07 - 08 JANVIER 2011
- 07 JANVIER -
- SYRIE – 
Kfarnboda - A mosaic painting dating back to the Byzantine era in the 6th century A.D. was discovered in Kfarnboda, Hama. Director of Hama Archaeology Department Abdulkader Farzat said the painting, which is 375 cm-long and 120 cm-wide, carries numerous geometrical shapes and decorations. For his part, Director of Apamea Archaeology Department Nader Lada said the painting includes drawings taking the shape of squares, each five of which are positioned above each other vertically. ''In the center of the squares is a cross-shaped drawing. The painting, which is dominated by white and gray, is surrounded by a frame of two lines and inside is a geometrical strip of triangles,'' said Lada, adding that the painting was done with precision and skill. Hama is rich in Syria's most important mosaic paintings. More than 50 % of the discovered such paintings are found in Hama.
- SOUDAN – Mer Rouge - Rock engravings, ancient burial sites and several dozen terracotta figurines were discovered by a group of Polish archaeologists in the north-eastern part of Sudan by the Red Sea. Prehistoric settlement has never been researched in north-western Sudan. The first rock engravings were accidentally discovered in 1999. An expedition led by Doctor Przemysław Bobrowski has been researching the area. “During the December expedition we discovered lots of rock engravings. Most of them depict cattle but there are also portraits of people and African animals” says Prof. Michal Kobusiewicz, member of the team. “The engravings were concentrated around a solitary phallus-shaped mountain, which suggests that they were connected with fertility rites” Kobusiewicz adds. According to archaeologists, the mountain was a symbol of fertility cult, which is supposedly proved by its miniature copies made in sandstone found near the engravings. The theory about the cult character of the site may be proved by the discovery of several dozen terracotta figurines of people and the miniature sandstone phallus-shaped mountains. Numerous traces of prehistoric settlement were also discovered near the engravings. Archaeologists say that the age of the engravings is likely to be determined by radiocarbon dating method and geomorphic research. Research will be continued in 2011-
http://www.polishmarket.com.pl/document/:24357?p=/Economic+Monitor/
- USA – Sea Pines - Coastal waters uncovered a potential piece of Civil War-era history discovered last week by a visiting diplomat on a Hilton Head Island beach. Thomson discovered what appears to be the ribs of an old wooden boat protruding from thick mud, like bones in a partially uncovered grave, on a shell beach opposite the 18th tee at Harbour Town Golf Links. An eight- to 10-foot portion is exposed, including the holes for the wooden pegs that held the boat together and what Peterson believes are ballast stones in the hull's remains. The rest of the boat is buried in mud. State archaeologist Jonathan Leader said he has not seen the boat or been contacted about it. Based on its description, it could date to the Civil War, he said. "Finding something like this along the beach is not unusual. It's actually fairly common. South Carolina was very active in coastal shipping, fishing and maritime travel," Leader said. "There weren't a lot of roads in the state up to and prior to the Civil War. Any major movement of goods and services tended to be up river and along the coast."
http://www.islandpacket.com/2011/01/06/1501674/a-boat-possibly-civil-war-era.html#ixzz1AQvI68Qw
- INDONESIE – Jakarta - Mount Merapi’s frequent eruptions have subsumed dozens of historical items, with some 39 objects recently found underneath cold lava.Yogyakarta Cultural Agency head Djoko Dwiyanto said his team recently found 39 relics in areas surrounding Yogyakarta. Djoko said many objects were still covered with lava, requiring archeologists to use remote sensing equipment to find them.The equipment uses an electronic system, however, the equipment cannot determine precisely whether rock is part of a temple construction or not. Djoko said in order to retrieve the objects, his office had allocated Rp 10 billion (US$1.1 million), with the excavation to be done by Yogyakarta’s Archeology and Ancient Conservation Hall (BP3). Between 1960 and 2010, BP3 found five temples that were buried between 2 and 9 meters deep: Morangan, Gampingan, Kadisoko, Sambisari and Kimpulan.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/01/06/mt-merapi-eruptions-bury-temple-relics.html
- USA – Ventura - Researchers this week are crisscrossing the parking lot using ground-penetrating radar in search of anomalies below the asphalt that could be artifacts or building foundations from years past. Archaeologists will return to excavate by hand those areas believed to contain artifacts. The parking lot is a few blocks from the historic San Buenaventura Mission, built in 1792. It was covered by portions of a mission quadrangle built by Chumash laborers and Spanish soldiers to encompass a plaza around the landmark chapel, one of 21 in California. After secularization in the 1830s, much of the mission lands were sold to private settlers, records show. From there, the roughly 20,000-square-foot lot housed a saloon, blacksmith shop, fire station, even an 1800s bowling alley, according to old fire insurance maps.Later came the Chaffee Lumber Yard. In 1888 arrived the historic but short-lived 100-room Anacapa Hotel, once the tallest building in town and one of the first to offer a telephone. The ornate hotel that catered to the elite was a casualty of the Depression and was destroyed, historians believe.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/jan/06/ventura-search-begins-ground-penetrating-radar/
- CHINE – Hothot - Archaeologists have unearthed two mural tombs dating back more than 1,000 years on the banks of the Yellow River in Hohhot in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Situated in Qingshuihe County, the two brick tombs consist of tunnel paths and rooms for the buried. No corpses have been discovered yet. The well-preserved murals on the tombs' walls have various colors and themes. Other items, such as pottery jars, porcelain bowls and wooden saddles, were also found.