24 FEVRIER 2011
- 24 FEVRIER
- IRLANDE - 
Rickardstown – An archaeology enthusiast in Co Westmeath has unearthed human remains dating back more than 4,000 years in his back garden. A team from the National Museum arrived at the house this week and removed the bones and pot. They reckon it is between 4,000-4,500 years old -This find fits the Bronze Age burial tradition of often isolated burials. Three distinct areas of decoration had been identified on the bow. The remains, which were buried in a slightly flexed crouch position, and the bowl could date from as far back as 2200 BC.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0225/1224290838870.html
- TURQUIE – Hattusha - Le ministre turc de la Culture menace d'interdire les fouilles d'archéologues allemands si l'Allemagne ne restitue pas une statue antique de Sphinx d'ici à juin - Le Sphinx, découvert par des archéologues allemands dans l'ancienne cité hittite d'Hattusha, à l'est d'Ankara, se trouve au musée du Pergamon à Berlin depuis 1915 où, à l'origine, il devait simplement être restauré - "Si d'ici au début de la saison de la campagne de fouilles, il n'y a pas d'accord (pour le retour du Sphinx), je suis déterminé à annuler la licence de fouilles à Hattusha", a déclaré M. Günay. La responsabilité des fouilles serait alors transférée à des archéologues turcs, comme cela a déjà été le cas cette année pour le site romain d'Alzanoi (aujourd'hui Cavdarhisar), dans l'ouest de la Turquie, a ajouté le ministre. L'Institut allemand d'archéologie (DAI) menait des fouilles à Alzanoi depuis 1926.
- ROYAUME-UNI – 
Yorkshire - Ancient rubbish is throwing up new clues about an East Yorkshire market town’s past – and could be an example of medieval flytipping. Archaeologists carrying out a dig have uncovered thousands of shards of pottery and animal bones underneath what was a modern tanning yard. The bones come from goats and sheep, probably from the Yorkshire Wolds, which would have been butchered on Saturday markets before their skins were carted to the ancient tanneries, which operated in the town in the medieval period. Part of the lower leg and hoof were kept to act as “handles” when the skins were lowered into tanning pits, containing dog faeces and lime. Archeologists have also cut sections through a waterway called the Tandyke, which carried polluted water through the tanneries before discharging into Beverley Beck. The pottery, found in the ditch, could be evidence of medieval flytipping from nearby houses. Rubbish disposal was a huge problem in the medieval period. They had collection points, but people were throwing it into any available open ditch and they were the subject of legal proceedings because of problems people had with drains becoming blocked. But what was considered rubbish to people living then is a great source of information for modern research.The leather would have been used for shoes, boots and purses, and among the finds being sorted at Humber Field Archeology’s offices in Hull, is a nearly complete example of a medieval shoe – which is only minus its sole. The tanning industry declined after its heyday in the 14th century, but re-emerged in the 18th and 19th centuries.
- CHINE – 
Lianyungang - A villager discovered an ancient tomb belonging to the Western Han dynasty in his own yard accidentally when he was trying to dig a well - Archaeologists from the Lianyungang Museum made an initial assessment that the tomb might date back to the middle period of the Western Han dynasty, and they also unearthed more than 20 cultural relics, including pottery, wooden barrels and decorations. Archaeologists ascertained it was an ancient tomb due to the tomb outline and chamber. During the process of excavation, archaeologists did not find any holes to indicate that the tomb had been plundered, and the burial objects in the tomb were mostly intact and preserved well. An archaeologist said they have primarily concluded the tomb belonged to the middle period of Western Han dynasty about 2,200 to 2,300 years ago, and more than 20 cultural relics have been unearthed, including some complete ones –
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90782/90873/7299032.html
- ESPAGNE – Denia - Following on from the recent discovery of archaeological remains in the heart of Denia, a new excavation has brought to light the structures of an ancient salting factory under the town’s modern buildings. The remains appear to be late Roman, dating from the 4th and 5th centuries, when old Denia went under its Roman name of Dianium, and consisted of “ a set of four contiguous pools of regular ground, dug into the earth, and have a strong coating of signinum opus (a heavy lime based plaster) - These structures “are related to a common type of late Roman factory, the likes of which have been well documented along the coast of the Levante, and coastal enclaves of Andalusia and Tarragona . Archaeological excavations in this area have not yet been completed. And this week works are commencing on a new ‘dig’ in Denia in an attempt to expose more of the extensive factory remains and so gain better understanding of the factory and its workings. The factories were coastal based to give easy access to salt beds, and so also were conveniently situated to offer instant salting for the locally caught fish trade. It’s (the salting works) special location is in an area close to the old city centre, adjacent to the forum (the main square in Roman times). This proves a strong urban regression from the classical city, which has overlapping ruins of industrial and domestic architecture, as well as fifth and sixth century cemeteries. The discovery leads to another conclusion, “this small salting factory which ran for almost one thousand five hundred years and was part of the fabric of Dianium, is a historical reference that confirms the presence of salted fish in the diet and work of the people’s daily lives. In short, archaeology is not simply the study of old rocks. It tells us things. It explains life –
http://www.euroweeklynews.com/news/costa-blanca-north/roman-fish-salting-factory-in-denia.html