13 AOUT 2015 NEWS: Ronneby - Essex - Maryport - Miami - Oakville - Supraśl - Kazakhstan - Pliska -
INSTITUT SUPERIEUR D'ANTHROPOLOGIE
INSTITUTE OF ANTHROPOLOGY
ONLINE COURSES / COURS A DISTANCE
FALL TERM : OCTOBER 2015
REGISTER NOW
SUEDE – 
Ronneby - A wooden sea monster emerged on Tuesday from the Baltic sea after lying on the seabed off the southern Swedish town of Ronneby for more than 500 years. Representing a ferocious looking creature with lion ears and crocodile-like mouth, the 660-pound figurehead stood at the prow of a ship. It was carved from the top of an 11-foot-long beam. According to experts at Blekinge museum, which was involved in the salvage effort, the “monster” was part of the Gribshunden, a 15th-century warship belonging to the Danish King Hans. The ship was anchored in Ronneby when it sunk in 1495 after a fire. A contemporary of Christopher Columbus’ flagship Santa Maria, the wreck is considered to be the best-preserved example of a 15th-century ship. Very few wrecks from that period have escaped the ravages of sea worms. According to Marcus Sandekjer, head of the Blekinge Museum, the figurehead is unique. “No similar item from the 15th century has ever been found anywhere in the world,” he said. The intricately carved monster was meant to frighten the enemy. “There seems to be something in his mouth. There seems to be a person in its mouth and he’s eating somebody,” Johan Rönnby, professor of maritime archaeology at Södertörn University, told the BBC. Sandekjer believes it looks like a monstrous dog. “It may depict the very ‘Grip Dog’ that the name of the ship — Gribshunden — reflects,” he said in a statement. The archaeologists are hoping to bring more of the wreck to the surface. “The ship comes from a time just when Columbus was sailing across the ocean and Vasco da Gama also went to India,” Sandekjer said. “The wreck may give clues to the building methods used for those journeys,” he added. The “monster” is now resting in a waterbath at the Blekinge Museum storehouse, waiting for the preservation procedure.
ROYAUME UNI – 
Essex - An incredibly rare and extremely well-preserved 350-year-old wooden gun carriage, raised from the seabed off the Essex coast, was brought ashore today (Wednesday) by Historic England. It comes from one of England's most important 17th century shipwrecks - the London – which lies in two parts off Southend Pier. The ship blew up in March 1665 after gunpowder stored on board caught fire during a journey from Chatham to the Hope, near Gravesend in Kent. The ship was en route to collect final supplies after being mobilised to take part in the Second Anglo Dutch War of 1665-7. The waterlogged wooden gun carriage is estimated to weigh one ton.
http://www.hertsandessexobserver.co.uk/Experts-raise-350-year-old-wooden-gun-carriage/story-27593184-detail/story.html
ROYAUME UNI – 
Maryport - The last week of the final excavation by the Maryport Roman Temples Project team has yielded more information about the layout of the temples and settlements near the remains of the Roman fort next to the Senhouse Roman Museum and a rare piece of Roman jewellery. Team member Daisy-Alys Vaughan, a BA Ancient History and Archaeology student from Newcastle University, found the rare piece of rock crystal Roman jewellery from the second or third century, probably the centre piece from an expensive ring. The head of a bearded man, possibly a philosopher, is carved into the back and the carving is filled with white material, possibly enamel. There was a small piece of bronze with the stone which was the backing to the white head. It is thought that when originally worn the polished bronze back would have looked like gold through the stone.
http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art533909-student-archaeologist-finds-roman-cut-crystal-as-final-roman-maryport-dig-comes-to-a-close
USA – 
Miami - Construction crews preparing for the launch of a high-speed passenger train service from Miami to Orlando haphazardly dug up and damaged prehistoric artifacts in an archaeologically sensitive area of South Florida, according to a well-known archaeologist. Bob Carr, executive director of the Archaeological and Historical Conservancy, says workers installing fiber-optic cables in a trench for All Aboard Florida tore into protected soil where the Florida East Coast railway meets the Little River canal, spitting up long-buried conch shells and rudimentary axes forged by the Tequesta tribe. The work — performed a few hundred feet from a protected landmark where Tequesta remains are buried in a mound — appears to have been done without a special city of Miami approval.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article30658326.html
CANADA – 
Oakville - An archaeological dig on Dundas Street, just east of Bronte Road, has unearthed remnants of Oakville’s past. Shards of ceramics and other artifacts have been collected by New Directions Archaeology Ltd., indicating that early pioneers had once lived there, said a field technician from the Ancaster company. “What we’re finding here are your Canadian artifacts — bits of plates, all kinds of other ceramic artifacts, glass, different metals and nails,” said Ayla Mykytey Tuesday, during the last day of excavation.
POLOGNE – 
Supraśl -Archaeologists have discovered traces of so-called Bell Beaker culture in the Podlaskie region dating back several thousand years. "It's quite a sensational discovery," Dariusz Manasterski, of the Institute of Archaeology at the University of Warsaw, said. It had previously been thought that the culture reached no further than what is now southern Poland. Excavations were carried out over a week at an archaeological site in Supraśl, near Białystok in north-east Poland. Fragments of pottery, human bones and stone tools, for example a hatchet, have been found. The dig is being led by archaeologists from the University of Warsaw and the Museum of Podlasie in Białystok. The emergence of the Bell Beaker culture is dated to about 4-5,000 years ago. It evolved in Western Europe, on the Iberian Peninsula, and its name is associated with characteristic dishes in the shape of an inverted bell.
http://www.thenews.pl/1/11/Artykul/217033,Archaeologists-make-surprise-find-in-northeast-Poland?
Kazakhstan – 
- The remains of an ancient female warrior have been discovered in South Kazakhstan. The perfectly preserved skeleton, believed to be a woman based on the skull's size and shape, was found with a huge sword and dagger. Archaeologists believe the woman lived in the period between the 11th century BC and fourth century AD. Previously, no records have ever been found of woman warriors in the area. Experts believe she was a citizen of importance living in the ancient Kanguy state. She is thought to have led a group of nomads who lived somewhere in the area of modern Kazakhstan. Researchers also found some ancient arrows, a small knife placed close to the right hand of the female warrior and a sword placed close to her left hand indicating that the person was a renowned warrior. Also buried with her were a number of pots and bowls, indicating that the person was probably both wealthy and important. The find follows 23 years of research in the area, scientists said. The items will be soon be exhibited in the National Museum of Kazakhstan.
BULGARIE – 
Pliska - A gold coin of Byzantine Emperor Constantine V Corponymus (r. 741-775 AD) has been discovered by a shepherd near the northeastern town of Pliska which was the capital of the First Bulgarian Empire (632/680-1018 AD) between 680 and 893 AD. According to numismatist Assist. Prof. Dr. Zhenya Zhekova, the newly discovered gold coin of Byzantine Emperor Constantine V Copronymus is very rare. Out of a total of two or three coins its kind in Bulgaria, this is the second one whose place of discovery is known. She points out that the coin belongs to Emperor Constantine V Copronymus who organized several major military campaigns in an attempt to destroy the First Bulgarian Empire in the middle of the 8thcentury AD when it was weakened by dynastic strife, and that coins of the said type are rare even for the territories which were part of Byzantium at the time.