02 MAI 2017 NEWS: Czerna Wielka - Palamakula - Agusan del Sur - Salamis - Kuaua Pueblo - Boulgouniakh - Ardrossan - Guanacaste - Bury St Edmunds -

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POLOGNE –  Bolko2 Czerna Wielka River.  - Remnants of a fourteenth-century castle belonging to Bolko II the Small have been discovered on an island in the Czerna Wielka River. The castle is located in the Lower Silesian Wilderness of southwestern Poland and was mentioned in medieval documents, but archaeologists had not been able to look for it because the area was used a a military training ground until the 1990s. Pawel Konczewski of Wroclaw University said the castle’s foundation was made of bog iron, while its single, rectangular tower was constructed of bricks marked with craftsmen’s fingerprints. The Piast dynasty prince built the fortress as part of a plan to expand his territory. 

http://scienceinpoland.pap.pl/en/news/news,413952,archaeologists-have-discovered-a-lost-castle-in-the-lower-silesian-wilderness.html

INDE Burial4 287x510 Palamakula - Department of Archaeology and Museums found major success this summer when they unearthed a majority of the skeletal remains, including the skull, of an ancient person, during the excavation of a megalithic burial at Palamakula village of Nanganur mandal in Siddipet district. The man is believed to have lived in the area some 3,000 years ago. The Department undertook the excavation of four megalithic burials, two each at Narmeta and Palamakula, during the summer. They started their job at Nanganur where they could only find a few skeletal remains in both the burials they had excavated during March. They started the excavation of two more burials at Palamakula, where they discovered majority remains of a skeleton including an intact skull recently. assistant director of Archaeology and Museums, P Nagarju said that that the structure of the burial Megalithic burials was very unique. “There was a small cist burial, in which the skeletal remains were found along with the pottery and iron implements buried further inside another cist,” he said, adding that they had never found anything like it in the past in Telangana. He further added that they have identified it as secondary burial, since the kin of the dead man had buried the skeletal remains of a person in the burial and not his body. The officer guesses he must have died in a war or of a disease or in an animal attack. There was a tradition of gathering the skeletal remains of dead men and burying them. However, Nagaraju said that part of the skeleton, particularly the ribs, was missing, with the skull remaining intact.Besides this, they also unearthed pots, bowls and plates made of clay, iron implements like arrow, knife, and sickle during the excavation. Under the supervision of Director, NR Visalatchy, they will send the skeletal remains to CCMB (Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology) to find out the race, gender, age and cause of death of the ancient person.

https://telanganatoday.news/unearthing-a-bygone-era

PHILIPPINES - Agusan del Sur -  Archaeologists and Anthropologists are studying the hidden history of civilization of pre-colonial ancient past, not only in Butuan City which is rich in cultural heritage, but also in Agusan del Sur.  There are strong pieces of evidence to show that a pre-colonial ancient past existed in this city and Agusan del Sur. Austrian archaeology expert Klaus Dona agreed that there could have been a civilization in Agusan del Sur dating to as far back as pre-colonial times. He said the initial discovery was made through a geo-satellite scan study, a pre-scan equipment that pinpointed possible archaeological site in the mountainside of that province. Klaus further explained to The Manila Bulletin at the sidelines of the summit that a possible ancient civilization and pre-colonial past could have existed here with the discovery of 1500-era “Balanghai.”“It looks like a town, an ancient site of civilization,” claimed Klaus, based on his initial study through the Geo-Satellite Scan.

http://news.mb.com.ph/2017/04/29/experts-studying-pre-colonial-civilization-in-agusan-del-sur/

GRECE – Salamis - The tomb was unearthed during works to link a home with the central sewage network, according to archaeologist Ada Kattoula of the Western Attica, Piraeus and Islands Antiquities Ephorate who spoke  to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA) on Friday. She noted that it was the third tomb located in the area, following two discovered in 2009 during excavation to install the sewage pipes and added that those finds had led to the discovery of 41 intact pottery vessels in very good condition, with inscribed decorations typical of the era, as well as pieces of roughly 10 more vessels. "The excavation conditions are extremely difficult because there are many springs in the area and the specific tombs, being carved into the rock, are prone to flooding. We needed pumps to empty the water. With great technical difficulty and significant assistance from the contractor we were able to investigate," Kattoula stressed. The tomb is part of a Mycenean-era cemetery discovered many years earlier and investigated in archaeological digs held in 1964, 1992 and 2009. The chamber, carved from the natural rock in the area, is 2.6 metres by 2.9 metres across and 1.5 metres high at its tallest point. It is slightly smaller than the other two tombs in the cemetery, which measured 3x3 metres across. It contained the skeletal remains of at least five people, indicating it was a group grave typical of the time. Chamber tombs were dug into rock, as roughly square chambers accessed via "roads". With each new burial, the entrance was opened and the remains of the previous dead were moved aside to make room for the new body and its grave goods.

http://www.tornosnews.gr/en/greek-news/culture/25024-mycenean-era-tomb-with-grave-goods-unearthed-in-salamis-main-town.html

USA 4 nmhs coronado site excavations of kuaua ruins Kuaua Pueblo  - “This dig has the potential of yielding hundreds if not thousands of artifacts,” said Matthew J. Barbour, regional manager, Coronado and Jemez Historic Sites. “The hand-excavation will focus test units throughout Kuaua Pueblo and the surrounding refuse piles called ‘middens.’ Architecture dating to the 1500s also will be unearthed.”

http://www.ladailypost.com/content/new-mexicans-invited-watch-archaeologists-hand-excavate-kuaua-pueblo-site

RUSSIE170428 horsetomb full Boulgouniakh - A horse tomb excavated at the Boulgouniakh archaeological site in Russia’s Sakha Republic. The domestication of the horse, believed to have first been accomplished by the Botai people of the Kazakh steppe around 3500 BC, changed human civilization dramatically. Horses made it possible to move much more quickly, connected previously far-flung places, and revolutionized war. Horse power was instrumental even to city life until the rise of the internal combustion engine in the early 20th century. As horses changed us, so did we change them. A new analysis of the genomes of 16 ancient horses, found in tombs like the one shown above, has revealed the transformation brought about by the selective pressures imposed by human breeders. The study, published in Science, found that the early Scythian breeders avoided inbreeding among their horses, while selecting for greater milk production and stronger forelimbs.

https://cosmosmagazine.com/archaeology/an-ancient-horse-tomb-in-siberia

ROYAUME UNIImgid107009267 jpg gallery Ardrossan Castle - This weekend sees the start of an archaeological dig in and around the church on the Castle Hill, Ardrossan. The dig, under the supervision of Rathmell Archaeology of Kilwinning, has been commissioned by Ardrossan Castle Heritage Society as a follow-up to a survey done last summer. This suggested that there are anomalies under the ground that could be a road, a churchyard wall, a grave or robbing-pit, an interior church wall, a building associated with the churchyard, furnishings or tomb remains and buried gravestones. A robbing-pit is an infilled hole left after the removal, perhaps by robbing, of buried building material. Hopefully, the dig will reveal some of the church’s long-hidden secrets.

http://www.ardrossanherald.com/news/15247792.Ardrossan_Castle___s_archaeological_dig/

COSTA RICA170427petroglyph1 1000x647 Guanacaste - Archaeologists of the state-run Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) found an indigenous petroglyph — an image engraved on a rock — on the grounds of a geothermal project in the province of Guanacaste.  They believe that the petroglyph belongs to the Bagaces Period, meaning it is from 300 to 800 A.D. Archaeologist Ana Cristina Hernández said they found evidence that the site, along with other areas within ICE’s project, were looted by tomb raiders. The artifact appeared in a sector that archaeologists believe is part of an indigenous cemetery complex. The petroglyph shows an image that experts say represents a hummingbird, a very important symbol for Costa Rica’s indigenous peoples. The bird was a symbol of fertility among local indigenous groups, they said. The rock also has two compound parallel spirals, placed in opposite directions. Experts say they represent the river flows and their relationship with burial sites located along the Blanco River.

http://www.ticotimes.net/2017/04/27/petroglyph-costa-rica

ROYAUME UNI Swns st edmund 013 Bury St Edmunds - Archaeologists are hunting for the remains of the Anglo Saxon king Saint Edmund underneath a tennis court. The ninth century ruler is believed to have been killed by Viking raiders after refusing to denounce his Christianity. His remains were kept in a shrine but were later lost during Henry VIII's reign and the desecration of the Benedictine Abbey. Historical records suggest monks placed his body in an iron chest but it is not known where he was buried. Some historians believe St Edmund's remains were hurriedly buried in a small graveyard for monks - now covered by two tennis courts. Edmund was the King of the East Angles in the 9th Century and it's thought he died somewhere in Suffolk or Norfolk. Myths say the brave King was killed by several arrows after refusing to denounce Christianity. The Vikings then removed his head so Edmund could not be buried whole. However, legend says his followers were able to find his head after a wolf called to them, shouting "here, here, here". Shortly after his death a shrine containing his remains was built in the Abbey in a town called Bedericesworth. This town later became Bury St Edmunds and in time St Edmund was declared the Patron Saint of England.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/archaeologists-hunt-remains-anglo-saxon-10333634