31 MAI 2017 NEWS: Pire Mazar Balandar - Plovdiv - Perge - Le Pecq - Orléans -
INSTITUT SUPERIEUR D'ANTHROPOLOGIE
INSTITUTE OF ANTHROPOLOGY
ONLINE COURSES / COURS A DISTANCE
SUMMER TERM : JULY 2017
REGISTER NOW
IRAN – 
Pire Mazar Balandar - In Iran's remote north-east, the discovery of mysterious rock art is intriguing archaeologists. Strange symbols engraved on an outcrop of volcanic rock, on top of a mountain, appear particularly puzzling. The site, known as Pire Mazar Balandar (or PMB001), is situated near a small village and is well known to the locals. They in fact consider the engraved stone to be sacred. It is covered in 16 simple symbols, including U-shapes which the villagers believe are the hoof prints of the horse of the prophet Imam Reza, who is buried at a nearby shrine. It was only recently, in 2015, that archaeologist Mahmoud Toghrae discovered the site and began documenting the rock art.The first results of these investigations are now published in the journal Antiquity. This led them to discover a second nearby site with volcanic rocks covered with engravings representing animals and humans. "We found this second rock art group after a local pilgrim invited us to have lunch at his home. There, we discovered rock outcrops with several engravings showing specific subjects – anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures. They are small in size, different from the ones documented on PMB001 but similar to other figures found in rock art all over Iran," co-author of the paper Dario Sigari, from the University of Ferrara in Italy. At present, it is impossible to date the engravings or to associate them with any particular culture. This is a problem that archaeologists have always almost encountered when trying to date rock art in Iran. Because similar symbols and figures have been depicted repeatedly over the years, it is difficult to link them to a specific period – unless artefacts are found nearby, helping researchers come up with a more precise chronology. Some of the symbols at PMB001 do give some clues. For instance, circular symbols on the stone are comparable to those found at another site and attributed to the Bronze Age. However, no precise dates can be put forward by the archaeologists without conducting more in-depth excavations in the area."There is a lot of debate when it comes to rock art in Iran to know whether we can attribute certain engravings to a period or another. We have a dating problem, because the same figures were represented, at different points in time from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. Probably the PMB001 area was settled at different periods, and the rock art represents all these phases. But without more excavations conducted at the site, we can't say for certain what the chronology of the two sites is," Sigari said.
BULGARIE – 
Plovdiv - A further 400 square metres of mosaics and 65 graves have been uncovered since the beginning of the 2017 archaeological season at the site of the Great Basilica in Bulgaria’s second city Plovdiv, according to the head of the archaeological team, Evgenia Tankova. The Great Basilica, understood to date from the fourth to the fifth centuries, is the largest early Christian church yet found on the Balkans. The site is near Plovdiv’s 19th century Roman Catholic St Ludwig church. Tankova said that the recently-uncovered 400 sq m of mosaics were from the second period of the building. She said that the whole complex was founded on an earlier Roman building that existed until the end of the 3rd century. Tankova also explained that all mosaics outside the building of the basilica were from the first period. In all, it is expected that about 2000 sq m of mosaics will be uncovered in the course of the archaeological excavations at the Great Basilica site,
TURQUIE – 
Perge - Unique artifacts have been discovered by archaeologists during excavations in the city of Perge, the Turkish province of Antalya.The most valuable finds should be considered a mosaic image of the Gorgon Medusa, and the God of the Ocean. Mosaic was created in the THIRD century ad, scientists said. They decorated the walls of the mausoleum, found during archaeological research.
http://micetimes.asia/in-turkey-archaeologists-have-unearthed-an-interesting-artifact/
FRANCE – 
Le Pecq - Débuté fin mars, le chantier de fouilles archéologiques, avenue de la Paix au Pecq a permis de découvrir de beaux vestiges de la gare, terminus de la ligne de train voyageurs Paris/Saint-Germain, inaugurée en 1837. Cette gare était la première gare de voyageurs en France et fut construite par les frères Pereire. Elle devait relier Paris à Saint-Germain mais en raison d’une pente impossible à monter pour les locomotives, la gare du Pecq devint, dans un premier temps, le terminus. Quatre espaces bien définis de la gare ont été retrouvés sous terre : la partie bâtiment comprenant l’hôtel de gare, l’accueil des voyageurs et un restaurant, un espace technique où était utilisé le charbon, les voies et l’espace où se trouvaient les plaques de retournement qui permettaient de tourner les locomotives.
http://www.78actu.fr/des-vestiges-de-la-gare-de-1837-decouverts_49401/
FRANCE – 
Orléans - En juin, un vestige du mur antique, appartenant à la forteresse qui entourait jadis la ville, va subir des fouilles archéologiques. Vestige de l'ancienne enceinte qui entourait la ville d'Orléans dès le IVe siècle après Jésus-Christ, le fameux mur à l'étude est adossé à l'ancienne vinaigrerie Dessaux.