08 AOÛT 2017 NEWS: Saint-Pierre et Miquelon - Gandhari - Saint-Thibault - Karkamış - Karain -
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FRANCE – 
Saint-Pierre et Miquelon - A group of archaeology students and their advisor excavated the site of St. Pierre’s old airport, known as Anse à Bertrand, this summer. Dr. Catherine Losier chose St. Pierre for excavation because the first known map of the harbour of St. Pierre (1680-1700s) shows occupation in Anse à Bertrand: two fishing rooms, a chapel and one small fort to protect the harbour. During the 16th and the beginning of the 17th centuries, Breton, Norman and possibly Basque fishermen visited the archipelago during their migratory fishing season. Little is known about the first European visits to the archipelago, or about the French and English permanent settlements of the first half of the 18th century. Dr. Losier aims to change that by documenting the human activities at Anse à Bertrand with a focus on the oldest settlements, which likely date from the 17th and the 18th centuries. She also wants to document how the frequent change in governance between France and England during the colonial period impacted life in the archipelago. “The beginning of our project in 2016 coincided with the 200th anniversary of the final return of Saint-Pierre et Miquelon to French control,” said Dr. Losier. During the first week of excavation they identified rock features and a fishing room associated with the occupation of the site during the 19th and 20th centuries. Other rock features and objects, gun flints, ceramics, or smoking pipes for example, associated with 18th-century fish harvesters were found in the most ancient layers excavated during the last week of the fieldwork.
https://gazette.mun.ca/research/international-dig/
INDE - Gandhari Fort - An inscription from 1403 AD carved on a huge rock in the precincts of Gandhari Fort in Mancherial district deciphered by a Hyderabad-based-historian has unlocked decades long mystery as to who was ruler from the only rock-cut fort in Telangana. It also shows how some traditions continue for centuries and has unveiled how Vaishnavism was propagated in this area once, which is now famous for the Gandhari maisamma jatara. The photograph of the inscription was clicked by state department of Archaeology two decades ago but was not deciphered until now. Dyavanapalli Satyanarayana, who deciphered the inscription says that the ruler’s name in inscription is mentioned as Peddiraju Anantaraju, who was a vassal during reign of king Anapota-II who used to rule from Rachakonda in the present day Nalgonda district.Satyanarayana points out that even now people residing in the area have either Peddiraju or a modified form of the word, Peddi or Peddulu in their names. Name of the present priest in a famous temple located in the fort is Peddulu. During the Gandhari maisamma jatara tradition, known as “ranam kudupu” is still followed which dates back to the rule of Anapota-II. The tradition was a religious ritual practiced during a battle which included conducting sacrifice of animals, which is conducted even now in the jatara. Although presently it is a goddess to whom a famous temple located on the Gandhari fort is dedicated, the inscription shows that the ruler Peddiraju was propagating Vaishnavism in the area during his reign. A proof of it is the inscription which Satyanarayana deciphered. The inscription says that the king Peddiraju Anantaraju dedicated the “hanumanta thiruvani pratishtha”. The thiruvani refers to shankha, chakra and namam, which are symbols associated with Hindu god Vishnu. It also has a carving of the Hindu god Hanuman beside carvings of the Vaishnavism symbols. Satyanarayana says, “Even today those who have Peddiraju or its modified version in their name wear the Vaishnava symbols and are hence known as Thirumanidharulu. They invoke the Vaishnava cult propagator Singhabhupala by the name of Singaboya. They belong to Padmanayaka caste like their ancestors and now fall in the tribal category.”
FRANCE – 
Saint-Thibault - Un chantier de fouilles archéologiques extrêmement rare se déroule en ce moment sur les bords de Loire, à Saint-Thibault. Jusqu'au 18 août, une équipe d'archéologues et de spécialistes réalise des études autour d'une épave de bateau déjà sondée il y a deux ans. Extrêmement bien conservée et vieille de plusieurs centaines d'années, l'épave mesure environ 11 mètres de long. "C'est très rare de trouver de telles épaves, explique Annie Dumont, archéologue au département des recherches archéologiques subaquatiques et sous-marines. La Loire a un régime violent qui, normalement, disloque les bois assemblés."Mais cette fois, l'épave a été bloquée par les restes de l'ancien pont gallo-romain, près de la berge. "Le poids de sa cargaison lui a également permis de rester au fond de l'eau, ce qui l'a protégée de l'érosion." Depuis lundi, les archéologues s'attachent à extraire la cargaison de l'épave. "Il y a une quarantaine de blocs de pierre en partie taillés ainsi que des ardoises, dévoile Annie Dumont. Ce chargement était très probablement destiné à une construction pour un édifice prestigieux comme un château, une église ou une abbaye." En étudiant l'épave et sa cargaison, les chercheurs vont tenter de dater de manière plus précise l'embarcation mais aussi les techniques de construction des bateaux de Loire à l'époque ainsi que l'histoire de la circulation et du commerce sur le fleuve royal.
TURQUIE – 
Karkamış - The excavations that have been carried out in Karkamış, one of the world’s most important ancient cities, lying along the borders of Turkey and Syria, have unearthed 250 kiln bullae (impression seals), for the first time this year. The bullae were used by top state officials in the Hittite Empire. The aim of examining the findings is to determine the goods related to these seals and to reach information about the Karkamış administration. Peker said that Karkamış lived its brightest era under the rule of the Hittites, adding that the excavations carried out since 2001 by Turks and Italians have unearthed the oldest known written document and lots of inscriptions written with Anatolian hieroglyphs from the 12th century, known as the Iron Age. This year, they began to find written documents dating back to the second half of the early Bronze Age to shed light on the administrative structure of Karkamış, he said. “We have found kiln pieces with bullae and written documents. These are the most important documents ever found in Karkamış. We have found the names of many officials, who had worked in the administration. We have never heard their names before in Hittite history. This is most likely a structure in which taxes were collected. There are 250 bullae here. Among them, more than 110 have descriptions. We can see the bullae of more than 10 bureaucrats. Bullae were used as seals. They had been used to close the doors of a city and to open them in the morning. They were used as a way of securing things. I hope we will continue to find them in further excavations,” Peker said.Peker said the findings in the east part of the Lower Palace are very important, adding that the most striking ones among the top administrative officials are the “driver Taya,” the “three princes,” the doctor and the priest. Peker said they had found a symbol of a hieroglyph on the bullae which they had never seen before.“We have never seen it in any other Hittite documents. The name of this official is Paya. Paya has nearly 50 bullae. He had sealed all these kilns by himself but Taya sealed them with other Karkamış officials. This is the biggest archive after the Nişantepe archive found in the Hittite capital in Boğazköy. This is one of the biggest discoveries over the last 10 years,” he said.
TURQUIE – 
Karain Cave - Archeologists have discovered the bones of a large 350,000-year-old animal during excavations at the Karain Cave in the southern Turkish province of Antalya.“We discovered the rib bones, teeth and skeleton bones of big mammals,” said Professor Harun Taşkıran of Ankara University’s Archaeology Department. “This year, we have discovered a giant animal’s hip bone, jaw and teeth. We believe that the 50-centimeter hip bone dates back approximately 350,000 years,” said Taşkıran, the head of the excavations at the Karain Cave. “It’s not scientifically proven, but these bones may belong to an elephant, rhinoceros or hippopotamus. We don’t know its species yet, so experts will come to find out,” he added, noting that they had come across bone masses of other animals in the same area.“As in the other cave excavations, the excavated soil is brought to the excavation house with buckets to be washed and then it passes through three different sieving methods. Every finding, even the tiniest [remnants], provides us with access to new information about the past,” Taşkıran said. He underlined the significance of Karain Cave excavations in uncovering the history of Antalya and Anatolia. “Thanks to the excavations at Karain Cave, we have dated the history of Antalya back 500,000 years. There are 500,000-year-old remnants here. Neanderthal bones of early humans have been unearthed in the cave. For this reason, this cave is really important for Turkey,” Taşkıran added.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-researchers-find-bones-of-350000-year-old-animal.aspx?pageID=238&nID=116434&NewsCatID=375