Paper short abstract:

During the last two decades, archaeological activity has been increasing in Portugal due to the development of Commercial Archaeology. Even if Zooarchaeology is definitely established in experts and other resources, the scientific production of this area, in relation with the Commercial Archaeology, its almost absent.

Paper long abstract:

The boost of archaeological activity in Portugal throughout the last two decades is due mainly to the augment of Commercial Archaeology. Recently, this phenomenon is being a matter of debate in what concerns to its scientific production, or even social benefits. In this contribution, we try to comprehend how this growth meets the development of Zooarchaeology and the study of archaeofaunal remains in general.

At the moment, there are an unquestionable and considerable number of conditions and tools that are supposed to assist the formation of specialists and the enlargement of zooarchaeological studies in Portugal. We refer essentially to the Archaeozoology Laboratory of the IPA and its vertebrate reference collection, but also to the incorporation of signatures linked to the study of archaeofaunas in the higher education, to be precise, some masters degrees of the Universities of Lisboa, Algarve and Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro/Instituto Politécnico de Tomar.

Nowadays, the discussion about the value of faunal studies is no longer made, nevertheless, despite the evolution of entrepreneurial activity in Portuguese Archaeology and the maturity of Zooarchaeology as a scientific area of knowledge, the crossing of the "two ways" remains rare; the scientific literature derived from the supposed joint relation of Commercial Archaeology and Zooarchaeology is really reduced. Moreover, the initiative by Archaeology companies to promote studies of archaeofaunas is a very diminished percentage of the published data even.