15 MARS 2017 NEWS: Alger - Colchester - George Town - Gloucester - Randers - Jalhay - Neremetta - Narmada -

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ALGERIEDfdcef0f491e52174b30e7519104984bca61350e Alger - An archaeological treasure trove on the site of a planned metro station in central Algiers is set to become a museum, opening a window on 2,000 years of history. The site, close to the Algerian capital's UNESCO-listed casbah, has yielded remains from the city's Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and French periods. "It was spectacular," said archaeologist Kamel Stiti, co-director of the excavations. "In one look, you could see two millennia of Algiers' history." The remains, on the location of a Roman port town called Icosium, were discovered in 2009 when the ministry of culture ordered surveys along the planned metro line.  Archaeologists have since discovered coins, weapons, a public building paved with 5th century mosaics and a large 7th century Byzantine necropolis containing several dozen graves.  They also found parts of the Ottoman-era Es Sayida mosque, which French authorities flattened in 1831, shortly after their conquest of the North African country. The colonial government put a public square in its place and called it King's Square and later, Government Square. It was re-named Martyrs Square after the country's hard-won independence in 1962. Experts had believed that few pre-colonial artefacts remained on the site, but many of the ruins turned out to be surprisingly well-preserved, Stiti said. 

http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/13/03/2017/Unearthing-2,000-years-of-history-in-central-Algiers

ROYAUME UNI Arch dig jpg gallery Colchester - Archaeological excavations have revealed a busy Medieval pottery operation existed in north Colchester. Excavation work is taking place on fields off Nayland Road. The team has been painstakingly using hand tools to uncover a rare pottery kiln dating back to the 15th century and pottery which would have been discarded if it was not deemed up to standard. The kiln would have been stoked by wood from nearby trees to produce water pots, for example. Mr Crummy said while about 40 Roman kilns had been found around Colchester this one, which is well preserved, is a rare find in Colchester.

MALAISIEImg 3633 t58c78936 m800 xc1 George Town -  Fort Cornwallis, a colonial-era defensive structure, is still turning up archaeological surprises. USM Center for Global Archaeological Research archaeologist Goh Hsiao Mei said the dig has unearthed several artifacts since Feb 1. She said her team of 10 has since found several straits settlement coins, pieces of porcelain, ceramics as well as pieces of glass and plates. Goh however described the findings as surprising since the area of the dig used to be a moat. She said the team was only able to dig at the northwest site of the fort as the moat, made of charcoal and bitumen, was still intact there. "We have unearthed the inner structure of the moat measuring about 6m by 8m so far," she told theSun at the site and hoped more of the structure can be uncovered soon. Goh said the moat was a defensive feature common to English castles and forts during the 1700s. She said the moat was filled in the 1920s by the municipal council then following a malaria outbreak. Local historian Marcus Langdon meanwhile told theSun then Penang Governor Robert Townsend Farquhar ordered the moat to be built in 1804 to protect British interests from a possible French attack. "The French Revolution was at its height then and Farquhar ordered the moat to be dug as he feared a backlash. "But the fort never experienced battle and a shot was never fired in anger from its walls," the author of four history books on Penang said. The fort was originally built by Captain Francis Light who opened Penang island as a British trading post. Originally made from wood, Light started strengthening the structure in 1793 with bricks and the effort was continued by Farquhar and completed in 1810.

http://www.thesundaily.my/news/2193462

ROYAUME UNISwns false leg 02 Gloucester - Archaeologists have discovered this rare medieval false leg buried under a cathedral. The remains of the metal band were discovered in the old lay cemetery at Gloucester Cathedral and experts reckon it used to hold a prosthetic right leg.  The pieces - including a metal buckle and a fragment of the strap - were unearthed in the dig south-east of the building's South Porch.  The leg replacement is from the 17th century, making it at least 300 years old. 
http://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/pictures-of-rare-medieval-false-leg-found-under-gloucester-cathedral-have-been-revealed/story-30199433-detail/story.html

DANEMARK – Randers - Ernst Stidsing, an archaeologist and the curator at East Jutland Museum, has discovered that the body of a woman buried in a Viking grave in Randers was born in Norway. The remains of her teeth were subjected to a strontium analysis, which can show where a person is born and grew up. The results of the analysis, together with jewellery found with the body, pointed to the fact that she grew up in southern Norway. Ernst Stidsing added that people have always travelled and emigrated. However, the exact circumstances of her coming to Denmark are unknown. It isn’t clear whether she came of her own free will, was a party in an arranged marriage, or if there was another reason for her presence in Denmark. However, the items found in the grave show that she was well-off and of high status.“She has had bronze buckles in a warm orange-yellow colour, decorated silver jewellery capsules and a string of glass and metal pearls,” Stidsing told Videnskab.dk.“She must have been quite a sight when she walked through the town. She might even have been the wife of the local chieftain.” How ever she ended up here, her presence shows a lot about contemporary conditions. “Denmark was already a multi-ethnic society in the Viking age”, said Stidsing. “The world was globalised even then, with both peaceful coexistence and acts of war taking place.” Another famous archaeological find, the Egtved girl, has recently been found to come from what is now Germany and not Denmark at all.

http://cphpost.dk/news/immigration-to-denmark-is-nothing-new-just-ask-the-vikings.html

BELGIQUE - Jalhay - Un trésor a été découvert par un archéologue amateur à Jalhay: une soixantaine de pièces en bronze d’une valeur historique inestimable. Des pointes de lance, des anneaux, des lames de rasoir de l’époque… Pour les spécialistes, la vraie richesse de cette vaste collection, c’est la variété et la quantité des pièces, très utiles pour la recherche. "Clairement, il y a quelque chose de très particulier à l’âge du bronze; cette volonté d’acquérir des matériaux qui sont exotiques", explique Eugène Warmenbol, professeur d’archéologie à l’ULB.

http://www.rtl.be/info/regions/liege/arme-d-un-detecteur-de-metaux-un-archeologue-amateur-decouvre-un-tresor-inestimable-a-jalhay-898976.aspx

INDEDc cover aq0d0rm38hqojkticg910rdqu1 20170313012223 medi Neremetta - Archaeologists have found a huge capstone, believed to weigh 10 tonnes, that was used to cover a menhir-type prehistoric burial site in Neremetta in Nanganur mandal of Siddipet district. The capstone was placed over the grave to protect the bodies from predators, as the people at that time believed in rebirth. An excavation was launched at the site, that is said to date back to between 1000 BC and 200 AD recently under the supervision of archaeology and museums director N.R. Visalatchy. “We have to remove the capstone to see if there are skeletal remains, hunting tools and other implements that were normally buried along with the body,” Mr P. Nagaraju, assistant director of the department, said. “We have to bring heavy machinery to lift the capstone.” The burial site is around 5.5 metres long and 3 metre wide.   A stone circle with 22 boulders has been found at the site. Over the burial site, one-metre quartz stone filling was also found

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/viral-and-trending/130317/hyderabad-archaeologists-discover-huge-burial-site-capstone.html

INDE – Narmada - The excavation carried out in the Narmada valley at Mehtakhedi village under Khargone district has led to the discovery of 350 archaeological remains which the experts claim to be 50,000 years old. “The excavation conducted by Shridhar Vakankar Archaeological Research Institute led to the discovery of 350 archaeological remains which the experts claim to be 50,000 years old,” Anupam Rajan, commissioner, Archaeology department of Madhya Pradesh under which the institute functions, said on Sunday. “The work to explore micro relics was being carried out by dissolving and filtering the soil obtained from the excavation,” he added.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/mp-50-000-year-old-archaeological-remains-discovered-in-narmada-valley/story-z7nQYgxard3jP0DzS4fLJN.html