- 10 OCTOBRE :
- ALGERIE : Mila - Le patrimoine archéologique de la ville de Mila fera prochainement l'objet d'une étude approfondie par des chercheurs de l'université Mentouri de Constantine, a-t-on appris samedi d'un archéologue activant dans cette wilaya. Cette étude scientifique qui donnera lieu à un recueil en trois tomes, verra la participation d'archéologues, d'anthropologues et d'historiens de l'université Mentouri. Elle permettra d'élaborer une étude d'évaluation des sites historiques de cette wilaya riche du passage de plusieurs civilisations. Cette action traduit, selon la même source, l'importance des efforts déployés en vue de mettre en valeur le précieux héritage de cette région qui doit faire l'objet de recherches scientifiques approfondies. Plusieurs autres projets de recherche scientifique, portant sur l'étude de l'histoire du vieux Mila, ainsi que sur celle des carrières et des anciens matériaux de construction, sont actuellement en cours par des chercheurs universitaires, a-t-on ajouté. En 2007, la ville de Mila avait, rappelle-t-on, bénéficié d'un plan permanent de sauvegarde, tandis que huit sites archéologiques ont été répertoriés au parc national d'archéologie, notamment Ain El Blad, dans la vieille ville et Ksar El Agha, à Ferdjioua. Vingt-sept (27) autres sites archéologiques, récemment découverts dans les communes de M'chira et d'Ouled Khlouf seront également classés, a-t-on ajouté, rappelant que la wilaya de Mila a bénéficié, au titre du programme quinquennal 2010- 2014, de la réalisation d'un musée régional qui permettra la protection et la sauvegarde des pièces archéologiques, témoins de la riche histoire de cette région.
http://www.latribune-online.com/l_info_en_continu/41056.html
- 09 OCTOBRE :
- AUSTRALIE : Dunwich - Off the coast of the Dunwich in Suffolk lies half a medieval town long abandoned to the sea. Despite many diver and sonar surveys, details of the site have been hidden due to poor visibility. In June 2010, however, acoustic imaging technology was introduced to complete an archaeological survey of the site. The site of the sunken town of Dunwich has been the subject of debate for several centuries. What remains of the ancient capital of East Anglia off the coast has been the subject of countless diving and archaeology projects. Since the 1300s, historic buildings have been lost to the relentless encroachment of the North Sea. Attempts to gain any detailed view of what lies beneath the water, the silt and the sand off the coast have been hampered by the poor visibility near the seabed, however. Tidal and wave currents keep fine sediments from the seabed in suspension, causing the very poor visibility. This is a particular problem off Dunwich because the site is dispersed over the seabed and many of the remains are fragmentary. Conventional optical systems generate blank screens in such conditions, so the investigators have turned to sonar imaging as an alternative. Each diver clipped onto a shot line which had been previously positioned over the ruins using GPS navigation and side-scan sonar data. The divers could then undertake circular sweeps of the sea bed around the shot line, gradually increasing their radius of survey. A set of data were acquired at a distance of 8-15 metres, and a second set for close-up visualisation at 1-5 metres. The combination of high frequencies, acoustic lenses and very narrow beams increased the image detail and gave archaeologists greater information about the site than ever before available. "The DIDSON diver-held system enabled us to see for the first time the worked and rubble masonry on the seabed from the ruins of St Katherine's Chapel and St Nicholas Church, which were lost to the sea around 1550 and 1480.
http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id4231-Acoustic_Imaging_Reveals_Lost_Town.html
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- ROYAUME-UNI : Severe restrictions on scientists' freedom to study bones and skulls from ancient graves are putting archaeological research in Britain at risk, according to experts. The growing dispute relates to controversial legislation introduced by the Ministry of Justice in 2008, which decreed that all human remains found during digs in Britain must be reburied within two years. The decision means that scientists have insufficient time to carry out proper studies of any pieces of ancient skeleton they find. Key information about British history will be lost as a result. "Suppose one of our palaeontologists found the remains of a million-year-old human," said archaeologist Mike Pitts of the Stonehenge Riverside Project. "It would be a truly wonderful discovery and would transform our knowledge of our predecessors. But, according to the Ministry of Justice ruling, we would have to take that fossil – when we had only just begun to study it – and put it back in the soil. It is utterly absurd."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/oct/10/burial-grave-mike-pitts-stonehenge
- ROYAUME-UNI : Porthkerry - Amateur archaeologists in the Vale of Glamorgan believe they have uncovered a lost medieval village. The Time Signs archaeology students made the discovery behind the railway viaduct at Porthkerry near Barry. They are working with tutor Karl James Langford to prove his theory that the village of Whitelands existed. A house platform which forms part of the manor house has been found as well as big quantities of medieval pottery and evidence of other buildings. They have identified three sites that run along Whitelands brook including what they think is a medieval mill. Archaeologists believe that Whitelands was established in around 1100 by the Normans to service the profitable natural harbour of Porthkerry. Around 60 to 70 people could have lived in the settlement including around 10 in the manor house. The community may have been involved in activities related to the harbour such as fishing. Unlike Cwm Ciddy and Porthkerry, Whitelands did not have a church which Mr Langford suggests may be the reason that proof of its existence has disappeared from local history. No reference has ever been made to a deserted medieval village in Whitelands.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/southeastwales/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_9070000/9070130.stm
- AFRIQUE DU SUD : Mapungubwe - A coal mine being developed close to a World Heritage Site in South Africa could "completely destroy" one of the country's most cherished national parks, UNESCO has warned. Environmental, wildlife and archaeological groups have objected to the South African government's decision to allow the mine near the boundary of Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape in the extreme north of the country. The area has evidence of the first complex society in southern Africa, dating back to the Iron Age about 1,000 years and rock art up to 10,000 years old. It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/10/08/world.heritage.mine/index.html
- FRANCE : St-Germain-le-Guillaume - Après un sondage de sites les plus intéressants, un chantier de fouilles, financé par la direction régionale des affaires culturelles (Drac) de Nantes et le conseil régional, s'ouvre avec l'appui du groupement de recherches archéologiques de la Mayenne. Un beau filon de dolérite, de couleur bleu, datant du Néolithique (période de la Préhistoire marquée par de profondes mutations techniques et sociales) a été mis à jour. La découverte de mobilier archéologique, à savoir un percuteur en pierre, des éclats de dolérite, une voire deux ébauches de haches taillées, ont permis à Gwénolé Kerdivel et son équipe d'identifier un atelier d'extraction de dolérite qui servait à la fabrication de lames de haches.
http://www.ouest-france.fr/actu/actuLocale_-Des-archeologues-mettent-au-jour-des-pieces-du-Neolithique-_53225-avd-20101006-59106804_actuLocale.Htm