He is a researcher at the University of Lisbon, where he returned after a long career by universities in Spain, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. He was responsible for the creation of the Coa Archaeological Park and its classification as World Heritage, and for the discovery of the «Lapedo Child». He was founder and director of the Portuguese Institute of Archaeology. The humanised image we have of neanderthals today is largely due to the results of the research that he conducted or fostered in deposits in Portugal, Spain and Romania.