieval.

-a-Velha

Com Maria João Valente (Universidade do Algarve), Catarina Tente (Universidade NOVA) e Anne-France Maurer (Universidade de Évora)

22/05/2026

No passado dia 22 de maio, Luís Dias e António Carrapiço levaram o Laboratório HERCULES à Escola Secundária André de Gouveia no âmbito do Programa Cientificamente Provável, com uma parceria estabelecida entre o HERCULES e a Rede de Bibliotecas Escolares

22/05/2026

O Auditório Municipal de Alcácer do Sal acolhe, no próximo dia 30 de maio (sábado) o III Encontro de Arqueologia de Alcácer do Sal.

20/05/2026

É hoje com a participação do Laboratório HERCULES.

20 de maio | Dia Internacional dos Museus

O Mosteiro de Alcobaça foi dos monumentos selecionados como casos piloto para o desenvolvimento do ProjetoDigital Twins for Smart, Sustainable Tourism and Cultural Heritage Preservation, promovido pela NOVA FCT e a Universidade de Évora, financiado pela FCT. Nesse sentido, no dia 20 de maio, pelas 15h00, realiza-se no Mosteiro de Alcobaça uma ação de sensibilização: "A prevenção como estratégia de salvaguarda do património cultural. Todos podemos contribuir!".

PROGRAMA:

-O que são os agentes de deterioração? Ocorrência e riscos para o património cultural

-Atividade participativa. Onde estão os riscos na Igreja do Mosteiro de Alcobaça?

-O contributo do projeto DT4ST:Gémeos Digitais para Turismo Inteligente, Sustentável e Preservação do Património Cultural para uma nova abordagem de gestão e salvaguarda.

Máximo 20 pessoas
Duração: 1hora

INSCRIÇÕES: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/8QHRmm5ngD

19/05/2026

The Workshop on Archaeology and Archaeometry of Islamic Ceramics will take place at University of Évora, in Évora, from 22 to 24 June 2026. The event aims to bring together researchers from different institutions working on Islamic ceramics from both archaeological and archaeometric perspectives, encouraging interdisciplinary exchange between historical interpretation and analytical investigation. The workshop will offer an opportunity to present recent research results, innovative methodologies, and comparative case studies, while promoting collaboration and the integration of scientific approaches into ceramic studies. The final program is available at the following link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qoOZ9bR0_1iFjZsRl6nta35j2XAS3S7Q/view?usp=drive_link

Particular attention will be given to the role of archaeometry in addressing questions related to production technologies, provenance, and circulation patterns. The programme also includes a training component dedicated to students and early-career researchers, especially focused on ceramic petrography and analytical methodologies applied to Islamic ceramics. Through lectures, discussions, and practical activities, participants will acquire theoretical and methodological skills relevant to future research in the field. Inscriptions are still open, please complete the google form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1GG1ov27vRw6DnMTKsNF_PqUjfWOwm7C7xE23M8zz5mc/edit?usp=drive_web&ouid=116112684768015101165

15/05/2026

Green can be surprisingly challenging

Within the Holy Bodies project, we have been studying the fragile palm leaves present in 18th-century simulacra, symbolic objects associated with martyrdom that today reveal distinct conservation conditions. Some surfaces became brittle and discoloured, others powdery, others almost glass-like. Yet, many may have originally started from similar materials.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯?
W𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺?

To explore these questions, the HB team travelled to the SOLEIL Synchrotron, where we carried out a multi-analytical study combining µ-XRF, Cu K-edge XANES and µ-XRD to investigate the original green pigments, their alteration products, and possible previously undocumented verdigris-related phases in historical artefacts.

But science is never built alone.

This work has been growing through an ongoing international collaboration between HERCULES and KIK-IRPA, through Francisco Mederos-Henry and Amandine Colignon, who led the micro-FTIR mapping analyses that became a key part of this investigation. At SOLEIL, we were also incredibly fortunate to work alongside Sebastian Schröder, responsible for the PUMA beamline, whose support throughout both the analytical work and discussions was key.

And then there was the place itself. SOLEIL left us amazed by its atmosphere: a world-class synchrotron immersed in a green environment, silence and extraordinary sunsets.

12/05/2026

OPEN CALL FOR POSTER ABSTRACTS
🌐INART2026.MADEIRA.GOV.PT

Endereço

Palácio Do Vimioso, Largo Marquês De Marialva Nº8
Évora
7000-809

Telefone

+351266740800

Website

http://www.hercules.uevora.pt/

Notificações

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