30 MARS 2011 NEWS - Skikda - Cyrène -Carshalton - Le Caire - Palauea - Kotawehera - Wragby - Helmsley -
- 30 MARS
- ALGERIE – Skikda - Deux experts du Centre national de recherche en archéologie (CNRA) sont à pied d’oeuvre depuis lundi à Collo (Skikda) pour inspecter le site archéologique récemment découvert, a-t-on indiqué à la direction de la culture. Selon Mlle Ghania Chekrit, le site qui renferme un temple dédié à Neptune, dieu de la mer chez les romains, a été découvert lors de récents travaux de restauration de la mosquée Sidi Ali El Kébir dont la construction date de 1756. Les deux experts, Yemouna Badji, responsable de la recherche au CNRA, et Ilyès Arfi, cadre dans la même structure, détermineront, au terme de leur mission, si cette découverte mérite l'engagement de fouilles de sauvegarde, a précisé la même source. Une pierre sur laquelle était transcrit en latin le mot Neptune avait été découverte, près du même site, durant la période coloniale.
http://www.latribune-online.com/l_info_en_continu/49702.html
- LIBYE – 
Cyrène - A toga-clad statue that would be a prize museum piece elsewhere lies half buried among cow dung at the ancient Greek city of Cyrene in eastern Libya, where tourism has suffered decades of neglect. Goats and cows graze among the towering Greek and Roman columns of the ruined city, a UNESCO world heritage site perched on a mountainside with stunning views over verdant plains and the Mediterranean Sea beyond. Founded in the 4th century BC by ancient Greeks and later ruled by Rome, the site lacks the protective barriers, souvenir kiosks and restaurants usually found at such places. Instead, it is surrounded by the dilapidated, ugly village of Shahaat. At the ruins, bags of rubbish litter the 2nd century AD Arch of Marcus Aurelius, and an amphitheater likely used for performances of Greek tragedies is now apparently being used as a sheep pen judging by the hoof prints and droppings. A school of Greek philosophy is said to have been started at Cyrene, but the only ruminating there now is done by cows.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite4_3_29/03/2011_385054
- ROYAUME-UNI – 
Carshalton - A large number of animal sacrifices found on an archaeological dig have shown Carshalton was likely to have been a key spiritual site in the Iron Age. Ancient Roman remains of buried babies and animals were unearthed last summer at an archaeological dig on the site of the new Stanley Park High School. Now a consultant archaeologist who worked on the dig has said more than a hundred animal sacrifices on the site, including sheep, a pig, a horse, a goat and dogs show it must have attracted a large number of people. Duncan Hawkins said: “It was extraordinary. Normally the number of ritual pits found in a settlement is two or three, but on this site we found more than 30." He said he believed the number of sacrifices was because it was close to a Bronze age circular enclosure – an early example of a stone circle like Stone Henge - that lay under the site of the former Queen Mary’s Hospital. Some 15 child bodies were also found. The high humber was because of the high infant mortality rate.
http://www.suttonguardian.co.uk/news/8939490.More_findings_from_school_archaeological_dig/?ref=rss
- EGYPTE - Le Caire - Egypt's chief archaeologist Zahi Hawass, the guardian of some of the world's most important treasures, was on Wednesday named minister of antiquities, the official MENA news agency reported. His nomination comes amid multiplying calls by the UN cultural agency to protect Egypt's heritage after reports of looting and theft during the unrest that followed the popular uprising. UNESCO said on Tuesday that it would write to Egyptian authorities to officially ask for more protection for the country's archaeological sites.
- HAWAII – Palauea - The Maui News reported Tuesday archaeologists believe the parcel between Kihei and Makena was once part of a major Hawaiian settlement that contained an important water source, a heiau — or shrine — complex, and other ancient sites. Archaeologist Janet Six said the land was once part of a fishing village researchers believe was inhabited for more than 1,300 years by as many as 10,000 people at a time. It's located below Wailea Alanui Drive, just past the Fairmont Kea Lani Resort and next to the One Palauea Bay subdivision. It's also down the road from the Four Seasons Resort at Wailea. The land was designated a cultural preserve a decade ago as a condition of regulatory approval for a residential subdivision called One Palauea Bay. The developers have long proposed transferring the parcel, now called the Palauea Cultural Preserve, to the university.
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/5ad84bd8d31a40f99b0c8cfae696c635/HI--Maui-Cultural-Preserve/
- SRI LANKA – Kotawehera - Australian archaeologist, Dr Judy Cameron has reported that the archaeological remains including a golden relic casket studded with pearls wrapped in silk cloth discovered during excavations at the Kotawehera archaeological site belonged to the 2nd century BC. The Deputy Director of Archaeology Dr Wimal Perera said that Dr Cameron, a renowned archeological researcher on cloth, had forwarded her report to the Archaeological Department. He said though archaeologists were of the opinion that Kotawehera was built during the latter part of the 1st century BC or in the beginning of the 1st century AD, Dr Cameron’s report confirmed that it was built in the 2nd century BC. Excavations in the Kotawehera archaeological site were carried out first in 1952. The golden casket wrapped in a silk cloth was an interesting find among the host of artifacts discovered by archaeologists. A former deputy director of archaeology in charge of excavations, Dr W H Wijepala was of the opinion that the silk industry had flourished in Sri Lanka in ancient times. However, Dr Wimal Perera said that Dr Cameron is conducting further research to determine whether silk cloth was a Sri Lankan product or one brought to Sri Lanka by foreign merchants-
http://print.dailymirror.lk/news/provincial-news/39673.html
- ROYAUME-UNI – Wragby - Children literally dug up the past when they unearthed remains of a medieval house in their school field. The bottom of a stone wall revealed itself in one of two shallow trenches in the grounds of Wragby Primary School in Silver Street. Experts are now rethinking the history of the market town. It is also believed the location of the find suggests Wragby was a bigger settlement in the middle ages than previously thought. A recycled Roman floor tile was the initial find which led to further digging, revealing the wall. The finds which support the house theory include a piece of jawbone from a cow, shards from a pottery jug and cooking pots and a metal roofing nail. Archaeologist Kevin Trott, 38, who lives in Wragby, has been supervising the dig. "What we have here is probably the front or back wall of a medieval domestic building from between the 13th and 15th centuries," he said. "It's not unusual for buildings in Lincolnshire from this period to be built from limestone or ironstone but further excavation could reveal more about the status of whoever lived here. "The find of a house dating this far back is unexpected. "Because it's so far back from the road it might show evidence of a trackway that has got lost over time."This is an exciting find. It's locally significant and it's prompting us to look again at the history of Wragby." The origins of Wragby can be traced back to the pre-Roman Coritani tribe. Permission for a weekly market was granted by Henry III and the Wednesday market was still being held in 1384. But the debate over whether Wragby is a town or village continues to this day, due to an unratified 17th century market charter.
- ROYAUME-UNI – 
Helmsley - English Heritage is holding free tours of its northern archaeology store, in Helmsley, North Yorkshire. The centre is home to more than 800,000 artefacts, ranging from prehistoric flints and medieval stained glass to arrow bolts. Items also include stonework from Hadrian’s Wall and Rievaulx Abbey and a panel from Furnace Abbey, in Cumbria, depicting the Creation of Eve. Among the strangest items on show will be lifesize statues depicting a wild man and his wife, from the 17th Century.
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/8941696.Off_limits_treasure_will_be_revealed/