24 SEPTEMBRE 2018: Qorveh - Prêles - Cavustepe - Wéris - Arnö - Dalian -
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IRAN – 
Qorveh - Fereshteh Sharifi, head of the retrospective program for the archeological survey and identification in the city of Qorveh was quoted by the Public Relations Office of the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism (RICHT) as saying that in the current program efforts were made to carefully survey the margin of the Telvar and Shur rivers and in addition also cover the foothills and the plain of Qorveh in order to get acquainted with the settlement condition of different periods. Apparently the type of the dispersion of the settlement areas is as such that they were mainly centered near the river and the lower parts of the plain, she added. In the present methodological study, the area under study is divided into 9x9 km networks, and according to the format of the Center for Archeological Research each square has its own code, she noted. Sharifi added that on the basis of this study, each square would be surveyed separately and has its own code. She noted that in the early studies, more than half of the area was covered and 140 artifacts were identified, one quarter of which were seen for the first time. The head of the archeology team said that according to the forecasts most of the sites were related to the historic and Islamic periods, among which the role of the Islamic sites is more highlighted. What is important is that the settlements have been formed on the margin of the Shur and Telvar rivers and it is hard to find traces of historical monuments in the heights above the river, Sharifi said. “Of course”, she noted, “this matter is true in the northern parts of the city and in the southern parts, as was mentioned in the above, with the creation of canals, aqueduct and drainage of the region there is a higher diversity of the settlement species. She said that the oldest period identified so far is the Old Copper and Stone era.
http://www.irna.ir/en/News/83041613
SUISSE - 
Prêles - Une main en bronze et or vieille de 3500 ans : c’est l’incroyable découverte faite par deux hommes domiciliés dans le Jura bernois. Elle a été annoncée ce mardi par le Service archéologique du canton de Berne. Armés de leurs détecteurs de métaux, les deux amis se sont rendus sur le Plateau de Diesse début octobre 2017. C’est à Prêles qu’ils ont trouvé la précieuse sculpture, aux côtés d’une lame de poignard en bronze et d’une côte humaine. Les analyses menées sur la sculpture, notamment concernant la colle végétale utilisée pour fixer la fine plaque d’or appliquée sur le poignet, ont permis de déterminer que la main datait de 1500 à 1400 av. J.-C. Les métaux utilisés sont par ailleurs des alliages couramment utilisés à cette époque. A la suite de cette découverte, le service archéologique du canton de Berne a réalisé des fouilles. Elles lui ont permis de mettre au jour au début de l’été une tombe contenant les ossements d’un homme adulte. Elle contenait une spirale en bronze et des restes de plaque d’or provenant vraisemblablement de la main. « La présence de l’un des doigts de la main en bronze a confirmé que la sculpture était bien issue de ce site », précise le communiqué. La tombe reposait quant à elle sur une construction en pierre d’origine humaine. L’homme à la main de bronze aurait été inhumé délibérément au-dessus de cette construction plus ancienne. Selon le Service archéologique, il devait s’agir d’un personnage de haut rang. En ce qui concerne la rareté de l’objet, les recherches menées auprès de spécialistes suisses, allemands et français confirment qu’aucune sculpture comparable datant de l’Âge du bronze n’a été trouvée en Europe centrale. « La main de Prêles est à ce jour la pièce en bronze la plus ancienne figurant une partie du corps humain, ce qui en fait un objet unique et remarquable ». Parmi les mystères à élucider, il reste l’origine de cette sculpture. Il est actuellement trop tôt pour dire si elle a été fabriquée dans la région des Trois-Lacs ou dans une contrée plus lointaine. Sa signification et sa fonction ne sont pas non plus connues, même si ses ornements laissent penser qu’il s’agit d’un emblème de pouvoir, signe distinctif de l’élite sociale voire d’une déité. La forme de l’objet laisse aussi penser qu’il pouvait faire partie d’un sceptre ou d’une statue. Des recherches ultérieures doivent faire la lumière sur toutes ces questions.
TURQUIE – 
Cavustepe - A group of archaeologists have unearthed a grinding stone dating back to Urartian era in eastern Turkey. Excavations in an Urartian castle of Cavustepe revealed a 2,700 year-old stone used in grinding grain products in eastern Van’s Gurpinar district. The rectangular stone, measuring 54 by 30 centimeters (21 by 11 inches), was used through ages, Rafet Cavusoglu, the head of the excavation team and an archeology professor at Van’s Yuzuncu Yil University, told Anadolu Agency. “This is a stone people used to grind some grains like barley and wheat after adopting settled life,” Cavusoglu said. It is the fourth stone discovered since the start of the excavations at the castle -- built by the Urartian King Sardur II in 750 B.C. -- in 2014, he added. “When we examined the stones, we understood that they were one of the most important tools in human nutrition,” he said, citing its worn-out surface. Cavusoglu also said around 120 clay vessels -- thought to be used in winter for grain storage -- were uncovered during the excavations, as well.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/2-700-year-old-grinding-stone-found-in-eastern-turkey/1260118
BELGIQUE – 
Wéris - Archaeological digs will resume on the megalithic site of Wéris (in the municipality of Durbuy) With its 17 standing stones and two covered alleyways, the megalithic field in Wéris makes up the entire construction, the oldest of its kind in Belgium. Spread over a length of eight kilometres, these two parallel menhirs have been subject to several excavations since the end of the 19th century. The fresh dig is to comprise “a global search, on a large scale, which will enable a better understanding of both the general layout of the monuments and their interaction within the countryside.”
SUEDE – 
Arnö - The group found a fragment of a medieval seal on Biskops Arnö, in between Uppsala and Stockholm. the fragment is believed to have belonged to archbishop Petrus Philippi, who died in August 1341, according to archivists. "Only about fifty seal stamps that belonged to the clergy have been found so far in Sweden," said Lingström. "This particular stamp was personal and the archbishop carried it with him at all times." Seals were used instead of signatures during the Middle Ages in order to authenticate documents, as well as for sealing documents or packaged. When Philippi died in 1341, the stamp was most likely destroyed right after his death. "That was done to prevent people from impersonating the bishop by using his seal," Lingström explained.
https://www.thelocal.se/20180921/archaeologists-find-medieval-seal-on-biskops-arno-sweden
CHINE – 
Dalian - The wreckage of the Jingyuan cruiser, a warship of the Beiyang Fleet, which was sunk by the Japanese navy during the first Sino-Japanese War more than 100 years ago, has been discovered in Dalian, northeast China’s Liaoning Province, according to the National Cultural Heritage Administration.It is another triumph for China’s underwater archaeological team, following the discovery of the wreckage of its sister vessel Zhiyuan in 2014. Two Chinese characters “jing” and “yuan” were found on a plate of the vessel, allowing the team to confirm that it was the wreck of the Jingyuan. The Jingyuan, built by the German shipbuilding company Bremer Vulkan AG, was a modern warship in the Qing Dynasty Beiyang Fleet, defeated by the Japanese navy in the Battle of the Yellow Sea in September 1894. Additionally, the team salvaged over 500 items from the wreck over the last two months, including parts of the warship’s structure, weaponry equipment as well as some tools.